Southside Christian Church

So, last week was a buzz of activity around here! We had a team of 32 here from April 1-8 (they left Cofradia on April 7 for Mazatlan and flew home from Mazatlan on April 8). They were from Spokane, WA, and they were SUCH A BLAST! I had such a good time with them! I was very impressed with how much fun they were all able to have with each other and still manage to behave themselves. It was simply fun for the sake of enjoying themselves and not for the sake of causing trouble! How amazing to find that kind of maturity in kids between the ages of 14 and 17/18. Most of them were in the younger part of that range, too! They worked so hard on the new church building being constructed right now. I believe they finished the work needed on the last part of the wall foundation and actually got that poured and completed ahead of schedule! So, since they had finished early in Thursday with their construction activities, we took them up to the Penas Mountain (see one of my earlier posts) to see the countryside.

In the afternoons all week they hosted a Kid's Club VBS. We averaged about 120 kids here on the base property EVERY DAY! It was amazing! I didn't even know we had that many kids around here! We brought them in from Arrayanes and Santa Fe also, but the bulk of them were from right here in Cofradia! The Kid's Club activities included worship at the beginning. There were also dramas put on by the kids and narrated from scripture passages (Creation of Man and Woman, The Prodigal Son, The Healing of the Paralytic, and The Good Samaritan). The kids did such a good job acting out their parts in the drama--they were quite entertaining but they got the points across very well.

Creation of Man and Woman--Adam (in white) trying to find a suitable helper amongst the animals

The Prodigal Son--The Father's joy when his son comes home

The Healing of the Paralytic--The Lame walks again!

The Good Samaritan--Taking the man to get help

Then after the dramas, the kids were divided into groups that they stayed in all week, and those groups would do crafts that were somewhat pertinant to the dramas they had just seen from scripture. At the end of the week--Thursday night--we showed The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe for all the kids who had come during the week AND their parents! It was a smash hit. Lots of popcorn (they eat it with chile sauce on it!) and lots of people and lots of fun!

I ended up having to help with translation this week, too. That was quite a stretch for me because I do alright in casual conversation when I have something to say because I can figure it out ahead of time; but there is no way for me to know what someone's going to want to say and therefore cannot plan it out ahead of time! So, that was quite a stretch, but it was so neat because by the end of the week, I was having an 2-hour-long conversation with one of the girls from Arrayanes that I'm getting to know. Her name is Sandy (the girl to my left), and her younger sister is Mili (to my right, and the girl all the way on the right is their cousin Lupe)--I've mentioned them before. They are cousins of Faviola and Brenda, about whom I've also blogged before. It was such a neat thing to see how much more comfortable I was with sticking myself out there and just talking with people by the end of the week. The funny thing was that on Friday I accompanied the team to Mazatlan, where I spoke almost no Spanish for about 36 hours, and by the time I got back to Cofradia, I felt like I'd taken a step backward--you know, 2 steps forward, 1 step back. However, that's ok, because at least I know that I CAN do it and that it DOES improve with practice, so I'm trying to make arrangements that will provide me with lots of opportunities to practice! One other exciting happened that happened this week!! I saw my first armadillo, and I actually ATE armadillo! It was very flavorful!!

Here's our armadillow friend in the arms of Rachel, surrounded by Alejandra (left), Rebecka in the green (in Tepic for 3 months from Canada), and Lili (Mexican girl who works with the others in Tepic)

And here is our Armadillow friend trying to get away. Yes, we ate him--boy was he tasty!

We had quite a blast in Mazatlan on Friday and Saturday. The bus ride there was quite enjoyable for me because I actually got to spend some time with the girls of the group. The oddest thing happened with this group--I spent almost no time at all with any of the girls! I always ended up hanging out with the guys, which is SO out of character for me. But I never felt anything but completely comfortable with this group of guys, and it was really good for me to have the chance to be "one of the guys" if you will and grow even more in my ability to interact with men well and to get more insight into man-world! However, I greatly enjoyed getting to know some of the girls on the team on our way to and in Mazatalan! In fact, a couple of them walked with me on the beach Friday night late for about an hour and a half and we had such a good time talking and laughing and sharing. They are such a stellar group of guys and girls! It says a great deal about the caliber of leadership at that church that their youth group--and such a young youth group--has turned out as it has! Makes me want to go check out that church because they must be doing something right! One other enjoyable aspect of this past week was that we had some folks come from Tepic to help out in the kitchen and with translating (see the armadillo picture above), since we are so short-staffed right now with two of our staff families out of the country. We had a married couple and three girls around my age staying with us all week. The three girls stayed in the room in front of mine, and we had such a blast! It was great to have some girlfriends around and to get lots of social time with them! What a blessing all of this has been for me this week. I'm very much an extrovert, and I had spent A LOT of time by myself over the first four weeks I was here; but I don't think I'd realized how depleted my energy sources had become until I had this group and these three girls here to talk with and enjoy! I truly just soaked up every ounce that I could. The only time I really spent alone was when I was sleeping or working on stuff for Dave or team expenses (which took about an hour a day tops, if that)! Two of the girls ended up going with us to Mazatlan, and we had a blast out on the beach all day (I actually got some sun without burning!!!) and at dinner Friday night. We also shared a room and had some good girl-talk in our room! I'm loving making friends here, but it's going to be awefully hard to leave them when I return in June!

