Atalia

Last Tuesday while I was out running various errands I stopped at a little place to eat some lunch. The girl who took my order saw my white skin and was very excited to practice her English with me. I was immediately impressed with her level of fluency, and she confirmed my hunch that she is currently studying English in the university. She is studying tourism and is 6 months away from taking her English language proficiency exam. She was very friendly, and we had a good little conversation. When she learned that I do Bible studies with women and kids, she asked if I am a Christian. Her reaction to my confirmation of this fact was something like this, "Oh I know several people in this city who are Christians. Christians are always such nice people and such happy people!" I shared my phone number with her and invited her to call if she wanted to get together and practice English. If I don't hear from her, I will probably decide to eat there again in a few weeks and see if she is there. I am praying that God will provide an opportunity for us to have a deeper conversation and that she will come to understand that everything good she sees in Christians is a reflection of Christ.
BTW: I am so relieved that this is the impression she has been given by Christians! It hurts my heart to hear people talk about Christians being judgemental, click-ish, etc. Praise God for the good testimony of the Christians Atalia has met!

Leading Worship

Saturday I recived a text asking me to lead worship at church Sunday. While I'm fairly comfortable with singing in Spanish and with dealing with the technology to project song lyrics on the wall, the thought of speaking in Spanish between songs, etc. made me nervous. My fear was that I would make Spanish errors big enough to distract from worship. I enlisted the help of one of the men of the church to lead the part where people share praises and prayer requests and other people pray for them. God was faithful to guide me through the rest. Though not perfect, things went pretty smoothly. It was truly a blessing to have the experience. Though not easy, I've gained an appreciation for these experiences that stretch my comfort zones.

Pajama Party

Last Friday night I helped Robin host a pajama party for the women in the Wednesday afternoon Bible study. These women have never participated in a pajama party in their lives and had to ask Robin and I to explain what it entailed. Five of our six women who regularly attend were able to come! In addition, Claudia brought her mom and sister-in-law who have visited the study, and Lidia brought her daughter. Robin also invited another woman we work with a lot, making a total of 11 of us. Robin's husband Charlie opted to go spend the night in my house. I can't imagine why!
Robin arrived in their neighborhood to pick up the women at 8 pm and finally made it back to the house after 9. We started with a Bible study, so it was probably 10:30 before we ate dinner. After dinner I gave the women little squares of paper to write an encouragement or something they admire about each of the other women. They worked on these throughout the ensuing "spa" time.

After the spa was craft time! We put together the encouragement notes and pictures into a little memory book of the party.

The women played a few games and had a great time just laughing together.

At 5 am, we decided it was time to snuggle under blankets and watch the movie "Facing the Giants." A few dozed a bit during the movie, of course.

I left to take them all home at about 7:15 am, arriving back at my house aroun 8:30 a bit tired but content. I feel like the women grew a bit closer to each other, had a lot of fun that their lives don't always permit them to have, and learned a bit more about what it means to follow Christ. I continue to pray for each of these precious women: Bety, Luz, Julieta, Lidia, Deisy, Claudia, Dalia, & Maria Ofelia. I'm excited to see them at the study tomorrow and pray that the 3 visitors will come study with us.

Updates

Claudia is improving well. My IMB partner Robin, who was a physical therapist before coming to Mexico, is doing therapy with her daily, and Claudia has regained enough movement in her hand to return to work cutting hair. She was in church again Sunday, filled with thanksgiving to God. Her sons are planning to come to our youth group this Saturday.
This Saturday will be the second meeting of the youth at church to study English and the Bible. Several people have said they will come, so I am praying expectantly. Monica and I may decide to divide them into 2 groups because some already know quite a bit of English and just want the opportunity to practice it.
The neighborhood where I work with kids on Thursdays is very close to Monica's house, and her sister Alejandra has decided to join me in working there. I am praying that if God leads me to work somewhere else on Thursdays that Ale will be able to take over that group so that they can continue to learn about God.

Jovenes Follow-up

Saturday we had our first English lesson and Bible study with "young people" at my church. The only person who came who completely fit the group I was trying to target was my teaching partner Monica's sister Alejandra. There were also a couple of young moms, a young man who might still fit in the "jovenes" group, a friend of his, and his friend's pre-teen daughter. Although it wasn't what I imagined, it went well, and I think it was a good thing. I was very excited that the invited friend and his daughter were drawn into the church building through this effort. Maybe this is what God had planned, which is more important than any plans of mine!
Later I learned that the 3 young people I'd expected to come had wanted to but couldn't for various reasons. All 3 of them plan to come to our next meeting in 2 weeks, on Feb. 12. I am thankful for what God is doing and plans to do!

