HE Lives

Last Saturday, my friend Sarah and I (she is a college student who is studying here for 5 months, and started coming to Horizonte Church) went to fulfull a school project that she had to do. That project involved going to an event having to so with Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 1 & 2. Sarah didn't want to go alone because of the sketchy and spiritually weird atmosphere of the holiday, so I went with her. We chose to go to an exhibit of altars and offerings. This seemed like the least creepy option, as there are altars set up in all the malls, and in various parks downtown, etc. So, we entered the exhibition courtyard of the public library and made the rounds looking at the altars. But Sarah needed, for her project, to explain one of the altars. We chose one made by a small group of Jr. High students. They began to explain the significance of the various parts of the altar. We didn't take the picture below, I just found it on the internet, but it's pretty similar to the one we asked about:

So, the kids told us that the altars should have representations of wind, water, fire, and earth; seven stair-type-thingies representing the seven deadly sins; a picture or representation of the deceased person receiving the offering; the favorite foods and the vices of the deceased... etc. I'd heard most of this before, and it always makes me angry because dead people are not going to come back for a day to eat little bits of food, drink alcohol, and put curses on you if you don't leave stuff set out for them. But I was REALLY horrified when the kid told us that three skull figures toward the middle of the altar represented the TRINITY!!!

Many Catholics in Mexico fully participate in the Day of the Dead, and Catholic churches set up altars. For them, Jesus is still dead (hence being represented by a skull). I'm not going to say anything about catholicsism in the US, but here in Mexico, there's just no way that you can say that Catholicsism is like Christianity. The entire base of the Christian faith is that Jesus rose from the dead! I don't have a relationship with a dead guy, but with Jesus who LIVES in heaven, and who's Holy Spirit lives in me and in all others who also have a relationship with Him. The kids showing us their altar made the altar as a "good deed" that is needed to EARN their way to heaven. People just can't (don't want to?) believe that you don't have to do all kinds of good crap so that God will let you go to heaven. I mean, we should do good stuff, but when we mess up, there's forgiveness directly from God, not from a priest of a saint. Sarah was telling one a young guy that lives by her that good deeds don't get you into heaven, but accepting forgiveness for sins from Jesus does. He looked at her weird, and pulled out a wallet-sized picture of the saint from his hometown with a prayer on the back, and told her that this saint would make sure he got to heaven... he hoped.

So, if you thought that Mexico is about as much of a Christian country as the USA, think again. I mean, morally, sometimes I think Mexico isn't as far in the hole as the US (and then sometimes I think it's the other way around), but as far as people who actually believe that Jesus is STILL alive after His ressurrection, and that they HAVE a relationship with Him... There's just not many. It's figured that 1.5% of people in Queretaro go to an Evangelical church regularly. So, how many people out of that percentage ACTUALLY have a relationship with Christ? We figure 1%, optimistically.

So that's why JP and I are here. And why we consider just the act of daily living as sharing the Gospel with others. LOTS of people here have NEVER heard the message of salvation!! (Like our friend Brenda...) In the USA, LOTS of people have actually heard the Message, they just choose to not accept it. But here, we have a huge opportunity to live the love of God in our daily lives, and explain Salvation to others.

Sarah and I were both on the verge of tears when the kids explained the skulls to us. It was hard for two gringas who grew up in Christian homes to even HEAR that the skulls are for the Trinity... Please keep praying for JP and I in our daily ministries, and for Sarah too, as she lives with and goes to class with lots of people who had never heard that Jesus is alive.

And, saturday, Sarah and I are going to the town of Guanajuato (2 hours from Queretaro), we're still seeing if there are any other girls who want to come with us, and I hope it's a good time of exploring the city and encouraging one another!

Sarah and our friend Amayrani:

Adventures in Disicipling

As many of you know, a lot of what I do in ministry here in Queretaro is discipling young ladies. This is also my favorite part of ministry!

Recently, I've been meeting with Cristina (pictured below in the green shirt). She's the same as as me, and grew up in a Christian home, but spent years not following the Lord. After several years of bad decisions, a year in the US, and returning to try to pick up the pieces to her life, Cristina has decided that she can't go on without the Lord. So we're walking through the process of learning exactly what is a relationship with the Lord, and that, while He always forgives us and forgets our mistakes, He doesn't necesarily take away the consequences.
It's been great to see how Cristina relies more and more on the Lord every day, and is seeking Him in her decisions!

