Shadows

Let me introduce you to my shadows....

Brigitte and Kayla are learning all about the role of Short Term Coordinator with Latin Link (ie what I do here in Guatemala) - as they prepare to take on the role in Bolivia and Costa Rica.

So they are with me for 6 weeks, learning all the ins and outs of receiving Step teams and Striders..... Here we were at the new Step teams house in Alotenango. Yes that´s a live volcano in the background!

A life of goodbyes (friendship part 1)

In my job, and especially at this time of year, I spend a lot of time at the airport; picking up new people – Step teams who stay for a few weeks or Stride volunteers who stay for a year or two; and then inevitably saying goodbye to them too.

I know that many others have written about this aspect of being a missionary in another country; the sense of making friends with people who don´t stay around for long, and having to say goodbye often. And I guess in my job as Short Term Coordinator, that sense is exaggerated. Others emphasise the sadness of goodbyes, but also the blessing of having friendships all over the world.

I´m not entirely convinced. (I´d like to be convinced but I´m not there yet!)

What I´ve realised lately is that even my local friendships, are with people who share a similar outlook as me, and have a vision for their lives beyond the here and now. So sooner or later, they leave too. I know that in this day and age, it´s relatively easy to keep in touch with people via the internet - but that is very different from being able to have a real conversation and share from your heart.  Or even to write and receive letters (actual real letters, written on paper!) that express the deeper stuff of someone´s life. But it seems like letter writing is a dying art, so my letters mostly go unanswered.

Lately I´ve been reminded of the passage from 2 Corinthians 6 and I love the version in the Message:

“Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don´t squander one bit of this marvellous life God has given us. …. Our work as servants gets validated – or not – in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly… in hard times, tough times, bad times, when we´re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed, working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we´re telling the truth and when God´s showing his power; when we´re doing our best setting things right; when we´re praised, and when we´re blamed; slandered, and honoured; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognised by God; terrifically alive, though rumoured to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on hand outs, yet enriching many, having nothing, having it all. Dear, dear Corinthians, I can´t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn´t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren´t small, but you´re living them in a small way. I´m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”

And lately one particular phrase keeps coming back “immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy”. Occasionally it feels like I´m drowning in the tears, and struggling to find the deep joy. But I keep searching.

And I realise that what I offer in friendship isn´t (or at least shouldn´t be) about me. What I get out of something should never be my motivation. So (through many tears), I make this pledge:

I will continue to invest in friendships, regardless of how long they might last; I will carry on writing to friends far away, ignoring the lack of replies; I will continue to pray for those who are close to my heart, but far from me physically; and I will continue to spend half my life at airports!

Step team number 1

For the last 3 weeks, I´ve had a Step team here in Guatemala. They started off looking like this... all fairly normal....

... but by the end, they looked like this.....

So what made the change????.... Well actually they had a great time working alongside a community education project here. They worked with a kids club, and alongside some of the mothers, helping them to start small business or income generating projects, that will help them sustain their families. 

 

They also did a bit of painting.

 

These boards will be used by the project to create consulting areas, when they run medical campaigns.

  

After all the hard work, they got a couple of days off, when I took them to San Pedro La Laguna, on Lake Atitlan. These amazing views were from the roof of our hostel. 

 

 And a few of them went riding, whilst I did a bit of training, swimming in the Lake.

Serious Training deserves Serious Headgear!

 Yep.... I´m getting into serious training..... which is a very serious thing .... as you can see from the photos......  If you want to know what it´s all about, or if you fancy sponsoring me, you can do that at.... https://www.justgiving.com/Suzanne-Potter1/  

Celebrating with friends.

 Last week I was in Nicaragua for some meetings, and we had the chance to visit my friend Lotti, and celebrate the acheivements of some of her friends. Lotti works with small groups of women, teaching them basic craft skills, at the same time as sharing her faith with them. In this ceremony we saw this group graduate the short course, and all give testimony to Lotti´s patience and love as she has shared with them. Many of them not only learnt craft ideas which they can use at home, but also were inspired to share with others the same blend of creativity and faith with their friends and neighbours. 

It was a great blessing to be there.

swim training starts!

I´ve signed up to swim the Coniston End to End event on 6th September. It´s 5.25miles or 8.5km - and it might be a bit cold! So I´m getting into training now. Going on my speed at the moment, I might be able to do it in about 5 hours -- but we´ll see if I can speed up a bit before then!

I´ll be raising money for Latin Link, so if you´d like to sponsor me, go to http://www.justgiving.com/Suzanne-Potter1.

Puebla

Here´s a few pics of my recent trip to Puebla in Mexico. I wasn´t very well - so spent a fair bit of time resting in the hostel - but when I did get out, there´s some great skylines....

 From the roof of a museum....

  And a few churches in neighbouring Cholula

And the 2 guys about to do their upside-down-twirl-to-the-ground-from-a-very-high-pole thing. It´s a traditional Mayan thing that they do in the north of Guatemala as well. I´ve got a great video of it... but unfortunately it doesn´t want to upload!