Wednesday through Friday, 10 Through 12 August 2011
The big question on everyones mind (especially the Welsh ladies of Capel Seion) was how much could the construction team get done before the funeral service Thursday morning? Would there be wood fragments scattered here and there? Would there be a half finished wall with the guts exposed? Would there be room for the coffin to make it down the aisles?
The team worked at a fast pace, but somehow the spirit was unhurried. Everyone seemed to know what to do without a lot of frenzied communication. All was well ordered and harmonious. The platform area proved to be a never ending quest to find un rotted wood capable of standing upon. Wider and wider the hole grew as wood like peanut brittle shattered away. Unfortunate Welsh teen (and newly born again) Sophie steped upon what looked like a safe bit and crunched through the wood to the dirt below. Oops, more cutting please. But when would the girders ever be stabilized enough to make the platform standable (especially by the larger than life Shreklike) Derek Rees?
Then Thursday morning arrived. The first cluster of ladies arrived for the funeral service. They wandered around looking at all the changes with curiosity. The Baptistry was tiled with glossy white squares instead of porous red bricks. The new youth room was already constructed. The leprous yellow walls were freshly painted with not a blister to be seen. The platform not only stood firm but it was freshly carpets and had a newly painted end cap on the front face. The organ no longer blocked everyones view of the platform, but now resided to the left of th e stage, resting upon a reinforced floor. Not a wood chip or a dust fleck could be found. Admittedly some of the newly constructed or freshly platters walls had not been painted, but anyone could see that there had been a transformation here. The cramped cluttered worship area now seemed somehow larger despite the space dedicated to the Youth Room in the back it had seemed more open, airy, warm, and intimate as well.
One of the Welsh ladies, Margaret, seemed to speak for them all. "We are all like Cheshire cats," she beamed, "we can't stop
Smiling!"
And that's how the team met the deadline with flying colors.
Derek performed the ceremony (his first at Seion) and since the family had requested for us to do so, a little delegation from the team attended the funeral, comprised of Nancy, Donna, and Allen. After the funeral the same delegation was invited by the family to a pub for sandwiches and tea. Somehow they seemed to include the American strangers as part of their family on a formal grieving day. We heard stories of the ladys life, of how much the town had changed in the last six decades, and we snared stories about America. It could not have been sweeter and more tender.
The rest of the week polished what the first part had achieved. We painted and carpeted the Youth Room put in elegant track lighting, similar to that at Capel Gomer, and even bought black and pink (and one brown) padded folding chairs for the youths to sit on in their new room. While the funeral service took place, the rest of the team freshened up Capel Gomer by putting new lights in the dungeon like mens bathroom, and we even stained the greeting center in the entryway (no longer turned so as to obstruct passage through the room). The plant boxes outside were weeded and a new light was put in the entryway.
On Friday, we culminated the week by putting up giant new canvas signs (again designed by the Rice Flocks very own Becky Anderson) at both Seion and Gomer. We wandered around taking photos of all that God had wrought and then we stood and clapped for what everyone had acheived. Eating pizza at Gomer, we recounted the impact of our meager efforts upon the lives of our Welsh friends. We especially thought of sweet Emma and Sophie, new Christian sisters, and leaders of the new community of youth here, and how they embody the fresh work of the Holy Spirit in Wales. We were tired after a hard working week, but it was a happy tired. We had seen God work through us, and we had sensed we were a small part of something much larger He is doing and will be doing in this country of gray stone and grayer clouds for some time to come.
Tomorrow, we are off to Cardiff for sightseeing and an early bed at the hotel ending our adventure. But most of us mentioned tonight at dinner that we are already planning when we can come back again.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Curveballs
Monday and Tuesday, 8 & 9 August 2011
A good mission trip has curveballs. The more curveballs, the greater the chance for the team to find opportunities to work together and to rely on God rather than themselves. The last two days have given us opportunities to find a way to win.
First, the team learned that one of the few members of the church they were going to work on, Capel Seion, had passed away suddenly at the age of 91. This was sad in itself. But it's impact upon the team was that they had to get all their work done in three days rather than five, so the funeral service would be unpolluted with construction debris. Curveball! Then, the team learned that because they were late in picking up the rental van, the car company rented it to someone else and the only van they had left could barely hold six passengers, let alone room for hauling lumber and other construction supplies. Curveball! Then the team moving the organ discovered the platform was rotten and had to rip out and rebuild it. Curveball! And illness struck: Franklin Wheeler got sick and stayed in the hotel for part of a day. Then Allen got sick and went to the hotel early one day. Then worst of all: Lonnie's daugter, still in Oklahoma, grew sick, perhaps as a result of a her recent mission trip to Africa. Triple Curveball!
And yet what everyone seems to be experiencing is a pleasant, spiritual vacation rich in budding new friendships and sweet experiences.