The sunset in Mazatlan as we at our team banquet in a beautiful, open-air restaurant on the beach!

So, now I'm almost half-way through my three months in Mexico. It's amazing to realize that, and unbelievable all at the same time. We have no more teams coming during my time here, so we shall see how things go. Semana Santa is arriving here--either this week or next. It will be interesting to see how they celebrate Holy Week and Easter here! It was so cool to experience a Mexican Christmas, and now I'll get to do the same with Easter--what better holidays to experience in another culture! I'm excited over that. :)

I'm continuing to tutor Cecilio with his reading. He is improving, slowly but surely. I'm trying to encourage him to start reading words and not just syllables, but that's a hard concept to understand. I've also been asked by a girl in town to teach her English. Now, that's a challenge, because I've never taught English before. So, we'll see how that goes. She wants to come 3 days a week; we're gonna try that at first, but that may change depending on how well it goes. Thankfully, Jan and Doug will be back in a week or so, and both of them are professional teachers and have even taught English here before. So, hopefully I can get some help and advice and guidance from them. I'm also going to be branching out a little more and trying to head over to Arrayanes more frequently on my own to hang out and talk with Faviola, Brenda, Mili, and Sandy and some others. I really want to get to know these girls better. I'm told by some of the missionaries that they respond so well to me in ways that they've never really responded to any of the others that have been here so much longer than I. They tell me that I seem to be able to reach the folks that no one else has ever been able to reach, and since I don't know everyone's history, I don't look at someone and think, "Oh, she's never gonna get it, so I'm just not going to try anymore." Every person in this town is fresh and new to me, and for that I have a special opportunity to reach people in ways that others haven't been able to. I'm trying to be open to that, but it's hard because it requires me to get out there and interact with people that the others are spending as much time with, which means I'm on my own in a lot of ways...YIKES! But the Lord knows why He has me here and what He wants to do in and through me, and all I need to do is keep my heart open and willing and obedient. So, please keep that in your prayers! I still don't know if I'm coming back or not, but I'm enjoying my time while I have it, and that's all I need to know for today!

Moving Again!

So, Dave's parents left to return to Canada (where they are from) last week on Wednesday, which means I have moved again. I've now taken up residence in the apartment beneath Dave and Kathy's. So, here's some pics of my living quarters for the rest of the time here. I'm enjoying it so far! It's very spacious, and honestly, it's the first time that I've ever had my own apartment--without roommates, that is. It's so nice to have room to spread out a little bit and places other than my bed to sit and read or work on my computer or watch a movie or visit with folks or whatever. I also now have my own kitchen and can buy and store my own food, whereas before that was a little more difficult since I had to use the base kitchen and we were anticipating another team's arrival. So, I've gone shopping for groceries, and I'm set for a little while anyway. Yea!!!

The bedroom is about the same size as the room I was living in before, but now I don't have to store EVERYTHING in it, so it feels bigger. What you can't see in this pic is that just to the left of the edge of the picture is a hanging rod just like I had in the other room, for hanging clothes, and there is another bedside table there too. The wodden furniture in this room was hand made by Dave's parents! How cool is that?! And I actually have a real dresser here for clothes, etc! Dave's mom left some candles and silk flowers and a little mirror for me too! So, it's pretty to look at and quite homey for sleeping! Just outside that window is where the bunnies live. Dave, Kathy, and Jonathan raise bunnies to sell. They are very loud at night, so it's a good thing that I'm a deep sleeper! You can see the bathroom at the back of the room. That is the same bathroom I used when living in the other room. That other room I lived in is on the other side of the back wall where the bed is.

This is the kitchen! Isn't it so airy and pretty? Dave's mom did a very good job with decorating and painting. I love the stenciling higher up on the walls. It's not very Mexican in color and all, but it suits my American decorating sensibilities quite nicely, so I'm enjoying it! There's another big window on the other side of the table, which you can't see in this pic. Just for your FYI, this is the room where I realized the Lord might bring me back to Mexico during that Christmas trip!

And the living room! As you can see, lots of space, and even a TV and VCR! I still have to use my computer for DVDs, but now I can watch VHS videos as well, which Dave and Kathy also have an abundance of and share quite freely with me. It's nice also to have a little work station for the computer, etc. I love the windows, too--LOTS of light! Very happy for me!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks! About two weeks ago, I headed to Tuxpan again with a woman connected to the ministry here in order to run a few errands for Dave. We had a good time in the city--had lunch and walked around a bit. I took some pictures and wanted to give you an idea of what the city is like here. It's SOO different from the country, where I'm living. In fact, the differences are shocking sometimes to me! Every time I go to Tuxpan or a bigger city, like Tepic or Mazatlan, I feel like I've stepped back into the 20th-21st century; but then I return home to Cofradia, and it feels like I've stepped back in time a bit--almost like the 20th century, but in many ways it's like stepping back about 50 years! It's a very strange experience and extremely difficult to put to words, but perhaps the pictures will indeed communicate the thousands of words that I seem unable to find.

