Mary Magdalene House PRAYERS NEEDED.

This is the house we are trying to build in Salvador. I hope you all like the video!!


WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS - SUCON IS TRYING TO HAVE OUR OUTREACH HOUSE DEMOLISHED, THEY HAVE PROBABLY BEEN PAID OFF BY SOMEONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHO WANTS US GONE.  AS YOU CAN SEE, THE HOUSE IS NOT IN BAD SHAPE AND WE HAVE JUST SPENT THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS REINFORCING EVERYTHING!!

Palm Sunday

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0Q13XuOuSHMNxbjfz0xxw




This was Palm Sunday in Salvador

Work today in Alto 04-16-2013

Here is some video too:

Exposing the Re-Bar

To fix this house/community center, one first has to break away the walls to expose the rebar. I am given a hammer and chisel. So I Chisel away the many layers of cement and rock. Hours go by, and it has seemed like I’ve done so little when you look at the work the whole house needs. I do look down in despair at times and wonder is it worth salvaging this broken house, regardless I am still chiseling. It is in a man’s patience that his work can be shown. It’s in the patience I found in prayer while chiseling the stone. I am a chiseler, I am exposing the re-bar so that someone wiser can cement.

Don’t lose hope, and have faith. This is a strange uphill battle. “This is the good fight,” I tell myself. Every day in the Favela it has become clearer how this crack epidemic is ruling the Favela. How far off a lot of these people have gone. Its troubling to see a 13 year old who spends all his time on the steps as a look out for the dealers, this is his whole life now until he dies. We say hi to him but he’s too busy getting high as well. Each time we pass by, and we have to pass by them, It seems like the dealers have a new recruit. They have the Favela on lock down. How do you stop something this BIG!? How do you tell people life isn’t just about getting high, having sex, getting drunk? “WHATS GOING ON GOD?” And so in my prayers I can hear a voice inside me telling me to calm down, and grab the hammer and chisel away.

I met a man and woman from the USA. Alex and Lindsay. A really nice couple out doing the tourist thing. Alex actually has helped out a lot in the Favela. He works side by side with Joao(the worker) Fabio(the man from the Favela) Br.Francis, and I. It’s really good to see people giving up there time to help out, a cause. Alex is an Atheist, but something inside him is motivating him to help others, I would say God but he probably thinks otherwise. Regardless of what we both think he believes in the cause somewhat. So he is fighting the good fight. Alex Lindsay and I spend some nights talking, discussing the situation in the Favela, they are good people.

Fabio is teaching the boys from the Favela, who are part of the youth group, to play guitar. This Wednesday was his first class, and I showed up just in time. I busted out a few songs and well let’s just say the boys were impressed. Fabio and I are thinking of having the boys play at church. It’s tough to even get these kids go to mass on Sunday, but the Lord helps us find a way.

I’m trying desperately to learn to play soccer. The other day I was goalie, and well the ball was not very friendly to this man. I am trying, and I’m having fun, this Saturday we will be going out to the beach with the youth group, so hopefully I don’t get run over by the kids. My Portuguese has improved and people are taking time to speak to me. I just acquired a Portuguese professor her name is Ana she is 11 yrs., and she teaches me and speaks with me, at her parents’ house.

It’s tough, I’ve never had to actually deal with a community like this. There are people that want change, and there are those that would care less. I’m here for a reason, and it’s not for despair, it’s for hope, it’s for faith, and love. Too many times we walk a tight rope, and we constantly look down, look up for your cause, your hope, your faith, your God.

Filling in Holes, Repairing Cracks.

Today at Mary Magdalene House we filled in a lot of holes in the walls.

When we desire to serve Christ and His Church on a mission, He often places us before "holes" that need to be filled.

We don't always have the skills or the knowledge we need to fill them up, but we know that somehow, mysteriously, that is where God is waiting for us to react and do something.

Cracks are a little different from holes - to fix a crack, you have to open it all the way up first.  In some places, after opening a crack, you find rebar that has begun to rust under the surface.  That rebar needs to be cleaned and the hole filled with a different kind of cement that protects the steel.  Cracks reveal places where the structure of the building itself is weakened.

Sometimes cracks surface in our lives as well.  They could be attitudes that are a bit selfish or proud.  They may not seem like a big deal, but if left untreated, the inner structure of soul deteriorates.  As Christians, we are invited to "examine our consciences" before we sleep each night - looking for those cracks that have surfaced during the day.  When we find them, we can open them up by acknowledging the sin behind them which is so often pride.  Once we have opened them up, we ask for God's mercy and forgiveness - He heals us, repairs our souls, and leaves them stronger than before.

Happy Easter!

Building Bridges

Yesterday at Mary Magdalene House we built a bridge - one that will make it easier and safer to reach the second floor of the house.  I thought it was a neat metaphor for what we are doing here in Alto da Esperança.

A bridge is not much of a place in and of itself, but it connects two places that are otherwise separated by a deep divide.  Traversing that space without a bridge would be perilous and difficult if not impossible.

In this sense, Mary Magdalene House is a bridge.  It will allow the residents of Alto who are seeking a connection with God, who are seeking to learn skills they will need to develop as human beings, who are seeking refuge and calm in the midst of the difficulties and chaos that reign in the favela, to do so quickly and safely.

Beyond the metaphor of Mary Magdalene House serving as a bridge to connect the people of Alto with the spiritual, we could see our evangelical vocation as becoming ourselves bridges for others to meet Christ.  The Sovereign Pontiff even bears "bridge," in his name.

How do we become bridges for others?  Well, it is quite simple.  St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that thought we cannot believe for someone else, or love for someone else - both of these acts depend upon the freedom of the individual - we can in fact hope for someone else.  Divine Hope is what allows us to lean on God even when we know it is impossible to succeed by ourselves, "For man it is impossible, but for God all thing are possible."  We can thus become a divine bridge for others - hoping for them in the face of seemingly impossible situations.

life so far

So much has happened and in so little time. Where do I begin?                  

I suppose I should just describe where I am working at, I could take a picture, but I’m not at a zoo, I am working with people. The first day I stepped into the Favela I was not greeted by anyone. People said hello and it seemed like they did not smile much.  A favela is a community of many people that live in a very small space, so small that the only way to build is up. Every window and door in the favela is barred. Apparently everyone knows everyone in the Favela. So if there is a Gringo/outsider/me, everyone wants to know who this person is, why he is here, and will he cause problems.

When I first arrived, I was being watched. Not too far from the community center that we are building are a group of men that stand outside everyday all day. These men pass out special herbs, and spices in baggies, to special people in the Favela. These men asked Fabio a friend in the Favela who I was where I came from.

Every Friday there was a 2 hour long stations in the cross in the streets of the favela. It seems kinda boring on the outside. This past Friday, (like most I would assume) was crazy, Father Patrick has a megaphone and we start praying loud, with a big cross. All the while people are on drugs getting drunk, small 7 year old kids are playing in the streets, we start with 3 people and by the end of the prayers we end with 20, mostly women, mostly mothers. I see mothers praying for the future of the kids that are going to be raised in this neighborhood, I see mothers fighting against the darkness, the drugs, the violence. I was touched, by the way this was done. People want change, people do want a better world. Life is a struggle, life is fight.

Father Patrick is a brother from Cameroon. Every time we walk in to the Favela he has to say hi to everyone. He has to start a conversation with at least 3 families. It’s kind of beautiful as week walk down the Favela people are 3 houses away and they yell, “padre Patrick!!” I remember when I was in El Salvador helping another community and people would yell, “Padre Bob!” It’s the love you put in, it’s looking at people struggle and going down to struggle with them.