Curacao '09 Video 1

Friday wrap-up

We had a very pleasant farewell gathering at the home of Gloria (our meal provider). She and her two brothers have a "garden" that is used to host parties right at their house over near the big ball park and public pool.

Friday ended up being their biggest day. The consensus was that the kids were pretty hyper too. Cesar and Emma send their love to you and all at GCF that made this possible. Cesar took the time to note the obstacles they faced over the past 3 months and said he and Emma were convinced the VBS would not have worked without our team and specifically the dedication of our vans to the full day schedule. During the week, he had noted that we were cutting off 60 to 90 minutes off their afternoon chores in returning children. I did not realize that Emma was routinely driving in prior years in addition to Cesar.

Friday update

A rain shower mid morning caused quite a stir. 5 minutes of rain can scatter folks pretty well. It forced a move of the teen boys from a ball field that got too wet to continue, so an hour after we dropped them west of Santa Rosa, we went back to move them to Caracas Bai.

Closing ceremony is in progress now. We likely start our return to home runs for the kids in 15 minutes or so and we have a group meeting after dinner tonight at 7pm in Bonam.

We will leave all our cash here. With the work we have done on Cesar's van and the boys house being a bit extra, it will use all but I feel good about what we have been able to do.

Thanks for your support and prayers.

gene

Thursday update

Today went well. Several of the crew picked up trash early this morning in the ditch we cleaned out last year. Laurel seems to have been a hit with some of the older ladies in the FUIK neighborhood by making brownies for them today as part of a presentation to them.

Chika prepared lunch once again for the group. It consisted of (you now have Doris talking as Gene missed this lunch) chicken stew, white rice, peas and carrots and glass cake. Glass cake in a jello-o type mixture and we were very honored because it is not the norm for them to serve dessert. Chika also served more of her homemade juices. She is trying to encourage the use of native plants in cooking and healing in Curacao. They were interesting flavors. The youth have been wonderful about trying new things and very nice manners have been used to thank our hostess. This is still Doris talking...we met a missionary, Joan, who is now living in Fike and has offered her home for our next visit. She said she could take 20 if we did not mind waiting on bathroom time. She lives on Emma's block and is a teacher now. Her husband is very kind and they have 4 grown children. Joan is about to be a Grand Ma for the first time so we had a lot of celebrating and thanking God for our children, it is just a joy to be here. Now back to Gene...

Allan Murphy took his group to the beach near the old quarantine building this afternoon around 2 pm. Our youth were invited, so they and a couple of adults went with them. The remainder of our group joined the advance guard just as the Alabama group was heading back to the Pearl. The evening was capped off with fine dining at McDonald's along Ring Road. Everybody ate outside. Especially for those that still have their not completely dry swim attire on underneath, the place felt like it was freezing. The persistent Curacao breeze was a great improvement to indoor dining there. Most of us ate on the edge of their very large outdoor playground. At the end, we even congregated in one corner of the area to have a brief devotional. Arrival time at the houses was around 9 pm and we are in those early stages of clean up where you try to get the obvious things in order now since we know Friday night will really be compressed. Saturday morning will be a 4:30 wake-up which is only an hour earlier than we have been observing, but still early enough that we do not want to have to do all the clean up on Friday night.

VBS may end about an hour early tomorrow and we will come back to the house for dinner. We have been told not to eat dessert and we are requested to meet our hosts at 7 pm at a location to be revealed tomorrow.

There are far too many stories to relay here and some will be new to me since the driving we have been doing keeps Steve, Brian and myself away from the action quite a bit. What I do know is that the group here is highly appreciative of the support they have received this year. The numbers remained high today. Another of those rough measures I use to gauge attendance is how many van trips it takes to move folks. The youth were out at Caracas Bai today and it took 8 trips to get them to FUIK. Two of those were Cesar's large van.

I am going to say goodbye for now.

Goodnight,

gene

Brian's mechanical gifts continue to bless

From Gene,

Brian had to change shocks on Cesars van yesterday. One broke Weds afternoon about two hours after they changed the U joints. We have paid for both of those, so what we saved in a couple of places is now gone, which I view as a good thing.

Tuesday & Wednesday

Wow! A busy day both days, but probably give the edge to Wednesday in the ranking.

We were told the group would peak in numbers on Wednesday and it sure looked that way. There may be an official count, but I do not have that tonight. What I do know is that one thing they track is how many meals they prepare. Teen boys get double and the youngest children get 1/2 portions, so the number prepared works out to a good approximation of the total of VBS participants and workers. Today, our kitchen staff rep (Doris) said 360 meals were prepared. There may be as many as 50 workers, so using that as a starting point, it would say there were over 300 children and teens.

