Sipi Falls

This morning we took an excursion to Sipi Falls on Mt. Elgon. It was nice to get out, as we'd spent most of the week here at our house working. The drive was about an hour, and again we passed through village after village. There is so much rich imagery, unfortunately it's mostly captured from a van going 50mph. The falls are a series of three, one we saw from afar and the second we were able to get under. The local boys give the tour, complete with swinging on vines from the cliff above.

Tomorrow after our presentation we trek to Jinja for a night, then Kampala. The team splits with most leaving and a few of us sticking around for safari Wed-Fri. Not sure if there will be internet after tonight, so I wanted to get some photos up before we move on.

LivingStone International Univ

Here is our site plan for the 4,000 student campus. We present it Monday morning...about 8 hours from now.

Photos

Day 7

Wow - So I'm really failing at the cyber aspect of this trip. And the photo aspect too! The survey crew has been getting the most cultural exposure, so I'll have to get their photos. Maybe I can get some in the later parts of the trip, but I feel kind of lame snapping pictures like a typical white tourist. I want the pictures, but I'm fighting the reputation/impression required in getting them.

The past few days, I've been mostly at the house doing computer work. The site plan is coming along, although we're running into constraints with high water table and marshy areas that are putting a damper on the plan! We'll get it figured out though!

Here are a few random thoughts. The house is working out nicely. There are four of us guys in a bedroom in bunk beds. I've got a top bunk, complete with my mosquito net. Still getting bit, so good thing for the pills. Managing to stay out of the sun though, so no issues there.

It's pretty hot. As in, you don't even need a sheet at night not. As in, if I'm moving, (and sometimes if I'm sitting) I'm always sweating hot.


The staple foods consist of a variety of starches, with some type of meaty stew on top. Matowkey (sp?) is one, it's mashed up plantains. The stews mostly have beef. I've been going for the chunks, taking it easy on the sauces. Luckily it's not spicy stuff, otherwise I'd be dying b/c we see it over and over at meals.

Everyone in Uganda has cell phones. Every little roadside village has shacks selling 'airtime' cards. Basically like calling cards that you dial in with on your cell phone. Incredible. Cell phone and internet coverage are not things I would expect on a trip to africa. We have both.

Catch yah later!

Day 4

So I just wrote out a big update to a friend, Travis and thought I'd just share it here as an update. I didn't take my camera today, so no new pictures. Big mistake! Saw lots of authentic Africa today!

Here's the email:

Although we're 4 days in to the trip, we're just starting the project really. There is so much travel involved that we're just now getting settled in. Tomorrow we have our big programming meeting with the university leadership, so that will really kick start all of the design.

Africa is interesting. It's definitely different that anything I've ever seen, but for some reason I'm not feeling too much culture shock. I guess there is enough that fits the stereotypes that it seems normal. And yeah, a lot of people do speak English (and want to speak English, I'm told) that it seems easier to be here than in Mexico. Culture is way different, but I'm feeling less culture shock. The driving to Mbale went through town after town with roadside stands of retails and various levels of huts/buildings/etc. The highway is filled with taxi vans crammed with people, bikers, and pedestrians. The bikes are loaded with stuff, ranging from water to sacks to huge logs. Crazy! And passengers sit on the racks on over the back tire too.

Today we had some real culture, going to church, lunch in town, and then out to the site which is a bit rural. It borders (and includes) some super 'authentic' villages - grass roofs the whole bit. Tons of kids coming out to see the mozungoo (or something) which means white people that have traveled from afar. Weirdest part - in the center of the land is a lady who is being displaced by the project and therefore doesn't like it. They are working with her clan and family to relocate her, but she's a bit off the deep end and doesn't understand that things will be better for her. Anyways, the group was doing a tour, the surveyors were working independently. One guy came in eyesight and she freaked out and started wailing and screaming at him. And then she 'shamed him' but pulling down her top (i guess basically flashing/mooning him). He was freaking out, not knowing if she was going to attack him or not because she was only a few feet away. And he was by himself and wasn't warned about her, so he had no clue what was going on. Definitely crazy to be standing on the side of the road with all types of people passing and this lady wailing in the back ground. That's the biggest wildcard so far haha!

Like I said tomorrow really starts the main bit of design. The team is good, lots of great people, but it is still challenging to work together having not known each other. Even today there was a bit of communication challenge. Add to that the fact that some preliminary design has been done, and it's a bit of a delicate situation regarding role, responsibilities, etc. Definitely need some prayer there!

Will keep you posted as the week goes on!

P.S.

What's with this? In Amsterdam, everyone was obsessed with these Dyson-like 'trollies' and insisted on using them. Even if they had wheeled luggage, only a small purse, or in this case, a backpack.

Night One.

