REFLECTING ON THE RECENT TRIP TO BELIZE
Sermon preached at Saint Anne's on Palm Sunday, March 29, 2015
It’s good to be back with you this morning.
It felt strange to be gone for three Sundays in Lent.
Being in Belize, where it was sunny most of the time, and hot, was a joy and a privilege —
not exactly what one thinks of for Lenten penance or self-denial.
And yet there were some things about the trip that truly were in the spirit of Lent.
More time for reflection and reading. Slowing down the pace of life, getting away from all the distractions of normal daily life.
Working for the good of others. Being open to surprises and practicing patience.
We got up early and drove on dusty roads, 10 mph over bumps and potholes, to reach remote villages where volunteers seldom go.
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| Selfies |
The people of the villages were surprised that we actually showed up!
The children would stare at us, with our strange pale skin and blue eyes and light-colored, wavy hair. They were curious about us and what we were doing.
Sandy Rude conducted teacher training workshops in the schools — each school with just 5-9 teachers including the principal, serving all the children of the village from 1st-8th grades. Many of the teachers have only a high school or associates degree education, with very little training in classroom teaching methods. They had asked for help in teaching special needs children, and also methods for teaching math and language arts. Sandy put her 30+ years of classroom experience to good use, and did a wonderful job with the training. The rest of us painted a new wooden building, drew and painted a mural, sorted library books, repaired benches, and interacted with curious children.
If they had been sure we would really come, and that we were really willing and able to work, they would have had more work for us to do. It was a little frustrating for us at first. But it soon became clear that the most important thing that was happening was not the work we accomplished, but the building of bridges of trust and friendship.
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| Painting a Kitchen |
The chicken is cut up with a cleaver and all of it goes in — bony pieces and meaty pieces — and the vegetables are large chunks of potato and yam and a leafy green vegetable called calaloo. The broth is rich, but not thickened at all. It is served with corn tortillas — homemade and hot — but no spoon or napkin. We watched our hosts and learned how to eat soup with our hands.
In the next days we learned to eat tamales with bones in them, rice and beans and chicken and pork, and more caldo (all with no utensils — a tortilla makes a great scooper!)
As we ate, we talked and got to know the teachers. They asked us about our lives and our culture, and we asked about theirs.
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| Pueblo Viejo Teachers |
After a few days we found our pace and expectations slowing down too. What was our hurry, anyway?
In Pueblo Viejo, at the end of the second day, the principal, Stephen Sho, invited us to his house at the top of the hill.
We walked through the village along the new paved road that is nearly finished, that has already changed village life by making access easier and bringing not only visitors but through-traffic as well. At his house he invited us to sit on the porch while he took a long stick and began to pull coconuts down from the tree. Two of his children ran to catch the coconuts,
to keep them from rolling down the hill. Mr. Sho cut off the tops of the coconuts and gave us each one to drink the juice. Then he cut them in half and made a scoop from part of the green coconut shell, for us to scoop out the sweet juicy coconut meat.
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| Coconut Hospitality |
Another shared meal, another sacred moment.
He showed us all around his house and yard. As we admired the view, overlooking the village, with the Maya Mountains in the background, he described the dream house he was planning to build there, next to the small existing house.
Then he pulled Mark aside, away from the group. “I want to ask you something,” he said. He knew we were a church group, and he wasn’t sure about our beliefs. Would we be offended if he offered us a beer? Mark assured him we would not be offended.
So our next stop was the little village store, owned by his dad and his sister Dalia, where he bought us each a beer and we stood around talking. Dalia Sho took us behind the store into the house, introduced us to another sister, and invited us to stay with them next time we are in Pueblo Viejo.
The third village we visited, San Benito Poite, was the farthest away, and we learned that we were the first group ever to volunteer at their school. Another group had offered to paint the school, but when they realized they would have to travel over 2 hours to reach the village, they cancelled. The single-lane, deeply rutted dirt road to San Benito Poite was created only 15 years ago — before that the only access was by horse or on foot, along a jungle path. There are women in San Benito Poite who have never been to town,
never left the village. When we arrived, bringing 3 suitcases full of items you donated, they were very surprised, and a little nonplussed. The children were dismissed and teacher workshops began, while the rest of us wandered around the village.
We helped weigh babies in the medical clinic, took pictures of the free-range pigs and chickens, played baseball with a little boy,
made plans to return the next day with tools and nails so we could repair some benches.
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| Free Range Pig |
In the afternoon, Sandy continued her teaching while the rest of us read our books in the shade. By some measures it might have felt like a frustrating day. We were prepared to work, but there was little to do. But by another measure it was a very fruitful day.
We were there. We showed up. We shared time. We brought gifts, and were open to the gifts of food and friendship that were offered to us. We heard about the good work that was already being done, and were invited to come back.
And we will.
All three villages want us to return next year, and they will know this time that we are coming. They can make plans for work they want us to do. Sandy hopes to have another teacher to help her continue the workshops, which the teachers all found very valuable,
and the government Ministry of Education has endorsed.
* * * * *
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people had an expectation of him.
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
They hoped for a leader to free them from political oppression, from the rule of the Roman government.
They hoped Jesus was that leader who would get something done.
But that was not his agenda. The kingdom of God that Jesus talked about, and worked toward, and invites us still to be part of,
is built of relationships, not accomplishments. Yes, it’s true that people working together can accomplish great things.
And it’s true that God invites us to work together with each other and with God for the healing of the world.
HOW we do this work is even more important than WHAT we do.
How we treat each other, and all our sisters and brothers in the human family, is more important than any accomplishment.
As we show up, and share our lives, and break bread together, and slow down enough to match our pace and our breathing to the heartbeat of God — then the barriers that separate us from one another break down.
Jesus rides in triumph and humility, and we find ourselves living in God’s kingdom — “The Beloved Community.”
