|
St
Mark Presbyterian Church Good
News |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
August
2009 |
Volume
2, Number 8 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Quick
Links: St Mark Calendar Contact Us Pastor Barbara Campbell Are you Signed Up? If you would like to help prepare for worship by
reading, lighting candles, greeting, making coffee or bringing flowers or
treats, please sign up on the clip board in the Jarrett Wing during
fellowship following worship or contact Pastor Campbell at bjcam33@comcast.net
or at the office phone 503-244-8177. St. Mark Volunteer Cleaning Crews. If you are interested in
helping keep St. Mark clean by joining a crew some Saturday afternoon for a
couple of hours, please contact Pastor Barbara. Birthdays
|
The annual St Mark Rummage Sale
has a new look this year. Instead of a St Mark-only sale, local non-profit
groups and neighbors have been invited to St Mark to set up tables on three
Saturdays in August (the 8th, 15th & 22nd). This community-centered sale
should attract a much larger crowd. St Mark will, of course, still have its
own tables of rummage INDOORS as well. We are still looking for good stuff,
with some exceptions: please no TV’s or computer monitors, or clothing.
Let Carrie Hess or Mary van Horton know
if you need transportation. Salad and dessert provided. The Good News this month is
dedicated to the Mission Trip to India “You haven’t lived
until you’ve started your day with Kellogg’s corn flakes and hot water
buffalo milk” -- And other insights from the St Mark Mission trip to
India. On July 1st Pastor Barbara Campbell,
David Stewart-Smith, and a contingent from Albany set off from PDX for a
three week visit to the Bharti Integrated Rural Development Society (BIRDS) campus in India. St Mark and
Pastor Barbara especially have strong ties to this wonderful organization
serving the poor in southern India. During the trip the members took time to
send back updates on their experiences. They ranged from the mundane (Still
hot, no rain…) to the wildly imaginative (David Stewart-Smith’s classic film
noir description of a day shopping for cleaning supplies). While no
substitute for hearing from the folks who actually lived it, these notes give
a compelling glimpse into what the group encountered on their trip. The
following are some of the posts from the group (slightly edited in some cases),
they can be read in their entirety at the St Mark India Blog
website. **Note the pictures are courtesy of David
Stewart-Smith and Greg Anable. These and many more can be found HERE. July 4th, 2009
(Barbara) The
team arrived in a very hot and humid Hyderabad airport on Wed evening and
spent two nights in a very nice hotel.
On Thursday we shopped all around this town of 5 million to Friday
we drove to BIRDS compound, 6 hours, stopped just inside the gate to greet
131 children who were having vespers in the newly constructed chapel, and
then went to our rooms which are very nice.
Geckos grace the walls. Fan and AC available when electricity is on
and when electricity goes out, their generator kicks in. Today
(Saturday) we started with “Matins” at 7 am with children in chapel. Paul and I served Eucharist to adult
staff. Children sang gloriously!! I wish you could see and hear them. It just makes you smile! Then breakfast and then we went to meet
pastor of Muthyalapadu church. The old
stone church is very historic in this Diocese and the stones are molding and
dirty. We will be attempting to begin
a restoration of the stone exterior which a concoction of bleach and TSP
sprayed on and brushed off. Then back
for planning meeting and lunch. July
6th, 2009 (David) It’s
hard to explain my first impressions of India. I’m the only one on the trip that hasn’t
been here before. Crushing poverty in
the city, ignored by everyone else.
Children rushing to the car at the stoplights, risking their lives
with small towels asking to wash your windshield and to pay them. Abandoned buildings are everywhere, in part
a response to the economic You
drive on the left side as in the UK, but that’s where the similarity
ends. Lines defining the lanes are
mere suggestions. We were the biggest
thing on the streets other than buses and delivery trucks, with most of the
traffic being small motorcycles, scooters and three wheeled gasoline powered
rickshaws. They are used for taxis primarily, but also delivery
vehicles. We have seen eight, maybe
more, people in these tiny carts powered by a two-stroke, smoke belching, 90
cc engine. It’s hard to believe they
can haul the weight. When you want to
go somewhere, you just go.
Motorcycles, other vehicles and people just get out of the way. They have been doing this for so long that
everyone knows how to avoid being squished.
