Footprints...

So, last week there was a youth retreat in Tepic, hosted by our mother church La Fuente. However, none of our youth were able to go. We decided to take Friday off and cancel youth group, and on Saturday we took them all to the beach! We had 5 leaders, 10 youth, and 4 children. It was a ton of fun! We went to Playa Novillero; it's about 2 hours away, and we got to drive on the new toll road for part of the way! It was very exciting. Some played sports on the beach or dug holes. The kids played in the water and with their sand toys. Sandy, Mili, and I had a good time talking and walking on the beach for the while, and then most of the youth ended up in the water. Since I'm not a big swimming fan, I didn't go in, but it was so much fun to watch them having such fun!

Ruben even found a couple of live crabs in the water and it was cool to see him get them to fight a little bit, despite the pain of having them latch on to his finger! Mirna found a live starfish, and we watched it walk! I've never seen a live one in person. Some of the guys dug a huge whole in the sand, filled it with water, and called it their "jacuzzi"!! It was hillarious to see them just hanging out in their mud whole as though it were a relaxing jacuzzi!!!

And of course there was food and shade! Many of us cooperated and provided different aspects of the eating portion of the day. I was to provide sodas. Pola made cebiche (pronounced "say-bee-chay"), which is this sort of shrimp salad type of thing, and we ate it on tostadas. Of course, the Mexicans like to put lime, salt, and chile on it as well. Regardless, it's VERY tasty!

And of course the camera was present as always, and almost all of the pictures were taken by Sandy. So, enjoy the pics! Yea for fun in the sun!!!

Playa Novillero (Novillero Beach)

Shade, food, and good company--three important ingredients for a great day at the beach!

The lovely Cecilia. She just turned 13 in March.

Miss Mirna, cousin of Mili and Sandy, and part of our youth group as of her 13th birthday in February!

We came upon this boat in our walking, and Sandy wanted to take a pic of it with Mili and I in it. We refused to climb in, but we stood by it anyway. This is Sandy's favorite because of the reflection in the sand.

The cold cocanut guy! There were numerous carts like this.

One of he crabs that Ruben found while swimming.

It's alive! You can see the starfish's feet suctioning to the table!

(L-R) Julio, Riki, and Goyito enjoying their mud jacuzzi. These three are our pastor's three youngest.

Pola and Julizza (on the right) and Isabel and Josue (on the left) enjoying the beach. Pola is Mirna's mom and Julizza her younger sister.

An apple a day...

...keeps the doctor away, or so I'm told. I don't know if that's true, but I recently had my first personal encounter with the Mexican health care system. I've heard from others on the staff about how the medical staff in this area isn't quite up to parr and about how local hospitals don't really pay much attention to you when you go to the ER or something, so I was a little nervous. But I had to see the doctor because nothing I was doing on my own was working to treat the health issue. So, I walked across the street to the clinic, made an appointment, and then later that afternoon went for my exam. The doctor was very cordial, but in the end his diagnosis left much to be desired. I went for some blistering in my mouth that will not go away and is very painful. It looks like thrush, yet he told me that I have a bacterial infection caused by fillings in my teeth that have been there for almost two years. Now, maybe that's possible, but I've never heard of such a thing. I took the medicine anyway...WHICH WAS FREE...and went home to talk with a missionary nurse that I know. I ended up going with different medical advice, and have started treatment, but I thought I'd just take a moment to share what I know about healthcare here.

It's quite interesting because these doctors and nurses have been to medical school, but it never occurred to me that they would be taught something other than what I have always understood to be medical science. Our understanding is that medical science is not a subjective thing. It just is what it is; doctors learn it and treat their patients accordingly. I had never thought that medical science could say one thing in one country and something very different in another. Yet, that is what I keep encountering when people I know get sick and relate to me what their doctors diagnosed them with! For example, a friend of mine got sick last October with something like a sinus infection. She went to the doctor and they gave her like 10 injections to give heself to treat it. However, what blew my mind was how they told her she contracted it: they said that it happened because she had been working in the watermelon fields so her body was heated up from the work and the sun, and then she went home and opened the refridgerator and the extreme change in temperature is what caused her to get sick. I'm sure your reaction is the same as mine was, but you'll have to let me know. I hear similar things quite frequently. Some of it to me seems a little superstitious or akin to old wives tales, but I'm not a doctor, so who am I to say for certain? But it's certainly taking some serious redecorating of my mental file cabinet to wrap my mind around the idea that what is medical fact in the US isn't necessarily medical fact in Mexico.

