Rapids on Main Street

As we’ve mentioned, we’re at the tail end of our rainy season.  While the rains are not daily, when they do show up, they come with a fury.  The day we were up near the Bet-lehem church, we had to brave the rapids on the main “drag” in order to get home.  We should have been smarter and waited the rains out at the church, but our eagerness to get home and get back to our normal routine got the best of us.  Take a look at what it all looked like (taken with a cell phone) from our 1985 Nova.

Torn between Two Time Zones

Mexico City had its daylight saving time change on Sunday.  We didn’t think too much about it, but enjoyed the extra hour of rest.  However, come Monday, the girls by accident found out that their internet classes suddenly required them to connect an hour earlier.  We’d totally forgotten.  So, now in the wake of our scrambling on Monday, we have two rooms in different time zones.  The girls’ study room has the old time, while the computer room has the new time.  This is to help us all remember what’s next.

On another note, we’ve enjoyed getting up with the sun.  And were surprised by how early it gets dark.  I told Kiana, “Now we can have our ‘drive-in’ theater early without waiting until too late to begin.  We’ve been trying to have an outdoors movie night near our rented hall, but either the rains or the late sun prevented us from having it.  Look out November, we’re “gonna” take to the streets with movies!

Roof with a View?

 

Kiana and I climbed up on the roof of the Bet-lehem church to take a glance of the Los Heroes neighborhood on this overcast day.  There were lots of obstacles between here and there, but we could see some of our local landmarks like grocery stores.

Returning to Jasmin

Keila finished the video presentation that was due in her filmmaking class.  Earlier I posted the short version and here is the longer one of Jasmin's story.  It’s amazing the perseverance that God has given her after the death of her husband only a few months ago.

Party!

The obvious reason for the anniversary at Bet-lehem was to join in as churches to enjoy a time together worshipping and sharing.  The Bet-lehem anniversary went off without a hitch.  There was abundant food, enjoyable music, lots of catching up with friends, and a challenging message and testimony. The new churches were awed by all that was offered to them.  We had fun greeting people from all the congregations.

One Church

The three churches of Bread of Life in La Presa, One in Christ in La Guadalupana and the 1 More 4 Christ in Los Heroes all got together and prepared a choreography which we presented the day of the Bet-lehem anniversary.  While we were all bunched together and hardly had any space to show what we had practiced, we had a great time doing it and our choreography leader, Raquel, kept us all on track.  Thanks Bet-lehem for 23 years of service in the community!

Community Outreach

Tracey and Keila volunteered for Bet-lehem’s, the mother church, community service outreach this last week.  Believers in the church offered free haircuts, blood pressure and blood sugar tests, as well as crafts like knitting and making bracelets.  For almost a week they went to help draw people in preparation for the church’s 23 anniversary.  While Keila made lots of new friends teaching people to knit, Tracey was worried about the women who came that registered a blood sugar around 500 as she verified their results.

 

Men Need to Talk?

We had our first men’s group meeting on Monday afternoon.  It was early in the afternoon because of their schedules and we’re not sure when the next one will be.  But I had set aside about 90 minutes for a short study taken from “Good Guys Finish First” – a book that takes selected proverbs for men.  Assuming that the actual study would take us about 45 minutes, we made it short.  The meeting went on for close to 3 hours.  This was the first time that they had a chance to talk about their experiences and their thoughts, all related of course to proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit.”  Thanks for your prayers.

Culture shock? Avance

Tracey went to meet the Avance, formerly Spearhead, short-term missionaries.  Her time was spent teaching them about the feelings that they were already experiencing, “culture shock.”  She’s given this talk to many young people over the years to help them to understand why suddenly their enjoyable experience in Mexico goes sour.  It just happens that this was the way I first met Tracey.  While I wasn’t going through culture shock, she invited me anyway.  And that is how I got to know her and her work with Spearhead.  Culture shock isn’t fun, but it sure did open the door to a long lasting and enjoyable relationship with my wife.

Who’s Chair?

Two weeks ago, we took all the chairs that we own as a congregation to the meeting.  And guess what?  Of the 30 chairs we own, there wasn’t enough seating for everyone.  We had over 30 in attendance that day.  So now it’s time to buy more.  The folding chairs come in boxes of 4, so we’d like to purchase another 16 to give us room to grow.  Would you help us in praying that we fill them?  

Oh, and this week we almost hit 40, so maybe we should be purchasing more?

Making Connections

On Saturday, we all met in the park for our youth activity.  After some games and a study, we set out to work on some photography skills.  They had to think up how to put small groups together.  You judge how they did.