You just have to settle back and go with the flow, literally. A few of the busier intersections had
traffic police, but for the most part, you’re on your own. July
7th, 2009 (Marta) A
little cooler maybe this morning, but it is clearer, so it may end up quite
warm. The wind starts at about 7:30
a.m. and then gets more and more windy through the day. We
taught the Sodis water purification process (SODIS is a method of
disinfecting water using only sunlight and plastic bottles.) after talking to each of them
about what the significant problems in each village was for diarrhea in
children, what kind of well or pump they had, where they get their water to
drink, etc. It was so well received that we were very very pleased — these
women will be very good “champions” for Sodis. They each did a test presentation to us to
practice before going back to their villages to teach. They pick things up very quickly and it was
amazing how comfortable they are to get up in front of all of us and teach
something new July
8th, 2009 (Barbara) This morning we went down the road
to the Muthyalapadu church, which is 116 years old, to test David’s solution
of bleach, TSP, and water to clean mold off the old stones. The congregation is very anxious to restore
the original stonework as they consider this church one of the most important
in their region and it is covered with mold and old whitewash from year
ago. With many villagers gathering to
see what was up, David and Kevin, used backpack sprayers to spray the
solution on lower six feet of part of the building. Greg came along behind with wire brush and
soon many village men also wanted to help.
The bleach solution works fine on moldy stones, but we needed
something different for old whitewash, so helpers drove back to BIRDS farm to
get a bottle of acid type bathroom cleaner.
We were skeptical, but it really foamed up on the whitewash and ate it
away quite nicely. We visited the Muthyalapadu school
across from the church this morning and were greeted by hundreds of happy,
friendly children, many of whom we know because they live on the farm with
us. We were told that they have
started construction of a new building, but ran out of money. This would be a perfect project for another
church in our Presbytery. Maybe 10,000 dollars is all they need. It is still hot and humid and very
windy and dark cloudy every day, but it just won’t rain!! We are all finally sleeping fine and
feeling much better. July
10th, 2009 (David) It
was a smelly, rainy night in a city that knows what stinkin’ wet means. The air was so thick the hot cooking oil,
two stroke exhaust and buffalo dung were all getting to know each other way
too well. The city is Proddutur. It’s not important what it means. My name’s Stew. We
came to town to find acid. We weren’t
trying to score a drug deal. Not just
any kind of acid; we needed washing acid.
The kind that makes short work of iron stains in a toilet bowl. A quick look at the tabloids finds the
occasional story of love gone wrong and toilet bowl acid being used as a
lover’s revenge. The results aren’t
pretty. Too bad. The
job is cleanin’ up. The church has
walls with lime paint. Not green
paint. Calcium carbonate. The boss
wants it gone. My job’s to take care
of the paint. Lots of ways to take
care of paint. This paint’s special
and I’m the specialist. It’s been
there a long time, but the boss wants it gone. Too bad for the paint. We
got in the car and went to Alagada. No
luck. No acid. They barely knew what the stuff was. But we got hooked up with the right
people. Our local contact says
Proddutur’s the place. We got back on
the road. After
thousands of potholes and almost as many ox carts we got there. We checked on the acid. The guy says that’s a lot of stuff, I have
to check availability. We said we’d
wait. We also said we wanted
brushes. Wire brushes. Lots of brushes. Lots of big wire brushes. The kind that would take the skin off a
guy’s nose faster than a monkey would snatch a cookie from a baby. The first guy wanted too much. We said no thanks. The
second guy didn’t have availability.
We said thanks anyway. The
third guy had the brushes, he had the availability. We had a deal. 20 rupees each for 20 brushes. A cool $8.50 American. So far so good. Not
time yet to check on the acid. I had a
little side trip for a sweet little woman I know. A rainbow saree is what she wants; a
rainbow saree is what she’ll get. But
not today. Three guys in three saree shops
try to sell me everything but the water buffalo next door. No rainbow sarees here. They say not fashionable, so 5 years
ago. Look at these sir. I said no thanks. The lady put in the order, and that’s not
availability. See ya. We
had to make it back by 8. The boss’
place is 60 clicks over bad road. Rush
hour so bad New York thought it was Sunday afternoon. I thought it was bad 6 hours ago. Our contact here gives us a lead. Just an address. We follow a dark, narrow alley and get
beaned by a cricket ball thrown by a five year old. Smart kid.
