June 16, 2012 Settling down
A fruit called Guanabana.
We have been back for over a week now. Yet the days have been so busy trying to get our lives back into order. We have finally unpacked all of our luggage which was a big job. Every year one of our main goals for when we are home is to buy new clothing and shoes. What I mean by new, I mean new for us. We make our rounds to various thrift stores and garages sales to accomplish this. It is difficult to cloth kids who seem to be growing so fast. Even this morning we put a pair of sandals on Levi. Before we left for furlough they were to big. Now they are almost to small for him. It is moments like that, you realize that even though you may not see the growth because you are so close to it, it is evident that they are growing. We weigh Anna the other day and she is now 81 pounds. Granted she probably gained some weight while we were home in the states because she was not as active as she is at home, but 81 pounds. Is there any way to stop them from growing. I think not. We often joke with the girls about giving them spanking for growing so fast. Levi this week figured out how to ride a scooter we have. For a two year old he does pretty well. We shall see what he does when he older.
Back to clothes, this is an area that we would say cost more than in the states. There are open market where you can buy used clothing, yet the price is still high. For used jeans you would probably pay about $20 for a used pair. She are ridiculous to purchase brand new. Yes you can buy knock offs, yet they do not last. A cheap pair of new shoes for Anna was about $25 US dollars and they were falling apart in less than three months. Living in Mexico is cheaper in some aspects but in other areas it is more expensive. Clothing is definitely one of the areas that is more expensive. If you make a good living, you don't buy a car or a new house, you buy new cloths. It is an interesting aspect of the culture here. Downtown you will see people deck out in their nicest of clothing. Even if it is going to the market.
This week I thought I would show you one of the main fruits we as "Americans" have never seen or heard of. This one is call Guanabana. It is about the size of a small grape fruit but can grow even bigger. This one was pretty big. This picture was taken just after one of our neighbors brought us one. The way it looks on the plate is how it falls when it is ripe. i think they picked it just before it fell. Basically has the consistency of a slime. It is sweet and tart. I really could tell you what it is like, maybe a cross between watermelon and a really ripe mango? Once you get past the texture part, it is not that bad. Jessie tasted it but could get past the texture which is pretty hard to get past.
Yesterday, I had started a post but got a visitor so I was unable to finish. I thought I would at least post a quote from a book I am reading from Watchmen Nee called The Prayer Ministry of the Church.
"We cannot make the church so low by suggesting that it is merely a meeting. No, the church is a group of people who have been redeemed by the blood, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who have committed themselves to God's hand, and who are willing to take God's will, do His will, and stand for God on earth for the sake of maintaining His testimony."
I am encouraged in my faith. I hope yours is as well when you read something like this. Be blessed!
(p.s. I posted more pictures of our Illinois side of furlough)
Back to clothes, this is an area that we would say cost more than in the states. There are open market where you can buy used clothing, yet the price is still high. For used jeans you would probably pay about $20 for a used pair. She are ridiculous to purchase brand new. Yes you can buy knock offs, yet they do not last. A cheap pair of new shoes for Anna was about $25 US dollars and they were falling apart in less than three months. Living in Mexico is cheaper in some aspects but in other areas it is more expensive. Clothing is definitely one of the areas that is more expensive. If you make a good living, you don't buy a car or a new house, you buy new cloths. It is an interesting aspect of the culture here. Downtown you will see people deck out in their nicest of clothing. Even if it is going to the market.
This week I thought I would show you one of the main fruits we as "Americans" have never seen or heard of. This one is call Guanabana. It is about the size of a small grape fruit but can grow even bigger. This one was pretty big. This picture was taken just after one of our neighbors brought us one. The way it looks on the plate is how it falls when it is ripe. i think they picked it just before it fell. Basically has the consistency of a slime. It is sweet and tart. I really could tell you what it is like, maybe a cross between watermelon and a really ripe mango? Once you get past the texture part, it is not that bad. Jessie tasted it but could get past the texture which is pretty hard to get past.
Yesterday, I had started a post but got a visitor so I was unable to finish. I thought I would at least post a quote from a book I am reading from Watchmen Nee called The Prayer Ministry of the Church.
"We cannot make the church so low by suggesting that it is merely a meeting. No, the church is a group of people who have been redeemed by the blood, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who have committed themselves to God's hand, and who are willing to take God's will, do His will, and stand for God on earth for the sake of maintaining His testimony."
I am encouraged in my faith. I hope yours is as well when you read something like this. Be blessed!
(p.s. I posted more pictures of our Illinois side of furlough)
June 14, 2012 We are home
I first have to apologize for not getting to this sooner. We finished our Minnesota side of our trip and went to Illinois. The first few days were a little bit busy yet there were times I could have updated. In my mind I thought, I will have time in a few days, yet it seemed as time progressed, our time got more and more busy. It was a constant movement. I am not complaining at all because we had some wonderful times with Jessie's family. It just made it difficult to get back to the website. Then when we got home this past weekend, I tried to log on and couldn't add anything new updates due to some technical difficulties on our part. I will keep this brief tonight. We are doing well. We are getting settled back into life in Mexico. It is extremely hot 95+ during the days. Today we got a bit of rain so that made it better only getting up into the high 80's. We are almost done packing and done cleaning the house. A lot of dust collects in a house over 100 years old. I will write more tomorrow when I have time.
Hope you like the new design of the website! (My wife is good at this type of thing!)
Hope you like the new design of the website! (My wife is good at this type of thing!)
May 17, 2012 Escalators??!!
Ok as a parent, having kids is great! We enjoy teaching them new things and watching them discover doing things on their own. Two days ago, we had the opportunity to go to the mall. Here was a chance to again teach my girls something new. In Autlan, we have no buildings that have escalators. There is no need as well as business do not the clientele for things like escalators. There is at least one or two places in Autlan that have elevators. We had to go down to the lower level. So it was time for the girls to step on to the escalator. Now even anyone had been watching us, they would have seen me and four of my kids with me getting ready to get on the escalator. Anna stepped on but only with one foot. Her other stayed on the surface that didn't move. So basically she started doing the splits until she held on to the rail and stepped on. Then it was Lilly's turn. She then stepped on but continued to back up staying in the same place. She did that for at least 3 or 4 steps. I told her to stop moving and just hang on. She figured it out and started down the escalator. Now it was Aletta's turn. She stepped on, but proceeded to walk back towards me against the direction of the escalator. I thought she would have stopped after two or three stairs but she also continued so I told her to just stop walking and ride. She did after three more steps. Needless to say I had to look around and see if anyone was watching this father of four getting his kids to ride the escalator. It is these little things that make you realize that kids experience things differently. My girls are 8,6, and 5 yet to ride the escalator is a new adventure. Who knows what new adventures we will have in the days ahead? Have a great day.
May 14, 2012 Encouraging our friends
Ben and Jody Selin (with one of their four kids)
Over our time here in the states we have been able to spend time with various people. It is such a privilege to share what God is doing in Autlan. Yesterday we went to both my bother Ben's church as well as my sister's church to share just briefly what God is doing in Autlan. Each time we share, it reminds us of how God uses us on a daily basis. When you are in the middle of life, sometimes it is hard to see that happening. During this time, we are able to step back a bit and rest.
This morning we had the privilege to have breakfast with some old friends of ours. When I say old friends, I mean they have known me before I met Jessie and I knew them before they started dating. Their names are Ben and Jody Selin. It was a real treat to spend time with them as they are now beginning the adventure of going on the mission field. It does not come up very often that we get to talk to new missionaries. Ben and Jody are so fresh that it was Ben's first day off after quitting his job last Friday. It is encouraging to talk with them as they shared how God has lead them to start moving in the direction of missions. As we shared with them some of the beginning ups and downs of mission life, talking about it reminds us of how God has been so faithful to us. Each step we have taken in this journey of being on the mission field God has directed us. Even going through some of the frustrations of not being able to communicate your thoughts. God has been faithful. He gives you peace. He gives you what you need when you need it. As it says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (NKJV) If we seek the Lord first, everything else will be taken care of. At times we have felt we needed more or didn't have enough, but through those times of need God sustained us. It may have been difficult to go through but through it we learned valuable aspects of God's character. He is our provider. He is our good shepherd.
This morning we had the privilege to have breakfast with some old friends of ours. When I say old friends, I mean they have known me before I met Jessie and I knew them before they started dating. Their names are Ben and Jody Selin. It was a real treat to spend time with them as they are now beginning the adventure of going on the mission field. It does not come up very often that we get to talk to new missionaries. Ben and Jody are so fresh that it was Ben's first day off after quitting his job last Friday. It is encouraging to talk with them as they shared how God has lead them to start moving in the direction of missions. As we shared with them some of the beginning ups and downs of mission life, talking about it reminds us of how God has been so faithful to us. Each step we have taken in this journey of being on the mission field God has directed us. Even going through some of the frustrations of not being able to communicate your thoughts. God has been faithful. He gives you peace. He gives you what you need when you need it. As it says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (NKJV) If we seek the Lord first, everything else will be taken care of. At times we have felt we needed more or didn't have enough, but through those times of need God sustained us. It may have been difficult to go through but through it we learned valuable aspects of God's character. He is our provider. He is our good shepherd.
May 12, 2012 Pictures
If you haven't checked out our pictures, I have loaded a bunch of pictures from our time with my family. Should have more over the weekend as all of my sisters and brothers are in town to celebrate Mother's day tomorrow. We are so blessed to be here. Thank you for those of you who are praying for us. We need them.
May 9, 2012 Sermon link
Before I forget, I wanted to post a link to the sermon that I preached this past Sunday at Church Upon the Rock in Mounds View, Minnesota. Have a great day!
http://www.cutr.org/sermons.php
http://www.cutr.org/sermons.php
May 8, 2012 Days with Clark side of the family.
Anna and Grandma Clark
It has been over a week now since been in Minnesota. We are enjoying spending time with various family members as well as visiting a few different churches. I have finally had a moment to get caught up a bit here. I have loaded a bunch of pictures from this first week.
Over the weekend we had the opportunity to share at two different places. Over the last couple of months we have been really aware of the maturity level of the people we work with. I say this not to say that we are seeing growth and maturity in the believers in Autlan but there is something about being around people who have been serving the Lord of many years. It it encourages your faith when you hear of how God is working in their lives and what passages of scriptures God has used to speak to His people. At both places I share at over the weekend the majority of people that were there were over my age. This is very different for us. We are usually the oldest. But being back in the states we have been some of the youngest. There is so much more we need to learn. More specifically that I need to learn. The older generation of believers are season by time and have experienced God in ways that I can learn from. My prayer is that God would continue to teach me through His servants. As the old saying goes, "He isn't through with me yet". I am blessed to be home among the church here. Not only to share with them what God is doing in Autlan but also to receive prayer. Oh how good it is to be prayed for. To be the receiver and not the giver. I don't want to sound selfish but it is refreshing to get prayed for. Thank you for those of you who have been praying for us. We are blessed! Off to run to park with the kids. I will get back to this in the coming days.
Over the weekend we had the opportunity to share at two different places. Over the last couple of months we have been really aware of the maturity level of the people we work with. I say this not to say that we are seeing growth and maturity in the believers in Autlan but there is something about being around people who have been serving the Lord of many years. It it encourages your faith when you hear of how God is working in their lives and what passages of scriptures God has used to speak to His people. At both places I share at over the weekend the majority of people that were there were over my age. This is very different for us. We are usually the oldest. But being back in the states we have been some of the youngest. There is so much more we need to learn. More specifically that I need to learn. The older generation of believers are season by time and have experienced God in ways that I can learn from. My prayer is that God would continue to teach me through His servants. As the old saying goes, "He isn't through with me yet". I am blessed to be home among the church here. Not only to share with them what God is doing in Autlan but also to receive prayer. Oh how good it is to be prayed for. To be the receiver and not the giver. I don't want to sound selfish but it is refreshing to get prayed for. Thank you for those of you who have been praying for us. We are blessed! Off to run to park with the kids. I will get back to this in the coming days.
April 23, 2012 The day has finally arrived!!!
I wanted to post before our days started today. The last two weeks blended together. They were so fast yet so slow at the same time. We had many details to complete to be leaving our home, ministry and church for various weeks. For days Jessie and have have been working very hard to accomplish all those tasks. Yet our days seemed like it was taking forever to get to today. We are now getting up and going to Guadalajara this morning to so we can stay in a hotel, to catch an early flight back to the states on Tuesday. We are very excited. We can not wait to see many of you in the coming weeks. Pleas pray for our travels to the states and that God would keep us healthy. We have had years where we have gotten very sick when we got back to the states. Blessings!
April 12, 2012 Our Easter Retreat (A Long Post)
Me and German praying just after he was baptized.
Over this past weekend we had the privilege to work with another church called Vida Abundante. The invited us to share in two day retreat. They took care of Friday the food, the preaching and games for that day. La Roca church was responsible for Saturday. We had time to reflect on what Jesus did when He died on the cross. As believers is one of the basics building blocks to our faith. I would say that over 90% of the people who were on this retreat have only been Christians for less than 2 years. So to have time to celebrate and really process what Jesus did was a special blessing for many there. I had the privilege to share with them on Saturday morning. I was able to share how Jesus opened the holy place in the temple when the veil was torn. It was through the action of dying on the cross that He reconciled us to God the father. The price had been paid. God’s wrath had been satisfied through the blood of Jesus. We now can enter in boldly as it says in Hebrews 10:19 -22 into the throne room of God.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (NKJV)
After I shared this with them we had time of just sitting before the Lord in various places at this camp. You can see from the pictures that it is pretty and rustic. A place you could get alone with God.
I thought I would just share with you what I felt the Lord speaking to me about. Where we had worship services, there was this huge tree. I mean the base was huge. I would say bigger than a car. As I was sitting there I felt the Lord say: Do you think that whoever planted this tree thought it would be this big? There were lots of trees all over the place yet none compared to this one. It had to be over 100 years old. At the base of it, there was a small stream. When I mean small, I mean not more than an inch deep and a foot wide. Yet it was constantly flowing beneath this tree. In Jeremiah 17:7-9: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out it’s roots by the river, and will not fear when the heat comes; But it’s leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Here was a physical representation of these verses. We are in the middle of Mexico. We have not had rain in over a month. Before that it was over 3 months of no rain. Yet here in Mexico next to this river was a huge tree that was perfectly healthy with no signs of a drought. It was being kept alive by this constant stream of water. Oh how I need the Lord. I want to be a strong man of faith. It is through this constant daily stream of His word that will cause me to grow.
One highlight of this weekend was the baptism we had. If you have read our previous posts you would see who German is. He is a young 16 kid, who has never had a really family. He started coming to La Roca to help out on Sunday evenings. It is such a huge blessing to see the Lord working in this young man’s life. He has found his home in Christ. I have no idea what the future holds for him. There is so much more he needs to learn but being baptized was a huge step in the right direction. To be baptized as a Christian here is a big deal. Many people have already been baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby.
FYI: If you want to see a video of it, it is on facebook under La Roca Iglesia Cristiana. Here is a link you can copy and paste:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=281771445235228
Another highlight was that of a young man named Jonathan (in the photos I posted he is the one who has a bunch of marshmallows stuffed in his mouth). Let me give you a bit of history first. He came to Autlan, because is sister had moved here. His sister Laura ended up moving-in with Barbara a lady from our church. She is only 18 and had bounced around from house-to-house because no one in her family wanted to be responsible for her. The same goes with Jonathan who is only 16. They have both had a rough past. Laura is growing in the Lord. She prayed with someone to receive the Lord several months ago. She continues to come to church as well as bible studies through out the week. Jonathan was extremely touched during this retreat. He is not totally ready to submit his life to Christ, but the seeds have been planted. This weekend again was a huge stepping stone in his faith. You could see a difference in him as the weekend went on. His attitudes are starting to change. Our prayer is that God would get a hold of him and change his life.
Before I finish, I have to say something about Sunday night. Sunday, I was asked to share with a youth group at another church. I have become friends with the youth leader and his wife. They are in their early 30’s. After sharing, we all attended the main church service. Afterwards we all (the youth groups from our church and theirs) went to La Roca for a small party. We were from three different churches that were all playing games and having a good time. There is division among the churches here so to have three different churches together, is such a good thing. My prayer is that God would continue uniting the body of believers however He wants to do that.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (NKJV)
After I shared this with them we had time of just sitting before the Lord in various places at this camp. You can see from the pictures that it is pretty and rustic. A place you could get alone with God.