Anyway, one of the nice things about Mexico is that you do not have to have a prescription to get medication! You just go to the pharmacy and tell them what you want, pay for it, and go home! This means that although the clinic gave me meds according to what the doctor prescribed (an antibiotic), I can go to any pharmacy and get something totally different no questions asked. So, that's what I've done. We shall see how it all turns out. The other nice thing about Mexico is that if they prescribe you meds at the clinic, you get them there for free. But if you buy meds at a pharmacy, they are not expensive at all! In addition to that my entire doctor's appointment, free meds and all, cost me a whopping $2.80 USD!!! Now how's THAT for affordable healthcare! And that's without health insurance. For the local people, if they have health insurance, it's FREE!!

Here's another illustration of the overwhelming difference in medical costs between here and the US. One of our staff couples is expecting a baby, and they recently went to Tepic to find a hospital for the birth. They figured out that in the states, if they were to end up with a C-Section birth which is more expensive, without health insurance, they would spend a total of $22,000 including all the pre-natal care. Here in Tepic at the most expensive hospital in town, even if they were to have a C-Section, it would cost them a total of $750 USD. That is, however, in additoin to the cost of her doctor visits which cost a whopping $50 TOTAL each time, without insurance!! I don't know how they run their healthcare system here, but I'm thinking we might be able to learn a little something from this affordability!

Mexico never fails to keep me guessing, but for now my dinner awaits! And it's off to the beach tomorrow with our youth group! May you have a blessed weekend!

Menos Macho..

So, living in Mexico has its bonuses and its downsides. One of the things that drives me crazy about living in this culture is how men treat women. In the states there's always this abstract concept--perhaps more abstract for some than for others--that there are indeed men who objectify women, but for the most part I myself have never REALLY had to deal with this. Even if there were men walking down the street who passed me and made comments, they did so in a way that never made me aware that they were doing so. Perhaps part of that equation is my own naivte or obliviousness. Regardless, that aspect of male-female interactions was never really an issue for me before.

That is not the case here. In Mexico, it is just normal for a girl to walk down the street and be cat-called or whisteled at or some such response by men on the street. Some girls like it, others don't, but it's just part of life here, so those who don't like it just go on their merry way ignoring these guys.

On top of that, male-female interactions in Mexico are very different in other ways. For example many would consider it flirtatious for a girl to look a guy directly in the eye...at least here where I am. Perhaps it's not so in the city, but in the country, that can illicit flirtatious behavior from a guy.

Anyway, the point of this discourse is that for the most part, I ignore the male popluation here in Cofradia unless they are part of the youth group (and then I don't interact much outside of youth group) or married to a woman whom I have befriended. Yet, ignoring the male population does not seem to help free me from being cat-called on every other corner and whistled at by the guys across the street or the truck driving by, etc. I honestly despise that part of this culture, but I have learned to just ignore it and keep walking. Yet, I have also learned not to expect respectful interaction from men.

Sunday, however, after returning to Cofradia from the church service in Arrayanes, I headed over to Jay and Faith's to borrow a movie. I drove over with them in their truck, but then I had to walk all the way back to the base which is on the other side of town (12 blocks away). It was a lovely evening, so I just meandered my way down the street enjoying the sunset and the cool evening air. The street was pretty empty for the most part, but at one point a man passed me on his bicycle. I kept my eyes down and on the road and didn't really acknowledge him, but as he passed he greeted me cordially: "buenas tardes." I was shocked out of my mind, but I somehow managed to remember to greet him back as I kept walking. Not very many steps later, a younger man, probably around my age, passed me in the street on horseback (yes, that's a common mode of transportation here!). I had even LESS intention of looking at or acknowledging a man in my own age range, so I kept my eyes down and kept walking. Yet, he too greeted me quite cordially: "buenas tardes." I looked at him and greeted back and kept walking, but I found myself stunned. In a matter of a few minutes, TWO men had greeted me so nicely, so politely...so NORMALLY...as though I were a person and not just their eye candy. I believe this was the first time this had happened like this with complete strangers! And it was very pleasant!

