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29 people from Calgary headed to Santiago Chile to help build a new church for the Anglican parish of Iglesia de la Ascension in San Joaquin, Santiago during October and
November 2002. Since the decision was made at the end of 2001 the team has been built and the
$35,000 Cdn. needed for building materials has been raised. God continues to fill the
storehouse.
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November team
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The mission was a two week commitment. Chile was my first short term mission after missing out going to
Honduras with St. Agnes, North Vancouver several years ago.
I knew I would love the sun and the heat. I also, thought the poverty
would not be a problem for me as I came from a poor background myself.
There were two teams one in October and one in November. I was on the November team.
The main objective was not only to build a church but also to build relationships down there |
| Tim and Peti's 10 year commitment down in Chile. Tim and Peti Webster, whom I had never met, did an excellent job
of orientating us, setting us up with our host families, and helping us to feel
welcome in so many ways. The first team did such a great job of building relationships that there were even more families wanting to host team number two. |
October Team
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Apart from Jason and Cameron who had taken a conversational Spanish
course, and Andy who seemed to have studied somewhat, we all had very
little knowledge of the Spanish language.
We went to work at 9:30 am every morning, most of us had never worked
on a building site or even stepped foot on one. However, God is good. We
were all kept busy, made to feel useful, and we all worked hard each day
to complete the task set for us.
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We usually worked till 1:30pm then went to Tim and Peti's for our main
meal of the day. Also to get a little shade and rest for an hour in the full
heat of the day. Siesta!
Back to the site each afternoon and worked till 5:30, 6, or 7pm
depending on what needed to be completed before breaking for the day.
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Final Lunch
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In the evenings we went back to our host families and spent some
extremely humorous evenings attempting to communicate with them. The communication with the families in the evenings was with a
Spanish/English dictionary, lots of charades, mime and a great deal of laughter.
The families were all wonderful. The love they gave to us when we were
down there is something I will never forget. God is Good!
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| The first team in October had the hardest jobs
as they worked in the rain and the cold for most days and they had to do
all the heavy trench digging. We had the warmer weather to deal with, and
once the foundations were poured and the re-bar ( not sure how to spell)
was in place we began to raise the walls. This for me was the thrill of a
lifetime. To think that I was part of raising the walls of God's house was
an amazing experience. there were many people in the Calgary area who
purchased prayers to go into the bricks. Some of these prayers were
placed inside a bottle in the foundation, and others are inside all the
bricks of the walls. The thrill for me was the fact that some of
the children of the host families came to the site and wanted to be part
of the building process. They placed some of the prayers in the bricks,
they dug piles of dirt , they passed bricks along the assembly line
we had formed for unloading the bricks from the truck in the street to the
place they were needed on the site. I am sure they will not realize the
full impact of being part of this for many years. I pray that God will
bless them in a special way for their commitment at such a young age.
Amazingly, no one was injured, hurt or even had any aches and pains.
God is Good! |
Bishop Tito with one of the bricks.
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