The Rocio Project: Week 4

Roots=Belief
Trunk= Values
Branches= Behaviors
Fruit= Consequences (Poverty, addiction, etc.)

New Ideas. . .

My pen can't move fast enough as the lightbulbs come on in my brain. The speaker, Christine Colby, has been showing us how we have to look deeper than the obvious problems and needs we see in communities- we have to go all the way to the root. Poverty is a mentality. We have to change the ideas and beliefs that cause the problems. It's what sets us apart from other, secular compassion projects- recognition that there is always a deeper issue than malnutrition, or illiteracy, or bad water, or consumerism. Unless you deal with the deeper issue at the root level- the belief- your program will not be sustainable and transformation is impossible. And unless your own perception or worldview has been transformed to God's, the change you bring to others will just be a reflection of your culture, not God's intentions for that community. Our hearts.

Deal with the root before you touch the fruit. Don't point out the speck in the other person's eye before you get the log out of your own. And seek God in the details- ALL of them.

Meet Tanner, Amanda, and Alex, fellow participants

in my school! There's 3 different countries represented

in this photo, and as we learned this week, 4 different

worldviews!

Whew! Talk about brain overload. Every week, the teachings just get me more excited- it makes so much sense! Suddenly, community development becomes much deeper than handing a skinny kid a bowl of soup. It's relationship and trust and commitment and teaching new ideas. But always relationship.

This week we'll be focusing on Dynamics of Development- I'm excited to put legs on these ideas and find out some practical steps of how to bring biblical worldview, and through that, transformation, to a community!
On a Personal Note. . .

As you can read, I'm loving what I'm learning. And surprise! All of my homework needs to be done in Spanish! Quite the challenge, but it's making me grow in my language abilities- like a built-in language school for free! I'm pretty sure my English spelling is getting worse, though. And then there's the random moments where I can't remember what the blasted plastic thingy with the handle that you drink coffee out of is called in either language. . .

 I translate for Amanda (costumes included!)
Every other Wednesday, our class
researches and presents a community
at our basewide "Family Night".  Amanda
and I were in charge of the first one-
Hispanic gang culture in East L.A. A drama,
statistics, and intercession were all a part
of getting the needs of this community out. 

I'm continuing to build friendships with the other students and staff here at the base and enjoying them. I had the chance to let off some pent up energy and see a little bit more of Costa Rica white water rafting on Saturday- can't get much better than a good adrenaline rush and some beautiful tropical mountains! Rice and beans are a steady part of my diet- like 2 times a day, but they do a good job of flavoring it up a bit. Still miss tacos, though!

My Paraguyan roomie, Analia, and I escape to MacDonald's
to research our communities and learn more about each
other's cultures. Creativity sometimes gets killed sitting
in the same bunkbed trying to concentrate for hours
every week, so we grab every opportunity to take our
work elsewhere!

I've been struggling with some mental fatigue in the last week. Apart from my classes, I've been trying to be more disciplined in my relationship with God (i.e. spending time with him, taking every thought captive, letting truth into the dark places in my heart), and I don't think Satan's appreciating the effort. But God has surprised me again with how He knows how to speak to my exact need and I'm loving Him for it! Please pray for a stubborness to not get lazy and good rest.Well, that's about all for now! I love hearing from people, so if you have a couple minutes, let me know what's up with you!

The Rocio Project: Week 1

A few miles south of Ensenada sits Maneadero, a few stores, taquerias, and auto repair shops encircled by a rapidly growing diaspora of roughly constructed “houses.” Surrounding and breaking up the myriad of structures many Americans wouldn’t even consider a proper shed, fields of vegetables and large white tents patchwork the valley, a growing and packing industry fed by the proximity of the LA and California markets (ever wonder where those tomatoes come from?). The life and blood of this industry has cautious dark eyes, a petite frame, a gorgeous embroidered blouse, and speaks Mixteco more than Spanish. The indigenous Oaxacan migrant worker may make only $5-$7 a day, most likely doesn’t have proper drainage or consistent electricity, and doesn’t know he has a right to insurance, health care, or decent work conditions. These tribal communities of travelers have been the focal point of hours of research this week.

Each of us built a profile of a neighborhood or community that we would apply the teachings and principles of development to as we learn them. Population, ethnicity, language, culture, public services, infrastructure, schools, families, history, natural resources- all of this and any other details we could find (or a take our closest guess at) about how the people of the community live made up our profile. I’ve chosen the indigenous migrant community of Maneadero as my profile community, and the work me and God invest there I'm calling The Rocio Project.


It’s been a crazy blur of classes, homework, work duties, 6:30 breakfasts, outings to downtown, new faces and new ideas. I love my 10 classmates- we’re a funny mix of personalities, nationalities, languages, and hearts that take in everything. From Paraguay to Canada and several countries in between, we’re in Costa Rica to learn!


Last week focused around orientation to the Community Development school and it’s purposes, in addition to team dynamics. As we consider development, understanding not only that we need each other but also that the relationships, dynamics, stages, and elements that make up a team are important to understand. Not only in the team we take into a community, but also the community members we partner with.

One of those principles is that God has to be at the center of everything we do as a team or in a community. Before he can be the center of my team, He needs to be the center of my love relationship with him. And that’s what this week’s classes will focus on- Intimacy with God and understanding our destiny as His lovers and beloved. The gospel that we take to the world.

The absence of rain drumming on the roof feels strange. I can hear the shuffling of feet and voices in the hallway, with the hum of crickets singing in the background. For the first time since getting here, it’s the San Jose traffic buzzing instead of my brain! But breakfast comes sooner than I’d like and so does my first book report, so I’d better sign off for now!


Some Favorite Quotes from this week:


Giacomo Coghi, Team Dynamics


“When we think of developing communities, we need to think of developing people.”


“We don’t wait for them to come to us; we go to them.”


“Unity moves the hand of God, releasing blessing and power and bringing life.”


“Active listening is a ministry and spiritual warfare.”


“Every time a new person comes on to a team, a new team is created.”


“Preference is not a value or an ethic. It’s just a preference.”


“The deeper the understanding goes, the greater the potential a relationship has.”


“Trust is the bridge that supports the weight of truth.”


Vanessa Pavely, Intimacy with God

“The closer you get to Light, the more obvious your darkness and brokenness become.”

“Love cares enough about our pain that he came to suffer and conquer the power of sin and death so that we could be free of our brokenness.”

“God’s justice is motivated by Love . . . our works of justice need to create lovers of Jesus, not just comfortable people.”

“We were created out of the presence of Love, not the absence of it.”