The Land of Mechuwana
Day 1
Once upon a time in the land of
Mechuwana the brethren of the Land of Peoples came to find Spiritual Communion
with each other. Mechuwana was an oasis in a heavily forested region. It would
provide 28 people with a place to stay for 24 hours, a place to find sustenance
and a place to learn from the Bible and a place to learn from each other. Among
the first to arrive were the “Old Ones”. Since they were retired they could
leave their home grounds before those that were still out planting and sowing
in many different fields. Soon they were joined by those responsible for
setting up the camp. Registration, Name tags and journal supplies were soon in
place in the Great Hall. Tom and Kelly and Irene along with Carol and Kathy,
Kit and Randy were among the first in the Great Food Emporium. It was a quiet and soothing place for those
first to arrive.
Early arrivals at the great camp were
first to find housing accommodations in the shelters on the edge of the forest
where the floors, unlike the old days, were heated with radiant heat. Bunks
with thick mattresses were soon spread with bedding brought from home. As soon
as people found their accommodations over the course of the next few hours and
had moved in all left and headed for the Great Eating Emporium for the evening
meal.
A sumptuous buffet greeted all after
grace was offered. The dinner hour provided an opportunity to socialize and to
meet some folks that we may not have known well.
Once the meal was over it was time to
begin activities. Kit was responsible for not only showing how to make
journals, but also how to use them. Many different thoughts would be written in
the journals before our “QUEST” was complete the next day.
Mystical satchels had been passed out
in four different colors; Red, Blue, Green and Purple. No one was told at that
time what the colors meant, but they would represent four teams that would
travel one of four virtual trails from lakeshore to mountain top on the
following day.
Kelly was responsible for the
Devotional time that we would share later in the evening. Weather prevented the
participants from having an outdoor campfire, but the Great Meeting Hall provided
the opportunity for all present that evening to experience music and spiritual
growth through the camp songs led by Irene and supported by Kelly. Kelly and
Tom also led us in devotions with the use of two books; The Voice by
R.W. Mellen and Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli. Both provided a
very powerful message for our Quest search for greater spirituality and
community.
After several hours of socializing in
the shelters all finally retired to their quarters. During the night one
person’s bed folded up on her and later there was a great clang on the floor
where the shower handle had fallen off someone’s shower.
In The Land Of Mechuwana
Day 2
As the day dawned somewhere in the
land, the drizzle of yesterday continued at Mechuwana. Many folks were up and
about by 6:30 AM. The early risers supped on fruit juices and coffee,
socialized and developed more journals. Soon it was time for brief devotions
and breakfast. Everyone that had been overnight was there and ready to hit the
trail.
No one was told what trail they would
be on, but were sent to their Trail Hut 1 where they were instructed to go off
on their own, read the Bible verses they were given and to think and write on
the message of their favorites. They needed to know how the message related to
their own spiritual growth and that of Peoples church.
A sample of those Bible verses
follows:
Proverbs 15: 8 God can’t stand pious poses,
but he delights in genuine prayer.
Psalm
95:6 So come, let us worship, bow before him, on your knees before God, who made us! Oh yes, he’s our God, and
we’re the people in his pastures, the flock he feeds.
Matthew
6:24 No one can serve two
masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve both God
and Money.
Proverbs
20:11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
If you are so inclined look at these verses
and see how they lead you to some thoughts on your own developing Spirituality
and how that reflects on your relationships with family, friends and Peoples
Church.
As the Quest of the day began by
being alone, Trail Hut 2 provided each team time to discuss what Bible verses
they had concentrated on and what the experience alone in communion with the
Lord had meant to them. Most of the folks had discovered what trail they were
on once they had been shown direction by the verses. The green trail was following
the Trail of Prayer while the Blue was the trail of Worship. Red was the Trail
of Service and Purple was the Trail of Stewardship.
After nearly an hour of sharing
members of each group were asked by their group leader to develop some visual
means of sharing what they had learned about themselves and each other relative
to the Biblical verses they had worked with. This visual would be used later to
show the other teams what they had learned on their respective trails. Each
team would work at their Third Trail Hut on their Activity to Share with the
other teams.
Before working on the activity an
hour of free movement was allowed with folks sharing snacks and drinks and then
taking a hike around the camp led by Pastor Tom and Kelly. We visited the waterfront
to see the peaceful Lower Lake Narrows, the old Lodge that because of its
condition is used for little today, the Asbury Center where the summer theater
camp holds sway and the old cabins near the lake shore. Fortunately the weather
was beginning to clear and the walk in the woods was refreshing. Many of the
people had never been to the Land of Mechuwana before but some like myself,
could reminisce about times long past and see the changes that had taken place.