I related this story to a couple of my Mexican women friends, Antonia and Sandy. Sandy told me that a similar thing had happened to her and her aunt Erica a couple of days before. That they had been walking somewhere and a teen boy cat-called then and greeted them as they expected. They ignored him and kept walking only to be passed immediately by an older man who greeted them politely with "buenas tardes." They greeted this man back, and the youth guy noticed that they ignored him but greeted the man who treated them with respect, and it caused him to shut his mouth.

Antonia made an interesting comment to me. She said, "Ya know Amber, it's true. Even though we don't believe it, there are still a few men who treat women with respect. I just wish that there were more like that." My friend Ruth, who teaches English in South Korea, recently blogged about a similar experience. Check out what happened to her and how she chose to respond!

Please pray for the men of this culture. Their culture is so rich and vibrant, but it could be even richer if they only knew what they were missing out on by not treasuring their women!

Southside

Well, we just had our final spring team, Southside Christian Church, finish up their ministry in Cofradia and head back home to Washington. They are from Spokane, and they were one of the three teams that came last year during my first three months in Mexico. Truthfully, it was because of how much I enjoyed the time I spent with this team last year, that I decided I wanted to be Short-Term Missions Coordinator when I returned to work here full-time. This church has a great bunch of youth, and they put together a stellar team every year. They are creative and full of energy, and that affects people! We had another great time this year.

Just like last year they did a Kids Club VBS in the afternoons and did construction at the new church facility in the mornings. But we started their trip off differently than last year. This year, on Sunday after church, they took a sightseeing trip to the Penas Mountain, returned for dinner, and then we took them to Arrayanes for a worship experience. It was a really neat experience not just for them but for me as well. We started off with some worship, and then Jay and Steve (who were leading the evening) explained the different stations and put music on and let them go at it. Basically the purpose was to allow the kids to worship in whatever way they could and creatively. There were stations for molding playdough, finger painting, drawing, writing sins in the sand as confession and then erasing it to symbolize their forgiveness, writing letters to God, a prayer wall where they could write names of people they know and love that they are praying will come to know Christ, and a music video station where they could just sit and worship before the Lord in music. It was a really cool experience, and I think it definitely helped set a correct tone for starting their week of ministry.

As for the construction aspect of their trip, this team (like Cy-Fair) had the added bonus that they were here last year to help start the construction on this facility. Last year, this team helped finish pouring the foundations for the property walls, and they made re-bar cages for the beams that support the walls. But at that time the facility was still just a piece of land that still didn't have a wall built. This year, they came back to find the property walls built to 2/3 their final height; a sanctuary floor (larger than a colegiate basketball court) completely poured and finished; a finished sanctuary platform with storage rooms on either side; and the property secured by a ginormous iron gate painted brown and ORANGE! :) I took them down to see the property on Sunday morning before the service started (the morning after they arrived), and as they approached the property, they saw the walls and their mouths just started dropping. The best part was when they walked inside though and saw all that the Lord has accomplished in this humongous project just in the last year! It truly is incredible. They couldn't believe it! The great thing is that this year in their construction work, they began digging and pouring foundations for the education wing, and especially the library. Not only that, but they were able to finish the foundations of the libarary, pour its floor, and start work on the brick walls! They worked hard, and they got a lot accomplished. It will be neat to see how far we are next year when they come back!

The Library

The Education Wing

For the Kids Club VBS activities, their theme was being the salt and light of the world. Each day they started off with some fun games for the kids, and some songs.

Day 1: Four-legged race.

Day 2: Hippity-Hop relay race



Day 3: Balloon-Stomping

Day 4: Balloon Toss
and...
Huge Balloon Relay. Some of these balloons were almost bigger than the kids carrying them!


This is a video of the kids singing "Jesus Loves Me" for song time

Then they moved into a drama that they had prepared for the Bible story of the day. Then finally, their pastor gave the short lesson and explained the craft they would be doing that was related to their story.