I thought I would just share with you what I felt the Lord speaking to me about. Where we had worship services, there was this huge tree. I mean the base was huge. I would say bigger than a car. As I was sitting there I felt the Lord say: Do you think that whoever planted this tree thought it would be this big? There were lots of trees all over the place yet none compared to this one. It had to be over 100 years old. At the base of it, there was a small stream. When I mean small, I mean not more than an inch deep and a foot wide. Yet it was constantly flowing beneath this tree. In Jeremiah 17:7-9: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out it’s roots by the river, and will not fear when the heat comes; But it’s leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Here was a physical representation of these verses. We are in the middle of Mexico. We have not had rain in over a month. Before that it was over 3 months of no rain. Yet here in Mexico next to this river was a huge tree that was perfectly healthy with no signs of a drought. It was being kept alive by this constant stream of water. Oh how I need the Lord. I want to be a strong man of faith. It is through this constant daily stream of His word that will cause me to grow.
One highlight of this weekend was the baptism we had. If you have read our previous posts you would see who German is. He is a young 16 kid, who has never had a really family. He started coming to La Roca to help out on Sunday evenings. It is such a huge blessing to see the Lord working in this young man’s life. He has found his home in Christ. I have no idea what the future holds for him. There is so much more he needs to learn but being baptized was a huge step in the right direction. To be baptized as a Christian here is a big deal. Many people have already been baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby.
FYI: If you want to see a video of it, it is on facebook under La Roca Iglesia Cristiana. Here is a link you can copy and paste:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=281771445235228
Another highlight was that of a young man named Jonathan (in the photos I posted he is the one who has a bunch of marshmallows stuffed in his mouth). Let me give you a bit of history first. He came to Autlan, because is sister had moved here. His sister Laura ended up moving-in with Barbara a lady from our church. She is only 18 and had bounced around from house-to-house because no one in her family wanted to be responsible for her. The same goes with Jonathan who is only 16. They have both had a rough past. Laura is growing in the Lord. She prayed with someone to receive the Lord several months ago. She continues to come to church as well as bible studies through out the week. Jonathan was extremely touched during this retreat. He is not totally ready to submit his life to Christ, but the seeds have been planted. This weekend again was a huge stepping stone in his faith. You could see a difference in him as the weekend went on. His attitudes are starting to change. Our prayer is that God would get a hold of him and change his life.
Before I finish, I have to say something about Sunday night. Sunday, I was asked to share with a youth group at another church. I have become friends with the youth leader and his wife. They are in their early 30’s. After sharing, we all attended the main church service. Afterwards we all (the youth groups from our church and theirs) went to La Roca for a small party. We were from three different churches that were all playing games and having a good time. There is division among the churches here so to have three different churches together, is such a good thing. My prayer is that God would continue uniting the body of believers however He wants to do that.
April 11, 2012 No time to write.
I will post tomorrow about experiences we had during our retreat last weekend. Before I run off to prepare for my sermon for Sunday, I just wanted to let you know that I did load a bunch of pictures. Some from our retreat, some random and then also a few from a youth party we had on Sunday night at La Roca after church at Apostental Alto. I was going to write about the retreat but I ran out of time to do so. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Have a good day.
April 3, 2012 Google Maps
Ok for all of those of you who have never used Google maps, here is a way you can actually check out Autlan where we live.
When you get to the main Google map page at: http://maps.google.com./
Copy and paste our address below
González Ortega 82, Centro, Autlan de Navarro
Then you drag the little orange man over to the street. It will take you to the street view. You will see our house which is yellow and red. Our maroon Ford Expedition is parked out front underneath some trees. You can continue to check out different places in Autlan. You can see La Roca as well, which is only 2 blocks away from our house, copy and paste this:
Mariano Bárcenas 19A, Autlan de Navarro, México
Pretty cool to see Autlan on the computer.
When you get to the main Google map page at: http://maps.google.com./
Copy and paste our address below
González Ortega 82, Centro, Autlan de Navarro
Then you drag the little orange man over to the street. It will take you to the street view. You will see our house which is yellow and red. Our maroon Ford Expedition is parked out front underneath some trees. You can continue to check out different places in Autlan. You can see La Roca as well, which is only 2 blocks away from our house, copy and paste this:
Mariano Bárcenas 19A, Autlan de Navarro, México
Pretty cool to see Autlan on the computer.
April 3, 2012 Always busy right before you leave
It was seem before you leave on a big trip that there are times when it can't some soon enough. Then there are other times when you can't believe the day has already arrived. For us the days seem to be melting into each other. We are busier than usual. We have had more events come up in the last few weeks including one that is happening this weekend over Easter weekend. Another church asked us to come and do a retreat with them for Friday and Saturday. Being that most of the town shuts down during Saturday, most people will be able to come. The other church gave us Saturday to work with as they were doing everything for Friday. We are looking forward do getting some time to fellowship. We are also going to baptize Herman. (from previous posts) It is a perfect time for one as we celebrate the death and RESURRECTION of Jesus this weekend. We are so excited fore this opportunity to spend time with brother and sisters in Christ. Pray that God would use this time to bring us closer to Himself and increase our faith.
The next couple of weeks are also busy getting all the details worked out of when we will be gone. Having everything prepared for the Church as well as for La Roca are on my lists to accomplish in the next three weeks!!!! Can't wait visit the states.
The next couple of weeks are also busy getting all the details worked out of when we will be gone. Having everything prepared for the Church as well as for La Roca are on my lists to accomplish in the next three weeks!!!! Can't wait visit the states.
March 27, 2012 The doctor's good news
Yesterday, Jessie took both Aletta and Lilly to the ear, nose, and throat doctor to see how things were for both of them. Praise the Lord we got good news for both of them. With Lilly, the Dr. was please with how things were looking after the tubes had been put in. Things were draining nicely. This is such good news as we think Lilly might have been dealing with the some pressure pain from it at various times. Now with Aletta, I am not sure if we have told you what was her problem. She had gotten a fungeis in her ear kind of like athlete's foot. She got it from when she went swimming in a pool here. It was constantly giving her pain over the last several months. We took her to a pediatrician which did not help her at all. He dealt with the symptoms but never really fixed the problem. After seeing him several times he recommended we see the ear, nose, throat doctor. So we did. The same lady who took care of Lilly has been taking care of Aletta too. She basically said that every time Aletta got her ear wet, it was allowing the fungus to grow and cause her pain. So Aletta has been using ear plugs for the last 3 months. It did slowly but surely get better. What really helped was some drops that kill fungus. Yesterday the Dr. said "Was this the ear that was infected or was it the other one?" Praise the Lord it was cleared out. We are grateful to the Lord to be done with battle of the ears. Now if we could just keep it this way.
Posted some more pictures of Anna's birthday party we had as a family. No jumper this year because she chose to celebrate in Guadalajara at Peter Piper's Pizza a few weeks ago.
Posted some more pictures of Anna's birthday party we had as a family. No jumper this year because she chose to celebrate in Guadalajara at Peter Piper's Pizza a few weeks ago.
March 22, 2012
Just a quick note. I have been working on parts of this website. We now have a prayer request page that shows our latest prayer needs as they come up. I also added a few photos. Have a great day!
March 21, 2012 Blink and three weeks have gone by.
Time seems to fly by here sometimes. You blink and a month has gone by. The past few weeks have been very eventful. Since my last post on the 8, Lilly went into surgery for getting tubes in her ears. It was over a week ago now. It went well. She was a trooper. After the surgery, I got the chance to talk to her about it. Hearing from a mom's perspective and a kid's perspective are two totally different things. She said the gas smelled bad. That was the only thing she really said about it. It was then I talked to her about how when I was little I got bubble gum gas. She didn't think anything of being alone without mom or dad in the surgery room. As a mom it was difficult to let her go in without the security of a mother. But kids will surprise you. As we talked to her about before hand she was very much focused on the ice cream and movies she was going to watch on our bed. After the surgery, Jessie was let in to the recovery room when the Anastasia wore off. Jessie described to me how she slowly came to and started looking at her hands. She asked questions like "why did they make my hands smaller?" and "where is the "teacher?" (referring to the doctors). She was pretty out of it for most of the day. When the rest of us came home from church at 3 PM, she snapped to. She was so happy to see us come home she cam running to the door and gave each of us big hugs. From then on she was happy the rest of the day. She continues to show improvement. We are taking her back to the doctor in a few days to see how things are going.
On this past Saturday, Jessie went to a funeral for the mother of Olivia who is a pastor's wife of a different church in town. She was a believer so there is joy mixed with sorrow in these days. Jessie was able to support Olivia as they have become friends over the past year.
On Monday we were invited to come celebrate in the anniversary of this church. The churches here make a big deal out of their anniversaries. The past two years we have been privilege to go. They invite other churches to come. They have a service to celebrate the 40 plus years they have been around. During the service they had a baptism which was such a blessing to watch four believers be baptized. After the service there is a meal. Tacos for everyone. It was a great time of fellowship.
After the anniversary, we ended up going to a park with a group from the church. It was a good time of fellowship as well as having fun playing racquetball and basketball. It was during our time there, I spoke to Herman (who is highlighted in our last newsletter) about baptism. He said he wanted to know more. So I told him to come to my house on Tuesday so we could talk about it. So that was yesterday. Vicente came to paint a tree on our wall, and Herman came to what I thought was to help him paint. That was not the case. He just came to hang out and talk about baptism with me. After having breakfast. He and I had a chance to really discuss what baptism is and that it was not a form of receiving salvation. When asked if he understood what it meant and if this was something he wanted to do he respond yes he understood what it meant and that he did want to get baptized. So in the coming weeks, we are going to have a baptism. Very fitting as Easter is right around the corner. It is such a blessing to see God working in the heart of a young person like Herman. There are still some rough edges but with time God will grind those down. Just in the little things, God can work those things out. It is the truth that sets you free. Who is the truth? Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Our goal, as believers, has to be to bring people to the truth. Nothing else matters. Please continue to pray for Herman as he grows in the faith.
Have a blessed day!
On this past Saturday, Jessie went to a funeral for the mother of Olivia who is a pastor's wife of a different church in town. She was a believer so there is joy mixed with sorrow in these days. Jessie was able to support Olivia as they have become friends over the past year.
On Monday we were invited to come celebrate in the anniversary of this church. The churches here make a big deal out of their anniversaries. The past two years we have been privilege to go. They invite other churches to come. They have a service to celebrate the 40 plus years they have been around. During the service they had a baptism which was such a blessing to watch four believers be baptized. After the service there is a meal. Tacos for everyone. It was a great time of fellowship.
After the anniversary, we ended up going to a park with a group from the church. It was a good time of fellowship as well as having fun playing racquetball and basketball. It was during our time there, I spoke to Herman (who is highlighted in our last newsletter) about baptism. He said he wanted to know more. So I told him to come to my house on Tuesday so we could talk about it. So that was yesterday. Vicente came to paint a tree on our wall, and Herman came to what I thought was to help him paint. That was not the case. He just came to hang out and talk about baptism with me. After having breakfast. He and I had a chance to really discuss what baptism is and that it was not a form of receiving salvation. When asked if he understood what it meant and if this was something he wanted to do he respond yes he understood what it meant and that he did want to get baptized. So in the coming weeks, we are going to have a baptism. Very fitting as Easter is right around the corner. It is such a blessing to see God working in the heart of a young person like Herman. There are still some rough edges but with time God will grind those down. Just in the little things, God can work those things out. It is the truth that sets you free. Who is the truth? Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Our goal, as believers, has to be to bring people to the truth. Nothing else matters. Please continue to pray for Herman as he grows in the faith.
Have a blessed day!
March 8, 2012 Finally got our Visas back
(I wrote this on the 8 but forgot to post it.) Every year we have to renew our visas. Every year it takes a day of driving to Guadalajara to go to the immigration office. It is there we wait for hours. This year the changed some of the laws with the type of visa we have. With these changes we had to wait over 2 months for them to complete the necessary paperwork before we could even go into the office to finish the process. On Tuesday we got up at 5 AM only to get down to the office around 11 AM with traffic and trying to find a parking spot (not an easy task downtown Guadalajara). We had a number to wait in line. It had been over an hour and the numbers didn't change. The computer system was down and was not coming back on. Finally one gentleman come out and told us all that it would probably be better for everyone to leave and come back in the morning. He advised everyone who was waiting that there was no guarantee that even if the system was back up and running that day. We left and booked a hotel for the night. The next morning we were up bright and early. We got there at 7:30 which was good because there were already 7 people standing in line. They wouldn't even open the doors until 9 AM. By the time 9 AM came there was a crowd of about 50 people. We still had to waited about 30 minutes and finally called our number. Jessie went up and stood with the women behind the counter for over an hour while I manged the kids. (Also not easy to do with a 22 month old). After an hour and half we were done. Done again for a year. Once a year is plenty to be in the immigration office.
Tomorrow morning Lilly will be going into get tubes put into her eardrums. Pray for her.
Tomorrow morning Lilly will be going into get tubes put into her eardrums. Pray for her.
March 3, 2012 Opportunities
As I mentioned in a previous post, a door of opportunity has opened to me to share in El Grullo. El Grullo is about 20 minutes away from Autlan. The gentleman who asked me to come with him has been having back problems and was unable to go. So on Wednesday night, I ventured out to El Grullo alone, not knowing how the men would receive me without Carlos. When I arrived the men (and a few women) we assembled in the upstairs area of the facility. It was here that I had 2 hours to spend sharing the scripture with these men. As I prepared for this meeting I felt lead to share about the time Jesus was in the desert and was tempted by Satan. It is practical portion of scripture that these men need to grasp as they deal with trying to resist temptations of alcohol and drugs. Through my time of sharing I was able to share how Jesus had scripture memorized for when the temptations came. Then Satan himself used scripture to tempt Jesus. One of the questions I asked them was do you know when someone is using scripture in the wrong way? Satan knows what scripture says. If he can use it to distract us or get us off course, I believe he will. It is through knowing what scripture says that we can defend ourselves. We can't defend ourselves if we don't know what scripture says. How important it is for us to know what Jesus said while He was on this earth. I know these men may never come to faith in Christ, but that is not what God calls us to do. He calls us to speak the truth. It is God who does the work in their hearts. I had about three or four different guys talking to me after our time together. One guy whose name I believe is Victor. He came to me and said. I don't know about all this God stuff. I have learned a few things from the bible. But I just don't know about this whole God thing. I just don't know how to pray or even if He is real. He had to go speak with the director before I could talk to him very much. My hope is to be able to talk to him next week. My prayer is that God would use His word to soften this man's heart. There were other men there too that I could tell were receptive and receiving the truth. I would ask for prayer for next Wednesday night when I share again. Each time, I have felt that at any moment they could just say that's it. We don't want you to come back. Every opportunity is one more time these men are closer to freedom in Christ.
February 29, 2012 Hanging out with Herman
Herman hanging out at the billiards.
On Sunday evening Herman asked me if I wanted to go play pool? I said sure. It was the first time he asked me to go so I thought I would see how it went. On Monday night we went. It was just two guys hanging out at the pool hall. It was the first time I had ever been to a pool hall here since being in Mexico. It was pretty nice. There was no smoking so that was very nice. They played Banda music on the tvs. The only thing that I could see being a problem is the beer and alcohol that they offered. As believer we are not of the this world. We are in it but not of it. I think that it was very beneficial to go with Herman. He is a young 17 year old kid who needs Jesus. If I have just one opportunity to share Christ with him, it is worth going. There was no real meaningful conversations. Just two guys hanging out playing pool together. As I see it, it is building a relationship where he is comfortable to be around me, and that he can share things with me. That has value. I don't need to preach to him for him to receive truth. He like so many of us just need to be loved. Loved in a way that draws us closer to those we are around. Jesus first loved us. As we draw near to God and He will draw near to us (James 4:8a). We can love others out of His love He gives us.
February 23, 2012 Starting something new in El Grullo
Over the past couple of months, I have been sharing at a local rehab facility here in Autlan, with a gentlemen named Carlos who started coming to L a Roca Church back in September. He repeatedly asked me to come and share on Monday Wednesday mornings with him during their morning devotion time. He wore me down. I actually thought I would just see what it is like so I said yes. I am glad that I did. Each Wednesday morning I get to share with a bunch of men who are at the moment sober. I am able speak the truth from God's word each week. Some of these men, you can see the years of drinking has taken a toll on their physical bodies. But with that said the truth is being sown. I may not see the fruit, but it is God's word that does not come back void as it says in Isaiah 55:11. The group is about 20-25 guys. Some of these men are hearing and receiving truth. Truth is what set you free. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6.
Carlos continued to ask me about coming with him to share in El Grullo. He shares once a week on Monday mornings in the same type of facility. On Monday is our day of rest. When you are in ministry, that day of rest is important. I ended up going with him just one time to again see what it was like. There were more people in this facility maybe close to 45 to 50. I am not sure why but they were a lot more response to what we talked about. It felt like they wanted to hear more. I was blessed with the opportunity. I told Carlos that I could come any other day of the week, just not Mondays. It took over a month to get it worked out but Carlos spoke with director and arranged for Wednesday evenings. I was not sure what I was getting myself into. It turns out, we have 2 hours every Wednesday evening to share with these men. Last night was the first. I didn't really know what to expect. Carlos basically gave me the floor to share with these men whatever I felt led to share. I ended up sharing about the power of our tongue from the book of James. Such a small piece of the body that has so much power. After we finished sharing, one guy came up to me and asked from some scriptures on marriage. How cool is that? To have someone ask for biblical references to what scripture teaches about marriage. I gave him some to go on. I will have more for him next week. I pray that God would speak to him clearly through those passages.
