College Group Christmas Party!

In Mexico at Christmas time, ADULTS get to do piñatas!!!
On December 11, we had our Christmas party for the college kids at Horizonte church... including a piñata! And no one can say this piñata had lame candy inside...


Piñatas can be made from cardboard, paper mache, or... a clay pot. I'm serious! And I bought a clay pot piñata!

We expected about 20 students to show, as some were still in final exams that week. However, most of our regular attendees came, and several people invited multuple friends! We had almost 40 people!! It was quite multi-cultural as well. Besides lots of mexicans, two gringos (Justin and I) and an australian (Phil) who always come, we also han a dutch guy (visiting a friend from college who comes to Horizonte), and swiss girl and two other gringos (spanish students of Maricela, a young teacher who attends our group).

And there was lots of good food, and excellent homemade hot cider!

Job stayed up on the roof of the church to hold one end of the piñata string to make it move...

Getting ready to break open the piñata...

Brisa taking a swing at either the piñata or the garbage can... Some of the other girls brought the can to make Bris think she was hitting the piñata!

My turn... Phil trying to trick me into thinking the piñata was the other direction. Good thing I didn't whack him a good one on accident!!

Justin beat up a plant thinking it was the piñata!

The party went very well, and was a good closing time for 2008 for the college group. We hope to see some of the new people who came get involved when we resume the group in January!

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

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!!

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!!!!!

Independence Day, and Passion 2008 Mexico!

I'm pretty much not keeping up real well with writing in this blog, please excuse me! :)
September 15-16 is Independence Day here in Mexico, and we celebrated in style at the house of our friend Job and his family, with typical Mexican soup, enchiladas, and traditional musica and dance!

Me, JP, Lalo, Phil, and Ruti enjoying the festivities!

Me with Mariana and Alan:

This week, we've been planning high and low for Passion, a hugh event for college students with the purpose of encouraging students in their relationships with God, and proclaiming His name in the city! We'll be taking 25 students to Mexico City this weekend for the event! We had a coffee and cookies fundraiser at church this past Sunday which went quite well, and the students are excited for Passion! Please pray that this will be a life-impacting event for our students - worshipping alongside thousands of other college students! - and that everything will work out logistically. Honestly, I'm a little nervous about taking so many kids to Mexico City, in the eyes of Mexican parents, I'm the only adult (you become an adult when you get married or turn 30), and only barely so! Phil has done an amazing job of organizing the event for the Queretaro students, I really haven't done much at all, so he's been on his own for the most part - finding a cheap/safe hotel, reliable transportation, event tickets, everything. Phil moved here from Australia in March, so organizing the Passion trip for our students has been a huge undertaking and good learning experience!

Again, we ask your prayers for our students and leaders during this event - this coming friday, saturday, and sunday.

I'll post an update when we get back! :)

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...

Prep Time for Por Que

Of course for an large event like Por Que, that will be this Saturday at Horizonte, you've got to have a good amount of preparation time. And if you live in Mexico and go to Horizonte, that prep time MUST include food!! And a lot of it!!

The past 3 weeks, the college group (those who are available at lunch time) has been meeting on thursdays for lunch and to plan for Por Que and Infusion (our new group for college students who have an interest in "spirituality." It will begin on July 17th). Today, Lluvia, Phil, and I made a Chinese-type stir fry. Man did it turn out goooood!!!!!!

Lluvia and I with the woks:

Some of the students who came (more came later, as work schedules allowed!)

Just a Normal Weekend...

Here are just a few pictures of some of the activities that were going on this past weekend:

We had a "conectate," or "group link" event at Horizonte Church. This is a breakfast event where people who are not involved in a community group can get involved. We also had a few groups multiply to make new groups! Jean Paul and I are now in a community group for young married couples. I think it will be great, our good friends Ricardo and Ana, and Justin and Lluvia are in the group, along with another couple who we kind of know, and two couples who are new to Horizonte. I know that it will be a good opportunity to grow in our faith along with the other 5 couples!

Here, we are playing some games at conectate to get started:

Sunday evenings are our college group meetings for the college kids at Horizonte. I led the discussion this week, the topic was about evangelism, and how we can branch out to our non-Christian friends; how we can introduce them to Christ's love by creating atmospheres that are relevant to college students.

Here's our ice-breaker game:

And, Julian and Whitney and their girls - a family who used to work here at Horizonte and now live in Atlanta - are here for a week to visit!

Here's me, Sandy (I live with Sandy and her husband Luis), and L to R Talya, Micaiah, and Haniel. Talya and Micaiah are Whitney's daughters, and Haniel is Sandy's.

Whitney, Sandy, and the girls:

More College Group Fun!

Semilla Escogida, the Horizonte college group, is going quite well! We had our fourth meeting this past Sunday. We had 9 young people, and had a lesson on worshipping God. We are trying to involve the students in programming and giving the lesson, so Ulises, one of the students, helped give the study.

Here is Vicky, Lluvia, and Ahide hanging out after group time:

We also want to privide lots of opportunity for fellowship in the college group, so we went out for tacos at night! Ahide and Brisa enjoying pork and beef tacos:

Jana, Ulises, and Juan at the taco booth:

Please continue to pray for Semilla Escogida, that it will be a ministry that helps the students grow in their relationships with the Lord, be a good time of fellowship between the students, and also have an impact on those who don't have a relationship with the Lord!

Semilla 2

NOTE: The picture of me in the blog is a DISGUISE, it doesn't reflect my true state of being...

That being said, let me explain the fun that was had last night!
We had our second meeting of Semilla Escogida college group, and decided to have a fun night that would help people to get to know each other a little better. We decided on a photo scavenger hunt in the Centro! We took pictures earlier in the week of some obscure things around Queretaro's downtown, printed the pictures, and each team of students had to find the things and take pictures of them. They also had to look for me, Justin, and Lluvia, but we were dressed rather differently than normal...

Come on now, who's going to think that some pregnant lady is ME?! I thought it was pretty good, despite the fact that I couldn't find a cheap wig or glasses or anything to REALLY disguise my face. I did stick the blondest part of my hair (the top layer that's always in the sun!) under my hat, and used the miracle of concentrated NesCafe smeared on my face to darken my complexion a bit! One team of students actually DID find me!

Afterwards we went out to dinner. Here's what some people ordered... it's called penca, and it's a gigantic nopal (cactus) leaf with a "guisado" inside. I make guisados a lot, they're generally some kind of meat boiled together in maybe a tomato or pepper sauce with vegetables. But this one was mostly nopal... Because I know most of you haven't tried nopal to know why it grosses me out, I'll describe: when cut up and cooked, nopal looks like green beans soaked in snot. The texture is terrible. But lots of people like it, and I've been about to handle eating it when served it at someone's house...

Some of the students hanging out in the restaurant:

Who looks better in Justin's wig??

Dany (Daniel):

Juan:

Or Dany (Daniela)?

Semilla Escogida

This past Sunday marked the beginning of the new youth group spefically for college students. It is for students from Horizonte church, and students who don't go to any church. Previously, we'd been having the college kids on saturday nights with the junior high and high school kids, but that wasn't working out so well. So we've created a new environment for students between 18 and 25 years old! It's called Semilla Escogida [seh-MEE-yah es-coh-HEE-dah] (chosen seed, in english), seed is for growth in Christ, and chosen is because we're God's people! It does sound a lot cooler in spanish... The students picked the name on sunday.

Here are some of the students who attended:
We want this group to be a place where students experience spiritual growth, community within the group, and impact on other students outside the group. We also want the sunday night meetings to be a non-threatening place to invite friends who are not Christians.

Our first meeting was a kick-off party. We had a TON of snack foods, games, and lots of time to hang out and get to know people who you didn't know before!

Here's one of our crazy games (my idea!) - Arturo and Rebecca trying to feed Dany and Lluvia donuts hanging off strings!

Too much donut, no use of hands!

Another game - the other Arturo feeds Chalio baby food!

We had 12 in attendance (not including leaders). Three of those don't regularly attend Horizonte or any church. They all said they liked the group and plan to come back!

Please be praying for Semilla Escogida that it will be a group where the students WILL experience spiritual growth, friendships, and impact on other students. Pray that non-believing students will feel included and want to come, and that they'll come to have a relationship with Christ! Pray for wisdom for the leaders, that we'll see the most effective way to minister to the students!