So after 32 hours of traveling, I'm here. Here is Entebbe, but just for the night. Tomorrow we'll head up to Mbale, the city we'll be in for most of the trip. Our team of 16 all arrived, along with all but 2 bags. Not too shabby.
Preparation for the trip was honestly really hectic! I had about 30 hours after returning from NC on Tuesday night, and was scrambling most of Wednesday. I did however manage to sell a Jeep that afternoon which required going Denver. Awesome, but not helpful for the tight time line. On the way back to Boulder, I was scarfing down some Subway in the parking lot of Walmart (naturally)and was having a bit of a moment of overload. God showed up and I just felt him telling me to 'be still' and reminding me that He was in control.(psalm 46:10) I took a moment there to just relax and surrender things to Him. What a needed reminder and relief, experiencing His presence in the midst of a bit of chaos. That afternoon I got a chance to visit then 1-day old Banner Nelson. Awesome! What a precious gift Jared and Kristen got this week! Wednesday evening and into Thursday was mostly packing, and after a solid 40 minutes of sleep, Amir hooked me up with a ride to the airport at 4am. What a huge blessing!
Once I got to the airport, the rest of trip was pretty smooth, no real glitches, and not even that painful. Going through Detroit and Amsterdam split up the long legs in equal 7.5 hour portions which seemed to help a lot. Plus those planes are pretty tricked out, with individual screens, movies, music, etc. The first leg, I was in economy plus and got spoiled without knowing it. The second leg I was in the cheap seats until the flight attendant asked me "Howard yurt dewing wheat the legrum? To which I replied "uhhhhh" and was offered an open seat (or 3) in economy plus. Nice! Thanks Ms. VanLarsenburgen, or whatever your name was. =)
It was a short trip to the hotel where we are for the night, competing for wireless bandwith with about 4.5 million mosquitoes. Good thing for bug spray and nets. Now if I had only thought of bringing a fan.....hummmm
Will keep you posted as I can!

Wow.

So here we are a year and half later. Much like last time, this trip has found it's way to me with little effort on my part, and with a short time frame in which to make a decision. I was so overwhelmed at the invitation, particularly in processing the decision given all the other craziness going on in life (need separate blog for this haha). BUT, I was reminded of when the disciples first followed Jesus.

It was rather simple really, they were going about their business when Jesus showed up and extended an invitation. They had the opportunity to simple accept or decline his offer. Surely a lot went through the heads, but ultimately it was a yes or no question. Their decision was yes, and so is mine. Uganda here I come.

Mark 1: 16-20

Fri/Sat/Sun - Oct 3,4,5

So I lost track of the journal! It’s Sunday now as I’m writing this and I wasn’t able to write Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. I’m a little bummed, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Thursday night ended up being an all nighter for me. I was up until just after 5am finishing the plan and finalizing the graphic. I figured I’d go ahead and stay up, then be able to cruise in the morning before leaving for Arriaga. We found out they had a projector, so that saved having to do a hand rendering.
This was a good decision and it was nice the morning to be finished and meant I had plenty of time to take a shower and get ready. I was so tired - the week had caught up with me leaving me mentally and physically exhausted. A lot of the team is sick with some type of flu. I’ve had some congestion, but others have it bad with fever and bad cough. Not good!
After lunch on Friday we headed down to Arriaga for our presentation. Our designs were well received and everyone seemed to like the master plan. Afterwards Tammy was expressing her thanks to the team and was talking about their desire for excellence and to live and serve in ways that are excellent because it’s all for our God. She said how nice it was to have a team of people who were excellent at what they do working on the project and helping them achieve this with the ranch. It was so nice to hear, as I was striving to provide a quality design and it took some effort to get there. So often the approach is areas like this is one of apathy, thinking it doesn’t matter because it’s just kids or it’s just rural Mexico, but all week I didn’t want to go that route – but rather one of quality. It was great to hear they were of a similar mindset and would appreciate an attempt to raise the bar.
After our meeting we got to spend time with kids before dinner and it was a great time of interaction. We had a lot of fun and I got some good photos of the kids. Although I enjoyed being there I’m kind of glad we didn’t drive there every night. It’s over an hour each way and our van is full. Without the rear seat, two people have to sit in the back on the floor. One guy didn’t travel with us today, but I took my turn in the back. Not fun! It was nice passing on the gifts I brought along, and Tammy was so thankful to receive them.
Friday night we have a few more testimonies. I was so tired and growing weary of the trip and being surrounded by people all day everyday.
Saturday was our tourist day. Bill and Kevin (a helper at the orphanage) drove up to be our guides. Kevin had a truck for all of our luggage, allowing us to put the rear seat back in the van. We loaded up and went to Tuxtla, where we checked in and dropped off our stuff. We continued up into the mountains to visit a tourist town named San Cristobal. I was tempted not to go and simply sleep at the hotel, but I wanted to get some photos. It was about an hour drive (through some thick fog) to reach the city but we arrived safe. I’m glad I went because I think I got some unique photos. San Cristobal is a historic town and popular tourist spot for Europeans. It’s packed with old colorful buildings and had a flea market type place with all types of junk of questionable authenticity. After learning of this I was weary of purchasing anything, but finally bought a little $2 woven something from the ladies hounding us the street right as we were about to get in the van.
Saturday night we had dinner in Tuxtla and then a debriefing meeting. At dinner I sat at one end of the table near Bill and Kevin. We had some good laughs which helped so much! I had spent some time with Kevin in San Cristobal as well, he’s a cool guy. It was unfortunate he wasn’t around for most of our trip because he’s recovering from hepatitis. Um humm…I’m glad I got the shot! But I digress…
After dinner I was so tired, in a bit of a bad mood and just wanted to go to bed! We mostly finished up testimonies and skipped the list of closing questions as most people were tired and sick. However, during the meeting I got a bit of a second wind and was hoping to hear more about what God had done in other people, but since everyone was so sick we ended it. I did have a good conversation with Tom that night, but we had to get to sleep as the shuttle to the airport left at 6am.
As I’m writing this from Mexico City getting ready to fly to Houston, the trip home has been much easier now that we know the drill and am more comfortable in these surroundings. Here at the gate there are more Americans around, which is interesting. I’ve been with a team the whole week, but for some reason it feels weird. Where did these people come from? Haha. It’s only been a week, but I guess it’s a bit of culture shock. It’s been a significant enough step out of my comfort zone to shift my mindset away from the familiar. The thought of being back in the states feels a bit weird, and almost foreign itself, and the thought of letting my guard down seems a bit boring – bringing the thoughts that the adventure is drawing to a close.
I’m pretty much exhausted and ready for some time alone to myself. Being along for the ride and on a fixed schedule is taxing and has caught up with me. Off to Houston, then Denver, then home!