If you could pray for us and this time of sharing, pray that God would lead us in what we should do. I am grateful and honored for the opportunity to share from God's word.
Carlos continued to ask me about coming with him to share in El Grullo. He shares once a week on Monday mornings in the same type of facility. On Monday is our day of rest. When you are in ministry, that day of rest is important. I ended up going with him just one time to again see what it was like. There were more people in this facility maybe close to 45 to 50. I am not sure why but they were a lot more response to what we talked about. It felt like they wanted to hear more. I was blessed with the opportunity. I told Carlos that I could come any other day of the week, just not Mondays. It took over a month to get it worked out but Carlos spoke with director and arranged for Wednesday evenings. I was not sure what I was getting myself into. It turns out, we have 2 hours every Wednesday evening to share with these men. Last night was the first. I didn't really know what to expect. Carlos basically gave me the floor to share with these men whatever I felt led to share. I ended up sharing about the power of our tongue from the book of James. Such a small piece of the body that has so much power. After we finished sharing, one guy came up to me and asked from some scriptures on marriage. How cool is that? To have someone ask for biblical references to what scripture teaches about marriage. I gave him some to go on. I will have more for him next week. I pray that God would speak to him clearly through those passages.
If you could pray for us and this time of sharing, pray that God would lead us in what we should do. I am grateful and honored for the opportunity to share from God's word.
February 21, 2011 Visiting Iglesia Vida Abundante
Luis Oscar Madrigal at Vida Abundante Church.
I have some time tonight as Jessie is out actually riding on the carnival rides. She went with Barbara while I stay home with the kids. I am not much into rides, so that is fine by me. This past Sunday, as a church, we visited another church called Vida Abundante (Abundant Life Church). We have had some good connections with this church. The pastor seen here whose name is Luis Oscar Madrigral, has been dealing with throat cancer for the last 6 months. So he has had to shave his head from the chemo he received. Lord willing the cancer is gone. He finds out sometime this week if it is completely gone.
This small church meets in Colinas near Efesios dos (center for those of you who have been to Autlan.) Luis and his wife started this church just over a year ago. They wanted to have a place for the people they minister to go. The church meets their rehab facility. Little by little they are building the building. Now they have two big size rooms where four different men sleep. Each one of these men not only recovering from drug and alcohol abuse they are serving the Lord. The message that Luis shared was about how we are insufficient to save ourselves and that through Jesus it is the only way we can be saved. We are praying about ways we can be united together. Once Luis is done with some of the last therapy in Guadalajara, hopefully we will have time to pray and discuss some possibilities. We were very blessed by their hospitality in welcoming us as La Roca Church. (PS Sorry about the head shot, it was taken with my cell phone and I couldn't figure out how to edit it).
This small church meets in Colinas near Efesios dos (center for those of you who have been to Autlan.) Luis and his wife started this church just over a year ago. They wanted to have a place for the people they minister to go. The church meets their rehab facility. Little by little they are building the building. Now they have two big size rooms where four different men sleep. Each one of these men not only recovering from drug and alcohol abuse they are serving the Lord. The message that Luis shared was about how we are insufficient to save ourselves and that through Jesus it is the only way we can be saved. We are praying about ways we can be united together. Once Luis is done with some of the last therapy in Guadalajara, hopefully we will have time to pray and discuss some possibilities. We were very blessed by their hospitality in welcoming us as La Roca Church. (PS Sorry about the head shot, it was taken with my cell phone and I couldn't figure out how to edit it).
February 15, 2012 A parking lot now department store.
A new department store in the center of town.
For those of you who have visited Autlan, the public parking lot that was just downtown is no longer there. This past November they put in a new department store called Coppel. It was was one of the fastest places to go up, I have ever seen here in Autlan. They actually had people working around the clock to get it done before Christmas. They did finish before Christmas. With the holidays and being busy we didn't get a chance to go until maybe 3 weeks ago. I want to share with you our experience.
It is a nice store. Another department store here you would not fine so many things in one place. Everything is so shiny and bright. Everything looks so good. As we started walking through the store, we noticed the price tags. The total price was printed small in the corner. There was a big price printed on tag. It was a monthly price. We didn't think about it, until we got to about the middle of the store. It was there was saw about 10 desks with computers where people could sign up for credit. Not only were there were people sitting at each desk dealing with customers there were about four people sitting and waiting for their turn. I am not against department stores. I would be happy to see a Walmart come to Autlan. But this was sad to see. People wanting things they cannot afford. People here already have a hard time getting by let alone buying something that is out of the reach.
As we were in our house we notice that there were some trucks moving in behind our house. During carnival it is usually a big parking lot. We didn't think much of it until a friend said that it was the jugeitos that were where the public parking was every year. So I decided to poke my head about our wall to see what was happening over there. To my surprise it was as he said, that they were setting up the carnival rides. Because Coppel was now built, they had to move all the carinval rides. It is acutally more secure for our house then years previously as it was just a parking lot. Now there is police walking in and out of the area as well as people actually sleeping in traliors back there. So now we are surrounded. So far it has not been very noisy at all. From the rides, you hear mostly the trucks that run the generatiors. The bull ring, where big bands and bull fights happen, are usually done before midnight. So other than never having a parking spot in front of our house, it is pretty low key. Below I posted a few pictures that were taken from our backyard. The one on the right is the one that is only 6 feet away from the wall. Oh well, what can you do?
It is a nice store. Another department store here you would not fine so many things in one place. Everything is so shiny and bright. Everything looks so good. As we started walking through the store, we noticed the price tags. The total price was printed small in the corner. There was a big price printed on tag. It was a monthly price. We didn't think about it, until we got to about the middle of the store. It was there was saw about 10 desks with computers where people could sign up for credit. Not only were there were people sitting at each desk dealing with customers there were about four people sitting and waiting for their turn. I am not against department stores. I would be happy to see a Walmart come to Autlan. But this was sad to see. People wanting things they cannot afford. People here already have a hard time getting by let alone buying something that is out of the reach.
As we were in our house we notice that there were some trucks moving in behind our house. During carnival it is usually a big parking lot. We didn't think much of it until a friend said that it was the jugeitos that were where the public parking was every year. So I decided to poke my head about our wall to see what was happening over there. To my surprise it was as he said, that they were setting up the carnival rides. Because Coppel was now built, they had to move all the carinval rides. It is acutally more secure for our house then years previously as it was just a parking lot. Now there is police walking in and out of the area as well as people actually sleeping in traliors back there. So now we are surrounded. So far it has not been very noisy at all. From the rides, you hear mostly the trucks that run the generatiors. The bull ring, where big bands and bull fights happen, are usually done before midnight. So other than never having a parking spot in front of our house, it is pretty low key. Below I posted a few pictures that were taken from our backyard. The one on the right is the one that is only 6 feet away from the wall. Oh well, what can you do?
February 13, 2012 Rain in Autlan???
The stage in the center of town with a big Tequila barrel.
Over the last week, I started a little project. Little I mean it was done in four days officially. After having the fire from our gas line leaking, we needed another place to put our washer and dryer during the rainy season. We felt it was important to figure out something before the rain does come. So I ended up making a little house. It was a very new experience for me building a wall and a half. I enjoyed it but I can tell that the rate in which I put it up was so much slower than what the brick layers down here can do. They will put up a whole 20 feet wall in one day. I put up half of a wall not even six feet by six feet. I won't continue with all the details but we are happy with how it turned out. Thank goodness we did it when we did. On Thursday last week, it started to rain. I thought it was going to stop. After 3 days of solid rain, we had over 4 inches of rainfall. I need to explain myself here. We have not had any rain in over 3 months. It gets really dry and dust during this time. Yet out of the blue we get 4 inches of rain. I am so glad for the rain. On Saturday, it was raining all day long which was also the day Carnival started. So the first day of Carnival was all rained out. They even postponed the beginning parade. Praise the Lord! One less day of drunkenness.
It is absolutely amazing how this town becomes during these days. For those of you who have followed us on our missionary journey, carnival is something we talk about every year. Quickly, Carnival is 10 day before lent so it is a "getting it all out of your system" per say. It is just an excuse to let it all out. Drink as much as you want. Go to the bull ring to see different bands, bull fights, and rodeos. Then after the event is over go out into the street and listen to more bands playing on the street while drinking many different brands of Tequila. These ten days it is sad to see so many people coming from all over to party. Two different neighbors of our, who live in the US, come for two or three weeks out of the year to be here during Carnival. They come to enjoy what this world has to offer. The will spend their whole lives following after the things of this world only to be unsatisfied in life. During prayer on Sunday, we prayed that God would bring people to the revelation to who HE is and how unfulfilled this life is without Christ.
It is absolutely amazing how this town becomes during these days. For those of you who have followed us on our missionary journey, carnival is something we talk about every year. Quickly, Carnival is 10 day before lent so it is a "getting it all out of your system" per say. It is just an excuse to let it all out. Drink as much as you want. Go to the bull ring to see different bands, bull fights, and rodeos. Then after the event is over go out into the street and listen to more bands playing on the street while drinking many different brands of Tequila. These ten days it is sad to see so many people coming from all over to party. Two different neighbors of our, who live in the US, come for two or three weeks out of the year to be here during Carnival. They come to enjoy what this world has to offer. The will spend their whole lives following after the things of this world only to be unsatisfied in life. During prayer on Sunday, we prayed that God would bring people to the revelation to who HE is and how unfulfilled this life is without Christ.
February 3, 2012 A message for Jeremiah
I am studying the book of Jeremiah during my morning devotions. This morning I read some verse that encouraged me. I thought I would share them with you.
It is Jeremiah 15: 19-21
Therefore thus says the Lord:“If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” says the Lord. “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.” (NKJV)
Jeremiah was a man of God, called to preach a message that no one wanted to hear. Yet through it all he continued to follow what God had given him to do. As I read this passage I was struck with how many times the words I will or I am. It is a clear message of what God was going to do for Jeremiah. As he walked in obedience, the Lord was the one who would sustain him, and the one who will make him a fortified bronze wall. As it says in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (NKJV) Through Jesus, we will accomplish all that God wants us to do no matter where we live or what job we have. We are HIS people!
Bless you today!
It is Jeremiah 15: 19-21
Therefore thus says the Lord:“If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; And they will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” says the Lord. “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.” (NKJV)
Jeremiah was a man of God, called to preach a message that no one wanted to hear. Yet through it all he continued to follow what God had given him to do. As I read this passage I was struck with how many times the words I will or I am. It is a clear message of what God was going to do for Jeremiah. As he walked in obedience, the Lord was the one who would sustain him, and the one who will make him a fortified bronze wall. As it says in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (NKJV) Through Jesus, we will accomplish all that God wants us to do no matter where we live or what job we have. We are HIS people!
Bless you today!
February 2, 2012 Days with family
Mom making tortillas and Dad squeezing orange juice. Making 'em work!!!
We were so blessed to have Jessie's parents come for a visit. It was their second time visiting us. I don't Jessie and I realized how much we needed a time of just getting out of our routine. Jessie's parents were such a blessing to us. We didn't have to entertain them. They were very content just being with us. We spent most of our afternoons drinking coffee and playing a card game called Bohnanza (a trading game). We enjoyed every minute with them.
During our time with them, Dad asked if Lilly has trouble hearing? We hadn't noticed but now that he mentioned it, she didn't respond to us very well. Little did we know that she has been having hearing problems. I would say over the last couple of weeks she has been more crabbier than usual or more irritated. We ended up taking her to a ear, nose, throat doctor. The doctor said she had liquid built up in behind her eardrums. So she prescribed some medicine, and said that we needed to see if that would help her. If after a month it didn't help her she will need to have tubes put in. She would need to be put under so it would be a pretty big deal. We are hoping that the medicine will work and she won't need tubes. But in the mean time we started realizing that Lilly would respond but not know what you are saying. After realizing this we thought back to the times that she would only respond to us by getting upset or being crabby because we had to raise our voices so she would hear us. We are now seeing that with just this little information, things are better. Lilly is happier and responds better when she fully understands us. She does have her moments as every 5 year old does but we have definitely seen improvement in our communication with her. Our prayer now is that she would be healed and not have to get tubes put in.
During our time with them, Dad asked if Lilly has trouble hearing? We hadn't noticed but now that he mentioned it, she didn't respond to us very well. Little did we know that she has been having hearing problems. I would say over the last couple of weeks she has been more crabbier than usual or more irritated. We ended up taking her to a ear, nose, throat doctor. The doctor said she had liquid built up in behind her eardrums. So she prescribed some medicine, and said that we needed to see if that would help her. If after a month it didn't help her she will need to have tubes put in. She would need to be put under so it would be a pretty big deal. We are hoping that the medicine will work and she won't need tubes. But in the mean time we started realizing that Lilly would respond but not know what you are saying. After realizing this we thought back to the times that she would only respond to us by getting upset or being crabby because we had to raise our voices so she would hear us. We are now seeing that with just this little information, things are better. Lilly is happier and responds better when she fully understands us. She does have her moments as every 5 year old does but we have definitely seen improvement in our communication with her. Our prayer now is that she would be healed and not have to get tubes put in.
January 20, 2012 One more day to wait.
We are very excited to have Jessie's parents come for a visit. We got the house all ready for them to come. We got up this morning ready to go to the airport this evening in Guadalajara. At 7:30 we received a phone call from Jessie's parents saying that their flight had been canceled due to snow. So now we have to wait one more day. Anna was disappointed to be crossing of the count down we have on the fridge. It said they would come today. We are all a little disappointed, yet so extremely happy that we get to see family.
I wanted to share one aspect of our town with you. We live three hours away from Guadalajara. It is only about 10o miles away yet with the mountains it takes three hours to drive. We have only 2 radio stations. If you don't like one you have only one other choice. I think it is why so many people buy cd's is because there is not a lot of options. There are laws for noise ordinance, but is not followed. So car stereo are turned way up. Literally cars will drive down our street and shake the windows in our kitchen. With the music they play here it is all pretty much what is called "banda". Trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, guitar players. People love this type of music so much that there are restaurants that you can go to that have live bands everyday. These bands sing a lot of the same songs so everyone sings along. This is what they play on the radio most of the time. Every so often we turn the radio on to listen and we here an English song. One group they like down here is Queen as well as many rap artists. You don't hear rap on the radio but with a stereo vibrating everything insight, it is common.
I am off to prepare my sermon for Sunday. Have a great day!
I wanted to share one aspect of our town with you. We live three hours away from Guadalajara. It is only about 10o miles away yet with the mountains it takes three hours to drive. We have only 2 radio stations. If you don't like one you have only one other choice. I think it is why so many people buy cd's is because there is not a lot of options. There are laws for noise ordinance, but is not followed. So car stereo are turned way up. Literally cars will drive down our street and shake the windows in our kitchen. With the music they play here it is all pretty much what is called "banda". Trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, guitar players. People love this type of music so much that there are restaurants that you can go to that have live bands everyday. These bands sing a lot of the same songs so everyone sings along. This is what they play on the radio most of the time. Every so often we turn the radio on to listen and we here an English song. One group they like down here is Queen as well as many rap artists. You don't hear rap on the radio but with a stereo vibrating everything insight, it is common.
I am off to prepare my sermon for Sunday. Have a great day!
January 12, 2012 Three kings Cake
I thought I would share with you one of the traditions they have here. After the birth of Jesus, the wise men came to see Jesus and bring him gifts. Here they celebrate this tradition with making a cake or bread that has meaning to everything that goes into what it is. The picture is of a Rosca which is specific to this tradition. I found an article from Wikipedia that describes it well.
"The Mexican rosca de reyes has an oval shape to symbolize a crown. For decoration, Spanish people use dried and candied fruits like figs, quinces or cherries. The fruit symbolizes the many jewels that a crown would have. The tradition of placing a bean, candy or figurine doll of the Christ Child inside the cake is followed. Whoever finds it must take it to the nearest church on February 2, Candlemas Day (Día de la Candelaria), which celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. According to the Jewish tradition, an infant was to be presented to God in the Temple forty days after his birth. The use of candles on Candlemas represents the light of Christ presented to the world. Nowadays in Mexico, people who find the figurines in their piece of the cake usually agree to host a party on February 2 and to provide the guests with tamales and atole."
We didn't know what each thing represented until we looked it up. The town sells these all over the place. It don't think this rosaca actually made it one day. We ended up with six little dolls which the girls all love to play with. A fun little tradition.