About a year ago I had been meeting with Ere. But she kind of dropped off the planet for a while... I called her frequently, but was discouraged that she never wanted to make time to meet. So about two months ago, Ere came to me and asked to talk. We went out to lunch, and she told me that she hadn't been feeling well (emotionally and spiritually) recently. I asked her why, and she, very honestly, replied, "because Ere is most important in my life, and not God." She decided to begin the process of changing who's number ONE in her life, so we are beginning to meet regularly to study the life of Christ together! It's great to be able to learn and grow alongside another young lady! (Ere and I are pictured below)

And, not all discipleships go as planned. I was meeting weekly with Carmelita, a young lady from an extremely difficult financial and family background. It was a challenge for me to relate to her, as I have never even come close to experiencing many of the things she's gone through. But she seemed to be willing to open up to me about the hard times.
Carmelita frequently asked me for money. At first, I was not hesistant to give, as JP and I aren't going to starve if we help her and her family out a bit. And we SHOULD help the less fortunate. But, the asking was getting to be more demanding than asking, more frequent, and also extended to various other church members who also thought they were the only ones helping this family. Carmelita is out of high school and does not go to college or work. This posed a bit of a problem for me... After talking to our church staff and another trusted Christian friend, I slowly began to talk to Carmelita about the asking for money, and the fact that she's not studying, working, nor even looking for a job. I felt like it went over well in that moment. I even volunteered to drive her around to look for jobs, and to help her put together a resume. During this entire conversation, I never told her that she MUST go work, but I asked several times if she would think and pray about what the best way to support her family is (morally, spiritually, as well as financially). We left knowing that we would both be praying about how best to be in support of her family.
But since then, Carmelita has avoided me completely! I'm rather surprised about this. As I mentioned, I felt like that sensitive conversation went over quite well. So I hope to see Carmelita soon, although I don't want to pressure her to meet with me if she doesn't want to...

Go Ye Therefore and Preach the Gospel...

A few weeks ago, Jean Paul and I had the opportunity to go out with Brenda, one of Jean Paul's co-workers. She was having a very difficult time with her boyfriend and family, and knew that we would be willing to listen to her. We went to coffee in the Centro, and she began explaining the situation. She asked how she could improve her life and make the situation less problematic. Jean Paul and I just looked at each other and smiled, and began to explain Salvation in Christ Jesus. It was obvious that Brenda had never heard this Message of salvation before. We explained very simply that God loves her so much, that He sent His Son to die to pay for HER sins. That one decision to accept forgiveness from Christ is what can change her life. Not take away the consequences of sins, but begin to live a new life. Brenda was very honest with us. SHe said she knew that her lifestyle was bad, that she's done lots of bad things in her life, but that maybe if she just asks forgiveness of all the people she's wronged, THAT will bring about a change. We admited that asking forgiveness of those people is a good thing, but it's asking GOD'S forgiveness that brings life change and eternal life.

I know that Brenda understands the concept of salvation in Christ. She asked many questions to clarify questions and doubts. She did not, however, make that decision to accept Christ. We will continue to pray for Brenda, and to hang out with her. We want her to know that we love her, and that God loves here. We trust that soon she we make that decision to follow Christ!

Welcome to Our Humble Home

We are very blessed to have a nice little house to rent. It's very centrally located, and within walking distance of our church, several friends' houses, and two grocery stores. The lady that we rent the house from LOVES us, and even LOWERED our rent for a few months so we can continue to live here!

Jean Paul and I want our home to be a place of ministry. Of course we use it a lot as a place for the two of us, a place where we can relax and rest. But you can frequently find lots of things going on... We're a little low on furtiture... no couches or anything yet, but hey, it's less for me to clean!

Several evenings each month there are two or three college students sitting around out table studying with JP. He has one year left of his International Commerce studies, and works on several group projects at our house with his classmates. I make dinner and/or dessert for them and they usually stay until the wee hours of the morning (1, 2 am…) working on school stuff, laughing, and drinking too much Coke.

The young adults group from Horizonte Church has used our home on occasion for movies and snack... movies work great with the youth group's video projector, and the DVD being played from a laptop... Big screen in our house!

A couple weeks ago we had our first over-night guests in the house. Monica and Vilma from Merida (kind of by Cancun) came up for the Calvary Chapel pastors and leaders conference that was held just outside of Queretaro.

We love having other young couples over to eat, chat and play games too! Ricardo and Ana, and Javier and Yaneth are our "Monopoly" friends... We have a mexican version of Monopoly - the red squares have places from Queretaro! - and every now and then we play well into the night! Although Ricardo and Ana haven't played ever since Ricardo stood up, slapped his hand down on the table, and said "Jean Paul, you're being manipulative!" (te pasas de gandalla!) Because JP wouldn't sell him any properties! It was really funny though, and Ricardo wan't really upset... We appreciate these times with other Christian couples who encourage us so much!

We've also been able to have some non-Christian couples over for dinner - One of JP's teachers and wife, and a couple from work have come over, and we've been able to share our faith with them!

