Feet First

Hello from Mexico!!! The last few days have been so frantic that I can hardly believe I'm actually here already Thursday and Friday were spent completing my packing for storage and also packing and doing last minute odds and ends in prep for my trip yesterday. In fact, Friday was so hectic that sadly I only got one hour with my family, though it was a blessed hour indeed! My 18-month-old nephew, Jacob, is growing so quickly and "talking" up a storm! I even got to hear him say "Auntie" for the first time! It was so precious. And I was introduced to his "praising Jesus". Pictures were taken and I'll upload one when I receive them from my parents, but for now just trust me when I tell you it's PRECIOUS!

So, I arrived at my friend Elena's house at 11:30 pm on Friday night. She had aggreed to take me to the airport yesterday morning, so I "slept" there. When I say slept, what I really mean is napped as I only got 2 hours of sleep before I had to get up and load up to go. We hit the road at 4 a.m., stopped for gas and coffee, and then set off for BWI airport which was an 1.5 hours away. It took quite a while to check in and get my boarding passes because believe it or not, the United ticket counter is SWARMING with people at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning! They also had to make sure that my bags were checked properly as I was going to change airlines in L.A. where I had a connection, and we wanted to be sure that I wouldn't have to claim my bags and recheck them. But I made it through security and to my gate with 10 minutes to spare! We took off at 7 a.m. on the dot, right as the sun was coming over the horizon (see pic to the right taken from my plane right before we backed out of the gate), and flew 5.5 hour flight to L.A., where I had to find my way to Terminal 3 (I landed at Termal 7) and check in to receive my boarding pass for my Alaska Airlines flight to Mazatlan. I landed at 3:02 pm (Mountain Standard Time, forevermore MST) and spent an hour getting through customs. But we left Mazatlan around 4:30 p.m. and drove the 3.5 hours to Cofradia, arriving just before the short term team from Houston at 7 p.m. Shortly afterward we all ate dinner and had a swimming time joking around and laughing, and then Dave gave the team their orientation which produced much more laughter! I finally headed to my room to unload a few things and take care of a few things, and lights were out by 11 p.m. I'm still thoroughly EXHAUSTED, but it's beginning to improve.

Today I was awakened by the worship team pracitcing at 7 a.m., as the Cofradia church meets every Sunday here on the base right outside my bedroom window! So, breakfast was at 8 a.m., and church started at 10. It was such a wonderful service. Even in Spanish! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Spanish, but it is still difficult for me to speak and understand a lot since I haven't used Spanish in 7 years! But the pastor of the Cofradia church is a great speaker and a gifted teacher, and he enunciated well so that though I did not catch every word he said, I certainly understood the message. His message was primarily from Galatians 3:26-28, and he shared about how we have been made children of God through our FAITH in Christ, not through our works for him. It was so amazing that this should be his message because for the last four weeks I have been doing a Bible study by Beth Moore on faith, called Believing God. This last week's topic has been about believing we are who God says we are, and today Goyo (short for Gregorio) shared about how we ARE sons of God through FAITH and that we ARE equal in His sight because our faith is the mechanism He chooses to use to dress us in salvation and for glory!! What an encouraging and affirming message. It was so fresh and genuine and just full of power! Thank the Lord because I needed to hear that yet again--definitely a good reminder to start off my time here!

During the church service, I spied Victor Manuel sitting in the congregation. He and Soledad were the two young people that came to Christ on Christmas day during our team devotions. He spied me toward the end of the service and came to chat. I was nervous because I really couldn't understand half of what he said, and the other half I just couldn't hear with all the people milling about us! But it went really well! I ended up chatting with him IN SPANISH for about 20 minutes. There are several local people here who remember me from the Christmas short-term team, and they are all a little shocked when they find out I came down here on my own to stay for three months! It's pretty neat. It was really great to see Victor Manuel. He shared with me that Soledad moved back to the state of Sinaloa the week after our team left Cofradia. Dave shared with me later that he found out it was because her child was sick. I'm still hoping that she will come to visit her family while I'm here during this three months so that I may see her and encourage her. Please keep her in your prayers, and her 1-year-old son, as I have no idea what kind of illness he had. Please pray for her faith to be encouraged there in Sinaloa and for growth in her relationship with the Lord.

I mentioned already that we have a team here from Houston. They are about 14 youth with three leaders, and they are a load of fun. Their focus this week is on the youth of Cofradia, Arrayanes, and Santa Fe--these are the three towns that our base here primarily ministers to in discipling, training, and church planting/strengthening, etc. They have a great week of activities planned, and I'm excited to see how our youth respond. This is their second time coming down here, and last year they made such an impact on the youth, that they all remember this team and have been asking for quite a while now when the team was going to arrive! This group will leave on Friday or Saturday morning, and another group of about 17 from the same church will arrive on the same day--the leaders will just stay here to oversee the second group who will also be here for a week. Their focus is a bit more varied, and I believe it is more work-project/outreach oriented.

Ok, now for the really important stuff...the weather is HOT!!! Yea!, but can I tell you that's it's really weird to be wearing t-shirts and capris and to be sweating in the beginning of MARCH!! And then also, I must tell you that the roosters are still crowing; I just don't hear them in my sleep! It's so nice! But they are still annoying people apparantly, because I think one got shot next door today in the middle of the church service. I was the only one who seemed to notice, but I suppose when this is all over that even that won't phase me!

Well, I believe that's about all for now. I need to go rest before we leave at 4 to go to Arrayanes for a youth game night that the Houston team has planned! Thank you all so much for your blessed prayers and your support financially as well. My support funds continue to come in, and over half of my budget has already arrived! The Lord certainly does provide, and I continue to be awed and amazed and his love and sufficiency! I miss you all and miss hearing your voices...be prepared to talk A LOT when I get back. :) I'll leave you with some pics from my flight to L.A. Hasta luego quieridos amigos!!

We were at something like 34,000 feet--definitely above the clouds, and I thought these shadows were amazing. It made me think of the Spirit of God hovering over the void earth when He first created it all!

Talk about mountain majesty! I'm not sure which range
this is, but it was before the grand canyon.
I love getting a little bit of a God's-eye view of things--
flying is great for that!

And now the piece de resistance!!! THE GRAND CANYON FROM THE AIR!! I've never been there in person, but I sometimes wonder if it's worth it at this point now that I can say I've seen the ENTIRE thing ALL AT ONCE!!!