Prayers for This Week

• This week we have a team of 3 women coming from a church in Alabama to work with us. Please pray for all aspects of their trip. They arrive Tuesday night and leave the following Monday.
• We are tentatively planning a baptism for this coming Sunday, but the new believers are hesitant to take that step. Please pray for them to have peace that this is God's desire for them.
• Please pray for new ministry opportunities.

Then Came Thursday

It all started like a normal Thursday. This group typically ran 15-22 kids, but the past couple of weeks we've had 8-10 as many are on a quick vacation before school starts (next week). I started with a dozen kids today, and before I knew it I was running out of craft supples and losing count of how many kids were there. (Note that they range in age from 1 to 10 or 12 years old.) Fortunately, my fabulous 16 year old assistant Julio was prepared to do a tae kwon do demonstration with the kids, so as they finished the first craft project I sent them out to work with him. He quickly had them lined up and began teaching them a few basic stances, etc.

The kids love Julio, and they really enjoyed this activity and listened well.

At the end of their little session, Julio was diligent to teach them that tae kwon do is a sport and is not to be used to fight in the streets. When we went back in to do the last stage of our craft project, I had Julio start coloring with the ones who didn't have a craft. By the time I helped the kids finish their craft and was trying to figure out how to dispel the chaos in order to do the lesson/story for the day, Julio was calling me over to his corner. Some girls were asking him some questions that he wanted me to answer for them.

First, they asked why I don't teach about the other stuff. When I asked what they meant, they talked about how their relatives pray to the virgin (which in some cases refers to virgin Mary but also often refers to one of a couple of other virgins like Guadelupe) and to the saints. I explained that I only teach things that are in the Bible and that we should be careful to only follow God and to read His word and not add anything to it. They continued to talk about relatives who ask for things from various saints, etc, (including Santa Muerte which I believe is evil and very dangerous to mess with!) and how their requests are often fulfilled. As I continued, in my less-than-stellar Spanish and amidst all sorts of distractions and interruptions from other kids, to try to explain what I believe, I prayed for guidance. I knew I had to be careful not to say anything that would offend their families and cost us our opportunities to share, but at the same time I didn't want to compromise on Truth. So, I made a point of telling them that I respect their relatives but that I was telling them what I believe and what the Bible says. Then I gave them an example to think about. I asked them to imagine that I wanted it to rain, so I prayed to the tree in front of the house, pleading for rain to fall. If it then later began to rain, should I assume that the tree caused the rain? I pray that in this way they can begin to see the danger in attributing things to the saints or virgins instead of recognizing that everything they receive comes from God.

Please pray for these precious kids to grow up knowing and accepting Truth, and please pray that their relatives will be delivered from the deception of these false gods.

Wednesday's Kids

On Wednesday afternoons I work with this group of kids. While the adults have Bible study and craft time inside this small house, the kids and I have our crafts, story, and game time out in the small dirt "yard" in front. The kids really enjoy the time together.

This is my little buddy Eder. He is just too cute, and we have fun together. Unlike the other 2 year olds, he actually works with us on most of the activities and is just a lot more tranquil than they tend to be, which I certainly appreciate!

This little girl is precious but definitely a challenge. So, I felt like I'd made a breakthrough when she actually interacted with me positively today!
At the end of each day kids of all ages enjoy coloring and working word search puzzles, which they call "sopa de letras" which translates to "letter soup." The lack of table doesn't phase them. They'll use the rough ground, their leg, or even stand and put their paper against the brick wall.

Today the two girls in headbands were standing on the sidewalk outside the fence watching us. After several invitations to come inside, they finally joined us.

Please continue to pray that these kids will learn more about God's love and his plan each time we meet and that their parents will grow in Christ and raise them accordingly.

"It Was Good"

Tonight in our house church the text was the creation story. As I thought about God ending each day by saying that what He had created that day was good, I realized that this is how I should strive to live. How great would it be to live in such a way that at the end of each day, I could look back at how I'd invested the day and be able to call it "good." I want to end each day without any regrets about what I said or didn't say, about what I did or failed to do.

The Little Things

Never underestimate the value of the little things . . .
. . . a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper
. . . an email or wall post from a friend that serves as a reminder that he/she is thinking about and praying for you
. . . a van that runs
. . . a coffee bar inside the copy shop where one can purchase chai tea to drink while waiting for copies to be made
. . . a smile from a child
. . . a good night's sleep and energy that lasts throughout the day
and so much more!

Extra Time

If the kids in my Thursday group finish their activities before the moms are done, we can pull out jump ropes and a soccer ball and play in the street in front of the house. That isn't really an option with the Wednesday group, so when we finish first it becomes a bit of a challenge to fill the time for the older kids and absolutely impossible to appease the 2 year olds. Lately the older kids have gotten good at helping me invent games to play during that time. For instance, Samaria wanted to play hot potato with an interesting twist. We used my Bible for the object to pass as they said a little rhyme, and whoever was holding the Bible at the end of the rhyme would open it and read a verse. This past week as we thought up games to play they were all calling me "Maestra" (teacher) and backing me into a corner with their enthusiasm. Such great kids!

Playing Catchup

Okay, so I haven't gone back and posted more about the team from Texas because I am still waiting for copies of the pictures that were taken. Then last week we had an IMB prayer retreat for all Mexico Cluster missionaries, and I suddenly feel like I have been offline for a long time.

