10 Volcanos
When I think of a mission trip, my first thoughts are of hard work in austere conditions with a team of people banding together, working hard and becoming friends along the way. We were able to serve in this capacity today, with a goal of 10 ‘volcanos’ before we finished. We came together as a team and hit that goal, and on the Feast of St. Joseph, it was especially poignant.
A ‘volcano’ at our worksite in Pamplona involves mixing 2 wheelbarrows of sand with an 80 lb bag of mortar. (We did double sized loads today) Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? We have a 4-shovel team to do the initial dry mixing, moving the pile of sand/mortar over 3 feet, then back to its initial position in order to evenly mix the sand and the cement mixture. Next we create a hole in the middle of the freshly mixed pile creating a ‘volcano of sorts. This is followed by a water person, more shovels, a pickaxe mixing expert, a Hail Mary and Glory Be in Spanish, then another shovel person mixing the cement, and finally more shovels with a bucket brigade to hand off the freshly mixed concrete to the local neighbors working alongside us, who poured it into the retaining wall. Then, start at the water person again and repeat the process until the entire pile is gone. For the double sized portions, it takes an hour and a half-ish of simple, yet hard work. As a team, we did this all by hand with only the simplest tools, shovels, pickaxe and buckets, for 10 loads. Everyone worked together as a team, encouraged each other, helped out wherever help was needed and enjoyed the work & each other’s company along the way.
I can’t help but wonder what it was like in 1st century Galilee with Jesus as a teen (like Oscar or Christopher) under the tutelage of St. Joseph at one of their worksites. What would it have been like to learn from and work beside St. Joseph, the Model of the Worker and the Guardian of the Redeemer? What would the conversations have been like working side-by-side with Jesus in person?
I know we can’t physically go back 2000+ years, but as I sit in Adoration thinking and praying on this, I am seeing that we have joined their crew. This worksite in Pamplona, Peru, half a world away from Galilee, is a beloved part of the Kingdom that Jesus has been building for decades. Our crew from Panama City has been given such an amazing invitation to add our hands, feet, backs and hearts to His project. I see St. Joseph in Alejo and his Bridges Peru team. I am starting to understand the depth of Jesus’ invitation to the St. Dominic/St. John mission team. I can feel the Heart of Jesus in the neighbors who work alongside us and feed us while we work. Being on Jesus and St. Joseph’s work crew is, in itself, the ‘why’ to all the hard work we are doing.
Thank you Jesus for inviting us to meet you and work with you in Pamplona.
-Gooch
St Dominic Peru Mission 