Hello!
I’ve put together another brief update from Wintertime here in Boston - I hope you enjoy it. It’s been a long pause because I’ve been very busy with work, but I hope to return to more frequent updates very soon.
Current Events in Ecuador
Things have not changed too much in Ecuador, though the omicron variant seems to be arriving there in full force and case numbers have shot up like in other parts of the world. Also on the negative side, there continues to be problems with gang crime in prisons and ranges around narcotrafficking channels. Indigenous communities are not pleased with the current president, and there may be protests on the horizon. Much depends on negotiations.
All that said, there is still a great energy of life in the people. Great things are still happening, and the place is a veritable ecological paradise. I look forward to returning.
More about Mission in Ecuador
I’ve continued to explore a bit concerning lay missionary possibilities in the Amazon. I’ll continue that over the following months. Conversations are continuing slowly.
I’m also planning to continue the shift to activities in Mindo that I had been considering before the pandemic struck. Mindo is a small, eco center where tourists and seekers cross paths with local people. I’ve had seminal ideas for retreats, workshops and visits from the US in a form that integrates with nature and the other offerings in Mindo. (We’ve already done a retreat and workshop there.) I’ve had ideas about an intercultural center as well, and there is interest with my friend Antonio, who had taught Spanish in the UK for over 25 years. There are also a few schools there, and in the back of my mind is still the school bridging that didn’t work out in Chontal, but I think would have a better chance of working there.
Mission entails visiting and ministering to people on both sides of the “bridge”. The idea has also crossed my mind for a partner intercultural center in the US, in the Boston area. It would link with the one in Mindo as another footing in the bridge.
The greatest problem and obstacle to all the ideas is vision. It requires the key teammates in the effort to have the same basic vision, and that is very difficult to do. Most people notice the short-term benefits to themselves. It takes a team of people who can see from both sides of the bridge, and can see the bigger picture around the bridge itself.
It may seem obvious that immigrants to the US have that perspective, but very few actually do. Except in small numbers, immigrants don’t really live in the same world as native-born US citizens, they don’t see it from their perspective. So, they typically don’t have the whole vision.
Which leads to the importance of visits. The idea of stepping out of one’s own world and entering that of the “other”. Facilitating this guided, reciprocated visiting is going to need to be a high priority.
Jesus called the first disciples to follow him as the foundation of everything because he was inviting them to step into God’s life and live and see reality as God does. Disciples follow and become witnesses: they see new things. That’s the foundation for doing new things, and that’s what I hope to follow in doing as well.
Come and see. Follow me.
I’ve also been doing more investigation about my own visa options for my return. A direct collaboration in the church opens the door to a religious visa, which I have done before, and am relatively familiar with the process (though that changes, there is a point of contact in the church who facilitates the process). But I’ve also been looking into a “professional visa”, which validates one’s college degree and opens the door to work and business activities, with very little other requirements. I’ve looked into getting the necessary documents in tow before going to Ecuador: the docs themselves (like apostilled degrees and criminal records), the required steps and the lead times. So, planning is underway.
Accompaniment and workshops
A Capuchin friend in Ecuador has asked me to help him with guidance as he reflects on his vocational plans for the next year or two. We’ll do something like the Tree of Life workshop, where our personal stories come to the surface and provide more clarity to our path. I’m hopeful that these one-off workshop experiences eventually germinate into larger opportunities, as I do believe the workshops are very meaningful and helpful to anyone in a time of transition or reflection.
Happenings in Chontal - María and Ximena
I've been in contact now and then with both María Herrera and Ximena Mina, who we've supported in fundraisers in the last year and a half or so.
María continues on a difficult road. As her chemotherapy treatments continue, she seems positive, hopeful and in good spirits when I talk to her. However, she’s become physically frail, she thinks because of her anemia. So, we'll see. As I mentioned last time, our prayer at a distance can be a way of being in solidarity from a distance. God is close to her.
