Saturday, December 31, 2016

Pasadena Mission Trip--Update for 12-30-16











Note:  The first two post on this blog are from our current trip.  The following posts are from previous year's adventures.

PASADENA MISSION UPDATE #2 – FRIDAY – DECEMBER 30, 2016

Our morning started early.  Ellie said we should be eating breakfast by 6 a.m.  Did you know California is still in the dark at that hour?  But we were eating eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and fruit in the dark of the early morning just as she asked us to.  We do listen to our leader, me especially!!  We had coffee and juice and the pepsi machine was already working at that hour.  All was good.  They even had the lights on in the hotel dining area to chase away the darkness!

After breakfast we got together in the meeting room for a few minutes and then boarded the three shuttles to take us to the Rose Palace for our first day of decorating work.  To bring many past Pasadena volunteers up to speed, here is a word about the shuttles we are using this year.  We decided to see if we could avoid renting eight cars for a week and having eight people to negotiate the crowded California freeways.   This was common practice other years.  There didn’t seem to be many people interested in driving when we had the training meeting in early December.  We checked into renting shuttles instead to see what it would cost.  The hotel, also a new location this year, charges for parking at the rate of $29/day/vehicle.  This also was a good reason to think about using a shuttle service. 

God has been watchful for the past fourteen years for there has not been even a fender bender accident with all those cars on the road each year.  Having shuttles move us around reduces the risk of an accident and allows eight people to relax instead of fighting traffic to and from our destinations.  As we headed to Pasadena in three small shuttles this morning, at least eight of us were grateful for not having to drive in the rain.  It could well be that the rest of our group is also grateful that their lives are not in the hands of inexperienced drivers on the California freeways! 

This evening we were all tired and again we let the shuttle drivers bring us back to a restaurant and then to the hotel.  Having shuttles made it necessary to set plans of all our comings and goings before we even arrived in California, but it greatly reduces stress, removes liability and seems to be working well so far.

For many, today’s work was a new experience for they had not been on this decorating trip previously.  As soon as we arrived at the Rose Palace in the rain, we were ushered into a tent attached to the building.  There was a request for people to go onto scaffolding and four ladies from our group bravely volunteered to work on scaffolding on the Lutheran Hour float.  There were two levels of scaffolding and they ended up on the top, at least twelve feet in the air.  I know Pastor Gene ended up on the scaffolding as well.  They talked about their experience tonight at our group sharing meeting and from what I heard, they were glad they had been able to help in that way but it was hard work and a little scary as well.

There are so many jobs to complete.  Some of us pulled button flowers from their stems and laid them upside down in boxes while others put glue on their undersides.  Runners took the boxes of glued flowers to the National Hockey League float where they were glued to the surface.  Later the same process was duplicated, this time with white carnations that were glued onto the same float.  Others cut tiny ends from purple statice flowers, a very tedious job.  It will later be glued on to create purple areas on some floats.  Other people were directed to the flower tent and worked vialing thousands of roses of all colors. 

I spent the afternoon running a large cutter that trimmed bunches of 24 long rose stems with one hard slice of the blade.  The vial crew further shortened the stems and inserted them into vials of water for sticking into the floats the day before the parade.  Weather has been cool and rainy so perhaps the roses can be applied a day earlier.  That will remove some of the crunch work at the end.  Our scaffold climbing ladies were gluing blended flower petals onto surfaces on top of the Lutheran float.  Their challenge was getting it to stick and cover the surfaces while avoiding dropping glue and flower powder onto those working below them.  From what I heard, gravity was a problem at times.

