Grass Roots continued…
At this time we are working with a group in the Dominican Republic that is already functioning with little to no aid from Mercy League. This has allowed us to make some headway, with a small number of children in the children’s home there. Increasing the number of sojourns to the project also increased the level of communication between Mercy League International and the Dominican wing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morocco and a Change of Leadership continued...
No matter how much we have tried to avoid it, we realize that in each place we are in need of a self sufficient agent to oversee communication between our partners abroad and Mercy League International.
The director of Mercy League, Shane Mattenley, will be stepping down and taking a post in Morocco with his wife and children. Beginning in June 2010 Mercy League will have a new director. We will begin searching for a replacement beginning in February. Shane will stay on until June of 2010.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
501(c)3 Status continued...
Mercy League began in 2003 as a Corporation Sole, which represents about 5% of the non-profits registered in the United States. These types of organizations are similar to priesthood, monarchy, or elected official. One example of this is the Catholic Church which is involved in non-profit work in every corner of the world.
We have chosen to add a 501(C)3 corp. status because it offers us a more mainstream acceptance within other organizations, funding sources (grants and online credibility), and governmental partnerships.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I was a youth, I remember working in my parent's garden and daydreaming about a book I was reading. It was called “Uncle Cam.” It was a story about the founder of Wycliffe Translators, and the ingenious ways Cameron Townsend approached his relationship with the people and communities he wanted to serve. While I was in the garden I saw an orphanage in Central America with gardens and fruit trees to sustain it, along with chickens and other animals. I could see it in my mind, and it looked like a good way to spend one’s life.
It has always been like that for me; dreaming of ways to save people from the ravages of this world, but at some point I realized that I could do more by connecting people to opportunities. Mercy League began with a plan for a sustainable children’s home in the Dominican Republic. There would be a single facility for orphans to live a sustainable lifestyle and learn what it meant to be a productive citizen and God fearing member of society.
After years of struggling with ideology and logistics between the US, Canada and the foreign project, it became apparent that leading a mission from afar is impractical at best. In the last year and a half Mercy League has transitioned from central management to central support. This means that instead of creating projects and programs, building capacity and infrastructure locally, and governing foreign projects, we have turned to partnering with groups, who meet our criteria. These are the people already doing the work and have the existing infrastructure and personal networks. By changing our philosophy we are able to support groups without the cumbersome task of dictating daily operations. In this way we are able to continue to connect people to partners through sojourns and our (soon to be created) “Sojourners Opportunities for Service,” which will offer willing participants a venue to seek positions across the globe with our partners.
I Know it is a far cry from setting up shop in a little orphanage in Central America with a garden and some chickens. Maybe I will get there someday, but until that day I hope to support the great people who are already doing their part, and those who would like to join them.
invited to attend a Haitian Church near the children's home project in Puerto Plata. Our group was introduced to three pastors and one lay minister all of whom worked at the church. I was invited to speak that night. To my surprise, which later turned to dread, I was introduced as the "president of the denomination" for the church. The board members from Mercy League and I exchanged some glances, but nevertheless, we continued.
We noticed many things about this little building which I was apparently responsible for... It was a metal roofed cinder block building (about 600 - 700 square feet.) with holes in the roof. The water leaked through when it rained. The rent was about $60 per month which was paid by the congregational members. Of the three pastors, only one was paid. The other two were sickly thin and penniless. The head pastor worked as a contractor (construction) and also received %100 of the offerings.
Let me return to the beginning of this story for a moment. When we were first informed about a church called after our name... we were confused. We are not a church planting organization. We work with churches that are performing a service to their community, but that is as far as it goes. We wondered why the previous director would offer our name and credentials to a congregation without our consent... or knowledge. The answer from the former director was, "because the people wanted to have a legal church so we simply offered them our name. We don't support them, we just let them use our name."
We had a talk with two of the pastors and informed them that this would not stand. We will be checking up on this congregation on our next visit to make sure that they are not using the name of Mercy League any longer.
We have arrived in Puerto Plata and have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of the community here, especially those involved with Mercy League. Upon our arrival yesterday afternoon, Alex picked Christina and me up from the Caribe Tours station and drove us a short distance to his home. Despite our lack of Spanish and his limited English, we enjoyed our conversations and after a short wait were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by his wife Elizabeth and her sister in law. After lunch we had a spectacular hike along the cable car route where you could see how expansive Puerto Plata is, and saw children in colorful uniforms playing baseball in a field build into the mountain side. In the evening Pastor Aury, Simon and Patricia joined us at Alex´s house.
The new house they are staying at is apparently one of Elizabeth´s brothers. It is smaller, but according to Aury, was better suited for the family due to its location, and because it is single family, one story building. The house is very close to Aury´s house and Alex´s parents and family. They cited better safety, proximity to school (very close), family support and cooler, less noisy location.
