I am officially back home (only for a day, though, because tomorrow I leave to work at Ligonier Camp and Conference Center for the remaining summer camp season). It has definitely been a struggle to come home. I saw the evidence of this when I was going for a run last night. I passed someone, and, out of habit, said "¡Hola!." The man gave me a strange look, and then I realized, "Oh, I'm not in Mexico anymore." Having now become so integrated in Chiapaneco culture, I feel like a foreigner as I reenter the United States. I am expected to step right back into the current here, but I am now in a completely different flow. It feels that I am in a dichotomy, "a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different." That definition from Google describes the struggle of reentry into an entirely different world after an extended period in mission.
Hence, I am thankful to have the next three weeks at Ligonier, a place that is sacred to me. The setting will help me to process my experiences and transition.
Anyways, thank you for being faithful in reading my blog and holding out to my final post. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my summer in Chiapas. Sharing about my experiences is an important aspect of missions for me because it helps me to give others a glimpse of how special the experiences have been to me.
You may be wondering, "Why did you do this? Why did you want to spend your summer in Chiapas, of all things that you could possibly do this summer?" Perhaps more so, you may be questioning why I chose to work in Chiapas of all places and with this particular missions organization. Because the reality is, there are just as many people living in poverty now as there were before I came this summer.
Hence, I wanted to use this final post to reflect upon the "why."
I thought a parallel to this question may help me best address this. A few months ago, I was practicing tying knots late at night with a friend and fellow Adventure Ed student after Bible study. We realized that a lot of people in the world probably "wouldn't get" what we were doing that night. It might seem sort of strange, practicing knot-tying at 11:00 at night to prepare for class. We began to reflect upon this. I said, "It comes back to the catalyst [the word "catalyst" is in our definition of Adventure Education]. Adventure is a means through which God transforms people. We are just being God's hands and feet in the process. It is not about the activity itself; it is about the gains that come from it. I am tying that bowline knot so that I can care for people in an adventure experience by managing their safety, so that maybe that experience could happen to be transformative for them in some way, whether big or small. I am tying that knot so that God can work through me to change lives." My friend replied, "That's the 'why' for me."
The same is true of my summer in Chiapas. It might seem sort of strange, mixing concrete before daylight, singing silly songs with kids, and worshiping with people in a Tzeltal church service, in which I cannot understand a word. It comes back to the idea of a catalyst - that an experience could catalyze personal and interpersonal growth, just as much as a catalyst in chemistry speeds up a chemical reaction. My day-to-day activities this summer - mixing concrete, moving piles of sand and gravel, carrying heavy botes, VBS, conversations in Spanish, card games, playing in the river, eating ice cream, worshiping, learning how to be Chiapaneca - all of this is means through which God transforms people. I am just being God's hands and feet in the process. It is not about the activity itself; it is about the gains that come from it. I am mixing that concrete so that I can let these people of Chiapas know that someone cares for them, that someone would travel thousands of miles to be with them, that someone sees them, loves them, and finds them valuable. Maybe that experience could happen to be transformative for them in some way, whether big or small. Here is a glimpse of those little aspects of transformation this summer:
Kids in the streets of San Cristóbal having a friend to play with one day.
Sharing a love of cheesecake with Ricardo and Mariana.
Spanish teachers learning about Jesus through conversation (they all have been curious as to why I want to learn Spanish, so this has been an interesting opportunity to talk about faith).
Armando Paniagua receiving a pair of reading glasses.
Hundreds of patients receiving free medical care at the clinic.
Groups from the United States bonding and growing together through initiatives and debriefs that I led.
Josúe and Paola having a friend and "older sister" for the summer, someone to play cards with and go eat ice cream with.
Cedequias and I having late night jam sessions on the guitar and ukulele.
Jeronimo having a group of travelers come to his village this summer and being able to wash clothes for us.
Sebastian's face lighting up when he sees that I can understand him; someone taking the time to learn Spanish to communicate with him and others.
The young men having a student of their course "How to Be Chiapaneca."
The women of Ch'ixtontic smiling and laughing as they helped us put on our traditional skirts.
Many kids from the villages learning about stories from the Bible, and having people to hug and do hair for.
An educational building and manse built for the village of Jol Sacjún.
Classrooms built for the village of Chaban.
The first level of a new church finished for the village of Ch'ixtontic.
Tzeltal people and people from the States sharing communion together.
And one teenager from Pittsburgh having the honor to be "Emilia" for the summer, learning what it means to be Chiapaneca and being immersed into the beautiful Tzeltal culture.
That's the "why" for me.
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