One of the most interesting things about this decorating activity is meeting people who have come to help decorate.  Some of our people worked on a float for the Sikhs, a Hindu group in their third year for having a float entry.  A lot of sharing happened with them during the day.  I personally had interesting discussions during my stem cutting with an older lady from a group of young people with Armenian ancestry.  I learned much from her about the history of her country and the injustices done to her people long ago by Muslims from Turkey.  When I mentioned Turkey, as I was trying to place where in the world Armenia was, she noticeably bristled and the level of her voice went up a few notches.  Hatred for what they did to her family lives on inside her.  Her family had been forced to Egypt where she was born.  She shared that she speaks five languages and was proud of the thirty some Armenian schools in the Los Angeles area.  Who would have guessed?

You learn so much as you rub shoulders with people during the day.   I visited with a young lady who said she lives in the California high desert.  In her words she lives “just over the hill” from Pasadena.   I smiled and reminded her that in Iowa we would call those mountains.  She had come to volunteer for a day of work.  Another lady helping with the rose project was from Idaho.  She is staying in a B & B for a week and working every day.   We visited during the afternoon and I could write an article about her from all the interesting information she shared as we worked side by side.

All in all, when the shuttles picked us up at the end of our shift at four o’clock, we were all very tired and getting hungry.  After a trip to the Home Buffet near our hotel in El Segundo, we took care of the hungry part.  At this writing, I am pretty sure most of our group is now taking care of the tired part as well.  I need to join them!

After returning to the hotel, we met at the meeting room and discussed our impressions and the pows and wows of our day.  We began a sorting process of the items we brought for the homeless at Skid Row so we know what we need to purchase tomorrow at the 99 cent Store to complete the health kits we brought.   

Ellie concluded our time together by showing a video from Ken Ham, an Australian fellow who has come to the United States to make us aware of what is happening to Christianity in Western Culture.  He presented some sobering and stunning facts.  We will see other segments of his videos in the coming days.  For those not familiar with Ken Ham, you may have heard about what his projects.  He has built The Creation Museum and just finished building a full-scale model of Noah’s ark.  His main focus is for us to learn how to defend our faith against the onslaught we are facing from all sides today.

I will end for tonight.  Hopefully you are receiving these updates and some photos on this one as well.

God’s Blessing to each of you.
Lynn Menz – Petal Pusher Boy – YES, I did find those petals today!!!

Pasadena Mission Trip has Begun Update for 12-29-16

Pasadena Mission Update #1 – THURSDAY – December 29, 2016

The sky overhead was black in the very early morning.   On the far eastern horizon a faint orange glow was appearing to let us know the day would eventually dawn.  God had spun the earth, our eastern horizon was dropping and would soon reveal the sun and flood the earth with light for all to enjoy.

During this morning’s drive a song from long ago days at Waldorf College came to the forefront as I drove in the darkness towards that orange glow in the east.  It is amazing what is held in our memories!  In the digital hard drive inside our heads all kinds of information is stored and comes to the surface now and again.  Back in my Waldorf College days the concert choir sang a song, “O Day of Grace” and how appropriate it was to flood my memory this morning.  In order to get the sound the director wanted, he had the choir sing the word “Dee” instead of “Day.”  It made a very effective sound and from the deep reaches of my memory I could actually hear it in my head at this early hour.  It was certainly going to be “A Dee of Grace” from our God.

God’s Petal Pushers were already on the move as the sun made its appearance.  We were heading for Kansas City to catch an airplane.  Southwest airlines was scheduled to take us from there to Los Angeles where we would be staying.  Great preparations had been made for our group of 35 volunteers to journey from Los Angeles to Pasadena for the next three days to decorate floats for the famous Rose Parade.  Petal Pushers from throughout the western half of Iowa, some from Illinois, and even one from Missouri were converging on Kansas City to board the airplane.  We all made it on time only to discover the plane was going to be arriving late.  But we all knew, even with the short delay, God was in charge and was giving us a “Dee of Grace” to enjoy.

As we waited for our plane, there was excitement for the adventure ahead.  It didn’t show but perhaps there was even a little apprehension on the part of some.  A few of these volunteers had been on a previous trip but most were looking ahead to a new experience.  This trip has some big changes from previous trips so it will be a new adventure for everyone.  More about those changes in future updates.

