St. Andrew's UMC In Mission

GUATEMALA MISSION - We're Home!

2011-07-17T11:27:00.023-05:00

We did not have internet service after leaving Guatemala City for Lemoa, so blog updates were impossible. We are now home....so here is an overview of our Mission. Words or pictures do not do justice for what our time in Guatemala has meant to all of us. We were touched by God often, we saw His hands at work with our team and with the people of Guatemala. We have our individual stories....and there are many of them. Following is an overview of our mission. We look forward to sharing more of our story with you!

We headed out to Lemoa Tuesday morning. It took about 4 hours to get there through scenic towns, winding mountain roads and lush green fields planted on steep mountain slopes.

We arrived at the Methodist retreat center excited to get ready to work and also put on VBS at Hogar del Nino Huerfano Orphanage.
We worked construction projects at the retreat center in the morning and VBS in the afternoons.
We learned how to mix concrete by hand, make rebar, pour concrete and plaster walls. We finished sidewalks around two sides of the community meeting building and also plastering the back wall. We moved dirt, sand, rocks, etc to mix with the concrete for the sidewalks with the help of two Guatemalan workers. We were able to finish our project by the end of the week in spite of the fact that it rained/poured down every afternoon.

The afternoons were spent doing VBS at the orphanage. There were nineteen children and we all fell in love with them. It was extremely hard to say goodbye on Saturday morning as we all had developed deep relationships.

Children Lined up from local elementary school for our gathering!

On Friday we invited the children from the local elementary school to the Community Center for fun & games, a Bible lesson and singing. Almost 400 children showed up along with their teachers. We had a wonderful time interacting with the kids. At the end we gave each child a baggie containing Ms. Nancy's famous "yellow bowl" chex mix.
As we leave Guatemala, we reflect back on our week here with mixed emotions: sadness at saying good bye to our many new friends, joyfulness at having met and played with these precious children, and hope that we have planted seeds and showed them God’s love through our actions. No doubt we all will return home changed individuals having seen the hands of God so many times, felt His presence continuously and were blessed beyond our imagination.

The start of day 1 - repairing of the battery cable

Glass!

Repairing Windshield - Tape and cardboard

Sifting sand for conrete

More sifting!

Jeanie getting to know Maria

Mixing concrete

Preparing concrete forms

constructing rebar

Plastering outside wall

Mixing more concrete

Filling forms with concrete

Plaster job coming along

VBS Bible story

VBS Crafts

"Older" Kids Crew

Hands of Christ!

Methodist Center in Lemoa

Hard at work

Produce market in Chichicastanango

Yes....more concrete mixing!

School Kids lined up for program

Kids enjoying the program

School kids posing for the camera

Ms Nancy has their attention

Team Singing for program

Team gathering at the bank.....preparing for lots of shopping in ChiChi

Team in the produce market

Church in ChiChi

Orphanage kids participating in program

Orphanage Kids listening to program

Orphanage Kids younger crew

Orphanage Kids middle age crew

Older crew

Making "yellow bowl" mix for school gathering

Kids activity - Trust Walk

Skit we performed for the orphanage

Kids hands.....after assembling blankets

Kids love to see pictures of themselves

Working on Blanket

Game time at orphanage

Yep....we wanted to bring them home with us!

Kids room

Saying goodbye was not easy!

GUATEMALA MISSION ....the team has arrived!

2011-07-12T09:02:00.004-05:00

The team at la semilla Guatemala City

The team made it safely to Guatemala City. We are excited about riding the Chicken Bus to lemoa ....well some are? Bus pulls out at 9 for a 3 to 4 hr trip. The whole team is anxious to get on the road and start our mission. We now have 2 new members. Donna leggett and Rhonda miller have joined us......we miss you Andrew and JD. We've already been touched by God in many ways and are excited to see He has in store for the remainder of the week. pray for us as we pray for you.

Guatemala Mission - Time with Nick Miller

2011-07-09T22:42:00.049-05:00

Boarding "Chicken Bus"

On Friday we were fortunate to join with Nick Miller and the Students International (SI) team. We caught the Chicken bus up to Magdalena with the SI teams to visit their work sites. We were amazed at all that these student’s had done in their two week mission with SI to Guatemala. They lived with host families in Magdalena, which is the town that Nick lives in. They helped with various projects in this area. From agriculture, social work, micro finance, helping in the elementary school and social work in Hermano Pedro hospital in Anitgua, these students experienced first hand what it’s like to help the Guatemalan people.

Kids performing for the team at El Gorrion elementry school

The kids at this elementary school performed for the team. Then we visited some of the classrooms. After visiting each site the team gathered and prayed for specific prayer requests for each site.

Some of the SI Team

The teams gathered for a banquet Friday evening in Magdalena for a celebration and closure of the two weeks they had been serving in this community. At the banquet they shared many of their experiences during their stay. We were very much touched by their testimonies. It was obvious that God was truly at work through these kids making a significant impact on this community.

Throughout the day, one of the things that really stood out for us was the emphasis on building relationships with the people. It was a blessing to spend time with Nick and the SI Teams in Magdalena.

Kids playing in the street in Magdalena

SI Closing Banquet

GUATEMALA HOGAR DEL NINO HUERFANO ORPHANGE MISSION

2011-06-28T17:12:00.002-05:00

Children of Guatemala

St. Andrew's UMC Guatemala mission team leaves for Lemoa Guatemala on July 11, 2011. Our mission travels to Guatemala City then enbarks upon a three hour bus ride to Lemoa. Lemoa is located north of Guatemala City in a mountainous region of about 5500 feet.

