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