Steve Dean and I spent almost all day driving. We each put 230 miles on each of our vehicles. Now that is not a big deal in SC, but in Curacao, it means you did not do much other than drive. The mileage we logged today was all in the mostly neighborhood setting where the combination of traffic, rough roads and two rush hours, makes that about all the miles you can expect in one day. We started at 7AM with pick up of children and some staff and ended a few minutes after 6pm. There was a period of about one hour with no travel during the morning.

Today was a chance for Brian to do some work on Cesar's van. It needed universal joints and they needed to pull the drive shaft. After only 4 trips to the auto parts store, they had the right parts and the van was running for the afternoon delivery of children and workers to their homes. It will be nice to have that one back on the road all day for these next two days. Not only did he work on Cesar's van during the day, Brian stayed through supper to do some work on Ilse's car. It needs more than he can do on this trip, but it looks like we can help them save money by purchasing the parts in SC and shipping them back in the luggage of the Curacao team when they leave SC.

The entire team on the ground in FUIK continues to be everywhere doing whatever is needed. The Alabama team worked the full morning at VBS (which included some very helpful driving) and then went to Antillean Baptist Church for painting. Our entire youth contingent went along and they worked the job together. Except for a bucket handle failure, the paint went on the walls as intended.

All had dinner here tonight provided by Gloria. She will prepare a meal for us Friday and after that we will meet the group from FUIK for a casual evening. Thursday evening, we still have some hopes we may improve the logistics to a point where we can be done by 5pm and let the group cool off in the Caribbean before sunset. Just in case some may not appreciate how hard our group has worked, we did get less than 2 hours at the beach Tuesday evening. So the Thursday foray will be the third outing and all three will total a max of 6 hours for the week. A bit less for the group that left the beach Sunday afternoon to help get things ready at FUIK. While there have been the adjustments that always come with a trip like this, the beach time is not a huge surprise to the group because we talked from last fall that we were going to volunteer to help in the afternoons which necessarily cut way back on the beach opportunities. What is really cool is that this large a number were willing to make the investment of themselves and their money to come be hot, tired and at times frustrated in spite of the limited recreational time. All those discomforts can melt away when you get a moment to see just how much our presence means to those leaders here. It also reminds us that we are here in some measure to model for adults and not just help kids in VBS. By our presence and work, there are youth and parents that are seeing how much commitment is needed to make something like this happen and that they can lead and they can make a difference by committing themselves.

We made our devotional tonight a reading of I Corinthians, 13th chapter. My prayer is that I am always aware that no amount of work or sacrifice has value unless it is given in an attitude of submission to God.

Best wishes from all here. The photos may even have to wait until we return. There are a bunch.

Good night,

gene

Update from Curacao

We could not get an Internet connection last night, so this is just to let all know that all are well and you can be sure our combined groups are doing a lot of work. Today, SC and AL join in the afternoon to paint the inside of a church.

We also leave here in 6 minutes and the driver must not be late.

gene

Potential 2nd trip to Curacao this summer by church in NC

Interrupting our normal reports to include this info for a trip that may be taking shape for sometime in the next 6 weeks. Days 1 & 2 from our current trip are below with more coming. dg

This is my email to them today:

Caroline, Cesar, Faris & Herman,

What a neat opportunity is falling into your laps!

I just finished talking to a good friend Kurt Wright. Long story short, a youth mission trip planned for Honduras has likely fallen through due to the political unrest there. Because of the great amount of time and money already spent, they are looking for an alternate site to serve.

It's a youth mission team of around 10. Curacao came up because a sister of one of the youth (Nancy Wright, currently in Curacao with our mission team at Cesar & Emma's) knew about our work there and thought it would be a good destination.

So my question to all receiving this in Curacao is: Are there projects in Curacao that this group could come work this summer over about a week that you all already know about? In other words, do you think you could pull together enough local ministry work to justify this team coming there?

Caroline, I'm looking to you to coordinate this from down there and see what potential there is. This would need to happen quickly as once summer is over here these youth will have to go back to school and the window of opportunity will close.

Cesar & Emma, will there be some follow-up work after this week that you need help with?

Herman, do you have projects that this team could help you with? They can work with children or they can paint or do manual labor.

Calvin, I know you're coming this way, but you know what's going on down there. What can you suggest? Can they help your church do some local outreach in the coming weeks? We could coordinate a face to face for you and their youth pastor to plan out a trip while you are here in SC next week (Jul 11-20). They could even come down and participate with you group next week in our local missions effort here to help them get to know you all. Give this some thought.

