Wrapping up the Trip

March 31, 2012
Mike Oldham

We are on our last day in Chiapas. Please continue to check this blog for the next couple of days, I hope to get some other reflections posted by each of the team members.

This morning we had breakfast at the Zapatista Restaurant and we have done a lot of shopping.

Today they are celebrating the 484 anniversary of the founding of San Cristobal. There are tons of people, dancing, etc. I can't imagine what it will be like tonight.

At 3:00 p.m., we will go to the Seminary, SIM, and meet with the students and Ricardo Mayol one last time. We will be thinking and dreaming about how we can form a lasting partnership with the people of Chiapas.

Prayer Requests:

1. Our trip home: Normally, this is not much of a concern. I am not a nervous traveler. However, tonight is the beginning of daylight savings time. And, there has frequently been miscommunication about who is picking us up and at what time (we were three or four hours late leaving Chacacal). With an early flight tomorrow, a two hour drive, and the time change, I am nervous about the connections.
2. Pray for Doris: Doris is having some significant health issues. She has been back in Puerto Rico for over three months. We are concerned about her health and the ministry in Chiapas.
3. Pray for a church planter: ABCRM is in the beginning stages of planting another church in Colorado. While this is very early, we want to make sure we are seeking God's guidance and trusting God to provide the right church planter (perhaps a pastor here in Mexico) to work with this new church. 
4. Pray for us to find was of working together that empowers the people here, not create dependency on us.

I am sure there are other prayer requests, but those are the ones most on my heart today as I write to you. Hasta luego .

Mike Oldham

Humbled

March 29, 2012
Dulce Garcia

Today is Thursday (I think?!) and day 6 of our trip. My skin is darker, my back is sore, my voice is a little more scratchy, and my heart is both full and heavy. We have just spent the last 3 days in the very poor, very small community of Chacacal in the municipal village of Simojovel. When I say small and poor, I mean we literally bathed in the little river in town. This community has no running water, they cook over an open flame, and there is barely any electricity. Our time spent there consisted of a lot of playing with the beautiful… and I mean beautiful children of the village. Their smiles could light up a room and anyone’s heart (and probably the whole village if their power went completely out!). It addition to playing with the kids, we obviously came to do WORK! So work we did, let me tell you… I have never worked so hard in my life (& I’m not sure the guys on the team had either… even by their own admission). Our first afternoon there we helped to build gardens. The dream of the seminary students is that the people of Chacacal have their own sustainable agriculture and development. As soon as we planted the last seed the rain came… and then the fun! I spent the next hour playing futbol in the rain with the children. The vast majority of these children, mind you, had no shoes and still played fearlessly and with as much (if not more) joy than I have ever seen in children.

The following day (Tuesday, day 4) was the hardest. We got to work on two different houses of two of the men that are leaders of the Baptist church in the village. Some of our team was putting the walls made of adobe blocks, and the group I was with got to dig 10 different holes to help with the structure of the house. We began the project with the sun on one side of the sky and as we worked, we watched it make its way clear to the opposite side of the sky. We continued to work on the homes the next day, ate with the family who heads up the church, and you guessed it ended the day with more playing!

Our time in Chacacal was incredibly humbling. I continued to utilize my translating… but in Chacacal our times together were tri-lingual as we had to overcome the Tzotzil language, then to Spanish, and then to English. Many of the people spoke Spanish, but there were several who did not. This was the first time I had been to a country where I encountered a language that I was not able to speak and it was tougher than I had imagined. At the same time however, the children were quick to step in and help build the bridges for us. Most of the people in Chacacal (& the majority in this region of Chiapas) are indigenous people of Mayan descent, and have endured years of discrimination from the Mexican population. This is a part of my heritage that I never knew and it was heartbreaking to hear. I was thankful to show these people the love of Christ and to tell the women how beautiful they are and that I view them as sisters. Before we left the women of the main family we’d spent so much time with even gave me a parting gift, which left me speechless and humbled yet again. I pray that the Lord was able to use our interactions to bring some healing. 