But afterwards was the best part.  We all packed up into our van and headed over to our home.  Keila taught the group how to make pizzas.  The laughs were non-stop and the pizza dough on almost everyone’s hands.  We ate and ate and ate.  Wow, can those adolescents eat!

Kicked out AGAIN?

We got news last week that our hall was rented to another group meeting at our normal worship time on Sunday afternoon.  So we scrambled to look for another location.  I said, “We’ll be back in our home again.”  But in reality we’re getting too big for our house.  But Tracey and Maria said, “What if we ask Carmen who lives close to our rented location if we can use the parking space at the end of her street to put up a rented tent?”  So we asked and the entire family gave us their consent. So we met outside for music, then for worship and finally for English.  Not a dull moment if you worship at 1 More 4 Christ.

Best laid Plans

Our Wednesday night prayer meeting in Cedros had to be moved.  So scrambling at the last moment, we thought “our house.”  But our team decided to ask one of the believers if we could use his house.  The family said, “Yes.”  So the adults prayed as the children did a craft, just a step away, in this new location – only a stone’s throw from our rented hall.  Great decision team!  And afterwards one of the ladies who attended said, “Whenever you need my home for an activity, it’s open for the church’s use.” 

Multiplying like Mad!

Our women have been pushing hard to know Jesus over these past couple of weeks.  Tracey and Maria have opened up another Bible study.  This second group meets on Tuesday evening for those who cannot meet in the mornings on Wednesday.  The groups have been averaging between 9-10.  Tracey said, “I like teaching and leading the groups of women.”  God is preparing hearts and lives for service to him.

Sunday Out

During the month of October, we will be doing special home visits before the service in order to motivate families who haven’t come to begin attending once again.  While we got off to a rough start, one of our substitute music teachers didn’t show up, a family that had stopped coming started again.  Please pray for our desire to grow and to stay connected to the families around us.

For Men Only

 
Gerardo is on the right

Milamex, MIssion - LAtin American - MEXico, put together a special event for men on Saturday morning.  They filled Capitol City Baptist Church in Mexico City.  It was a much enjoyed and needed event.  I took Gerardo, from Los Heroes, with me and we met some men from Bet-lehem, the mother church.  The day went quickly and was filled with lots of good instruction, advice and resources.

Teaser

Keila continues to grow and learn in the area of film-making.  She videotaped an interview with a dear friend, Jasmin, whose husband passed away this year.  While this is not the entire video, stay tuned, she created a “rough-cut” as requested by her teacher.  I’m impressed with her work.

Infomercial?

We were asked last week to submit a short video updating one of our supporting churches about our latest activities preferably with a word from family members.  This was a quick one-take event.

So How was the Switch?

Our Wednesday night prayer meeting went off without a hitch.  After picking up everyone from the Flores (Flowers) neighborhood, we began our time together as families singing, reading and memorizing God’s word.  As the evening progressed, the kids went upstairs to play – this time – while the adults were led in prayer.  Although the time went longer than expected, I believe that we all enjoyed the time to share with each other and then pray personally for each one.  It was a big night.  And lots came out to share in it.  Thank you for praying.

What’s Key?

On Friday, the key men and I got together to discuss the forming of a men’s study.  We talked while “downing” some delicious tacos at a local stand.  We were in agreement that in order for our wives and families to feel secure, we needed to take our role as fathers and husbands seriously.  So we will soon begin studies in Proverbs to encourage each other to make wise decisions and take wise steps in leading our families.

Interest in Healing Hearts,

There were 8 that attended the women’s study last Wednesday morning.  While the number was up, there were quite a few new faces, that means that some regulars couldn’t make it.  We trust that as Tracey trains María and the group in how to study the Bible that each mom reaches out to touch the lives of her friends with God’s grace.

Moving to the beat…

Our youth group was a bit smaller this last Saturday due to enormous amounts of homework assigned to the adolescents; many could not come.  We managed to have a talk on temptation, play team handball – led by Keila, and learn to do some video taping.  Here’s a sample of their video skills.  Remember, they’re just starting to learn how to take good photos and work with a video camera.

The First Wall is Up!

As the Bread of Life church in La Presa continues to motivate its people to give to build the next level, a lone wall stands erected to remind them that the work isn’t finished.  Pastor Ignacio said, “This week we removed all the wooden structures that were used to hold up the forms for the cement roof.  We also moved all our extra building materials to the roof to see how much new space we have.”  AnaLilia, his wife, said, “Now the kids can freely study, play and NOT get dirty from all the construction materials.  We enjoy being able to teach them in the shade and not in the bright sun on Sunday mornings.”