Motorcycles everywhere blocking the way. We moved the motorcycles. We pull in behind some guy’s house and
closed the deal. 40 bottles of acid
for 35 rupees per. Another thirty
bucks for a good cause. Any cause of
the boss’ is a good cause. Got
it? We head for home. We made it back in time for a cold one and
a little relaxin’ time before the next job. July
11th, 2009 (David) You haven’t lived until you’ve
started your day with Kellogg’s corn flakes and hot water buffalo milk. I guess they have really toned down the
spice in the food for this group, I haven’t found anything yet I consider
remotely hot. But then again, I like
hot. The meat selection is generally
chicken and mutton. Very occasionally
beef, but with many pigs running around in the villages, we could find no Friday afternoon was the
dedication of the Bill and Tony Shearer Dorm for the girls at the
school. Doris from the Albany church
was the generous donor making it possible.
It was a grand event with Paul sprinkling holy water, Barbara putting
the sign of the cross on all four walls of the two dorm rooms in the building
with a turmeric paste I have been asked to give a
chemistry lecture at the school next Friday.
The headmaster found out I was teaching two microfinance groups how to
make soap, and that is one of their units in 10th class, the oldest high
school students. I’ll make a batch of
soap after talking a little about the chemistry of what is going on. I’m really looking forward to this one. July
12th, 2009 (Greg) The soap project is going well,
and the micro financing group is preparing to begin production. The
solar disinfection of water is going well, and people are starting to create
clean water. The
project with the orphanage is going well; the girls are set to move into
their new building starting Tuesday. Then there is the solar hot water
project. We are going to have to rethink that one. Not that is does not work
in the lab, it’s just there is a problem- There are some complications we had
not planned on. We put the bucket in the sun and attached the hose to
initiate the convection cycle that was to produce hot water, which would
reduce their dependence on charcoal and would be much cheaper. But there is
this snag. We did not take into account the
ox, water buffalo and monkeys… That may seem to be an odd collection of
excuses, until we add the fact that water is scarce, and unattended bucket of
water is fair game for anyone who can find it. When the bucket is suddenly
empty, it’s hard to heat water. A similar test in the villages would, in
retrospect, end up with a similar result. The only difference being we would
have to factor in sheep, dogs, and children. I considered roofs; however most
are flat cement structures and would only host a different group of animals.
The other type of roof construction is thatched roofs, and that would be
difficult to attach to a heating system. In the grand scheme of things this
demonstration only cost us $6.00 to create and test so it was not a
significant loss, just a good lesson. We considered a lid, but the monkeys
unscrewed the lid on our trail mix container and finished it off earlier in
the week. We’ll
have to think more about that one. July 12th, 2009 (David) Had a great trip to Nandyal
yesterday. We spent most of the day in
the markets. I bought 4.5 meters of a
linen/wool blend and am having a tailor make me a summer suit. He’s a wonderful character. It’s a Muslim shop with six sewing machines,
one cutting table, and overhead wires to hold the clothing. The shop is about 10 feet wide, 20 feet
deep and has about a 10 foot ceiling.
The tailor was disappointed when he saw the light colored fabric I had
purchased for my suit. He said, “your
face is so white, a dark suit would make it shine!” We all had a good laugh. He told me he had been making men’s suits
for 27 years. He’s also the tailor
that Paul had make Barbara’s white robe he gave her the last time she was
here. Episcopalian liturgical garb
made for a Presbyterian by a Muslim.
Doesn’t get any better than that. Barbara had a little brush with
heat exhaustion yesterday. She was
feeling muscle aches and ran a fever.
We got her home and cooled down and she felt better this morning, but
still feels a bit shaky if she gets warm.
Kinda hard not to get warm around here.
This week is our last week here
and there’s lots to do. I have another
soap group, we have another people’s empowerment meeting, we are going to
visit a number of microfinance groups, Barb is going to see the Bishop, we
are going to get the church cleaning contractors started on the right foot,
I’m teaching a chemistry class and lots more.
