Well we completed the last of our formal training sessions today and it's been a good learning experience. One of the intresting things they had us do was to present their presentations yesterday and 103 presented what they had learned today. It was a terrific and entertaining overview of the material. 101 performed impressions of the Godfather, Donald "Pump", and Wil Howie (much to Wil's chargrin). It was all in good fun and I believe it got the message across.
102 had numerous learning stations established for our entertainment and enacted the parting of the Red Sea and your's truly somehow ended up being "volunteered" as one of Pharoh's soldiers who never managed to make it out of the Red Sea. Chuck Hadden played the part of Moses who parted the sea. Somehow it didn't seem fair.
Dave Mullins performed an impresion of Jimmy Swaggert as part of 103's presentation asking all of the participants to travel through their "purification" system. Numerous "germs" along the way tried to steer the participants down the "wrong" path of "unrighteousness." Somehow the "righteous" (clean) participants (i.e., water) made it through the system and were purified. Of course after 103 fired up their system for real, we all had to drink the water. It was actualy pretty tasty.
It's too bad none of the "performances" were videotaped. They were all performed in a very entertaining and clever way.
On another humerous note that could have turned out so badly - - - Dave managed to get himself locked in the Oxford's City Hall after it closed - - - without his cellphone. Luckliy he managed to recognize someone else from our group who was walking nearby and he got their attention. The police were subsequently contacted and were able to unlock the building to let him out. We've been giving him a hard time ever since.
We'll be home tomorrow evening. We hope all is well in Oak Ridge.
Doug Allen
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Day 4 Clean Water U
Well, we just took our life/health in our hands and drank the water that our team had purified from the lake water. There was a sample of it down by the intake valve and you could see all kinds of wiggly things in it, besides it was vaguely green. Of course, I am teasing, the water tasted remarkably good and chemical free. The people of Latin America do not tolerate the taste of chlorine so the systems are designed to purify water without chlorine.
It has been an inspiring and exciting 4 days. Like Chuck, I did not learn a great deal about the germ theory of disease but got wonderful ideas and methods for teaching the germ theory of disease, how to use limited clean water, and when and how to wash your hands. But, more than that, we all got inspiration from others who are planning water installation trips, and from those who have already installed water systems and are planning more. So many dedicated people and congregations! The opportunity to meet and talk and plan with others who are doing water mission is just remarkable. So many opportunities and so many things to be done. I can hardly wait. Dale
It has been an inspiring and exciting 4 days. Like Chuck, I did not learn a great deal about the germ theory of disease but got wonderful ideas and methods for teaching the germ theory of disease, how to use limited clean water, and when and how to wash your hands. But, more than that, we all got inspiration from others who are planning water installation trips, and from those who have already installed water systems and are planning more. So many dedicated people and congregations! The opportunity to meet and talk and plan with others who are doing water mission is just remarkable. So many opportunities and so many things to be done. I can hardly wait. Dale
Friday, March 23, 2007
Show and Tell Day
Chuck reporting:
Yes, we survived the long day yesterday. Today is easier. Two of the groups share what we have learned, in presentations that range from serious to slapstick--who says learning shouldn't be fun? It's early afternoon, and we have just finished learning about what the planning/scoping group does and what happens if they don't do their job. Imagine arriving in a country whose language you don't speak and discovering that there was a communications mixup and your hosts won't be at the airport for another 12 hours. Or nobody arranged for plywood and storage jugs to be at the installation site. Even more difficult, I think, is that the planning/scoping group has to be sure there is long-term local support to keep the water purification system running.
Dale and I are doing the community health track. I can't say we have learned much about waterborne diseases, but we have learned a lot about how to present the ideas that bad water can make you sick, good water has to be handled carefully, and germs hate soap! What we have been given is similar to a VBS curriculum. It includes Bible stories about water and its significance in our relationships with God and each other; lessons in hygiene; and crafts, props, and activities to illustrate both.
The camp is in a beautiful setting, on hills surrounding a small lake. The weather is also beautiful, warm and sunny. We have the afternoon off, and Dale and I are planning to take a walk in the woods and around the lake later this afternoon.
Our morning and evening worship services are held in a small antebellum church. It's very plain, with hard, square-edged, uncomfortable pews. Because it is two stories high and there is no padding anywhere, the acoustics are amazing. Our singing is enthusiastic if not too accurate; I think John Wesley would approve. When I heard the responsive prayers, I thought if 50 people can express so much of God's power, what is there that a congregation (our congregation) or a network of congregations can't do?