Hogar del Niño Huerfano

http://www.samaritanhands.org/hogar/ is an orphanage in rural Guatemala sponsored by the United Methodist Church. There are currently 18 children living in the orphanage, and two full-time adult staff members. We will be doing some construction, as well as VBS for the children. We are planning a community gathering on Friday evening, inviting the VBS parents, familys and friends.

Our team consists of:

Sarah Hahn, Jeanie Howell, David Howell, Sarah Redpath, Nancy Waller, Kasey Waller, Dylan Leggett, Logan Leggett, Richard Leggett, Ken Musick, John Daniel Roy, Joshua Duke, Andrew Tarver (team leader). We are also excited that Nick Miller will be joining our team for the week!

MORE FACTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT GUATEMALA
The highland area was one of the hardest-hit by massacres and destruction of villages during the years of guerrilla rebellion and army repression. These began in the 1960's, escalated after the 1976 earthquake, and reached a peak during the 1980's, tapering off slowly until a peace agreement was finalized in 1996.

Recovery from the 30-year civil war has been very slow, with many setbacks. The Iglesia Evangélica Nacional Metodista Primitiva de Guatemala (IENMPG) was active in emergency relief work during the period of the worst repression, with help from the General Board of Global Ministries and other agencies.

As a result of its violent and tragic history, Guatemala is at or near the bottom of the international rankings that indicate general welfare in Latin America and Caribbean countries: literacy, infant mortality, life expectancy, nutritional status, family income, etc. In Guatemala overall, the average level of schooling is 2.3 years. In indigenous regions such as Quiché, it is 1.3 years, well below the 3-year minimum considered necessary to achieve functional literacy.

The national economy is chronically in crisis, with high unemployment and inadequate wages for those who are fortunate enough to have jobs. Pastors in the Methodist Church do not receive salaries, but support their families by farming; by small businesses or selling in indigenous markets; or by hiring out as construction workers. Recently a few churches in the U.S. have begun support for some of our Methodist pastors by donating a monthly stipend to assist their ministry. More assistance of this type is always welcome. VIM teams have made critical contributions to the survival and function of the IENMPG, which in turn plays a vital role in improving the spiritual and material health of its members at the individual, family and community levels.

Dulac Mission - VIVA.....as we return home!

2011-06-25T15:05:00.001-05:00

I write this blog at home on my family's computer. We are all back in Baton Rouge now. I think we are all glad to be able to sleep in and relax. On Friday morning, last checks of bags were made, and everyone said farewell to the place we had called home for a week. Our ride back was relatively uneventful, with one stop for gas, and another stop for restrooms. Many tried to sleep, but only a few were successful. Robert was a little late, after convincing Mr. Ken Musick to go fishing. But other than that, no hold-ups. So we arrived back to BR at 10:30, only to realize no one had keys for the friendship building, and no way to get all of our gear inside. Fortunately, a key was found fairly soon. The parents waited patiently though. Some even acted happy to see their children again. So there ended our adventure in Dulac. But now we look forward to more of a vacation in Panama city for Big Stuf newt week. It's been a pleasure writing this blog. I'd like to thank Mrs. Nancy for volunteering me to do this, Mr. David for his guidance, and everyone else for their input. THis was only my first year, but it won't be my last. So goodbye, and VIVA!
Nick Saunders

Construction team at Ms. Eula's

UMM Cook Team - Cooked Jambalaya and invited the entire Dulac Community!

VBS Closing Progam

Serving the community dinner

Happy Servants!

Community gathering for Jambalaya dinner

Pinata time.....crowd control!

This is the end of a great week in the Dulac Community. We had over 40 youth and adults that served the community at times during the week. We did construction, building porch covers at two locations. We cleaned and stained the ramp walkway at the community center. We stained a porch at a local resident's home. We did Fiesta VBS for the community childreen, including some pick up and return services. We cooked and provided a Jambalaya dinner for a community gathering to close out our week. The kids, young and old had a great time serving and God provided a gift to us all!

Viva till next time!

DULAC MISSION - Thursday

2011-06-17T16:27:00.005-05:00

STAY Dulac Blog 2011

Thursday morning began early for the working teams at 6:00. The morning birds then had the fun job of waking up everyone else. So we started work with a group of happy and invigorated porch builders, and grumpy painters. That morning I had been assigned to work with Porch Crew #1 at Mrs. Eula’s house. This was very different from the slower and monotonous job of painting the deck. Porch crew #2 was working in scorching heat also. A lot of improvisation and real hard work was required. And all the while as the staining crew started a new project at Mr. James’s house, we began building handrails and supports for a porch cover. After a hard morning full of construction, we ate lunch and listened to Jack as he paraphrased every single line of Forrest Gump. And this rendition included voices for each character as well as motions. We then had a short siesta before VBS. This fun time was washed down with a delicious dinner of rich and hearty beef stew with rice and vegetables. To work off the pounds from dinner, we entered a local Zumba class at the gymnasium next door, allowing some of our youth to show their dance skills in front of a crowd of locals. This workout sufficiently wore us all out, and all were ready to shower, until Mr. David had the great idea to take a field trip in the van to see some gators. After this trip, everyone settled in and got ready for a new day of work the next morning.

