St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church Annandale, Virginia

Monday, November 5, 2012

Honduras Mission Trip - Len's View, Part 2A

Sunday was a long day, but comfortably paced. Sara, Scott, and I went for an early morning walk to buy Bread from the lady who bakes in her home. It was around 7:30 and there was no bread on the table out front. [Correction to yesterday's article: it is actually Italian bread. I think that's a teaspoon of sugar more or less than French bread.] I called out "Buenos Dias". A man came out, I asked for two loaves. It was fresh from the oven, as in: I was afraid that it would melt the plastic bag that it was in. The three of us finished off one loaf on the way back to the hotel. It was a beautiful walk. We kept saying "look at that flower" as we passed various yards.

After a pancake breakfast at the hotel (it feels a bit like a B & B), we went to the coffee shop, and then to church. Some of us went to the church service. Jody, Kinsey, Sara, and I went to a classroom to do a craft for the Sunday School class. We had about 30 kids of varying ages in one room. We spread out shirts on the floor and the kids painted designs with puffy paint. It was a bit chaotic, but when kids hug you and don't want to let go, anything's worth it.

Breakfast is ready. I'll have to finish later.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Please Support the Hurricane Sandy Response Fund

Episcopal Relief and Development has initiated the Hurricane Sandy Response Fund to help people who have been impacted by this storm.

Donate now at http://www.er-d.org

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A Scandinavian Christmas

The Women of St. Barnabas'

invite you to attend

"A Scandinavian Christmas"

Saturday, November 10

10: a.m. to 2 p.m.

Handmade Christmas Crafts

Paintings and pottery

Gently used jewelry

Baked goods

Lunch available

St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church

4801 Ravensworth Road

Annandale, Virginia

Honduras Mission Trip - Len's View, Part 1

We've had a good first day and a half in Tela. We spent our half day here on Friday getting settled in, a brief visit to the school and buying supplies for Frank Spinks' project. Frank is painting an eight foot high image of the school's mascot, a scorpion, on a wall at the school. We saw a lot of friends at the school. Then we attended an All Saints' service and met more friends.

Today our driver picked us up at eight. We had already had a breakfast of fresh local fruit by then. The driver took us to a house a couple of blocks from our hotel where a woman bakes bread that she sells to restaurants. She came out to the curb and sold us a freshly baked baguette of french bread. We passed the loaf of bread around and shared it on our way to get some coffee. It seemed a fitting way for a mission group to start its day, breaking bread together. After coffee, we sent to the church and got Frank started laying out his painting on the wall. Then off to hand out rice, beans and clothing to church members in the poor area of El Sauce on the edge of a swamp. Then the same thing with some people who live in squatter's huts alongside the main highway. Back to town to pick up Frank. We had lunch at a local restaurant, then went to a large botanical park named Lancetilla. It's the second largest tropical arboratum in the world, but we spent less than 2 hours there, then back to work. Scott and I took over the painting duties. It takes twice as many people if you're not artists. The rest ofthe group went to the Garifuna village of Triunfo de la Cruz (Triumph of the Cross). More handing out rice, beans, and clothing to very poor people. By the end of the day, we had distributed about 200 pounds of clothing in three locations. The heroes in that effort were our two teenagers, Kinsey and Jody. they knelt in the back seat of the minivan and sorted through the suitcases to find the proper clothes for each person in the crowd and kept track of who had not gotten anything. At the school, we got enough painting done so that you can tell that there is an eight foot long scorpion coming.

There are some encouraging things going on here. The gardener's oldest daughter, Maria, has her own house. The woman for whom she works sold Maria a small house that Maria is paying off by working two jobs. Next Friday the church will see its first wedding in the current building which is 6 years old. Weddings are too expensive for most people here, so its good to see this happening. The school has had its accreditation renewed. The accreditation committee says that Escuela Espritu Santo is the best school in Tela, and that if they follow a few recommendations they could become a model school for all bilingual schools in Honduras.

Another big, but a bit less busy, day ahead of us tomorrow with services at two churches and maybe some more painting.

Peace,
Len

Monday, October 29, 2012

Why I Encourage

by Betty Jo Fortune

I have learned from my observations and life experiences that to whom much is given much is expected. I am blessed in ways that I am unable to describe and unable to imagine. That is part of why I cannot exist as part of the human and Christian community without encouraging myself and others to be the best we can and to give as much as we can (within reason).

God’s mercy has given me the foundation and opportunities to be positive in the most adverse situations. I have decided that I must continue to keep the spirit of Christ alive in my heart and in my actions.

I am continuously pushed to remind myself of God’s grace. I am encouraged and most grateful that I am able to share my gifts, as they continue to unfold, whenever and however I can.

On Stewardship

by Daphne Sahlin

A couple of years ago, our stewardship theme was, "It's all about Jesus!" I mentioned this to my friend Elizabeth, a retired English teacher, who challenged me by asking, "What does that mean? What does that mean to you?”

It means my relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in my life and encompasses everything. God has given me everything - my very life, abilities, opportunities, free will, good health, and friends, and helped me face challenges and adversity. It is all a gift from God that I did not earn and am not in charge of. I am not the owner of these things, but a steward of all that has been entrusted to me.

I have been extraordinarily blessed and am thankful and grateful for all of God's blessings.

And St Barnabas'...it was here, through Linda, Steve Shepard, Charles Brock, and the many wonderful people of St Barnabas' that my love and knowledge of God has grown and my faith has deepened and strengthened. We strengthen each other in our faith, we learn together, and we lift up each other. But all of this is really through God’s grace and not our action alone. I began to see and recognize that God was at work in the life of the Parish and of the people here, and in my own life. It gives me great joy to be a witness to and participant in all of this.

I love sitting up front as an acolyte and looking out at all of you. I love our passing of the peace and our worship and prayer together. I love that we are people who unabashedly and with joy proclaim our love of God and demonstrate daily our love for each other and our community. All of these things give me great joy. I thank God for you and for his blessings on us.

I have a confession: The first thought that comes to my mind when I hear the word stewardship is a denial of the meaning of the word as commonly understood. I want to say, "but stewardship is not about money!" I think this is because I still feel uncomfortable talking about money.

What I have come to understand is, stewardship is not just about money but it is about everything we do as believers, including what we do with money. We are all stewards.

And it is all about Jesus.