2 down, 7 to go!

March 25, 2012
Dulce Garcia

It's been some years since I have had the privilege and honor to be a part of a missions trip team. I was invited to join the ABCRM team to Chiapas last year, but for several reasons was unable to join them then. I now know for certain that I was never intended to join that team... but that the Lord was saving my time in Chiapas, Mexico for such a time as this - to join hands with 4 other brothers from Colorado (3 of which had never been to Mexico on missions) and to join our hearts to the people of Chiapas.

We were off to a great start on both day 1 and day 2, however I think I speak for the team when I say that both days were long in their own regard. Saturday was our traveling day, and after two different layovers and one very very choppy landing in Mexico, we arrived. Day 2 was spent in San Cristobal ("San Cris") and mostly at the seminary that we have partnered with here in town. Now, I know I am not often short on words... but you can ask the team to verify that on this particular day I may have hit my quota of speaking! Part of my role on this team is to act as translator between the Spanish-English barrier. As many may have noticed, Colorado isn't exactly booming with Latin/Hispanic culture/people, so even though I grew up in a bilingual home, I don’t often have occasion to practice my Spanish… much less flip the switch back and forth between both languages at a moments notice! Sunday (day 2) was all about our team learning from the students at the seminary. They shared anything and everything they could with us about Chiapas, the Mayan/Mexican cultures, the myriad of struggles the people face, the projects and programs they as students and as a seminary are dreaming of accomplishing, and much more!! All of this was done in Spanish; and through in several questions posed in English throughout the day and it made for a dry throat for me. Needless to say, by the end of the day, when the guys and me took a stroll around the town square/center of San Cris, I didn’t exactly click my heels in joy when I was asked to translate “Can I have ham on my subway sandwich?” and “I’d like to order a chocolate shake.” J Nevertheless, Sunday was a great day with no real complaints. It was full of shared knowledge and it was evident that the students and teachers at the seminary have a strong passion and huge heart for their community, their people, their state, their country, and even the world at large! It was certainly a challenge, as well as a great encouragement to hear this so sincerely from such young people (as most are in their very early twenties).

Wow from Chacacal

March 29, 2012

Michael Capshaw (a.k.a. "Jesus" because of his beard and long hair)

Wow is the first thing that comes to mind after our stay in Chacacal. I thought that I knew what poverty looked like, but this experience completely blew me away. No running water, minimal electricity, few shoes, bathing in the river, sleeping on the floor, and minimal variety in food are just a few things that we experienced. With the poverty there, it was incredible the amount of love present. The smiles of the children will be etched into my memory forever. From the first kick of the futbol to the last hug goodbye, the children touched my heart. We worked on  many different projects while there, but what I enjoyed most was the fellowship and building community. It was eye opening in many ways. It was difficult because when any of us (other than Dulce) spoke, it had to be translated from English to Spanish, then Spanish to the Mayan language used in the community. I got really sick last night, but I was just glad that we got the work done before I got sick. We worked on several projects. We built a garden, planted seeds, dug holes (tough work with only hand tools), and did adobe work on the walls of a house being built. Blisters were not uncommon from the tools we used. Even with gloves on, working with tools with handles made from tree branches was really hard on our hands. The heat also made work exceptionally difficult. The best thing was that we all worked hard without complaining. The community was touched and so were we. God was definitely moving in the hearts of the community. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve and the team for staying so strong. 

Hard Work, Good Days

March 27, 2012

Chacacal, Chiapas, Mexico

A wonderful day, full of hard work. We are exhausted, except for Michael C. who does not seem to get tired. 

We are stuffed. This community has gone out of its way to provide food for us. Mostly black beans, rice, and noodles. Sometimes we have eggs.

Yesterday, we cultivated and terraced two gardens. We even got to plant one garden.