Thursday - Oct 2nd

It feels like things are winding down, even though they’re cranking up work wise. With the routine of working and the house it feels more normal, like a typical work day at the office. Most folks are around now working on the more detailed aspects of their assignments since the site plan has taken shape. I still have a lot to do, so tonight will be a late one, but I’m able to write a bit b/c there isn’t a computer available right now.

Wednesday - Oct 1st

Today was a bit different than the rest. Last night when I got to the room people seemed a bit restless, so I decided not to shower or stay-up to write and do my devotional – opting instead to wait until the morning. Plus I was tired and needed to get to sleep.
I woke up at 6am with a stomach ache – guess that soup got me. Luckily I wasn’t too tired, so the plan of deferring everything to the morning worked out well, except for the local construction workers wanted to talk to me while I was trying to get the devotion done haha. Our morning time we talked about God’s provision – including His provision of the Holy Spirit. There was an interesting question about the spirit in our lives. Do we feel more like the disciples following Jesus while He was here on earth (somewhat lost/confused), or after Pentecost having received the Holy Spirit which enables us to do all things? It was challenging to think about.
My initial thoughts were the former, although I’m challenged to live more as the latter. It’s Christ’s power in us through the Spirit which enables this and one of the verses spoke to me. John 15: 1-7, particularly verse 4 “remain in me and I will remain in you.” For awhile now I’ve been challenged to spend more time in God’s word and prayer, and here made the connection of the two things. Spending more time with God (remaining in Him) will help enable me to live in the Spirit, able to do all things (through Christ remaining in me). Pretty cool!
Today was the first day I didn’t go out on site, instead staying to work on the computer. I got some of the plans from Jane and Tom and had a chance to input on some of the design. I feel good about the direction we’re heading.
Ronai – a local architect involved with the orphanage – stopped by the see how our work was progressing. I did my best to explain the logic behind the site plan and he seemed to understand, saying it was ‘muy bonita.’ It was nice to get some confirmation from someone involved with the ministry. I’m hoping to get Bill and Tammy’s thoughts tomorrow!
Dinner was pretty low key and we dismissed afterwards instead of having our usual meeting as a number of people are getting colds and some flu like symptoms. Today was actually a bit chilly with some light rain, so that didn’t help, but hopefully with the extra time people will get good rest. It’s nice for me to able to get caught up with some of the journal online and maybe get to sleep earlier too. I’m hoping to get the site plan wrapped up, then build up graphic details for Friday’s presentation.

