Thirteen adults and youth from three churches representing the presbyteries of Cayuga-Syracuse and Utica are traveling to Hopelchen (which in Maya means "place of 5 wells"), one of the municipalities in the state of Campeche from February 19 through 26, 2008.  While there, they are helping to extend a roof on the church's educational building in order to facilitate meeting space for a bi-annual presbytery meeting this summer.  Funds and supplies are still being collected.  You can help by joining the "Buy a Bobedilla Campaign."  If you would like to support the project, information on contributions can be found at this link.

In addition to construction work, the group will be leading an afternoon of Vacation Bible School and visiting parts of Hopelchen with information about the "El Sinai" church in our partner Campechano presbytery.

The biggest news of the day is that Emily Merchant was not able to join us as she's down with a fever.  We'll miss her.  One of our traditions is the "order of the tortuga" where one person is awarded and wears the tortuga (turtle) on a lanyard for the day.  It is awarded each evening for notable action - of all sorts.  Emily Russo wore it in Emily Merchant's honor today.  Best to you, Miss Em!

Our flights went very smoothly.  There was no sprinting through the airport…much to the relief of those who had been on the trip in February 2005.  There was one report that we annoyed the flight attendants on the flight to Cancun, but we think that was because they began to run out of food as they got to us and were not sure what to do with thirteen hungry people.

Kitty commented that it was such a beautiful, clear day as we descended into Cancun.  The shore and the blue sea were an inviting sight as we entered the country.  We joined the throng of tourists heading to the beach as we exited the airport.  Stefan said, “It’s kinda hot.”  The change of temperature was remarkable, but the palm trees, sun and warm breezes were a marvelous welcome to Mexico.

We had a momentary (okay, forty-five minute) delay at the airport.  We arrived at a brand new terminal (very nice and spacious), but our faithful guide, Abi, went to the old terminal.  We literally thanked God for cell phones.  The waiting time gave Harry an opportunity to get some very exciting footage of us lined up on the sidewalk looking longingly for white vans.  Of course, every vehicle that comes into the Cancun airport is a white van!

Tonight we will have supper at a buffet (all you can eat)!  This news brought a great smile to Stefan’s face!  Then we will get organized for the work ahead.

Please pray for us as we move inland tomorrow to the warm welcome at the Hopelchen church and the even warmer climate.

We will send more news tomorrow – primero Dios and the internet connections don’t fail!

Over the next few days various folks will contribute to the blog.  Thanks to Sarah for yesterday’s offering and to Stefan for today’s.

Today, as we arrived and were ready to jump into the labor, we were reminded of the work of relationships and invited into a time of fellowship, preparing empanadas together, and prayer.  Stefan writes about the day below.

Today began with long scenic car ride through the heart of the Yucatan during which most of us fell asleep.  Our arrival in Hopelchen coincided with the blistering heat  of the mid-day sun. 
 

We than ate lunch at the church and after went our separate ways for the afternoon.  I went for the walk around the center of town with Pastor Francisco, Kaylin, Kelsey and Art.  We eventually ended up at Elder Rafa’s house and spent time visiting and chasing fighting iguanas.  Upon our return to the church we were greeted by a new arrival of concrete blocks for the roof.  We are all very glad to finally be here and look forward to continuing work tomorrow.  

Keep us in your prayers as the heat is supposed to hit the high 90’s about the time we are slinging 40 pound blocks up to the second floor roof…

Stefan
 

From Kitty:
We were up early today and at work to take advantage of the early cool 90 degrees temperature!  Everybody worked long and well.
On the breaks, the young people took turns pedaling the tricycles to get water and to bring Francisco’s children home from school.










ONE BLOCK AT A TIME

PLACING BEAMS

ADDING ON ROOM

Craft supplies and projects were sorted for the evening of Bible school we are going to do in another small church:  face painting, origami, construction paper palms and noise makers will all be used to celebrate the story of Palm Sunday with the children.  We also sorted communion ware and banners to give to the presbytery.  Kelsey brought out some fun T-shirts for Francisco’s children from her family’s store in Old Forge.

With breaks for breakfast and lunch, we were well fed.  During siesta time, everyone went to their host homes and cleaned up for an afternoon foray into the community to hand out evangelism brochures.

