Had a wonderful morning preaching at Trinity Episcopal Church, Waterloo! A BIG thank you to Rev. Maureen Doherty for inviting us. Yet again, I am amazed and humbled to belong to such a wonderful diocese! The time is flying as we near our departure date, so if you wanted to donate, anything would be greatly appreciated!

Wow, what a week! I have spent the last few days thinking about my experience at the Global Episcopal Mission Network Annual Conference in Bogota, Colombia. It has taken those few days to decompress everything that my hard drive (soft in my case) heard, saw, and felt.

To begin with, taking off from Waterloo Airport with 3 inches of snow on the ground and still falling is always fun. I thought that the pilot was trying to “drift” on the landing in Chicago! The de-icing we had to go through made me miss my connection, but it was much better than crashing and missing the rest of my days! Landing in Bogota was easy. Immigration and Customs was easy too. Got to the National Police Compound where we were having the Global Episcopal Mission Network Conference, got situated, and went to bed. The Mission Formation class was truly an experience. I hope to make the Formation Class proud. Learning how to establish a mission that is self-sustaining is important in “times like this.”

Sunday morning we attended church at the Cathedral in Bogota. Bishop Duque was most gracious, plus this is the first time I have ever seen a Bishop initiate a high five from a little boy while processing out after the service! He also invited us downstairs to the Fellowship Hall where Juan Valdez (coffee) was waiting for us. Later that afternoon, I got the pleasure of leading a small group in prayerful consideration of a Bible passage. The subject was Acts 16:9-15. Paul had been given a vision to go to Macedonia and spread the Good News. Having a Bishop in your small group Bible study can be a little daunting, but we survived!
Monday morning dawned bright and early. We all listened to Humberto Shikaya, Director of CREAS, an ecumenical organization whose mission is to strengthen the capacity of the ecumenical movement, churches and social organizations in the promotion of human rights - civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental. It really hammered home the idea that whatever we do in the field of mission, it must be sustainable. The rest of the morning was spent listening to Dr. Paulo Euti, Latin American Facilitator of the Anglican Alliance, as he spoke of the “Theological linkages with Economic sustainability.” Again, everything must be sustainable. In the afternoon, I had the pleasure to listen to Grey Maggiano, Eileen O’Brien, and Ted Gaiser on how to develop project plans. Discernment is ALWAYS the first step. What Susan and I have been doing for the past several years was exactly what we should have been doing, other than not listening 12 years ago!

Tuesday, we had the pleasure of going and meeting with the extraordinary women that were mentioned in my last blog entry. The women of Mesa de Organizaciones de Mujeres Soacha are totally the heroes that the world needs today. I only hope that I can live my life to their standards! Tuesday afternoon we all had the opportunity to see what a sustainable mission is supposed to look like. The Dominican Development Group is doing great things. Good luck on your new positions Bill Kunkle and Rick Harlow!

Wednesday, we had the indubitable pleasure of going to the farm at Facatativa. The bus trip will stay in my dreams forever! Nightmares count as a dream, right? After having the Bishop of Colombia’s daughter run up the hill in front of us, cheering us on that we could also run up the hill from where the driver announced that he “wasn’t going any further,” we did spend most of the trip in tears from laughing about windows falling out, Jeremy Lucas and Elizabeth Boe! The farm is situated at the top of a hill with burros and many dogs.  In the afternoon, we got to hear about a successful microcredit program in the Dominican Republic. The wife of Bishop Duque, Blanca Lucia Echeverry presented on “Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Colombia. This program is garnering support for the Colombian displaced. Colombia ranks 2nd in the world for displaced persons, only behind Sudan. These are the same people that the women of Soacha are assisting.
Thursday morning was given to 3 Bishops, Bishop Duque of Colombia, Bishop Allen of Honduras, and Bishop Holguin of Dominican Republic. Each Bishop shared his vision of what missions they would like to see and what form they would like to see the mission in. Time and again the answer was simple, do not come to give, give, give. A healthy mission relationship is one that offers something to both sides. The people we want so desperately help have an abundance of gifts to offer us at the same time. Even if it is the Holy Spirit, they have something to offer. We must not belittle their contribution. Many people have said that they went to help someone, only to find out that they were the ones in need, and those they went to help were the ministers of what they needed. The afternoon was capped off with the Holy Eucharist with the Presiding Bishop presiding and preaching. Bishop Wilfredo Ramos Orench assisted with the service while Deacon Holly Hartman read the Good News in English, while a newly ordained Deacon (8 days before) read it Spanish. He wasn’t intimidated at all!

