My wife and I also attend an English speaking church that has a tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving. So on the Sunday before the official holiday, we gathered together after church to have a potluck. The church brought the turkey and each family brought a favorite traditional dish. Each person was asked to contribute a few pesos to cover the cost of the turkey.
Attending our service that Sunday was a man from Haiti whom we knew couldn’t afford the contribution. When the announcement was made about the money, I saw one of the men lean forward and heard him whisper to our Haitian brother, “Don’t worry, I have you covered.” He thanked him and we moved toward the cafeteria where the food was set up.
As the prayers were said and people began moving through the line, I noticed that this man was standing on the outside of the group rather than getting in line. So I asked him if he was going to eat. He looked down and with a heavy accent mumbled, “I heard there was money expected.” It was then that I realized he had not a clue what “Got you covered” meant. So I explained it to him and he gratefully enjoyed a bountiful dinner with the rest of us. We Americans need to get a handle on our idioms, if you catch my drift.
This Thanksgiving was impacted by something unpredictable. The local residents that live along the road that runs in front of our school organized a “huelga”. I mentioned this term in my last blog a couple of weeks ago. The closest translation that I can come up with for this word is “strike” or “demonstration”. Two weeks ago the huelga was a national effort. This time it was a local activity designed to draw the attention of the government to the poor plight of the county road that connects the main highway to a smaller town outside Santiago. This is the road that runs past our school.
Since many of the parents of the children we teach have influential friends in high places it has been conjectured that the strike organizers felt they could get some quick action. The name of the group is FALPO (Frente Amplio de Luchas Populares). A Google search did not give me very much information. All I really know is what I’ve heard tossed back and forth in informal conversations on campus. FALPO is loosely organized, heavily armed, and quite militant.
One of our administrative leaders who has been here only a couple of years felt that we should simply fix the portion of the road that stretches from out school to the highway since much of the traffic is related to our school. We have money in the budget for community improvement. But the advice of the Dominican leaders remained firm … do not get involved with this group. So the school remained neutral and waited.
During the week of Thanksgiving, two and a half school days were normally scheduled before we leave at noon on Wednesday for the rest of the week. The huelga was announced on Monday night. FALPO dug a trench across the road, scattered large rocks and debris, and set tires on fire. School was consequently cancelled for a day and teachers were told to stay home and “hunker down” again.
When no one responded to their noise and demands, they continued an intensified effort on Wednesday keeping everyone home again. By this time the normal holiday plans for the teachers and school-related families kicked in and the campus was empty for the rest of the week. However, we stayed in touch by frequent updates via email and the school web page. The huelga, which was thought to last no longer than a day, turned out to be a weeklong marathon. It was only on Sunday that the “all clear” email came out and we were told it was safe to return to work the following day.
In the case of a huelga only three outcomes can be normally expected:
1. Demands are ignored and the organizers give up and go home after a while.
2. The group who organized the strike is either paid off, or the demands are
met by some kind of negotiations.
3. The military is authorized to take them out physically.
In this case, it was evidently handled by option number 2. We were told that some big equipment moved in and some road construction is underway. It’s odd though, because on the half mile stretch of road on our end, it is even worse now than it was before the huelga. There must be something (a lot) I don’t understand about how things work in this country.
During the same week that this huelga and Thanksgiving were happening, I was reading through I Peter. God has used this precious book in my life many times over the years. This year chapter 4 highlighted the drama I saw enacted throughout the week.
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer
should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of
men, but to the will of God. I Peter 4:1, 2
Two groups of people spent the week in very different ways. One group spent their time in the flesh to the lust of men. This passage goes on to explain that this is the will of the Gentiles which results in an excess of riot … very descriptive! The other group spent their time in the flesh living to the will of God by showing love for each other and giving thanks to God. It goes on to say that we all will be judged by how we spent our days living in the flesh.
That week was a good time for me to ask myself, “How do I want to spend the rest of my days in the flesh?” Do I want to be a “huelga man”, or a “Thanksgiving man”?
But the end of all things is at hand:
be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
I Peter 4:7
No comments:
Post a Comment