Community Organizing means relationships

 Today I visited with my friend Lisa Hicks-Dumanske in San Carlos, California.  Lisa is the Development Director for Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) which has for its area San Mateo County - which is the peninsula south of San Francisco and north of San Jose.  Lisa has worked for PIA for 12 years, and represented her church at PIA for many years before that.  We did a lot of shop talk.  PIA has many elements in common with Quad Cities Interfaith (QCI) that Church of Peace has been involved with over the years.  PIA works with about 25-30 faith based organizations; 18 of which are active.  An interesting statistic they keep is that they have some 250 "trained leaders" of which about 100 are active.  PIA seems to do a fair amount of issue analysis on a regular basis.  Lisa is in charge of fundraising for PIA and I was very interested in this aspect as well.

It all seemed so familiar.  PIA is located in Community UCC in San Carlos.  We stopped in and Lisa introduced me to the pastor, Rolf Hansen, who has been there about 19 years so far.

Lisa was part of the youth group in one of the churches I served in San Mateo County.  I officiated at her wedding with John, and their oldest child is graduating from High School this month and off to college next fall.  We did a lot of personal visiting too.

San Damiano

Greetings from San Damiano Retreat center in Danville, California.  I am here for a pre-retirement seminar with the California Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  This is a Franciscan center, and the interior courtyard is beautiful.  However, we spent yesterday inside learning about personal financial matters.  

It is good to see old colleagues from the conference.  Somehow we all look different after all these years.  There is one fellow here that I remember from student orientation when I began seminary!  He is  currently serving the last church to which I was assigned in California.  

We meet again this morning and conclude with lunch.

There is still some green on the foothills where San Damiano is located, and live oaks provide texture.

Gloria Vicente

 Illinois Maya Ministry met today in Warrenville, Illinois, at the home of Rev. Denise Griebler, to listen to a very pregnant Gloria Vicente share about her work in Guatemala as a missionary through Common Global Ministries.  Gloria was able to explain in depth about her experience at Guatemalan Christian Action (ACG).  She also talked a little about her plans for her future work in Guatemala.  Part of the work of IMM is to accompany our missionaries with Mayan people.  Below our host prepares lunch.

Transportation Equity

Quad Cities Interfaith has been working for over a year now on the issue of Transportation Equity, by which we mean providing more equitable access to jobs that will be created when the passenger train service comes to the Quad Cities.  The word is that over 2000 jobs will be provided and 700 of those jobs will be permanent.  We want to see that all of our citizens, including minority citizens of the area, have access to those jobs.  We also hope that our capacity for good paying positions will be built through training.


Well, anyway, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in the QC for a Law Day Speech and to meet with local politicos.  So some of us were able to meet him at the i-wireless center at lunch.  Here from (L-R) is Illinois Chief Justice Tom Kilbride, Clara Delle Thompson (15th Avenue Christian Church), US Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood, Leslie Kilgannon (QCInterfaith organizer) and me.

Honoring Bishop Samuel Ruiz

There are different ways of honoring someone who has  died.  Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia (3 November 1924 – 24 January 2011) died a little over a year ago.  He was instrumental in building positive ecumenical relations between and among Mayans, Catholics and Protestants in the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas, where he served for many years.

The top photo is of the Mayan altar that was used during the Fiesta at INESIN.  It would have made me pretty uncomfortable years ago.  But now I can see that this is a way of honoring a person, as we would at a memorial service in our church.  We too use candles and flowers.  The basked and bowl are filled with earth and water, respectively.  The various colors of flowers and candles represent the cardinal directions.  This is a way that Mayan folks honor Bishop Ruiz.

The lower photo is of our group from Illinois Maya Ministries along with Felix Ortiz-Cotto.  We are standing on the foundation/slab/footing of a new building that is being constructed at INESIN.  This is how North American Protestants honor someone who has died who was beloved and appreciated.  IMM set a goal of a $10,000 to help build this building that will include an assembly room named for Bishop Ruiz.  And we have met our goal and sent the $10,000.  And we know that additional gifts have been sent by the Wisconsin UCC Conference, and by other donors. 


INESIN is able to receive and benefit from various sorts of contributions to honor one of their spiritual founders.

A Meeting is a Meeting is a Meeting

 It was a full day of meeting at INESIN.  Here is Hermana Lucy sharing some memories of the beginning of the project 15 years ago.  She was one of several such speakers.

 This is one of the discussion groups talking about what we have heard.  This particular group is international partner groups.  Around the table are folks from Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and mainland USA.  We are Mennonite, Reformed, Catholic, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ.

 This is the next step.  Here is Felix Ortiz Cotto, our Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean from Common Global Ministries, reporting back to the whole assembly what we talked about in our smaller group.

 We took a bit of a break from all the talking and planted a tree to represent a commitment to the future.  The whole group did it with some ceremony, but we were so crowded together it was difficult to get a picture.  Here is Marina from SiPaz and her young son giving the new tree a little bit of water.  The tree will bear at least two kinds of fruit - it is grafted together.  An apt symbol for an organization promoting ecumenical work.

And the day concluded with Mariachi music and dancing.  This is, of course, Mexico!

Opening with Mayan Prayer

 After a few opening and welcoming remarks from Ernesto Martin, the three day celebration of the 15th Anniversary of INESIN began with a Mayan Prayer time led by spiritual leaders from Huixtan, Chiapas, Mexico.  The prayers centered around an altar formed on the ground; a circle of flowers and candles, oriented on the four cardinal directions.  

Rhythmic prayer in the Tzotzil language was accompanied by stringed instrument music and maracas played by several of the congregants.

Here one of the women worship leaders moves around through the congregation with copal incense.  The copal is placed on hot charcoal in a terra cotta censor which she is able to hold in her hand by the base.  It looks like a big chalice.  She then blows on the charcoal and is able to direct puffs in incense smoke in particular directions.


After the Mayan prayer service there were the lectures about the historical context of the area, followed by a substantial lecture General Secretary of a Swiss mission sending association which has been deploying young adults at INESIN for several years.

Melel Xojobal

This morning we visited with one of our partners in San Cristobal, Melel Xojobal.  They work with indigenous children in the area, provide a nursery school, and do an outreach to children who work on the street in San Cristobal.  Here is their website and you will enjoy how colorful it is.  http://www.melelxojobal.org.mx/   


This is Rebecca posing in front of part of their mural in the garden.

Visit to a community

It was a busy today.  In the morning we went to a Maya medical herbal museum and learned about Mayan spirituality, use of natural plants, and agricultural plants also.  Found out that tomorrow is a big day on the Mayan calendar - the day for the blessing of the seeds and planting in this area.  The museum is called OMIECH.


In the afternoon we took a combi cab up to San Andreas Larrainzar, a community a little over an hour away to the northwest.  There we met with a women's weaving cooperative called Mujeres de Maiz (Women of the Corn) and learned something about their experience.  They showed us some of the things they have made, and we did some purchasing.  They prepared a meal for us and we ate together.  They are pretty traditional Mayan women and somewhat reluctant to be photographed.  However they consented to a picture of us in the back yard.  There is a deep ravine behind us and on the other side is the local cemetery which you can almost see in the background.


Tomorrow we visit with two partner groups - those that Illinois Maya Ministry works with on a regular basis.

Delegation assembles

Here are all eight members of the delegation gathered for lunch at Tierra Dentro in San Cristobal de Las Casas, today, May 1.  Six of us had flown in today from Chicago and two were already here.  We are here to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of INESIN - an ecumenical and intercultural institute dedicated to peace building.