Faris, what projects do you know about?

Allan, you being there now should be able to shed some light on this once you're back (Jul 11) in the states.

I mentioned Siloam children's hospice, Awana club at Eman's (Cesar and Emma) on Sun., Siloam kid's ministry on Wed. to Kurt. There are other opportunities there as well.

Contacts:

Caroline van Romondt caro_JC@scarlet.an

Local missionary gifted and ready to host mission teams

Calvin Varlack sentrograsia@onenet.an

Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Abundante. He and 6 youth will be in Summerville, SC Jul 11-20 helping us with Mission: Charleston.

Herman Gijsbers siloam@cura.net

Director of Siloam and many other ministries on the island

Faris & Marilyn Weber

Local pastor of Curacao Christian Fellowship

Allan Murphey pastor@northshelbybaptist.org

Alabama pastor who's spent considerable time in Curacao full & part-time. He has a team in Curacao this week working with our team.

Kurt Wright kurtdwright@earthlink.net

Current contact for the mission team looking to go to Curacao

Most of us already have an interest in seeing God work through the Body of Christ working together to bless the people of Curacao. Here is just another example of God orchestrating something special. My prayer is that each of you will be open to the Holy Spirit's leading on this cooperate with Him accordingly.

Feel free to contact me if I can help but I see this as something that will have to come together down your way. I'm praying for just that!

In Christ, we're better together!

Darien

2nd Day update

A busy day in Fuik! It would be so nice to say it all went without a hitch, but you know better. The remote entry would not work one of the vans this morning for about 30 minutes, so we were delayed getting everyone to Fuik since that system disables the vehicle if the alarm is not properly disabled. It eventually worked and we decided just to lock that one only when needed just in case it wants to act up again.

Our group made 3 pick up runs this morning and 5 return runs this afternoon. Cesar said we cut off over an hour on their evening run compared to last year by our vans being available for this extra duty. I know many back home would be amazed at what some homes look like here. It really reminds us that in the US, what we often would consider poverty, looks very much like middle class here. Brian and I both had some insights on this last year, but after we drove routes today, each of commented that we returned children to houses we would have otherwise guessed were uninhabited.

The Summerville and Alabama groups worked VBS this morning. After lunch, some from the Alabama group went out to arrange painting work for Tuesday and Wednesday. They will do a project on their own Tuesday afternoon and roughly 1/2 of our group will join them for a project on Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the Alabama group worked the afternoon athletic program along with our entire team. Folks shifted into cleanup while the vans were on the road for the return runs.

Our group met at the house we stayed in last year and had supper (outside) together. Outside until dark is good because of the steady breeze that really works for you if you are outside. Following supper we talked about the day and where people saw God working and called out needs we recognized that needed to be lifted up. Probably the greatest concern is youth where we see many already with hardened hearts. As we broke up we noticed that the full moon had become visible and just reminded us again of the testaments to God's creation he has placed all around us.

Even with the extended schedule we have adopted our group is up for a couple of trips to the beach. We will not have any high points for intrepid divers to leap off because we are resolved that we will finish Tuesday and Thursday afternoons by leaving Fuik and going straight to Caracas Bay. It looks great and it is close, so we expect we will be there not later than 6pm and picnic on the beach and enjoy the water that is cooler than it is now in South Carolina. The only downside is that we have an hour less sunlight than back home.

Tuesday and Thursday, a neighbor of the Emans (Chika) is going to cook some traditional island dishes for our group. Adventurous eaters can hardly wait. Not all our group fit that category.

From the scene that was unfolding at about 8AM today, order and control might have seemed an ambitious hope. I am not sure of the exact moment, but was aware some time mid-morning that it was running really well. Outside, there were over 200 today and the expectation is that the total participating will increase on both, Tuesday and Wednesday. Inside, the kitchen was a constant buzz of activity with preparation of snacks, drink coolers and lunch. The vans were on the road during VBS as well, supporting the boys at Caracas Bai and the girls at a meeting place in Fuik about two miles from the VBS. Nathan was mentoring his peers on helping kids have fun on the play court and Linda was seeing at least one "patient" per hour. She reports the most effective remedy to restore happiness was an ice pack. It may have been that the holding and attention were contributing a lot as well.