Tuesday - Sept 30th

Man was I tired this morning! The last two mornings I’ve been able to wake up and others are getting up and moving about, but today that was not the case. I didn’t set my alarm and didn’t wake up until someone woke me up as breakfast was starting. After our morning time most of the team went back out to the site. My main goals was to find a good orientation for the main cluster of buildings (school, admin, MP) The formal architecture warrants placing the buildings at right angles to form a center plaza/courtyard space but last night it was hard to imagine how it would work out as we couldn’t remember the topography and exact views. Getting back out on-site was awesome! After about 15 minutes standing out there and trying to visualize a solution, God revealed it to me. He set it up so well! The way the flat area of topo is oriented, there are 3 awesome views, all set up at right angles. Exactly what I needed! It was so great realizing this and got me pumped about the design. Praise God! It’s one of those times were I feel like the site and buildings were intended for this location and will fit excellently.
After a few hours on-site we came back for lunch. Tammy was there with Jordan and was talking architecture with Jane and Tom. She also brought her cook named Charita to stay with us for the week, so bring back the authentic cuisine! Bill is apparently really sick, so he stayed home. Hopefully he can rest up and get back with our team as his input is invaluable during this process!
I spent the afternoon drafting on a computer, as we now had the topo for main portion of the site. The plan is coming along well, and the site is working nicely.
After dinner we had a couple more testimonies, and I was able to share mine. I never really think of my story as all that exciting – especially having followed a guy named Sam who came to know Christ in Korea despite being surrounded by a family and entire village of Buddhists and ancestor worshippers. After I was done I was thinking about my story and feel like I need to change my perspective from my story being uneventful (because it’s not filled with big drama or struggles) to one of God’s grace, provision, and blessing!
Tonight is the first time my stomach is a bit upset, interesting as yesterday was the most American food we’ve had so far. Go figure. Actually for lunch we had some type of red stewish stuff, so that may be the culprit. It’s not too bad at this point and I don’t think it’s anything serious.
After most of the team had headed to the rooms, Jane and I were up drafting in the common area while Charita was cleaning the kitchen. She soon joined us at the table to sort and prepare some black beans for upcoming meals. Tammy had mentioned she was so excited to come and serve our team, but also very nervous because she didn’t speak any English. Charita seems so nice and outgoing and she was chatting a bit with Jane, who speaks pretty good Spanish. I was at the far end of the table, and was participating a little while typing up some journal entries.
After a while there was a knock on the door, and Charita’s friends showed up with some meat for us. Gabi and Jorge own a carneceria in Tuxtla, which they visit once a week, and were stopping by on their way back down to Arriaga. They were so nice and it was fun trying to converse with them, telling them about Colorado and how people visit for the mountains and snow. They kinda made fun of me for saying “sabo” instead of ‘se’ and said I was like a little kid learning Spanish but that it was good I was practicing. Oh well haha. Now intentionally saying ‘sabo’ is a running joke with Charita, along with counting thousands of black beans. It was so cool interacting with them in a fun context (not the airport) and again inspired me to improve my Spanish. My listening skills are so bad!
God continued with the mountain metaphor today, reminding me of the name of the ranch. With the realization yesterday that the ranch was in the palm of His hand, He reminded me the ranch will be called el Ranch del Alfarero – the Potter’s Ranch. It totally fits! The kids will be delivered into the palm of the potter’s hand to be molded and transformed into the people God intends them to be! Amen!

Monday - Sept 29th

Today was our first real work day, and was spent on-site by most of the team. Each day we’ll start with breakfast at 7:30 followed by some worship and group devotion. One of the verses for today was revelation 5 about glorifying God and giving Him all praise and honor. It served as a great reminder of my intent with this trip. I was challenged to make a ‘bigger deal’ about god – his greatness, both internally in my mind and heart, but also externally in expression to others. He is truly is worthy and deserving, but I think I sell him short in this area a lot.
After this time we spent about 3 hours on site before returning for lunch. The site is only 10-15 minutes away, so the clinic offers nice access back and forth. I was on my own which gave me a good chance to do my thing – walking the property and trying to get an unbiased perspective and feel for things. The weather today is so greats. I feared and expected really hot temps, but it’s actually not bad. It’s still hot and there is definite sweating going on, but there is a constant north to south wind which helps so much. I spent the morning walking the front part of the site, and the longest property line running along the southern edge of the site. A lot of it is open meadow, having been cleared in the past but views and ability to walk can still be limited by tall grass and brush. With the survey crews needed lines of sight, many paths have been cleared by local farmhands. Working my way along the southern boundary meant crossing 3 large ravines and creeks, and scaring off quite a few lizards. I thought they were fairly big (8 inches or so) but I’ve since learned there are actually 2 ft iguanas so I guess it’s a matter of perspective! I set an alarm to be sure I would allow enough time to get back to the van for lunch – but as it was going off found myself in grass over my head. I thought there was a path nearby, but it was dead end. It didn’t take long to decide to turn-around and find another way!
At the rear of the site I caught up with the survey crew and Miguel (a local). I did my best to converse, but only understood some of what he said. I did get to use a word I learned yesterday – viento – to say it was a pretty day and the wind was nice. He agreed. While waiting for the rest of the team at the van some of us talked with other locals, Luis and Luis - father and son farmhands. Jonathan – a civil engineer – was asking them about their experience with the water levels in the creek we need to build a bridge across. I was trying my best to listen, but really was just hoping to get some photos – particularly with their old school john deer tractor Luis senior drove up on. It was parked in the shade, but hopefully they turned out good! I feel like the culture will offer the most unique photos, but I’m hesitant to the ‘tourist’ with my camera out taking pictures! In this case I specifically asked the, and they seemed to have fun posing for them.
Lunch was a spaghetti-ish dish, and while it was OK, it wasn’t as good as the food we had the past couple days at the orphanage. As much as I was nervous about the food, I missed the authentic cuisine.
The afternoon was spent on-site doing more explanation. I was trying to take a step back and look at the big picture in regards to building locations, but my outside the box thinking wasn’t producing many worthy options. I did however get a vision for a significant part of the design – organizing the homes around a recreation field and orchard area which would serve as a buffer to the most private areas of the site and provide a cool transition when walking back and forth to school. Towards the end of day the engineers were digging across a lot of the site and running into a high water table, so we’ll see what input they have for these ideas.
Dinner was sandwich stuff (again missing the cook) but fine by me. After dinner a few people shared their testimony and then I went to work on MP concepts as people are waiting for my design. I talked with Jane about the progress her and Tom made on the school design. They had accomplished a lot, and we began trying to visualize how the main cluster would be laid out with the school, admin building, and a multi-purpose pavilion.
I’m a little disappointed that we won’t be spending the nights with the kids at the orphanage, but it’s just as well because it would be a lot of driving and we need the time to work. I’m getting tired, and tonight is my latest night yet, but overall it was a good day. I’m feeling like I need to push the design to keep others going and hope my workload will lighten up as the week goes on. I’m praying that God will give me some inspiration, solutions, and endurance. Tomorrow morning will be here soon!
While out of site, I was looking all around at the mtn views that surround the site. I quickly realized that it wasn’t the highway overlook, but the ranch property that was the palm of God’s hand. It was cool to think about that, and kids being delivered into His hand in the future!