The next morning the crews woke up ready to finish the jobs. Everyone was ready to acquire the owners’ sign of approval and happiness. Fortunately all of our new work seemed to fit the needs of the wonderful people who let us come, and work on their property. Unfortunately, neither of the porch crews finished. After all of the crews got back most of us took showers, and prepared for the VBS finale. Every one who came got to listen to the wonderful voices of all of the kids who took part in VBS and ate awesome Jambalaya made by our wonderful UMM. After we all had to pitch in and help clean the gym it took roughly about an hour, and was quite easy. After our evening devotion everyone was just piddling around. This included messing around with ductape, random conversations, and making the final preparations for the thing we all so desperately missed… home.

Nick and “others”

Mr. James and Mr.David giving us direction on staining the porch

Hard at work staining

Mr. James sharing his huricane pictures and stories

Fiesta ......VBS is going great!

Fiesta! Kids are loving it!

"feeding" the gators!

Robert....who is watching who!

Team building porch cover at Ms. Deloris....framing is done!

Team building porch cover at Ms. Eula's.....lookin good!

Porch at Mr. James

"Ace" Paint Team

Team hard at work!

Mr. James and the "ace" paint team!

Porch cover going up!

DULAC MISSION - TUES - WED

2011-06-15T16:05:00.038-05:00

Staining Ramp

Wild Bunch!

It has been almost 2 days since we have updated this blog, so I will begin by talking about Monday when we left off. While we were updating the blog, a challenge was taking place. Jack was complaining of boredom, and he bet Phillip that he could be tied up and escape in under an hour. Unsurprisingly, since Phillip is an Eagle Scout, Jack failed. Then, our last four travelers, Madison, Savannah, and the Wallers arrived. With them arrived plenty of extra food, thankfully. Later on in the afternoon, we all helped set up and organize everything for Fiesta VBS this week. Next came a delicious dinner of noodles and meat sauce, and later on, improvised fishing and more VBS set up. The following morning kicked off bright and early, with one crew staining the deck, one crew building a porch, and another one still setting up for VBS. The deck was almost halfway finished, and a lot of headway was made on the porches. After everyone had showered, and in some cases napped, we made the finishing touches to VBS setup as the first few kids trickled in. We had 33 kids for the first day! VBS started with a slightly embarrassed and confused Jack, Madison, and Savannah singing and dancing in front of the kids. Then came a “lifting” bible session with Breanna, Hunter, Andrew, and Mr. Harold. Next, everyone was tired out by Robert and JD’s games and made a picture-perfect craft with Sarah, Sarah, and Mackensie. And finally, Kasey and Miller’s hard work paid off when all the kids loved the cupcakes they had made for snack. Then everyone gathered and regrouped back at the gym for a final song with Jack, Savannah, Madison, and a new addition, Ali, the two year old girl being carried around on Madison’s hip. Finally, when, all of the kids had left, the youth and adults settled in for a nice dinner of homemade jambalaya. After the antics of the previous night, not as many people were up to fishing, but some of the diehards still ventured out for the evening, but returned with only leftover bait, Robert’s wet pants, and plenty of bug bites. With plans for an early start, everyone hit the hay pretty quickly. But not quickly enough it turned out. It seems many of us are not morning people. Personally, I discovered that a knife banging a coffee mug is not the most pleasant sound to wake up to. Thankfully, by the time most people were up, the senior high traffic had cleared out. The remaining people were all assigned to the task of staining the deck. This job was made easier with a promise of 30 minutes extra sleep for the first person to stain their section of deck, with quantity, and quality both being factored in to the judging. Unfortunately, before all could finish, we ran out of stain. We finish this blog at this not-so-dramatic cliffhanger. So come back to this site soon to learn how all of our projects have ended up.

Building Porch

The Cooks!

Getting Crafts Ready for VBS

Fiesta Time!

Porch building team measuring for cut

Awesome Group

Great Music

VBS Games

Bible Teaching

Getting Ready for VBS Fiesta

DULAC MISSION 2011 - MONDAY

2011-06-13T16:57:00.004-05:00

STAY Dulac Blog 2011

Our trip started out with lots of fun in the usual fashion. The 3 vans and their entourage were filled with 18 youth and 7 adults, with 2 more youth and 2 adults on the way. The ride was long, entertaining, and full of hand checks, except for in the co-ed car!

Our first stop....FUMC Houma’s Youth Room was a great place for darts, pool, and ping-pong. We enjoyed pizza and fellowship with their youth, and later learned a new game, “Underground Church”. Spies deceived, missionaries gathered, angels saved, guards chased, and kids screamed. All in all, the game was a lot of fun. When we finally arrived at the Dulac Community Center, we were greeted by a stifling lack of air conditioning in the boys’ side. Everyone survived the night, and started the first day of “work” with no food in the building! Fortunately the delivery truck came quickly, and we ate breakfast a little late! Work was still to be fully defined and determined, so an intense game of Phase 10 was started in the meantime! All in all, we perhaps had a little bit too much free time the first day, but tomorrow will be much more productive! We did get a great start on the blankets that VBS will finish to send to Guatemala, and also pressure-washed the deck! Two other teams drew up plans for building projects for the next few days.
Todays Blog by: Nick and Miller

