Each One Is Unique and Purposeful

Last night we finished our last team meeting.  IN a little over a week we will be leaving for our mission to Guatemala.  What we will do there is not exactly known.  We know we will assemble stoves.  We know we will carry in some supplies to deliver to the mission center.  Some of this supplies include gravity fed water filters which will bring safe water into the homes where we have already installed high efficiency wood burning stoves.  Clean water reduces the risk of diarrhea, one of the top killers in Guatemala.  We are also bringing in some children's books to give out to the communities where we will work.

I have a copy of an R.L. Stine horror book, part of his Goosebumps series.  I don't know how I feel about passing that book along to a child.  I allowed my kids to enjoy the willies his books bring and they seem to be doing well.  I wouldn't want to give such a book away without a parent involved in the decision.  The desire is to bring a gift; to share a love for reading; to help children of Mayan culture improve their Spanish through reading.  I suppose it's all in how I give.  Without love the gift is empty.  Perhaps Tom Heaton, the executive director can decide to whom such a book might go.  Perhaps it will be given to a school for their library.  I can trust that God will do good even with a little Spanish language book intended to stir the imagination and to give the thrill of goosebumps.

Everyone is different.  This is true for the team. There are 15 of us going down to Guatemala.  We each go with the awareness that we are made unique by God and God has some special purpose that only we can perform. Each team member has something that they and only they can do.  Part of our journey is to have our eyes opened to what that is for us each.

We each received a flower, a unique bloom.  Flowers are as different as people. They are many species of flowers and within each species there is unique expressions.  Some grow tall, some not so much.  Some bloom large, some smaller.  Each has its own peculiar beauty.

My bloom was from an Hydrangea flower.  It had been air brushed with peach colored paint.  As I reflect on the bloom and how it represents my own uniqueness, I cannot help but laugh at he false color.  The airbrush paint on the bloom is fake.  It is not the real color of the bloom.  But it is this artificial addition, this makeup, that draws the eye and looks pleasingly beautiful.

Being a pastor, a minister of the Word of God and Sacrament, there are preconceived perceptions people place upon me.  They don't do so out of any malice per se.  They have been shaped to have these ideas about people in ordained ministry.  Some are negative connotations like preachers are boring.  Some are unrealistic like pastors never sin.  Some are positive like ministers help us help others.  But is that who I really am underneath the robe and stole, or the parchment on the wall that says I am an ordained United Methodist pastor?

The role of pastor is symbolic. Dressing up in a robe is symbolic of divine service and divine representation   The robe is part of the drama of worship.  It has its useful place in our tradition.  But like pain on a flower, the robe can be a false front that I can hide behind.  The title "Reverend" can be something to hide behind.  The painted hydrangea reminds me to show my true colors, warts and all, to be authentic before others. I am a human under construction just like everyone else.  I have my own unique set of spiritual growth issues.  But I am connected to a living plant that gives me life.  And so I bloom and grow as my connection to the bush allows.  I need not be ashamed of my painted profession, only aware that the ceremonial role is not an excuse to not be engaged in the authentic pursuit of life in Christ.

The Hydrangea is large ball of many blooms.  We used to called them "snowballs."  The many make up the one.  This reminds me that I have many talents.  Each little bloom making up the larger snowball of a bloom is a symbol to me of talents God has given to me to share with others.  Just as a flower shares freely its beauty to any who would care to notice, my gifts are on display for others to enjoy.  

Some of these little blooms in the bigger bloom are barely noticeable.  They are underneath the more present blooms on top.  I have to turn the bloom in many directions in order to see them all.  A reflective life may give me a different view of myself and my gifts.  This mission trip with these unique people will undoubtedly give me a different perspective or view of myself.  Perhaps I will see gifts in myself that I did not know I had or have laid dormant for some time.  I will need to listen to others to see what they see in me.  What gift or gifts are they enjoying as I share myself with them in love?

As with any part of nature, beauty often brings humans to praise God the creator for His wonderful works. I hope and pray that as I live each day the gifts I have on display for others to enjoy will bring praise to God.