It's not all fun times in the house though. We've had some difficult situations as well. One night, JP's frind Jorge pulled up to the house around 11pm and asked to talk with JP. I fixed Jorge some dinner and left them to talk. Jorge had all his clothes and belongings that could fit in his car with him... he had just left his wife. He's not a Christian, but JP was able to share Biblical truths about marriage and relationships with him. A few hours later, Jorge had calmed down, and went back to his house and his wife. Their situation isn't perfect, but they're still together...

Carmelita is a girl who I've been discipling for a couple months now. She lives with extreme financial and family problems. I've had her at our table on occasion crying about her family situation, asking for prayer and wisdom... I feel totally unequipped to deal with her situation, but we both trust that God is in control...

All in all, we feel very blessed to have this house as a place of ministry for whatever circumstances come along. Please continue to pray for us as we share the message of salvation with those who still don't believe, and encourage young Christians in their faith!

The Projects

I have been very encouraged by our group of young people at Horizonte Church. I had mentioned in a previous blog that the young adults expressed a desire to do something to both serve out community and share the message of salvation with those around us. I mentioned that they thought of six different projects that we could potentially begin that would help accomplish those two desires. After much thinking, organizing, planning, and praying, we found that three of those projects have the most potential to meet needs in the community and share our faith with others.

Several students, including myself, plan to visit the state physical rehabilitation center to visit and play with the children who have handicaps. We actually had our first event – a short music and drama presentation – planned for April 30th (which is children’s day), but that was postponed until further notice due to the flu outbreak. We hope that through small drama presentations, the children and parents will come to know the Lord.

Two young ladies have been raising money, by selling homemade cookies, to buy healthy snacks and small toys for children on the streets. The plan is to talk with the kids – and their parents if available – and hopefully continue to take time to play with them and chat with their parents on a regular basis (most children and families are at the same intersection begging every day). The girls who are organizing this project and those who will go with them to talk with the kids and families hope to form relationships with them that may lead to the children and families knowing the Lord.

The third project is a little more complicated, and I will talk more about it in a future blog, as it has several purposes!

Please pray for our young adults to continue to be excited about the ministry projects and to have courage to share their faith. Pray for those who we will meet through these projects, that they may choose to follow the Lord!

And some pictures so you have something to look at! Heehee!

Alan (from the high school youth group) and I acting in Kid Stuff - a once a month music and drama program for the kids at Horizonte Church. This is what we were (and are, once the quarentine lifts!) going to do at the physical rehab center for the kids!

The musical part of the kids' program... :)

Ministry videos!

Just a brief update since the last blog, we're good, I finished washing the last of the smokey-smelling clothes today, it went fast thanks to the great clothes-drying weather! We're very thankful to have to wash half of the clothes we own... it could've been a WHOLE LOT worse!!

Ok, I'm not good with computer stuff, so I'm not sure how to actually put a video ON this blog, so I'll just put a link...
This is a video for young people who are potentially interested in serving here in Queretaro short-term. (I HATE hearing my voice recorded...) It was made by a guy at International Teams who goes to colleges in the US to talk about ministry opportunities with I.T. in Latin America. Check out the other videos of the other I.T. Latin American ministries off to the right!

HERE'S where to click for the videos!

Notes

Wow, sorry I haven't written in like a month! Lots of good stuff has been going on, which is keeping me very busy!!

We've had an amazing turn-out for our "young adults" group on Thusday nights, and have began meeting in small groups after the worship time and "large group" talk. Two of the meetings this month, we didn't even have enough seats for everyone!

My parents are coming on February 19-27. JP and I are excited to see them!

JP and I have our birthdays this month, we're turning 28. His is the 20th and mine the 23rd.

On March 1 - 8, I'll be in Ecuador with 5 other Queretanos for a conference with International Teams. I'm excited to visit a new country, and also to see my friend Michelle, who lives in Honduras!

JP got his visa approved for going to the States, and we plan to visit for a week or two in August!

I'm off to go out for coffee with Julia (see blog entry below), I just wanted to write a little, and give two random pictures from a Sunday afternoon in Bernal (in the State of Queretaro) a couple weeks ago!

JP and I in front of the Bernal rock:


Me in front of the "comal" (grill) at a gordita restaurant in Bernal:

Max and Julia

I met Julia the end of September when she's signed up to go to Passion Mexico City 2008, but then ended up not able to go. I knew she lived on the military base of Queretaro, and thought she was the girlfriend of Alan, a young guy at church who also lives on the base. Alan later told me that they were't boyfriend and girlfriend, they just know each other. So, since Julia is 23, I figured she lived with her family, and that her dad was a soldier. At church on Sunday, I was talking with Julia (first actual converstation with her!) and noticed that there was a young man hanging around her, and I figured he was her boyfriend. Julia mentioned that that young man, Max, was in the military, and that in January they may move him to a different city. I asked why they don't just get married so she could go with him. That's how I found out, after like 2 months of greeting Julia at church on Sundays, that Max and Julia ARE married! Max is in the military, and they've been married for FOUR years!!

