This blog began with my experience in Peru as an Incarnate Word Missionary and will continue to chronicle the footsteps on the path I make by living each moment through thoughts, questions, reflections, and stories. The title comes from the Antonio Machado poem "Caminante no hay camino" which tells how there is no road, the road is made by walking (se hace camino al andar). Blessings on the journey! Bendiciones en el camino!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
La Sagrada 11/3/10
Thursday afternoons are always strongly marked by the divine presence as it is the time when I teach basic literacy to older women in one of the poorer areas of Chimbote. Today was no exception as I spent most of my time working with Marcela (not my roommate). Marcela has the most difficulty reading of any of the women who attend classes and it is always a strong test of my patience to repeat the same exercises with her for hours. But thankfully the Spirit is working within me to give me the grace I need to be a good, loving teacher and move at Marcela's pace, not my own. These women really inspire me with their desire to learn when so many in their families tell them it is a waste of time or that they can't do it. Marcela told me she doesn't have a lot of support from her family and often gets frustrated that she can't remember what we just learned five minutes ago. But she keeps coming back, determined to push forward. Today we spent probably 30 min. trying to reinforce "ma me mi mo mu" so that she remembered how to pronounce each one by sight. I can tell when she gets frustrated or tired and try to provide enough breaks to relax her mind and eyes. It is tiring work because for her it is all new and requires new ways to use her brain, and for me because I have to have patience with the basics and try and imagine what it would be like to look at the letters and not understand. To a certain extent it is like learning a new language, but so much harder because you have no base language to work from with the ideas of vowels, consonantes, and sounds. So in the slow but loving progress that we make each week, and in the mix of patience, frustration, pain and joy, God is present and alive in this group of women taking a great risk and regaining some of their own personal power and worth.
La Sagrada 10/3/10
God came to me today in the form of chocolate, yes - chocolate. Sometimes it is the simple pleasures in life that just make your whole day wonderful or let you know that some kind of divine presence loves you - and that message was carried to me in the delicious mix of chocolate ice cream with chocolate brownie. I had actually been thinking most the day how long it had been since I had something chocolatey and was considering going to one of the nearby house stores and buying a chocolate bar. But thankfully before I went Jane came downstairs and said she was going to cook brownies. What good fortune! So I patiently waited while the brownies cooked and filled the house with the most delicious aroma. Then when they were finally ready to eat, Marcelle offered me some of the chocolate ice cream she had in the freezer. Double chocolate treat! So as I sat down with my bowl of chocolate brownie and chocolate ice cream and took my first bite, I was truely in heaven. mmmmm Gracias a Dios for Jane, Marcelle, and chocolate...
La Sagrada 9/3/10
As I'm writing this I am listening to the Christian rock music coming from across the street where a big Christian youth rally is being held. (I'm not there with the youth because it's not Catholic so we didn't know about it / weren't invited). It makes me think of Exodo, the Christian rock band of the parish that I serve: St. Francis of Asisi. One of the other missionaries, Courtney, is a singer in the band and most of the members are our really good friends. I sat in at the end of their practice on Tuesday since theater ended at 10pm and they practice until 10:30pm. I really love how they take a passion of theirs, music, and find a way to use it to express and celebrate their faith as well. There aren't a lot of opportunities for musicians or youth here, and while it's not a paying job it's really great to see the group so dedicated to what they do and enjoy. The band also has some major obstacles in developing as it would like to with lacking funds for instruments and also often lacking support from the parish priests. With Padre Raul now leaving in April as well there is a lot of uncertainty about who will continue to support the group. But despite those obstacles it is still an enjoyable and grace filled experience to sit in on their practices and listen to these musicians come together and give praise through their music. I always feel the Spirit moving particularly strong when I listen to music and let my spirit dance with the rythms and beats.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Trying to Catch Up
Being on retreat for a week has put me behind on my daily encounters with the Sacred so this is an attempt to catch up a bit. I'm going to just post one longer post later on the retreat in general because the whole experience was so blessed by the constant presence of the Divine in all that was and is. Therefore this post will start with Saturday, March 6th because the last day of retreat was Friday.
La Sagrada 6/3/10
Courtney's best friend from the States came to Chimbote for the weekend and one of the activities I did with them was to travel up the Sierro de la Paz, which is a mountain with a church up top, a giant outside rosary, event type rooms, and even a playground. The view was breathtaking as I looked out all over Chimbote: the islands, the ocean, the boats, all the buildings that make up the city, and then the surrounding desert. I always love getting a new perspective on things or seeing them from a different angle, and this was a pretty powerful perspective. We got a tour of the church including a visit through the catacombs underneath. When you are walking through the passageway to arrive at the catacombs it is pitch black and you just have to feel your way. Our guide explained this has a few different meanings: the idea of passing through purgatory or limbo, traveling from darkness to light or from being blind to being able to see when you enter the chapel area. Previous archbishops of Chimbote are burried there, as well as a space that remembers the two Franciscan priest martyrs from Periacoto. The church was beautiful and open and below there was a life-size rosary in the shape of the department of Ancash (which is the department Chimbote is in). It was a beautiful experience of seeing Chimbote in full with all that goes into the enviornment and economy to make the city what it is.
La Sagrada 7/3/10
Sunday held two special and sacred events. The first was a paseo I went on in the morning with our theater group from the parish. We went to an outdoor recreation type locale that had soccer fields, volleyball courts, and big shaddy trees to sit under. It was a beautiful morning filled with reflection, fun, sports, music, and community building. I always find God in relationships and it was beautiful to have some fun recreational time with the youth and just watch their interactions and see the Spirit moving within and between them in all that they do. I felt blessed to be part of this community and the life that it gives me.
