Tuesday, June 17 - Fearlessly Facing Frightening Firsts

Buenas noches! It’s Ema Simpson and Kirby Evett posting tonight. A lot of things happened today! As usual breakfast crew got up early to make sure we had food and were well-fueled for the long work day ahead. Once breakfast was over, we packed up camp (which is set up in the back of the sanctuary), and slowly began dividing into two groups. Beth-El was beginning to fill up with people waiting for the weekly food pantry to open. Meanwhile, local volunteers along with the youth groups present (there are two other youth groups staying at a local campsite, probably 30 minutes down the road) prepared for the multitude of people eager to receive food bags to help them through the week. Since we also experienced working in the food pantry last year, the youth were excited to be a part of this event, as it is one of the most rewarding parts of this trip. Getting to interact with the local people and bringing a smile to their faces helps us to remember the purpose of trips like this one. Seeing people who are so incredibly grateful for things we take for granted makes us realize how fortunate we are. A couple rooms away, the second half of our group was working to put dry wall in the future office spaces adjoining the sanctuary. These were the rooms that were cleared out yesterday, and it’s been amazing to see the transformation. With the help of the incredible and patient Santos, who is responsible for many of the construction jobs here at Beth-El, we learned the art of drilling properly into studs to hang the dry wall and began plastering it in preparation for painting. This was a day of firsts for many youth and adults (a special thanks to Jeff and Hank, who bravely and enthusiastically led the youth in this project, relying only on Santos and instinct for guidance). Despite our initial nervousness, these “firsts” were very rewarding, particularly at the end of the day when we saw all we had accomplished. Following our busy and productive day, we straightened the sanctuary for the night’s worship service. After that we eagerly visited our beloved Shampoo Salon and then loaded up the bus for a delicious, authentic Mexican dinner at Don Julio’s. By the time we returned from dinner people had started to arrive for worship. We were a little out of our element, as the service was mostly in Spanish, but luckily the pastor translated most of the service for us. It was also incredible how despite the language barrier the members of Beth-El’s congregation managed to make us feel so welcome in their special space. The service was different from the ones we experience back home. It consisted largely of songs, but our only instrumental back-ups were a tambourine and our hands. There was also a time for prayer, when we were able to pray silently and voice concerns aloud to the congregation. Listening to the prayers of the people at Beth-El was a wonderful part of the day. They were very open about everything from their own quick tempers to the health concerns of neighbors, friends, and family. It reminded us that church is a place of fellowship, where worries can be expressed and met with kindness and comfort. We wrapped up the evening by playing Identity Theft and another round of Telephone Pictionary. We also reflected on the day by talking about the things that surprised us the most. As we end the day, we’d just like to express how thankful we are to be here. Even though our purpose here is to help the members of Beth-El’s community, in many ways they help us more than we could ever help them.