Ok, so tthese are a shot of a typical street in Tuxpan (left) and a typical street in Cofradia (right). Notice the stark difference! I don't really enjoy going to Tuxpan because it is SOOO crowded that it just makes me nervous. There are so many people walking around and the roads and sidewalks are PACKED with cars and sidewalk shops or eateries (for lack of a better word for the little places you can stop and eat that aren't really like restaurants, etc.). However, in Cofradia, I can walk down the street and breathe, and enjoy the plain beauty that God has placed in this country. It's almost like getting back to what's real.

Speaking of sidewalk shopping and eateries:

The sidewalks there are swarming with vendors selling everything from food to shoes to jewlry and more! In addition, you can also see the buildings that are full of stores as well! It's crazy! As you can see, this is me in just such a store--a flower shop.

Isabel and I stopped and ate at a little sidewalk eatery that made really good seafood stuff. So we had what they call Jugo de Camarones (the J sounds like an H)--literally, that means Shrimp Juice, but as you can see it's really like a brothy soup. I believe the broth is tomatoe based, and it has shrimp in it along with onions and cucumbers and some other vegetables. You can get it cold or hot. Mine was kind of in between, but it was really good!

One other thing I got see in Tuxpan was the market (below). They have stores there in Tuxpan--like general stores really, but they call them Farmacias (Pharmacies), whether they dispense medications or not. But they have markets too. They are sort-of open air, in that they are covered but don't have doors on the entrances. There are booths set up, and it seems that they are permanent booths. Perhaps the vendors rent them or something I don't know, but they have a meat section and a fruits and vegetables section and all kinds of other stuff. It was pretty neat to see that! You don't see those in the states anymore, really! This was one of those times where it felt like the modern times mixed with about 50 years ago or more. It's really weird! And again, really crowded--which you can't really see in this picture, because we were there right before siesta time started (2-4 every day), which is when everyone shuts down to go home and have lunch, relax, or whatever. Then they open back up again around 4:30-5 pm for evening vending hours which generally end later than what we are used to.

from L to R: Feliciano and Tonia, Guille, Jonathan,Chuy, and then Kathy
Well, this weekend was fun! On Saturday a bunch of us were going to go to the beach, but ended up going to a local waterpark instead. I found out this weekend we're only 45 minutes from the Pacific Ocean at best, and about 1.5 hours at second best! How awesome is that?! I'm definitely hoping we'll get to go some time before I leave! Anyway, the waterpark is called Las Ranas (The Frogs)--they have several pools of varying depths and a couple of water slides. I went with Kathy and Jonathan and a Mexican family from Cofradia--Feliciano, Tonia (short for Antonia), and their kids Chuy (real name is Jesus) and Guille (short for Guillermo--ll sounds like the y in yes--it means William). We got there around 9:30 and were there until around 3:30-4ish. Shortly before we left, Jay and Faith and their kids and Faith's parents (who are missionaries in Oaxaca--pronounced Wahaca) and some of the boys from the youth group joined us, but we left before they did.

On our way home, we decided to drive up this big mountain just outside of Penas (the waterpark is between Penas and Tuxpan). There's nothing really on this mountain except at the very top are some huge microwave towers. I have no idea what it's called, and I'm not sure what the towers are for, but they're there. We drop up a really narrow, bumpy, cobblestone road that goes up to the top. It was an amazing view of Mecixo, that's for sure! The picture doesn't show it very well, but the top is actually some bald rock face on which the towers were built. Feliciano had a good time pointing out various places to us from the top, such as where Cofradia is located as well as places like Santa Fe and Ruiz. It was pretty cool and absolutely breathtaking!

This is a view of the west side of the mountain. If you look close enough, you can see the Pacific Ocean right at the horizon line!!!


And this is to the east. That is the San Pedro River.


We could do without the shrine, but there's just something about seeing all that Mexican landscape with a cross out in front looking over it all! Yes, Lord, PLEASE!! That's Kathy and Guille sitting under the cross--also very meaningful!


Facing north-ish, this is our road home. Penas is just over the river, just outside the foreground of the picture. Tuxpan is another 8 kilometers west. These are the two closest cities.


I know it's a little hazy, but these hills/mountains are just to the east of the road we take home. This is a shot of the area where Cofradia, Arrayanes, and Santa Fe are located. If you can spot it, we think Cofradia is just behind the little hill just in front of the far right pointy hill/mountain in the middle of the picture just to the right.

It's just so gloriously beautiful!!! (This is another shot just to the west.) You can see the Pacific in this shot as well--just at the horizon line.

Ok, so I finally got around to taking some pictures of where I live. Alternative Missions has a base/compound sort of enclosure where Dave and Kathy and their son Jonathan live full-time. This is also where short-term teams stay when they are here. All the other staff live in houses in town, whether they own or rent. Since I'm a single woman, however, and because I'm wholly unfamiliar with life and culture in Mexico, I too live on the base. Right now I live in a room under Dave and Kathy's house and adjacent to a guest appartment, which is currently occupied by Dave's parents who come for 3-4 months at a time about once a year. They come and do projects of their own to help out the churches--building stuff, decorating stuff, or what have you. When Dave's parents (Marianne and Jack) leave in the beginning of April, I will move into the appartment, and I'll post pics when I move in. However, in the meantime, here's what the place looks like now.