Photos.

The rest of the photos are up...I'll be working on typing up the journals tonight.

General Trip Photos

Home Again

I've arrived safe and sound back in Boulder and survived my first day back at work. I'm obviously way behind on the blog, but did spend some time sorting photos from our tourist-y afternoon in San Cristobal.

I'll try to get the blog up to date soon, in the mean time enjoy the photos:

San Cristobal Pictures

Sunday - Sept 28

I got up at 7:45, just in time for a light breakfast. I slept pretty good, there are a few snorers in my room, but the packing list included earplugs so I’m prepared and protected. One of those things you think about, but then say ‘I don’t want to be that guy who shows up with earplugs’ - but since they were on the list I brought them. Good call!

After breakfast we loaded up to return to Arriaga to join in worship with tammy and bill’s church. They meet in an old cinema, accessed through a narrow alley behind a row of storefronts. I was pumped to worship this morning, but full expected to be completely lost during the entire sermon. Having gone to the Urbana conference in 2003, I was exposed to some Spanish songs and wondered if Id hear anything familiar. This past week, a friend named Dave let me borrow a Salvador CD which also had some Spanish songs including one called Montana – which we did at Urbana. I was asking some of team members if they heard it before while we were loading the van at the clinic, but they hadn’t. Sure enough, when we arrived at church the very first worship song was Montana. Are you catching on to this mountain theme God’s got going on here with me?? It was like He was again saying Here I am! After that song they had about 40 minutes of worship -which is just awesome by the way, I wish I had that every week. The other songs were unfamiliar, so I mostly stood with my eyes closed and listened as everyone else sang. It was a passionate (and friendly) group and truly a honor to join with them their pursuit of god.
As is turns out Tammy preached this morning and happened to preach in English with a translator. Partially for us, and partially to ensure that the message gets across as clearly as possible. It was a great message about having a pure heart in our pursuit of God, and based of 2 Chronicles 25:2. Tammy spoke about how it was possible to do much good for God but still miss the entire point. WE can have so many motivations (good and bad) – the most important of which is love.
After church we went to the home to have lunch and spend the afternoon with the kids. We had a great meal (a late lunch is the biggest meal of the day) with beef, rice, beans and some burrito taco type things, corn tamales and some weird fruit that was like a mix between a sliced peach and some type of melon. I’d never heard of it before and the name didn’t stick. Go figure. It was great, but again I took it easy.
I then changed clothes and went out back to play with the kids in their rear courtyard area. We played soccer and volleyball while others played tag, colored, played on the swings etc.
After awhile we left for the local soccer complex, where they have a small stadium and numerous smaller fields around it. We had enough for 3 teams, and rotated on and off. Of course I had to score a couple goals. There is a young guy from Canada named Franz, who is helping at the orphanage for a month or so who plays and is quite good. He was the main competition. We played for a few hours until kids started getting tired and hurt. Some guys from the church started showing up and Franz told me they came out and played every Sunday. He invited me to stay and play but unfortunately I couldn’t because I knew we had to finish our meeting with Tammy and Bill and if I didn’t ride back on the van it would likely be a few hours before I could get another ride. However, our design team waited while bill took a van load of kids home – so I did get to kick around with a couple of the guys for a few minutes. They were pretty good. It was funny because they wanted to juggle as a group – but didn’t know how to tell me in English and I didn’t know the right words in Spanish to try and help them (forgetting words like grass and air). Finally I remembered ‘earth’ and got it across that I understood. It was fun to kick around, too bad I couldn’t stay. Franz later told me they ended up playing a full-sided game versus a local team and ended up losing at the end. He didn’t get back until we were almost leaving, so it’s good that I didn’t stay. It was so hot and humid, but a strong breeze helped. Apparently the windy season started today and the place gets crazy amounts for the next 3 months.
It was great connecting with some of the kids (Carmelo, Jordan, Tonya, etc) with soccer as language is a bit of a barrier. I’m just not confident with my Spanish and am so horrible at listening that’s it’s hard to ask questions. I’ve never been so motivated in my life to speak Spanish. For some reason being here flipped this switch in my mind for Spanish and I feel like I should be speaking it all the time. I’m even thinking thoughts to myself in Spanish despite not needing to and talking to team members although we all speak English. I was actually a little disappointed that church wasn’t in Spanish because I kind of wanted that forced immersion in a controlled environment. I wish I knew more and could listen better! Spanish class in high school had no meaning or significance, but I wish I had more of this motivation back then to learn and that I had more conversational experience than studying grammar.
When back at the home, Jane, Tom and I finished our program conversations with Bill and tammy to get more MP info and architectural program details. They have a pretty cool vision and are so confident that God is going to make it all happen! So often, camps I work with fail to make anything of their master plan and years go by with little action. This thing however seems to want to explode and doors are opening to make it happen! I hope to be able to put the full effort into this design as I get to at work and am hopefully that God will bless me with clarity and vision for something great despite a short time period and lack of design process.
We had a quesadilla dinner and drove back to the clinic. More pepto, small portions and god’s grace have kept my stomach perfect so far. He’s easing my biggest fears coming into this trip and I’m so grateful for this! We got home around 9:30 after getting stuck in the mountains behind some big trucks. The time allowed for a conversation with Jane – an architect on the trip – about our pre-trip experiences. It’s cool to hear that I’m not the only one who God brought about in a short time frame and completely blessed with provisions needed to go! Jane had an awesome story about her financial support coming in exactly as she needed it to, trusting God in faith that he would provide donors without her specifically asking. More amazing testimony of God’s miraculous ways!
I’m up late again, preparing for tomorrow’s devotions and had a nice (cold) shower after the rest of the team has gone to bed. This journaling is taking some time, but so far is a cool process and I hope to be able to keep it up each night. Not only do I forget events, but with time I express less – so I want to get it out and on paper while it’s strong on my heart and mind. There’s been so much to take in each day I fear I’ll overlook great things that happen if I try and wait and summarize later!
Here’s some more on the whole mountain thing. On our drive from the clinic to arriaga we travel down a huge mountain range, with open views over a massive valley. Think 321 from Blowing Rock to Hickory. It’s so inspiring! As we were driving I was looking at the formations looking at the mountains surround the valley. The thought came to mind about being in the palm of god’s hand…with the mountains being like God’s hand, cupped and holding us. This phrase had never meant much to be before, but is so cool to think about in this context – with God continuing to declare His presence and provision in this situation. It’s cool that have this continuing to build from yesterday. How great is our God!?