It has been a long interval since our last post. It was way back in July that you last heard from us, but let me explain... My computer died, so I have been using sub par equipment and my wife's Ipod-touch to communicate to everyone in the internet world these days.
No the baby isn't crying because of the haircut... He is crying because he saw someone else crying... Carolynn Palmer.
The deal was that if the little day camp in Drain, Oregon raised $250 they could shave my head (to the first setting on the clippers... no razors please). If they raised $300 I agreed to let them Shave Brendan's head. The final kicker was that they could shave Euan's head (our 4 month old baby) on the number 2 setting if they got to $400. Well the total was $417.15 so we were all done-for.
Click on the image above
This is a great program that is compatible with Microsoft Office. It is "Open Source" so it has been developed by volunteers around the globe. It is completely compatible with MS Office products and the best part is that it is free.
They even encourage you to download it and burn it to Cd's for your friends and Colleagues:
http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/iso_downoad.html
I encourage you to try this out... I have used it on several occasions and I think that it is a wonderful resource.
Be careful about people trying to sell this program on "look-alike" sites. People will sell you this program and the Brooklyn Bridge too it they can pull it off.
I hope that this is a useful tool for you!
Monday has marked one week since arriving in Kenya. It has been so good to be back and see the many faces I have gotten to know and all smells, sounds, tastes and sights that Africa has to offer. Right now we are traveling to Zambia to pick up some paper work for a refugee in Boise. This journey is one set out on faith. Neither Danny nor anyone else on the team has traveled to Zambia, so everything is new to all of us. God has been faithfully putting us in the right situations and has been connecting us with the right people who know a little about the places we are going. It is a long 
journey, about 1500 miles one way. We think! And the best part is that its all done by public transport, buses! It has been interesting, we have had some real nice buses. Some not so nice and some that stop every 30 miles to pick up or drop off people. Some rides are comfortable, others are interesting as they try to cram as many people, bags and even chickens on as they can.
One leg of our trip took us to Tanga, Tanzania. Danny knows a family there and so we spent two day relaxing at the Talley's home. It sits right on the edge of town over looking the Indian Ocean. And yes we went swimming. On the first night there, the Talley's daughter took us what they call “Mangrove Mucking.” It was a blast and I have never had so much fun in my life. It's basically where we went out and waded through a Mangrove swamp in the Indian Ocean. We waded out probably 300 yards into the Mangroves that eventually opened up into the Indian Ocean. And then on Saturday we went to a little beach and we took a dhow, also know as a sailboat, out to a coral reef and went snorkeling. Snorkeling has never been a top priority on my list of things to accomplish in my life time. But it was definitely a lot of fun. It took me a while to get the hang of it, I swallowed probably two gallons of salt water in the process.
Now I know that this sounds more like a vacation than a missions trip, but the resting and being able to relax was needed. Traveling across three different countries in Africa is hard enough, but public transport makes it even harder. And the fellowship and laughs we had with the Talley's was encouraging not only to us, but also to the Talley's as well. Tim was even kind enough to drive us from Tanga to Morogoro where we stayed with some people at Pioneer Bible Translators. We were able to talk with some of the people who work there and get a better idea of what they do.
Right now we are in Lusaka, Zambia! We arrived early Thursday morning around 8:00. We rode a bus 17 hours all through the night to get here. It was a long and somewhat boring drive. We did see three people get kicked off the bus, one because he didn't want to pay. And two others because they were intoxicated and on had gotten off the bus at a little bus station and tried to bring alcohol back onto the bus. But the bus drivers and workers kicked him and his buddy off the bus. So that was a little interesting, its fun little stories like that that make us all laugh and get through these long bus rides.
It has been a blast to get to know Tony Cole and Jacob Vaden. They are both a lot fun and very spiritual men. We have had a lot of good fellowship and good conversations along the way. Each day God is doing something new in all of us. And each day brings us all closer to each other and to God. I would ask for your prays for me as I am a little homesick. I know that sounds lame, but let me explain. It has been a struggle to find time to grieve the loss of my great grandma. I feel at peace with it, but if feels like I went from her funeral to the airport and wasn't able to grieve. I understand that grieving is a process, but at times I wonder if coming was the right decision. In my heart I know it is, but its not always easy to see that. I find myself trying to process everything only to be distracted easily. Processing a whole different culture is hard enough, doing it when you heart and mind aren't with you makes it a little tougher.
I thank you all for your love and prayers as I am here in Africa. I know that God is faithful and he will be as I grieve. Know I am doing well as are my teammates. I miss you and love you all!
In Gods Hands,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…” -A Tale of Two Cities By Charles Dickens 1922
It was our last journey to the Dominican Republic in May.
The Mercy League Board decided to travel to the Dominican Republic to take part in the development of one of our children’s home projects. Our mandate was to oversee some projects to help the children’s get up and running, and to provide some much needed on the ground support and encouragement to our Dominican counterparts.