This is a picture of the base from the front gate. The building straight back is the church palapa, where the Cofradia church currently meets on Sundays. My room, Dave and Kathy's house, and the appartment are all behind the church palapa. There is also another palapa behind the church palaps used for short-term teams for sleeping and also for sunday school. The structure making up the front wall where the picture is painted is the kitchen on the first floor and the gym on the second. You can see the name of the church painted on the front wall--Centro Cristiano. Off to the right behind the kitchen are two more palapas where the short-term teams sleep. The building to the left contains two showers and the workshop. Behind that and not visible is a building with two storage rooms, one of which is a dental clinic when dentists visit, and a sunday school room. The two people are Dave (in the foreground) and Jay (just behind).

This is my little room for now. There is another room in front of it, where I lived for a week when Linea was here helping to cool, but this is the room I'm living in until the appartment is vacated and I can move in there, where I'll have a kitchen and a living room as well well as a bedroom!

My current room and the appartment bedroom share a bathroom. It's actually a really nice bathroom! I do love the tiling they did in there. Much of the decorating was done by Dave's mom and dad, and they continue to make improvements while they are here--on the appartment anyway. For example, Dave's dad is a carpenter by trade, and he is currently making two bedside tables for the bedroom; he plans to have them finished before they return to Canada, so that I might use them after they leave!

And this is the view from almost my backyard...acutally my backyard is the police station which buts right up against the back wall of the base, but if I were to walk about two blocks straight down from the front gate, this is the view. Isn't it breathtaking? Pictures really don't do it any justice at all!

So, I realized yesterday that I have been here in Mexico for almost a month!! That is so amazing to me becuase it really only feels like a couple of weeks. Maybe it's because we had teams here the first two weeks I was here, but the calendar says that I arrived on March 4, and it's definitely almost the beginning of April. Crazy how time flies!

So, I'm here to be an administrative assistant for Dave, specifically, and the rest of the staff in general. In that respect, we're all learning how to give me the administrative tasks that need to be done. I've done a lot of spreadsheet work so far, and though I don't know a whole lot about Excel, I'm definitely learning, especially thanks to a former coworker who is an Excel guru and doesn't mind when I email with questions about how to do very complicated formulas! Thanks Randy!!!

However, everyone here also has their own little ministry niches. I'm at the point where I need to start branching out and finding a ministry niche for myself that can be "accomplished" in three months--or, rather, two, now that the first month is almost gone. I've been thinking a lot about what I could do, but my still rather-limited speaking abilities get in the way. So, I'm going to try tutoring a little bit in reading. There are lots of kids in town who have a hard time with reading and writing, especially the writing because the curriculum doesn't have any sort of formal writing instruction--like how to make different letters, etc. So, I was talking with Kathy last night, and she suggested that maybe I try tutoring in reading; this would also be a good way for me to pick up more of the language while still stretching myself and challenging myself, and at the same time it's a very tangible way to reach out and minister to the needs around me.

So, today at 2 pm, I will be helping a young lad named Cecilio who usually comes to get aid from Kathy. He is ADD and also has a learning disability, but he's improving with the help of Kathy and a new school they've enrolled him in two days a week in Tuxpan. The session is only about a half hour, so if it goes terribly, neither of us will need to suffer for too long. :) I'm really excited about this. I know that tutoring in reading in Spanish is definitely something I can do, and it fits with my personality and interests and skills--at least I think it does. So, we shall see. Pray that it goes well, and please keep Cecilio in your prayers. He's in 2nd grade, though he should be in 3rd, but he is only on a 1st grade level as far as reading, writing and other educational knowledge is concerned. How frustrating that must be for him! Pray that he will be able to see his progress and be encouraged by it, and for wisdom for Kathy and I as we try to help!

On another note, we have another team coming in a week. They arrive April 1, and there are 33 of them, mostly high-schoolers! Pray that I will get to sleep while they are here as their living/sleeping/hang-out quarters are right outside my window! One of the things they'll be doing while here is continuing work on the new church we are constructing. We are hoping to finish the wall foundation around the property. The last three teams got the foundation for 2 1/2 walls completed, and this team should finish that up! It's going to be a BIG facility--57 meters x 35 meters! Here are some pictures.

The picture to the right is the corner that you're looking towards in the picture on the left.

Now for some fun Mexican culture stuff! Apparantly the first day of spring is a big deal here. The beginning of this week was the first day of spring as celebrated in the US (Monday) and as celebrated in Mexico (Tuesday). The schools were closed here for BOTH! And then yesterday they had their Desfile de la Primavera--Spring Parade. It's something that the Kinder does (elementary school). Several girls and several boys are chosen to be kings and queens and princesses and princes of spring, and all the rest of the kids are supposed to dress up as animals (or whatever constumes they can get, like superman and pikachu and buzz lightyear! hah!). Then they decorate several pickup trucks like the floats that the princes/princesses/kings/queens ride in and wave to people from and throw candy and such. So cute! They go all out for this thing! But it was really cute! Enjoy the pics!

A glimpse into youth fun in Cofradia!

So, remember how we had two teams from Houston come in the first two weeks I was here? Well, Steve Silberman blogged about those teams, especially the first one which focused almost entirely on the youth, and he posted some pictures from some of those activities as well. However, Jay made a video that covered both weeks and teams, and he's uploaded it to his website so that people can view it! So, go watch it, cuz it's super fun!