The pews came out within an hour. A wall sprang up in their place. Fresh paint healed the creeping leprosy of the walls which took decades to spread. The organ was moved. The ribs of the platform were laid bare and reconstructed. Mold was stopped in its tentative first steps. Brush from the Stone Age was hacked away from the outer church wall of stone. The Porous brick of the Baptistry was meticulously replaced with glossy white tile. Square holes in the floor where the old pews had been were patched with makeshift metal strips which did the job admirably. It was a frenzy of construction.
But strangely, it didn't feel frenzied. The yoke was easy and the burden was light. The strain seemed fun. Patrick artistically tiled in the dungeon of the Baptistry(complete with wooden cell bars) like Michaelangelo on the Sistine Chapel. Outside, Larry painted the entrance gate with equal calm that was almost prophetic. Donna Nancy ken and Alllen danced a strangely graceful version of Swan Lake, but this version involved long roller brushes and magnolia colored masonry paint on a neverending wall with gothic arched windows. This is hard work that felt like a Sunday School share time. Men got to know what each other does for a living. Women shared their salvation experiences. And the team genuinely loved one another, even without quite knowing one another.
We all prayed for Lonnie's daughter, some of the team laying hands upon him. We all knew he wanted to teleport home to be by her side as she suffered. Yet he maintained his Jedai calm. By the afternoon we received good news: her fever had gone and she was resting comfortably. It looked like she was in the clear. God answers prayer. He is a great God. He throws curveballs but He also makes the bats to help us knock the curveballs out of the park.
Long days. Hard working days. Fun and fulfilling days. Days deep with spiritual significance.
A good mission trip has curveballs. The more curveballs, the greater the chance for the team to find opportunities to work together and to rely on God rather than themselves. The last two days have given us opportunities to find a way to win.
First, the team learned that one of the few members of the church they were going to work on, Capel Seion, had passed away suddenly at the age of 91. This was sad in itself. But it's impact upon the team was that they had to get all their work done in three days rather than five, so the funeral service would be unpolluted with construction debris. Curveball! Then, the team learned that because they were late in picking up the rental van, the car company rented it to someone else and the only van they had left could barely hold six passengers, let alone room for hauling lumber and other construction supplies. Curveball! Then the team moving the organ discovered the platform was rotten and had to rip out and rebuild it. Curveball! And illness struck: Franklin Wheeler got sick and stayed in the hotel for part of a day. Then Allen got sick and went to the hotel early one day. Then worst of all: Lonnie's daugter, still in Oklahoma, grew sick, perhaps as a result of a her recent mission trip to Africa. Triple Curveball!
And yet what everyone seems to be experiencing is a pleasant, spiritual vacation rich in budding new friendships and sweet experiences.
The pews came out within an hour. A wall sprang up in their place. Fresh paint healed the creeping leprosy of the walls which took decades to spread. The organ was moved. The ribs of the platform were laid bare and reconstructed. Mold was stopped in its tentative first steps. Brush from the Stone Age was hacked away from the outer church wall of stone. The Porous brick of the Baptistry was meticulously replaced with glossy white tile. Square holes in the floor where the old pews had been were patched with makeshift metal strips which did the job admirably. It was a frenzy of construction.
But strangely, it didn't feel frenzied. The yoke was easy and the burden was light. The strain seemed fun. Patrick artistically tiled in the dungeon of the Baptistry(complete with wooden cell bars) like Michaelangelo on the Sistine Chapel. Outside, Larry painted the entrance gate with equal calm that was almost prophetic. Donna Nancy ken and Alllen danced a strangely graceful version of Swan Lake, but this version involved long roller brushes and magnolia colored masonry paint on a neverending wall with gothic arched windows. This is hard work that felt like a Sunday School share time. Men got to know what each other does for a living. Women shared their salvation experiences. And the team genuinely loved one another, even without quite knowing one another.
We all prayed for Lonnie's daughter, some of the team laying hands upon him. We all knew he wanted to teleport home to be by her side as she suffered. Yet he maintained his Jedai calm. By the afternoon we received good news: her fever had gone and she was resting comfortably. It looked like she was in the clear. God answers prayer. He is a great God. He throws curveballs but He also makes the bats to help us knock the curveballs out of the park.
Long days. Hard working days. Fun and fulfilling days. Days deep with spiritual significance.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Well Begun Is Half Done
Saturday and Sunday, 6 & 7 August 2011
The second team arrived Saturday morning on time, bolted past immigration at a gallop, and casually boarded the bus. What a miracle for two teams comprised of twenty people to have no trouble at all getting into Britain. Nothing short of a miracle. Thank you, God!
The team is comprised of team leader Lonnie Hamman, veterans Danny Tengram, Ken Roth, Tom and Donna King, and Frank Wheeler. That's a lot of veterans! Rookies include Franks wife and son, Nancy and Franklin, Larry Lewis, Chris Jones, Patrick McBride, and last but not least, our own beloved elder, Joe Williams. And that other guy who stayed over from the first team, Allen Rice.