Kitty

Andrew writes:

There were various work components today – prepping for VBS, cooking wonderful meals, and the roof – ah the roof. 

We did come to primarily help our partners add the roof to a room on their educational building and extend it over the porch.  The teenagers were particularly amazing – stepping right up all the time.

By the end of the workday, we had moved 300 50-lb blocks from the ground to the newly forming roof of the second floor.  Each one went up hand over hand – person to person.  And then there were the 18 200-lb beams.  The ropes and careful measuring of our Campechano partners finished the task.  Tomorrow there is much detail work to be done – cables, metal mesh, cut blocks.  Saturday we mix and pour concrete.

Keep us in your prayers – it’s hot.

Andrew



*Internet access has been sketchy.  It was out all over town today!  Tomorrow we are out and about all day, won't be back on until saturday.

Stefan writes:

Friday was the most rewarding day so far.  We learned that our help was not needed at the church.  (We had worked harder and faster than our friends had expected on Thursday, and the men from Hopelchen had to do some detail work to prepare for laying the roof.)   We were invited to a farm where there was a great pool and green grass with a cow just outside the fence a few feet away.  We swam for a couple of hours and ate a great vegetable stew that Rafaela and Janet made for us.  After lunch, we discovered that the gate was open when the cow wandered in to get some grass and take a look at the pool.  Next we went to small town, Konchen, about thirty minutes from Hopelchen to lead a Bible school. 

Konchen

Andrew adds:

What does one great bible story, 6 bags of crafts, a van full of Gringos and a couple of dozen children from the Konchen Presbyterian congregation yield? 

It was an amazing couple of hours of learning, laughter and fun, culminating with the acting out of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Those present will remember the story for a lifetime.

Stefan continues:

Seeing the kids’ faces light up and interacting with them was an experience that I will never forget – really powerful stuff. 

Finally, the day ended with a relaxing dinner at Rafael’s Adirondack Café.  They even had a cake in our honor.

Stefan



P.S. – I just got awarded the tortuga!

(Stefan was awarded the tortuga after he tracked a rana [frog] around the pool and ended up with it posing for a photo on his shoulder.)

Kitty writes:

We’re up early today for an intense work project:  mixing and carrying cement up to the new roof top.  The sight was a wonderful symphony in motion – eleven LAMPers and eighteen men from Hopelchen made cement and formed a brigade to pass cement all the way from the patio to the roof.

Hopelchen

Andrew adds:
The last workday involved the well known Mexican ‘colado.’  And no, it is not a drink with an umbrella, but the process of mixing sand, gravel, cement and water to make concrete and spread it on the beam and block roof. 

Kitty continues:

The young people as well as the “seasoned” people did a magnificent job! 

Sarah and I had our work cut out for us in the cooking and dishwashing department.  We cut vegetables and marveled at the hard work that goes into preparing meals in Hopelchen.  Let’s just say that there is no dishwasher in sight! 

We finished the job of passing cement and pouring it onto the roof in four hours! 

Everyone drank copious amounts of water and Coke and sat down to devour every bit of food that had been prepared. 

After lunch, most of us went to a nearby grotto to see a sound and light show about the Mayan people.  The grotto was called Xtacumbilxunaan.  We came back to the church for supper and a church service with more strong singing and then to our host homes for a well earned rest.

Kitty

Roof is done!

Worship tomorrow and then a day of cultural ed.

Peace,
Andrew

We worshiped this morning with strengthened relationships between Presbyterians in Campeche and Central New York.  We sang with enthusiasm and hope as we gave thanks for our work together.  We celebrated communion among two cultures, two traditions, one body, one Christ.

After worship and celebrating at Christ’s table, we gathered around the lunch table with the congregation and enjoyed turkey stuffed with roasted macchiato and black peppers, with raisins, capers, onion, pork and eggs – a Mexican feast by any standards.

Roofers after worship Sunday morning (roof to top left)

We said our goodbyes with hopes for our next meeting and got on the road to Chichen Itza where we will have one day of respite and cultural education at the end of a long week of work.  We’re headed home Tuesday, another entry may slip in Monday night – or it may be later in the week before we post some more pictures

                                                                                           Chichen Itza

Keep us in your prayers as we travel, and give thanks for the blessing of this week.

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