reconnecting

"Guatemala gave me a completely different outlook on life in American culture and how to avoid getting distracted by what is the 'norm' in our culture. Guatemala changed my values and my beliefs. I no longer wish to buy the latest thing, or see the latest movie. My friends and my family have become much more important to me, and I value them much more. Guatemala, first and foremost, showed me what life should be like, where I should put my concern and my attention. I have become much less involved in the 'Buying, Wanting, Lethargic' life that I used to live and more the "Giving, Acknowledging, Loving"

Enlace 2009

It is always a pleasure to hear from past participants once they have returned home and are back in their reality. The hope is that once back in the context that if familiar to them, participants continue to process the experiences they had here and that they can somehow connect these experiences to their world at home. That is what makes things like this blog and email updates so important; they provide a way for us to reconnect and to remember what we shared here and to challenge us to not forgot. They challenge us to continue working at connecting with people in hopes of making a difference in our world, be that the world in Guatemala or the world in Pennsylvania or Ontario.

Thank you to participants from this year's Enlace group (Keenan) and the MCC Meat Canner group (Tim) for sharing your thoughts with us! Please feel free to keep sending them our way!

"A general observation I would make is the fact that hospitality had a major impact on all of us. The smiles and greetings and welcoming attitudes that we all received were both humbling and exciting. We went as a canner team representing MCC and the thousands of volunteers that give of their time and money to help people both near and far whom we do not know. It is humbling to be received with such appreciative hospitality, knowing that the gifts of the people make a great difference. The excitement comes from leaving our home country, some of us for the first time, some of us having visited other countries before, experiencing another culture and lifestyle, and realizing that the media does not always portray the "real" story.

We visited a community located in the mountains seemingly far away, especially in terms of the city lights, transportation system, and what most in the developed world could consider "the middle of nowhere." As we walked the "road" to San Juan Curenas we were escorted by the people who live in the area. They greeted us with a banner welcoming us as friends. We had never met our hosts before, yet, they knew the name Mennonite Central Committee, and the reputation of the people who have served and represented MCC went before us. Even though I perceived our physical bodies to be present in "the middle of nowhere," we really were not. I ask myself, "How can I perceive myself to be in the middle of nowhere if I am welcomed with open arms, invited to a community meeting of introduction, hosted in a home for a meal, and then invited to walk to another home to see where they live?" Granted, we could not speak the language and needed a translator, but there is patience and time for that.

What is our responsibility in the world? When do we find the time to be with our neighbors? When and where to we learn that people who live in other lands or are from different ethnic groups should be humanized instead of de-humanized? This starts within our hearts, our minds, our souls. Our faith-based relationship with our Creator and Savior who desires a relationship with us, is our example to establish relationships with people we don't know. I continue to be encouraged by the relationships and work that MCC carries out.

I hope that the staff and volunteers who work for MCC in the USA and Canada can remember the great importance of relationships with people. To also remember that we serve people in our world, created by God, who do not care about the politics associated with who has the final say on program and how the money is raised or who is in charge of whatever. Once they receive a gift of blessing that meets a need benefitting the core of their physical existence, their smiles ought to melt our hearts as we realize together we can change the world, one Christ-centered and God inspired relationship at a time."

MCC Meat Canners

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.

- Samuel F. Pugh