This morning I was reading in 2 Peter when I read chapter 3:8-9 which says: But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (NASB) (biblegateway.com)
Just pondering this for a moment, God has so much patience. So much more than I can even imagine. I get caught up in my own way of thinking and seeing things so near-sided. It is this fact, God is not finished with me yet. I am still in the process of becoming like Christ. I will always be in this process. What can I do to change my ways? Only the work of the cross can change a man's heart. I want to see others know the God of the universe who has even the very hairs of my head (thou they be few) numbered. What truth there is in these verses. We do not have the same vision as God. He sees it all. Oh how I need the Lord to make me his vessel to lead others to Him.
"The Mexican rosca de reyes has an oval shape to symbolize a crown. For decoration, Spanish people use dried and candied fruits like figs, quinces or cherries. The fruit symbolizes the many jewels that a crown would have. The tradition of placing a bean, candy or figurine doll of the Christ Child inside the cake is followed. Whoever finds it must take it to the nearest church on February 2, Candlemas Day (Día de la Candelaria), which celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. According to the Jewish tradition, an infant was to be presented to God in the Temple forty days after his birth. The use of candles on Candlemas represents the light of Christ presented to the world. Nowadays in Mexico, people who find the figurines in their piece of the cake usually agree to host a party on February 2 and to provide the guests with tamales and atole."
We didn't know what each thing represented until we looked it up. The town sells these all over the place. It don't think this rosaca actually made it one day. We ended up with six little dolls which the girls all love to play with. A fun little tradition.
This morning I was reading in 2 Peter when I read chapter 3:8-9 which says: But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (NASB) (biblegateway.com)
Just pondering this for a moment, God has so much patience. So much more than I can even imagine. I get caught up in my own way of thinking and seeing things so near-sided. It is this fact, God is not finished with me yet. I am still in the process of becoming like Christ. I will always be in this process. What can I do to change my ways? Only the work of the cross can change a man's heart. I want to see others know the God of the universe who has even the very hairs of my head (thou they be few) numbered. What truth there is in these verses. We do not have the same vision as God. He sees it all. Oh how I need the Lord to make me his vessel to lead others to Him.
January 5, 2012 A new Year, finishing our FOURTH!
Anna holding newly born goat on New Year's Eve.
The time has gone by so fast. I would not have pictured this is where I would be four years. I still remember it like it was yesterday, packing up the car in Minnesota when it was -10 with blowing wind. We stopped in Illinois to visit Jessie's family before making the three day trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. All of it was so new. Oh how the Lord knew what He was calling us to do. Looking back on it and the timing of it all that God orchestrated it all so perfectly. On the 10 of this month also marks the day when I became the pastor of La Roca Church. How does God do it? A young missionary who still needs help speaking Spanish, becoming a pastor of a small church in Mexico. I am still inneed of God's help. I am again reminded of my weaknesses. Through my weaknesses that God is able to give me strength. I still have much to learn as well as making mistakes. My hope and prayer is that, I would bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus in all that we do here in Autlan.
On New Year's Eve, we spent our day with Erika and Juan Angel. (He is my Spanish tutor.) Jessie wanted to learn how to make Birria which is a traditional Mexican stew of sorts. It is made spices and meat. It is often served at parties, banquets and weddings. Typically it is made from goat meat but can be made with pork or beef. After finishing up making it we ended up going out to a ranch where Juan knows the main ranchers there. Our main goal, was to drink cows milk. We accomplished that goal. Literally, the rancher milked the cow and then we drank it. Juan and Erika prepared it with chocolate powder. We were not sure how the girls would react to it but they all drank two cups. It was an adventure to say the least. I don't remember the last time I drank so much milk. I think I had over 32 oz of milk. I was stuffed. Getting to see cows and goats close up was great for the girls as well. I don't believe this will be our last time of going to the ranch to drink milk. I have posted some of the pictures we took, for those of you who would like to see our little adventure.
"Gringo"
I wanted to share with you my experience with Gringo. As some of you know he is the owner of the shop below La Roca. He is always ready to talk as he has time on his hands with his business of selling truck parts and break pads. I would say he is in is middle 60's. Yesterday, we started about the Catholic church. He doesn't attend. He sees a lot of problems in the church and how they do things. I asked him, if he thought he was a good person? He say yes that he is a good person. Does he believe in the bible? He said not really. Then I started to talk to him about absolute truth. People here, even with the Catholic influences, say that there is no absolute truth. Gringo was not wanting to talk about this subject. It was the first time, I have seen him not wanting to continue to talk about anything. Getting him to think about what he believes and why he believes it is important to understand why he needs Jesus. It may not have produced any fruit but he is not going anywhere. Each week when I go to La Roca to prepare my sermons, he is there. I pray that God will give me wisdom in speaking truth in to his life even if it is little-by-little and one seed at a time.
On New Year's Eve, we spent our day with Erika and Juan Angel. (He is my Spanish tutor.) Jessie wanted to learn how to make Birria which is a traditional Mexican stew of sorts. It is made spices and meat. It is often served at parties, banquets and weddings. Typically it is made from goat meat but can be made with pork or beef. After finishing up making it we ended up going out to a ranch where Juan knows the main ranchers there. Our main goal, was to drink cows milk. We accomplished that goal. Literally, the rancher milked the cow and then we drank it. Juan and Erika prepared it with chocolate powder. We were not sure how the girls would react to it but they all drank two cups. It was an adventure to say the least. I don't remember the last time I drank so much milk. I think I had over 32 oz of milk. I was stuffed. Getting to see cows and goats close up was great for the girls as well. I don't believe this will be our last time of going to the ranch to drink milk. I have posted some of the pictures we took, for those of you who would like to see our little adventure.
"Gringo"
I wanted to share with you my experience with Gringo. As some of you know he is the owner of the shop below La Roca. He is always ready to talk as he has time on his hands with his business of selling truck parts and break pads. I would say he is in is middle 60's. Yesterday, we started about the Catholic church. He doesn't attend. He sees a lot of problems in the church and how they do things. I asked him, if he thought he was a good person? He say yes that he is a good person. Does he believe in the bible? He said not really. Then I started to talk to him about absolute truth. People here, even with the Catholic influences, say that there is no absolute truth. Gringo was not wanting to talk about this subject. It was the first time, I have seen him not wanting to continue to talk about anything. Getting him to think about what he believes and why he believes it is important to understand why he needs Jesus. It may not have produced any fruit but he is not going anywhere. Each week when I go to La Roca to prepare my sermons, he is there. I pray that God will give me wisdom in speaking truth in to his life even if it is little-by-little and one seed at a time.
December 29, 2011 Christmas Festivities
Things have settled down a bit after the busy days of Christmas. Our week started with the VBS ending on Wednesday. We celebrated Christmas with our fellow missionaries Rick and Jo'ell Bruggeman. We had a nice ham for dinner. It is not very often we eat roasted ham here so that was a treat. Jessie also made some egg nog which one of my personal favorites of Christmas time. I won't keep going on and on about the food, but living in a different country during holidays is when you miss home the most. After our Christmas feast we played apples to apples which is always fun.
At about 10 PM we left the Bruggeman's and went to visit with some friends out in Colinas which is on the other side of town. As we were driving on Christmas eve, we passed by many people who were having small bonfires on the street in front of their houses. It is a tradition to have a bonfire with your family. Young boys and teenagers often light off fireworks as well. When we arrived to our friend's house we were immediately served ponche, which is a traditional Mexican hot punch. No ponche is made the same. At the bottom of the cup there are various fruits and nuts that have been stewed in the punch. After ponche then there is tamales. We have had some of the best tamales during Christmas. So you sit around the fire eating tamales and drinking ponche until midnight. At midnight everyone stands up and gives hugs and says feliz navidad. It is very similar to New Year's day. With two of our kids sleeping in the car we decided it was time to go home. It was a wonderful experience of some Mexican traditions.
On Sunday evening we had our Christmas party for La Roca Church. We were not sure how many people were going to come since it was Christmas day. We had planned for about 5o or so, thinking that not many people would come. To our surprise over 80 people showed up. We had four different churches that were represented. Jessie and I were talking about the day after thinking about the past few years how it has grown. We remember when John and Elizabeth were here, we had all the food and all the people in church area. Last year we moved the food out of the area but still had room for people. This year we had so many people that not everyone could sit in the church area. They had to sit on the couches out where the food is. When we played bingo with everyone, it was squished. We were so blessed that so many came. We have been trying to work together with other churches here in Autlan. Our hope is to improve the unity we have in Christ. With this party as well as the vacation bible school we started to build some friendships with other believers. We can only pray that God would continue to grow the church in Autlan.
At about 10 PM we left the Bruggeman's and went to visit with some friends out in Colinas which is on the other side of town. As we were driving on Christmas eve, we passed by many people who were having small bonfires on the street in front of their houses. It is a tradition to have a bonfire with your family. Young boys and teenagers often light off fireworks as well. When we arrived to our friend's house we were immediately served ponche, which is a traditional Mexican hot punch. No ponche is made the same. At the bottom of the cup there are various fruits and nuts that have been stewed in the punch. After ponche then there is tamales. We have had some of the best tamales during Christmas. So you sit around the fire eating tamales and drinking ponche until midnight. At midnight everyone stands up and gives hugs and says feliz navidad. It is very similar to New Year's day. With two of our kids sleeping in the car we decided it was time to go home. It was a wonderful experience of some Mexican traditions.
On Sunday evening we had our Christmas party for La Roca Church. We were not sure how many people were going to come since it was Christmas day. We had planned for about 5o or so, thinking that not many people would come. To our surprise over 80 people showed up. We had four different churches that were represented. Jessie and I were talking about the day after thinking about the past few years how it has grown. We remember when John and Elizabeth were here, we had all the food and all the people in church area. Last year we moved the food out of the area but still had room for people. This year we had so many people that not everyone could sit in the church area. They had to sit on the couches out where the food is. When we played bingo with everyone, it was squished. We were so blessed that so many came. We have been trying to work together with other churches here in Autlan. Our hope is to improve the unity we have in Christ. With this party as well as the vacation bible school we started to build some friendships with other believers. We can only pray that God would continue to grow the church in Autlan.
December 22, 2011 Vacation Bible school
The days went fast and we are tired. We finished the vacation bible school yesterday. It was three days. Now that I say that, it doesn't seem like much. Yet when you are in the middle of it, you are exhausted from all the running around you do. We were happy to have over 60 kids come. Not sure how many exactly as each day there were a few different kids coming. The question you ask yourself is: was this beneficial, was there any fruit? On the outside you wouldn't be able to say yes there was a great harvest of people coming to the Lord. yet with kids you plant the truth into their hearts and it is God who has to water the seeds. Yesterday I had a number of kids in my group ask why it wasn't more days? So just by that alone we were doing the job right. They wanted to come back. We had four stations: Games, crafts, bible verses and story time. The reason I posted this picture is because the kid's name is Arick. (Eric in Spanish). He was in my group of kids. He is a neighbor of ours that lives on our street. He and his two sisters came all three days. Their mom as planning on leaving for Christmas for a few days on Tuesday. But after being at the VBS, they decided to wait until after the three days were over. They were so excited after the first day, when they got home they all three started talking at the same time to their mom saying how much fun it was. This single mom is a good mom. She sends them to Catholic Sunday School every Saturday morning. So for them to come to our event was an answer to prayer. Yesterday as I was parking the car I saw his two sisters who are younger then he is come running up to me and started singing the scripture verse song we taught them the first day and they quoted the second bible verse as well. Which were 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV) and Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.(NIV) (The third verse was John 3:16 which they knew too but didn't get time to say all of it when I saw them.) Of course these were in Spanish. It brought joy to my heart to hear these girls quoting scripture they had learned. We know that the stories we talked about with them, will stick with them as well. We talked about Peter denying Jesus three times, Daniel and the Lions' den and Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. Jessie and I both agreed that the whole event went very smooth. We had a lot of help. To me it felt like this was just the first of many of these type of events we will do at La Roca Church. We can not wait to hear about what the Lord did through this event. Christmas time is so busy with a lot of traveling so we haven't got to talk to very many people about it at this point. We can't wait to see Arick, Andrea and Lucia after they get back from vacation. We will keep you posted to what we hear. Thank you to all of you how prayed for us. It was such a blessing from the Lord. Like I posted before, I loaded a lot of pictures on our picture page if you want to take a look.
Tonight our plan is to watch White Christmas on the big screen with the projector we use for church. Nothing like watching a movie about snow that makes you miss home. I am not going to write anymore about that. I am just saying as a Minnesotan in Mexico, I just want to make a snow man once and a while. LOL! May the Lord bless you during this busy time of the year!
Tonight our plan is to watch White Christmas on the big screen with the projector we use for church. Nothing like watching a movie about snow that makes you miss home. I am not going to write anymore about that. I am just saying as a Minnesotan in Mexico, I just want to make a snow man once and a while. LOL! May the Lord bless you during this busy time of the year!
December 19, 2011 Vacation Bible School
I have loaded pictures of our first day of vacation bible school at La Roca.We had over 50 kids. Great turn out. Lord willing, it will be just as good tomorrow.
December 15, 2011 Dia de Guadalupe
One thing I was going to mention yesterday, but I forgot was about the 12 of December. It is a day, that Mexicans celebrate Guadalupe day. After being at La Roca on Sunday evening the 11, I was driving some of the young people home when I saw a band and a group of a 100 people walking in the direction of the mountain. The band was actually the Mexican Birthday song Las Mananitas. I asked why are the they singing that, someone responded they actually are sing to Mary and celebrating her birthday. They were actually going up the mountain to get there at 12 midnight. When I started talking about it with the young people, they said that people actually sleep up on the mountain to celebrate this day. It is a day they celebrate Mary's birthday and celebrate more than they do the birth of Christ. Everyone in the town goes up the mountain some time during the day to celebrate and give honor to Mary. It is huge opportunity to speak into the lives of people here. I have had chances in the past talk with people about the celebration. People don't understand what we as Christians believe. I have found that it throws them completely off when you tell them all the reasons why we don't celebrate the holiday. We don't celebrate Moses or Abraham's birthday do we? I hope I get more opportunities to share this year.
Wikipedia has a page for lady of Guadalupe for those who want more information. I haven't had a lot of time to read it all but interesting history about it. Copy and paste this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_of_Guadalupe
Wikipedia has a page for lady of Guadalupe for those who want more information. I haven't had a lot of time to read it all but interesting history about it. Copy and paste this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_of_Guadalupe
December 14, 2011 Busy Days
Our days are busy now. Yesterday we put a whole day of
work into preparing for Vacation Bible school next week. We are excited
to see how things go. We will have one more teachers meeting after
church on Sunday to make sure everyone is on the same page. We are
excited to see how it turns out.
Yesterday morning, I was asked again from Barbara to judge her students' presentations. They do a presentation of a food product and do all the things that go into selling it. Other groups choose a humanitarian aid projects, which was very interesting. They did their presentations at La Roca which is cool. I did make some cappuccinos for some, so that helped La Roca a little. As you may have read in a previous post about one of Barbara's students named Pedro. I didn't get a chance to meet with him this last week because of this project and finals. He was there yesterday. We talked a bit and he asked me if I had time this Thursday to meet. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times you ask the Lord "what are you doing?" I did not ask him to meet. He asked me. I was a little surprised. I was not expecting that. I thought with classes being done next week, that I would not see him again. I can only pray that God would use me to speak into his life. I can't help him with his problems. All I can do is speak the truth. I don't know what the future will bring, but praise God, He is moving and stirring the hearts of men. I plan to talk about Jesus being the bread of life. With the Catholicism, in communion the wafer is the real body of Jesus. The even have a place you can pray to a wafer in the church. The picture is one I grabbed off line. I have seen similar ones here in town. I won't go into all of the teaching but simply if you take communion you take the body of Jesus, who gives you salvation. I am going to ask him about 1 Cor 11:23-26, that talks about communion and what Paul wrote that Jesus said when you do this, do this in remembrance of me. I don't want to tell him my own opinions. I want the truth of God's word to penetrate his heart. Pray for me to have wisdom and clarity in how I speak.
Yesterday morning, I was asked again from Barbara to judge her students' presentations. They do a presentation of a food product and do all the things that go into selling it. Other groups choose a humanitarian aid projects, which was very interesting. They did their presentations at La Roca which is cool. I did make some cappuccinos for some, so that helped La Roca a little. As you may have read in a previous post about one of Barbara's students named Pedro. I didn't get a chance to meet with him this last week because of this project and finals. He was there yesterday. We talked a bit and he asked me if I had time this Thursday to meet. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times you ask the Lord "what are you doing?" I did not ask him to meet. He asked me. I was a little surprised. I was not expecting that. I thought with classes being done next week, that I would not see him again. I can only pray that God would use me to speak into his life. I can't help him with his problems. All I can do is speak the truth. I don't know what the future will bring, but praise God, He is moving and stirring the hearts of men. I plan to talk about Jesus being the bread of life. With the Catholicism, in communion the wafer is the real body of Jesus. The even have a place you can pray to a wafer in the church. The picture is one I grabbed off line. I have seen similar ones here in town. I won't go into all of the teaching but simply if you take communion you take the body of Jesus, who gives you salvation. I am going to ask him about 1 Cor 11:23-26, that talks about communion and what Paul wrote that Jesus said when you do this, do this in remembrance of me. I don't want to tell him my own opinions. I want the truth of God's word to penetrate his heart. Pray for me to have wisdom and clarity in how I speak.
