Dustin and Cecilia
Yesterday I went to the UAQ (State university of QRO) to hand out flyers for english classes that we offer at Global Grounds Cafe. While I was there, a young guy (Dustin) came up to me and asked if I teach the classes and if I am from the States. I said yes to both, and he excitedly started telling me how he recently moved - permanently - to QRO from Atlanta. His girlfriend, Cecilia, came up and joined in on the conversation. It turns out that Dustin has Mexican family members who live in Apaseo el Grande Guanajuato (about a 40 minute drive from QRO). He came to visit his family last Christmas, met Cecilia through his cousin, and really liked her. He decided to drop everything in the States and move to Apaseo! Here's the thing - Dustin barely speaks spanish, went to college in Atlanta, had a really good job, and is clueless about Mexican culture, much less small-town-Guanajuato culture (which is vastly different from life in the somewhat lage city of Queretaro).
Dustin and Cecilia came to Global today. Brisa, Lluvia, and I were talking with Cecilia which Justin was talking with Dustin. Cecilia told us girls that she feels so bad because she thinks Dustin moved to Apaseo to be with her, but she really isn't interested in him, and he left his life in Atlanta to come here! At the same time, Dustin was saying to Justin how he wants to build a house in Apaseo or maybe QRO, and marry Cecilia! Now THERE'S an interesting situation...
I hope to be able to build a friendship with Cecilia (especially as I more or less understand Central Mexican culture, and kind of Atlanta culture, and am in a cross-cultural relationship myself). We are also inviting the couple to the soccer tournaments that are going on at Horizonte church on sunday afternoons, and Dustin really like soccer.
Speaking of the soccer tournaments...
Karla and Family
A few weeks ago, a young girl (maye 14 years old?) was walking down the street on a sunday morning, passed Horizonte, and happend to notice a poster in the church entryway about a soccer tournament. Karla LOVES soccer, so she asked for more info, and found out that the tournament started at 1pm after the church service, and that they still needed more men and women for the teams. She went home and got her dad, and both attended the morning service (which happened to be a Salsa praise concert) and played soccer. The mom came to watch them play. They hadn't gone to evangelical church before, but kind of liked it! Karla, her mom, and dad all returned at 10am the next week for the service and soccer. But this past week, only Karla and her dad were here. When someone asked about the mom, they said that she had decided to go to the church across the street (it's a Jehovah's Witness place!!) because she liked those people better, but that she'd come to watch soccer. Oops! We are now worried about the mom, and want to make a huge effort to reach out to her, befriend her, and love her with the love of God, so she will know and accept the Truth!
Yaneth
I'd mentioned Yaneth in a previous entry, she's the young mom/wife with cancer that we painted her house. Well, the last two weeks, Martin (Horizonte pastor) has been talking about investing in peoples' lives, and inviting them to church. We want our sunday morning services to be a welcoming environment to those who are normally scared of church and Christians, and that to do that, we're starting 2 Sunday services (to be able to reach more people), and we'll need more volunteers to be able to have 2 services.
Yaneth went to the church during the week (getting from the truck to her wheel chair by herself! Something that she hasn't been able to do in probably 6 months!) to talk with Martin and his wife Mayte (MY-tay). She said that Martin's messages had really touched her and that she was ready to serve wherever needed! Martin says that if this isn't a wake up call to all the people who sit on their butts every sunday and never help out with anything at the church, to actually VOLUNTEER, nothing will probably get them in gear! So, Yaneth will be joining the welcome team on sunday mornings helping us pass out boletins, and helping visit the sick people of the church during the week! Isn't it amazing to see a woman in a wheel chair who has a good deal of pain on a regular basis still want to serve God in the church wherever needed?!
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