Ximena had a change of course in the last moments with the bank, and successfully renegotiated her mortgage and is keeping her house. I’m not sure of all the details, but after being torn between two paths, she’s now happy with her decision, and she was again thankful for the funds that were raised that allowed her to do it. She says that she and the family are doing well enough, but it’s a constant struggle.
I hope to talk again soon with the community president to get her perspective, though by now she has probably left her office (I believe she wanted to move up politically to a broader level, like going from town level to county level.)
Living in Boston
Amazingly, I've been living now 6 months in Roslindale again, and am happy to be here. It is a wonderful place for me to be for now, I’m very grateful.
It’s also been a desert experience, as Jesus spent time in the desert away from and outside of everyone and everything. In the desert, Jesus was focused on discernment of God’s voice and that of the devil. And that requires much reflection and memory, noticing the different interior movements and which move toward consolation and which move against it. (It mirrors the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert, as they learned discernment of God’s voice until they were ready to enter the promised land.) So at the end of his desert time, Jesus was ready to go out and start the new phase of his purpose - his mission - with his Father. This is the model of my time spent here in these days. It’s the same model of rebirth found throughout the scripture wherever the number 40 is used.
Latino Immigrants in Boston
I had the chance to meet up with some of the people from the Hispanic community (mostly quasi seniors) that frequented St Anthony Shrine, the Franciscan shrine in Boston. Mostly scattered in different places, I contacted one of the folks, and a small group got together after a Mass in Boston. Then we decided to meet each month at someone's house for food, language practice, dancing and socializing, and prayer. We had our first meeting last weekend, and it was fun! I think the Masses at the Shrine will start up again soon, so they'll now have more support during this (still) time of the pandemic.
Language with Ecuadorians
The meet ups with the folks from the Hispanic community at St. Anthony Shrine have not been happening, largely because of the Covid flare-up. We’ll see if they might continue once things calm down. But, their Mass has resumed on Saturdays, so hopefully they receive support there.
Each Friday, I’ve been doing an online English class with a group of Ecuadorians in Lawrence, Mass. They all live together in the same small apartment: a father and mother, a son, two nieces and a nephew. After a while, I’ll consider next steps and expanding, but for now, we just keep going with the same group and similar activities. My work is taking up too much of my time at the moment, so once that calms down, I’ll be able to reconsider new ideas.
Parish Accompaniment
I've still been stopping by East Boston to Most Holy Redeemer parish off and on. It is one of the largest and most active Latino communities in the Archdiocese, with a large El Salvadorean population. Participation has been slow, though I sometimes participate in some in the Latino youth / young adult ministry.
Work at East Boston Harborside Community School
In December, I accepted a substitute role teaching a full beginner ESOL class. Being the first time for me, it has taken a lot of my attention, and crowded out a chunk of my B2B activity. But it's been a great learning experience for me so far.
It's also been a good discernment: I’m not a schoolteacher! I’ve stepped into that role a few times already in life, and, although I am a natural teacher, I’ve never felt the call as a schoolteacher.
It’s been a very good place to work, with great co-workers and supervisors, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. I really enjoy relating to and supporting the adult students, who are primarily immigrants from Latin America. I can relate as a person who has entered the foreign world of another country and culture, though it has its differences going in what you might say is the opposite direction. It also gives me a deeper understanding of the institutional side of immigrant experience, while also giving me some teaching and language experience that will be helpful for any intercultural projects down the road.
All that being said, my way of B2B, is in some ways similar and other ways different. You could say complementary, or supplementary, or something along those lines. I hope to flush more of that out after the school year.
But I’m glad to be doing it now, but will be glad to lower the work load and commitment at the end of January. I’ll then have more time to focus on B2B.
Online Workshops and Teaching Videos
The online workshops and teaching videos are still available - come on by and check them out by clicking on an image below.