December 8, 2011 Morning devotions.
This morning I was reading in the book of John. I ended up reading chapter 5:6 where Jesus sees a man who has been sick for 35 years and is wait next to a pool where an angel stirs the water and the first person to get in the water is healed. Jesus asks him “Do you want to be made well?”7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. (NKJV)
What I was stuck with here is their response to the man being healed. This man had just been healed after 35 years, yet they don't even seem happy for him. The Jews were so consumed with following the sabbath that they lost out on the joy of having this man healed. They were more concerned that he got up and carried his bed. I just have to laugh at that fact. After years of waiting to be healed, he was going to do as the "man" told him to do. I would do the same thing. How hard it must have been for this man to obey and receive such a blessing only to have those around him get all in a huff because he was carrying his bed on a certain day. As I reflect on this, my prayer is that I would not be as these Jews. That God would make me sensitive to what He is doing in the lives of others. Our own traditions and "laws" can rob us of knowing and understanding the character of God. How I need the Lord today to give me His heart.
Side note: I found the website http://www.biblegateway.com/ to be very helpful. It has really helped me with having the different translations of the bible especially in Spanish. They offer many different translations. Check it out if you have time.
What I was stuck with here is their response to the man being healed. This man had just been healed after 35 years, yet they don't even seem happy for him. The Jews were so consumed with following the sabbath that they lost out on the joy of having this man healed. They were more concerned that he got up and carried his bed. I just have to laugh at that fact. After years of waiting to be healed, he was going to do as the "man" told him to do. I would do the same thing. How hard it must have been for this man to obey and receive such a blessing only to have those around him get all in a huff because he was carrying his bed on a certain day. As I reflect on this, my prayer is that I would not be as these Jews. That God would make me sensitive to what He is doing in the lives of others. Our own traditions and "laws" can rob us of knowing and understanding the character of God. How I need the Lord today to give me His heart.
Side note: I found the website http://www.biblegateway.com/ to be very helpful. It has really helped me with having the different translations of the bible especially in Spanish. They offer many different translations. Check it out if you have time.
December 7, 2011 Sharing at Crread
In town there is rehab facility that offers 3 months of rehabilitation. Many of the men that are in the facility are there because family has brought them. It is not the nicest of places to live with 30 other men. A few weeks ago, a guy who has been coming to La Roca Church who does the 12 step program there as well as shares once a week in the morning, asked me to come to share. I was not sure what to expect. It has been interesting being there. It is a bunch of guys who look like they have just crawled out of bed and are just waiting to eat breakfast. Last week, I started sharing from the sermon on the mount. There is a lot of truth to what Jesus says about sin and how we are to live our lives. Today as I shared about being salt and the light, there were about 6 or 7 guys who were really comprehending what we were talking about. I feel it a great opportunity to give these guys some truth to God's word. I may never see the fruit of this meeting. But the Word of God does not come back void as it says in Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. NKJV
This place is run by the government, I believe. One thing that is interesting is that at the end they recite the same thing every week. I am not sure exactly what they are saying but the end with "Reign king Jesus". And then they do it all over again and say "reign queen Maria". It is clear that there a constant battle going on spiritually. Protect the seed of Your word Lord.
This place is run by the government, I believe. One thing that is interesting is that at the end they recite the same thing every week. I am not sure exactly what they are saying but the end with "Reign king Jesus". And then they do it all over again and say "reign queen Maria". It is clear that there a constant battle going on spiritually. Protect the seed of Your word Lord.
December 2, 2011 Time with Pedro
Two weeks ago, I was asked by Barbara, (another missionary here in Autlan) to meet with one of her college students. Barbara is college professor. She has had trouble with one of her students. She asked me to meet with him to try to deal with some of his issues. So last week Wednesday, I had the opportunity to speak with this young man named Pedro. After speaking with him for a 30 minutes, it was clear that he has a lot of intellectual thoughts. He said that there is no absolute truth. There is no God, but maybe there is. So I was not sure how to speak with him. I started sharing with him if there is no absolute truth then we don't have any idea what is good or bad. He said that is was all based on our point of view. As I spoke more and more, I shared a few scriptures with him. After 3 and half hours of talking we finally stopped and called it a night. The time flew by as we even talked about his relationship with his girlfriend and another "friend" who is also a girl. I was not sure if I would ever see him again. We planned to meet again. That was yesterday. I again had another opportunity to talk to him. This time I share with him John 14 when Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except by me. Everyone says they have the truth. How do we know it is the truth? After sharing with him a few more scriptures, I felt there was nothing more I could say to him. I asked him if I could pray for him. He said yes. So I prayed that the God would speak to him and reveal the truth to him. All I can do now is pray that God would speak the truth to him. One thing he did mention after I told him how much I enjoyed talking with him, that he was seeing the things in his life that are wrong. I pray that God would continue to convict him of sin and that he would see he can do nothing to save himself.
May the Lord use us for His kingdom.
May the Lord use us for His kingdom.
December 1, 2011 A Busy time of the year
I think everyone feels the same way when it comes to the holidays. This year we again had Thanksgiving at our house. We had our good friends and fellow missionaries Rick and Jo'ell Bruggeman as well as another couple Juan Angel and Erika Panduro. It was a day filled with eating turkey and pie (as well as the other traditional Thanksgiving food) and having a good time of fellowship. Our kids didn't stop running around all day. There were 11 kids running around our house. We had a great time. We even had time to play a game.
The following evening we also had a Thanksgiving meal with all of the Tecate missionaries out at the training center. So we had two different Thanksgiving meals. It was again a great time to reconnect with some of the other missionaries here in Autlan. The plan is to have at least once a month spending time together in fellowship as well as spending time in prayer for the ministries that each one of us is involved in.
A few days ago, I had a chance to speak with a fellow bother in Christ on the phone. It didn't matter that we are separated by 2500 miles. It didn't matter the difference in age between us. The bond of Christ is deeper than anything else in this world. I was truly blessed by his encouragement to me. We serve a great God! I was reminded once again, as well as challenged by just having a time where we are just quiet before the Lord. It is when you are just still before the Lord, He then begins to speak. How often do I have times where I am just quiet before the Lord? Not enough. Oh how I need more time with the Lord. Just be quiet before Him. May the Lord bless you today with time to be still before Him.
(I loaded more pictures)
The following evening we also had a Thanksgiving meal with all of the Tecate missionaries out at the training center. So we had two different Thanksgiving meals. It was again a great time to reconnect with some of the other missionaries here in Autlan. The plan is to have at least once a month spending time together in fellowship as well as spending time in prayer for the ministries that each one of us is involved in.
A few days ago, I had a chance to speak with a fellow bother in Christ on the phone. It didn't matter that we are separated by 2500 miles. It didn't matter the difference in age between us. The bond of Christ is deeper than anything else in this world. I was truly blessed by his encouragement to me. We serve a great God! I was reminded once again, as well as challenged by just having a time where we are just quiet before the Lord. It is when you are just still before the Lord, He then begins to speak. How often do I have times where I am just quiet before the Lord? Not enough. Oh how I need more time with the Lord. Just be quiet before Him. May the Lord bless you today with time to be still before Him.
(I loaded more pictures)
November 18, 2011 A full week
Where to begin? I guess I will start with the conference that I attended last week. It seems so long ago now with the way days have flown by the last couple of weeks. On Friday and Saturday there was evangelism conference put on by some Southern Baptists from Colorado and Texas. It was a good conference.
Last Monday afternoon, Jessie got a call from the Mother of our friend Carlos. We were informed that Carlos had suddenly become ill from a rare case of dengue fever and was dying. He was at a major hospital in other city and his wife and kids were in Autlan. Jessie was asked to go speak to his wife and prepare her. He passed way that evening. We were completely shocked. It all happen so fast. Life is a vapor. Live every day unto the Lord! The following three days become very emotionally exhausting as funerals are a several day processes with a visitation that last 24 hours. (yes all night) We did not stay up for it.
We ask that you would keep his wife Norma and their two young kids in your prayers. All of his family are unbelievers and we are hoping through the life and death of Carlos many will come to know the Lord.
The day after the funeral we were getting caught up on some of the house choirs and such. While out doing errands I got a call from Jessie frantically saying we had a house fire. It turns out one of our gas hoses connected to our water heater started leaking propane. It started to collect and when the dryer kicked in, it ignited the gas and caused an explosion. This caught the rugs on fire, which caught the 8 totes of storage we had near by catch on fire, which set all the laundry on fire! The firefighters came in record time. We lost a lot clothing, shoes, crafts, sheets, comforters, rugs, need I continue. Jessie lost about 90% of her clothes and all of her winter clothes just in time for winter! Needless to say we had a full week. Over a week later and we are still cleaning up from it and getting damaged fixed. We are having all our gas lines replaced so this will never happen again. We praise the Lord non of our family got hurt.
This week has been a struggle as well. Levi has been sick for days. Then all the girls have been dealing with fever and colds. Then yesterday Jessie started getting sick. Lord willing, I might get out of this without getting sick. With Levi not wanting to do anything but sit in your arms at times, I don't know if it is possible.
Last Monday afternoon, Jessie got a call from the Mother of our friend Carlos. We were informed that Carlos had suddenly become ill from a rare case of dengue fever and was dying. He was at a major hospital in other city and his wife and kids were in Autlan. Jessie was asked to go speak to his wife and prepare her. He passed way that evening. We were completely shocked. It all happen so fast. Life is a vapor. Live every day unto the Lord! The following three days become very emotionally exhausting as funerals are a several day processes with a visitation that last 24 hours. (yes all night) We did not stay up for it.
We ask that you would keep his wife Norma and their two young kids in your prayers. All of his family are unbelievers and we are hoping through the life and death of Carlos many will come to know the Lord.
The day after the funeral we were getting caught up on some of the house choirs and such. While out doing errands I got a call from Jessie frantically saying we had a house fire. It turns out one of our gas hoses connected to our water heater started leaking propane. It started to collect and when the dryer kicked in, it ignited the gas and caused an explosion. This caught the rugs on fire, which caught the 8 totes of storage we had near by catch on fire, which set all the laundry on fire! The firefighters came in record time. We lost a lot clothing, shoes, crafts, sheets, comforters, rugs, need I continue. Jessie lost about 90% of her clothes and all of her winter clothes just in time for winter! Needless to say we had a full week. Over a week later and we are still cleaning up from it and getting damaged fixed. We are having all our gas lines replaced so this will never happen again. We praise the Lord non of our family got hurt.
This week has been a struggle as well. Levi has been sick for days. Then all the girls have been dealing with fever and colds. Then yesterday Jessie started getting sick. Lord willing, I might get out of this without getting sick. With Levi not wanting to do anything but sit in your arms at times, I don't know if it is possible.
Our fire!
November 4, 2011 Watchmen Nee
During my devotions this morning, I read Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchmen Nee. I was encouraged by reading it. One particular passage I would like to share with you.
On page 13 it says:
"What does it really mean to sit down? When we walk or stand, we bear on our legs all the weight of our own body; but when we sit down, our entire weight rests upon the chair or couch on which we sit. We grow weary when we walk or stand, but feel rested when we have sat down for a while. In walking or standing we expend a great deal of energy, but when we are seated we relax at once, because the strain no longer falls upon our muscles and nerves, but upon something outside of ourselves. So also in the spiritual realm, to sit down is simply to rest our whole weight- our load, ourselves, our future, everything- upon the Lord. We let Him bear the responsibility and cease to carry it ourselves."
This was an encouragement to me. The more I look at what I am doing, the more I want to do more, yet remembering that it is not I who need to carry the burden. Sitting with the Lord is where we start our faith. We realize we have nothing in ourselves that can save us. Jesus paid the price for us. We place our trust and faith in Him and realize He paid the price for us. We don't have to do anything more. Yet how often am I living in my own strength to accomplish those things which I want to "do" for the Lord. Sometimes I do them to receive something. We are His workmanship created for good works in Christ. May the Lord bless you today.
On page 13 it says:
"What does it really mean to sit down? When we walk or stand, we bear on our legs all the weight of our own body; but when we sit down, our entire weight rests upon the chair or couch on which we sit. We grow weary when we walk or stand, but feel rested when we have sat down for a while. In walking or standing we expend a great deal of energy, but when we are seated we relax at once, because the strain no longer falls upon our muscles and nerves, but upon something outside of ourselves. So also in the spiritual realm, to sit down is simply to rest our whole weight- our load, ourselves, our future, everything- upon the Lord. We let Him bear the responsibility and cease to carry it ourselves."
This was an encouragement to me. The more I look at what I am doing, the more I want to do more, yet remembering that it is not I who need to carry the burden. Sitting with the Lord is where we start our faith. We realize we have nothing in ourselves that can save us. Jesus paid the price for us. We place our trust and faith in Him and realize He paid the price for us. We don't have to do anything more. Yet how often am I living in my own strength to accomplish those things which I want to "do" for the Lord. Sometimes I do them to receive something. We are His workmanship created for good works in Christ. May the Lord bless you today.
November 3, 2011
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to a youth
overnight. Another church invited me to come with the youth of our church. Unfortunately,
I was only able to get 3 guys to go on such short notice. They invited me on
Sunday to come on Friday. I really didn't know what to expect when I
decided to go. Two of the guys I brought are currently not Christians.
One has been coming off and on to the church as well as coming to the youth
group. This was a great opportunity for him to get to know other Christian
youth in this city. We heard a message about obeying your parents. Then we
spent a good amount of time playing relay games as well as other games like
seeing who could eat a watermelon the fastest. It was a really neat time
to get to know some of the people from this other church as well. They have a
heart to bring people to Christ. I can see myself working along side this
church in the future. Who knows what God is going to do here in Autlan?
On Sunday, they all came to La Roca Church to visit. It was very encouraging to be united together. One thing I would like to mention is that the Pastor, whose name is Luis Madrigal, has had some serious health issues with his throat. He has had to get a tumor removed a few months ago which I believe was cancerous. This weekend, he is getting a blood test done to see if things have gotten better or worse. If the test comes back positive, he will have to spend the next month getting chemotherapy. Pray with us as we stand with this brother in Christ. He also runs a half-way house for alcoholics on the other side of town along with the church.
On Sunday, they all came to La Roca Church to visit. It was very encouraging to be united together. One thing I would like to mention is that the Pastor, whose name is Luis Madrigal, has had some serious health issues with his throat. He has had to get a tumor removed a few months ago which I believe was cancerous. This weekend, he is getting a blood test done to see if things have gotten better or worse. If the test comes back positive, he will have to spend the next month getting chemotherapy. Pray with us as we stand with this brother in Christ. He also runs a half-way house for alcoholics on the other side of town along with the church.
October 26, 2011 The Pope's blood
All around Mexico, there is a group of people who are bringing around some blood of the former Pope, John Paul II. I am not totally for sure what else they brought with them. I heard possibly some of his bones were brought as well. I can't be totally for sure. I ended up taking a few pictures of the church. It was so full that there were people over flowing all three entrances. The amount of people that came to give honor and receive a blessing was extraordinary. It is clear still how strong the Catholic influence here is. All around the outside of the cathedral you could buy trinkets as well as photos of the former pope. I even saw some of his funeral with him being dead. I wanted to show you how engulfing this is for people down here. To the left side of this photo is a group of young people who were in the parade bringing the different items of the pope. It is ingrained into this people.
Oh how we need the Lord's help to open their eyes.
Oh how we need the Lord's help to open their eyes.
October 21, 2011
I wanted to just share with you an experience I had this past week during Sunday night. It was a fairly busy night. We are still training people in how to make the drinks and make the food. This night it was very clear to me as to how important it is. A young couple came in who I have spent time with. They were both in my English classes. The young lady was coming to La Roca church for a little while and even prayed with someone to receive Christ. But this is one of those scenarios that a person may not truly understand what giving your life to Christ really means. I am not sure how the conversation came to the topic but she expressed that she believes there is a G0d but she doesn't really believe the bible. She stated that she believes that Jesus died and rose again, but the bible isn't really that important. She gave the example of when she prays to God to show her through someone else if "it is white or green" that someone will come and show her if it is green. My time was limited to what I could say but just as I was about to give her an answer I was needed back in the kitchen. Pray with us, as the Lord gives us opportunities to share with people. I am certain that I will talk with them again very soon. I don't want to convince them. I want the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the truth. As it says in 2 Corinthians 3:13-18, the veil needs to be taken off their hearts.