We visited the museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans where giant amounts of acreage contains virtually every type of Welsh building from Prehistory to the Present, from an Iron Age Celtic village, a corn mill, a blacksmith, an Eighteenth Century Unitarian chapel, to a Renaissance castle, complete with elaborate gardens and lazy lilly pad covered ponds, one flowing serenely into the next. Next we visited Llandaff cathedral, established by a Celtic saint who was a younger contemporary of Kingg Arthur. It is a hazy. Mystical place lying at the bottom of a steep spiraling walkway, appearing as if by surprise. The stone on the outside is a combination of light grey, sulphur yellow, and dark lavender. Inside, there is a dreamy melancholy infusing the thirteenth century sanctuary. All in all, a soft sweet experience.
Outside, Patrick came up with the idea of a group picture in front of a large stone cross. Spiritual guy, that Patrick. He often was the guy who reminded us that we should eventually get around to praying. Good call. Then we had a quick lunch and off to the Dragon Hotel we went. We were at the hotel by 6 pm and some were asleep by then.
On Sunday, we took a taxi bus to Capel Seion where we were blessed by Dereks sermon on Jonah and by a proper Welsh tea hosted by the ladies of the chapel. Allen briefly met with the ladies of the church offering to take out all their pews in exchange for new pews from Capel Gomer. They declined, but agreed to let the team take out all the pews to the left and the right of the worship platform (and they had previously agreed to let us take out about one fourth of the back pews so we could construct a youth room there). All in all the ladies were very gracious to us as usual.
We then took the taxi bus to Swansea where we grabbed a quick lunch and trotted to Capel Gomer where we heard another great Derek Rees sermon on Jonah and were offered more tea by our beloved Gomerites. After a planning meeting where Lonnie recorded the teams brainstorming over all the possible tasks we could undertake, we left it in Lonnies hands to prioritize the tasks and assign us our roles the next day. Then off we went to the Varsity, a bright, open, vaguely American style restaurant. Then home to bed at the Dragon for an early start tomorrow.
All in all, this team seems very sweet and unusually spiritual. They seem to be thoroughly enjoying their experiences so far and are adept at rolling with the rogue waves that so often accompany good mission trips. We seem almost eager for the taxing work ahead.
The second team arrived Saturday morning on time, bolted past immigration at a gallop, and casually boarded the bus. What a miracle for two teams comprised of twenty people to have no trouble at all getting into Britain. Nothing short of a miracle. Thank you, God!
The team is comprised of team leader Lonnie Hamman, veterans Danny Tengram, Ken Roth, Tom and Donna King, and Frank Wheeler. That's a lot of veterans! Rookies include Franks wife and son, Nancy and Franklin, Larry Lewis, Chris Jones, Patrick McBride, and last but not least, our own beloved elder, Joe Williams. And that other guy who stayed over from the first team, Allen Rice.
We visited the museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans where giant amounts of acreage contains virtually every type of Welsh building from Prehistory to the Present, from an Iron Age Celtic village, a corn mill, a blacksmith, an Eighteenth Century Unitarian chapel, to a Renaissance castle, complete with elaborate gardens and lazy lilly pad covered ponds, one flowing serenely into the next. Next we visited Llandaff cathedral, established by a Celtic saint who was a younger contemporary of Kingg Arthur. It is a hazy. Mystical place lying at the bottom of a steep spiraling walkway, appearing as if by surprise. The stone on the outside is a combination of light grey, sulphur yellow, and dark lavender. Inside, there is a dreamy melancholy infusing the thirteenth century sanctuary. All in all, a soft sweet experience.
Outside, Patrick came up with the idea of a group picture in front of a large stone cross. Spiritual guy, that Patrick. He often was the guy who reminded us that we should eventually get around to praying. Good call. Then we had a quick lunch and off to the Dragon Hotel we went. We were at the hotel by 6 pm and some were asleep by then.
On Sunday, we took a taxi bus to Capel Seion where we were blessed by Dereks sermon on Jonah and by a proper Welsh tea hosted by the ladies of the chapel. Allen briefly met with the ladies of the church offering to take out all their pews in exchange for new pews from Capel Gomer. They declined, but agreed to let the team take out all the pews to the left and the right of the worship platform (and they had previously agreed to let us take out about one fourth of the back pews so we could construct a youth room there). All in all the ladies were very gracious to us as usual.
We then took the taxi bus to Swansea where we grabbed a quick lunch and trotted to Capel Gomer where we heard another great Derek Rees sermon on Jonah and were offered more tea by our beloved Gomerites. After a planning meeting where Lonnie recorded the teams brainstorming over all the possible tasks we could undertake, we left it in Lonnies hands to prioritize the tasks and assign us our roles the next day. Then off we went to the Varsity, a bright, open, vaguely American style restaurant. Then home to bed at the Dragon for an early start tomorrow.
All in all, this team seems very sweet and unusually spiritual. They seem to be thoroughly enjoying their experiences so far and are adept at rolling with the rogue waves that so often accompany good mission trips. We seem almost eager for the taxing work ahead.
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