Anyhow, I started hanging out with Julia a couple months ago. We learned that Max and Julia started coming to Horizonte Church at the invitation another military couple who attend Horizonte. Julia asked me if it was ok that her and her husband kept going to church even though they weren't Christians. Of course I said yes! Jean Paul and I have had some interesting conversations with Max and Julia. They are very open to hearing about God and the Bible, and have lots of questions. We hang out with them as much as possible (between JP's work and school schedule, and Max's military trips out of Queretaro), and we always have a great time! They're our age basically (Max is 31 and Julia 23), and we enjoy the same types of things. We went to the fair, to a Christmas play, and tacos a LOT, as the four of us can't get enough tacos!

Right before New Year's, Max was put at a small base just outside of Queretaro for two weeks. That meant that Julia would be at home by herself for New Year's. But she had a plan and I got involved in helping...

On the 31st Julia came to my house with a big smoked turkey that the military had given them (and the houses on the base don't have ovens! smart). We cooked the turkey (first turkey ever for either of us!) made salads and other food, and loaded it all up into my car.

Julia with our turkey (but leaving the house, it only had one leg! She insisted we keep a turkey leg for helping out!):

JP drove us out to the small military base where Max was stationed for two weeks. Julia said it would be fine for her to go visit, Max is a leutinent, and the "in-charge" person at the small base. We arrived and Max came out with a big surprised smile and met us!

We even got to go into the base (which I'm pretty sure it's not allowed for me, being a foriegner, to enter!) and JP played with Max's uniform and artillery...

Above is a picture of JP holding a real gun for the first time in his life... Not so exciting for me - I'm an Oregonian. But it was cool for JP!

Anyhow, that's the scoop on our new friends, who we hope WON'T get transferred to another city soon! We're thankful for new friends, and for the opportunity to share God's love with them!!

Some Updates, Finally!

(I started to write this 3 days ago, but the power went out, as it has frequently in the past weeks, and with it went the internet... so this is a bit delayed!)

I'm SO sorry about not having written in FOREVER! But, you can probably imagine that things have been busy since we got married!! Busy in a good way, of course! :)

I just want to give a little update about what the Lord is doing in the lives of some of our college students...

I don't remember if I've mentioned Maricela before... She's a 25 year old girl who we know because she's been spanish teacher to some of our short-term missions girls, and she used to attend Justin's english class. Lluvia (Justin's wife, both work with students at Horizonte) began to have a Bible study with Maricela about a year and a half ago. I think it was about 10 months ago that Maricela accepted the Lord! She was always nervous about coming to any church because she'd always had bad experiences with churches in the past. But, in May, Maricela began attending sunday service at Horizonte! She's come regularly ever since, and come to thursday night college group when her work schedule permits.
Last thursday, Maricela called Lluvia after college group that she attended, and explained that she was really enjoying being a part of the group, especially this past thursday, as we had an awesome time of worship and opportunities to spend a lot of time in prayer and reading the Bible. Maricela said that she plans to invite her sisters, who are between 18 and 24 years old, to this week's meeting, which happens to be specifically for inviting non-Christian friends. It has really been amazing to see how Maricela's life has changed in the past several months. We doubted for a long time that she would ever start attending church, and now she's even inviting her sisters to come! We thank the Lord for His work!

Here is Lluvia with Maricela (yeah, I stole the picture off Lluvia's blog...):

Brisa is a 19 year old girl who just entered college at the State University this semester to study foreign languages and linguistics. I've known Brisa the entire time I've been here in Mexico, she's Lluvia's little sister, and has grown up in church. She's also quite shy around people she doesn't know, so I knew it would be interesting to see her form friendships with her new schoolmates. Brisa has said that she feels like she needs to get her act together as far as being a Light for Christ to her school friends. I'm very encouraged to hear her desire to reach out to those in her class who don't know the Lord! We're looking for an open space in the week for me to go to her school for a little while each week to pray with her and any friends that would like to join us!

Brisa at a birthday party...

Rafa is our friend who is 24 years old, and has been paralized in a wheel chair for 7 years. He's VERY shy, but has opened up to Phil and Justin (two missionaries who work with college students) more and more in the past months. When we closed Global Grounds cafe in the location, we were nervous that Rafa may stop coming to college group. Why? Because the only other apt place to hold the group was UPSTAIRS in Horizonte Church. And no, it has no wheelchair access. Rafa didn't come for about 6 weeks after we changed locations, but decided to give it a try one day. Two guys lifted him up the stairs and two other brought his chair. Rafa has come very regularly ever since! He also has been sharing with Justin about his relationship with the Lord, and his struggles in life.

