Galvanizing a community

The past few months, we have been working tirelessly (especially Seth, Mark and Dunc) on the opening of our very first library/teen center/office space in the community. On Sat., March 14th, our dreams have come true--one of our many ambitious visions and daunting proposals have successfully come to life... and with phenomenal results.

Check it out here.

Cold turkey

That's about how I got over my fear of public speaking: get in front of 100s of Ecuadorian Evangelical Christians on a holy Sunday morning and speak in your 3rd language about how you didn't want to offend them for using their space for woman's exercise.

From what I can remember, it went something like this:

"Buenos días a todos!

Muchas gracias por dejarme hablar con ustedes esta mañana. Primer, por favor disculpe mi español, todavía estoy aprendiendo. Para esos de ustedes que no me conocen, me llamo Serena de la fundación MPI, y soy una de las profes de las clases de ejercicios para las damas.

Me informó de la situación sobre usar esta iglesia para las clases de ejercicios y inglés, y quiero decirles personalmente que nunca era nuestra intención ofenderles o la iglesia. Tenemos mucho respeto para ustedes, para la iglesia, para Dios, etc. Les agradezco mucho por abrir las puertas a nosotros. Espero que sigamos trabajando juntos y que nuestras relaciones se aumenten favorablemente.

Entonces, para esas de ustedes que todavía tienen interés en participar en las clases de ejercicios, vamos a tenerlas en la casa barrial en SF, lo mismo tiempo (Lunes, Martes, Jueves 6-7pm). Quiero decirles que todos de ustedes siempre están invitados a nuestros programas..."

Translated:

"Good morning everyone,

Thank you very much for letting me speak with you this morning. First of all, please excuse my Spanish, I'm still learning. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Serena from the foundation Manna Project International, and I'm also one of the instructors for woman's exercise class.

I was informed of the situation about using the church for exercise and English class, and I want to personally tell you all that it was never our intention to offend you or the church. We have much respect for you, for the church, for God, etc. I appreciate you all for opening your doors for us. I hope we can continue working together and that our relationship continues to grow positively.

So, for those of you who still have interest in participating in woman's exercise class, we're going to have it at the Casa Barrial in San Francisco, same time (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 6-7pm). I want to let you know that all of you are always invited to our programs..."

From my interpretation, it was well received. Relationship...saved! Next church por favor.