The Orphanage.

You can tell these kids are so loved! They seem happy and are surrounded by such great people – Bill & Tammy – and so many others from the community and local church. You can tell they really respect and love their ‘parents’. It all seems so natural and normal – like one big family. It’s incredible to think of this occurring on a larger scale - exposing more and more kids to the love and care they deserve and were created for. I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s so encouraging to see God’s blessing on these people and this place.

It’s history and story are filled with so many miracles. God’s hand is all over it – from Bill and Tammy coming to Arriaga – to finding the only house for sale that was ‘way too big for two people.’ They set a 2 week closing date despite not having any money, and God provided the funds to by it in cash in that short time! Leaving the home one night, Randy so accurately observed that Bill and Tammy absolutely live by faith! It’s so inspiring to see and be reminded of God’s works in those who are faithful servants, placing their trust, reliance and entire lives into His hands.

Yesterday at lunch Tammy told a few of us about the story of a set of 3 brothers who live at the home. They have quite a few kids who have been taken into government custody, including these 3. They were taken from their alcoholic, abusive father, but after a few months of pressure and threats were unfortunately returned to him. Bill and Tammy were obviously heartbroken, but had a strong sensing from the Lord that they would return. They knew that the father would simply sell most of their possessions, so they choose to send the boys off with very little, saving the rest in storage for their return.
Sure enough, as the months went by, they were hearing horrible stories of the father’s behavior. They asked those telling them to report it to the government to build the case for the boys to be returned to the home. Finally, after the dad threatened a police officer with a machete, the government told them they could take the boys back. The problem now was finding them because the dad was on the run and hiding.

Bill caught word that the boys were in a particular town, so he headed there with two kids to try and find them. As they were driving Bill felt they should stop and pray for God’s guidance. After praying he asked the boys what they heard. One of the boys, named Jordan (who is 10) said “God told me to go to the pavement and turn left.” So, Bill did just that and began following the paved road out of town. After driving for a few minutes, Jordan spoke up again and said “God says we’ve gone too far. We need to turn around, they are behind us at the white house.” So they turned around, went to the white house, and sure enough found the boys unattended in the back yard! Uh yeah….Incredible! They are still at the home, recovering from years of malnourishment and abuse, but are apparently doing well! Praise God!

