Celebrating the end of my studies

Atlanta Braves logo

So yesterday (Friday May 3) was my final day of studying at Candler School of Theology.  I had one final paper to submit and one exam to sit.  To celebrate Janet and Will (a lady and her son from church) offered to take me to my first ever baseball game.  It was the Atlanta Braves vs. the NY Mets which I was told was always a good match and a close rivalry.  As Will is studying to be a sports broadcaster and works for a local sports radio station we had access to the media parking behind the stadium and great seats behind the batter.  The weather wasn't predicted to be great which would have been a problem as we weren't under cover, but thankfully apart from a few spells of misty, it was generally ok, and not too cold.

  We arrived early enough for us to be able to walk around the stadium and also go to their museum which gave a lot of information on the Braves, including how the franchise started in Boston, before moving to Milwaukee and finally Atlanta in 1966.  We then returned to our seats and ordered what I am told is traditional baseball fare - a foot long hot dog, fries and Coke in a souvenir cup.  What is even better is that you don't have to leave your seats as people will take your order and then deliver where you are sitting!

Braves Pitcher Mike Minor

  I've never been a fan of football and rugby games in the UK being played on a Friday night as I've always liked Saturday afternoon sports.  However, there was a special atmosphere there with everyone coming at the end of the week, especially as I knew I had no studying to do the following day!  I can only imagine what it would have been like if the sun had been shining and the ground full.

The Braves in the field

  The Braves did not get off to a good start, after the first two innings they were 3-0 down.  For those who don't know (and to be honest, I didn't know until last night!) a team's innings lasts until 3 of their players are out; and the teams each get 9 innings.  However, as the game progressed the Braves started picking up runs and prevented the Mets from getting any more.  One interesting tradition is the "Seventh Innings Stretch" where, between the two teams 7th innings there is a break and the crowd all stand and join in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" as a break for all people.  There are a number of stories about where the tradition began, but one suggests that a US President was at a game and was needed to stretch his legs so stood up, and all the crowd felt they should do likewise!

  Back to the game and by the end of the 8th innings the Braves were 5-4 up.  It meant that, as the Mets were batting first, if they could just get the 3 Mets batters out without conceding they would win the game without having to bat again.  The momentum seemed to be with the Braves.  They had just hit a home run to get the 5-4 advantage and the crowd were pumped up.  However, afte
r getting the first man out David Wright came in to bat.  Apparently he was the Mets' best player and had been getting abuse from some lads sitting along from us all night.  He hit a home run which levelled the scores.  So, after getting the next two men out, the Braves had to bat again; but they failed to get any runs, meaning an extra innings.  In that innings, the Mets ran away with it by getting two runs and not conceding any.  It was a disappointing end to the game as far as we were concerned, but it was an exciting game to watch and a great atmosphere of which to be a part.  It did also have a positive end as they had Friday Night Fireworks which were pretty impressive.  All in all, a great way to celebrate finishing my academic studies, and a brilliant start to my Georgia holiday!

In the concourse area of Turner Field

Easter in Decatur

Front Cover to the Traditional Order of Service

 Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Hand Bell Choir practising

Front of Decatur First UMC

  It was wonderful that I may be the other side of the Atlantic, and yet the celebration of Easter includes familiar elements reminding me that it is the same risen Saviour whom we all worship.  I had intended to start the day with the sunrise service on the Square in Decatur.  However, I didn't make it (not to do with the fact that I couldn't get up in the morning!) as the weather was awful the night before, and the forecast was not good for Easter Sunday morning.  So, instead, my Easter Sunday celebrations began with the 8.45am traditional service.  This is usually a quieter service with not too many people present.  However, the church was fairly full, even though there was a repeat at 11.  Everybody turned up in their Sunday best, which is something I think happens less of in churches in the UK these days, and was lovely to see.  Even the children were in suits, or shirts and bow ties.  It gave the impression that this was something important to which people were coming.  

Choir and others singing Handel's Messiah

The full church choir were present as were one of the hand bell choirs and a brass ensemble with timpani!  So the service began with a resounding fanfare sounding Voluntary on brass and organ which set the tone for an fantastic service.  The opening hymn was Christ the Lord is Risen Today which with the choir, brass and organ lifted the whole congregation.  Also in the service, and most importantly for me, we sang Low in the grave he lay (Up from the grave he arose).  My judgement on an Easter Sunday worship service is based solely on whether we sang that hymn!  What made this even better was that our organist, despite apparently not liking the hymn (as we found out during the sermon) re-wrote the music so that there were organ, brass, choral and timpani parts to make the chorus even more uplifting than it usually is.  Any members of the congregation who wished to were invited to join the choir in the choir loft at the close of the final hymn because, after the Benediction, the choir and those who responded all sang Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah which gave a fitting end to the worship.

