Guadalupe Day

Altotonga, Mexico -- Well, it's been about the same this past week. I've had a few opportunties to share with some newer girls-- with some opportunities that just seemed to present themselves. It was pretty cool!I continue to learn new things here about the culture and about people here. Never underestimate the power of cultural differences. :)On Monday and Tuesday, I helped "keep an eye" on Chris and Vonda's kids while they went to the beach for Vonda's birthday.Today is Guadalupe Day... where they celebrate the patron saint of Mexico. So, somewhere around 5:30am started loud fireworks, and all throughout the day it has continued to be like that. Fireworks, parades, etc. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to go visiting a few of the college-aged youth girls, and then to the Club I go!I'm going to get. It's late and I still have things to do! Have a good one!

Messy Object Lessons

Altotonga, Mexico -- Hey there all! Well, it's been like a week and a half since last posting. Sorry about the delay-- a few things have come up that have kept me busier than normal. Ha!

Things continue around here. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Josh and Jenell, who used to live here, and Lori Brookins, who was in to give us a class. It was a good day to sit back and be American! :)

Like I said, we took a class on Teaching English as a Second Language. So, now I am certified to do that. I learned a lot-- even about my own language! And I already have 2 pupils lined up. :) I don't think right now that I'll take more than that.The 24th, I had the opportunity to give the teaching at the Saturday night meeting (now I teach about once a month). I talked about Proverbs 4:23 and, as I am slightly abnormal-- I used a pig heart to demonstrate what sin and bad attitudes do to the heart and what happens to our heart when someone wounds it. It was a fun, but very very messy teaching. It involved bleach, toilet water, mud, weird mixtures of stuff... and a knife. And then, we talked about how God can cleanse and heal the heart if we allow the Doctor to do it. We had some new youth that night, and they had "thinking" looks on their faces. I'm sure it's something that will stick with them.

So, I've been visiting some of the college-age youth this week and I've heard some interest in this college-age group getting started. So, that's exciting. I'm kind of on hold on that right now with all the changes that are going on as far as the Club and Chris and Vonda and the leaders who seemed to drop on me. But, I still have the plan, so, no worries. Keep praying and God will raise it up! For now, I'm trying to get to know more and more of them-- so that when we start-- we have people! :)

I've been also working at forming more of a friendship with the Pastor of the local church and his family. I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in conjunction between the church and the Club in the future. This is something that I'm praying often about.

Please be in prayer concerning someone from here coming alongside me to help run things in the Club.Well, it's late and I'm tired-- so I think I'm going to go get some rest.

Reasons

Altotonga, Mexico -- Happy Thanksgiving! Today I have reason to give thanks-- and I would like to share that with you.

My Mexican sister-- Carmen-- was pregnant with twin girls. She has a daughter who just turned one a couple of weeks ago, and she has been waiting for the arrival of these new babies. After not going to the doctor for some time, she went on Monday and the doctor told her that it was a grave situation and that it would be between her life or the babies lives. You can imagine how she must have felt.

I went over that evening to visit with her and the family. We laid hands on her and prayed, trusting God that He had put these two lives in her and He was going to take care of them all.After a very long series of crazy events on Tuesday-- she was finally admitted into the hospital here in Altotonga. The doctors ran a few tests to see what her hemoglobin levels were-- and she had gone up 3 points-- which was good! That night, she gave normal birth to two healthy girls at 11:10 amd 11:30pm. All are in good health. The girls are skinny little things-- but very precious. And Carmen and the girls are now at home.

God did a miracle in her. What was one day a situation so grave and to the next night-- giving normal birth. We give the glory to God for what He did. Thank you to all of you who were praying. On another note, I am thankful for you-- who take the time to read and pray and who support me in those ways-- as well as financially. I am thankful to God for your lives and the lives of your families and pray His many abundant blessings over you.Well, my friends, I need to get. It's been a long day and there is still more to do. Will write soon!

VA+RI=PJ

Altotonga, Mexico -- I'm still recovering from a very long week(end). It's been an interesting week full of developments. And Thursday night, one of the youth stayed the night at my apartment so that we could be at Chris's house at 3:15am. She is from a little rancho that obviously no buses run at the hour.

I was working on a video for my ma because it was going to be her birthday. So I managed to get about 2 hours of sleep before we crammed into Chris's car and took the trip to Mexico City.

