Randy Wray’s Blog

This is not a retraction or a correction.  I stand behind what I wrote yesterday.   Right or wrong it’s my assessment and opinion of the issue.  I do offer a clarification.  My comments were not meant by any means to be construed as directed toward any single person.  On the contrary, my comments were squarely directed at the attitude that birthed and fostered this reality (the disparity between camp and church) across the board. 

In other news . . . the girls are back!

I know Reese will, at some point, face the scrutiny of interrogation.  A lesser father, much like a lesser attorney, would have not anticipated this and allowed his son (or client) to be unprepared.  No sir, not me.  I am not the lesser attorney.  I’m not even an attorney, nor have I ever played one on TV!

Any father worth his aqua velvet would have had some sort of conversation like this . . . (author’s note:  the following conversation is not a true conversation — it is a fictional representation to illustrate a point)

Dad - Son, the girls are coming back and you’re going to face the scrutiny of many important questions.

Son - okay.

Dad - Questions like, "what did you guys do?" or "what did you guys eat?" or, and be very careful with this one son "what’s this all about?"  Son, be very sure you have them define "this" as you may end up selling us out, breaking the man code, divulging sensitive information.

Son - (smiling) Oh yeah like when you . . .

Dad - (waving a hand to silence the son) You promised to keep quiet about that.

Son - (sheepish grin) Sorry, my bad, I forgot.

Dad - When asked about diet mention salad and vegetables, grains and dairy.

Son - But we ate hamburgers and drank milkshakes?

Dad - Yes and lettuce is salad and pickles are vegetables.  Grains are in the bread and milk is in the shake.  Also when asked what we did say, "we cleaned house" or "we worked in the yard" or "we feed homeless people and studied the bible."

Son - (questioning) but dad?

Dad - Now son we thought about doing some of that stuff and the good book says if you think about it, it’s like doing it.

Son - Got it.

Dad - Are you sure?

Son - Yep, we’re in trouble.

Dad - Yes we are son, yes we are.

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My absence from blogging was completely unintended.  As you know, I’ve been away from the office for three weeks and I spent a lot of time this week catching up.   Thursday rolled around and I realized I had not blogged.  I resume my regular blogging with a rant about church camp.

As part of the camp reunion time last night we watched a video reflection of the week.  I was struck (AGAIN!) with the freedom and attitude of practice and expression that is expected and allowed when teens are away from the sacred building.

Good, no, great things happen in this type of environment that are allowed at camp and dis-allowed at church.

That stupid saying "the church is the people and not the building" didn’t take no matter how long we repeated the mantra because there is certainly a set of unwritten creeds as to what can and CAN NOT occur in the sacred building.

I am so tired of hearing the phrase "camp songs," the designation given to songs not "sacred" enough to be in some lousy hymnal.  This particular reference is insulting, prejudicial and born out of pharisaic arrogance.  Not even a year ago I wrote similar thoughts in my reflections on Faith Quest.

A song that praises God, honors Jesus Christ, and invites the work of the Holy Spirit deserves a rightful place in our musical liturgy.  Let’s at least have the courage or decency to refer to these songs as spiritual songs.

Ephesians 5:19 (NCV) Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. 

Colossians 3:16 (NCV) Let the teaching of Christ live in you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and instruct each other by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Just because a song is new doesn’t make it a bad (or good song).  Just because a song is old doesn’t make it a good (or bad) song.   We forget that the songs of old, in fact our entire movement began at a church camp.

I have no scientific evidence to back this next statement up, no official research to support my claims, just years of experience in church ministry.

A major reason our teens leave our churches is because of our compartmentalization of "camp" worship and "true" worship.   They experience the power and presence of God through refreshing worship experiences at camp, at youth retreats and other venues while they experience the doldrum and delirium of the desert in the pew Sunday after Sunday.

I’m not looking to be right on this issue and not meaning to come across as angry.  I just wish our mis-guided tradition would focus more on reaching this generation and less upon hysterically worrying about the comforts of others who’ve had their day in the sun. 

I dream of a church were the mature generations in that community of faith pursue, with passion and reckless abandon, reaching this generation for Christ.

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It feels awkward not putting on the tool bet this morning to pound a few nails.  Reese and I were in Mexico 13 days and you get accustomed to a few things.

Four observations:

1.  Seeing friends and fellow workers in the faith, spending time with them and working with them is worth every effort and every peso.

2.  Immersing yourself into a different culture and conducting yourself as a servant and not legislator is a healthy thing, an experience that helps shape you.

3.  Those of us who go on these trips and invest ourselves come home changed.  We like the way we feel after we have spent the time serving others.  The joy that fills our heart is difficult to describe and near impossible to measure.  We struggle because this will eventually wear off, so we yearn for opportunities closer to home, closer to us to serve again.

4.  Absolutely the best time we spent in Mexico was at night, right before sleepy time.  Reese and I would read together and pray together.  We decided, for some reason that I cannot remember, to work our way through the book of Acts.  Must be that ingrained Church of Christ genetics.  The interesting thing is I had never read through the book of Acts in the New Century Version.  The different translation has caused some themes and ideas to percolate.  Interesting stuff. 

We came home to an empty house as Beth and Madison left for Florida the day we were driving back.   We did get to see each other for about five minutes at a gas station.  It worked out that as they were headed south on the five and we were headed north on the five we were within two exits of each other.  Certainly a site for sore eyes.