Chacacal is a small village with 79 kids and we don’t know how many adults. (Two of the young men form the church not only counted all the kids, but wrote down their names.) Like most of Chiapas, it is a mountain community, so everything is on the side of the hill.

Building terraces is the only way they are able to grow gardens. One of the things I have noticed in the village is the lack of vegetables. In San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the city, one of my favorite places to visit is the farmers market. You can buy almost any fruit or vegetable. I often go before breakfast and by some bananas and a mango or papaya. In Chacacal, we only get a few slices of potato or carrots in soup, never any fresh fruit.

The seminary students are trying to help the village women recover their history of growing vegetables for their family, thus the gardens. They are teaching both women from the church and from the community how to grow small gardens for their families.

Today, we worked much harder. We were digging the footers for the support posts for Pastor Mario’s new house. These had to be 80 centimeters (about 30 inches) deep and 80 centimeters square.  Mario has eight children and several brothers all living with his parents. Pastor Mario is 38 years old. (You can see him on the YouTube video explaining the new fish pond.) He really needs a new house. It took us all day to dig these ten holes. Digging around the rocks slowed the process to a crawl.

Others in our group helped lay adobe block.

We were all relieved when the rain came at about 3:30 p.m.

We had a late lunch, about the same time as the rain started. They killed a bull and prepared a stew with the beef ribs. This was, of course, accompanied by tortillas and Koolaid.

Then, two seminary students arrived with the leftovers from the bread that they sell to raise money for the students. The whole community shared this bread. Then we had dinner at 8:30 p.m. I am so stuffed.

Oh, we also had a time of teaching with about 50 children from the community. Rich Blanchette taught the lesson. The seminary students organized the activities. The rain complicated everything. Some of the adolescent boys colored pictures for more than two hours.

After dinner, we took a bath in the river, and if I finish this post, I will head to bed (the last one).

Tomorrow, more digging, more laying block, and a community basketball game. God is good. 

Hopefully we will get caught up with the blog by tomorrow.

Thank you Dulce

Mike Oldham

Dulce is the only female on our trip to Chiapas. She is the Family Ministries Director at First Baptist Church, Colorado Springs. Some people asked, “How does this fit in your ministry?” This was a particularly difficult time for her to leave her responsibilities in Colorado for a mission trip. She has work to do for classes at Denver Seminary. Her pastor is having some health concerns. And, Easter is coming.

I wish you could see Dulce. She is connecting, translating, laughing, and serving. The four guys from ABCRM on the trip are completely dependent on her willingness to serve.

At the seminary here in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, there are a number of young women. These women have few role models in ministry. For them to see Dulce as a (the) key part of our team is huge. She is a young female in ministry. She is a seminary student. She is a person of Mexican descent who cares about them as indigenous (Mayan) people.

This week, Dulce is serving as your missionary to Chiapas. FBC Colorado Springs, thank you for sharing her with us. Thank you for sending her as your missionary to Chiapas.

Dulce, thank you for your willingness to serve and be used by God.

Welcome to San Cristóbal de Las Casas

Mike Oldham

The trip to San Cristóbal de Las Casas is an all day journey. We left for the airport before 7:00 a.m., not too bad. We arrived in San Cristóbal a little after 10:00 p.m. Nothing compared to those who travel to Africa or Southeast Asia, but still a good day’s travel.

We had no issues along the way. No missed connections. No problems while on the way. We did have to circle the airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez. It is a little disconcerting when the pilot puts down the landing gear, you see the control tower, and then the pilot lifts the landing gear and powers back up.

We are staying at La Casa de Carmelita again this year. She had a wonderful dinner of stewed chicken and vegetables, rice, and, of course, tortillas. We then walked the four or five blocks down to the city center. The only places still open were a few bars and many restaurants, but we were at least able to get some fresh air.

It is chilly here. Tuxtla was about 80^o when we landed at 8:00 p.m. When we got to San Cristóbal de Las Casas, it was in the 40s.