The main thing to remember is something I have heard Ellie express in one way or another many times before.  There is no need to be concerned.  God is in charge.  He has already been in Pasadena and knows full well what is in store for us.  His spirit will be guiding us all the way!  This morning He reminded me, today is truly “A Dee of Grace,” a gift from Him to each of us.

We finally boarded the plane and the pilot took us to our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet.  If you do the math, we were over seven miles straight up in really rare air.  We passed over two main mountain ranges, a desert, canyon lands and more than half the distance across our country.  As John Denver used to sing, “It’s a long way to L.A.”  We hung in the air for well over three hours before our descent into LAX.

Our flight was good, uneventful and smooth most of the way with just enough turbulence to keep it interesting.  The turbulence also gave the captain practice lighting up the seat belt signs.  Our flight attendant did a wonderful job serving snacks and drinks.  As she passed by collecting trash items, she asked if we needed anything.  Usually when someone asks me that question I give the same response each time that all I really need is a million dollars.  Today it was different, perhaps because of the rare air we were traveling through.  I calmly said I would like some more Sprite.  She promptly brought me a whole can of it to enjoy.  However, truth be told, I would really rather have had the money.

The pilot set us down on the runway with a bounce and he immediately came over the intercom and said he hoped the rest or our year was better than that landing had been.  It brought much laughter from the cabin.  This landing brought another question to mind.  In the movies when you see a plane land there is always puffs of smoke as the tires touch the runway.  Did our tires do that today?  After thinking about that for a while, I decided we didn’t have any smoke from our tires because a couple of times during the flight the attendants explained Southwest’s strict non-smoking policy.

We found our way out of the sardine packed experience and to the baggage claim area.  We had a ton of luggage to grab and the group worked together beautifully pulling all the bags from the conveyer with bright green ribbon on them.  Ellie had everyone take an additional suitcase filled with items to give to the homeless on Skid Row on January 3rd.  We wrestled with luggage and got it to the street and began to load it onto the hotel shuttle only to discover the luggage would not fit.  It required two shuttles. 

We finally all made it to the hotel just a little worse for wear.  During the luggage struggle I had an idea.  In my humble opinion I think it would be much easier to go to Skid Row and instead of handing out towel kits, underwear, socks, etc., we should just hand each person a five dollar bill instead.  That would be so much easier than fighting with all the extra bags of luggage.  If you do the math, you will find it a lot cheaper too!  I need to talk to Ellie about this.  I would even volunteer to carry all those five dollar bills in my carry-on.

We met up with the folks from Indiana, thus completing our group of 35.  We had a group meal at the hotel, played some games to get acquainted, and got instruction about tomorrow from Ellie.  We need to be up eating breakfast by 6:00 a.m., in the meeting room by 6:40 for devotions and then head out for our first day of decorating.  That will be our second “Dee of Grace.”

God’s Blessing – more to be included in tomorrow’s update

Lynn Menz – Petal Pusher Boy – still have not seen any petals!

To be contnued tomorrow night!!!!


Monday, January 4, 2016

Pasadena #8 Update 1-3-16



PETAL PUSHER UPDATE # 8   (SUNDAY, JAN. 3, 2016)

A week ago today the Petal Pushers from Iowa met in Kansas City and prepared to fly to LAX the next morning.  The group from Indiana flew from Indianapolis early in the morning and we met  when we arrived in California.  We have bonded and become one group of God’s purple shirted people on a mission.  So much has happened since then.

We decorated floats for three days, watched the famous Rose Parade from Colorado Boulevard, toured the USS Iowa Battleship, some went to the Reagan Museum, and most of us went to the beach.  We have eaten together and had group devotions at the hotel many times.  We have been shopping at the 99¢ store, engulfing the store in purple shirts, and today we went to the Union Rescue Mission in the midst of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to work and hand out personal and health items to the homeless.  We also handed out bags, underwear, socks, t-shirts, Bibles, hats, candy, etc.