Anyway, some of the activities you'll see played out there are as follows:

1) Whipcream Cheeto throw--one person's face is covered in whipped cream, and their partner has to throw cheetos at their face and see how many they can make stick. The partners that have the most cheetos stuck to the whipped cream face WINS!

2) Stinky Twinkies--You take several twinkies and cut a slit in them and then add to the cream some other ingredient. I think the team used syrup, ketsup, sardines, peanut butter, one regular twinky (no tampering), and then one more peanut butter one. The goal is to have your volunteers eat all of their twinky; you can put a challenge into it also, like see who can eat their twinky with the fewest number of bites. (Disclaimer: Mexicans generally don't like peanut butter--it's primarily a texture thing, I think--so that was the hardest one.)

3) Tootsie Roll Sculptures--give the kinds handfulls of tootsie rolls, and they have to take them and mold them into some design that you tell them. This time it was armadillos. They have to moisten the tootsie rolls in their mouths in order to be able to shape them. That tootsie roll armadillo is pretty impressive, eh??

4) Water Balloon Toss--with a catch. If you put baby oil on your hands, it will work into the balloon material and cause it to burst, so the kids had to find ways of holding onto their balloons without them popping. Oh, and each time they tossed it, one partner had to take a step backward. Whichever pair can last the longest WINS!

5) Chocolate Marshmellow Drop--One partner stands on a chair and the other lays on the ground with their head at the foot of the chair. The standing partner has a plate of marshmellows that they must dip in chocolate sauce one at a time and try to drop into the other partner's mouth--very messy, but VERY fun! They got like 50 points for each marshmellow that made it into the mouth and 10 points for each that bounced off their face on to the ground.

6) Not pictured in the video but also fun is the Cheerio Shoot--In this game, there are teams, and each person on each team gets a chance to try and shoot a cheerio from their nose into a bucket placed a certain distance away. The teams rotate through, and they can only shoot one cheerio on each turn..quite funny!

7) The second team put on a basketball and volleyball camp sort of event. The kids really enjoyed that! The Americans would give pointers and tips and then they would play real games.

8) LifeSaver Pass--Each person on the team has a toothpick in their mouth, and one is given a lifesaver on that toothpick. They teams split into two and one stands on one side of the court and the other on the other. The person with the lifesaver has to run across the court and then pass the lifesaver onto the next person's toothpick (which is in their mouth), and no one may use any hands!

9) A relay race with coke, crackers, and a water gun. Among other things that did not involve food, each team had to have someone chug a whole can of coke, then tag the next person to eat a certain number of saltine crackers, and then tag the next person to put out a candle flame with a water gun standing a certain distance away.

We did a number of team-building/trust activities as well

10) Trust fall--The kids did this in teams that were made of their small groups. They started off on the ground, and after everyone had a chance to trust fall and catch, then they stepped up onto a little retaining wall around the meeting palapa. Then when everyone had a chance with that, then they went to the wall around the cement soccor "field", which is what the clips in the video show. That wall is about 4.5-5 feet off the ground!

11) Everyone on the carpet--Each small group team was given a little carpet mat rug thing--it was probably about the size of a rectangular mat you'd put in front of your bathroom or kitchen sink. Then they had to see how many people they could get on the rug without anyone touching the cement. The guys decided that human towers were necessary for this feat as there were many more guys than girls. The guys had three or four towers that were three-men tall!!

Oscars Night!--This was a wonderful evening. I think I already wrote about it a little in a previous blog, and Steve wrote about it as well, so check out those blogs! Oh, and if you look closely in the oscar night portion of the video, in the first shot of the girls sitting down at their table, you can see ME in the back left-hand corner!!

Both teams did a lot of work on the foundation for the new church facility we are building, and the last viedo sequence concerns their work on that property. They did such a stellar job!

So enjoy that movie!!! We had so much fun!

A friend...

So, I think I might be making a friend! I mean, other than the American missionaries, that is. Remember I wrote about Faviola and Brenda? Well, I'm really enjoying the time I get with both of them, but right now especially Faviola, mainly because I don't see Brenda quite as frequently. She is busy being a mommy! Faviola and I try to converse some, and though I only understand about half of what she's telling me, and even though I can say even less than that back to her right now, there seems to be a connection there that is very precious. It's hard being away from all your friends and family and being in another country with their unfamiliar culture and customs and food and language and ways of doing things. So, to find someone where there is something of a connection is like finding an oasis in the desert that is not just a mirage!

Anyway, yesterday in church she gave me a gift! It was a silver necklace with two little dolphins on it. I asked her why she was giving it to me (after very excitedly receiving it of course), and she said it was for friendship and something about how teams come and go from America, but they never really get to know each other (the American teams and the locals that is), but she feels like she has been able to get to know me and be friends just in the last week. I told her it made me very happy to know her too--or at least I tried to tell her that.

I just love how the Lord totally provides for all of our needs, very often in ways we are not expecting but which far surpass anything we thought might happen. I never considered my need for friends other than the Americans here. It's not that I thought the missionaries would be sufficient for the relationship needs of my heart, but more so that I never really thought about that aspect of living here at all! I knew I'd miss my friends and family, but how I might make up for the loss of interaction and deep fellowship was never something that my mind thought to contemplate. And yet, here I am making friends with a local girl with whom my conversational abilities are quite limited and yet still both of us experience a special connection. That is only the Lord, and it is such a precious gift how he knits us together across all possible barriers. Nothing can stop that and it's so exciting but it is so touching deep, deep down as well.

