Saving the World before Bedtime

A couple of weeks ago, we had a special "jornada" (activity lasting an entire day) with our pre-teen groups. We're following a special series put out by the Catholic Church in Santiago focusing on this age group, which treats each kid as a super hero, called by God to change the world. They seemed to have a good time, but we're noticing that our particular group is becoming more and more teen every day. They're oversleeping, not following through on promises and have a hard time making it to mass at... noon. They often have excuses for missing activities, like they have too much homework, but we have enough experience to know that the simple fact is, sometimes sitting on the couch watching t.v. is much more appealing than walking to the chapel ten minutes away. And then there is the constant "fight factor." Best friends change weekly, as petty quarrels over boys, music tastes or he said that she said that he said become just way too important. Pre-teens are a special breed. We hope to survive until the end of the year.

The two photos above are of a game we like to play. We tie balloons to everyone's ankle and then let them loose to pop or be popped. The last one with an inflated balloon wins. It's a great way to wear them out.

Each kid made a comic strip showing their favorite memories of the group so far.

In this series, the kids are divided into tribes, based on the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe has its own symbol, color and personality.

In order to help the kids identify with their tribes, they receive gifts like t-shirts, hats and pins throughout the year. Since we are a very poor parish, we've only got as far as pins. We're hoping to raise some money this year in order to buy t-shirts.

Sickies

We've been hit with the plague. David fell first, then Joshua a few days later and Anna the next. Joshua had us scared with a temperature peaking at 105.6 (yikes). The doctor filled him with medicines to keep him sufficiently dazed until the worst passed. Here's some documentation of how the boys like to spend their sick days:

Alone at Last

Our last visitor left yesterday. That was a long two week vacation. Ten visitors past through, some staying a couple of days and many staying over a week. We were pretty worn out yesterday, but after they left, we got a blast of energy and were able to put the house back in order, put Joshua to bed in his own room (thank goodness!!) and relax. We're back to work today though, having meetings and planning youth events. We didn't do a great job getting pictures, but here are a few that prove Joshua had a good time:

Surprise!! Visitors...

Our house has reached a hallmark event. We had 10 people and one dog sleeping here one night. It's a record for our 3 bedroom, one bathroom home. One family was a fellow lay missionary, her husband and two children. Her oldest daughter is three and Joshua had a great time playing with her. Matilda made her debut on this blog here. As soon as she walked in the door, Joshua's face lit up, and they then proceeded to squeal, hug, bang on pots, jump on the bed, kick a ball around, chase the dog and play just about every other fun game a 3 year old can think of. The second night of their visit, a friend from Santiago called sheepishly saying, "I'm on a bus about to arrive to Iquique and I need a place to stay." Since all of the beds were occupied, we offered her the couch. She accepted with a sigh of relief. The trip took longer than we thought and David went to pick her up from the bus stop at 2am! Surprisingly, he found not one, but three people to bring back! She had come with her husband and nephew as well. The three of them shared a couch and love seat. We're still not sure how, but they managed to sleep well without rolling onto the floor. Again, Joshua was thrilled to wake up and find three more friends to add to his antics. We'll probably have a couple more visitors before the end of the week, since this is winter vacation (and la Tirana) time. We're having a great time, along with Joshua, sharing with such good Chilean friends.

A Free Moment (by Anna)

I had a free moment here and I thought I would share a little of the day-to-day stuff that usually gets lost. It's Saturday night, a little before 9pm. That means that David is boiling 2 large pots full of the sweetest tea you've ever tasted. A southerner knows sweet tea, and this tea goes beyond any down-home barbecue version ever created. It's like liquid rock candy. He's also made about thirty baloney with margarine sandwiches. It's a pretty gross creation, but Chilean kids love it. Every Friday and Saturday night, he goes out into the plazas with his tea and sandwiches, sits on a bench and waits. Kids arrive first, asking if they can have some tea. They approvingly smile at the first taste and exclaim, "bien dulce!" (really sweet!). They then invite their older brothers, mothers and friends to come have a sandwich with them. As they share their meal, they sit with David and talk about their lives, ask how to say their names in English. They laugh when he says Juan is John and Maria is Mary.

As the night goes on, more adults stop by and ask for a cup of tea. They're more silent, but eventually share that this is the first thing they've had to eat all day. They're the drug addicts that roam the streets all night, scraping together what they can in order to buy cheap hits of "pasta base" - the junk left over after making cocaine. They're bone thin and have a vacant look in their eyes. They tell David about what it's like to live as an addict, how they've lost their families and that they can't hold down a job. They go days without eating and pass terrible cold while roaming the streets at night. David does what he does best; he listens. If they show interest in getting help, David knows where to direct them. He has connections to rehabilitation programs and has taken special courses to work in prevention and accompaniment of people with addiction problems. Two people have gotten into rehab thanks to these night-time outings.