Day 1: Faith Like a Mustard Seed

Day 1 Craft: Seedling Planters

Day 2: The Sower and the Scattered Seed (this is the good seed)


Day 2 Craft: Coloring the different seed scenarios and gluing on stuff to decorate them

Day 3: Being Salt and Light

Day 3 Craft: Salt and Light of the World

Day 4: Fishers of Men

Day 4 Craft: A fishing game
They colored the fish and attached paper clips to each. They each got ten and then could try and hook them using other fish and their hooks!

The kids seemed to enjoy the activities and kept coming back each day. When everything was over, the youth on the team would just play with the kids in their groups. Some would chase them, some played on the swing set. Others played games with the hippity-hops. The greatest things was seeing the kids having fun with the youth. These youth know how to play, and the kids here appreciate and remember that. It was a really neat time, and I know the Lord used it!

At the end of their trip, they headed back to Puerto Vallarta. Last year they flew through Mazatlan, and I was blessed to be able to go with them for their last night in the country. This year they came through Puerto Vallarata, and again I had the chance to go with them. It was cool cuz I had not yet had the chance to go to PV, so this was a new experience for me. We stayed at a hotel in the Romantic Zone, which was a very "interesting" experience for sure. But it was a very beautiful part of town, built on these steep hills. It had this old-town, antique feel to it, and was just very beautiful. The hotel was also beautiful and right on the beach. The room I was in with two of the youth girls had a balcony overlooking the beach and the ocean, so we got to sleep to the sounds of the ocean waves! There's nothing better than that, for sure!

The Tropicana Hotel, Puerto Vallarta

The view from my balcony!

Built into the hills..reminds me of pictures I've seen of Greece!

For their team banquet we took them to a restraunt called the Brazil. It was INCREDIBLE! This place is basically a meat/steak-house. You come in and sit down and they bring you about 10 different kinds of meat prepared in various styles, along with other side dishes and cold salads, and wonderfully delectable food! And let me tell you, these kids ATE! But everyone had a REALLY good time at the restaurant and in just hanging out on the beach or shopping in town. It was a great time with the team from Southside, and we're looking forward to their return next year!

The meat fest at the Brazil

Back there in the corner, you can see how they served us the meat--they just went plate to plate!

It is such a special thing to be able to build these long-term relationships with the teams that come down every year. They have such unique opportunities to minister because they build lasting and ongoing relationships with the people here, and it's neat to see how the Lord works through that regardless of the distance and the time. It doesn't matter that the people here don't see or speak to them for a year at a time. When they return, they are old friends! That is a very special gift from the Lord, and I'm looking forward to seeing how He uses those gifts He pours down on us to further His Kingdom in this area!

Meandering Thoughts...

So the past couple of days I've been dealing with some worrying. Now I wouldn't say that I'm a worry wort, but I definitely deal with my fair share. In the past couple of days the Lord has really been convicting me of this, of how it is the absence of living in the Spirit and relying on the strength and sovereignty of God in all things.

As I was preparing Bible study for mentor-time today, I needed to find those verses in Hebrews that talk about how Christ was made in every way just like us and was tempted with every temptation that is common to man (1 Cor 10:13), and yet was without sin (Heb 2:14-18; 4:15). I started wondering if Jesus was every tempted to worry. Those verses say that He experienced every temptation that we as humans experience, but it just seems preposterous to me to think that Jesus, who was and is part of the Trinity and therefore one with God the Father and therefore is also completely omnicient knowing the end from the beginning and everything in between and how it has, is, and will continue to all play out--it seems preposterous to me to imagine HIM, already knowing it all, to be tempted to worry. Now I know that He did NOT worry, or that would have been sin, but what about that temptation.

Sadly, as I pondered that mystery I did not receive any glorious or insightful revelations to answer my deep philosophical questions of God. However, I was reminded that He indeed knows it all from before the beginning to after the end. He is familiar with it all, as I was reminded while preparing Bible study for today. He has a file for everything that I will ever encounter, and HIS SPIRIT is living inside of me! All of that is inside of me through the prsence of His Spirit...what need have I to worry?

My biggest area of worry is the lives of other people. How ironic is that! Maybe it's not. But ya know, if I can trust in the Lord for myself, then I should certainly be able to trust in Him for the well being of others, especially if they too are believers. All of that which is in me is in them as well, and He loves them no less than He loves me! If you ask me, that's cause to rejoice if ever there was one!