Can you believe the remodeling fairies or carpenter elves did not show up and finish the work on our house?  I’m looking for an 800 number to register a complaint.  Those of you who did not get to go to Mexico and feel cheated come on over, there’s plenty of work.

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We walked away from the job site tonight leaving the project in the hands of the brothers here. We left it exactly where we intended — with just enough for them to finish out the project.

We are eager to see pictures of the finished project, or better yet make use of the rooms next year.

Here’s a shot of the large room, freshly rocked & taped. 

Here’s a view from the side on an adjacent roof.

Here’s a view from below of the second floor.
 

Now we pack up and head north. 

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As you will see from the photos work continues.

After a run to Home Depot (yes there is one in Ensenada now) to purchase all the electrical supplies we wired both the small room and the big room as well as the stairwell. 

We heaved and hoed all the "made in Mexico by gringos" trusses up onto the walls and began to assemble the roof. This first picture is a view from above the large room.

 This is the view of the large room from below.

We also hung all the wall sheetrock in the small room.

Our plan for tomorrow is to hang the wall sheetrock in the large room and finish the roof in the small room.  Once the trusses and deck is in place we can nail on the laminate and turn it over to the workers here.

Jess gave the class tonight and I got to interpret.  Always a difficult chore to speak through a translator.   Someone said it’s like kissing your wife through a screen door.  I’m not sure if it’s true or not as I have never kissed your wife through a screen door.

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Wall With A View

Originally uploaded by rdwray.

Interior View

Originally uploaded by rdwray.

For God We Truss

Originally uploaded by rdwray.

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Our first work day proved to be fruitful. Everyone worked hard. Some, it seems are not used to such work.  The adrenalin always flows in the morning but the young bucks (and I’m not talking about the kids around the age of 11) wane and fade in the afternoon.

We completed 5 out of the 7 exterior walls. 

We’ll start fresh in the morning and see how far we can go.  Perhaps we should remind the young bucks that according to the good book they are not supposed to become tired or weary.

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The group from Stockton arrived safely last night.  They endured a church experience like no other.  We had the usual service and the fellowship meal.  In lieu of Sunday Night (yes, a liberal church!) they join back together for a brief devotional.  The visiting brother from the interior of Mexico who aspires to be a preacher was given the floor and someone must have forgotten to mention "brief devotional."  Forty-five minutes later he had done some things with Luke 18 that I had never seen (or heard) done before.  And I don’t mention this as a positive thing.  I’m not judging his intent or his heart but the task of teaching / preaching is a precious one and not everyone is equal to the task. 

To follow this up he began to teach the church a new song.  At the end of this thirty minute session he decided to have the women sit on one side of the church and the men to sit on the other side.  This, he said, would allow for better focus on the individual parts.  Our hostess looked at me in this split second and said "vamonos."  We scooped up the children and gringos and headed for the hills! 

The thing is, the people here are so gracious they would let this man just go on and on.  The problem is they had quite a few visitors today and our host lamented to me afterwards that they (the visitors) would probably not return.  We talked about the importance of discernment in who is allowed to speak publicly and about the need to know someone first before they are allowed the floor to speak and thus "represent" the local church.  At the very least it was a very teachable moment.

The group spent the afternoon shopping whilst myself and the boys and the host family and the young men from the church gathered at Casa Camacho to watch Mexico fall to Argentina in the U-20 FIFA World Cup.  There is great mourning right now in Mexico.  At least they did not loose to the USA.  We would have needed to return early.

Following the shopping trip the crew met for dinner at a local taco establishment.  They seemed to enjoy the local cuisine and are thus preparing for future forays into the taco terrain. 

Tomorrow we begin building the second floor.  The crew is anxious to start swinging hammers.

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We said our "until next time’s" with the group from Eugene, Arlington and Tacoma.  Eugene & Arlington left yesterday to make their trek back to points North and East respectively.  The group from Tacoma left early this morning carrying with them Javier Jr. (eldest son of our friends here in Ensenada).  He will travel with them to get this first time group back across the border and will make the journey to Stockton.  After a brief night’s sleep he will ride down with the group from Stockton and guide them to mission central.

Those of us that remain, "we may be small but our hearts are big", will build a cement wall about three feet high in between the new columns and plaster (with cement) the main back wall / fence of the church.

We are very proud of the work and the effort of the groups.  They worked hard and accomplished all of our week 1 objects (yes, to the surprise in a good way of our hosts).

Not sure how long they plan to update so keep checking the Gateway Church Mexico Mission Blog until they run out of something to post. 

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We have a new covered patio!  The old patio is no more.  The new "patio" is bigger and better.  We are on schedule for the team from Central to arrive and build the second floor.

I believe my friend Josh posted a while back about eating establishments that use animals in their logo.  We saw an interesting one yesterday.  A small eatery that specializes in carnitas (shredded pork).  The sign had a pig with a horrified look on its face sitting inside a kettle of boiling water.  A second pig with a very happy look on its face was holding a knife and looking intently at the pig in the boiling water.

The caricature presents an interesting dilemma.  Does eating at such an establishment condone or promote inter-swinal cannibalism? 

 The Gateway Church Mexico Mission Blog has a few more pictures and updates.  They leave today, assuming their van was not stolen during the night.

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