The youth conference was great. It's definitely one of the best conferences I've ever been to. There were youth pastors and leaders there that are dedicated and who want to talk to you and answer your questions. Among the speakers were Abel Lopez, Jeffrey de Leon, Mike Richards, Emmanuel Espinosa, Pablo Delgado, Paco Palafox and many more. It was a great weekend-- I think the youth learned a lot, grew and had a lot of fun in the process. They were talking all weekend about the workshops that they enjoyed as well as the group times. This was very good for them.

Friday night we got to sleep around 11pm. Back up at 7 on Saturday and thus began another day. We went to the Rojo concert that night-- Rojo is a big name in Christian Spanish music. We got back Altotonga on Sunday morning at like 3:20am. One of my favorite workshops that I went to was one taught by Abel Lopez. It was especially for those who had fewer than 2 years in the youth ministry. I had originally planned to go to another one, but I decided to change to this one and was glad I did. It was so practical! It was about basics of running a youth ministry-- how to choose leaders, monthly scheduling and yearly scheduling and how to plan events. I took about 6 pages of notes. Of course, it was a small notebook, but still- 6 pages!

The theme of the conference was Verdad Absoluta + Relacion Intencional = Pastorea Juvenil-- which means Absolute truths + Intentional Relationships= Youth Pastorship. And everything had to do with those two things. We had the cd recordings of the programs, so I plan on digging into the rest that I didn't get to go to this week.

Well, this week is somewhat normal!! I'm going to be focusing this week on visiting college-age kids in the neighbor and I'm doing some studies on leadership and ministry in certain areas. So, between that and everything else that I work on during the week, it'll be good.Well, until next week, friends. I have a lot to do!!! Take care!

Small Town World

Altotonga, Mexico -- I would first like to mention how gloriously wonderful it is outside. There is not a cloud in the sky... It's not hot, but the sun is warm.

Well, it's been a bit busy lately. This last Sunday was the last Sunday at the church location... it's now moved into the Club. Chris has reconfigured all the wires and stuff like that and moved the downstairs office upstairs. Today, I'll be getting a how-to on running the new sound system (or rather, the other sound system).

And I've spent quite a few hours painting at the Club. Pictures hopefully to come soon. It's pretty cool.So, this week the Club is closed. Mostly because Porfirio (the middle school closest to us) is closed on Thursday for all saints day and then day of the dead on Friday. How exciting.

Normally we get many, many kids from Porfirio-- I'd say around 200 different kids will pass through--actually, I'd move that up to about 300... they have two sessions to their school-- those who go in the morning 7-1:20; and those who go in the afternoon/evening.We've had a big growth in the number of kids from Eba... the high school just down the street. It's grown about 100% I'd say in this last year... and we have more girls coming! woo-hoo! So, we're excited about that, and we're excited to see where the new changes will take us.

Next week, I'll be going to Mexico City for a youth leaders' conference. I went last year, and it was amazing. So, we'll be taking a few youth there and will learn how to be better youth leaders!By the way, I have a phone line in my house now. That is a very exciting development. It only took about 6 weeks, but hey, it's in!

The big event today is that Aurrera opened. Aurrera is like a supermarket-- and it's the first "big" thing here. Which I suppose means that Altotonga is growing. But, we're hoping that they may have frozen turkeys so we don't have to go to Xalapa (an hour and a half away) for a turkey for Thanksgiving. So, I'm going to go check that out today-- it's been the talk of town for a few months now.

Second Anniversary

Altotonga, Mexico -- Well, we had the 2nd anniversary of the Club last week. It went very well... we had some 100 kids in attendance... all of them had a blast. We then had cake and soda upstairs while the band played and Chris talked for a while. We were all very very sore on Sunday!This week we have the new wall up in the Club and the next two weeks we'll be closed to make the changes necessary to be able to unite the church and the club in one location. Please pray for the transitions going on with that.Other than that, I continue on my regular schedule and all those things!

Busy-ness

Altotonga, Mexico -- Hello there.

Well, it has been an interesting and busy few weeks since I've written. It's the regular schedule, but it's busy! At lot of changes are going on in the club, some I will mention later, but right now we are in the middle of construction on the land behind the club which will some day be the church's building.