The empty cross

The completed cross

 

 

Dressing the cross

After the service was over many went downstairs to join with those for the 11am service who had arrived early for something called 'Easter Eats' (so was definitely going to appeal to me!).  It was a time of fellowship over cakes and other finger foods instead of the usual Sunday School classes that many attend.  However, I didn't have long to enjoy these as I had to make my way over to the chapel for the Come As You Are (CAYA) service.  This was definitely different in tone to the first service, yet it was still evident that many people had put on their Easter finery for the service.  CAYA is the more contemporary service at Decatur First and so gone was Handel's Messiah replaced by a praise band playing more contemporary worship songs.  The atmosphere was more relaxed and the celebration more informal.  One of the great things they did was to dress the cross.  During the first couple of songs people were invited up to place flowers in the cross.  Some had brought flowers from their own gardens, others used those provided by the church.  It was powerful to see this cross transformed in just a few minutes.  The sermon was entitled 'Water Flowing Uphill' about how ridiculous the whole resurrection story really is.  Yet it continues to be believed because people experience it, rather than because they can ever be convinced of it rationally.  

  After the service I had time to go home and get changed into something more casual before going out for lunch.  The Mobley family who had kindly invited me round for Christmas Day dinner, repeated the offer - so I obviously can't be too bad a guest.  It was so nice to be part of a family at Easter and share in a traditional Southern dinner.  We had smoked meats, spinach casserole, pineapple casserole, corn casserole, potato salad, green beans - and then they brought out various chocolate pies and cakes for dessert!  I'm fairly sure we all finished the day feeling fairly full!

The day certainly was a celebratory way to start the 50 day Easter Festival!  

He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Mi semana en Honduras

 I'm hoping this says 'My week in Honduras' because that is what I typed into Google Translate!  I would make yourself comfortable - because this may be a long one!

Rancho el Paraiso

  I flew out of Atlanta with the Decatur First United Methodist Church mission team on Saturday 9th February.  I had been warned about the landing at Tegucigalpa airport (Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras) as it involved a sharp turn and a steep descent.  In reality the turn and descent did not trouble me as much as how close we were to people's houses.  For an idea look at this film (and I suggest start watching it from the 2 minute mark) and look at how close the houses are!  I would not want to live in those when the jets fly over.

View in Tegucigalpa

Our first dinner

  We landed safely and, after a McDonalds lunch (sadly chains such as McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut have made their way to Honduras) we set off in our bus.  Our final destination was to be Rancho el Paraiso which is near the city of San Esteban which is fairly far in land in the northern part of the country and located up in the mountains.  However, on that first day our destination was Juticalpa.  Getting out of Tegucigalpa meant driving past some real slum type housing - the type you see on TV but may never truly believe exist until you see it.  Some were made of corrugated metal, others had to make do with wood and tarpaulin; many were surrounded by piles of rubbish.  This was an instant lesson in the new world I had entered.  I had also been warned about the states of the roads - however we discovered that they had been working to improve them as many were not as potholed as we had feared.  The worst stretches meant us slowing down almost to a stop to navigate around them.  At these points rules about which side of the road to drive on were quickly discarded!  After a number of hours in the bus, and a stop at a Mennonite bakery, we reached Juticalpa where we enjoyed a rest and our first proper meal together.

Part of the clinic

Downtown Juticalpa

  After a short walk around the middle of Juticalpa we set off on the final leg of our journey - this was by far the bumpier part.  But, by lunchtime we had arrived at Rancho el Paraiso.  I had seen pictures of it, but no picture can ever truly show the beauty of the surroundings.  Sunday afternoon included a tour round the ranch - seeing animals, buildings and scenery.  In order to better serve the local villages HOI (Honduras Outreach Inc - the organisation we went with) even built a clinic on the ranch and employ a medical team.

Our welcome at Coronado

Laying a concrete floor

The latrine pit

  Monday morning saw us up at 5.30am ready for devotions at 6.15 so we could have an early breakfast and head off to the village.  The village where we worked was called Coronado (it means 'crowned' in English) and was about 30 minutes away.  The village had about 80 or 90 houses in it and a school of about 125 children.  These children and many of the adult villagers were there to greet us when we arrived.  After introductions and a few songs sung by us and them, we were split into our working groups.  Some of the team were staying behind in the school to run a vacation Bible school with the children, but the rest of us set off walking to our various houses to participate in our various tasks.  Over Monday and Tuesday I worked in two different houses.  In the first house we were laying a concrete floor throughout their house (two rooms and a porch area) in order to minimise the number of bugs that could live in the house and also make it easier to clean than the dirt floor they had.

