EBV (a.k.a., VBS)

I did not write last week because I was too tired. La Escuela Bíblica de Vacaciones (Vacation Bible School) was last week. It was the first time Unidos por Cristo ever held their own escuela; usually they sent their kids to a nearby church’s VBS. There was no curriculum from Cokesbury, because Cokesbury doesn’t have any in Spanish. Yes, these kids are bilingual, but some of the mothers are not. However, the ladies decided that we have enough kids, we should do our own VBS, and they wrote their own curriculum for four days, two hours each day.

The Escuela was called “Niños y Niñas de Fe” (Boys and Girls of Faith). The Bible stories centered on those time when Jesus brought someone back from the dead, often because of the faith of their friends or loved ones.

Of course, we sang, because you can’t have VBS without music! Instead of figuring out how to burn music from YouTube onto CD, I hooked the church laptop up to the stereo system in the sanctuary. (Yes, the laptop is actually sitting on the altar.)


Out blasted “Levantate y Anda” (Get Up and Walk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAFMBinYnwI

and “El Siervo del Centurion” (The Centurion’s Servant)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxvuFW5wTUA

The music director had the kids act out the scenes to “Levantate and Anda” – a mother who lost her son in the town of Nain, the man who lost his son, and the two sisters crying in Bethany over their brother, Lazarus. The refrain says (in my translation into English): “Get up and walk; I am the life. Get up and walk; you were born to live!”

A total of 24 different children attended, although never more than 21 on any given day. Eight mothers and five youth ran the show. Since they weren’t sure if I’d be there, I was only assigned to pray each day and to press the button for the music! The best VBS job ever! (My other job turned out to be giving rides when various family vans broke down; not a bad job, either, although a bit stressful when one van broke down on busy Greenville Blvd. God provided enough for the mom to turn the van into a parking lot before it gave out!)

On Friday, at the end of the week, we held a program in the evening for the parents and it was a smashing success! However, by Friday, I was worn out because I’d been at the church six days in a row, all day during the day each day. I was planning to stay at Joan’s parsonage Friday during the day, but workers came to install new fire/smoke alarms in the church building and unlike the workers installing the central a/c and heat, these guys didn’t have their own key. That meant I had to be there, too. The other reason I was worn out is that I take my strongest weekly rheumatoid arthritis medication on Saturday, in order to be at my best on Sunday. By the end of the week, my energy level is pretty low normally, and it was only lower because of being gone all week and VBS and no rest except in the evenings. I have still been recuperating this week.

Location, Location, Location!

Unidos por Cristo meets in the building that used to house Grimesland UMC. Grimesland UMC was closed in 1990; Unidos por Cristo was planted in 2000 and the building was fixed up to make it suitable again for a church. The building is in the center of town on the main street through town. What prime real estate!

On the east side of town is a NC Historical Marker for Major General Brian Grimes (1828-1880) of the Confederate Army. His family owned a plantation called Grimesland that roughly covered the same land that is today the town of Grimesland.

In case you hadn't guessed, there are no traffic lights in Grimesland. It is the smallest town in which I have ever spent significant amounts of time.

The other Sunday I walked my husband over to the tienda, La Potosina, to get a Coke before he headed home. La Potosina is also in the center of town, just a block away from the church. Lee was astonished as we walked past Town Hall and the Police Station on the way to the tienda. I told him, "Welcome to Mayberry!" (which is based on Mount Airy, NC).

I walked to the Post Office this past week, across the street from Town Hall, the Police Station, and La Potosina. (I think I get a lot of looks when I walk, because I'm the only pedestrian, but I'm not driving just to go a block down the street!) There were two spaces in the parking lot next to it, both labeled "10 minutes parking for Post Office." Ten minutes! When I go to the Post Office, I allot at least 20 minutes because I expect to stand in line for 10 minutes, minimum! Moreover, I walked to the Post Office about 12:10 p.m. Guess what? The Post Office is closed from 12-2 p.m. daily.

Downtown Grimesland: Town Hall, the Police Station, and La Potosina are on the right; the Post Office is on the left. The view is taken from just past Unidos por Cristo UMC.