Our journey to Skid Row was made easier this year because Ellie reserved three van/buses to take us there.  This was much better than maneuvering eight rental cars and all the items we brought with us into the fray of the city.  I am positive all the drivers agree it was so much better to be taken there.   When we arrived we unloaded all of our cargo into the building and were taken into the chapel for an orientation about the Union Rescue Mission.

As we were given tasks, some were asked to play with children, some worked in the kitchen and food serving line, some prepared food for tomorrow’s breakfast, and many set up tables and laid out items to be given to different groups of homeless people who came through.  We came with thirty suitcases of items plus boxes and boxes of Bibles and overflow items.  We left with nothing, not even the empty suitcases!  Thanks to the giving spirit of God’s people in Indiana and Iowa, the love and face of Jesus was present today on Skid Row.

When we returned from Skid Row around 3:30, we went to our rooms for naps and met again at 5:45 to share a group meal at the Hometown Buffet a few miles from our hotel.  On the way back to the hotel, the drivers filled the rental cars with gasoline so we are ready for our return to Enterprise early in the morning.  The Iowa group must be on the road by 6:00 a.m. in order to fly back on Southwest Airlines at 8:30.  LAX is sometimes a zoo so there will be no time to waste jumping through the security hoops and check-in procedures.  The Indiana contingent will have an easy day tomorrow for they do not leave California until 6:00 p.m.  The problem they will have is a very late arrival in Indianapolis.

When we returned to the hotel this evening, we had our Sunday worship service led by Pastor Ernst.  He was a former pastor in Iowa District West and is now retired and living in Indiana and is a member of this mission team.  We took a collection during the service, a common practice among Lutherans, and it will be given to Kimberly so she can purchase books for the children in her classroom to read.  She had expressed that as a concern last evening when she spoke to us.

As our last night came to a close, Ellie shared some ways we can continue to serve when we return home.  Some items she shared included making pillow case dresses, shorts from t-shirts, witness bracelets to give to people at fairs next summer, and sponsoring kids in Haiti.  We also received lists of addresses for everyone on our mission team so we can stay in touch when we get back home. 

Ellie ended the serious part of our evening by bringing to our attention a sobering thought.  She pointed out that the people gathered in the room tonight will in all likelihood never all be together again.  God had brought us all together as strangers and now we will scatter as friends to be lights and salt in the world where we live.  After all the fun we had and the experiences we shared and the work we accomplished, we had arrived at the finish line.

Secret servant gifts were handed out and the identity of secret servants was revealed at the very end of our time together. With nothing more to be done, we formed two circles and had closing prayer.   Each person took a turn and expressed whatever was on his/her heart.  There were grateful hearts for all that had happened this past week and for friendships and opportunities we had shared and experienced together.  The meeting room we were privileged to use all week was tidied up, chairs stacked, trash collected and papers picked up and lights turned off.  The room fell silent and the doors were closed as we disbursed to our rooms.  The Pasadena Mission Trip was finished.

As the mission trip is coming to a close, just a personal comment or two.   I can truthfully say I am really tired.  I sense a need for time away, time to recharge and process all we have accomplished this week.  I need some quiet time to come down from the high and get back on smooth ground.  Routines are generally boring but I am ready for a simple routine again for a short time at least.  The only thing I am not ready for are the temperatures I hear about back in the Midwest.  There was some mumbling about single digits but I have decided to ignore that for the time being.  Maybe I will be able to sleep on the plane tomorrow and wake up in Kansas City only to realize the cold temperatures I heard about was just a dream.

So, to my readers wherever you may be, thanks for staying with me and for being part of our mission adventure in sunny California!  I hope this has helped you to visualize all that has happened during our adventure and perhaps instilled a desire to do something like this yourself.

At any rate, as I close this last update, may God bless and keep each member of this team and all those who have been part of the adventure by reading daily updates.

Sincerely,
Lynn Menz