Relaxing at the ranch

Our leader, Martha

The second house was building a latrine.  This consisted of a large pit (about 10ft deep) which a pipe ran into, and then an outhouse just on the edge of it (thankfully not so close to the edge that anyone might fall in!).  The ethos of HOI is that there should be 'sweat equity'.  Therefore, this was not a group of Americans (and British) travelling down to do all the work for the Hondurans, rather we went down to support and work alongside.  Usually, this is because they know far more about what they are doing than we do (certainly than I did!).  Our roles usually consisted of making concrete (on the ground as there were no cement mixers) and carting buckets of concrete and other materials to the places where they needed to be.  It was hard work but it was great to be able to do these small things to enable the Hondurans to do the important building works so they could really take pride in their latrines and floors when they were completed.

  Wednesday was a different day for me (for which my muscles were greatly appreciative!).  HOI employs a local pastor who travels to all the different villages when HOI mission teams are working there and offers pastoral support.  Therefore, on Wednesday morning, I was able to go with Pastor Wilmer as he went on some pastoral visits around the village.  It was a humbling experience to be welcomed into people's homes, often at difficult times in their lives.  I was reminded of the bonds of humanity because, although the language and culture was very different to home, many of the issues were the same.  There were family breakdowns, issues with addictions, disabilities and ageing.  I learnt a lot watching Wilmer coming into the homes of people he did not know and be able to offer something of the love and hope of Christ.

Valentines Day craft

Wednesday afternoon was different again.  This time I stayed at the school and helped with the children's activities.  I had been told that it was games in the afternoon - but quickly discovered I was also to help with craft!  As the following day was Valentines Day the team working with the children had brought out Valentines cards from the children of Decatur First UMC.  So Wednesday afternoon started with the children of Coronado making two cards, one for their mother and one to send back to a child of Decatur First.  However, the games started after they had finished.  Many of the children enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles as they had never seen them before.  However, for someone with no real Spanish, it was a frustrating experience trying to help them understand what to do.  So I moved on to a game which required no language - football!  There was not enough space for a game, so we stood round in a circle and just passed the ball around.  We played for over an hour and yet, unlike in England, there were no arguments, there was no-one left out, there was no-one laughed at for missing the ball - it was just good fun.  I just wish children in England could witness this and learn.  What is more, these children played in flip-flops or sandals and still demonstrated far greater skill than I could ever hope for!

The middle school library

Aldersgate Elementary School

  Thursday was our final day in the village, but before going there we went to Culuco where HOI had built an elementary and a middle school.  The elementary school was called Aldersgate to recognise its Methodist heritage.  When John Wesley's Aldersgate experience was explained to the Honduran members of HOI they decided to call the school Puerta del Renacimiento (Door of Rebirth) as its Spanish name, and so both names appear.  Both schools are very basic, and yet there were many children who desire to attend.  They said that they have also noticed that children are remaining in school longer than ever before - which can only be a good thing for these children, their families and the villages as a whole.  If anyone is looking for a way to be involved but can't go to Honduras, then HOI are always looking for people to provide scholarships to enable children to get the education they need and deserve - so please do check out their website.  

Saying goodbye

A final look at Coronado

The rest of the morning was work as usual - although as most of the projects were completed, or near completed, there wasn't much work left.  By lunchtime all the projects we set out to do had been done.  As a team we built 8 latrines, laid concrete floors in 8 homes, built 2 chimneys to divert smoke from cooking fires out of the houses and built two room additions.  What is more, our team working with the children taught 125 children throughout the week.  In the afternoon the village gathered to say goodbye.  There were speeches and songs from Hondurans and Americans and both national anthems were sung.  This meant I had to put my hand on my heart and mumble along to the American national anthem - but I pictured the Union Jack and the Queen all the way through!  At the end of the farewell fiesta we handed out a Bible to every family in the village.  It was amazing to see so many people so keen to get a Bible.  For many it will be the only book that they own.  And then the time came to say our farewells, make our way through the crowds, board the Land Cruisers and head back to the Ranch for the final time.