We close with the report that all are well and that we see many opportunities to be used for God's glory. Tomorrow night we will make an attempt to send some photos.

gene

First detailed update, 7.05.09

Gene sends his first update on how their trip has gone so far. We'll be posting all texts, pics and emails on the blog at www.mission-curacao.blogspot.com to help out. Please remember, above all, to pray for all involved. Not only are 2 mission teams counting on it, but the locals leading and hundreds of children are counting on it as well. God is so good! Darien

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gene Hundley <gene.hundley@mwv.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Subject: Curacao Update
To: darien.gabriel@alumni.clemson.edu

It was a rainy arrival in Curacao on Friday night. It was noisy one too. There were several from VBS and the full drum unit was there. When they cranked it up, everyone in the airport took notice!

All were into the houses and ready for lights out by 11:30 that night.

Saturday was shopping and beach day. At least that was the plan. We got into Punda (downtown) at 9:30 and left at 11:30. There were frequent rain showers all morning, but none hit us again until late that night. When we left Punda, we went to the beach at Porto Mari. Shortly after arrival, we got a call that Emma had realized the preparation work for VBS needed some quick help to make sure all was ready in time. 1/2 of the group volunteered to head back and the others stayed at the beach. While our group was only there for 3 hours that afternoon, several key things got completed and only a few tasks remained for Sunday afternoon.

Saturday night, the Summerville Team (always includes Nan Wright) met up with the team led by Allan Murphy of North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. The agenda was dinner and Caroline had set us up at Maracas Restaurant which sits on a hillside looking across the Saint Anna Bai (bay), which is the channel that connects the ocean to the protected harbor in Willemstad. The location was perfect for a view of the Punda section of downtown we had visited in the morning. It would have been a great view if that Venezuelan frigate had not shown up and moored right beside our location. The food was great, the company was delightful and the devotional provided by Archie was a timely reminder that every person is a joy of God and precious to him. It was the perfect reminder of why we reach out in our communities and around the world as we planned our Sunday worship and prepared ourselves for the week to come.

There was another important thing we learned from Cesar Saturday afternoon and that was he would appreciate it if our team could use our two vans to pick up children before the start of VBS. Our answer was YES and it just means we shift our schedule a bit. Where our original plan was to be at Fuik shortly before 8 each morning, now we will be there a bit before 7.

Sunday was a starting time similar to what we observe at the Senior Center. Gene went with Allan Murpy (he preached in Papiamentu) and two others from North Shelby to a baptist church. Laurel, Josh, Jeremy and Nathan went with others from North Shelby to a baptist church where Archie preached in Spanish. The rest of the Summerville Team attended Abundante Gracia where Cali preached (Papiamentu) and Caroline Von Romondt arranged translation for those. All three groups met at Pizza Hut and finished up with observations on each of the services. The Summerville Team went straight to Fuik after lunch and helped with final preparations. The North Shelby Team arrived for the parade at 4pm. (all times are approximate in Curacao.....like it or not)

The drum core made the most noise, but all the walkers were busy handing out flyers, balloons and candy as the procession made its way around for 45 minutes.

After parade there was music and a service led by Cali at the Eman's on the ball court and there were a few more preparations ongoing during that time as well. Actually, two of our team (both named Josh) were recruited by Caroline to help with cooking and our supper was hamburgers and hot dogs at Caroline's house. We brought some home for the North Shelby Team that had gone to an evening service at a nearby church and they just stopped by our house about 9:30pm to pick up what we had for them. Our house has grown quiet as all have decided it is wise to get some sleep before the 5:30 wake up arrives.

Please pray for VBS at Fuik. There are many children eager to attend and open to God's love. We remind ourselves we are here to support those who love Jesus and we look forward to being whatever the situation demands so all can come to accept him.

Goodnight.

gene

Boarding in Miami

They are boarding now (4:30 pm) in Miami for Curacao. They've been traveling 12.5 hrs so far today. Nancy from RDU met up with them with no troubles so all 15 are together now. They should arrive in Curacao at Hato International Airport about 9 pm. They should be in the same time zone as we are since it's Daylight Saving Time.

4 hrs & Security...

The group left Summerville at 4 am today. This from Gene,

They are just about to close the doors. All accounted for and no problems. That is, with the possible exception of the extended conversation (and brief stroll) Linda had with the nice man at security. But really...she should be the one to tell you all about that. The rest of us barely even noticed that they took her away. Gene

So the journey begins...

Van Loading & Prayer

The luggage loading of the vans will happen at Miles Rd Baptist Church 8 pm. Come by and pray for the group before they go.

Prayer for M: Curacao from alum

Frank sent you a message.

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Re: Pray for our trip to Curacao in < 3 days

Dear God,
Be with Darien and the group going to Curacao. You know their hearts are to serve You. May you move in the lives of those going and in the lives of the many people they will come in contact with. We long forward to what you will do this week and into eternity.
Amen