I "accidentally" flipped to John 10 yesterday and read about the good shepherd and how his sheep know his voice and how he cares for them and leads them. There is something so gentle for me in that imagery--the shepherd who knows his sheep so intimately that he would know when just one was missing from a flock of 100. Here is yet another example of just how well he knows and loves and shepherds me. Thank you Jesus!!!

Various thoughts..

So, there are a couple things about Mexico that I DO NOT like at all!

1. Ghekos in my room
2. Cockroaches anywhere!!!!

Yesterday, I went to Jay and Faith's (Jay was out of town with the team) to get a Dr. Pepper and ended up staying all day until dinner, when I was supposed to be there anyway. Well, while I was helping Faith make the pasta, I happened to notice a little flesh-colored lizard dart from the window behind her stove--talk about shock factor! She informed me that it was a gheko and that I would just have to get used to them. They eat bugs so they are good things to have around, and they are everywhere, and I'd just have to get used to them. UGH! Well, tonight I came home from dinner with Dave, Jonathan, Dave's parents, Isabel, and her son Josue in Pilas (we had the best tacos EVER!), and when I turned on the light in my room, I noticed this thing scoot down my wall very quickly and then dart along the bottom of the wall towards my door--yah, it was a gheko. The first one I've experienced inside my own living quarters. Apparantly it didn't want to be around me anymore than I wanted to be around it, so it left, thankfully. But I might just sleep with one eye open tonight. I'm afraid it might come back when the lights are out. Not sure how it got in in the first place, but UGH.

So, the gheko left, and then I went ahead and got ready for bed. When I walked into the bathroom I happened to notice the LARGEST COCKROACH KNOWN TO MAN hanging out on our sink....DOUBLE UGH!!! So, I tried spraying it with roach spray--didn't work at all. I finally smashed the thing to bits with my shoe, but talk about NASTY!!! I feel violated just having set eyes on it. It was seriously big. Seriously.

Well, now for something I DO like about Cofradia, Mexico. There are SO MANY things, that it's hard to pick just one, but we'll start with the beauty around me! They have absolutely captivating sunsets EVERY DAY it seems. I'm always just in awe each night when the sun starts to go down. It's like the whole sky is just set ablaze with colors. I was telling Faith last night that in Fred, we are in the valley of Central VA and there are so many trees that often you just can't see all of the sunset that you want to see. But here, even though we're not quite on top of a mountain or anything, there just aren't as many or the same kind of bushy trees that we have in Fred, so you can see the whole horizon line as the sun is going down simply by walking down the street a few blocks, and it's just like watching from on top of the mountain! Incredible! Take a look!

This was the the first of two pictures taken of the same sunset in Santa Fe on Thursday evening before our movie night event began. See what an amazing clear view we have?!

This was the second (I zoomed in) taken about 30 seconds after the first. I literally watched the sky catch fire as these colors deepened, and we could see the color of the light changing where it shone around us on the ground! How awesomely creative is our God!!! The heavens certainly do declare his WONDERS!!!

So, we had two teams come in the last two weeks, both of which worked with the youth in various capacities. I've mentioned before how neat it was to watch them interact across language barriers to really befriend the local youth, to really make them feel special and loved, and to also challenge them to be witnesses in their own communities, drawing in their friends and family and not to be ashamed or afraid to speak out about the truth of the gospel no matter what. Well, I've wanted to blog about all that went on, but I just don't have the words. However, Steve has written about it on his blog, and he even posted pictures from the various events, some of which I took myself. So, PLEASE click here and read up on all that went on with the two teams from Houston (all the blogs from "Update" from Tuesday, March 7 through "This Week's Team" from Thursday, March 16). They were so great, and it was such a blessing and priveledge for me to be part of that! Especially check out the pics from the Oscars Night--Steve related to us last weekend after he returned from dropping off the first team and picking up the second in Guadelajara that Mili and Sandra, two of our youth, loved how the Houston youth transformed the Arrayanes church for Oscars night, that afterward they commented to Steve, "When I get married, it's gonna be in that church and it's gonna look like THAT!" How precious to know that the work those American youth did here was the stuff of DREAMS for these kids! If you Houston youth are reading this: THANK YOU!