The sojourn began with the usual hitches and changes-on-the-fly that are synonymous with work in the developing world, but there were a few twists and turns in this journey that proved to test our mettle.
We began the journey by spending some time with our Dominican brothers and sisters in their environment. We ate, drank (tropical fruit smoothies, rice and beans, seasoned beef etc.), and stayed with our hosts. We planted a garden, trenched a freshwater spring, built bunk beds for the children’s home, purchased mattresses and pillows, operated several free medical clinics, traveled to interview prospective children for the children’s home, and much more. It was a wonderful and rich experience.
About 4 days into our journey we heard word from a pastor in the mountains that there was a young girl named Leyla (3 years old), whose mother was missing for about 6 months and presumed to have died. She was in the care of a Haitian pastor who lived several hours walk in the mountains. Through the grapevine we arranged to meet this pastor. He agreed to meet us in the town square of a (now infamous) town called Altamira.
Our group consisted of three Haitian pastors from one of our Mercy League Churches, three representatives from our Dominican Board, and all of our Mercy League Board members traveling on the sojourn. We arrived in Altamira in the late afternoon, and greeted the pastor and small child in the town square across from the police station. It was joyous times for us all… to see with our own eyes… the father of our children’s home meet his new daughter. We congratulated him, took pictures, and had the Haitian pastor (Raphael) give contact information. In all this time to meet and greet was about 45 minutes… Then the unthinkable… The bottom fell out and we went from elation to disbelief, well I did anyway…
The police in this small town decided that the events that were happening in the middle of the town square in broad daylight in front of the police station were really a secret child trafficking operation. Several of the officers from the small police station slowly began to circle around us and then swooped in and arrested two of the Haitian pastors in our group… Certain that there was a simple and quick solution the organization spokespeople willingly went into the precinct to explain what we were doing, and who we were. To my surprise, the captain of the police station was convinced that we were in fact somehow a group of 7 pastors, three professionals in the medical field, and the directors of two humanitarian organizations were involved in trafficking a young Haitian girl right in front of a police station. We thought it was a laughable accusation. To our surprise, however, these men were dedicated to proving this regardless of how ridiculous it was.
To be sure, this police captain was not prepared for what he was biting off. He did not realize the depth of our connections within the Dominican Republic. To keep this story short, several influential people within the country called this captain to vouch for our organization and the character of our members. Once this man began to see that he was losing the battle, other members of our contingent overheard the man spouting all sorts of lies to justify his actions. Soon there were senators and generals calling to inquire about what the captain was trying to accomplish. In the end, the general of the entire Dominican Republic called this small town to talk to this captain, and shortly thereafter we were all invited to leave and to meet up the next day for a hearing in the city of Puerto Plata.
We were able to gain the release of all our members that night, save the Haitian pastor who actually brought the child to us. On the journey home, I talked with one of the leaders of our Dominican Mercy League contingency, and he talked to me about what it means to do this kind of work. God’s work.
He related to me that they were proud to be a part of what we were doing together in the Dominican Republic, because it seemed obvious to him that there seemed to be a great amount of evil activity trying to stop us. This was echoed by other members of the Dominican board. They added that it would be inconsistent to believe that we can do God’s work without enduring suffering and hardship. This was encouraging to our Mercy League board, especially to me, because I wondered how others might react to the events of that evening. To a person, our Mercy League Board expressed their solidarity that evening as we ate our dinner at half past midnight at the guest house.
The next morning we all went to a hearing with all parties represented, including the police from Altamira, and our Haitian pastor from the mountains, Raphael. After a full explanation of our organization, mandate, and retelling of events to the judge, the case was thrown out. The judge was amazed that such a charge could have been made without any evidence of any kind. She apologized for the misunderstanding and asked to join our cause and work with us in the future. The judge also offered to expedite another layer of legal documentation and licensure to our organization so that we can work directly with the government to avoid issues like these in the future. One call to her office would have ended this fiasco in the beginning.
Later that day we received a telephone call from one of the senators in the North of the country. He apologized and encouraged us to feel welcome and free to continue to work with the Dominican people. He stated that this is not a normal occurrence in his country.
I received an email a few days ago. It was from the Mercy League Dominican Republic Board. They stated that a further review of our credentials within the Dominican Republic has revealed that we do indeed already have the correct type of organization; we just need to fill out some forms to add some rights to our existing credentials. This means that I must return to the Dominican Republic as soon as possible, so that we can make sure that we are able to get Leyla into the fold.
I heard a term from a man that we met in a town called Sosua, close to Puerto Plata. He said that this work is not sanitary. This means that things happen, and sometimes you suffer when you step out and try to make a difference. I believe that is was Raphael (the Haitian pastor who was jailed for one night) who said it best… “It was a privilege to serve God and be counted worthy to spend a night in Jail for His work.” Onward and upward…