I won’t go into Friday, as my mother taught me that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all! The only pleasant time was standing in the hotel lobby waiting for taxis and discussing “hovering” with the Presiding Bishop and the other ladies present!

I have many people to thank for this opportunity, so bear with me. Melody Rockwell, you ROCK! David Oakland and the OWOC Commission, thank you, thank you, thank you. The rest will just have to know that I am so much in your debt that I can only hope that when people look at me, they see Jesus, (albeit a VERY large Jesus)!

I apologize for the length, but it all needed to be said!  Jeff

UPDATE: We are still looking for some help to get out tickets, so if you meant to reach out and haven't gotten around to it, now's the time!! Thanks to all.

Have some frequent flier miles in your account? This is a great idea given to us this week. We've done some research and figured out the details. Our plane tickets are the major expense for which we are raising funds. According to American Airlines, they would cost about 30,000 frequent flier miles each. Jeff has a little over 5,000 coming to him for the Bogota trip. If you have miles you would be willing to donate, we would be delighted to put them in the fund. There is a $30 fee from AA for the transfer, but we have a way to cover that if it isn't feasible for you. Please send us a message on Facebook or comment here on the blog if this is something you would be interested in doing. We can give you all the details and help make arrangements if you decide to donate miles. Thanks to everyone for all your help and prayers -- it has been quite a faith journey for us personally up to this point, and we love that there are so many others sharing it with us.

"There are many young people today, here in this square. Let me ask this: have you sometimes heard the voice of the Lord through a desire, restlessness, inviting you to follow him more closely? Have yo any desires to be apostles of Jesus... Ask Jesus what he wants from you and be brave!" Pope Francis I 4/21/13

Those of you that have heard my sermon on Call, can tell that the Pope and I are on the same sheet of music these days! I may not be Catholic, but I can definitely support the catholic Church!

Peace,

Jeff

I am starting to realize that the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa is FULL of wonderful caring people. This morning, I had the privilege to preach at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Fort Dodge, and then in Church of the Good Shepherd in Webster City. Both parishes welcomed us with open arms, and shared the excitement that is growing in us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Fr. Richard and both congregations for the hospitality, and the chance to let other folks know of the good works going on at the UAC-CP!

If there are any other parishes that would like to have us come and talk about the work we are being called to do, please let us know soon. I will be in Bogota, Columbia May 4-10, then I preach in Waverly at St Andrew's Episcopal Church the 12th. I will be preaching at Trinity Episcopal Church in Waterloo the 19th, so not many Sundays left!

Now on a serious note: Our fundraising is falling short of the minimum we need to accomplish our goal. So far, we have raised about $3000 of the $15,000 we originally budgeted. If we cut back on the planned budget and only go bare minimum, we still need another $6000. If you know someone that might like to contribute, please share our information with them, and please continue to pray for this worthwhile mission.

Peace, Jeff

Here is a copy of our brochure. Please feel free to distribute far and wide!

Thanks...


Bolivia Brochure PDF

Exciting news today:

St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cedar Falls, IA collected a special offering on Palm Sunday for our Bolivia Fund. What a wonderful blessing to have such caring people thinking and praying about us.

If your church or group is interested in helping with our fundraising, we'd be happy to send you some materials or come and speak. Get on our schedule soon! We'd be so happy to have your help, and any funds not used for trip costs will be donated to the Carmen Pampa Fund at the end of our year. Here is the information on where to send a check:

St. Andrew's Bolivia Fund

PO Box 176

Waverly, IA 50677

Also, for those of you who are members of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, check out the article about our trip on page C of this month's Iowa Connections. You can also view/download it online using the link posted below. A big shout-out to Lydia Kelsey Bucklin for getting that included. Thanks Lydia!

Episcopal Diocese - Iowa Connections