13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
October 12, 2011 Hurricane Jova
Autlan has been hit by hurricane Jova which has caused a lot of flooding in the city, more then I believe anyone expected. We don't know the damage that has been done yet as I have not ventured outside but the continued sounds of ambulances is disturbing. Please pray with us for those in this small city.
October 6, 2011
Jessie and I were talking about living in a place that you see so much lighting without rain. Back in Minnesota if you saw lighting you would be confident there would be rain. It is not the case here. There are plenty of storms coming off the ocean yet they never seem strong enough to make it to where we live. Last night there was a big one. The girls and I watch for several minutes the countless lighting bolts we could see just to the south of us. I thought for sure we would get some rain from it. Nope, not a drop. The storm came and went. Probably went a different direction all together. It happens all the time here where there is a storm coming yet never rains.
Now we are beginning the start of the endless days of sun. Everything is still green right now from the days of rain, yet with the days a head everything turns brown. The dust becomes more of a problem with the afternoon winds come everyday . We are looking forward to the cool mornings that the "winter" brings.
This morning, we got up to study the word before our day started. It is hard to push through the darkness sometimes. Literally, at 6:30 in the morning it is still very much dark outside. You would think that it is in the middle of the night by the light that you see.
This morning I was reading 1 Corinthians 8. I was encouraged by Paul's words that encourages us to live by example. in verses 10-13 says:
For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
It is verses like this that go right to the heart of being an example of how we live our lives. I must live my life as an example to others. Here in Mexico, there is a huge problem with alcohol. Our mission organization asked us to refrain from drinking alcohol. I have seen the effects of alcohol here. Let's say there is birthday party. In this culture, when a girls turns 15 years old it is huge deal. This is just as big if not bigger than weddings. We were invited to one last year. There was a band that played the whole night. There were at least 500 people invited to this party. Food for everyone. The girl's dress is as elaborate as a wedding gown. The beer is flowing. Many people a lot of the teenagers get drunk because there is no limit to the beer. We are talking young 14 and 15 year old's getting wasted because no one is checking their ages. And it is "free". It is not just a birthday party but a social event that everyone wants to go to.
If alcohol makes my brother stumble, I will never drink again lest I make my brother stumble. Would you be willing to do the same, if it came to watching tv or movies? Would you do the same to food, if it was like Paul? Living life as a follower of Christ is not easy. The choices we make can effect others just by them following our example. I am my brother's keeper. May the Lord strengthen you today!
I have loaded some more photos as well. You might have seen them before on facebook. I wanted them to be here as well for those who don't use facebook.
Now we are beginning the start of the endless days of sun. Everything is still green right now from the days of rain, yet with the days a head everything turns brown. The dust becomes more of a problem with the afternoon winds come everyday . We are looking forward to the cool mornings that the "winter" brings.
This morning, we got up to study the word before our day started. It is hard to push through the darkness sometimes. Literally, at 6:30 in the morning it is still very much dark outside. You would think that it is in the middle of the night by the light that you see.
This morning I was reading 1 Corinthians 8. I was encouraged by Paul's words that encourages us to live by example. in verses 10-13 says:
For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
It is verses like this that go right to the heart of being an example of how we live our lives. I must live my life as an example to others. Here in Mexico, there is a huge problem with alcohol. Our mission organization asked us to refrain from drinking alcohol. I have seen the effects of alcohol here. Let's say there is birthday party. In this culture, when a girls turns 15 years old it is huge deal. This is just as big if not bigger than weddings. We were invited to one last year. There was a band that played the whole night. There were at least 500 people invited to this party. Food for everyone. The girl's dress is as elaborate as a wedding gown. The beer is flowing. Many people a lot of the teenagers get drunk because there is no limit to the beer. We are talking young 14 and 15 year old's getting wasted because no one is checking their ages. And it is "free". It is not just a birthday party but a social event that everyone wants to go to.
If alcohol makes my brother stumble, I will never drink again lest I make my brother stumble. Would you be willing to do the same, if it came to watching tv or movies? Would you do the same to food, if it was like Paul? Living life as a follower of Christ is not easy. The choices we make can effect others just by them following our example. I am my brother's keeper. May the Lord strengthen you today!
I have loaded some more photos as well. You might have seen them before on facebook. I wanted them to be here as well for those who don't use facebook.
September 29, 2011 Blessings in Obedience
As some of you know, I go each week, up a mountain with some of the guys from our church and from another church. It was time of fellowship as well as doing something as men need to do: outdoorsy type stuff. We often throw rocks down the side of the cliff and listen to how long it rolls for or throw rocks at an old dried up cactus plant. The cactus reminds me of old dead trees in Minnesota. As some of you know, I love the woods and pushing over dead trees can be thrilling. So I have to settle for cactus here, but hey it is Mexico, not a lot of trees around.
Two weeks ago, it ended up being just me and one other young guy. He is a son of another pastor in town. We have been talking about living our lives for God in holiness. This week was different. This young guy is 15. At his age, he is dealing with the authority of his parents and questioning why he has do what they say. He expressed his frustration as his parents have been telling him he needs to come home at a 10 PM. I expressed to him, what the bible says about our obedience. God wants us to be obedient in every area of our lives. For him it was just realizing that his parents have the authority to tell him when he needs to be home. His parents are his authority under God. If he is not walking in obedience to his parents, in reality, he is not walking in obedience to God. After about hour and half talking back and forth about it. We ended our time together and went back down the mountain. I knew that God was working on him because he was seeing it in the scriptures how his humility and submission were what God was calling him to do. The next time I spoke with him about a week later. He said that he was working on his attitude towards his parents and that he was trying to submit to their authority. He said that there was much more peace in the family because of it. He also said that even after a week, his parents extended his curfew to 10:30. I say this to say that there is blessings in obedience. When we live our lives in way that brings glory to the Lord, people will see the difference. I am blessed to be apart of what God is doing here in Autlan. I want to be used by God in whatever way He has. I am excited to see the growth and maturity of these young guys each week as we talk about how to live our lives for the Lord.
I have loaded some pictures here on the picture page. If you don't have high speed internet it might take a bit to load. We also post some of our pictures on facebook. You can find both Jessie and I on facebook.
Two weeks ago, it ended up being just me and one other young guy. He is a son of another pastor in town. We have been talking about living our lives for God in holiness. This week was different. This young guy is 15. At his age, he is dealing with the authority of his parents and questioning why he has do what they say. He expressed his frustration as his parents have been telling him he needs to come home at a 10 PM. I expressed to him, what the bible says about our obedience. God wants us to be obedient in every area of our lives. For him it was just realizing that his parents have the authority to tell him when he needs to be home. His parents are his authority under God. If he is not walking in obedience to his parents, in reality, he is not walking in obedience to God. After about hour and half talking back and forth about it. We ended our time together and went back down the mountain. I knew that God was working on him because he was seeing it in the scriptures how his humility and submission were what God was calling him to do. The next time I spoke with him about a week later. He said that he was working on his attitude towards his parents and that he was trying to submit to their authority. He said that there was much more peace in the family because of it. He also said that even after a week, his parents extended his curfew to 10:30. I say this to say that there is blessings in obedience. When we live our lives in way that brings glory to the Lord, people will see the difference. I am blessed to be apart of what God is doing here in Autlan. I want to be used by God in whatever way He has. I am excited to see the growth and maturity of these young guys each week as we talk about how to live our lives for the Lord.
I have loaded some pictures here on the picture page. If you don't have high speed internet it might take a bit to load. We also post some of our pictures on facebook. You can find both Jessie and I on facebook.
September 22, 2011
Wow, Time flies here. The last two weeks have been very busy with the start of opening La Roca on Sunday evenings. It is a time of transition. We have started to offer different types of food. We now offer pizza as well as waffles. The first night we had just waffles but it turned out that everyone ordered waffles. What we have heard is that you can make pancakes in your home. Waffles are something different. So as we get people trained-in on the in's and out's of La Roca, it will something God can use. Right now we are getting adjusted to the way things are running. When you have to coordinate 4 or 5 people working in the kitchen all doing different things, it takes some work. Pray for us, as we work with members of La Roca Church to make things work smoothly. We are eager to see what God will do with the ministry of La Roca.
August 31, 2011
This week, I was thinking about what I would write. Every Sunday morning at about 6:30 AM, I go and set up for church with mopping and cleaning and setting up the sound system. You may ask why I get up so early? The answer is simple. When you have 4 kids to get ready for church every Sunday plus get everything set up before church, it can be stressful to get it all done. We have found by me going early it takes away a lot of the stress. We aren't rushing around trying to get to church and then have to rush around and get set up. For me it has become a time of reflecting on what I am going to preach on as well as a time of prayer. I actually enjoy the quiet time with the Lord. It is quiet and no interruptions. No little girls saying "I am hungry".
A cultural note:
As I was on my way to La Roca, I took notice of the people sweeping. Now for those of you who have never been to Mexico, it can get very dusty. Even during the rainy season dust seems to collect on everything. As a cultural norm, the first thing you do in the morning is sweep your house and then you sweep the sidewalk and street in front of your house. At 6:30 AM, I would say that I saw at least 5 different people sweeping. During the dry season you will see people throwing water on the area in front of their house as well just to keep the dust down for a little while. In front of our house, we have a few trees. We would sweep up the leaves but an older gentleman across the street sweeps the leaves up because two out of three are in front of our neighbor's house. He sweeps every day for our neighbor that lives in Texas. On the other side of us we have neighbors that drive a big truck. It is not quite a long semi-truck but still pretty big. He is gone for days. But when he is here, he parks right outside our door, so we can't sweep. (It makes for an interesting view.) For inside the house, I use a leaf blower which makes things much faster, especially when you have different kinds of fruits falling all over. We have a guava tree that drops guavas all year round right in our front patio. Just a few of the things we get to experience here in Mexico.
A cultural note:
As I was on my way to La Roca, I took notice of the people sweeping. Now for those of you who have never been to Mexico, it can get very dusty. Even during the rainy season dust seems to collect on everything. As a cultural norm, the first thing you do in the morning is sweep your house and then you sweep the sidewalk and street in front of your house. At 6:30 AM, I would say that I saw at least 5 different people sweeping. During the dry season you will see people throwing water on the area in front of their house as well just to keep the dust down for a little while. In front of our house, we have a few trees. We would sweep up the leaves but an older gentleman across the street sweeps the leaves up because two out of three are in front of our neighbor's house. He sweeps every day for our neighbor that lives in Texas. On the other side of us we have neighbors that drive a big truck. It is not quite a long semi-truck but still pretty big. He is gone for days. But when he is here, he parks right outside our door, so we can't sweep. (It makes for an interesting view.) For inside the house, I use a leaf blower which makes things much faster, especially when you have different kinds of fruits falling all over. We have a guava tree that drops guavas all year round right in our front patio. Just a few of the things we get to experience here in Mexico.
August 25, 2011
Juan Angel at La Roca teaching me Spanish.
I (Andy) have been taking Spanish
tutoring since coming back from Furlough. It has been a boost in my
Spanish. It is a work in progress with trying to get some of the basic concepts
of Spanish back into my mind and start using them. We are going through
the books that I used when I went to Harvest
Language School
in Guadalajara. This past week we finished the first book. I thought we would just whiz by it. I was wrong. It turned out that there were some lessons that I needed to
learn all over again. It was three years ago in August that I finished studying at Harvest. It was definitely a lot of information to take in at the time. Now
that I have spent time speaking Spanish, it is time to re-learn some of those
basic rules of Spanish. My preaching is one area
that I really need to work on. Every time you tell a story it is in past tense. A lot of the bible is in past tense as well. So for now I am in a time of study. I am studying with a tutor
three times a week. When our mission leaders where in here in April they
recommended that I spend the next year studying Spanish so that I will be able to
communicate effectively with the people of the church and those who I am witnessing to.
Let me tell you a little about my tutor. His name is Juan Angel. He is about 27 or 28 (I can't remember for sure). He is married and has two kids. Two boys that are 5 and 2. He and his wife are serving the Lord. He works for the postal service here. When Jessie and I were praying about who we could ask to help me, he told us he was looking for part time work. It has been such a blessing for me to have someone like Juan that will challenge me to speak Spanish better as well as for me to encourage him to continue to follow the Lord. This is an area I could use your prayers in. Speaking a second language is always going to be battle to communicate exactly what you are thinking. Thank you for your prayers in this area.
Let me tell you a little about my tutor. His name is Juan Angel. He is about 27 or 28 (I can't remember for sure). He is married and has two kids. Two boys that are 5 and 2. He and his wife are serving the Lord. He works for the postal service here. When Jessie and I were praying about who we could ask to help me, he told us he was looking for part time work. It has been such a blessing for me to have someone like Juan that will challenge me to speak Spanish better as well as for me to encourage him to continue to follow the Lord. This is an area I could use your prayers in. Speaking a second language is always going to be battle to communicate exactly what you are thinking. Thank you for your prayers in this area.
August 24, 2011
Things are getting interesting here as we put Aletta in public school this week. Let me first say that she has a side of her that is very shy and doesn't like to be put on the spot. When you ask her to do something in front of other people she will barely respond. For example, when Jessie asked her if she wanted to shake her teacher's hand, she was not going to do that. Even with this side of her she has a side to her that is adventurous. A side that wants to get out there and do things like go to school. It is a small class of about 13 kids. After the first day I asked her what she thought and she said that she liked it. So with that Aletta is now attending public school to learn Spanish. I was thinking about it this morning. Would I be willing to go sit in a classroom by myself where I knew no one and try to learn another language? Kids are different. They may get stressed out at times but it is no where near the level of stress that I would have being in a classroom trying to understand another language. Oh how nice it would be to a kid again just to have that mind that soaks up information like a sponge. Jessie is also teaching all of the girls in home school. So we are getting use scheduling out our time in the mornings so that they can get everything accomplished in the time we have before they head of to public school for 4 hours in the afternoon.
August 19, 2011
This week started off on Sunday night with Anna getting the stomach flu and missing a birthday party. Then came Aletta and Jessie. Tuesday morning it was my turn. It was only a 24 hour stomach flu, but it throws everything off just trying to catch up. So this week has been one of those weeks were there is so much to do yet so little time to do it in.
As I was washing the dishes after breakfast this morning, I was listening to a cd of worship music. One song that was touched my heart was My Heart, your Home by Watermark. Here are the lyrics to it.
My Heart, Your Home
Come and make my heart Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
A home for You, Lord.
A home for You, Lord.
Let everything I do open up,
A door for You to come through,
And that my heart would be a place where You want to be.
Come and make my heart Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
You are my portion, filling up everything.
You are the fortune that's causing my heart to sing.
That it's amazing, that You could make Yourself at home with me.
Come and make my heart,
Come and make it Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/watermark/my_heart_your_home.html ]
The words "Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You", is what really touched me. It is where I need to be. I need the Lord to sift through my life. I am weak but HE is strong. I make excuses to why I don't do something, yet HE is the one who gives me strength. Oh how I need the Lord today, just to make it through today.
As I was washing the dishes after breakfast this morning, I was listening to a cd of worship music. One song that was touched my heart was My Heart, your Home by Watermark. Here are the lyrics to it.
My Heart, Your Home
Come and make my heart Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
A home for You, Lord.
A home for You, Lord.
Let everything I do open up,
A door for You to come through,
And that my heart would be a place where You want to be.
Come and make my heart Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
You are my portion, filling up everything.
You are the fortune that's causing my heart to sing.
That it's amazing, that You could make Yourself at home with me.
Come and make my heart,
Come and make it Your home.
Come and be everything I am and all I know.
Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/watermark/my_heart_your_home.html ]
The words "Search me through and through 'till my heart becomes a home for You", is what really touched me. It is where I need to be. I need the Lord to sift through my life. I am weak but HE is strong. I make excuses to why I don't do something, yet HE is the one who gives me strength. Oh how I need the Lord today, just to make it through today.
August 10, 2011
During my morning devotions this morning, I was reading in Mark 8, Jesus feeds 4,000 people.
Mark 8:9-21
Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. 13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have no bread.” 17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” 21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
(NKJV from Biblegateway.com)
What I was stuck with this passage was how quickly the disciples went from seeing Jesus provide food for 4,000 people and went it came time for their own needs they still looked to physical means. They had the savior of the world in the boat with them. They had seen Jesus provide for many people that they did not know. How much more would Jesus provide for their needs, the ones that he knew the most intimately? The ones Jesus spent the most time with talking about the kingdom of God.
Oh how I need Jesus. Oh how I am like these disciples who don't look beyond the physical. The Lord has provided in so many ways. He has done great things in my life yet I doubt the things that He can do. May the Lord remind me of the things He has done and give me the faith to trust that He will continue to be faithful.