Of course, most don't end up getting help. But, we hope that through talking to another person who shows them respect and love, they're able to regain a little of their humanity and to remember that they aren't alone. We hope that the words of encouragement remind them that there is hope for their own lives, that things can change. With God's help, we've seen hope restored, lives turn around and families reunited.

It took me twenty minutes to write this post. David has left with his tea and sandwiches. Joshua's in his crib, pretending to burp and saying "excuse me" in Spanish, laughing each and every time. I'm sitting at the computer, catching up on email and sharing a little of our lives with you. It's a good life.

Caminata

On Sunday afternoon, about 70 youth and 10 adults showed up at our chapel for a caminata (hiking excursion). We've written about a couple of caminatas here and here. Chileans, while similar to Americans in our general hatred of walking, love a good caminata. Most religious festivals or feast days are celebrated with a long, arduous journey to help the faithful remember Christ's suffering and to offer up their own hardships as a prayer for a special intention. This was the first time we organized our own on a parish level.

The kids arrived relatively on time (only twenty minutes late!), revealing their excitement for the walk to begin. We played a couple of games to keep them happy while the latecomers arrived and then embarqued on an hour long trek up the mountain that they call a hill. It was tough for them. Many tried to give up along the way, but were encouraged to keep going. We all made it to the top, where we had a special activity planned.

The view from the top is spectacular. You can see all of our neighborhood, all of Alto Hospicio and even the ocean down in Iquique. Since it's winter, the fog was pretty thick and we couldn't see the ocean too clearly. But, as the sun set, it cast an orange hue on the water and we all got a special glimpse of nature. (Guess who forgot the camera?)

Besides showing them a view, we wanted to give the kids a more profound look into the mass. We have the problem in our parish that the teens don't come to mass. Or, when they do come, they show up late, sit close to the back or chat outside until Communion, when they walk up the aisle to receive the host and then quickly leave. So, we broke them up into groups and set up stations that represented different parts of the mass:

1) Forgiveness - in this station, we had the kids take part in an Act of Reconciliation, where they were able to write their sins and shortcomings on a piece of paper and burn them. We wanted them to know that asking for forgiveness is not only for once or twice a year in the confessional, but rather part of a constant conversation with God. The mass serves us as a more frequent reminder to examine our conscience and to live better lives.

2) The Gospel - The kids did a Lectio Divina activity with the gospel reading for that day. They were guided in a relaxation meditation, read the gospel and shared what the text said to them and how they were called to live out that message in their lives. They then finished with a small prayer that each one spoke from the heart.

3) The Offering - Here, we focused on what the kids could offer God from their own lives. They were asked to create a small figure from clay that would symbolize what they want to offer to God. Some made guitars, which meant that they wanted to share their gift of music, others made bread, saying that they wanted to share materially with the most poor of the community and many made hearts, signifying that they wanted to offer their love and care for others.

4) The Consecration - This was a more complicated theme, as the conversion of mere bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is indeed a mystery. So, we decided to have the kids look over the scene, the setting sun over an ocean from the top of a mountain, and to contemplate the presence of God in nature. Interestingly, during one group's contemplation, the clouds formed a cross in the sky.

5) Communion - We focused on this theme after we returned from our walk and came back to the chapel. We arrived and shared a meal together - evening tea. Here, we chatted and laughed about the events of the day.

We feel so privileged to be apart of a team here at the parish where we are able to hold events like this one, where we strive to create an ambiance where each youth has the opportunity to have a personal encounter with God. Being able to share our gifts in order to bring others to Christ has been so rewarding. For this, we are very thankful.

Look Who's Two

Joshua's birthday was a week ago on June 3rd. Kids' parties here are a big deal. They involve at least two cakes (one for the party and one to send home with guests), meals for both the kids and their accompanying adults, the traditional piñata, balloon animals, clowns, inflatable bouncy castles.... We just couldn't do it. We wanted to invite a couple of kids his age over for cake, but then we knew we would offend the rest of the neighborhood by not inviting them. So, we opted for the tradition in both of our families - a made-at-home cake, a couple of presents and a song after dinner. Joshua was delighted with the results. Every day after lunch now, he asks, "Mas torta? Mas velas?" (More cake? More candles?). Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa R. he is now enjoying a non-cardboard guitar and driving us CRAZY with the noise.