Pressure washing deck at Community Center

Sorting clothing we brought for the Community Center

Preparing for VBS

DULAC MISSION OVERVIEW JUNE 2011

2011-06-01T16:01:00.004-05:00

Here we go again…..back to Dulac for the third year! We could not be more excited as we will be in Dulac from June 12-18. We have 35 youth and adults signed up to go. Some new things are in store, we will not only be doing our usual construction and repair work, but we will be doing VBS in the afternoons for the community kids. Then on Friday evening we are inviting the entire Dulac community for dinner!
Here is a little overview of Dulac, Louisiana: Set in the bayous of the southern reaches of Terrebonne Parish, this is a place where water and swamp outnumber dry land in square miles. It is the home of interesting mix of hearty people, about 51% Houma Indian and 49% Cajun. The Houma Indians originally had settled in the Red Stick (Baton Rouge) area of LA, then moving south to Houma and finally down to Dulac (meaning "the land beyond the lake"). For some 300 years the Houma have lived in the vicinity of the Grand Caillou and LaFourche Bayous as fishermen, trappers and farmers. Their southern LA villages remained very isolated for many years. Until the 1940’s there were no roads to Houma community’s beyond the city of Houma and the only way the people had to travel was by boat.

The devastating hurricanes of the past few years have taken toll on this community, with much wind and water surge damage to homes with little protection down in the marsh. Our team will spend five days working on homes doing minor construction, painting and repair.

We are asking for prayers for safety and protection and that God will do His work through us. Keep your eye on this blog and follow us along the way!

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - Final days... Siem Reap

2010-11-08T20:35:00.027-06:00

We arrived in Siem Reap for our last couple of days in Cambodia, we were treated to a awesome dinner buffet and traditional Khmer dance show.

as the show went on.....opps we looked up and there was someone who crashed the stage, his costume does not seem to match?

Siem Reap had a "night market" for shopping...it cost us dearly!

The next morning we left out early for a full day. First off was to visit Siem Reap Methodist Mission Center....a vision of Joseph and Marilyn Chan. Two years ago Ken and David visited the Center and Joseph described his dream....today it is becoming a reality....we were amazed at the progress. The property now houses a school for 25 children, kindergarten and preschool. A fishing pond and rice field are now providing food for the community. The vision is to have primary school and eventually a high school. Sunday services are now held, and a Church building is now in the planning stages for construction.

School children at Siem Reap Center school.

Beautiful children........ beautiful faces of the children.

Children on the playground....the School is now open!

It does not get any better than this....they followed us around laughing and playing, we wanted to bring them home with us....

English teaching classroom!

Ken presenting gifts from ST Andrews team.

This was the classroom in 2008 and now converted to dormitory. Note colorful mosquito nets......malaria and dengue fever is a major issue in Cambodia.

Field were rice is grown to support the Center and feed the community. The new Church will be built at this location.

Ok...we are on to Angkor Wat....temples built in AD 800 - 1200. We are a little giddy at this point! .....going home tonight.... I think Romy is showing Larry something about the Khmer Dance?

Ok, finally got them to calm down and smile.....note the main temple is in the background.

Angkor Wat main temple.

The forest taking over the ruins.

What ever it takes to hitch a ride...Esther and Jeanie going for a ride... we counted as many as five on a motorbike at one time. This is the standard mode of transportaion in Cambodia.

Oh yes....that is worms, eating away, or should I say being fed. Our next vist was to a silk farm where the worms are fed well and taken care of....before being killed.

Ok....the worms being killed (cacoons are put in the sun to kill the worms).

Removing the silk from the cacoons.

The silk is dyed then the weaving process is begun. The the entire process is all done by hand.

On our return home, we had a stopover in Seoul South Korea. As it turns out Asiana Airline will take you on a "city tour" if you have eight hours or more layover. We spend a few hours touring Seoul. Here is a picture of the "Blue House" (Korea equivilent of the "White House").

A tour of Chogaesa Temple, largest temple in Seoul.

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - KAMPONG THOM PROVANCE

2010-11-05T17:05:00.017-05:00

Scenes along the drive to Samrath Methodist Church. This church is in a very rural area out from Kampong Thom. We enjoyed the drive out to the church. Although the road was very bumpy and rough, the scenery was beautiful.

We had to share the road with many types of vehicles. The water buffalo pulling carts was a pretty common sight.

David looking over the parsonage construction project at Samrath Methodist ChurchNotice the progress, the walls were up by the day we left.

The team resting on the steps of the church.

Our part of the project was to move the bricks and sand to the back of the church where the parsonage was being built.

Scenes from around the village we were at.

Water buffalo were everywhere.

The children from the church pitched in and helped us with our job.

David showing Romy how to lay brick....ha?????

Larry & Romy moving brick.

Cart full of bricks!

Everyone watching while Larry shovels sand!

David show the kids his magic tricks!!!

Chuck fitting the people with eye glasses, we gave out over 100 pair of glasses.

The people of the community lined up for eye glasses.

The men showing off their new eye glasses.

Tara, Chan Hak (District Supintendent) and Pastor Rath Oung.

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - Back to Phnom Penh & Visit to Schools and Orphanages

2010-11-05T16:43:00.026-05:00

Sunday we attended Holy Mountain Church, a medical mission team from Colorodo had arrived the day before so we all attended! Here are the two teams along with many of the church members.

We visited Cambodia Light Children's Association.

The children performed several traditional Khmer dances. They were very good and we enjoyed the performances.

We were greeted by the children at Methodist Prek Toal Church school. They were a joy to be around!

The Methodist church supports the Kien Kalang Orphanage. We found the children doing chores when we arrived.