Saturday - Sept 27th

The hotel is Tuxtla is super nice. Some of the design elements from the states are cheap here, like tile and stone - so they are used extensively. I got about 6 hours of sleep, getting up around 7 for an 8am breakfast. You can change a man's pais...pero you can't change his sleeping patterns! I definitely could have used more! At the clinic there is supposed to be a rooster, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow morning!
We went back to the same restaurant as last night for breakfast and after a brief welcome to mexico - don't drink the water team meeting we packed up to head west. It was about an hours drive to the medical clinic where we'll be staying for the week and was actually a helpful time. There was light conversation, but mostly time to myself. I dozed off a couple times but was able to spend time thinking and praying. After the challenges of the past few days it was good to take it to God. This past week my friend Travis was praying for me and I remember him praying that my travel would go smoothly and keep me excited for the rest of the week. This was so helpful to have in my mind and repeat to myself as I needed something to keep me focused despite the distractions. The travel frustrations had left me a bit discouraged and even with a few "i don't want to be here" thoughts last night and this morning.
On Thursday a song came on my iTunes at work based on Psalm 145. It caught my attention enough for me to read the chapter this morning. It talks about praising God - him being great and worthy and was a challenge to read. It was good though - to intentionally choose to pray through that and worship him. On the van ride I was thinking through all of this and talking with God about what I was doing here. Feeling a bit lost & out of place, it was so great to have the time in the van because it forced me to process with God. There was no outlet or distraction to turn to, but rather I was immersed in thoughts. God totally blessed this time!
Naturally, as we were driving I was comparing everything to what I've seen before - different colors, architecture, traffic, etc - but as we left town and traveled the countryside the surroundings became for familiar. We were traversing a large, flat agricultural area surrounded by lush mountains. It was incredible b/c when I looked at the mountains I instantly felt a sense of peace and connection. I always feel most at home in the mountains and here found comfort in being among them compared to the very foreign urban landscape. This revelation brought a sense of peace and the feeling that everything was going to be OK. I feel it was God giving me a sign of his presence and his promise to me. He used the mountains to say "Hey Bryon, I'm here. I'm going to take care of you." What a huge blessing and turning point that was! It reminded me of the rainbow God sent as a sign of his promise to Noah. It's a powerful image in my mind that I hope to carry for a long time.
We arrived at the clinic - a small compound (for lack of a better term, although it is fenced in) which contains a medical clinic and some homes for visiting doctor teams to stay in. It's just outside of a small town called Cardenas, and the closest larger town is Cintalapas. The guys are staying in a duplex style building with 5 guys on each side. We found out they have satelite internet, so hopefully that will help keep everyone posted!
After unloading we left for the ranch site, which is about 10-15 minutes from the clinic. We ate lunch there and spent time doing a preliminary walk-through with Bill. We walked around for a few hours, seeing and hearing about some of his initial ideas for development. This was a bit nerve wracking because everyone was speaking in somewhat absolute terms - saying this is the location for this and that. I'm thinking, OK, so why am I here? I was relived when Bill said to me - there are our ideas but you've got to tell us. It was good to hear his openness and I tried to offer confirmation by encouraging that it was best to view the big picture and take a step back to filter ideas before getting too sold on one. He seemed to agree. It's so interesting to be here with the team of professionals all at once. Typically I'm used to a slower process where the survey, the master plan, and engineering are done in sequence. Here it's all going on at once! It's kind of interesting being the planner (an early step in the process) and having others ready to jump into very specific tasks like digging holes for perc tests when I have no clue where the buildings will go. It's kind of hard having to be so non-committal so it will be interesting and challenging to balance the systematic process I'm used to with the nature of trip. It will much more collaborative and integrated which I think will be a good learning experience professionally - although a part of me feels the potential to be hindered with the design. I don't want to have a 'tail wagging the dog' so it will be challenging to balance all aspects . The prayer is for unity in vision here! I pray God works it out and that it go smoothly.
After leaving the site we drove about one hour through some gorgeous mountains down to Arriaga where the orphanage is. It's a medium size town and a fairly urban setting. The kids are really nice and you can tell they really respect Bill & Tammy. We had a tour of the home and on our return to the downstairs we were greeted by 'Carmelo' with lemonade. We were nervous about drinking it because it wasn't clear at that point they only used bottled water and bagged ice. We'll find out in a few days. =/ We were sitting around chatting and it was fairly quiet because a lot of the (16) kids were napping. We weren't having our program meeting because Bill had to leave to get our van looked at. Jane - an architect on our trip instantly connected with the kids and soon left somewhere with them. I'm pretty sure I hadn't talked about playing soccer with anyone - but for some reason Jane came back and told me the kids wanted her to ask me if I would play soccer with them. I was so surprised..how did they know? It was a God thing - He knew it was something I wanted and needed! They have an enclosed back yard, with a small concrete court with tall walls on 3 sides where we played. It was so hot! I was on a team with Carmello and we played (with a bunch of others) against a kid named Jordan and a house helper from canada named Fronz. The game grew quickly and soon included Jonathan. He's so small I almost didn't recognize him! What a fireball! That kid has so much personality and spunk - he's got to be a handful! Apparently he is hilarious but he speaks so quick in 5 yr old spanish I couldn't understand! Actually they don't know how old he is...they asked who told him he was five and he said "I told me." Umm humm...a handful.
We had dinner with the team - rice, beans, chips and some type of chicken - cooked in a broth like chicken noodle soup. I took some pepto, and so far am OK. It was good but I limited myself and stuck to a small portion and ate more chips and rice than anything else. I'm probably going to stick to that plan - I've got some clif bars to supplement if needed. I may be a little hungry and may lose some weight, but I'd rather lose it from not eating much that from getting sick. Keeping my fingers crossed and taking the precautions.
After dinner we had a meeting with Tammy and Bill to discuss the mission and vision for the ranch. I mostly led the discussion as it's something I'm accostomed to from working with camps. I think it went well and others agreed. We got a lot of info that we'll use to start the master plan - the goals, objectives and design drivers for the facilities. More to come on that.
Bill drove us almost all the way back to the ranch - where his truck was at the property manager's house in a nearby village. That way we could only drive a short way at night and he'd return to Arriaga. So that he wasn't alone he brought along Jonathan and Carmelo - who ended up on my lap since our van is full. That village was authentic mexico! Off the beaten path for sure. A dozen gringos in a big van sure can turn some heads. We came back to the clinic and were pretty quick to bed. Brenden - a surveyor from Canada - who's been here a few days ahead of us - had his laptop out so I was able to post a quick hello. My side of the duplex was quick to sleep but I showered and sat outside to write on the porch. It's a cool night with breeze and light rain. Occasionally some mist blows in which is awesome. I've (obviously) been out here writing for awhile = it's such a gorgeous night - another sign that reminds me 'Hey Bry- this isn't that bad..you can do this." More later...this is time intensive to update!

