El Callejon Updates

We apologize for how long it's been since our last update.  It's not because things haven't been happening!  The Holy Spirit is working, and we know we are blessed by His call to us in El Callejon.   

The month of March was filled with wonderful teams from the U.S. who brought passion, enthusiasm and love during their time with us.  Each team was different, each team was wonderful, and each week we sensed the Holy Spirit at work.  And… each team was far too short at just one week! 

We are so thankful for those who can stay two weeks in the summer, but are equally blessed by those who make a choice to spend a week of hard-earned vacation, or a college spring break serving alongside us.  We pray many of them will find their way back to El Callejon one day!  In the meantime, we rejoiced and were refreshed by their partnership with us!

April has been a month without teams, but not without plenty to do.  The Panaderia has been slowly coming together, with a small group of women consistently working on honing their skills.  Although we would have liked to have a bit more participation, we trust that the Spirit is guiding this process, and it’s just the right size. 

Luz, who we’ve written about several times, is proving to be a good leader.  And… when she offers you some pan (bread) to buy, well, she doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer!  She could have had a great career in Sales anywhere!

Our work with the Chiquitas (Little Girls) continues to focus on a Children’s Bible.  This week we watched a DVD of Jesus’ miracles, which we’ve been reading for the past several months.  It was wonderful to hear them recall many of the stories! 

Our two Adolescent groups have been challenged to decide it they truly desire to grow in Christ, or just want to come and hang out and do crafts.  We’ve still got work to do, of course, but it has been wonderful to watch them settling down a bit.  

Our theme verse for them is Psalm 119:9, which says, “How can a young person stay on a path of purity?  By living according to Your word.”  That is our prayer for them, that they would seek the truth of God’s word and in this way live a life of purity and peace.

The Pre-teens are growing up, and like that age group everywhere, seem to have one foot in childhood, one foot in adolescence.  It’s a joy to see them get excited about learning, and hearing them recite their Memory Verses is a highlight.  We pray these words of truth stay with them as they continue to mature.

Our Young Women have been quite inconsistent, which saddens us.  We know they have many things pulling on their time and attention, but as we continue to stress, if God is not our top priority, nothing else can function well.  We appreciate your prayers for these young women, and for us as we seek ways to connect God’s truth to their lives.

The Adult Women are going strong.  It remains our largest group, and it is a joy to watch them come each week.  We are looking forward to a possible ‘paseo’ (field trip) with them soon.  It’s fun for them to get to leave El Callejon and visit another part of their country.  We have a pulga (yard sale) this week to raise funds for transportation.  Please pray our day away will be a good, safe time.

Our Exercise class has been meeting twice a week.  We’re focused on our ‘core’ muscles, and also some stretching and yoga.  It’s a small group, but the women are doing well.  One shared that her back doesn’t hurt as much anymore!

Please pray for us as we continue to work with each of these groups.  Please pray for us as we prepare for summer teams, which begin May 20.  We have a full summer, but we know that God has hand-picked each student who will come, for His perfect purpose and glory. 

We also know He knows and love each person in El Callejon.  Please join us in lifting up this community to our loving Father!  Only in His Holy Spirit’s power can the people there (and everywhere!) meet our Savior, Jesus.

Pan Pics

Here are just a few pictures of the women's pan (bread) practice this past week.  Unfortunately, we don't have pictures of the finished product.  (We had some more 'oven issues' so the women brought the dough home to bake.) 

Some of the women told us their bread turned out delicious, others were impatient and didn't let it rise long enough, and their bread was like 'rocks'.  What a great lesson for us all!  When we try and rush ahead, instead of listening to God's directions, and waiting for His perfect timing, how often do we wind up with 'rock bread' instead of the deliciousness He desires for us?!

We'll continue meeting with them, ironing out details, and seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance at each step.  Thank you for praying with us!

Joemny measures ingredients while Carmen makes the flour 'volcano'.

Mixing the dry and wet ingredients.

Luz takes a turn at kneading the dough
while others look on, take notes and offer advice.

Rolling out the bread. 
In the DR people seem to prefer small individual sized rolls instead of
the loaf bread most Americans use for sandwiches.

Hope Rising

Flour, salt, yeast, water… in the proper hands, simple ingredients are elevated into delicious bread.  Last week, we got to see (and taste!) this firsthand. 

A professional baker from Santiago came on Monday, and was able to share a lot of technical details with the women.  It was good to learn more about the different kinds of flour, yeast and other ingredients available to be used. 

He showed them how to make Pan de Aqua (water bread) which is a simple and tasty white bread.  Our spring intern, Sarah, who is from New York state, said it well – it tastes like the inside of a NY Bagel. 