But for now, it will be a basketball court while the court inside will be made into a makeshift church room.The major changes will come starting next week with that. For now, there is construction and a little difference but next week is when it will be like blam!

Other than that, I stay with the same schedule... I guess maybe you should know my schedule then... hmm.. there's a thought. :)

Sundays-- I go visiting around with youth, hit the market for food I'll need during the week; prepare for whatever groups I'll be leading during the week; church 4-6; sometimes an event after church. Other times I take Araceli to church in Xalapa... which is an all day event... from 9am-8pm (travel, church, stuff to do in Xalapa, etc.)

Monday! Free day, which inevitably turns into business day... or day to do whatever I can't do during the week. It's my day to cook in the house.

Tuesdays- Technically "business day", meeting with Chris and Vonda all morning, errands in the afternoon, Spanish class from 4-6 and from 6:30 is a prayer meeting and leader's meeting for college age group.

Wednesdays-- Usually I'll head out to Orilla del Monte to visit there. It's also chore day and my day to cook. Prayer meeting at the club around 5:45... at 7 a leaders' meeting and then at 8:30-- I have discipleship meeting with Araceli.

Thursdays/Fridays-- I go visiting in the morning. Club from 11:30-2:30 and 5:30-9. Business stuff in afternoon.

Saturdays-Dance Class 10:30-12:30; Club time 3:30-8

Generally, that's about it. There are always other things that come up and people that I need to go see... so I make my rounds. And then preparation time for dance class..

On Monday Telmex (the phone company here) came to put a phone line in the house. I was so excited. It had been a month since we had gone to Perote to contract it. So, Tuesday we went to Telmex in Perote (about 1/2 hr away) to contract internet. As it turns out, whoever put the phone line in didn't enter it with the system, and so it shows that we do not have service... and they say it could be a month before it gets entered in. I discovered today, after many tries with different phones and cords that our phone line doesn't even work even though you can dial it and it "rings."

That's been slightly frustrating.I've been working on the video for you guys. I know, I know.. I said that like a month ago. It's been busy, I'm sorry. But it's coming.Monday I may be going to Veracruz to pick up my Japanese program and birthday cards. Hopefully. Well friends, I think that is all right now. I really need to be going, I've a ton of things to do in the next hour before heading to the Club.

Everyday life lessons...

Altotonga, Mexico -- Dear friends, I am writing to you with icky fingernails. Why? Because of an adventure... :)

Two days ago, I went down to the Club to put together some stretching bars for the dance class that is going to start on Saturday. It was an adventure just getting the pieces of pipe.. two long almost 9 feet pieces, walking through town. Some of them I had to get threads made on... Some sautered together (or however you spell that).

I finally got all the pieces, and with the help of my lovely roommate (who is so happy because of all the adventures I drag her into ;)). We finally got it together and left with very greasy hands.

Yesterday, I went down to paint them. Everything was going wonderful. I hadn't made any messes and there was more paint on the bars than on me. I was getting ready to clean the brush as I was comtemplating the sense of independence that I felt for having accomplished all this-- venturing into the world of the hardware store and other manly stores... in another language-- when I grabbed the paint thinner and headed downstairs to clean up.

Well,I poured what I thought was the paint thinner over the paint brush and started rubbing. My hands got blacker and blacker and sticky and the paint was only going all over the sink. I then realized that what I thought was the bottle of paint thinner was just water. I panicked, because now my hands were very very black and no matter how much water I used, the paint wasn't going anywhere!I went back upstairs in search of the real stuff, and found the very clearly marked bottle-- "thinner." (sigh)

So, I got a good portion off my fingers with the paint thinner and cloth.. and eventually got the paint brush cleaned. It was just that my hands.. in all the creases and knuckles and those parts were all black and gray. I scrubbed and scrubbed and got the majority of it off. So much for not making a mess.

It took me longer to get the mess cleaned up than it took me to set up and paint. By the way, did you guys know that paint thinner will melt plastic cups? Interesting!

So, while I was being infumigated by the odors of paint thinner and trying to return everything to the clean state it had been in, I began thinking about the effects of sin on our lives. As I started getting paint on my hands and continued rubbing it around, I laughed about a joke I remembered a friend making--that she was going to inject me with ink so that I would be a little darker. I remembered that as my fingers were turning black.