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Week 2: Communion and Bible Study

This past Sunday was my first time ever blessing the communion elements and it was cool! I've struggled to find the right words to describe it. There is something that happens in saying the words of institution and then offering that bread and wine to the congregation that is so much beyond my actions.

And this congregation seems to be HUNGRY for life-giving food. They hang on my every word when I preach (hopefully it's not always because they're trying to understand me!). While I prefer to be brief and risk saying too little than saying too much, I think I might need to preach longer in order to feed them more (and in order for children's Sunday school, which occurs at the same time, to have more time!).

In order to avoid the mistakes I made last week, the dirigidora del servicio (a.k.a., liturgist) took it upon herself to make sure there was a printed order of worship besides the PowerPoint. I had also printed out one with the same goal in mind, but I only made one copy and never got it back from her. She helped more by appointing her husband to say the prayer over the offering, so that I couldn't forget it. I did still pronounce the benediction before the announcements - believe it or not, there's no space for announcements in the order of worship in the hymnal and after communion I was just following the end of the service as outlined, having completely forgotten about the PowerPoint and having lost my printed copy.

I felt much more in my element Monday night when we resumed the weekly bible study. Teaching and facilitating bible studies are church activities I'm used to doing, unlike preaching and presiding at the table. We did a short study I put together and then I presented them with four options for how to proceed next with the weekly study. I hope I didn't influence them too much, but they picked my favorite option - Discipulado (or Disciple bible study in Spanish)! Eight of the ten folks who came said they could commit to doing it, a commitment which I had worried about beforehand would turn people off from the study (it's 34 weeks with daily reading to prepare for the weekly group gathering). THEN I talked with my District Superintendent the next morning AND she said there are funds in the District specifically marked for Disciple bible study!! I was wondering how we were going to be able to afford the study, but God had already provided!!!

The First Couple Days

My first Sunday was last Sunday, June 27. The service was a comedy of errors for which the lay leaders gently corrected me each time (like forgetting to bless the offering until after I'd given the benediction). Praise God for a gracious congregation!

My first day in the office was Monday, June 28. The painters beat me to the church that morning and I chatted with one of them on the way in (being one female among 5 or so unknown men, it's best to find that fine line between being friendly but not flirty). He asked about the congregation and I said that the service is all in Spanish and I preach in Spanish. He told me that I speak English pretty good! (It's only my native language...)

That day in the office I had 3 computers with me: the church's old laptop, the church's new laptop, and my personal laptop. The old laptop I set up to defragment all morning (it took 3 hrs) so it was out of commission. The new laptop I couldn't get in to because I didn't know the password. Out of three computers, I could only use one!

I feel like I've been gaining a southern accent the longer I live consecutively in North Carolina (on and off since 1993; the current streak is 3 1/2 years). A lot of it may be being at Duke Divinity School the past 3 years with people from around the country and the world. Then I went to Joan's church's potluck in Washington, NC Sunday evening and I was asked if I had folks up north (why, yes I do). So much for that southern accent.

Finally, the church sign, pictured above. Heather is a very difficult name in the Spanish-speaking world (my parents had no idea when they named me for a purple Scottish flower from my heritage). My name has been spelled Geder (a Spanish phonetic spelling that at least pronounces it almost right because the G sounds like an English H). I've taught lots of people to put their tongue between their teeth to make the TH sound. The senora I lived with in Spain for a semester in college had so much trouble, she finally gave up and said, "I'm just going to call you Estelle"! So the fact that the lay leaders who did the sign got 1 out of 2 H's is pretty good in my opinion! (And they did apologize for the missing H.)

Why Intersections?

Intersections was the name of my monthly newsletter I sent from October 2004 through July 2007 while preparing to leave, serving in Nicaragua, and continuing to work back in the U.S. with the same mission agency, Food for the Hungry. I chose the name from Proverbs 1:21, which was the basis for a former pastor's final sermon at my home church. It is your intersections with yourself, with others, with creation, and with God that shape your life. It is in your intersections with others that you show Jesus to them and that you meet God.