Thank the Lord for His wonderful care and provision and omnipotence!! Nothing surprises Him and nothing ever will! The great thing is that as I came to these conclusions, even just this morning, I continued to ponder them on my way to mentor-time with Sandy. Before we jumped into our study for another week, she shared how God had spoken to her this morning as clearly as possible without actually appearing physically before her concerning some unclear opportunity that she was facing. I was left in awe once again at how amazing our God is, because as I was praying over this stuff and offering up my worry and seeking to trust in Him once again, there He was making things extremely clear to her!! He didn't have to allow me to know about that, but He did, and the joy abounds as a result! How awesome is our God!!

Mid-day Visitor

So, as I was working on my computer this afternoon, I heard some rustling in the leaves behind my appartment. That's where we keep the water boilers for my and the Elias appartments, but there are also some cages there from when the Eliases raised rabbits. There are no more rabbits now, but from time to time iguanas will find lovely resting places amidst all the leaves and stuff. So, I went back to my kitchen window, and sure enough there was a rather large iguana emerging from behind the cages. I caught this picture as he was leaving our property. What interesting things we find in our backyards down here!

As he scotts up the walls...check out those claws! Iguanas are very fast little critters!
Ya know they eat iguana here, but I think it's the green ones that they eat, not the black ones because the black ones don't taste good.

Making his escape over the wall

A fond farewell..

So, for the last month we've had a Mexican young man from Guadalajara staying with Jan and Doug: Israel. He's my friend Erika's older brother, and he's from the same church that Jan and Doug and I all attend when we're in Guadalajara. Anyway, he came here because he feels that the Lord is calling him to something and thinks that might be missions but isn't entirely sure right now. So, he wanted to come and be discipled by Doug and have a month to really dig into the Lord and get a taste of missionary life and see what the Lord would have him do next. One of the things he did while here was help out with the youth group. This was especially nice for me becuase there were a couple of Fridays that Steve was not here for youth group. Normally, that would mean that I give the Bible study that night; however, since Israel was here helping out, he did it instead of me, and he did a wonderful job. The kids paid such great attention to him, and when they started goofing off or not listening, he had such a knack of confronting them on it and re-corraling their attentions. He was very effective, and the kids really enjoyed having him here.

It was neat also to see the friendships that he made with some of the youth guys here. One of the things that really jumped out at me when I first came down here a year ago was how desperately the girls I met seemed to soak up the presence of a real friend. That has been such an effective tool so far with the girls that I've met and gotten to know--just being their friend makes such a huge impact. Well it seemed that the same was true with the guys this month. Any free time they had they spent playing video games with Israel or doing something else, just hanging out, etc. It was neat to see how they responded to him in that way, and it was such a blessing to see them finding that need being met in that way!

Anyway, tonight was his last Friday night, and so for youth group we had a going-away fun night rather than a Bible study. Usually for about 30-45 mintues before starting youth group we let the kids play games and just hang out; they behave much better in group if we do that. Then we usually have our Bible study time and then they can play more when it's all over. Tonight we did the hang out time, and then we had a time of sharing for folks to share with Israel how he affected them or what they were thankful to the Lord concerning his time with us. Then we presented him with a few gifts, and we spent some time praying for him. Then more fun and hang-out time. It was a great night! Suffice it to say, Israel is welcome to return any time he chooses! He will always find open doors here!

Please keep this young man in your prayers. The Lord has certainly blessed him with a gift for communicating the truths of Scripture with others and in how he relates to people. Please pray that the Lord will reveal to Israel what the next steps are he is to take and that Israel will be willing and able to walk into the future that the Lord has prepared for him!

Israel is also a great drummer, and just before he left he taught a drum workshop. Here is he with Diego and Fursio.

And Nature speaks of His glory!

So, I thought I would take a moment and share with you some of what I find surrounding me on a daily basis and year-round! One of the things I find so precious about Mexico is that it's people and culture are so vibrant, and their natural surroundings reflect that! Some of these pictures were taken by me, some by Sandy, and some were donated to me by members of the His Place team that was here at the end of January. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoy being surrounded by these sights!