Tomorrow, we are able to sleep in a little and then we go to the Seminary for orientation.  We will learn about the history of the Mayan people under Spanish and Mexican rule. We will learn about the way the Seminary is working with churches throughout the area. We will also get a chance to meet a few of the Seminary students and hear about their work in the area of sustainable development.

San Cristóbal is the hub of the Zapatista rebellion in 1994. When NAFTA went into effect, some of the people in Southern Mexico saw it as a disaster for the people. They led a revolt against the Mexican government. When we head to Chacacal on Monday, we will see some of the Zapatista communities that still consider themselves independent of Mexico.

We also found out that Chuck Shawver will be taking us to Tonina to tour the Mayan temple. I am glad that we will be able to reconnect.

Less than 24 Hours

Mike Oldham

Less than 24 hours until we get on the plane for Chiapas.

Please remember to pray for us as we travel tomorrow.

Once we get to Chiapas, we will drive to San Cristobal de Las Casas. We will spend the first two nights at Pasada Carmalita near the Seminary. Then we head out to Chacacal to work  on the project.

In addition to the five participants on the trip, please pray for Ricardo and Doris Mayol who will be hosting us. Pray also for Mario, Eleazar and other students at the Mayan Intercultural Seminary in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

I still haven’t finished packing, so I better get finished so I can get some sleep.

Ready, Set, Wait

I play basketball at the YMCA. In basketball, even Y Basketball, defense is not allowed to call time out when the ball is in play. This prevents a coach or player from interrupting a fastbreak or other play when the offense is about to score. I feel like someone keeps calling a time out on our trip to Chiapas.

I am ready to go. I have been thinking about this trip for a year now. We have our team assembled. Now it is time to go. However . . .

Just because I am ready, that does not mean that I have everything ready. We still have team members who are waiting on their passport. We still need to register with the State Department. We still need to take care of details. I still need to prepare some sermons in case I am invited to preach.

Ten days to get it all done and get on the plane.

TIME OUT!

I'm not ready yet.

Heading to Chiapas

In two weeks we will be on our way to Chiapas.

We are taking a great group of young adults to Chiapas to work in with Seminary students from Mayan Intercultural Seminary (SIM) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas and to work in the small village of Chacacal in the municipality of Simojovel, Chiapas. We will be working with Doris and Ricardo Mayol, ABC-IM missionaries to Chiapas.The group participants are
• Dulce Garcia, FBC Colorado Springs
• Rich Blanchette, Highland Park, Colorado Springs
• Quincy Shannon, New Hope, Denver
• Michael Capshaw, FBC Colorado Springs
• Mike Oldham, ABCRM staff

The village of Chacacal is one of the poorest in the province of Simojovel. Two seminary students, Eleazar and Mario, are working on sustainable development projects in this village. They are also working to improve the living standards of the people. We will be building two houses from adobe and working on a fish pond. Below, you can follow the link to Chacacal and see a video of the community and the digging of the fish pond.

Tentative Schedule for the trip:
• Saturday, March 24: Fly to Tuxtla Gutierrez and then drive to San Cristóbal
• Sunday, March 25: Worship, orientation, introduction to Seminary students, and travel to Chacacal
• Monday through Wednesday: Work in Chacacal. We will be building two houses and working on a fish pond for sustainable agriculture
• Thursday, March 29: Debrief and travel back to San Cristóbal de Las Casas
• Friday, March 30: Celebration with students at SIM and youth from neighboring churches
• Saturday, March 31: Tour of Tonina ruins
• Sunday, April 1: Return to Denver (Arrive at about 9:00 p.m.)


Helpful links:

• San Cristobal de Las Casas
• Simojovel

Project in Chacacal:

• Information about Chacacal 
•  YouTube Video of the project

Doris and Ricardo Mayol:

• IM Link 
• Ricardo Mayol on YouTube 
• Mayol's Website 

Information about Chamula and the ruins at Tonina