The food side of the Russian Market. It is quite an experience!
Our team with Esther & Tola at the GBGM office.

Night in Cambodia. Shopping at the Russian Market. We all had a great time. Esther is quite a negotiator. We didn't know Larry liked to shop so much.

Russian Market fresh vegetables.

The children at the dump site school performing for Mary & Jeanie. They were so cute. We really enjoyed watching them.

The dump site school children.

CAMBODIA MISSION 2100 - GBGM

2010-10-30T09:55:00.032-05:00

While the guys were at the men's conference the women worked at the GBGM office helping Irene & Clara.

Irene is missionary over the Health part of CHAD (Community, Health, Agriculture & Development) in Cambodia. Clara is in charge of the Children's ministry.

Dorrit, Soksophan (Sophal), Mary & Jeanie. She works for Irene. She told us her story about losing her mother, father, sister & brother during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia and how she became a Christian.

This was our transportation to the General Board Global Ministries

(GBGM) office. Uncle Sam was our driver all week. It was quite an experience going through the crowded streets of Camobia in this tuk tuk.

Jeanie, Clara, Mary & Sophal at GBGM Headquarters.

Some of the GBGM Staff.

One of the projects in a slum area of Cambodia.

This was deplorable living conditions. Words cannot describe how bad it was. Clara has a project going on there where they teach music and computers to the children that live in this area.

This is the music school. The music teacher works for Clara and lives in this very small room. Seven other people live in this room also. She teaches music to the children in this area. She has 30 students. They were so beautiful and were so excited to see us. They sang us some songs and then we gave them the cards from the children's Sunday school classes at St. Andrews. They were thrilled! They gave us some cards to bring back to the St. Andrews children. Their

music class won 1st in competition and they are 2nd in the country of Cambodia. Clara was very proud of them.

Here the children are showing off the cards the St. Andrews SS classes sent them. They were so proud of these cards.

This is the dump site school. The Methodist church supports this school which is next to the dump site.

The children singing a song to us.

Children at School

Mary and Jeanie getting to know the children!

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - Men's Conference Day 3 & 4

2010-10-30T03:34:00.024-05:00

The final meeting day talk was lead by Kennedy Cruz a missionary with Community Health Agriculture and Development (CHAD). His topic was “Helping the Financial Situation of our Families and Country". Ken truly has a gift for teaching. He led the men on a brainstorming session of issues preventing financial security. He suggested many Bible Scriptures for references to guide the men.

They broke into groups to come up with solutions, which they presented to all the men.

Kennedy discussed opportunities for small business financing. This was a great learning opportunity for the men.

This day as every day was filled with Praise and Worship!

After lunch we boarded buses and went down to the beach. Sihanoukville is located on the sea with beaches along the coastline south of town. This was an exciting time for the men as most of them have never traveled much outside their own village. Most had never been swimming much less seen a beach.

The night after the beach trip we met back together for more praise and worship, a day wrap up and communion........And yes one very special BIRTHDAY FOR LARRY!!

The team made and distributed agape bags for each of the men!

Bright and early Friday morning we boarded buses for the four hour trip back to Phnom Penh

Loving faces spoke volumes as the Men's bus pulled out of the parking lot.

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - Men's Workshop Day 1

2010-10-26T21:21:00.043-05:00

Physical Training starts the day. Led by one of the Cambodian pastors we do laps and stretching exercises. Like the St. Andrews Prayer Trail, both body and soul are exercised and strengthened.

Both the Cambodian and Louisiana flags decorate the Conference Room to emphasize the support of Louisiana Methodist Men for Cambodian Methodist Men

The youngest member of the men's gathering is Mang who is 6 years old. His parents are HIV positive so he has been adopted by the church to prevent his inadvertent infection. He's a sweet, well-behaved child who was a precious part of the experience. He was particularly taken with Chuck Reynolds. Chuck is 6' 4" tall. Mang has never seen anyone that tall

David Howell opened the talks emphasizing the Bible as Gods Word and the source of guidance for men's lives.

Chuck Reynolds gave the next talk teaching how to use the wisdom of the Bible in our lives.

The men are separated into table families to discuss what they learn from each speaker's talk. Each is requied to peform a skit, song or poem to the group to show learning of the topics. We sure had a lot of fun with this!

Animals were used to designate each table groups. Horse, pig, cow & cat. The men separated into groups for the first table meeting by making the sound of their animal. Barnyard theology at its best.

The Men preparing for skits!

Ken Musick built on using the Bible by using the story of Joseph's life to demonstrate the many lessons of faith and obedience it contains.

One of the men uses a crutch to walk. Chuck diagnosed his condition as an unhealed broken leg. This was one of many ways he used his medical training to improve the wellbeing of the men.

Music was a big part of the day. Awesome leadership by Tola and Tara!

Cambodians have a practice of keeping time by clapping while they sing. This adds to the experience and emphasizes the joy they feel in singing praises to God

Harold Choate continued the application of Bible wisdom with the story of Peter's vision of a creature filled blanket being lowered from heaven. God used this to show Peter that the gospel is for everyone and all men are to hear and be baptized.

Dr. Romy del Rosario, Cambodian Country Director of United Methodist Global Board of Global Ministry, on more than one occasion stated his delight with the participation and enthusiasm of all those involved.