July 20th, 2009 (David) We heard from Paul that there are
few mission workers in the rural areas of south India. Those that are here want to stay within
close proximity of an airport. This is
too bad for the folks that could use the help, but after the travel home, I
guess I don’t find it all that surprising.
To be involved in mission work in rural India just takes a lot of
time. Paul’s efforts multiply, his
workload increases and he continues to smile.
The bishop has made him the administrator of the effort to build a new
cathedral in Nandyal. The existing
building is 105 years old, gothic stone design and seats 400. Most of the congregation sits outside
during worship in plastic chairs under awnings. The new cathedral will seat four to five
thousand. It seems that when resources
have been dedicated to a local church project from the diocese, there have
been instances of what Paul calls leakage.
This means church repairs have instead become parsonages or other
projects. The bishop will retire in
three years, and he wants no leakage from this effort, so you appoint the
best person around to be assured it gets done right. The End of the Journey? We measure our
experiences in myriad ways; we note dates, people,
places and events. By custom, these good
times end and we tuck them neatly away; a well-organized
closet of content. But some journeys do
not fit well into this collection scheme; something tugs at the
heart and calls us back. We recall, recount,
refine and remand to our unused dreams; of that left undone,
constructions that lack. Though tired and
yearning for the comfort and love of home; imagination leads us
to a time, where we will find
loose threads, incomplete gifts we found in our roam; we reweave the warp,
continue the rhyme. For now, these bright
dreams must suffice to continue the quest; the journey will find
a way to break free. We will travel more
roads, discover new gifts ere we rest; there are yet people
and places to see. This journey is not yet complete;
there are so many things that still need to be done and so many gifts still
to be discovered. In
Conclusion- (Barbara) There
comes a time, in every trip to India that I make, that India begins to wear
on me. What I mean by that is that at
first the poverty, the hardships, the disease, the deaths that we always
experience while we are here, the caste system, the servants waiting on us,
the lack of just about everything I take for granted in US, is somewhat
novel, romantic in a dramatic sort of way.
At first it’s a bit like reading a grippingly intense travel
narrative; upsetting in some ways, but you are able to remain at somewhat of
a distance. “That’s how it is in
India.” we tell ourselves, “We can’t change everything, or even most things.
And the people are used to it. And it
is better than it once was. etc. etc.” But at some point, and I hit that point
last night as I tried to sleep, it becomes all too real. Being tired may be part of it. Our defenses are weakened. I am much closer to tears today just
writing to you. I laid awake thinking
of everything I wanted to change somehow.
Like Marta, I had images of a BIRDS worker to was killed yesterday
when he was hit by a car when walking across a city street and endured 8
hours in a hospital before he died with little medical care or drugs. I walked out of my room early and watched
our dear dormitory workers serving tea to 40 new guests who are here for
management training. “Yes, sir!” “Madam, tea?” we hear so often. It is their only English and such a quick
reminder of their position in this society.
I am so angry today! It was not
the dalits who chose this system so long ago, but a group of greedy,
privileged elite (Brahmins) who took advantage of a misunderstood religious
view (the rich are more loved by God!) followed by wealthy Rajs, then
Imperialistic English Military leaders,
Bureaucrats, and Lords and Ladies, who continued to exploit the
caste system for their own comfort and pleasure. At this point, psychologically, I begin to
think about coming home. I begin to
want to escape the discomfort my heart can no longer hide from. But there is always also a part of the
heart that begins to feel the sorrow of saying goodbye to so many loving
faces of children and hearing everyone of them call out, “Morning, madam!” ; of saying goodbye to
the loving kindnesses of so many dear friends here whose lives will continue
in what I, at least, consider hardship here, while I will return to so much
that I will take for granted again within days of my return; even of saying
goodbye to a congregation whose language I cannot speak or understand, but
who I have offered the bread and wine, who I have given blessings for healing
and absolution after confessions, and whose child I have now baptized in Christ; a congregation who I
now feel the responsibility and blessing of pastoring. Capi can tell you that I will not be able to talk about my trip
much, at first. It will take days,
maybe weeks, for the emotions and thoughts and experiences to sort themselves
out enough for me to put many words together, some of it can never be
explained. Your prayers have sustained
us and will carry us home in hope, knowing that together we will continue to
work to help these people. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