Sunset over Tegucigalpa

Our final dinner together

  Early on Friday morning and, after worship (where Pastor Wilmer asked me to share the reflection - thankfully with a few days notice) we set off on our journey to Tegucigalpa.  Unlike on the way to the ranch, we were not going to stop overnight at Juticalpa.  Therefore, it was going to be a 7 hour bus ride with just a couple of short stops on the way.  Typically, that was the day when I didn't feel particularly well.  Thankfully, I wasn't actually ill on the journey, and the time went fairly quickly.  What is more, in hindsight, I would prefer to not feel so great that day, rather than miss a day in the village through ill health.  We arrived in Tegucigalpa in the early afternoon.  Some people went to visit local souvenir shops - I just lay down and rested until dinner!  Our final meal together felt such a different experience to the meals we had shared through the week.  We were all wearing nice clothes, we were in surroundings which suggested such luxury compared with the reality of the lives of the people in Coronado.  This definitely did feel like the first step back into the world we had left behind just one week previously.

  Before I knew it Saturday morning had arrived, we packed up, left the hotel and headed for the airport.  Just a few short hours later and we were in the air, flying over Honduras and heading back to Atlanta - my Honduran adventure at an end.

New found machete skills

View of Honduras

   So what will I take away?  Firstly, a great love for Honduras, the country and its people.  This is a country I really want to return to.  There is so much work to do, but there is also so much that we, from richer countries, can learn about the way life and community can be.  I will also take away a real appreciation for short term mission.  When done right (at the invitation of, and in partnership with those you go to work with) it can be of benefit to the place you go to and also the church group you go with.  I would love one day to return with a group from the UK.  Finally, I will take away another facet of the image of God that I saw in the faces of those I worked with.  I hope and pray that they experienced something of God's love for them through my actions and limited words, because I certainly experienced something of it from them.  

The Decatur First UMC team

...and New Year in St Louis

Webster Hills UMC

If you read the previous blog you will know that after leading the contemporary service at Decatur First United Methodist Church I packed and boarded a flight to St Louis.  I was met by Kim Jenne who was an exchange student from Candler to Wesley House, Cambridge last year and is now minister of Webster Hills United Methodist Church.  Arriving in the evening I only briefly saw St Louis as we drove home from the airport.

  I woke up the next day to snow!  Thankfully I had a quiet day in and it gave me an excuse to watch Georgia Tech football team play in their Bowl final.  In the evening we went to the Cathedral in St Louis for an evening Taize service which was beautiful before going on to Kim's cousin's house for a New Years Eve party.  We got home in time to watch the ball drop in Times Square, NY to signal the start of the new year.  It was slightly disappointing remembering that actually this was a repeat as the ball had dropped an hour earlier due to the time difference!  New Year's Day was another quiet day in front of the TV.

Can you guess which of us are real?

Inside the new Capitol building

  The next couple of days involved Kim having to work which did give time to do a bit of studying and a bit of relaxing.  Then, on the Friday we drove with a friend of Kim's to Springfield, Illinois (the next state across from Missouri where St Louis is) and visited the Abraham Lincoln museum and Presidential Library.  It was a fascinating museum retelling his life and giving visitors the chance to walk round his log cabin and the White House as it told the story of his rise to prominence, the Civil War and his subsequent assassination.  After visiting the library we drove through town to the old State Capitol building and then to the new one.  We were on the verge of arrest as we attempted to enter an elevator in the new building to go up to the floor with the Senate and Representative rooms, but thankfully the guard believed it was an honest mistake - probably demonstrated by the fact that we spoke to him as soon as he started walking over, and didn't attempt to take flight!

The Old Courthouse from the Arch

A view of the city

  On Saturday afternoon we went into St Louis and went into the Arch.  St Louis was designated as the Gateway to the West when the early pioneers set out to explore the new American lands.  So, in the 1960's they built a 630 foot arch to commemorate it.  After watching a film about its construction, in which I was amazed that no-one died during the building of it as there were no safety measures, we queued up to enter these little pods which took you to the top.  Thankfully it was a clear day and so we had a great view from the top.

One of Webster Hills' windows

  Sunday was obviously a church day and so, after the morning worship in which I read the lesson and led the prayers, we went to an Epiphany lunch at the house of a couple of church members, then went and shared in Communion at a residential home, before meeting up with some of the youth to discuss how they may be involved in worship.  Finally, and not connected to ministry, we visited another friend of Kim's to watch the first episode of the third series of Downton Abbey!

