Useful Missionary Skills - Part One

Crafts

Crafts can be a way to get to know people and to encourage people. Who would've guessed that making cards from paper could be a part of ministry?! I've always enjoyed making cards and other things from rubber stamps, stickers, and cool paper. I've found that here, people are a lot more likely to come to an event if they receive a personal invitation. So, to get to know my college girls (from small group) better, we are going to go to a new cafe together this thursday. I decided to make invitations, as it is more personal and easier to remember than intiving by work of mouth. We'll see how the turn out is on thursday! But the girls did seem happy to receive invitations that were hand made and personal! Here are the invitations before actually writing the event, location, date, etc.

Rose makes really neat earrings, and had a once a week class on making earrings for college girls at Global Grounds. There wasn't a big turnout, but this is something that girls are interested in (EVERYONE wears earrings here all the time!), and Rose used it as a way to get to know girls in a casual setting.

Keep looking for blog posts about odd skills that can be useful in ministry!!

Bye Rose!

On Monday we said goodbye to Rose, a 28 year old lady from Indonesia (lives in Australia) who has been working with us since March.

Rose stayed with Silvia and her kids:

We had a goodbye party for Rose on Friday at Global Grounds. LOTS of people who Rose met during her time here came to say goodbye! Here is Rose after taking a "mordida" of her cake:

Some of the party guests goofing around!

Ana, Rubén, Rose, Dany, and Casandra posing for a picture:

Rose has been a great blessing to our ministry here, and will be missed!

Uff, Futbol's Over

I was at Yola's house today with JP. We went because Yola's family (with the exception of her wayward son, Alex!) are avid Chivas fans. Chivas played America (it's a mexican league soccer team, NOT a team from the USA) today to see who plays Pachuca in the final. All we needed to to was win by one measly point. And it was a home game, in Guadalajara. But it didn't happen. It was 0-0 for about 70 minutes, then America scored and we knew it was all over. Bummer.

Clarify the Victory

This past weekend, we had a capacitation (is this a word in English??) for the church staff and volunteers of Iglesia Horizonte. 50 people were invited, from pastoral staff, to parking attendants, to sunday school teachers. The theme was "Clarify the Victory." Making sure that everyone knows what the goal is of Horizonte ministries, and more specifically, what is a "win" in each area of ministry.

We have a very diverse group of volunteers as well... We were all put into teams for the day's events, and here is my team:
Miguel (14 years old, sunday school helper for elementary school), Gerardo (52, small group leader for senior adult couples), Vero (40, sunday school director), Ana (29, sunday morning greeter, and boletin design), Casandra (19, worship team singer), and me (26, university girl's small group leader, Global Grounds cafe, greeter, office help). Not pictured - Nadia (34, nursery staff). Talk about a wide selection of ages and ministries!

And the youngest attendee... SOFI! She's only 6 weeks old, so she accompanied her parents!

Volunteers and church staff listening to Pastor Martin talk about the importance of all volunteers and staff going in the same direction in ministry.

Later, we got into groups with others in our ministry area (sunday school, youth group, small group leaders, etc.) to make sure that we were all aware of what constitues a victory in each ministry area. For example, in the youth group, we want "lives changed by example," or that the teens can see a good example of a healthy relationship with the Lord through the lives of the youth leaders, and in turn, follow that example to have their own growing relationship with Him.

Martin and Brisa show the church's mission statement: "Guide the people to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ." (Guiar a la gente a una relacion creciente con Jesucristo)

A little more than half of the conference attendees at the Hotel Camelinas conference area!

It's the care like this that the Horizonte Church staff and volunteers receive that really makes me want to continue strong everyday in ministry!

Bye Bye Gallos

Queretaro no longer has a major league soccer team. A week ago Sunday was the game that determined if the Gallos Blancos of QRO would stay in the league or drop down to a lower league. All they had to do was TIE the game, and it wasn't even against a really good team... But they lost. Atlas, the other team, scored 2 goals in the first 20 minutes. That was the point where I quit watching.

But there were festivities in the Centro for the game (I'm starting to realize that there are festivities in the Centro for anything that can possibly be celebrated). Two really big screens were set up in one of the plazas and people came to watch the game there. I didn't stick around to see the reaction when the Gallos lost!

For those of you who know QRO, YES, the people ARE standing on the "pancake fountain" in Plaza Constitucion and it IS turned on! That surprised me!

And for those of you who have never been to QRO, here is the fountain that the people are standing on:


So, there goes my chances of going to a Chivas game (my favorite soccer team, that WOULD have come to QRO to play the Gallos had they not lost!)

15 Years

I FINALLY went to my first "Quince Años!" Most of you probably know that in Latin America, many girls have a large party for their 15th birthday. Now days (in QRO anyways) a lot of girls decide they'd rather go on vacation to the beach, or have a big slumber party instead of the traditional party. So that's why I'd never been to one yet!

Well, my little friend, Fatima, had her 15th birthday party a couple weeks ago. First, we had a service at the church, where Martin (the pastor) gave a message of encouragement to Fatima and all those present. Then Fatima was presented with a Bible and a necklace from adults who are like second parents to her.

And of course, after the service we went to a Salon de Fiestas (a large area where birthday parties and wedding receptions are held) for dinner, cake, the traditional Quinceaños waltz, and lots of dancing. (For those of you who just freaked out at the word "dancing," not to worry, it was nothing sleazy, mostly traditional mexican dances, line dancing, and a pretty good selection of music from the 50's.)

And the party goes on... and on and ON! I left about 12:30, and there were lots of people there until after 2am!

I enjoyed my first 15th birthday party!!

Back to... Semi-Normal

I'm feeling a lot better after my operation now. Now, I'm just really really tired of being stuck in the house all day!!! But it's been ok, I've had several visitors, and have left twice - once to church and once to go to the post office.
I'm hoping to be out and about a little more next week...