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - Monday travel to Workshop

2010-10-26T01:37:00.024-05:00

Monday…..the Men’s workshop/retreat is to be held in Sihanoukville about 150km from Phnom Penh. We thought we would share some images as we traveled over from Phnom Penh to the port town of Sihanoukville. The travel time was about 4hrs, as roads are not good, traffic is horrible and stopping often for road construction. It was good to get out in the countryside being quite a difference from the city.

You think BR traffic is bad, you have not seen anything........

Rice Field everywhere

Garden Hill Hotel

Dinner is served....where is the rice?

First ever Cambodia Mens Workshop.....and it was primarily sponsored by ST Andrews UMC!
"STREGTHENING THE FAITH AND LEADERSHIP ABILITY OF THE METHODIOST MEN". There are twenty Lay Men, two from each province along with several pastors attending the workshop. This is the first time many of them have ever been out of their village or area of Cambodia they live. Most have not ever seen this part of the country or seen the sea or beach.

Many of the men have never seen the sea, they are awestruck.

Dinner and fellowship

Putting the finishing touches on the Men's agape bags

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010 - travel & first weekend

2010-10-20T10:12:00.035-05:00

Well we found our way from ST Andrew’s parking lot (3:30 AM) on to Dallas, then on to Los Angeles. We boarded Asiana Airlines to Seoul South Korea then on to Phnom Phen. The trip went really well. We made all our connections. We got a little sleep on the flights.
Asiana Airlines is really great. We were served steak the first meal. They took good care of us.
We arrived in Phnom Penh a little before midnight on Friday, Oct. 22.......It was hot! We recieved a great welcoming at the airport from Esther, Nicolas, Tara and Tola.

We settled in at the Golden Gate Hotel and got a few hours sleep.

Phutty with GBGM met us to take us to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek where more the 20,000 people were killed between 1975 and 1979 during the Pol Pot regime. It was a very somber place.
Then we visited Toul Seng S21 (the Genocide Museum) where thousands were tortured during this regime. Mostly intellectuals (doctors, engineers, teachers) were tortured. No one was safe. Even members of Khmer Rouge were tortured here. Before the Pol Pot regime, this place was a school. It was very difficult for all of us. It is hard to understand how this could happen? Most of us remember the late 1970’s when he was in power for four years……. when such atrocities were happening in Cambodia.

We visited the Faith Engine Ministry. They have 7 students currently. It takes $350 to sponsor one student. This includes their tools, training, & room & board for 14 weeks. Most of the trainees come from poor families. This ministry provides youth both skills and confidence to help make them more productive members of the community.

Sunday we visited the Spean Chivet Methodist Church. Larry preached to a standing room only crowd and our group sang them a song. The service lasted for about 2 ½ hours. It was great! The people were so warm and inviting. We had lunch on the grounds afterward and visited with the members of the congregation.
Later, we visited the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

The service at Spean Chivet was powerfull....eight people responded to the alter call and gave their lives to Christ!

This image is what the Spean Chivet Church looked like before the new church was built. The Pastors Parsonage does not look much better....It has been flooded many times, is in disrepair, and has termites eating away at any wood that is still there. We have been requested to pray to God to provide a replacement parsonage. Estimated cost is $6,500. Please add to your prayer list, it seems so little could answer such a great need.

Latter Sunday afternoon we went over to the GBGM office for a team meeting.

Bringing Louisiana and Cambodia together!

CAMBODIA MISSION 2010

2010-09-25T14:55:00.030-05:00

CAMBODIA MISSION IS HERE.........
The Louisiana Volunteers in Mission (VIM) mission to Cambodia leaves from New Orleans on October 21. The five team members from St. Andrew's are Harold Choate, David & Jeanie Howell, Larry O'Dell and Ken Musick. Other team members are Chuck Reynolds, Mary Holland, and Dorrit White. The generous hearts of many have provided a major portion of the project fee that will cover the entire cost of a 5-day men's retreat plus provision of construction materials for work projects at rural churches the second week we are there. This will be the first time ever the men of the Methodist church in Cambodia have gathered. Lay and clergy from all 10 districts throughout the country will gather together to learn God's work and learn how to provide Christian leadership in the home and the church. The first week while the men are at the conference, the women will be working in the Global Ministries office. Many have contributed through your prayers and financial support. ...THANK YOU! We look forward to sharing this experience with our friends and family. Keep us in your prayers as we are traveling from October 21 and returning November 4. Save this blog address, sign up to be a blog follower and we will keep you updated as we can.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF OUR ITINERARY
*Thursday Oct 21 - Depart New Orleans
*Friday, October 22 - Arrival in Phnom Penh
*Saturday, October 23 - Rest and tours in Phnom Penh, Killing Fields, Toul Sleng, Orphanage, Dumpsite
*Sunday, 24th - Worship at Spean Chivet Methodist Church
*Monday, 25th - leave for Sihanoukville,
Ladies remain in Phnom Penh to serve the CHAD mission as the men are at the Conference.
*Tuesday 26th – Thursday 28th Men Conference – "Strengthening the Faith and Leadership Ability of the Methodist Men."
Topics:
- How to read the Bible for Inspiration and Guidance
- Bringing up a Family that is truly committed to Christ
- Improving the Economic Situation of our Homes, Churches and Communities
* Friday, 29th - Travel back to Phnom Penh
Visit Cambodia Methodist Bible School, the Faith-Engine Mechanics class and Methodist School of Cambodia
*Saturday, 30th - Rest and Tour more of Phnom Pen
*Sunday, 31st - Worship in the Holy Mountain Church,
Travel to Kampong Thom
*Monday, Nov 1st - work in Samrath
*Tuesday, Nov 2nd - work in Samrath
*Wednesday, Nov 3rd - Visit Siem Reap Methodist School (new school opening on Oct 5th), Tour Angkor Wat
- Departure home