Inside the caverns

  On the Monday a couple from the church took me out for the day so Kim could get on with some work.  We went to the Meramec Caverns.  It was an impressive tour through the caves with many and varied stalactites and stalagmites.  It was also into these caves that Jesse James fled and even managed to escape out of by wading through an internal river.  After this I was taken to a working silica mine as the husband had previously retired as the plant manager.  As it was an above ground mine we were able to drive through the tunnels which had been bored out as he explained the process of mining silica, along with its many properties.

Inside the Basilica

One of the mosaics.

  After a quiet day on the Tuesday another couple from church took me back into St Louis on Wednesday.  We visited the Catholic basilica which contains the world's largest collection of mosaics.  Every picture and pattern on every wall and across the ceiling are made from mosaics - there are no paintings at all.  After this, and in a 'slight' change of tone, we went on a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery.  This is the company which makes Budweiser among other things.  It was a really interesting tour and even included a free sample.


 

The pep band

  Finally, Thursday evening Kim and I went to a basketball game.  This was the first time I had ever been to a basketball game and it was great to see how popular college sports are over here.  There were people of all ages present and they had a fantastic pep band (with the aim of pepping up the crowd) which must have had 60 musicians taking part and who played every time the game stopped.  It was a fun night, made even better by a St Louis Billikens victory.  Then, on Friday, it was time to pack and return to Atlanta, ready for the start of the new school semester.

Christmas in Decatur...

After all the adventures of driving on the wrong side of the road, I returned to Atlanta ready to enjoy a nice quiet Christmas.

An example of a Chrismon tree

  The festivities began with the Christmas Eve carol service at church.  Due to the popularity of the service they hold identical carol services one at 4pm and one at 6pm.  I was at the later service and the church was packed - and I understand it was similar at the earlier one as well.  There was a makeshift choir which met the day before to rehearse and then a tableau was created at the front by the characters of the nativity service as each reading was delivered.  The service ended with the lights being dimmed and every member of the congregation had a candle which was lit, and then we sang 'Silent Night' by candle light - a beautiful experience.  The other interesting thing of churches here over Christmas is the use of Chrismon Trees.  Apparently it is a Lutheran idea originally but they have standard Christmas trees but decorated with Christian symbols, which actually was really effective.

  After the service I went to a Christmas Eve party being hosted by a lady from the church.  As I still had a car I drove to it following someone else from church who knew the way.  After a lovely evening with good food and meeting some interesting people, I went to leave - without anyone to follow.  It had become very foggy and so I became quite disoriented and convinced that I had missed my turning.  I started getting slightly nervous as I was in an unfamiliar part of town - but thankfully then my turning appeared!  So I made my way back to church in time for the 11 o'clock service.  This was held in the old chapel and so there was a far more intimate atmosphere for the service.  I was involved in leading some of the Communion liturgy and also serving Communion - and then it was time to head home to the comfort of my bed!

The Mobley family

The Decatur blanket

  I had a lazy start to the morning.  Listening to the radio and having a late breakfast.  A family from church had invited me round for dinner, but they weren't eating until the evening.  Having read all the posts from friends who are now probationer ministers on Facebook about how busy those few days around Christmas had been, I felt truly blessed to have a quiet one to enjoy.  In the evening I headed back to Decatur for dinner with the Mobley family.  They have become good friends since I arrived here so it was great to share Christmas with them.  We had a traditional American Christmas dinner (so I'm led to believe) of ham, turkey, spinach casserole, sweet potato casserole and salad.  It was quite a dramatic mealtime with thunder rolling and bright lightning flashing throughout.  Not only did they cook a lovely dinner, but they also bought me a wonderful Decatur blanket with pictures of various Decatur landmarks.  I am really lucky to have been sent to Decatur First United Methodist Church partly because the church is great, but also because its in the middle of such a nice community - it is the one place I've been around Atlanta that feels like a British town.

Close up of the blanket

  I did also get an invite on the Friday after Christmas for dinner with a couple in Decatur who have links with the church, although they attend a different church.  The husband is a professor at Candler (which I didn't know until I got to their house!) and the wife works at the Decatur First pre-school.  I was surprised at how they had kept their English accents despite having lived in Decatur for 21 years.  The meal was capped with a home-made minced pie (and another to take home) - my only ones of the season.

Picture on front of the church bulletin

  My Decatur Christmas ended on Sunday 30th when I led the service at the contemporary Come As You Are (CAYA) service.  We had a number of people involved in the worship reading Scripture and reading reflections based on various characters from the Nativity story as we considered who we were in the Nativity story and why it was still important to engage with it.  With the regular CAYA band playing it was great time of worship - the first I have led since coming here.  Then I just had time to rush home, have lunch and pack before my ride to the airport arrived as I flew off to St Louis...