Along with Rafa comes his 17 year old cousin, Hector, who helps Rafa's mom take care of him (Rafa's dad passed away 6 months before he became paralized). Hector rarely talks. For a long time, he would just help get Rafa into the college group area, and sit by himself and not want to talk to others, even though several guys made a good effort to involve him in the group.
In our recent few group meetings, Hector has opened up a bit to Justin and Phil, sharing about his recent trip to the beach, and also asking for prayer that he would be able to follow Christ more effectively! As far as we know, Hector has not accepted the Lord, but wow, he's heading down the right path!!

Rafa at his birthday party a year ago...

And finally, Mariana. My little girl grew up and went away to college!! I feel like a mom saying that. Mariana has been out of high school for a little over a year now, living in Queretaro with her mom and brother, taking intensive English classes (I think she speaks better than I do now!). But in August, she got the opportunity to study Bilingual education at a college in Puebla, about a 6 hour drive from here. So my wednesday nights from 7-10pm seem quite vacant now without looking forward to meeting with Mariana.
However, Mariana has come home a few weekends since she moved away. She's asked prayer for her relationships with ther classmates - that she can have a good friendship with them while keeping moral limits (the classmates like to party a lot). This is also Mariana's first time living alone, and 19-year old girl living alone here is not very common, so it's a BIG adjustment.
So far, all is good, and very busy!, in Puebla, and I trust that they Lord will help Mariana develop healthy friendships and thrive in her new school and living situation!

Mariana and I...

The Few, The Proud...

The............. Horizonte teens!!

On Wednesday night, we held a prayer and worship time for the youth and youth leaders of Horizonte, to pray for the Por Que event that will take place this saturday, July 5th. (If you're wondering what that's all about, you can read a little about it HERE).

It was pouring down rain, and a lot of people at Horizonte don't go out much in the rain (especially teens who don't have cars!!), so I was discouraged about the meeting, and almost didn't go - I was ridiculously tired from inmigration/moving JP's stuff to his house/running errands/Por Que preparations/etc.! But I went, and this is what we saw:

Kids joining together in praise and prayer to our God who we love and serve. Pretty much, we had a good core group of teens - ones that come faithfully to events and are not apathetic toward their relationships with God. I was very blessed to see true worship from the hearts of these kids, and around the bonfire (it quit raining for about 2 hours, and we prayed around a fire that was made in the yard!), several of them prayed for their friends' salvation, and that God would use the Por Que event to bring more youth of Queretaro to Him.

We trust that God has great plans for this saturday! Please pray with us for this event, the teens who come, and the leaders!

5th of July

On July 5, we here at Horizonte Church be holding an outreach event for the youth (ages 12-25) of Querétaro. We aim to invite non-churched, non-christians, especially the friends of the youth at Horizonte. We plan to follow up on the new students who attend the outreach event, and are planning regular events that cater to the needs and desires of non-christians who have somewhat of an interest in spirituality.



PLEASE PRAY for this event that God will use it to bring more students to a growing relationship with Him, and that we will be able to follow up with all the new students.

What Not to Do

I've learned a lot of things in my time living in Queretaro, and in my cross-cultural experiences prior to that. I was thinking the other day about some of the funny things that I've done, trying to be creative or have fun, that just didn't turn out right!

Creativity is a valuable commodity as a missionary. Unfortunatly, I don't excel in that, although when someone has a creative idea I'm able to help carry it out efficiently. So I guess that's my gift instead of coming up with the creative ideas. I just want to share with you some of the things I've learned NOT to do over the past few years!

When being a guest teacher in a 3rd and 4th grade sunday school class in the US, it's a good idea to refrain from bringing your spanish-english Bible to teach out of. Why? Well, on the front of the Bible it says, "Holy Bible - Santa Biblia." To me this is completely normal. However, to english-speaking children, "Santa" only has one meaning... and it's not "holy." I was horrified to hear "Our teacher has santa on her Bible," coming from the students after class, especially since I know that most or all of the childrens' families don't do santa clause for Christmas, and definitely don't want their kids learning about santa in sunday school! Oops!

Be careful about the seemigly harmless materials you use while doing games for college students. I was in charge of games for one of our college group meetings one night, and I had been thinking about a game where there are two teams each lined up and each team has an object such as a water baloon or a wet sponge and must pass the object down the line of the rest of the team members using only their knees. (The object get placed between the knees of the first person, standing upd, who then passes it to the next persons' knees, etc.) Well, since it was November and cold out, and we'd be indoors, I wanted to choose a not-wet object to play this game, but something in a shape that would be hard to pass from knees to knees. I chose a banana. Never, under any circumstances, take a group of college students and tell them to put bananas between their legs. I was horrified once I saw the first people place the bananas and everyone started laughing... My bad...