We had some ‘oven challenges’ in the form of not having all the parts we needed to hook up the gas.  We naively thought everything would come with the stove!  It didn’t.  Thankfully, we’ve learned to always have a Plan B (and maybe Plan C and D!) and so Sarah brought the raised dough back to the SI Base to be baked.

On Thursday Margarita, a woman who lives in a nearby community, came and showed us how to make her whole wheat bread.  Margarita juggles caring for her family and working outside the home.  She also cooks and cleans for her elderly father, attends church groups and English class.  She still makes time to bake and sell her bread almost every day. 

It was good for the women to hear her story, and to see that someone with responsibilities like them has made this work.

Again, we had a challenge, as the power was out, so the blender Margarita uses to soften the trigo (wheat) didn’t work.  We put it into the dough without blending, and hoped for the best. 

Just that morning we had finally got all the parts for the oven, and soon the Site was filled with the smell of delicious baking bread.  And, it tasted as good as it smelled.  One of the women said, “I don’t really like bread, but I loved this!”

The women now have lots of information and have seen two different ways of making two different types of bread.  They seem excited, and were taking notes and asking lots of good questions. 

Of course, there are still a lot of details to figure out!  Purchasing ingredients, a schedule for production, who will be responsible for what, how and when to sell and for how much…

But, our hope is rising (pardon the pun!) as we take the next steps, confident that the Holy Spirit will guide us in whatever is His will.

This week the women plan to come and practice the techniques they’ve learned.  We’ll be sure to get some pictures!  We’re just sorry we won’t be able to send along the wonderful smell (and taste!) of the bread, too!! 

We invite you to continue to lift up El Callejon, the women, and the Panaderia project. Thank you so much! 

Bread Project

The Spanish word for bread is pan, and the place where it is baked is called a Panaderia.  One of the dreams we’ve had for the Social Work site is starting a Panaderia, where women from the community can make a quality product to help earn some money to help provide for their families.  It could also help them learn how to work together, the importance of persevering, and making and keeping goals.

Last summer, a generous church in Florida donated all its Vacation Bible School offering to the Social Work Site.  We asked them if we could use it for a “Bread Project”, including ‘spiritual’ and literal bread.  They enthusiastically said Yes!

The first ‘bread’ we purchased was a way to share the Bread of Life, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is revealed, of course, in the Bible.  So, we bought several large print versions, as well as audio and interactive Bibles.  We also bought The Jesus Film and other dramatized Bible stories (in Spanish, of course).  It’s been wonderful to share the truth of the Bible in ways that those who have poor eyesight, or cannot read at all, can understand! 

Now, we’re moving into the second part of the Bread Project.  The kind of bread you can smear with peanut butter or make into a yummy sandwich.  Last week we bought a stove (with oven) and gas canisters.  It was delivered this week.  Along with the VBS money, another church brought measuring cups, pans, bowls, and other items this past fall.  They’ve been waiting patiently for their first use!

Si Dios quiere (the Lord willing) that will happen next week when a woman from a nearby community will come and teach our El Callejon women.  We’re excited, not only because we’ve sampled her bread (and it is delicious!) but because she lives a similar life to the women in El Callejon, and so she can connect in a way we cannot. 

Like them, she works hard, cooking, cleaning and caring for her family, and also works outside the home on weekends.  She loves Jesus, and even though life is not always easy, she has joy in Him.

We also have someone on staff who has worked for her brother who owns an actual Panaderia.  They have connections with suppliers and others who know about bread.  One of her contacts is coming to help show techniques and share a simple recipe, too! 

Our Microfinance site leader has given one lesson to the women about running a business, and we hope to have him return, as we move ahead.  We want to help the women understand that just saying they want to bake bread isn’t all it takes to make a profit. 

We feel so blessed at all of those who have contributed already.  It’s amazing how God continues to provide!  We’ve got a lot of education and training ahead of us, but vale la pena (it is worth the pain, or worthwhile).  

We know it could be something great, but we also need to go at the pace that the women can handle.  For example, they’ve learned to cook without measuring, but that doesn’t always work well with baking.  They’ve not had experience with yeast and kneading and ovens.  But, with training and desire, we know they can learn!

We invite you to pray with us as we seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in this.  That this would truly be a blessing for El Callejon, and that we would be patient as we teach these new concepts to the women.  Please pray that we (and the women!) never lose sight of the most important Bread, the Bread of Life. 

What's In A Name?

We’ve been enjoying having the Joshua (Wilderness Institute) students with us for the past week.  This group is 65 strong, and we are privileged to have 5 Joshua participants at the Social Work Site in El Callejon.  Three are students, and two are leaders. 