Friday - Sept 26th

So we arrived safe and sound in Tuxtla. It was quite a trip. I basically spent all night Thursday night getting ready and only slept for maybe 20 minutes. I 'woke up' at 4am to shower which didn't allow me time to catch the bus, so I ended up driving. I made it to the airport early enough to get about 45 mins of sleep on the airport floor before my teammate Randy called to meet up at the gate. Randy is from Parker (south of Denver) so we traveled together on the 3 flights here. (denver to houston to mexico city to tuxtla gutierrex). The flight to Houston was packed, but the others not bad.
As I was walking down the jetbridge leaving Houston I thought "here goes nothing, time to take the plunge" - knowing there was no turning back and when I got off the plane I would be in a foreign place. The flight was fairly empty, and I had a row to myself so I was able to catch some more sleep.
Mexico City is crazy huge! It was a maze of streets and buildings flying over. No desire to go there! The airport there was the most challenging part of the whole trip. Customs was quick and easy although my large duffle got checked to see what food i was bringing in. Then the real fun started. Our ticket for the final leg had no flight info - only saying the airline name and to check in at the gate. It sounds simple, but it took a fair amount of wandering and a number of awkward conversations and helpless moments to realize we had to catch a train to another terminal, check in again at a ticket counter, get a boarding pass only to learn it didn't have a gate yet, and figure out where we needed to wait and watch a TV to eventually find out gate. Luckily we had the time to figure it all out.
It was very challenging trying to communicate - finding someone who knew how to offer the help we needed and trying to explain our situation in broken spanish without the key vocabulary such as gate (sala). Honestly it was frustrating and made me pretty uncomfortable & vulnerable. It's a hard realization to know you have little control and are at the mercy of those around you!
The team all met up at the gate for the flight to Tuxtla where we were picked up by the director of the orphanage, Bill. We loaded into the van and drove to our hotel. Silly me for thinking that flying into Tuxtla and staying in Tuxtla would mean a short drive. It was about 45 minutes from the country and windy roads into the city. On the rural parts of the drive, cars were passing us as we were passing those on the shoulder - and in the city, who knows what the real rules are. I was in the back seat so i couldn't quite see what was going on but we were doing our fair share of braking and weaving. The trip did allow a chat with some team members which was good.
We arrived at our hotel and had a late dinner at some american-ish chain next to the hotel. Everyone is pretty tired and after checking in we all just went to bed. I'm staying with Sam - an water engineer from Florida, originally from Korea. Breakfast is at 8, so it will be about 6 hours of sleep for me after staying up to write.
Today has been pretty rough - I'm tired - and feeling pretty anxious and stressed. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone here and the airport didn't help much for my confidence! I'm don't seem to do well with 'being along for the ride' and this week will be a lot of that. I hope it will get better once we get into a routine, but the unknowns are weighing in the mean time. My is already gurgling a bit and hasn't really been tested. I think stress is a likely culprit there, so I need to chill. I'm being reminded to trust and rely - and that is not about me!