So, I just need to say that THE LORD IS SO GREAT! It just always amazes me at how awesome He really is and yet how closely He is constantly drawing me to Himself. I'm just floored at His goodness and faithfulness anew each day here, to the point of being quite emotinal about it most recently! As Chupa would say, "Wow!" So, I have been ill this week. It started with my stomach being a little funny toward the end of last week but I thought it was just my system adjusting to my drastically altered diet! I mean, drastically increasing your intake of meat and beans will cause any system to need some adjustment time. But then Monday I woke up feeling really lowsy, especially because my skin was hurting. I know, that's really weird and you've never heard of that. It usually only happens when I have a fever--I suspect it is primarily due to a supersensitivity on the part of my nervous system when it is fighting something, primarily manefested by the rising body temperature we commonly refer to as a fever. However, this time my skin was hurting but there was no fever, which indicated to me that my body was just wiggin' out over something. I also dealt all day with waves of nausea, a feeling of just being weak all day, and an overwhelming fatigue. I was a little concerned because I had dealt with this same mysterious illness back at the beginning of Februrary, before I left the states, and it lasted for FIVE MISERABLE DAYS. So, on top of not feeling well, my mind was highly unsettled because I was afraid that either 1) Montezuma had come to take his revenge, or 2) Mysterious Illness had returned for another round of attack. To top it all off, Monday night as I was reading in bed, I started feeling ten times worse and I was burning up. Turns out that by the time I went to bed that night I had finally spiked a fever of 100 degrees Farenheit!!! For someone (yes, that's me) whose body temperature is a whole degree lower than what is considered normal, that is a HUGE. So, needless to say I was feeling pretty lowsy when I went to sleep on Monday night, but I had earlier emailed a couple of friends and my parents to ask them to pray for healing because I did not want this to last another five days as it had in Feb. Well, I woke up yesterday morning feeling 90% better!! Every symptom was gone except that my stomach was still just slightly funky. Well, my parents had had me placed on the prayer chain yesterday, so that a lot of people were praying for me ALL DAY yesterday, and the result is that I remember the very moment lsat night when my stomach was "cured" of it's funk!!! All that was left was a very deep hunger from not having eaten much for two days. Then today I woke up and felt 100% better!!! It was so nice today to go about our activities and not have any problems at all--to feel totally myself again and even be able to eat three full meals!! I don't know why answered prayer surprises me, but I think I'm still just so amazed at how the Lord blesses me and fills every gap and whole in my life to overflowing! So, YEA FOR ANSWERED PRAYER!

Then today I got another support report from the A.M. home office! It would seem that my gross "income" has not only met my budget but actually surpassed it just a bit. The amazing thing is that there are still some donations that I know have been made but which did not make it into this deposit/report cycle, which means that my budget has been more surpassed than I'm even aware of right now!! Again, I find myself just in awe of the Lord's faithfulness and provision, especially for me, a wretched sinner. But He is so good to remind me that yes his grace is abundantly sufficient for me in all ways at all times for all things! Thanks to all of you for responding as you have and for being partners with me in this--partners in finance, partners in prayer, and partners of the heart! I am so blessed!!

Oh but there is MORE! This week I've been bolder about trying to converse more, and I've had the chance to talk some with two girls who have been attending the youth events of the past two weeks. They are both actually from Arrayanes, and their names are Favioal (who is 20, see left) and Brenda (who is 17, see right). They are sisters, and both are married, Brenda with a 4-month-old son. Brenda, however, is separated right now; she is trying to alter some circumstances that just made circumstances worse and sort of "broke the camel's back", if you will. She wants to make her marriage work, so please pray that her husband will be receptive to reconciling and that the Lord would protect their budding family and their committment to each other. Also please pray for these two husbands (I don't know their names) as neither of them attends church with their wives, who have just recently begun attending themselves. From what I undrstand, the Lord has been working on Faviola and Brenda's family for quite some time now, so please pray that this work will continue to expand straight into the hearts and lives of their husbands and that God will just turn all of their lives inside out! Please pray also for and increase in my ability to understand and converse in general, and specifically so that I may encourage these precious girls!

It's been such a great week so far with its ups and downs, and it's only half-way over! I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us next!!!

SPEAK!!!

There is so much to tell and very few words to really tell it! But I'll leave you with this little story until I can get the update conceptualized and translated into real language..hehe.

So, yesterday I was left at the base all by my lonesome. The first Houston team had left on Friday morning to go to Guadalajara to go home--they flew out yesterday--and we were awaiting the arrival of the second Houston team (from the same church) yesterday evening. But in the morning Dave, Kathy, and Jonathan (their son) went to Tepic for the wedding of Tom and Linea's oldest son Andy. He married a Mexican girl that he met working there in Tepic. Anyway, and Dave's parents had gone to Arrayanes to do some work on the church building there, and they weren't planning to return to the base until around lunchtime-ish. Faith and her kids were at their house about 10 blocks away, and Jay and Steve were with the teams in Guad. So, that left me at the base by myself until Dave's parents, Marianne and Jack, returned from Arrayanes (which is about 5 km away).

So, I took advantage of the time to work on my Bible study lesson for the day and to read and do various other things, which included some laundry left over by the Houston team, as well as some laundry from the team that was here before them that had not been washed yet. This was all clothing, etc. that the teams left to be used or given away or sold or whatever according to the base's discretion and needs. There were a couple of local kids playing on the base with the skateboards that my short-term team had left when we were here at Christmas. One of those kids was Pedro (see pic at right--Pedro's the one in the foreground). Pedros is actually in Secondaria, which is their equivalent of Junior High--7-9th grades, although they call it 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Secondaria. Because he is in Secondaria, he is able to be part of the youth ministry here, which is headed up by Steve, whose blog is linked in my links section. Anyway, Pedro is a great kid, and at one point yesterday I left my room to go and change the loads of laundry and fold what had dried. He came over and started to talk to me, as he had discovered earlier in the morning that I spoke Spanish. He asked me who had taught me Spanish and was quite surprised that I learned it in school, because they teach English here in the schools but they do not teach it well at all and they don't make the kids practice or really tell them what English words and phrases really mean in Spanish. So they know words but don't really know what they mean or how to use them. So, the idea that I learned to actually speak Spanish in school was very surprising to him.