I love walking this stretch of this road. It feels like I'm walking under a bower of blossoms for how the branches canopy adorn the road! :)

A close up of the blossoms of the tree above!

This is my favorite tree, and following are some close-ups of the flowers. I think there are three different trees all mixed up in there, and I KNOW that there are two different types of blossoms and three different colors that come out when it's all in bloom. The window behind this tree is where I often eat lunch or dinner almost daily--at Restaurant Heidy, owned by members of our church. That window is my favorite place to sit in the spring and summer!

I found this little guy while setting up for a team. These frogs are pretty common. When they are very babies, they can fit under our doors. It's interesting to be watching TV in the evening and then all of a sudden see a frog barely the size of your finger nail hopping through your living room!

I know we have flowers like this at home, but I don't know what they're called. Their height is astounding, and they are beautiful in this garden! One of my favorites to walk by. It always looks so cool, refreshing, and inviting!

This rose bush is in the same garden as the previous flowers.

Birds are EVERYWHERE. There is never a lack of birdsong around us. They nest in the roof of our church and chirp all day long!

Unique, no?!

Butterflies..something that seems so elusive at home...they're all over the place here! And they're stunning!






This was taken on top of the hill that overlooks the town of Cofradia

These flowers are some kind of vine that is growing on a tree just on the inside of the north wall of the new church. I love how they drape on the wall!

Post for March 25

So, our organization, Alternative Missions, has an intranet. Each staff member has a database there and we are supposed to post on the intranet each week so as to keep a sense of community as an organization and not just in our specific locations. I decided that I would share with you my post for this week. So here it is:

So, I have two things to share this week, one ministry-related and one personal.

1. Ministry-related. So, we've been doing things slightly different in our weekly youth group meetings. A couple of months ago, Steve started pairing the kids off--some with other youth and some with leaders--usually in groups of 2 or 3 (if the numbers weren't even) for the final prayer time of the evening. We've noticed that this is a much more effective strategy than a large group prayer with one person praying because this way everyone is participating and sharing with others. Well, this past week as I was driving one of the girls home to Santa Fe, and couple of others accompanied us. During the ride they shared with me how "way cool" their prayer time was with the girls they got partnered with. Both were partnered with girls who are younger, and with whom they have both begun to develop a mutual trust. The greatest thing was that they were both SO EXCITED about how the prayer time had gone that they were about to jump out of their seats. I mentioned to one of them about how awesome it is to get to see God use us in the moment, and she said, "YAH! That's it...HE USED ME!" And we were able to talk about how that's the essence of discipleship and how she can continue to encourage those girls with whom she prayed. It's just so neat to see how God is moving and growing our youth!

2. Personal note: So, I too am doing this Bible study on the fruit of the Spirit with the other ladies on staff here [Living Beyond Yourself, by Beth Moore]. It's a great study, and I'm actually doing it in English [with the staff ladies of course] and in Spanish [with Sandy] simultaneously and having to adapt the videos for the Spanish study. So, I'm getting to know the material pretty well. But something that Beth Moore presents in the study is that living in the Spirit won't just change our lives but it will change our day--that it's a long-term process but that the changes are accessible right here right now too. This week the Lord has been making me acutely aware of how NOT in the habit I am of calling on him in my NOW needs: moments when frustration rolls in unexpectedly, interactions that I wasn't planning on, when things aren't going the way I'd like them to either in me or in others, etc. Short of posting notes all over my appartment to remind me to call on Him NOW, I'm not entirely sure how to go about fixing that bad habit, but I know that God is faithful to accomplish His will in me. And calling on Him is definitely in His will. So I'm looking forward to seeing how God changes things in me over the next several months and what He has in store for putting those changes into practice in the world around me. One thing's for sure: it will definitely be a ride to remember.

I highly recommend this study. Some of it is so basic, but at the same time it is NOT! The entire study is available online at www.lifeway.com--videos, homework, and even study helps and an online community for those participating in the study online! You can do it on your own, or you can do it in a group using the online study as the video source. That's what we are doing here. Her other study, Believing God, is also available there and is also highly recommended by me!

Praise the Lord that keeps plugging away at me! And how amazing that even though I'm still not anywhere close to "arriving" he lets me witness His plugging away in others as well! OOOHHHHH, He's GOOD!