Blooming for God's Glory right along with you!!!

Love Pastor Scott

Mission Team Preparation

In order to best prepare ourselves for the mission ahead the team has been studying a book together called A Mile in My Shoes, by Trevor Hudson. The book was written to teach Christians how to reflect upon their faith and discipleship. Hudson writes, "Ever since my own beginning as a disciple of Jesus, I had been struck by the fact that many of the most Christlike spiritual leaders were men and women who lived in close relationship with those who suffered." Hudson came up with the idea of the Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, based on his feeling that in order for us to flourish as Christians we need to reach out to our suffering neighbors.

Through our study of A Mile in My Shoes we've learned how to best understand and cultivate all that God is offering through our opportunity to help our friends in Guatemala. We're going as pilgrims; we see ourselves as fortunate to be in a position where we may help others. We are not saviors. With these things in mind we approach our pilgrimage with humility and reverence.

In the second chapter we read about how to adopt a "pilgrim posture" by learning to be present, to listen, and to notice. Only when we are present in the moment can we see what God is offering us; if our minds are preoccupied with other things we may miss what He wants to show us. "Being present involves letting  go of our constant preoccupations, immersing ourselves in the here and now, and giving ourselves wholeheartedly to whatever is at hand... If we are with another person, it means engaging him or her  with all of our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength. Such wholehearted attention requires patience, time, and  disciplined effort. And its one of the greatest gifts that we can give to those around us, especially our suffering neighbor."

In learning to listen we studied that in order to listen one must stop talking. That seems pretty straightforward, right? Hudson stresses the importance of this in saying, "Unless we bridle our tongues, stop our constant chatter, and check our tendencies to interrupt others as they speak, we cannot truly listen to one another." And in learning to notice we read about discerning what God is saying and doing in our lives through keying in on the Divine Presence. A simple way to think of this is to ask yourself, "where was God in this situation?"

So in adopting a pilgrim posture we realize that even in "every day moments" God is working in and through us for His good purpose. Every day, every second, every breath is divine. I'll let you reflect upon this and end here.

Peace in Christ,
Erika

Welcome

Welcome to the Zionsville United Methodist Church's 2012 Lifting Hearts in Guatemala Mission Team's blog!  Periodically we will be posting updates keeping you informed of the team's activities and God's movement among us.

For the past several weeks the team has been learning a little Spanish, studying a mission book entitled A Mile In My Shoes: Cultivating Compassion by Trevor Hudson, and getting to know one another.

Here is a list of your November 2012 Lifting Hearts Team

Misty Byers - Team Lead

Bill Wendling - Asst. Team Lead

Maurya Wendling - Spanish Language Coach

Laura Espinoza - Spanish Language Coach

Brad Andries

Marie Farrell

Jo Flinn

Renna Howell

John Paulsrud 

Ramona Paulsrud

Michele Tyring

Erika Tyring

Rev. Scott Tyring

Megan Weddle

Dr. Jill Wilson

Please pray for these 15 persons and for the mission work we will be doing.  We will be installing high efficiency wood burning stoves and water filters as part of our time there among the Mayan people in the area around the mission center in San Andres, a village in the mountains above Panajachel and Lake Atitlan.  

We leave Indianapolis International Airport at 6:30 a.m. on November 3rd, change planes in Houston, Texas, and and land in Guatemala City, Guatemala at 10:50 a.m. local time.  There is a two hour delay between our time and theirs.  So we will be on the ground in Guatemala at 12:50 p.m. Indianapolis time on Saturday, November 3rd. That night, however, Indianapolis falls back an hour closing the gap so that the Guatemala team will be living one hour later than home for the rest of the week.

We drive from Guatemala City for about 3-3.5 hours to Panajachel and spend the night at our hotel.  We will have basic introductions and a short informational session with Tom Heaton, Mission Guatemala's Executive Director and Dave Burns.  Visit their site at http://missionguatemala.com/

It is our hope that we will join our home church via Skype for morning worship on All Saints Sunday, November 4th, before we head off for the market in Chichicastenango.

Check in again soon for more from the team.