A Servant's Heart

I've mentioned Maricela a couple times in this blog. But in case you don't remember her, she is a 25-year old girl who attended Justin's english classes at Global Grounds cafe, and also was the spanish teacher for various short-term missionaries who have worked with us. Lluvia began discipling Maricela in 2006 I think, and she accpeted the Lord about a year ago, and began attending Horizonte Church in May of this year.

Anyhow, Maricela began to attend the college group meetings this summer, and really enjoys them. She came with us to Passion Mexico City the beginning of October, and was really touched by it. Maricela asked to meet with Phil and I about a week after the Passion event. We went to breakfast with her, and she explained some doubts/questions about Christianity, which we talked through with her. Also, Maricela's family is opposed to her being a Christian and going to church, and were really irritated that she left for a weekend with a bunch of Christians (to go to Passion Mexico). But in spite of her questions and family issues, Maricela (also at breakfast with Phil and I) explained that she really felt like she should and wants to help out with whatever detailes need to be done at church. She volunteered to help us translate some youth group materials from english to spanish, and also wants to start coming early on Thursday nights to help set up everything for Semilla Escogida college group meetings. Last week, she even made and printed invitations for the concert we had last saturday, and went to the State University to pass them out to students! I'm amazed at the way Maricela helps out with seemingly small details, and does it with such a joy in her heart!

Please pray for Maricela that she will continue to grow in the Lord, and not overkill the volunteer work - it's easy to get burnt out. And please pray for Lluvia as well, as she continues to disciple Maricela and talk through her questions and doubts about having a relationship with the Lord.

Here's Maricela and I in the Mexican Capitol Building in Mexico City

Cheaply Healthy

Eating healthy in the United States can be EXPENSIVE. I was aghast last January when I went to WinCo to buy tomatoes and they cost like $2.30 per POUND!!! True, it was off-season for tomatoes, but good grief... And tomatoes are key to most mexican food...

Thankfully, fruits and vegetables are a LOT cheaper here in Queretaro (and cheaper still in other parts of Mexico). Since I'd lived with mexican families for until I got married, I didn't need to buy a lot of groceries, but always went to the grocery store when I needed stuff. Now that Jean Paul and I are married, of course we have a budget for everything, and I now must figure out the cheapest way to buy food for 2 people for three meals a day. We both ate in cheap restaurants and taco stands as singles, but it's always cheaper to eat at home. JP recommended that I find a friend to go to the market with me. I'd been to the markets many times for things like craft items, disposable cups and plates, etc. But I took a friend and went to the fruit and vegetable section of a market downtown. I was pleasently shocked at the prices! Things are MUCH cheaper than in the grocery stores... In fact, the other week, I bought all this:

Clockwise from the white thing by the apples: 1 pound of cheese, 1 pound of hotdogs, 4 apples, 2 pounds of limes (I make a mean lime-ade!), 2 pounds of potatoes, 6 bananas, 1 pound of tomatoes, hotdog buns, a loaf of bread, a head of lettuce, 2 pounds of tomatillos (excellent for enchilada sauce!), 4 pieces of chorizo sausage, and a cucumber.

All that cost less that $10 USD. Pretty good, no? And all that lasts us a good 2 weeks. (Of course I buy meat and chicken a other stuff too...)

Anyhow, I just wanted to brag a bit about actually being able to make yummy homemade foods for CHEAP! :)

Super Ultra Mega Blessings!!

God is doing great things in the college group in Horizonte Church!!

I have to admit that about 5 months ago, I was SO discouraged about the apathy among our students, that I felt like quitting to just be a house wife (nothing wrong with being a house wife!!) But thankfully, God sustained me, and I (and the other college group leaders) kept with it.

I think it was about the end of beginning of July that things started taking a turn for the better. First, more students showed up at weekly meetings (not that our goal is lots of people, but it helps). Then, we started a group for non-Christians - or for Christian students to be able to bring their non-Christian friends to a "non-churchy" event where the love of God is shown and Biblical principals are shared.

When I came back to working full-time at Horizonte after my wedding, things were even MORE different - for the better!!

The Passion 2008 Mexico City event was amazing, and really touched the hearts and lives of the students who attended! More students have been making efforts to reach their non-Christian friends at school and work, serving in the church, and having a desire to grow in the Lord.

One example is Ere, an 18 year old girl who accepted the Lord about 3 months ago. She's the cousin of some of two of the Horizonte college students, and they shared the message of salvation with her. I took Ere home from group on thursday, and she mentioned that she has a really hard time knowing how to read the Bible. She wants to, but it's confusing. So tomorrow, I'm meeting with her to begin a Bible study that's aimed at new believers - one of the first lessons is HOW TO READ THE BIBLE! Ere is going through some really hard times in her family, and is the only family member who is following the Lord, even though they all used to go to church and her parents used to be good examples of Christian parents. We trust that the Lord will use Ere and her new relationship with the Lord to touch the hearts of her family, so they trust in Him!!

Ere and I outside in the rain, waiting to enter the Passion Mexico event! (it's the only picture I have of her... and me with my double chin...) :)

I have SO much to share, and so little time... There's lots of stuff going on - events at Horizonte, discipling a few young ladies, and of course taking care of my "wife stuff" like cooking (which I actually LOVE!... possible evidenced by my "double chin" in the photo above), and cleaning... I'll try to be more on top of writing in the blog!!

Super Quick Update...

Hi!

Just wanted to drop a note to say that I'm doing fine... I know a few of you heard the word "Typhoid" floating around, and yes, it's true, I had that AGAIN. I was in the hospital for 3 days, but had a TON of people taking care of me, and was in a good hospital. I was down for a good week, but by this past Sunday felt a lot better, and I even went to work at the church today! Feeling LOTS better!!

So I'll get a real update on here soon, about the good stuff God is doing in the college group!!

Passion Mexico 2008!!!!!!!

Warning: THIS WILL BE LOOOOONGGGGG!! :)
Here's what was going through my head last thursday night as I went to sleep:

- We're taking 23 college kids to the biggest city in the world (varies daily), dirtiest city in the world, and most dangerous city in the world.

- Everyone in our group is between 17 and 28 years old (none of which are considered adults here except me, because I'm married).

- No real plan for food for the three days we'll be gone.

- I've been married less thatn 2 months, and I'm leaving without my husband for three days

- I'm CRAZY!!

But things turned out really well!

The Horizonte college students piled on a bus on friday afternoon to head out to Mexico City to go to the Passion 2008 event. If you don't know what that is, see the post below this one, and/or visit http://www.268generation.com/worldtour/high.html

We had with us a 24 year old girl named Alexandra, who I met for the first time the day before we left. She told me she didn't realize Passion was for Christians, that she wasn't a Christian, and wondered if she could still go or not. I told her YES! She should come!! Alex was nervous about going, as she didn't know anyone, and her boyfriend told her that she was too bad of a person to be hanging out with Christians for a weekend, that we'd think she's a bad person. But I encouraged her to come, and she showed up to leave with us on friday afternoon!

Also in the group was another new guy, named Alan, 24 years old. He recently moved to Queretaro from Culiacan (a city a long ways north of here with a reputation for a lot of violence), and doesn't really know many people here yet, but his parents have gone to Horizonte for about 2 years, so he decided to come as well.

Ere, an 18 year old girl who's the cousin of two of our Horizonte students, came as well. Ere accepted the Lord about 2 months ago at the influence of her Christian cousins.

And the rest of our students have been attending the college group and/or church pretty regularly.

We had an absolutely amazing time of worship on Friday night at the event, and a great message about GRACE. The plan of salvation was shared also, which I was glad because Alex isn't a Christian.

Upon returning to the hotel (1am??) I went to my room with Alex and Ere as my roommates. I asked them what they thought about the friday night session. Ere was like, "I didn't even know anything like this ever happened! I just know it was really good!!" And Alex said that she enjoyed the time, that she felt like she needs to "get closer to God." But she also said that she didn't think she'd be able to give up her party life-style and be a good person. She said she didn't want to quit having fun. Ere told her that Christians don't have to stop having fun. There are just things that God convicts us of not to do anymore. I said that a lot of times, those convictions may not even come right away, that it's something that God works on our hearts about. Alex said that it's definitely something that she'll be thinking about.

Inside Passion 2008 at the Palacio de los Deportes with about 6 or 7 thousand other students:

Some from Horizonte:

Saturday, we all woke up tired, but ready for a big day of Passion 2008! The messages were centered around God's grace, and our responsibility of evangelism.

At one point, it was asked if anyone needed a touch from God to be renewed and encouraged in their walks with the Him. A lot of our students raised their hands, that they needed renewal and strength.

Later, a presentation was given to remind us about how much God loves us and that He even sent His Son to die for us because He loved us so much. Impacting.

At another point, the speaker was talking about being a light in the darkness - Christians sharing with their friends in their schools and jobs. The speaker said that if you know you're ready to be sharing your faith with your friends, you should be doing that. And if you aren't sharing, why not? Are you willing to make that commitment to share your faith with your friends? And if you feel unprepared to share your faith with your friends, are you willing to get ready?

This touched many hearts of our students. I was able to pray with Ere, and we're planning to meet for a Bible study every week or 2 weeks to help her in that process of becoming ready to share her faith with her friends. Brisa wants encouragement to share the faith that she's had for years with her new school friends. Ana wants accountability in her walk with the Lord, and also encouragment to share. Fatima wants to renew that faith that she learned about as a child and has been kind of ignoring the past couple years. And I want to meet with Alexandra to see how she's doing and what she's been thinking about this past weekend!

Saturday night we ordered dinner about 12:30 at night, and packed everyone in the hallway and a room of our hotel to eat beef and cheese tacos together, and to enjoy the crazyness of 23 college kids who haven't slept well. Some of the goofyness:

On Sunday, we slept in, and then walked through downtown Mexico City for a while, before going to Semilla de Mostaza Church. This is one of the most well-known churches in Mexico, and probably in Latin America, because of a worship band that is from there. Currently, Fermin IV, a famous rapper from a secular band in the early '90's turned Christian, is the pastor. We know him, the guys from the worship team, and other church members because Semilla is a Calvary Chapel church, like Horizonte. It was good to get to go to Semilla for sunday service, and to see our friends there again. We got back to Queretaro around 8pm, tired as anything, but HAPPY!!!!

Please pray for me as I feel a bit overwhelmed (but in a good way!) about discipling so many girls all of a sudden, and I also want to be sure that I am growing in MY walk with the Lord to be able to help them grow as well. Thank you so much for your prayers!!

See more Passion Mexico 2008 pictures here!!!!!