Jovenes

This coming Saturday at 4 pm, my friend Monica and are scheduled to have our first meeting with youth from our church. The plan is to have an English lesson and a Bible study. The word jovenes (similar to our word youth) is used to describe a broader range of people than we typically mean by the word youth. Here it typically refers to high-school age, college-age, and even beyond college through more of the 20s, especially for those not married yet at that age. Though we have very clearly stated that our goal is to reach out to the jovenes, who for the most part are not attending church, so many of the adults in the church keep saying things like, "Oh I want to learn English too! I'm still young, right?" So, I am not quite sure what to expect. It could go anywhere from nobody showing up to 3/4 of the church congregations showing up! It is out of my control and out of my hands. I am just praying that God will lead the right people there and will bring something good through whatever happens.

. . . And Who Else?

Monday my girls' groups read and discussed the story of Jesus' temptations. After we read the verse where Jesus quotes the Bible, telling Satan that we should only worship God, I asked the girls, "Who does the Bible say we should worship?" In both groups, the correct response was given. Then when I followed up with the question, "And who else should we worship?" (with the intention of emphasizing the word ONLY), they responded, "The virgin Guadelupe also." This is so ingrained in the culture here that they are very slow to understand anything different. I had to continue the discussion that if the Bible tells us "only God," we cannot add anything or anyone to that. In this way, seeds are slowly being planted in their minds, but it will take many seeds for the truth to overcome the culture of lies in which they live. Please pray that God will reveal Truth to them and give them discernment.

Claudia

One of my friends from church was involved in a car accident this past week. I think her brakes went out, causing her little Volkswagon bug to crumble into the back of a trailer. Miraculously, Claudia escaped with nothing more serious than broken bones in her leg and arm. She said the back of the trailer ended up just inches in front of her face. Because of her broken leg, she can't walk right now. While this is not insignificant, it is more significant to realize that God spared her life. For that, we are very grateful!

Please pray for Claudia as she heals and as she is unable to work right now, causing financial stress.

New Beginnings

Yesterday (Saturday) I had scheduled a time to meet with Monica, a young woman from my church who teaches English, so that we could plan for our upcoming first meeting with the youth of the church. (Our plan is to offer a time that combines English lessons and Bible study specifically for the young people so that they will be drawn to come and invite friends.)

After we finished our planning time, Monica invited me to join her and her younger sister Alejandra for lunch. By this time, I already felt like we had begun a strong friendship. When I got in her car and she popped in a Third Day CD, it was like confirmation that she is a kindred spirit! We had such a good time visiting over lunch in a little place that I never would have found without her.

Soon after I got home, it was time to head back out for our first women's association (MUA) meeting of the year. We set a regular monthly meeting time and discussed plans for activities for the year. Afterward, I followed my pastor's wife to my new friend Monica's house for a time of sharing and fellowship with a few women from the church. As I drove home around 11:30 last night, I reflected on how very blessed I am. In a way, I feel like my life here has finally truly begun, and I am so blessed by the church family God led me to here.

Potential Changes for Thursday Group

Some of the women who used to attend our Thursday afternoon Bible study have invited Robin to start studies where they live, which has led to our Monday group at the apartment complex and Robin's Friday group. Then the family who was hosting the study in front of their house moved across town to live with family. Now only a mother and daughter come for the women's study, and we have to meet on the sidewalk since we no longer have a house. For this reason, Robin is praying about the possibility of moving her study a block or so away to the home of the women who come.

I still have several kids from the neighborhood who come study with me, so I am seeking God's guidance on what I need to do with this group if Robin moves. I could go with her and start over, I could go and try to encourage these kids to walk down there, or I could separate from Robin and stay where I am with these kids. Or maybe God is closing that door to open up that time for me to do something else. I don't know what will happen, but I am praying that God will make it clear. I care about these kids and don't want to leave them unless it is clearly God's plan.
Please join me in praying for God to work in these precious lives and to make this decision clear for both Robin and me.

Catching Up

A few days before Christmas I went to Leon for a reunion with some friends from training in Virginia. By the time I got home from that trip, I was sick with a sinus infection and bronchitis. That kept me resting at home until after New Year's. Although it cost me some good planning/organizing time, I am grateful that it hit when our groups were already cancelled due to holidays so that it didn't cause me to miss any groups.

I started back with my groups on Monday, January 3 and am now back in the swing of things. I am focusing a lot of energy on preparing lessons and crafts/activities for my kids and girls groups a ways in advance so that I can free up some of my time each week for other things. I'm also partnering with a Mexican friend from church named Monica to start working with the youth of our church. We're planning our first meeting for the last Saturday of this month at Monica's house and will combine an English lesson with a Bible study. We believe that this format will draw them in (the idea originally came from one of the youth) and give them an opportunity to invite friends. I'm excited to see what God will do and so grateful that He has prompted Monica to partner with me.

Pray for Selena

One of my favorite little girls, Selena, suddenly got very sick about a week ago. She apparently went into a coma and had no pulse. The health care providers at the government hospital could not determine the cause and sent her home once she appeared okay. She is still extremely pale, and the family has no answers. They are extremely poor but want to try to save money to take Selena to a private practice doctor to get the diagnosis and treatment that she needs. Please pray for this beautiful, precious 4 (or maybe 5 now) year old girl!