U2 Song at Farewell Sunday

A big thanks to the Faith Community praise band for playing my favorite song, "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2 during the contemporary service at my farewell Sunday.

It was a special day to have the U2 song and the chancel choir as part of my final Sunday at Faith Community.

I didn't know that Bono (Tom Blackbern) and U2 would include Xenia in their current 360 world tour!

Thanks for the memories, Xenia: Faith Community United Methodist! And thanks for a great send off.

I love you all.

Our Wonderful Mission Trip Guide - Guatemala '09

Luis Alvarado, a US citizen who has a passion for the people and culture of Latin America, served as our July 14 - 21 Guatemala mission team guide.

Luis speaks Spanish fluently and was able to answer almost every question we threw at him, causing me to wonder how much prize money he would win if he became a contestant on Jeopardy!

Thanks to Luis, the people on our team who became ill were able to receive help at a local clinic and receive the medicine we needed. He also worked side by side with us each day in the hot sun as we dug the trench for the water line.

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View from Work Site - Guatemala '09

Every day, our 14 member mission team had a view of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains during our work on the 270 meter water project for the small community of Pachitulul, which you can begin to see immediately to the left.

The large and beautiful Lake Atitlan is located behind me as I took this picture. We had a spectacular view of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world as well as these beautiful mountains and volcanoes. Interestling enough, we were working during their rainy season but it didn't rain until our last day of the trip. We were fortunate to have been their during a two week dry time of the rainy season!

In the midst of tremendous poverty, signs of God's beautiful creation were all around us and especially in the faces of the people we met.

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Sunday Worship Preview - August 2

Sunday, August 2 - (8:15 A.M. & 11:00 A.M. Traditional & 9:45 A.M. Contemporary)

Sermon - "Called by God"

Features - 9th Sunday After Pentecost & Commissioning of New Senior Pastor

Scriptures - Jeremiah 1:1-10 & Luke 9:18-27

Theme - Our two scripture readings today help us to think about God’s calling in our lives. How do you know if God is calling you? What does it mean for us to say yes to God? In this time of pastoral transition and new beginnings, we turn to God’s call of Jeremiah and Jesus’ call of the disciples to help us be open to God’s calling in our lives.

New Friends - Guatemala Mission Trip '09

Our Guatemala mission team ended up meeting several new people during our July 14 - 21 trip. One of the best ways to get to know people who speak a totally different language is by working side by side on a project together.

In the course of digging a trench for the water pipe project, I got to know two young men from the community who will be benefiting from the new well. Their names are Fausto and Gabino (see picture above.)

Since it became obvious to the three of us that I didn't know much Spanish and they knew little English, Gabino pulled out a note pad and asked me the English equivalant for various words. He gave me a copy of that list which I now carry in my wallet to remind me of our new friendship.

I think they were both impressed that as a padre, I could swing a pic axe fairly well!

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As a token of our new friendship, I gave them two of our mission trip t-shirts on the last day of our trip.

July 26 Sermon - "The Last Word"

Sermon by Pastor Robert McDowell

Pachitulul & Streams of Living Water

A community of fifteen to twenty people will be able to have water in their community thanks to the recent Faith Community/Common Cup mission trip to Guatemala (July 14 - 21.)

Our task was to complete the 2nd phase of a 3 phase water project which included digging a 270 meter long trench, laying the pipe, covering up the trench, and erecting an electric pole. The trench line went through some rocky soil, through a corn field, and up a sharp incline to the top of a hill where the well is located. (See picture above of part of our team at work.)

We used pic axes, shovels, and hoes to dig the trench under the hot sun. Folks from the community helped our fourteen member team.

In addition to the water project, our team also helped at the nearby two room school that doesn't have electricity and distributed clothing and toys to the children. More about those projects in future posts.