Monday and Tuesday, Jessie and I had a much needed time alone. We went to the beach about 2 1/2 hours away for our 10th anniversary. I have posted some pictures under the pictures page. Jessie and I have been married for over 10 years. How has it been 10 years already? It seems like yesterday when were still dating at Bethany. But then I think back to all that we have done in the last 10 years, I think to myself wow we have done a lot. We finished college, started our family, worked for 3 years, and then moved to Mexico where we have been now for almost 4 years. That is when I realize that it really has been 10 years. Jessie is a wonderful women. I am so blessed to be her husband. I am excited to see what else the Lord has for the years to come.
May the Lord bless you today!
Mark 8:9-21
Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. 11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. 13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have no bread.” 17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” 21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
(NKJV from Biblegateway.com)
What I was stuck with this passage was how quickly the disciples went from seeing Jesus provide food for 4,000 people and went it came time for their own needs they still looked to physical means. They had the savior of the world in the boat with them. They had seen Jesus provide for many people that they did not know. How much more would Jesus provide for their needs, the ones that he knew the most intimately? The ones Jesus spent the most time with talking about the kingdom of God.
Oh how I need Jesus. Oh how I am like these disciples who don't look beyond the physical. The Lord has provided in so many ways. He has done great things in my life yet I doubt the things that He can do. May the Lord remind me of the things He has done and give me the faith to trust that He will continue to be faithful.
Monday and Tuesday, Jessie and I had a much needed time alone. We went to the beach about 2 1/2 hours away for our 10th anniversary. I have posted some pictures under the pictures page. Jessie and I have been married for over 10 years. How has it been 10 years already? It seems like yesterday when were still dating at Bethany. But then I think back to all that we have done in the last 10 years, I think to myself wow we have done a lot. We finished college, started our family, worked for 3 years, and then moved to Mexico where we have been now for almost 4 years. That is when I realize that it really has been 10 years. Jessie is a wonderful women. I am so blessed to be her husband. I am excited to see what else the Lord has for the years to come.
May the Lord bless you today!
August 6, 2011
What is God doing? This morning I had the pleasure of going up the mountain with some young guys. There was 8 of us total. The Lord is doing something with each one of these guys. You can literally see the spiritual growth in each one of them. There is nothing you can do to make them grow. All you can do is continue to be faithful to what God has called you to do. This morning we talked about being an example to those who are around us and causing others to sin who might follow our example. I think often times it is hard to remember that when you feel like no one is watching. Then someone tells you that you are an encouragement to them just by the way I talk and live my life. It is clear to me that God has a purpose in everything that we do. We are called to be obedient to the call He has placed on our life. I am so dependent upon Him to give me the strength to do HIS will. Oh Lord help me do the things which you want me to do. Keep me where you want me to be. Help me to see you working.
July 14, 2011
Some pictures from our furlough have been added recently. Take a look.
April 16, 2011, My Mexican Workout
The past month has been packed full of things. We finally moved back into our bedroom after six weeks of sleeping in the living room. The ceiling was replaced again. I had to finish all the cement work around the ceiling beams. The workers never came back to finish it. The landlord paid them for the work the did but they were not coming back to do more work unless the were paid more. So I ended up doing it. With furlough right around the corner we needed to finish our bedroom so that we could focus on other things. With the bathroom being the next thing to work on, we decided it was time to take out the old sink that we were not using. It is now gone. It is just one of the few things that we have done to make this place our home. Our plan it to tile the floor to replace the old floor that has been there for over 50 years. We still haven't decided if we will out our washing machine in this space. The is water and a drain already. We just aren't sure about the dryer.
We are going home at the beginning of May. We will be in both Minnesota and Illinois. We are very excited. But with going home it takes planning both for visiting churches and the time that we will be gone. We trying to accomplish all of those last minute details. Pray for us. We need it.
On a different note. I started this week with a Spanish tutor. Our mission suggested that I (Andy) get a tutor to really define my Spanish. There are so many different grammatical rules for Spanish. Just to even go over the basics has been very helpful this last week. I am currently meeting with him three days a week. His going to also help me fine tooth my sermons as well, which Jessie has been doing. It was stressful to find time in our day to do that.
We are going home at the beginning of May. We will be in both Minnesota and Illinois. We are very excited. But with going home it takes planning both for visiting churches and the time that we will be gone. We trying to accomplish all of those last minute details. Pray for us. We need it.
On a different note. I started this week with a Spanish tutor. Our mission suggested that I (Andy) get a tutor to really define my Spanish. There are so many different grammatical rules for Spanish. Just to even go over the basics has been very helpful this last week. I am currently meeting with him three days a week. His going to also help me fine tooth my sermons as well, which Jessie has been doing. It was stressful to find time in our day to do that.
March 23, 2011 Do we have the living water?
La Roca Church on Sunday morning.
We need the Lord so much. What do we have to offer the world that is any different than what any other religions are offering? With the story of the woman at the well, Jesus said in John 4:13-14 "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." He is the one who gives life. Jesus the one who gives us this living water. We will continue to fill our life with the things that will satisfy our thirst for a moment until we realize that it is in Jesus that we find our thirst is satisfied.
this is what I have been challenged with this week. What do I have to offer the world? Do I have the living water that Jesus gives? I am challenged in my faith. Do I have the living water flowing out of my life?
this is what I have been challenged with this week. What do I have to offer the world? Do I have the living water that Jesus gives? I am challenged in my faith. Do I have the living water flowing out of my life?
March 8, 2011 Back to work.
We had a few days last week during carnival that we got go to the beach. The last time we went to the beach was almost 2 years ago now. We had a nice time relaxing and swimming. Every night the girls would crash because they had played so hard. In the picture page of our site you can see some that we took of the beach.
You know it is carnival when there is a tuba player warming up right out in the street in front of your house at 11:30 PM. (In the post below you can see the bull ring and how close we are to it.) The carnival is now over, thank the Lord. We can now drive down our street again. It is a bit of a maze when there are so many streets blocked off. Not to mention all the people who are partying and having a "good time" drinking. Every year there are many consequences of this time. We talking with a girl from our church who said that some of her friends from school were going to go to lose their virginity. The world is trying to offer something that only God can fulfill.
One of the things that I wanted to share was about a young couple named Norma and Carlos. They have had trouble in their marriage over the past couple of years. We have had times we were really able to encourage them and speak into their lives. They seemed like they were growing in faith. They decided to leave the church to go to another one. We found out that a few months ago Carlos started going out with his work friends after work. He started drinking, partying and coming home late. By the time carnival came around he decided to leave Norma. He said it was easier this way and he wanted "freedom". In other words he wanted to be able to do what he wanted without consequences. After talking with him several times trying to tell him to think about what he is doing, he had made it clear that he is not going to go back to Norma.
We now are trying to minister to Norma. Trying to encourage her to keep seeking the Lord even during this difficult time. Please pray with us, that God would bring conviction to Carlos and that God would restore this marriage.
You know it is carnival when there is a tuba player warming up right out in the street in front of your house at 11:30 PM. (In the post below you can see the bull ring and how close we are to it.) The carnival is now over, thank the Lord. We can now drive down our street again. It is a bit of a maze when there are so many streets blocked off. Not to mention all the people who are partying and having a "good time" drinking. Every year there are many consequences of this time. We talking with a girl from our church who said that some of her friends from school were going to go to lose their virginity. The world is trying to offer something that only God can fulfill.
One of the things that I wanted to share was about a young couple named Norma and Carlos. They have had trouble in their marriage over the past couple of years. We have had times we were really able to encourage them and speak into their lives. They seemed like they were growing in faith. They decided to leave the church to go to another one. We found out that a few months ago Carlos started going out with his work friends after work. He started drinking, partying and coming home late. By the time carnival came around he decided to leave Norma. He said it was easier this way and he wanted "freedom". In other words he wanted to be able to do what he wanted without consequences. After talking with him several times trying to tell him to think about what he is doing, he had made it clear that he is not going to go back to Norma.
We now are trying to minister to Norma. Trying to encourage her to keep seeking the Lord even during this difficult time. Please pray with us, that God would bring conviction to Carlos and that God would restore this marriage.
February 22, 2011 Another roof project.
The bedroom roof of our house.
Ok. So last year I replaced the roof. I put down wood, then plastic, and then roof tiles. What I didn't know was the beams that were there we getting eaten by termites. So after talking with our landlord, we are having the roof replaced again. This time, with metal beams. Beams that won't be eaten by termites. So the next week we have men coming in and out of our house working on the project. I will be glad when it is done.
The city is getting ready for Carnival next week. I don't know if I noticed it last year as much as this year. Maybe they are putting more money into making the city look a little nicer. They have just painted all the lines on the streets all over the place. There have been men working on the streets around the plaza de Toros.(The bull ring, you can see in the picture.) Needless to say we are not looking forward to the 10 days of Carnival. There are some days that there are bands playing until 5 AM in the morning! We are planning to go to the coast this year to get away from it for a little while. We have not been to the beach since last year. We look forward to a few days of relaxation.
The city is getting ready for Carnival next week. I don't know if I noticed it last year as much as this year. Maybe they are putting more money into making the city look a little nicer. They have just painted all the lines on the streets all over the place. There have been men working on the streets around the plaza de Toros.(The bull ring, you can see in the picture.) Needless to say we are not looking forward to the 10 days of Carnival. There are some days that there are bands playing until 5 AM in the morning! We are planning to go to the coast this year to get away from it for a little while. We have not been to the beach since last year. We look forward to a few days of relaxation.
February 12, 2011 Prayer on the mountain
In December, I started walking up a near by mountain on a weekly basis. It was just three of us for about two months. Sigi, Daniel and myself we go up each week and spend time in both reading the bible and some time in prayer. Last week was somewhat of a breakthrough. We had eight of us go up there this week. It is a time of getting outside of the norm. We go up the mountain talking and getting to know one another. It is a time to strengthen each other in the faith. I have been extremely blessed to be apart of it. I am very excited to see what God has in store for us as men who follow Christ. Please pray with me that these young men would serve the Lord with their who lives.
January 28, 2011 Visas done with for another year.
Our visas are done for a whole year. We are grateful to be done with the process as we had to go to Guadalajara to go to the immigration office. Thank you to those of you who helped us financially to get our visas renewed.
Another bit of news is that Anna is now going to school. She does do home school with Jessie, but she is now attending a local school.Yesterday Jessie said that Anna could now count up to 30 in Spanish. This is a relief because we have lived in Mexico for 3 years now and the girls do not speak very much Spanish. They won't even repeat anything that we are asking them to say in public. Last week I hooked up an antenna for our TV. The girls now watch Sponge Bob, Sesame Street, and various other cartoons in Spanish. They use to always complain about watching movies in Spanish. Now they are starting to communicate little by little in Spanish.
We are started a small English class in our home. Only a few people are invited to come. We have felt it is an opportunity to minister to a few people. As of right now we have three men and one woman. We have been praying about this for a while about what we should do. We are going to try to have a small number of people so that we can keep it personal. Pray that God would use us in the lives of this people.
Another bit of news is that Anna is now going to school. She does do home school with Jessie, but she is now attending a local school.Yesterday Jessie said that Anna could now count up to 30 in Spanish. This is a relief because we have lived in Mexico for 3 years now and the girls do not speak very much Spanish. They won't even repeat anything that we are asking them to say in public. Last week I hooked up an antenna for our TV. The girls now watch Sponge Bob, Sesame Street, and various other cartoons in Spanish. They use to always complain about watching movies in Spanish. Now they are starting to communicate little by little in Spanish.
We are started a small English class in our home. Only a few people are invited to come. We have felt it is an opportunity to minister to a few people. As of right now we have three men and one woman. We have been praying about this for a while about what we should do. We are going to try to have a small number of people so that we can keep it personal. Pray that God would use us in the lives of this people.
December 29, 2010 Time of Prayer
The last few weeks, I have been going up on top of a near by mountain with another guy from our church, Sigi. The picture is me over looking one part of Autlan. I always love going up there. It gets you above the noise. If you have ever been to Mexico, there are no laws for noise ordnance so there is a lot of noise. This guys selling gas, that guy is selling water, those guys are selling some kind of fruit. Then of course you have to add in the local advertisements for a restaurant or a upcoming event that is happening. It is like the US 50 some years ago with load speaks attached to the top of you car. So for me to go up there, it is a good place to be above it all.
On this particular morning we went up, it was a Saturday, it turns out Sunday was the Day of Guadalupe. If you do not know what it is, let me tell you. It is a day that Mexican Catholics will go to the church usually on top of a mountain that is dedicated to "Lady of Guadalupe" who is also Mary. Some will go on their hands and knees to do pennants, to help their relatives get out of purgatory. Other just go up to the "Chapelita" (Small chapel) out of tradition and pray to receive a blessing on that day. So when we got up there that day, they were preparing for the thousands of people who would be walking up the mountain. There were some people already praying and singing when we walked by. It is so sad to see. Their eyes are blinded. When you talk to people here, especially about Catholicism, you ask them why they believe what they believe and they will tell you because this is what my family believes. Who taught them? They says that the priest does, yet they can not remember any kind of scripture from the bible. This is what we deal with daily here, a people who are following a tradition. Why would they change it? Their eyes need to be opened to the truth of God's word.
On this particular morning we went up, it was a Saturday, it turns out Sunday was the Day of Guadalupe. If you do not know what it is, let me tell you. It is a day that Mexican Catholics will go to the church usually on top of a mountain that is dedicated to "Lady of Guadalupe" who is also Mary. Some will go on their hands and knees to do pennants, to help their relatives get out of purgatory. Other just go up to the "Chapelita" (Small chapel) out of tradition and pray to receive a blessing on that day. So when we got up there that day, they were preparing for the thousands of people who would be walking up the mountain. There were some people already praying and singing when we walked by. It is so sad to see. Their eyes are blinded. When you talk to people here, especially about Catholicism, you ask them why they believe what they believe and they will tell you because this is what my family believes. Who taught them? They says that the priest does, yet they can not remember any kind of scripture from the bible. This is what we deal with daily here, a people who are following a tradition. Why would they change it? Their eyes need to be opened to the truth of God's word.
December 10, 2010 Home alone with the kids
Jessie had an opportunity to go to Guadalajara with some of the women from our church. It is a good thing because it gives her an the chance to buy some gifts for some of the people from our church. Today, started at 4:30 AM, to Jessie getting up and leaving. Then I got up at 6:30 AM and went to La Roca. Barbara (another missionary with Tecate and member of our church) teaches classes at the University. Her class on Nutrition had to do their final projects, which was presenting a food product to sell. Barbara asked me to be a judge for their projects. It was very interesting, to observe six different groups. They were very full of ideas. Their were some you could tell, could continue to present their product to the public. That is how much they put into it. They had banners printed out and all kinds of promotional material. It is giving me some ideas as to La Roca coffee house.
The times right now for any business is very slow. I have spoken to some business owners who have said that everyone is dealing with bad business. I spoke with one who said that it is about half of the business that they normally get this time of the year. Autlan and Mexico possible is not doing as well. La Roca Coffee house as a business is also in tough times. It is only by the grace of God that we are still open. I only tell you this so that you can pray for us. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. La Roca Coffee house is the Lord's ministry, and he will continue to sustain it if he wants to stay open. Praise the Lord we serve a mighty God!
We are planning a Christmas party for the church on December 23. Here is a cultural tidbit for you. Mexican celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. That is when the whole families get together. So for us to have a Christmas eve service at the church would be very small who would come. So this year we are planning to have a posada, which is a Mexican Christmas party for the Church. We are hoping to make it an outreach for people to come to a La Roca Church event. We will have tamales, Mexican punch, bunwellos (not sure on the spelling but it is a Mexican fried pastry that is covered in sugar), piñatas, and we are going to play bingo. We are praying that God would use it to bring people into the church who wouldn't normally come to church.
The times right now for any business is very slow. I have spoken to some business owners who have said that everyone is dealing with bad business. I spoke with one who said that it is about half of the business that they normally get this time of the year. Autlan and Mexico possible is not doing as well. La Roca Coffee house as a business is also in tough times. It is only by the grace of God that we are still open. I only tell you this so that you can pray for us. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. La Roca Coffee house is the Lord's ministry, and he will continue to sustain it if he wants to stay open. Praise the Lord we serve a mighty God!
We are planning a Christmas party for the church on December 23. Here is a cultural tidbit for you. Mexican celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. That is when the whole families get together. So for us to have a Christmas eve service at the church would be very small who would come. So this year we are planning to have a posada, which is a Mexican Christmas party for the Church. We are hoping to make it an outreach for people to come to a La Roca Church event. We will have tamales, Mexican punch, bunwellos (not sure on the spelling but it is a Mexican fried pastry that is covered in sugar), piñatas, and we are going to play bingo. We are praying that God would use it to bring people into the church who wouldn't normally come to church.
December 7, 2010 Everyday life
As I sitting in my office tonight, I was thinking about what I could write to update everyone. Jessie is at a woman's bible study and I am at home with Aletta, Lilly and Levi. In the last month there has been so much that has happened.