But as the black paint started to take over and get sticky, I started to panic. Isn't it a little like sin? We may think it's fun(ny) at the beginning, and then we realize that we can't control the spreading of the sin and its stickiness. No matter what we do, we just make more and more of a mess of things.Until we bring out the Word of God... the paint thinner of our lives. It cleanes and dissolves that black gunky mess that we've made and brings peace. It has an airy feeling pouring over the hands, and sometimes it's a little tough to scrub with or when it gets into cuts, but nonetheless, it cleans up the mess. That is, if we choose to apply it. So, if you've made a mess, bring out the paint thinner-- the Word of God Himself. And apply it to your life and bring yourself closer to God.

I don't know how I manage to get myself into such adventures. But it's fun.Well, my friends, I continue working with the leadership of the college age group-- forming and developing the leadership so that we can go somewhere!

Other than that, as I mentioned the dance class starts this Saturday. I believe we're going to have a good turnout. We'll see how these things go.I am trying to get a video put together this week to be able to post. It would be easier to do if I could post it in my house (through internet in my house) but we're still waiting on the phone company to come put the line in. Who knows when they'll arrive. :)Have a great afternoon my friends, I need to run! (By the way, toothpaste also helps to get oil paint off your hands-- don't ask)

No, I haven't disappeared

Altotonga, Mexico -- Hey friends, NO, I promise I haven't disappeared. These last few days have been insanely crazy. I am planning an update for tomorrow, when things are a little less busy. :)

Also coming soon, a video! Yes, that's right, a video.

For now, if you all could be praying for my application process for residency here. I need a few papers, but the gentleman from an organization who was going to file it for me wants to charge me an arm, leg, ear, and part of a hip to complete the process. Please pray that I can acquire the papers I need in a timely manner. Thank you! Have a fantastic day!

Mexican Independence

Altotonga, Mexico -- Well, Saturday night we celebrated Mexican Night in the park with thousands of other Altotonguenses. It was so crowded! There was nothing particular spectacular, though I enjoyed being out and about with my cheeks painted in the colors of the Mexican flag (don't ask me what I did for American Indepence day... not one thing!). Well... I take that back (about the nothing spectacular)... the fireworks were kind of dangerous and added for a rather... alert composure.

Sunday morning we watched the parade from across the street from Chris and Vonda's house. It was really lonnnnnnnng. But, it was fun to see the kids I know marching and smiling when they recognised someone they knew.

It's getting cold here. The mornings are fresh here, and by the afternoon it starts to get cold and then a bit colder. I'm appreciated hot coffee and tea more and more. But this is only the beginning!

I am looking forward to a busy week! I am putting subtitles on the testimonial videos that are available on this website. I've already done my dad's. And then I will take care of Club duties on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday morning I will go out to Orilla del Monte to visit a student who lives out there. She's a very hyper junior higher. She wants me to come meet her family and pick apples. A apple picking I go!

And of course, you know I'll take those opps to spread a little Jesus. :) Well, I am getting ready to plan the first college age even come the first part of October... I just have a few things to get in line with that before I can be official about the first event. I'm excited, please pray for me on that-- for wisdom and guidance and strength and God's anointing on everything.Bless you all! Hope to hear from you!

Janine's Ark

Altotonga, Mexico -- Hey all... Hey, I just realized it's Sept. 11. Wow.

Well, not to pass that on by, but I have short time today. It's been a busy... and rather.. interesting day. :) By the way, the thing about the Janine's ark is that it's been raining so much lately-- I was considering building myself an ark to get to church on Sunday.

Last week I had my weekly one-on-one discipleship meeting with my roommate and she was talking about how lately people had been asking her what she was-- if she was a Christian or not. And she said that she wasn't sure how to answer, because she thought that the name Christian was something that you needed to be worthy of... and she compared it to like a gold medal or something like that. So, I asked her a few questions aout what was most important, if she wanted to be like Christ and that.

I explained to her about Christian meaning little Christ and that if she was living it and He is her Lord, then she could call herself a Christian. You should have seen the smile on her face. And she was like, woo-hoo! (almost laughing) I'm a Christian!

On other notes, tomorrow I'm going to go visit a family that I've been working with out in a little rancho called Orilla del Monte. Last week when I went to visit, I got some questions about Christianity from the family of Rosita, who is now a Christian. This was a first, and an open door... so I'm excited and am waiting to see what God is going to do in their lives.