Their first week was learning more about the community, the people, etc.  This week, they’re in charge!  Of course, we’re there to help out, but each one of them will have the opportunity to share some of the gifts God has given them.  We love watching how the Holy Spirit works through them and in them in their time with us!

This afternoon we had our meeting with the Adult Women.  Close to 30 women came for a time of prayer, praise and teaching.  As they entered, we gave each one a name-tag with their name written on it.  We, too, wore name-tags. 

Some of the women go by ‘nicknames’.  It was fun to learn some of their ‘birth names’.  Tiva, a lovely, quiet woman who always takes great care with her crafts, is really named Navidad, which as you may know, is the Spanish word for Christmas. 

For Americans, some of the women’s names were hard, like Quirinia, which is pronounced Irina.  Of course, they find our names difficult, too.  If Mallory is pronounced Spanish-style, it would sound more like Majori. 

After the women had their name-tags, we began with prayer and a time of worship, singing praise songs.  Sarah, one of the Joshua leaders, then shared her testimony.  She did a great job, and the women really paid attention as she talked about how God has been at work in her life. 

Sarah shared how her brother had talked with her when she was younger and expressing a desire for a boyfriend.  He showed her a quarter, and said that even though there are millions of quarters, this specific quarter is the only one that is this one.  That is what God has for you, he told the younger Sarah.  He has someone specific for you.  She talked about trusting in God, and waiting until He reveals the husband she is to have. 

Jenae and Sarah sharing.
And yes, you do see an umbrella! 
We have a transparent panel in the ceiling,
and a couple of the ladies thought it was too bright! :O)

Jenae, another of the Joshua leaders, then talked about why we had name-tags.  Part of it was to help the participants know the women’s names, and vice versa.  However, she went deeper, talking about how just as we each have a name, God knows each one of us. 

Some of the names of the women are ‘made up’, describe a physical attribute (like Negra, which means Black), a combination of their parents’ names, or a feminized version of a father’s name (Miguelina, for Miguel). 

But, like the quarters, each one of us is the only one of us there is.  God made us and knew us before the creation of the world.  We are loved by Him, and He calls us by name. 

Both Sarah and Jenae shared scripture passages like Psalm 139 and the Greatest Commandment (in Matthew 22) with the women.  The women were interested and took note of the various verses.  We pray they will read them at home, and continue to learn to see themselves as God does - His beloved daughters, each unique, one-of-a-kind and precious.

 

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Feliz Año Nuevo!  As we welcome each new group back we greet each other with Happy New Year!  After visiting friends and family over Christmas in Columbia (Daisy) and the U.S. (Kimberley), we returned to El Callejon last week. 

It’s been great to be back, reconnecting with the women, teens, girls and other little ones of the community.  To hear how they are doing, to share in hugs and laughter again.  To look forward to this new year, knowing that Jesus is already there, and we can expect Him to move in powerful ways. 

We have a terrific team of students with us from The Forge, a gap year program in Texas.  They've brought great ideas and an incredible passion for Jesus with them.  What a wonderful way to begin 2013!

our students made 'flag banners' with the Chiquitas.
"Hija de Dios" means Child of God to help remind
them of how much He loves them!

As always, we’ve got lots of plans for the year, including new classes, encouraging the women to go deeper in their faith, more one-on-one discipling, finding new and creative ways to share the joy and hope and comfort of the Gospel. 

And, as always, we want to hold those plans loosely, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we do.

Returning also meant plunging back into the problems of the community.  As you all know, poor choices, financial difficulties, and strained relationships, rarely take a ‘Christmas holiday’!  

We know that only the power of the Gospel can transform this community and the people living there.  And so, we have recommitted ourselves to making this our first priority.  In every situation, in every conversation and encounter, to speak of Jesus and His love, to point the women to our only Source of hope. 

the students teaching our Teens how to write
(and pronounce!) Child of God in English.  We want
them to remember who they are, and help with their desire
to learn English, too!

This year is going to be a full one, with more Outreaches (students, adults and others who come down to minister with us for one week, two weeks, or even several months) than ever before. 

Our prayer is that each of them will meet Jesus in new ways during their time with us.  That they, too, will come away with the conviction that the Gospel is the most important thing we can offer. 

It is a huge responsibility and honor to be in El Callejon, serving the people there, the participants who come down, and, most important of all, our Holy, Almighty, Triune God. 

We invite you to join us in prayer for the community, for Students International, for Daisy and Kimberley, for the many (many!) people back home who give sacrificially of their finances, who spend time in intercessory prayer, who write to encourage us, who visit.

We wish we could reach out and hug each of you and wish you Feliz Año Nuevo as well!  Know that we appreciate you and your interest in the big things God is accomplishing in this small part of His world!