And So, We Say "Good-bye"

2010-07-02T10:04:00.011-05:00

Well, today is our last day! Its been an exiting, busy week, full of all kinds of service, and, of course, fishing. As Savannah said, "This is the most fun I've ever had!"( I quite agree.)
Overall, it was a safe trip, save for one minor injury. (A sawhorse broke, and fell, scraping Kasey's leg.)
At Ms.Pierre's house, we made another discovery. There was a cabinet that had been nailed shut, and we managed to get it opened. The things in the cabinet weren't as old as the things in the attic (the things in the cabinet dated back to 1989, while the attic went to the 1960s.) Still, it was an exiting find, and Ms.Pierre was kind enough to let Jordan have one of the toys.
We re-painted the ceiling, painted the walls, and cleaned her kitchen. The boys put up a Wayne's Coat, and put trim on the top.
It was the return of the caulk. Kara and I caulked over the nails, and then we all re-painted the trim. [Ms.Pierre also made us a cake, which we brought back to the community center. It was VERY good. :) ]
After dinner, (Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, and banana pudding that didn't make it to the end of the line.) we did what we always do. We went fishing.
We ended up splitting into two groups. One group was over by the bridge, the other group was on a pier that you had to walk through bamboo-like plants to get to.
I believe the first group caught a fish, (I'm not sure though.) but I think they threw it back.
The second group (the group I was in) almost caught a gator. And by "almost", I mean "he was two feet away from the pier." (He was going after the bobber on Kara's pole.) We ran. Quickly.
This morning, some of us returned to the dock, but the alligator was nowhere to be seen. (Thankfully.)
Our job today was to finish up the work at our respective job sites. Most people went to work on painting the gym, as the community center will have fifty children next week for Vacation Bible School. The rest of us cleaned up the dorm rooms, the bathrooms, and the commons area. After that was taken care of, it was time to go to our job sites.
We returned to Ms.Pierre's house, to clean up the house, pick up our tools, and leave her some information so she can finish her house. It was very sad, leaving her house. We unfortunatly didn't get to see her today to say good-bye, but we left her a note on her counter.
Now, everything is all packed up, and ready to go. The suitcases are waiting to be put in the vans, the sheets are off the beds, leaving them looking quite empty. Everyone is finishing up their jobs, and it is quite reluctantly that we say good-bye to Dulac (For now.)

[We expect to arrive at the church sometime between 3:00 and 4:00.]

2010-06-29T12:48:00.056-05:00

Well, we made it to Dulac safely, (Hooray!), about two-thirty in the afternoon. After unpacking the vans and claiming our beds, we headed off to "A Cajun Man's Swamp Tour", where we saw some beautiful scenery, and heard some pretty cool Cajun music. We even saw a few Alligators. :)

After the swamp tour, we went to Bayou Delight for dinner, and had some VERY good food. Sometimes, they have Cajun dancing, but not that night. After a SUPERB dinner, we headed home to the Dulac Community Center, were we had a short devotion, and went to bed.

On Monday, we went to our job sites. Before that, however, John came to talk to us for a bit, about Dulac, the history of Dulac, and the community center. (While he was talking, the power went out!) Eventually the power came back on, and the rain stopped, so we divided into different groups and left for our job sites.

The group I was in went to a house belonging to Ms.Pierre. We divided into two groups, one outside, pulling down siding (there were lots of ants), one inside, pulling up floors.
Ms.Pierre's house has flooded multiple times, so parts of her house are sagging, and her floors are ruined.

Another group painted the back side of Ms.Dora's house white. They had a very fun time figuring out how the heck to put together scaffolding, and choosing who got to go on the ladder. (Ryan Zumo and Miller Hane got that job.) It was completed thanks to lots of teamwork and ingenuity.

A third group stayed at the community center, where they mopped the
floors, shelved library books.( which we later had to relocate, due to the rising water from Hurricane Alex.) They also cleaned out a lot of rooms, so the Vacation Bible School kids would have clean rooms next week.

The fourth group also stayed at the community center, where they repaired sheet rock, and mudded the walls of the gym. After completing that job, they joined the group at Ms.Pierre's house, and helped us.

After finishing up at the job sites for the day, we returned home to the community center to wash up (there was a mad rush for the showers), and eat some dinner. (We had spaghetti.) After dinner, we went fishing near the community center. We didn't catch much- just a few crabs- but Al the alligator returned, and got closer than ever.
After fishing, we came back to the community center, had our devotion, and went to bed.
We returned today, to our respective job sites. (For the most part. A few groups moved to different sites.)

My group went back to Ms.Pierre's house, where the water had risen a great deal, and covered most of her front yard. We divided into two groups: one pulling up floors and glue, the other taking down the ceiling in one of the rooms.

The second group proved to be the most interesting. By accident, one of the youth found a box of medicine bottles, which led to the exploration of her ceiling.
In the exploration, the group found lots of old artifacts, including an old dress, several old dolls, a fan (that still works!), an old radio (which unfortunately didn't work), and a dead rat.
They also found a Times Picayune from December 18, 1964. It's still in relatively good condition.

After that: Lunch.