It was now time to put those ideas that
had been developed over the previous 18 to 20 hours to work. Each group went to
their Trail Hut 3, which for most was the same place as the meeting location
for each of the two previous Huts. Ideas flowed and within the next 50 minutes
all groups had developed a means of showing what they had thought about and
shared within their own teams.
The dinner bell rang and everyone was
off to The Great Dining Hall where Carol, the weekend cook had prepared yet
another sumptuous selection of quality food items for us to indulge in.
Socializing during lunch across team
lines was begun with brief devotions and then for a short time people went back
to their rooms, packed their belongings and took them to their means of
transport.
At about 1 PM all gathered in the Great
Hall and in turn teams shared their trail adventure. This provided our mountain
top experience at Trail Hut 4. All of the trails led to this location and as
each presentation was made we could all see how the four trails; prayer,
worship, stewardship and service intersect. Oral and visual presentations
helped us all see how our Spirituality and Community had developed and grown
beyond where we were when we arrived in the Land of Mechuwana.
When our Trail Hut 4 experience was
concluded it was time to return to the Lake Shore Base Camp and talk about
where our experiences should lead us. Those who served as leaders and preparers
of Quest will get together to evaluate what was right and what could be
improved. How the Quest experience may continue remains to be determined and
will wait upon the results of paper evaluations and time and person
availability.
The concluding worship experience was
very meaningful and Spirit-filled. Perhaps the most inspiring element of the
closing was through the means that Communion used. Pastor Tom began by serving
one person then that person would select someone else to serve until the last
person served Pastor Tom. Extremely meaningful and spiritual and personal were
among the immediate comments made by those who were about to depart for their
homes in the land of the Peoples clan.
We had come to the Land of Mechuwana,
in some cases, only aware of who the “others” were. I feel that we left with a
new understanding of who we as a community are. It is perhaps what we
experienced at Quest that we need to feel, see and nurture more fully in the
Land of Peoples. We did find that we were a diverse group by age, by sex, by
need and that we can all grow spiritually learning through prayer and worship
to be good stewards in service to others, at home and away.
One of the
projects that was started a few years ago by Betty Splettstoesser and continued
this year was setting up a water stand outside the church on Memorial Day. The
stand is the home base to distribute bottles of water for those folks watching
the parade and who have become thirsty. There is no charge for the water and I
am sure that some folks now make it a habit to encamp somewhere near the church
in order to reap the benefits of the free water. This is a local mission that
works to note the presence of Peoples Church in this community. Along the
parade route I spotted some Peoples people preparing for the parade that was
led by a SPPD Honor Guard and the South Portland High School Award Winning
Marching Band.
Displaced by
the work in the Sanctuary, the church body has made good use of Ellis Hall for
worship services for three weeks running. Ellis Hall is kind of an intimate
setting and I think the church body has actually felt closer. This past Sunday
was also a celebration for the children of the Sunday school. Andy Folley, the superintendent
of Sunday school, recognized all of those who had served as teachers and issued
a certificate to all of the students who had participated during this past
year.
An update on
the work in the Sanctuary indicates that all of the work in the Chancel appears
to be complete as is the laying of tile in the sanctuary area. Most recent
pictures show Jim MacDonald ready to begin the dusting of the whole area of the
sanctuary. The dusting took place before the carpet layers were to be in the
area. A few pictures will show the viewer that the pews are back in place and
that the carpet layers had begun the work of laying carpet around the perimeter
of the sanctuary and down the center aisle.
One of the
largest events to take place at Peoples in a number of years was held on
Saturday, June 2. Prepared by the Ross family and friends this event included a
meal prepared by, our own Brad Morrison, Have Chef Will Travel, and a silent
auction of many items solicited by Joely and Shane. A slide show starred Maddy
as she has gone through many operations and will soon be experiencing another
at the Shrine Hospital for Children. Maddy had been diagnosed with hip
dysplasia when she was a baby. Many folks from the church family as well as
Shriners and Masons and their families were among the more than 110 folks that
were in attendance. According to Joely’s most recent report on Facebook over $5033
was raised and will be donated to Shrine Hospital. A good time was had by all.
For many months now the Rosses have been collecting around town can tabs in
collection containers labeled “Can Tabs for Kids” which are turned in for
financial remuneration and also support the efforts of the hospital.