He asked how long I was going to be here, because he thought I might leave with one of the teams, but he got really excited when he found out I'd be here for three months becasue that meant I'd be around for El Dia de los Judios--the Day of the Jews or something like that. It's part of their festivities for La Semana Santa (Holy Week) in April, and he went on to tell me all about it. His face just lit right up when he realized I'd be here for that! Anyway, toward the end of this conversation he told me that I speak Spanish well, that other Americans come and don't speak Spanish well at all, but I do. I thanked him and told him that I need to practice my Spanish more because I want to be able to speak better. And he replied to me that I already speak better!!!!!!!

You have no idea the effect that statement had on my heart! I tell you, this past week was such a great time for me. I accompanied the Houston youth on all of their outreach activities with the Mexican youth, but I couldn't really participate in conversation because I still feel so limited in my speaking abilities. That was a good thing because it meant that I spent time observing the kids and learning about them from watching them and listening to them and their conversations and small group discussions and prayers, which I often forget to do because I'm such a talker. But it was also frustrating because after watching them for a week I just wanted so badly to know them and love on them and talk to them, etc, and I just couldn't come up with the words to do so! So, that has really been my prayer this past week--that the Lord would increase my language abilities so that I can really dig in and get to know the people here in Cofradia and the surrounding towns. So, when Pedro said that I already speak better, it was almost as though the Lord Himself was telling me to just forget my fears and speak already! What an encouragement that was to me! It was certainly an answer to prayer, though not the one I think I was hoping for. Part of me really wanted to believe that one day I would just open my mouth and fluent Spanish would just start pouring out--sort of like the disciples at Pentecost. Now, I know that God can do that absolutely, but while I wanted that to be true for me this time around, I wasn't quite sure that was what the Lord had in mind. But I have had a sense that I needed to stop being a perfectionist and mistake-a-phobe and just open my mouth and start talking to people, which really is the best way to remember what I once knew and correct what I've gotten jumbled up in my head over the years. So, when Pedro said that to me, it was really like the Lord was telling me exactly that --> "Stop thinking that you have to be fluent in Spanish before you can be used! Just open your mouth, woman, and start speaking and trust me to give you the words that you need! I gave you the ability to learn Spanish and I made you to do as well as you did all for a purpose, and here it is, so SPEAK!"

The very neat thing is that tonight, I had the opportunity to have some conversation with another local youth named Chupa (his real name is Jose Angel--'j' and 'g' pronounced like an 'h'--but everyone calls him Chupa). Chupa is 18, and he has a very special place in the heart of the base here and all the missionaries, especially Jay and Faith. And every team that comes here ends up getting to know Chupa and helping him out in some way. Lots of them contribute to paying the cost for his high-schooling. (High school in Mexico is not required, and therefore to go to high school is like going to private school in the states, and it's not cheap.) So, Chupa goes, but the cost is covered by donations to a large extent. The team I came with over Christmas poured a concrete floor for his house and bought windows and doors for the house, which were installed just a few weeks before I arrived this time around. Chupa lives with his father, but his father is an alcoholic and not a very nice guy. His mother just left him with his father one day several years ago and disappeared with his brothers and sister, so that Chupa is here alone with his dad who doesn't really do much to take care of him at all. Which is why the base and Jay and Faith and teams that come have stepped in to fill in the gaps.

Anyway, tonight, Chupa and I ended up sitting around talking and some conversation we had with Faith earlier caused him to make a comment and ask why his life ended up the way it did. So, I had the opportunity, IN SPANISH, to share with him that we can't know that but we do know that God is so much bigger than all that and that God has such grand purposes for our lives and He uses all the bad things to make the great things happen. I got to share with him about my own background, and I was able to tell him that I thank God for all those things because they caused me to know God better, and without them maybe that wouldn't have been true. At one point he asked me if I remember all those painful memories. I answered yes, but I told him that now I remember the great things that God has done as a result more than the things that have happened to me or hurt me. He responed, "Aahh...entiendo. Entiendo" ("Aahh..I understand. I understand"). Perhaps that conversation would have happened anyway, but maybe I needed that kick in the pants and that encouragement that came simultaneously through Pedro yesterday in order to be willing to speak so badly and yet still communicate some comfort and truth to Chupa. He knows the Lord already, but that doesn't always make it easy to suffer through the nasty things in life. And I'm so thankful for the opportunity to come along side him and tell him that there is so much more than the suffering and pain because we get to know the Lord!

My Spanish certainly wasn't anywhere close to being "good" in that conversation, and what I understood was very little compared to all that Chupa had to say, but Chupa understood, and that is entirely because of the Lord working in his heart and life. But I was willing to open my mouth, despite how inadequate I've felt my language skills to be. Who knew that Pedro's simple statement could be so pregnant with meaning! I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell him what that meant to me and how God used his mouth that day without him ever knowing that's what was happening! Oh, I hope I get that opportunity one day!

Please pray for Pedro and Chupa, that the Lord would continue to mold and grow their hearts and lives into holy and blameless and Christ-like living letters for his kingdom and glory!!

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!!!