I am still continuing to develop these workshops and teaching videos. As the foundation is accompaniment in life, there are a few that you might find beneficial in this pandemic, and if you are experiencing a life transition. I'm continuing to offer the Pandemic ReBirth Workshop, as well as the Tree of Life. Feel free to contact me directly if you're interested. And you can share the link freely as well.
Health
I'm doing well health-wise, though not exercising like I typically would. I got my Covid booster in December for my own and others’ sakes, and so would also be prepared to travel.
Financials
Here are the current financials for Barriers to Bridges (I’m still working on setting up and updating the docs for 2022):
2021
2022
Reflection
I live near a treasure called the Arnold Arboretum here in Roslindale. Open to the public, it’s an arboretum owned by Harvard University that contains trees from all around the world, living together. In and of itself, it’s a wonderful testimony to the variety of peoples and cultures that can live together as equals, each with their own space to flourish. Of course, that takes some human tending, and there is a staff that maintains it.
A week or so ago, the day after the first big snowstorm here, I was walking through enjoying the natural beauty of everything dowsed in white when something caught my eye on the side of the walkway. So I stepped off the path and into the side brush where I found a bright red bush. Or rather, it had lost all its leaves, but was loaded with thousands of bright red berries. With the white snow and the green pines in the background, I had to capture the view with a few photos. I stood and just took it all in. By the side was a sign that described how fruits are brightly colored to attract the eyesight of birds. So there, off the beaten path, in the middle of the pure white and wintery cold, stood this bush bursting with red. Food set up in the middle of cold, dormant winter, specifically to attract attention.
Moses is a guy trying to go about his life as a family man and shepherd while the Israelites are at rock bottom as slaves in Egypt. One ordinary day walking along, he happens to notice something completely out of place aside of his path. It’s a bush that’s burning, but in a weird way:
“I must turn aside to look at this remarkable sight. Why does the bush not burn up?”
So Moses turns aside and approaches the bush. And that, friends, is the teeny-tiny beginning of everything. Everything having to do with Israel and the Hebrew religion and Passover and Christ and church. All of world civilization as we know it today. If Moses doesn’t step aside, none of that happens. That is a big step, stepping aside. In the Hebrew it always implies leaving something else off, aside, undone. That’s what stepping aside entails.
In my life, it’s so important to be stepping aside when the invitation calls. In the darkest, coldest times, God comes to us with something that draws our attention. Stepping aside is the first step in finding food for the winters of life.
And just maybe the teeny-tiny first step of everything.
VISION
In some time stepping aside, I’ve had the opportunity to do some reflection on goals. Not just mine, but also those of others: God, church communities and leaders, Ecuadorians, United Statesians. Noting wherever there is common intersection - especially in the Scripture and the memories of God’s life with humanity - is a good starting place for moving forward with a plan.
A fruit of Jesus’ time in the desert was a bringing together, a synthesizing of his historical path - and that of all humanity - into his mission. In his Gospel, Luke describes Mary as “reflecting” on things in her heart (Lk 2:19), using the Greek word symballo. From “throw together”, it’s the base of the word symbol or symbolize. It’s to integrate together into a cohesive visual whole. And a great tangible example of that is the tilma of Juan Diego that contains the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That image visually represents a profound, thorough integration of two peoples and their cultures, rooted in the mystery of Christ.
The Virgin of Guadalupe has always been the patroness of my mission, you might say around the hidden root of it all. And more than just something to stare or wonder at or honor, the image on the tilma gives an inspiring and effective example to take inside through meditation and action. It’s an example of integrating all that’s contained in our interior life - the people, places, things - into a reconciled whole rooted in the mystery of Jesus and the love of God, and to bring that about in our actions. This is the type of reflection that Jesus did in the desert, that gave him vision. And it’s the type that draws me in this desert time as well.
Closing
May you be available to step aside when the invitation comes your way this winter, and whenever life hands you a wintertime.
Feel free to comment or reach out anytime, and I'll post again when it's time.
-Jerome