A Guatemala visit

One of the joys of my years in campus ministry has been to see young people (and others) take off an extended period to live with the poor, whether in the US or around the world.

This year at least five people I know are long term volunteers this year.
Wes Meier is with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua - http://wesinnicaragua.blogspot.com;
Rachel and Brendan Egan with the Canossian Sisters in East Timor - http://www.easttimortrip.blogspot.com;
and Lois and Dan Fulton (with their 3 month old Clara Maria) in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala - http://www.loisanddan.blogspot.com.

Things are slow in December – the Catholic University is on vacation; the schools are out of session; there are few pastoral formation programs this month and next; and many people are out working the coffee harvest, to earn cash for the year. And so I decided to take a few days to visit Dan and Lois in Guatemala.

Dan and Lois have been there since July and their daughter was born there. Lois finished her master program and is a licensed physical therapist; Dan just finished med school and put of residency for a year. They are both working with the San Lucas Tolimán Mission on the beautiful Lago Atitlán in Honduras.

I arrived about a day after I left Santa Rosa after a long series of bus rides, taxi, pick up, tuk-tuks (3 wheeled taxis), and walking, on Friday morning December 12.

The work of the San Lucas Mission is incredible (http://www.sanlucasmission.com) with a large number of projects, spearheaded by Fr. Greg Schaeffer who arrived there 45 years ago. You can read what they do on their website – everything from a school, a hospital, a coffee project, a land distribution program, and a women’s center to many Masses and pastoral activities.

Fr. Greg really impressed me – not only for his projects but for his spirit and his story. what most impressed me from the first was his willingness to learn from the poor – from the very beginning. He has the humility not to think that he has all the answers – though he has very strong opinions and will tell you what he thinks. He began the program of buying and distributing land to people who formerly worked on coffee plantations because some one said that giving people food wasn’t enough.

After listening to him speaking to a group, Lois and I spoke for a while. I think Fr. Greg is an example of someone who is truly “poor in spirit.” Why? Lois asked me. I think it’s because he is not afraid to be vulnerable; when he first came it seems that he felt really out of his element and the people responded to him. I really think the willingness to be vulnerable and let others see and respond to our vulnerability is one of the essential aspects of poverty of spirit. We can recognize our lack, our failures, our needs and then let others help us. In this way, mission becomes something mutual. We are in this together and we need each other – sharing our vulnerabilities as well as our gifts.

Lois and Dan are also impressive people – daring enough to take a year off from their “careers” and bold enough to have a child born in Guatemala. As we walked around town they were greeted by many people and many wanted to see little Clara Maria. Lois particularly noted how having a baby really opened up an entry to the people. Of course, all the women have advice for her. But you can see the love that Lois, Dan, and Clara Maria have elicited from the people.

The visit was fairly low key – mostly shadowing them or playing with Clara Maria or visiting with the volunteers. I did get to see some of the projects on Saturday morning. But Sunday, after Mass, Dan and Lois and I hiked up a hill opposite the town for an incredible view of the town and the lake. Afterwards, Dan went out to a fútbol (soccer) game – what they call fultbolito here in Honduras: five member teams on a area about the size of a basketball court. Well, when they arrived they only had four players, so they conned me into playing portero – goalie. I was wearing enclosed sandals and so would not have done well playing regularly, not to mention that I never really played fútbol! So for about an hour and a half. I attempted to prevent the other teams from getting a goal. (We started by playing with one team but another team arrived and so we switched off teams after a goal was made.) Needless to say our team never won – though I did prevent a few goal attempts and even scraped by knees on the astroturf! Was that fun!

And so I’m now in Santa Rosa (after traveling about 14 hours) , preparing for Christmas. Tonight our neighborhood base community will do the Posadas. (More on that later.)

Peace and blessings as we await the coming of the Prince of Peace – and in the meantime try to welcome the poor in our midst, making a place of welcome for the Child Jesus who comes to us in poverty.