After lunch, we all returned to our job sites. By this time, the water at Ms.Pierre's house had risen significantly, so that there was only a little strip of land that we were able to walk on.

Cue the downpour.

The water quickly rose, until there was NO strip of land to walk on. Nevertheless, we pushed on, and continued to wage our war on the old flooring.

Another mini-group painted the ceiling in Ms.Pierre's kitchen.

After a few hours of painting and scraping (we didn't venture into the attic again.), it was time for one group to leave. By this time, the water had risen significantly, and was now almost up to our knees.

On our way back, Breanna took a little (unplanned) swim. (She got dibs on showers first)

The other group (previously at Ms.Dora's house), went to a trailer that had been flooded. The walls and the flooring had to be removed, so we sent the demolition team to do the job. (Kasey's team.) Fully equipped with sledgehammers, crowbars, pickaxes, and a wild assortment of weapons, they eagerly ~~tackled~~ destroyed the trailer.

To quote Ryan Zumo: "So wait, do I say this looks good? Or do I say this looks bad?"

After only two one-leg casualties, a crowbar to the hip, and a hammer to the face, all in about five minuets, the group returned safely to the community center.

After the adventurous day, everyone came back to the community center and recouped.

Dinner: Jambalya, Beans, Veggies, and Chocolate Pudding.

Tonight we go fishing again. :)

Medical Update: Everyone in Kasey's group was told they had two bandaids and an Advil. Kara and Miller are down one band-aid each, and Ryan Zumo is out. (He has his Advil left, but that's it.)

DULAC MISSION JUNE 2010

2010-06-25T14:32:00.009-05:00

Well we are off again to Dulac, LA on Sunday June 27th for our annual LA mission. Here is a little of the very interesting history of the area.....

Dulac, Louisiana
Set in the bayous of the southern reaches of Terrebonne Parish, this is a place where water and swamp outnumber dry land in square miles. It is the home of interesting mix of hearty people, about 51% Houma Indian and 49% Cajun. The Houma Indians originally had settled in the Red Stick (Baton Rouge) area of LA, then moving south to Houma and finally down to Dulac (meaning "the land beyond the lake"). For some 300 years the Houma have lived in the vicinity of the Grand Caillou and LaFourche Bayous as fishermen, trappers and farmers. Their southern LA villages remained very isolated for many years. Until the 1940’s there were no roads to Houma community’s beyond the city of Houma and the only way the people had to travel was by boat.

The devastating hurricanes of the past few years have taken toll on this community, with much wind and water surge damage to homes with little protection down in the marsh. Our team spend five days working on homes doing minor construction and repair.

We are asking for prayers for safety and protection and that God will do His work through us. Keep your eye on this blog and follow us along the way!

2010-04-17T11:44:00.003-05:00

From David Howell:

On Saturday April 10 En Fuego Mission (On Fire For God and Neighbors) sent teams out for service projects. One team of thirteen went to Helen Raub’s to provide yard maintenance and clean up. We had an awesome team of adults and youth that turned her yard from an “over grown jungle” to a very nice trimmed yard. Ms Helen and her daughter Margaret were touched by our efforts & kept saying how appreciative they were. We all not only worked hard but also had a great time at it! Most of our team did not know each other very well before hand but were a solid bonded team by the end of our workday. As always, we found it rewarding serving others in need and we all came away a changed! We heard comments from the youth about doing this “every week” for the rest of the summer.....yes from the youth! God as always was at work, changing us…..as we serve others.

Photos!

Sager-Brown Depot

2010-04-01T18:09:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, March 27, seven St. Andrew's UMC folks met in Baldwin, La. with some of our brothers and sisters from Faithful UMC in Ascension Parish to work at Sager-Brown Depot. Sager-Brown is a distribution center for UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief. United Methodists from all over the world collect supplies for disaster relief, including Bedding Kits, School Kits, Cleaning Buckets, and several other relief kits.

Today we were packing Health Kits, with soap, washcloths, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a few other health and hygiene items. The Depot has collected nearly a half-million kits since the Haiti earthquake and all of them go through one of two depots: one in Salt Lake City, UT and one at Sager Brown!

We assembled REALLY large double-corrugated packing boxes (you can see one in the first picture, almost as high as Carol's waist). We packed them all with kits that had been shipped from all over the country, used hand-carts to move the big boxes so that they'd be ready for Monday's volunteers to start inspecting the kits, and we flattened and stacked up the odd-shaped boxes that the kits were shipped in originally. Some people had really had fun with their boxes! You can see one of them in the second photo.

One of our favorite times was about a half hour before we were to leave when Carol found a stack of handmade cards from some children here in the US to the children of Haiti. It broke our hearts that the cards can't be sent to Haiti (has to do with customs and our ability to guarantee exactly what's in the boxes) but we all wanted to find the kids and give them hugs. My favorite said something like, "Dear Haiti, I've never had an earthquake. I hope your state gets well soon." We have no idea where the cards came from, but I was really proud that our church encourages children to think about missions that early!

The adults from our church were Carol Miller, Mark Musick, and Marty Ducote. We were all soooooo impressed with our teenagers: Andrew, Blake, Katherine, and Elizabeth. They didn't slow down all day long! So if any of their mamas are reading, put them to work. They're pretty good at it.

More photos:

Elizabeth and Katherine loading up the boxes

Mark and Andrew do the heavy box-making.

Blake, Andrew, Elizabeth, and Katherine. What a great bunch of kids!