The first would have to be that Anna is now going to school here in Autlan. Jessie is still doing homeschooling with her during the day. Anna goes to school from 2-6PM, in the afternoon. What has lead to us to this decision is that we have been here in Mexico for three years now and the girls still do not speak Spanish. Initially we were thinking that the girls would just pick it up being here. At the age that the girls are at, it is difficult to give them opportunities to speak Spanish. They only have a few times a week they get to speak Spanish. It is not enough. So Anna has been going for the last three weeks. She seems to like it but she does not talk about it much yet. When she arrives she acts like she is uncomfortable. We ask her if she likes it and she says yes every time. You ask her what she has learned and she says "I don't know". What it reminds me of is when Anna was little, she had a birthday party. Instead of being super excited, she would get over loaded and really quiet. So I think with more time she will be more talkative about it. In the meantime it is an adjustment for us as a family. I have run out of time right now. But I will write more very soon.
The first would have to be that Anna is now going to school here in Autlan. Jessie is still doing homeschooling with her during the day. Anna goes to school from 2-6PM, in the afternoon. What has lead to us to this decision is that we have been here in Mexico for three years now and the girls still do not speak Spanish. Initially we were thinking that the girls would just pick it up being here. At the age that the girls are at, it is difficult to give them opportunities to speak Spanish. They only have a few times a week they get to speak Spanish. It is not enough. So Anna has been going for the last three weeks. She seems to like it but she does not talk about it much yet. When she arrives she acts like she is uncomfortable. We ask her if she likes it and she says yes every time. You ask her what she has learned and she says "I don't know". What it reminds me of is when Anna was little, she had a birthday party. Instead of being super excited, she would get over loaded and really quiet. So I think with more time she will be more talkative about it. In the meantime it is an adjustment for us as a family. I have run out of time right now. But I will write more very soon.
November 4,2010 Sharing at the University
Barbara, who is a Tecate Missionary asked me to come and speak with one of her University classes that she teaches. She wanted me to share about communication. Since I am speaking Spanish as a second language in a culture that is not my own, I had plenty to talk about. She said that I could read the bible if I wanted. I ended up sharing with them about the Lord's prayer and the verses just before it. It is Mathew 6:5-9. It talks about how we are to pray to the Lord to not pray with vain repetitions. Where we need to pray is in our room with doors close in the secret place. It was very encouraging to share with these college students. Many of them are Catholics because their families are. I pray that God would use his word to bring hunger to their lives. Something different than what they know other than vain repetition and and empty religion.
A Little trip this past Saturday. (See below for pictures)
This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of going on a little trip out of Autlan. A good friend that has been visiting our Church named Rosendo wanted to show me some of the beauty of Jalisco. He was one of my English students last year. Over the course of the year, he was getting more and more interested in the Bible. He is still Catholic yet he comes to our church every Sunday. I had the pleasure of going with him on this little adventure to see one of the rivers here in Mexico. We traveled the whole way on an old dirt road that, like many roads in Mexico, had been damaged by this years massive rainy season. It was a bumpy and adventures ride. This river is only present when the rainy season is here and drys up quickly. Rosendo said that it was about half of what it had been last week. We had lunch and did some freezing cold river swimming. It was a great day and the first time we had done anything together like this. Please pray for him as our friendship develops and that the Lord would give me many opportunities to share the gospel with him.
JUNE NEWSLETTER
MAY 31st Update on Levi.
Many of you might know by now that our son Levi was born last week. I developed some complications that forced me to have an emergency c-section last Tuesday. Levi was actually born on Andy's birthday! I was 35 weeks pregnant and was a little over a month from my due date. My complications had caused Levi to stop growing and he came out a small 3lbs 6oz boy! He has been in the NICU for a week now and has developed several complications. Levi's major problem is his intestines have inflammation and a little infection. The inflammation can cause infection that can lead to tears in his intestines and that can lead to life threatening problems and surgery. This has been going on since they introduced my milk to him. It's called Necrotizing Enterocolitis, don't look it up because it sounds very scary. Levi has, what I believe to be, a very mild case of it but it can cause a lot of problems for him. This is the only thing keeping Levi from coming home. Tomorrow (Tuesday June 1st) they will be trying to give him milk again. IF he tolerates the milk then they will continue to give him more and observe him for a couple of days before sending him home. However if the milk causes his intestines to become inflamed again they will have to stop feeding him and allow his intestines 7 to 10 days to recover and then try again. After that if he does okay he would be in an additional 3 days to observe him. So we could be looking at 2 days or 10 days!!! LET US PRAY! Tomorrow will be a very big day for him and us if it all goes well. Please pray for healing, and that his intestines will gladly welcome my milk.
Many of you might know by now that our son Levi was born last week. I developed some complications that forced me to have an emergency c-section last Tuesday. Levi was actually born on Andy's birthday! I was 35 weeks pregnant and was a little over a month from my due date. My complications had caused Levi to stop growing and he came out a small 3lbs 6oz boy! He has been in the NICU for a week now and has developed several complications. Levi's major problem is his intestines have inflammation and a little infection. The inflammation can cause infection that can lead to tears in his intestines and that can lead to life threatening problems and surgery. This has been going on since they introduced my milk to him. It's called Necrotizing Enterocolitis, don't look it up because it sounds very scary. Levi has, what I believe to be, a very mild case of it but it can cause a lot of problems for him. This is the only thing keeping Levi from coming home. Tomorrow (Tuesday June 1st) they will be trying to give him milk again. IF he tolerates the milk then they will continue to give him more and observe him for a couple of days before sending him home. However if the milk causes his intestines to become inflamed again they will have to stop feeding him and allow his intestines 7 to 10 days to recover and then try again. After that if he does okay he would be in an additional 3 days to observe him. So we could be looking at 2 days or 10 days!!! LET US PRAY! Tomorrow will be a very big day for him and us if it all goes well. Please pray for healing, and that his intestines will gladly welcome my milk.
Our son Levi has arrived!
3lbs 6oz & 16” long.
May 25th 2010
Full name: Levi Andrew Joseph Clark
On Friday the 21st we visited our Doctor in Guadalajara where we were planning on giving birth in June. I was 35 weeks pregnant with just a month left to my due date. He discovered that over the last few weeks I had developed high blood pressure. I was put on a medication and told to have my blood pressure check for the week. I was sent home and told to check back with him in a week. However as the weekend continued I continued to feel uneasy and decided on Monday to visit my local Dr. in Autlán and have an ultrasound done. It was the discovered my placenta was deteriorating, I had very little amniotic fluid and our son Levi had stopped growing. Due to the gravity of the information we were asked to head back to Guadalajara to have a specialist double check our Doctors findings. The next day we were back in Guadalajara and the news was as they had expected and three hours later I was giving birth to Levi via c-section. We welcomed him into the world on his Fathers 32nd birthday! He is very small due to his growth restriction but other than that he is what he should be for a 35 weeks old baby. He is receiving help with his breathing and also getting help with keeping up his body temp. They believe that if everything continues to go well Levi will be out of the hospital by Sunday.
We ask for all of your prayers for our little guy. Our pray is that he will continue to only make improvements and we will have him in our arms soon. Please pray for our kids during this time of separation as they are in Autlán with our missionary partners.
We will try to keep you updated.
Andy & Jessie Clark
3lbs 6oz & 16” long.
May 25th 2010
Full name: Levi Andrew Joseph Clark
On Friday the 21st we visited our Doctor in Guadalajara where we were planning on giving birth in June. I was 35 weeks pregnant with just a month left to my due date. He discovered that over the last few weeks I had developed high blood pressure. I was put on a medication and told to have my blood pressure check for the week. I was sent home and told to check back with him in a week. However as the weekend continued I continued to feel uneasy and decided on Monday to visit my local Dr. in Autlán and have an ultrasound done. It was the discovered my placenta was deteriorating, I had very little amniotic fluid and our son Levi had stopped growing. Due to the gravity of the information we were asked to head back to Guadalajara to have a specialist double check our Doctors findings. The next day we were back in Guadalajara and the news was as they had expected and three hours later I was giving birth to Levi via c-section. We welcomed him into the world on his Fathers 32nd birthday! He is very small due to his growth restriction but other than that he is what he should be for a 35 weeks old baby. He is receiving help with his breathing and also getting help with keeping up his body temp. They believe that if everything continues to go well Levi will be out of the hospital by Sunday.
We ask for all of your prayers for our little guy. Our pray is that he will continue to only make improvements and we will have him in our arms soon. Please pray for our kids during this time of separation as they are in Autlán with our missionary partners.
We will try to keep you updated.
Andy & Jessie Clark
May 23rd, 2010 Not so good Dr. appointment
We went to our Dr. appointment on Friday. The Dr. discovered that I have high blood pressure. It's not preeclampsia (toxemia) because I have no other issues connected with it. I think you would call it gestational hypertension. I was put on medication, told to have my blood pressure tested everyday for a week, and have to take it easy. I'm not really sure how this is handled in the states, I have never had any medical problems during pregnancy before. We ask for your prayers at this time for my health and especially the heath of our child.
We went to our Dr. appointment on Friday. The Dr. discovered that I have high blood pressure. It's not preeclampsia (toxemia) because I have no other issues connected with it. I think you would call it gestational hypertension. I was put on medication, told to have my blood pressure tested everyday for a week, and have to take it easy. I'm not really sure how this is handled in the states, I have never had any medical problems during pregnancy before. We ask for your prayers at this time for my health and especially the heath of our child.
May 14, 2010 The heat is here!!!
The month of May is the hottest month before the rainy season starts. It seem to creep up on us all of a sudden. During the day it is between 90-100 degrees. The Mexican culture has built siesta during this time. From the hours of 2 to 4 in the afternoon everything shuts down with the exceptions of restaurants. Most businesses do not operate during this time because many people go home to have lunch which is the biggest meal of the day unlike the big American meal time at dinner. Here they will eat lighter in the evening like tacos or hot dogs. Here Hot dogs are very popular. They are wrapped in Bacon and covered with onions, tomatoes, peppers, cream, mushrooms, ketchup, and mustard. They are diffidently more for the fixing then the flavor of the meat. Back to siesta. It is very hot. Jessie is doing well considering she is 8 and 1/2 months pregnant. We finally put our air-conditioner in our bedroom window so we could sleep better at night. We don't use it any other time of the day because it is pretty spending on electricity. It really has helped Jessie sleep better. But often Jessie will be sitting in the living room with her feet up and sitting in front of a fan. Bless her heart she is doing so well with the heat.
All of my animals are sleeping during this time. Our two dogs lay down on the cement tile we have in our patio to stay cool. Our cats often lay in different parts of the house. My chickens all are under the chicken coop we made for them with their mouths wide open. Kind of weird.
When we were downtown today running some errands, there are so many people out and about. Even at the grocery story it the longest lines I have seen in a long time. 7 or 8 people standing in each line. When siesta hit there is no one around. It becomes a ghost town, almost like Christmas. When we lived in Guadalajara, it was the same as the states. There were grocery stores open all the time and of-course Wal-mart was always open. When we moved here to Autlan, we had to change everything. When the girls would take a nap we would run errands with them in the car sleeping. Here that is not the case. It is just to hot. It took us a while to get use to it but after being here now for close two years, we are completely ok with it. I am sitting in our bedroom typing on our laptop and I am sweating.
Oh how I miss the winter in Minnesota. I am a true Minnesotan. We did see snow this year. There is mountain about two hours drive from us that had snow on it's peak. I never realized we would be that close to snow. I had a student in my English class who went up and took pictures with his family. He said that he would take me up there sometime if I wanted. He didn't have any more time off because he is a doctor in two different hospitals, so it didn't work out to go. But maybe next year I will be able actually feel snow again.
All of my animals are sleeping during this time. Our two dogs lay down on the cement tile we have in our patio to stay cool. Our cats often lay in different parts of the house. My chickens all are under the chicken coop we made for them with their mouths wide open. Kind of weird.
When we were downtown today running some errands, there are so many people out and about. Even at the grocery story it the longest lines I have seen in a long time. 7 or 8 people standing in each line. When siesta hit there is no one around. It becomes a ghost town, almost like Christmas. When we lived in Guadalajara, it was the same as the states. There were grocery stores open all the time and of-course Wal-mart was always open. When we moved here to Autlan, we had to change everything. When the girls would take a nap we would run errands with them in the car sleeping. Here that is not the case. It is just to hot. It took us a while to get use to it but after being here now for close two years, we are completely ok with it. I am sitting in our bedroom typing on our laptop and I am sweating.
Oh how I miss the winter in Minnesota. I am a true Minnesotan. We did see snow this year. There is mountain about two hours drive from us that had snow on it's peak. I never realized we would be that close to snow. I had a student in my English class who went up and took pictures with his family. He said that he would take me up there sometime if I wanted. He didn't have any more time off because he is a doctor in two different hospitals, so it didn't work out to go. But maybe next year I will be able actually feel snow again.
May 8, 2010 Home with the girls
Tonight I am home with Anna, Aletta, and Lilly. Jessie is at a mother's day tea event that our church put on. Bless her heart Jessie spent all day yesterday and all day today preparing for the event. She is 8 months pregnant so I can only assume that she is going to be very tired when she gets home. This week I finished teaching English classes. It was getting a bit overwhelming with all the classes I was teaching. I was teaching all four levels of our English classes. Jessie stepped out after Christmas because it was just to much for her to do at night time. The evenings are when she is the most tired. Finishing up teaching comes at a good time. I will be able to focus more on being at home with Jessie during her last two months of pregnancy as well as doing more pastor things. It will be a nice change of pace.
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Today, we are in the middle of Carnival. It is a 10 celebration that is full of events. When ever you have an event here in Mexico, there is always a presence of alcohol. The state we live in is the state that produces the plant that makes Tequila. See below for a little definition of Tequila. There are booths in the streets that are full of different kinds of Tequila. It is so sad to see so many people who get consumed with having a good time and being drunk. They are a lost people. One man I spoke with said that people will take out loans to spend at carnival and then they will spend the whole rest of the year paying off those debts only to do it again the next year. After carnival there is the mess to clean up from the broken lives of bad decision making. There is promiscuity that comes with a living it up for 10 days. This is similar to the Marti Graue in New Orleans. It doesn't matter the consequences, just do what feels good. It might be a different country but the spirit is the same. Selfish Sinfulness of Man that consumes a man from the inside out. As Christians we are the light to this dark world. We don't drink. We don't let our sinful natures rule our lives. For His glory we live here in Autlan.
Matthew 5:14-16. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Luke 9:23-24 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
A clip from Wikipedia about Tequila. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tequila
Tequila (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈkila]) is a Blue Agave-based spirit made primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 65 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
The red volcanic soil in the region surrounding Tequila is particularly well suited to the growing of the blue agave, and more than 300 million of the plants are harvested there each year.[1]
Mexican laws state that tequila can be produced only in the state of Jalisco and limited regions in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas.[2]
Tequila is most often made at a 38–40% alcohol content (76–80 proof), but can be produced between 35–55% alcohol content (70–110 proof).[3] Though most tequilas are 80 proof, many distillers will distill to 100 proof and then cut it down with water to reduce its harshness. Some of the more well respected brands distill the alcohol to 80 proof without using additional water as a diluter.
Today, we are in the middle of Carnival. It is a 10 celebration that is full of events. When ever you have an event here in Mexico, there is always a presence of alcohol. The state we live in is the state that produces the plant that makes Tequila. See below for a little definition of Tequila. There are booths in the streets that are full of different kinds of Tequila. It is so sad to see so many people who get consumed with having a good time and being drunk. They are a lost people. One man I spoke with said that people will take out loans to spend at carnival and then they will spend the whole rest of the year paying off those debts only to do it again the next year. After carnival there is the mess to clean up from the broken lives of bad decision making. There is promiscuity that comes with a living it up for 10 days. This is similar to the Marti Graue in New Orleans. It doesn't matter the consequences, just do what feels good. It might be a different country but the spirit is the same. Selfish Sinfulness of Man that consumes a man from the inside out. As Christians we are the light to this dark world. We don't drink. We don't let our sinful natures rule our lives. For His glory we live here in Autlan.
Matthew 5:14-16. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Luke 9:23-24 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
A clip from Wikipedia about Tequila. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tequila
Tequila (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈkila]) is a Blue Agave-based spirit made primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 65 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
The red volcanic soil in the region surrounding Tequila is particularly well suited to the growing of the blue agave, and more than 300 million of the plants are harvested there each year.[1]
Mexican laws state that tequila can be produced only in the state of Jalisco and limited regions in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas.[2]
Tequila is most often made at a 38–40% alcohol content (76–80 proof), but can be produced between 35–55% alcohol content (70–110 proof).[3] Though most tequilas are 80 proof, many distillers will distill to 100 proof and then cut it down with water to reduce its harshness. Some of the more well respected brands distill the alcohol to 80 proof without using additional water as a diluter.