This morning devotions included the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. In her meditation, the worship leader reflected on the woman's inability to deal with something that was beyond her experience, and our difficulty dealing with things that are beyond our understanding. It emphasized to me again that if our faith depends on our understanding, we are lost. God's power working in our experiences is so far beyond our understanding we can't even comprehend it. We just have to be open to God's power and let it guide our lives.
God's grace and peace to you all.
Chuck
Yes, we survived the long day yesterday. Today is easier. Two of the groups share what we have learned, in presentations that range from serious to slapstick--who says learning shouldn't be fun? It's early afternoon, and we have just finished learning about what the planning/scoping group does and what happens if they don't do their job. Imagine arriving in a country whose language you don't speak and discovering that there was a communications mixup and your hosts won't be at the airport for another 12 hours. Or nobody arranged for plywood and storage jugs to be at the installation site. Even more difficult, I think, is that the planning/scoping group has to be sure there is long-term local support to keep the water purification system running.
Dale and I are doing the community health track. I can't say we have learned much about waterborne diseases, but we have learned a lot about how to present the ideas that bad water can make you sick, good water has to be handled carefully, and germs hate soap! What we have been given is similar to a VBS curriculum. It includes Bible stories about water and its significance in our relationships with God and each other; lessons in hygiene; and crafts, props, and activities to illustrate both.
The camp is in a beautiful setting, on hills surrounding a small lake. The weather is also beautiful, warm and sunny. We have the afternoon off, and Dale and I are planning to take a walk in the woods and around the lake later this afternoon.
Our morning and evening worship services are held in a small antebellum church. It's very plain, with hard, square-edged, uncomfortable pews. Because it is two stories high and there is no padding anywhere, the acoustics are amazing. Our singing is enthusiastic if not too accurate; I think John Wesley would approve. When I heard the responsive prayers, I thought if 50 people can express so much of God's power, what is there that a congregation (our congregation) or a network of congregations can't do?
This morning devotions included the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. In her meditation, the worship leader reflected on the woman's inability to deal with something that was beyond her experience, and our difficulty dealing with things that are beyond our understanding. It emphasized to me again that if our faith depends on our understanding, we are lost. God's power working in our experiences is so far beyond our understanding we can't even comprehend it. We just have to be open to God's power and let it guide our lives.
God's grace and peace to you all.
Chuck
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Making Clean Water in Mississippi
March 22, 2007
Well, they said this was going to be the killer day of training, and they were right. We started the day at 8 am (not bad), but didn't get finished until just now (around 9:30 pm). But it was a great day of learning, sharing, and enjoying this great Mississippi weather.
Today, my team (103 - Treatment Systems Installation) spent the entire day at the "third world" training center getting hands dirty building the treatment systems, firing them up, and watching the water leak, spurt, and finally flow. They have built a very realistic concrete block and concrete roofed structure (similar to what we built in Belize) to house the water treatment training section. And we are located next to the lake here at the Camp, so we are pulling real, slimy, ugly green lake water up to our building (via solar panel-powered pump), treating it, and then seeing how well we do. One older guy drank our first run treated water and after only 3 hours is about 15 years younger.....great stuff. Dave Mullins and I are in the 103 section and have learned how to build and operate the cadillac system now, so we are ready to implement the system where ever God takes us. Tomorrow we learn how to maintain it and bottle the treated water. It was a great day for us.
One other part of the day was gathering back together with our Section 101 (overall mission project management) and Section 102 (public health training) friends in small groups and sharing what each other was learning so far. That showed us how critical us having people in all three sections really is, and how dependent we will be on each other to properly scope out a location and have everything (and everyone) ready for a successful installation.
We're having worship services morning and evening, and Arelene would not be impressed with our congregation's singing abilities. But she would like to know we are singing in Canon.....There's been a great spirit in this place.
Tennessee is playing basketball now, but we have no TV's. A few are trying to pull it in by internet, but I refuse to play that game. So, I'll call it a day and find out who won tomorrow.
Go Gators,
Tim Bob Myrick
Well, they said this was going to be the killer day of training, and they were right. We started the day at 8 am (not bad), but didn't get finished until just now (around 9:30 pm). But it was a great day of learning, sharing, and enjoying this great Mississippi weather.