I had quite an adventure the Friday before the prayer retreat. I found out the day before that I needed to go to Guadalajara to renew some paperwork related to the van, but nobody could tell me what office I needed to find. Since I don't know that city at all, overwhelmed would be an understatement for how I felt about that endeavor. Thankfully, one of our Mexican friends Celia was willing to go with me and try to help me figure things out. We took a bus from Aguascalientes to Guadalajara, then took a taxi. We discovered the taxi had let us off in a different area than where we thought we needed to go, so we took a city bus and then walked until we found the office that was first on our list of places to try. The first person we talked to there was very unhelpful, but finally the third person there made a phone call and then told us where we needed to go. As it turns out, we had to take a bus back to the same general area where the taxi had let us out. A little more walking and waiting, and the mission was finally accomplished! We found a quick place to eat tacos, then caught a taxi back to the bus station. Remarkably, the next bus for Aguas left two minutes after we arrived, and we were on it! Then we had to take a taxi back to the north side of the city where we live. After more than 11 hours of adventure and several investments in transportation, we made it!

The prayer retreat was actually more meetings than I expected from the name, but it was a good time of fellowship and worship. I saw some people I hadn't seen since we left Viriginia last September! Now I am struggling with sinus/allergy problems that are zapping all of my energy as I try to get back into the swing of things.

Are We there Yet (Music Video)

Urgent Prayer Need

One of my first friends here was Vero, who is the director of women's ministry at the church Dios Todopoderoso. She and her family went to Mexico City to visit relatives while the kids are out of school, and now her daughter Tamara is in the hospital in serious condition with leukemia that was not detected as early as it should have been. I don't know any more details but am fervently praying for this precious family during this time. Please join me and pray for healing and comfort and peace.

Texas Team

When I got back to town, Robin and Charlie had already had a couple of days with a fabulous team of 5 people from a church in Austin, Texas. I really enjoyed working with them for the rest of the week! Although I hated to see them leave when we took them to the airport before sunrise Saturday, I was more tired than I realized and enjoyed a little down time that day. Soon I will post a couple of stories and pictures from the week with that team. I will share now, though, that in our Thursday afternoon Bible study this week all 4 women present prayed to receive Christ! SO EXCITING!!! Please pray for them as they begin this new walk. (For my LaPlata friends: this is the group that live on LaPlata Boulevard.)

Patient Patient

I was out of town for a week as I traveled to visit an eye doctor in another place. He was able to diagnose the problem. The bad news is that he cannot do the aggressive treatment that he would normally do because I live too far away for him to monitor it. The good news is that he believes that, given time, my immune system will naturally heal the problem. So, I have to wait 6 months without touching contacts. At that point I can try contacts and watch for symptoms. If there are symptoms, I have a plan of action for treatment at that point.

Thankful for the opportunity to go see him and for the good diagnosis and plan of action. Praying now that my white blood cells will work hard and successfully heal my eye. I just have to be patient!

Women's Conference

Saturday our new Christian women's association held our first women's conference. It rained a lot the day and night before and some that morning. In spite of the rain and some badly flooded roads, around 50 or 60 women came and brought their kids. We started the morning with worship through singing. Then a few women from the association put on a funny skit in the form of a fashion show that represented different types of women in today's world.

There was a lazy person, a busy mother, a fashion diva, and a career woman. Most women in the audience could identify in some way with one of these roles and recognize what was taking priority in their life.

Then one of our dear friends from Guadalajara led a powerful session about being a woman in today's world. She talked about where we put our trust and what we allow to become our god(s).

After the session we broke into small groups, each led by one of the association women, to reflect on what was discussed in the session. Some women shared some very painful realities about their past and had some very meaningful, deep discussions.

Later the small groups made bracelets using black, red, white, blue, green, and yellow beads to represent the plan of salvation. As they put them together, the discussed and read verses about each color. They also added a charm in the shape of a crown, representing our value as children of God and our royalty status as daughters of the King.

The women's association delivered tortillas, agua de jamaica, and plates of chicken, rice, and mole to each woman and child at their tables.

Another friend from Guadalajara led our next session about being a woman of God. As she talked about taking off different things that hinder us from serving God, she illustrated this point by removing labeled papers from Adela.

Then Ale (our other guest speaker from Guadalajara) had each woman write one sin or hindrance on a post it note and stick it to a cross, talking about how Christ took all of our sins to the cross, and how we need to leave them there with Him. To reinforce the point that we should not go back and try to retreive them and carry them a bit longer, the post-it notes were then removed from the cross and burned in a bucket.

Finally, each small group held a coronation service, where each woman sat on a chair that represented a throne. While seated there, each woman shared, "When I am gone I want it to be said of me and to be true that . . . ," thus acknowledging how they want to strive to live their life. The group leader knelt before them and "crowned" them by putting the bracelet with the crown charm on their wrist. I found it significant that the sun finally came out during the coronations.

In our closing session, 5 women prayed to receive Christ and many women shared what the conference had meant to them and how it had impacted their life. Before leaving, we got most of the women to pose for a group picture. We also took a picture of the women in the association who worked to put this event together.

We had a wonderful group of people, including a couple women from the association, Charlie, and the youth evangelism team, who worked really hard all day with the kids to enable the moms to focus on the conference. The kids made team banners, sang, did crafts, played on the playground, played games, and even rode ponies! They also learned from the paint talks shared by a couple of the youth and a taekwondo lesson shared by our firend who has his own taekwondo school.

It was SO much fun for me to occassionally walk through the kid's area and hear those who know me from our weekly studies call out for me to push them on a swing or just come talk to them for a minute. One girl I didn't know started calling me "English" for some reason.

We are SO grateful for all God did that day. We know that the weather probably prevented some from coming, but we had prayed that God would bring those He wanted to be there, so now we have to trust that He did just that. Please continue to pray for this new women's association and for each of the women who participated in this conference.