Day 5: Wed., August 3, 2011

The group had breakfast and returned to their worksites around 8:30 a.m., excited about the work ahead.  The Diocesan House group members attempted to fix the outdoor water faucet broken yesterday, so there was another period when the house was without water (much to the surprise of several people attempting to shower).  J  The group removed parts of the overhangs damaged by water and termites, replaced the wood, and continued to sand and varnish the eaves to prepare for the delivery of new gutters on Friday (tentatively).  Great progress was made.

The Hogar Escuela – Heredia group returned to work with Samuel and Francisco.  They continued to shovel truckloads of dirt and gravel remaining on-site from other building stages of the project, sand, and plaster the structure’s walls. More shoveling, sanding, and plastering will follow, but the group is in good spirits about the work completed so far.

  

After ending work around 5 p.m., the adults cleaned up and prepared for dinner.  Philip Lloyd worked for several hours in the kitchen with Diocesan House staff to prepare a wonderful meal for the mission team and some additional guests – several rectors from Episcopal parishes in San Jose.  After dinner, the rectors and mission team members attended a presentation coordinated by Rebecca Yarbrough and CDO Liza.  The topic was “radical welcome,” teaching vestries and parish communities in N.C. and Costa Rican dioceses how to become more inclusive, find those most in need of a church community (or assistance from a church), and welcome them into the body. 

The presentation included a video interview of Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina and Bishop Hector Monterroso discussing radical welcome, areas for improvement, and how the dioceses can benefit each other in this work.  When the video finished, the group divided into two smaller groups to discuss the initiatives proposed and provide feedback to help edit the video to its most insightful moments.  Rebecca Yarbrough and others will use this feedback to complete the video, add subtitles, and develop program materials to create a radical welcome program for integration into parishes both in N.C. and Costa Rica. 

When the meeting and discussions concluded, the mission team shared stories about the day and spent time getting to know each other better.