In the evening we had the inauguration of the new Youth Center at the parish and combined the celebration with a despedida (goodbye party) for Padre Carlos who is leaving this week to spend a year in Italy. For the despedida each of the choirs sang a song and our theater group did a skit of Franciscan spirituality and service. I could tell from observing that Padre Carlos was a really important part of this Church and will greatly be missed by youth and adults alike.
The Youth Center was a dream of Todd's, a former IWM who was dedicated to the youth programs at the parish, and is finally being realized after years of planning and fundraising. There was a really big crowd that gathered and celebrated as the Padres blessed the new center and we gave a little tour, explaining our vision. There are three rooms. The first and largest will be a multi-purpose room for rehearsals, workshops, meetings, talks, etc. The second room is a bit smaller and will be a library. We hope to have about 3-4 computers that the youth could use for thier studies or parish projects as well as building up a library of resource books as well as just fun reading. The third room will be an office. Probably one of the missionaries will be in the office as well as the coordinators of each of the different youth groups. It felt great to finally be ready to start using the center, but there is also still a lot left to accomplish. The construction costs ended up being more than anticipated and so we are currently short on money for furniture and computers. If anyone who reads this blog would be interested in donating anything to help us furnish the youth center and provide more resources to the various groups please contact me and we can work out a system to send the money here. My e-mail is JennLay331@gmail.com
La Sagrada 8/3/10
On Monday myself and all the other missionaries were blessed to be treated to dinner by a number of our English students. I've been pretty impressed with the community that is being created through the English classes and as a sign of gratitude and to continue celebrating our community a group of students got together and invited us out to Pollo a la Brasa, which is really popular here and has entire restaurants dedicated to it (it's basically rotisary or roasted chicken). Our group totaled 13 and we shared across four combined tables friendship and stories in a mix of English and Spanish: Spanglish if you will. I was really touched by the offer of hospitality.
La Sagrada 6/3/10
Courtney's best friend from the States came to Chimbote for the weekend and one of the activities I did with them was to travel up the Sierro de la Paz, which is a mountain with a church up top, a giant outside rosary, event type rooms, and even a playground. The view was breathtaking as I looked out all over Chimbote: the islands, the ocean, the boats, all the buildings that make up the city, and then the surrounding desert. I always love getting a new perspective on things or seeing them from a different angle, and this was a pretty powerful perspective. We got a tour of the church including a visit through the catacombs underneath. When you are walking through the passageway to arrive at the catacombs it is pitch black and you just have to feel your way. Our guide explained this has a few different meanings: the idea of passing through purgatory or limbo, traveling from darkness to light or from being blind to being able to see when you enter the chapel area. Previous archbishops of Chimbote are burried there, as well as a space that remembers the two Franciscan priest martyrs from Periacoto. The church was beautiful and open and below there was a life-size rosary in the shape of the department of Ancash (which is the department Chimbote is in). It was a beautiful experience of seeing Chimbote in full with all that goes into the enviornment and economy to make the city what it is.
La Sagrada 7/3/10
Sunday held two special and sacred events. The first was a paseo I went on in the morning with our theater group from the parish. We went to an outdoor recreation type locale that had soccer fields, volleyball courts, and big shaddy trees to sit under. It was a beautiful morning filled with reflection, fun, sports, music, and community building. I always find God in relationships and it was beautiful to have some fun recreational time with the youth and just watch their interactions and see the Spirit moving within and between them in all that they do. I felt blessed to be part of this community and the life that it gives me.
In the evening we had the inauguration of the new Youth Center at the parish and combined the celebration with a despedida (goodbye party) for Padre Carlos who is leaving this week to spend a year in Italy. For the despedida each of the choirs sang a song and our theater group did a skit of Franciscan spirituality and service. I could tell from observing that Padre Carlos was a really important part of this Church and will greatly be missed by youth and adults alike.
The Youth Center was a dream of Todd's, a former IWM who was dedicated to the youth programs at the parish, and is finally being realized after years of planning and fundraising. There was a really big crowd that gathered and celebrated as the Padres blessed the new center and we gave a little tour, explaining our vision. There are three rooms. The first and largest will be a multi-purpose room for rehearsals, workshops, meetings, talks, etc. The second room is a bit smaller and will be a library. We hope to have about 3-4 computers that the youth could use for thier studies or parish projects as well as building up a library of resource books as well as just fun reading. The third room will be an office. Probably one of the missionaries will be in the office as well as the coordinators of each of the different youth groups. It felt great to finally be ready to start using the center, but there is also still a lot left to accomplish. The construction costs ended up being more than anticipated and so we are currently short on money for furniture and computers. If anyone who reads this blog would be interested in donating anything to help us furnish the youth center and provide more resources to the various groups please contact me and we can work out a system to send the money here. My e-mail is JennLay331@gmail.com
La Sagrada 8/3/10
On Monday myself and all the other missionaries were blessed to be treated to dinner by a number of our English students. I've been pretty impressed with the community that is being created through the English classes and as a sign of gratitude and to continue celebrating our community a group of students got together and invited us out to Pollo a la Brasa, which is really popular here and has entire restaurants dedicated to it (it's basically rotisary or roasted chicken). Our group totaled 13 and we shared across four combined tables friendship and stories in a mix of English and Spanish: Spanglish if you will. I was really touched by the offer of hospitality.
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