Friday November 12, was our second “very” special day going door to door in the Canton of Corozal. We took our delegation, most of our pastoral team and even picked up extra “folks” who needed a ride to Corozal. I say “picked up” because literally when folks are riding (standing up) in the back of our sturdy truck, they hang on for dear life even though they know that Kathy’s driving skills have been honed for this precious cargo.
One thing that strikes me most about Corozal is the vast contrast between the abundant beauty of the countryside and the extreme poverty we see. I quickly stopped thinking of myself as being a middle-class person and took myself to the top of the “rich” immediately. I consider myself to be well travelled and this is, without a doubt, the most beautiful country that I’ve ever seen.
This is our second day of delivering our colorful 27 pound tubs of basic staples door to door. Door to door, by the way, is not at all what I had envisioned. Door to door in Corozal can mean up or down a steep incline of red dirt, dust or mud, depending on the day. Deep ruts and holes abound as does the people’s gracious hospitality.
One more thing about our door to door process; the Directiva (members of the leadership team in Corozal) and the Pastoral team have organized, gone out and worked before we got there to get the tubs as close to the home as they could. Some of them work as “spotters” encouraging us to head “this way or that”…children grab our hands and join our walk making us look rather like we’re The Pied Piper. All the people that we think we’re serving, are in reality serving us. They made our job look easy.
The second home we visited today surprised us by saying that a 3 day old baby was inside the (mud and stick) house sleeping with his mother. They invited us to take a look and Brenda immediately spied one of the orange blankets that we had made (by APC Bible School) and a previous delegation passed out to the families a couple of years ago. On the blanket were the words “Jesus Loves Me”. Later that day I caught sight of another one of those blankets used to cover the top of a box to help make an altar.
There is a part of me that can look into the eyes of these beautiful people and be happy and grateful to God. There is another part of me that makes me hold my breath, grit my teeth, and do anything to stop myself from weeping at the awful poverty they live in. I know that we’re delivering food, drink, and love to these people and I hear them say, time and time again, that they hope…really hope, and pray we’ll return on another trip. This is one offer I’ll not refuse.
Our delegation of 8 from APC has been very gracious to me letting me ride in the cab of the truck, rather than having to stand in the back and hold on to the railings. A young man, Alejandro, has taken Kathy’s place as our driver. Kathy tells us that he is the brother of Cecilia and has been trained by Kathy to drive us around this beautiful obstacle course that they call the road. This young driver is as earnest as they come and so very careful to keep us safe.
We finished delivering our baskets by noon and were lead back again to “David’s house” for a lunch of rib soup with vegetables, meat, and a good sized hunk of tasty cheese, fresh green beans, watermelon, grapes, and apples. Gatorade turned out to be a most healthful and reviving drink for me personally.
After our lunch, the Directiva began their meeting with us. The team of people, 14 in all, was organized, specific, thoughtful, articulate and resourceful in their conversation and suggestions for us. Jennifer, Brenda’s daughter translated for us and Kathy helped to specify when extra description was necessary. They had flow charts already mapped out, neatly drawn for us and went through their thinking in great detail. We asked questions as we went along and their answers were thoughtful, direct and complete. A detailed description of the meeting was written down and will be available to everyone who is interested.
Once the meeting concluded we were driven to the sight of our celebration with them. Our mission team at APC generously allowed us the funds to serve an early supper to all the families, leadership, and people of Corozal.
The celebration began with music, 3 stringed instruments, percussion and a keyboard. After the first song, Blanca and Balmore (of our pastoral team in Berlin) gave speeches concerning God and our walking in solidarity with our friends. Their words were carefully chosen and gratefully accepted by the men and women of Corozal. Children either sat or played quietly in respect while the meeting proceeded. Marcia spoke to the families and told them how our family church at APC appreciated and prayed for them. She told them how grateful we were for all the work and organization they had done since our last visit.
The delegation and pastoral team then announced they were ready to serve the meal and the crowd of over 200 lined up: children, then women, young men, elders, and finally their leadership to partake in an early dinner. Many families took their food home to save or give to a family member who couldn’t make the trip. The 3-day old baby was obvious at the celebration…doing quite well and still wrapped up in his orange blanket.
Music and dancing were served up after dinner and at this point it seemed as if they were the singers and we were the dancers. Either way, we shared in celebrating and felt warmly and graciously received. Blanca and the team packed up leftovers and encouraged us to “Vamos”…time to go, so as to have some daylight as we road back to our pastoral home in Berlin.
Posted by Debi Garner
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