After their February 11-18, 2013 South to North delegation, Incarnation wrote a reflection. This short reflection tries to paint a picture that is “worth a thousand words.” This is the reality we face as family and friends who are separated by space and time – our photos and memories help us to share our experience with others.

After some tearful farewells, Maria Louisa, Rafaela, Tomas, and Tomas flew back to Guatemala on Monday, February 18. During their week in Minnesota they participated fully in the life of the Incarnation faith community by worshiping here on Ash Wednesday and Sunday morning. At 10:45 worship, they gratefully received the 800 mugs that were donated by the SPARK programs and the Incarnation Pre-school. These cups will be donated to the primary school in Chontala so that the children can receive their morning snack of milk.

Throughout the week, the visitors also visited Como Park, St. Paul’s West Side, Scandia Shores, where they met with some Incarnation residents, and a supermarket, where they experienced American grocery shopping.

They got a taste of what it’s like to live in Minnesota in February as they went ice fishing on Lake Minnetonka. They even got the chance to play broom ball and Tomasito laced up skates to see how it felt to glide over the ice.

Tomas, Tomas, Rafaela, and Maria Louisa also saw our school spirit as they visited Mounds View High School and even took in a Mustangs basketball game! The 80 students that attend SPARK kids club learned to make tortillas from the “pros” and the Incarnation pre-school welcomed our visitors, who were truly interested in what the students were doing.

Our visitors were able to contribute to other ministry partners of Incarnation, as they packed food at Feed My Starving Children and visited the Wellness Center at First Lutheran Church in St. Paul.

They were so grateful to the many people at Incarnation who invited them into their homes or drove them to their activities.

Through visits like these, our horizons are expanded. They experience our way of life, just as we do when we travel to Guatemala. Once again, the Action Group thanks all those who attended the summer fundraising dinners, contributed to Buck a Mile and so warmly welcomed our visitors – we could not have done it without you. Once again, you have demonstrated that it truly takes a village!