Today, my team (103 - Treatment Systems Installation) spent the entire day at the "third world" training center getting hands dirty building the treatment systems, firing them up, and watching the water leak, spurt, and finally flow. They have built a very realistic concrete block and concrete roofed structure (similar to what we built in Belize) to house the water treatment training section. And we are located next to the lake here at the Camp, so we are pulling real, slimy, ugly green lake water up to our building (via solar panel-powered pump), treating it, and then seeing how well we do. One older guy drank our first run treated water and after only 3 hours is about 15 years younger.....great stuff. Dave Mullins and I are in the 103 section and have learned how to build and operate the cadillac system now, so we are ready to implement the system where ever God takes us. Tomorrow we learn how to maintain it and bottle the treated water. It was a great day for us.
One other part of the day was gathering back together with our Section 101 (overall mission project management) and Section 102 (public health training) friends in small groups and sharing what each other was learning so far. That showed us how critical us having people in all three sections really is, and how dependent we will be on each other to properly scope out a location and have everything (and everyone) ready for a successful installation.
We're having worship services morning and evening, and Arelene would not be impressed with our congregation's singing abilities. But she would like to know we are singing in Canon.....There's been a great spirit in this place.
Tennessee is playing basketball now, but we have no TV's. A few are trying to pull it in by internet, but I refuse to play that game. So, I'll call it a day and find out who won tomorrow.
Go Gators,
Tim Bob Myrick
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Clean Water University
Well...
We're here.
Here is Camp Hopewell, just a few miles outside historic (so we're told) Oxford MS. After leaving Oak Ridge just after dark-thirty this morning, we arrived amidst balmy temperatures and otherwise beautiful weather around 2:00 local time.
The 'we' is Doug Allen (a local legend, BTW, as we soon discovered from Wil Howie, Director of Living Waters for the World), Chuck and Dale Hadden, Dave Mullins, Tim Myrick, and me, Dan Terpstra.
Organized activities began around 3:30 and continued pretty much non-stop until worship ended a few minutes ago.
Believe it or not, none of the six of us thought to bring a computer, so I'm composing this on a creaky old destop that's making suspicious clanking noises in the camp office.
It looks like we're in for a jam-packed next few days. As (and if) we find time, we'll try to blog our experiences day to day. I doubt, however that this will rival either Belize or Biloxi for sheer emotional intensity.
Already, though, we've met a couple from Cody, Wyoming who plan to go to Belize with the Farragut trip in May to evaluate a potential water site on the Belize/Guatemala border.
We're learning and connecting and getting energized by some pretty amazing people and stories. Tonight I talked with an Episcopal priest from Phoenix who has worked with Rick Ufford-Chase on border issues and is working with an Atlanta Presbyterian Church (Shallowford) to install water systems in Chiapas.
I'm missing the snacks and conversation, so I think I'm gonna wrap this up.
Watch this space!
We're here.
Here is Camp Hopewell, just a few miles outside historic (so we're told) Oxford MS. After leaving Oak Ridge just after dark-thirty this morning, we arrived amidst balmy temperatures and otherwise beautiful weather around 2:00 local time.
The 'we' is Doug Allen (a local legend, BTW, as we soon discovered from Wil Howie, Director of Living Waters for the World), Chuck and Dale Hadden, Dave Mullins, Tim Myrick, and me, Dan Terpstra.
Organized activities began around 3:30 and continued pretty much non-stop until worship ended a few minutes ago.
Believe it or not, none of the six of us thought to bring a computer, so I'm composing this on a creaky old destop that's making suspicious clanking noises in the camp office.
It looks like we're in for a jam-packed next few days. As (and if) we find time, we'll try to blog our experiences day to day. I doubt, however that this will rival either Belize or Biloxi for sheer emotional intensity.
Already, though, we've met a couple from Cody, Wyoming who plan to go to Belize with the Farragut trip in May to evaluate a potential water site on the Belize/Guatemala border.
We're learning and connecting and getting energized by some pretty amazing people and stories. Tonight I talked with an Episcopal priest from Phoenix who has worked with Rick Ufford-Chase on border issues and is working with an Atlanta Presbyterian Church (Shallowford) to install water systems in Chiapas.
I'm missing the snacks and conversation, so I think I'm gonna wrap this up.
Watch this space!
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