When doing games for groups of adults, pretend you're doing games for Junior Highers. I've had two bad experiences with adults and games...
The first was in Honduras, a group of young adults went to check out a campground for a youth camp, and afterwards we all decided to have a nice friendly game of frisbee football. The score was somewhere around a lot to zero, and it was getting late, so Michelle - who was the person in charge of the whole camp thing - wanted to end the game and said that the next team to score a goal would win. It ended up that the team I was on (score of zero) actually scored a goal, therefore "winning" after Michelle's new rule to end the game. On the opposite team were several guys between the ages of 24 and 26. They absolutely threw a fit! They were so adamit about needing to win (and they HAD scored like 10 goals, WAY more than my team!) and were so outraged that Michelle had made that new rule and the lousy team won... I had NEVER seen young men act like such little kids in my entire life!! It set a bad tone to the drive home too, just because they HAD to win, and even when we said that they actually won because they'd scored so many more goals that us, they STILL wouldn't let it rest!!

The second incident with adults and games happened about 6 weeks ago at Horizonte. Phil and I were leading games for a group of about 60 adults. I made a "bingo" game where everyone has a sheet with 16 boxes on it, and each box has a characteristic (like "someone who has been to South America," or "someone who was born in the same month as you.") You must find a person with that characteristic and have them sign that box for you. The first person to have all the boxes filled and come to the stage wins. Sounds harmless enough. I purposely picked things that I was 100% sure would be present at the event. I got "someone born in Veracruz" (I know at least 4 people born there, that were at the event), "someone with a drivers' license from a state other that Queretaro" (if no one else, mine's from Oregon...), and so on. However, I made a little mistake. I put "some who uses contact lenses." Those are moderately common here, and I know several people who use them... but none of them came to the event. Soon, most people had all the boxes filled except the contact lens one, and everyone got upset because there was no on who had them. I said no one wins then, the game's over. That caused an uproar "We just did ALL THIS for NOTHING?!?!?!" The purpose of the game was actually to meet people you didn't know before, but whatever... I yelled, "Ok, the next person to bring a black watch to the stage wins!" Someone right below the stage pulled off a black watch, tossed it to me, and I pronounced her the winner. There were about 10 people who got rather angry and came to talk to me about how I was rediculously unfair and how they were really the rightful winner. Phil and I were absolutley agahst at the reaction to a simple little game!!

This is getting long, so I'll stop for now. I hope you enjoyed a few stories about attempts at good going wrong! :)

Buckhead KidStuf

It's been a while since I've written, but we've been busy... Getting KidStuf going at Horizonte!

KidStuf is a musical and dramatic presentation for elementary school kids and their parents. KidStuf goes hand in hand with the virtues that the kids are learning in their sunday school classes, and helps to reinforce them.

A team from Buckhead Church (and other North Point ministries churches) in Atlanta came to help us get the stage set up and get KidStuf underway. The team and Horizonte staff worked hard all week (even staying until after 3am on saturday night!) to get everything in order!

Horizonte girls doing the opening song on the not-quite-finished set on friday:
I think we had a good response from the families at Horizonte and some new families that came to KidStuf (Cosas de Niños).

We'll be back with more KidStuf once a month!

Amanda, Deborah, and I at the celebration for all involved in KidStuf on sunday night:

If you'd like to see ALL my pictures from the week, CLICK HERE.

A New Stage of Life

Ok, I know, it's time for a major update on this blog!

As many of you know, things have changed substantially here in the Queretaro ministry in the past few months, basically the months that I was not around, so everything was different when I got back! So hopefully this entry will provide some answers to what is going on:

1. Global Grounds Cafe - Yes, Global has closed it's door in the mall across the street from the university. However, we have moved everything to Horizonte church, and are continuing to have our sunday evening college group with the students at Horizonte. We hope to have everything up and running this next week to open as a cafe and a place to have activities for students on Friday nights as well. We are in the planning stages of re-organizing and re-thinking the college ministry. The Horizonte college students are enthusiastic about continuing the sunday evening meetings, and we are making sure to keep in contact with the students who don't come to church, but came to Global. So yes, I DO still have a job here!! We would appreciate your prayers in this transition time!

