Come in! Come in!

"If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a Hope-er, a Pray-er, a Magic Bean buyer; if you're a pretender, come sit by my fire. For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!" -- Shel Silverstein

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Belize: We're Home

Well, we're home.

Exhausted.

Deeply, deeply satisfied.

Full.

And yet, haunted by not having done enough.

Sort of like this picture of the Community Playground about half an hour from completion.

I have so much to tell, but not enough time to do that tonight. Even so, the images are all jumbled and tangled with words that simply fail.

So, here are a few pictures - just to give you a feel for what we've experienced. There will, God willing, also be videos.

You'll probably see these pictures again but in the midst of some story-telling. These are a few from the Wellness Clinic we ran in the Community Center.


This is one month old Vivien and there's her mother in the background with her brother, Gideon, age 2. If this doesn't absolutely melt your heart, I don't know what will.

We had hoped to work with the local doctor, but he wasn't able to join us. So, we simply did what Public Health Nurses have been doing for hundreds of years: education, prevention, and early intervention.

We made a few house calls on folks who were too old to make the trek to the clinic. This is a 93 year old woman who had had a stroke, with her son, who is a very brittle diabetic, and his daughter.

I wish I had been able to take a better picture of this amazing Mayan woman. She must have been stunningly beautiful as a young woman. Her beauty in her old age was still breathtaking.




This family is so completely devoted to their 85 year old father who has had a stoke and 83 year old mother who has Parkinson's Disease that it is nothing short of jaw-dropping inspiration.

There will be more stories, more images, in the days to come.

But, for now, this will have to do.

Meanwhile, we're catching up on what's been happening in the world - in our personal families . . .the blistering heat in Northern New Jersey . . .the deaths of Lady Bird Johnson and Letty Russell . . . carcinogens in toothpaste manufactured in China and now in shrimp caught in Asian waters . . the Gerber baby cereal recall . . . another cop shot in New York City . . .the various machinations in the ongoing and unfolding drama in the Anglican Communion. . .

It all seems so insignificant compared to what we've just experienced. Of course, it's not, but our experience in a remote mountain village in Belize does help to put some things into perspective.

Which, of course, is what happens on a mission trip.

I suspect we'll be re-living this trip for many years to come. Stay tuned.

8 comments:

Suzer said...

Welcome back, Elizabeth+!!! I look forward to hearing the stories of your trip. It does put everything in perspective, doesn't it?

I will assume you all arrived home safely and in good health?

Get some sleep. The photos are beautiful!

Cecilia said...

Welcome home. You have been held in prayer.

Pax, C.

June Butler said...

Another welcome back, Elizabeth. You did good work. I will continue to pray for you.

Mike in Texas said...

Welcome home, Elizabeth. I do look forward to learning more about your experience in Belize.

And please pay no attention to the folks at ViagraVille who have in their own 'special' way launched a new 'welcome home' at you.

johnieb said...

Welcome and thanks: the photos are so beautiful, as are all the people, the Mayans and their visitors.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Ummmm ... at the risk of being redundant ...

WELCOME HOME!!!

JimB said...

I am glad you are back, that all appearantly went well, and that you are not writing about your back!

Prayer does work even if we bad, unholy, inclusive, liberal types pray. Who knew? ;-)

FWIW
jimB

Lisa Fox said...

I'm sorry to be so late in offering my own "Welcome home," Elizabeth. I'm out of town and have only intermittent access.

I am in downtown Chicago right now, not far off the "Magnificent Mile" of Michigan Avenue. A decade ago -- when last I was in this little stretch of retail heaven -- I loved it. But when I drove down it this week, it sickened me. All the glitz. All the glamor. All the people shopping for overpriced things they do not need. It seems obscene to me. Maybe that's a result of my time in southern Sudan. This kind of orgiastic consumerism seems sick. Profoundly sick.

Welcome back to the U.S. of A., Elizabeth. Prepare to be disgusted.