Thursday I'll run the Club as Chris has to go to Mexico City to see about his FM3 (residency visa).

And this Saturday we'll celebrate Mexican Independence Day and have a pizza party in the club (we make the pizza from scratch).

Well, I need to get... the day is still not over and there are a few more things to be taken care, and a prayer meeting.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!

God is Faithful

Altotonga, Mexico -- The sight of a 12 year old boy with a trembling chin under squinted eyebrows, trying to control himself "as a man" while he watched his older brother being lowered into the earth was a heart wrenching sight.

This morning, I attended a funeral for a friend of mine. It was tragically sad. Javier Alcantara Reyes, age 21, passed away on July 8, 2007, is what the wooden cross that would mark his gravesight said. At the sight of it, and the long awaited casket, I about choked in tears. Many teens had eyes brimming as they hugged one another and told stories of Javier.

On July 10, I received a text message that a friend had been killed in a car accident. To all of us here, it seemed as if someone had kicked us in the stomach. I scrambled to rearrange my schedule for the pending funeral, get ahold of the appropriate people and comfort friends in the following weeks. But, because he had been in the states and with the paperwork that had to be filed from every which person, he did not arrive in those weeks.

Yesterday, his body arrived to Altotonga, and we had the wake. Yesterday is when it became real for most. In support of friends and the family, I stayed for several hours. As Javier had been a part of the praise team, a leader for a good long time, we sang praise songs "Javier style"-- he also had put a rhythm and style to the songs that were sung. This morning, we walked through town behind the car carrying his casket to the Catholic mass (his family is Catholic) and then to the gravesight.

Sometimes I don't understand the choices God makes. But, He is sovereign and works things out for the best, right? It's like the psalm-- our nights will be turned into morning; it's like the song-- trading our sorrows for the joy of the Lord. I'm waiting to see what God has in store. Like I said, I don't know why God chose to call Javier home so soon. But I trust God and His promises... He has always proved faithful. More in a few days, my friends.

Swinging

September 4, 2007
Altotonga, Mexico -- Hey! Well, I am working on getting back into the swing of things having just arrived back in Altotonga a few days ago.The trip down here was just interesting... I had forgotten what travel is like on Labor Day Weekend, and even in the Mexico City bus station, there were just hundreds of people. Insanity.

So, I made it into Mex City about an hour and a half later than I thought I would, and arrived to pass through immigration with some 200-300 people in front of me. But, I lived.Cool story though-- I arrived to TAPO (the Mex City bus station) and my bus was going to leave at 11:40pm. I had about 40 minutes to check my luggage, and for 20 minutes I stood in the line to check it (I was a good 40 feet away) and no one had moved. I was like, Lord, what am I going to do? You´ve got to help!

I remembered a story about someone who had prayed in tongues while waiting in line, and I figured I must be remembering for a reason. So, I started to pray in tongues, and when I started people started to move. I just smiled when all this started happening. Within 15 minutes I had checked my luggage. Prayer is so powerful! And God is SO cool! I've never been SO happy in my life to get on a bus. Arrived to Altotonga at about 4:15am. By the time I got to bed, they had begun setting the market up outside of my apartment, with their clanking poles and energetic music. So, I'll working my schedule back together. I'm excited to be here, excited for plans for this coming year, excited to see what God has in store.In this week I'm also going to see about starting the application for my FM3 process.. which right now will just be phone calls. Other than that, no big events for the coming weeks-- just club schedule and the more logistical planning of college age stuff and dance class. I will keep you all updated on what's going on! Have a fabulous day!

Saint Louis

August 23, 2007 St. Louis, MO --
Hey, all!So, I'm still in stl. It's a little warm here, considering where I've been for the last year doesn't get above 75. But I am soaking up the sun and hoping that I can somehow hoard this heat and use in when I go back. Don't think that's gonna work.So, this is a cool new thing! (Thanks a ton, Demond!) I'm liking this computer savy-ness... and I'm excited about the prospects of being able to keep more in touch with you. I'll be speaking at CA on Sunday (woo-hoo) so be sure you don't miss the service (why would you want to anyway?!?). I'll talk about this past year in Mexico, the coming year in Mexico and the future (woo-hoo! again).Looking forward to seeing you all