2. The Wedding - Things are coming along excellently for our wedding! We have a lot of things completely taken care of, and many friends are pitching in a lot too! Here are some of the things that friends have volunteered to provide: our rings, my dress, our cake, the centerpieces for the reception, the food for the reception (cost of food only, labor is free!), the cost of transportation to our honeymoon destination (yet to be determined!), and we have a friend who's volunteered to be in charge of serving the food at the reception and finding others to help serve, for free. By the way, in Mexico you always have food at a wedding, it's pretty much not optional! So we're not doing an extravagant feast! In fact, in case any of you are worried, the total for food for 200 guests is approximately $300. Not bad if you ask me!! :)

3. Jean Paul and I - It's transition time from being two single people to being a married couple... ok, that does NOT mean moving in together!! That will be AFTER the wedding! :) But, there's so much to think about: arranging our schedules so we can have sufficient time together, thinking about renting a house, changing my mexican visa to a permenant resident, and lots of other stuff that you'd never even think of. But it's been good, and my my pastor and ministry teammates have been patient with us as we work out scedule details and wedding plans. Please pray for Jean Paul and I as we prepare for our life together as a married couple!
Oh! This is cool... We've been asked to join a small group for married couples! There's been a group for young married couples at church, and now there's a lot of those couples, so they're breaking it down into young couples with kids, and young couples without kids. Our good friend Ricardo and Ana are leading the non-kids group, and we'll be joining along with 2 or 3 other couples!

And a couple of pictures...

Phil, Jana, Brisa, and Dany (students who attend Horizonte Church) hanging out at tacos:

Pablo, Alma, and Aixa - students who we know through Global Grounds:

Back to... Normal???

Hi everyone! I'm really sorry about not having updated this blog in well over a month! It's been crazy around here!

After leaving Oregon the end of February, I returned to Queretaro for a whopping 4 days before leaving again for Honduras. I was able to spend 2 weeks in Tegucigalpa with my wonderful Honduran family there! It was a good time a visiting with everyone there, AND Suyapa, my Honduran mom, made my wedding dress for me! I think it took about 4 or 5 days in total for her to make it! And no, I'm not going to be putting a picture of my dress on here... Many of you have asked about that, but Jean Paul is adamit about not wanting to see the dress until the wedding! So... I'm not posting any picture of it! :) You'll just have to wait too!

The day after returning from Honduras, Jean Paul and I went to Mexico City where his mom is now living. I had never met her before! We spent 2 days with his mom (Judith), and his sister (Yuyita) and niece (Kimberly). And I never thought I'd have nieces and nephews! It was great to be able to spend some time with Jean Paul's family!

Yesterday (Tuesday) I hopped back into work. I knew that there had been some changes with Global Grounds, but I had NO idea what I was in for...

Over the past 3 months, a decision has been made to close Global Grounds Cafe as it has been for the past few years. Finances have been incredibly tight, and the team felt like it's time for a change for the good of the ministry. We WILL continue ministry to college-age young people. We aren't 100% sure of what that will look like at this point, but we are trusting that God will direct us. For now, we are moving all the cafe furniture and supplies to Horizonte Church, where we will continue to have our sunday night student meetings, and also open as a cafe on friday nights. We hope to use sunday nights as more of a time for spiritual growth among the Christian students, and friday nights as a more relaxed atmosphere for those who wouldn't normally enter a church. We especially ask for prayer for our friday night events, as we want to use that time to its full potential - not just as a time to hang out, but also to create opportunities to introduce students to our Faith. We would also like to open up the cafe area (now at Horizonte) on Sundays after the 11:00 service for a time of fellowhip among the college students who attend Horizonte. In the future, we hope to have a space set aside specifically for college students at Horizonte, similar to what we had a Global Grounds.

Apart from all these changes in the ministry, my personal life is changing substancially as well! (Oh really?!?) :) Jean Paul and I are using the afternoons this week (he's on spring break from school) to do a LOT of wedding plans, and also to begin looking for an apartment that he can live in soon, and that will be home to both of us in August. I'm SO thankful for all the friends here who are stepping up to help us with wedding details! We have some friends who are caterers who are doing our wedding meal for us at the cost of the food (working for free!), a friend who is donating the cake, another who is buying out RINGS!!, another friend who is a photographer who is giving us a huge discount... And others who are asking what they can do to help out! We are very thankful for that!

So as you can see, even though I've returned to the same place I've been for the past two years, I've returned to anything but normal! But I know everything will work out for the best!!

Ok, sometime this week I'll try to get some pictures on this blog... maybe some of Honduras, and some of here in Queretaro.

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!

Win, Disciple, SEND

One of the most exciting things about being a missionary, in my opinion, is seeing people within the ministry being sent out to serve in ministry positions outside of their home town/ home church.
At Iglesia Horizonte, our vision is to: Win, Disciple, and Send. And this year, just these first 4 months of 2007, we have seen three young men sent out from Horizonte to minister in other parts of Mexico!

(I'll put pictures in here just as soon as I can...)

Alex
Alex is a 25 year old guy who recently began attending a school of music ministry run by Marcos Witt in Monterrey Mexico. He wants to use his gift of singing and playing instruments to serve the Lord in some way in full time ministry in the future. Alex came back to visit for two weeks this spring break, and I couldn't even believe some of the ways he has changed! He couldn't stop talking about all that he has been learning about growing in the Lord and helping others grow as well! It's not "normal" for young people here to move out of their parents' homes to go to school in another city, so being in Monterrey hasn't been easy for Alex, but he said that despite missing his family (and mom's cooking! YUM!) he's learned SOOOO much and has very much stronger passion for the lost, and to be in full time ministry. And this is evident in his life!

Job
Job is 21, and is also a musician. Just remember, when he is internationally famous, I'm friends with him! heehee! Ok, Job left the beginning of February to move to a small town in the state of Michoacan. There, he is the worship leader at a church, and also studies in the city of Morelia during the week at one of the best music schools in the country. He was an amazing asset in the music ministry of Horizonte while he was in QRO, and I'm sure that his new church appreciates both his musical abilities and his desire to lead a congregation in meaningful worship of God. Job's music teachers in QRO told him last year that he has too much potential to be dinking around in QRO, that he should continue to study in a higher level of music. He has had many concerts in QRO - he plays classical acoustic guitar like you'd never believe! So it's also a blessing for him to be able to study in Morelia to continue to develop the gift that God has given him.

Ricardo
Ricardo is a middle-aged man who has had a rough background. I don't know his testimony exactly, but earlier in his life he didn't always make very good decisions. He is still a bit rough around the edges, but I've even seen him change for the better in the year that I've been here. Ricardo left, today actually!, to go to Tijuana to start a rehab center for men. As many of you probably know, Tijuana is not one of the safest, prettiest, or more economically stable cities in Mexico. There are many many people, especially men, who have drug and alcohol addictions, and there just isn't much hope for them. But we know that there is hope for them in the Lord, and Ricardo wants to open a rehab center that focuses not only on the hope of a better life without addictions, but the hope of a better life in a relationship with the Lord!

Hot Water

This past wednesday through saturday, I went to the city of Aguascalientes (literally means hot waters) for the annual church leaders' conference. It was a good time of fellowship with other leaders of Horizonte and of various other Horizonte churches in Mexico.

The only cost to the trip was travel to get there and back, which was a HUGE blessing! We got most of our meals free and 17 of us from QRO stayed together on the floor of a home that is for sale and has no furniture. It DID have water though for showers and toilet!!

Anyhow, we heard reports from the various churches represented, and also had a sermon series on 1 Thessalonians taught by some pastors that you may have even heard of, like Fermin IV, Jim Foote, Juan Domingo, and our own Martin Macedo from Horizonte QRO!

We also had the wonderful opportunity to spend all of friday afternoon (and WELL into the night!) and saturday morning in AGS downtown. This included - leaving a person behind on accident while he was in the bathroom, trying to smooth-talk a police officer out of giving JP a parking ticket while we couldn't even find JP OR his keys, getting the license plates taken off Martin's car (it's what they do in a parking infraction), walking like 6 miles in the hot sun, eating tacos that were a bit sketchy, and getting up again at 6am... It was a merorable experience!!

A bunch of QRO folks enjoying the conference:

A beautiful building in the cleanest city in all of Mexico (Queretaro is the 2nd cleanest!!)

Ruben, Rose, me, and JP enjoying ice cream in the AGS Centro:

Isamar with a "Jicaleta." This is a popsicle (paleta) of a giant piece of jicama (yes, the vegetable) rolled in chile powder!

A bunch of us enjoying a park in the Centro:

And another picture of a bunch of us...

Isamar and I doing a picture perfect imitation of the statue! :-)

At some rest stop between AGS and QRO on the way home:

Chaos... But In A Good Way!

I think we had a record turn out for youth group last saturday night! It was our valentine's day celebration since it was the saturday before valentines. We had some typical youth group games, and a candy exchange. There were even several teens there who had never been to youth group before, but just had been to church on sundays a few times. We had right at 40 students, plus 6 leaders! That pretty much packed out the cafe where we hold our youth group! (Horizonte youth meets at Global Grounds, the cafe that is a hang-out for university students monday through friday). It was crazy!!
Anyhow, it was amazing to see so many kids involved this past week! Please be praying for our upcoming trip to Chiapas - a 15 hour bus ride from here - with the youth! We are hoping to fill an entire bus (the more people that go, the cheaper it will be per person!) so that would be 45 people!!

Bye Guys...

After four years in Queretaro, Julian and Whitney and their girls moved back to the U.S. last monday. At Horizonte, we had a big going away party for them, because we'll miss them a bunch!!

Here is Whitney, Talya, Micaiah, and Julian:


Julian with his junior high boys group, and the new group leader, Juan:

We pulled out the "Pegale al Pastor" (hit the pastor) game again, and stuck Julian behind it since he is the one who always invents weird stuff like this!

The aftermath:

And the junior high boys group giving a big thank you (GRACIAS) to Julian and Whitney from the whole church: