Quick Update...

Wow, I haven't been good at writing in my blog for quite awhile...

We've been pretty busy... Jean Paul has finished with the political candidates' visits to his school (see previous entry), and is busy with another semester. He graduates in August 2010!

Oh, speaking of August, we received a large enough financial gift from a generous person to be able to go to Oregon THIS August!! We still haven't bought tickets, but it looks like we should arrive on August 15, and stay until the 26th. It will be JP's first time to the States - actually his first time ever leaving Mexico!!

As far as the young adults group goes, things are good! We are planning a youth camp for ALL the young people (age 12 and up); that will be 16-18 of July. Please pray for the planning of the camp, in which we're trying to involve many of the college-age students, that the Lord will give us wisdom in WHAT to talk about with the teens, and what to plan for. We want this to be a camp that is not only FUN, but that also IMPACTS their lives! Our main theme is "Identity in Christ." We hope that the speakers can communicate well to the teens, and that all activities are uplifting, fun, and learning experiences! The camp will be held in a place with cabins in the town of Tequisquiapan about an hour away from the city of Queretaro.

Our friends Mark and Abby, who have been in Queretaro since January, are leaving this week. They came here to study spanish before moving to the state of Chiapas (southern boarder of Mexico with Guatemala) to begin a youth ministry there. So the time has come to see them off to their ministry destination!


And, my 10-year high school reunion was a couple weeks ago - that makes me feel old - and No, I didn't go, but I heard it went well. It looks like about half the class was there! (Yeah, there were only 45 in my graduating class...)


Look! Most people look just the same as 10 years ago! haha!

Politics

Well, the swine flu scare has passed, and things have returned to a much more normal state here. And we've been busy!

JP started summer semester at school, and has had some interesting things happen there...

JP's friend Benjamin works for the county government. He's affiliated with one of the political parties, and helps the candidates for mayor, senators, and governor. In JP's school, one teacher (an ex-polititian himseld) mentioned that he thought it would be an excellent idea to be able to bring one or two political candidates to the school to either have a debate or just talk with the students. Benjamin went to JP's school until he transferred to another this semester, and began talking to his political party's candidates. Since Benja no longer goes to the school, he passed the organizational part of the candidate event off to JP. JP met with the college president and the ex-polititian teacher, and they decided to go ahead with the event, inviting the candidates for both mayor and governor (state and county elections are on July 5). JP is in charge of setting things up for the event. We're excited that he has this opportunity, as it may provide a chance for a better job in the near future, especially if the invited candidates get elected. JP hadn't previously been affiliated with any political party, but this is the party that he would've been a part of... The party that, in general, seems to be most like what JP would vote, AND the party that is most likely to win the elections here in Queretaro.

Please pray for JP in the process of this event, and his relations with the candidates. He's always had a desire to minister to the upper-class and famous people... it kind of seems like God has given this opportunity for that specific reason!

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... :)

OK in Queretaro

Just in case some of you have been wondering if JP and I are ok living here in Mexico during the flu outbreak, we're still alive and well!

We live about a 3 hour drive to the north of Mexico City, where the flu has hit hardest, and about 2 hours to the south of San Luis Potosi, another flu hot-spot. All schools in the country (as far as I've heard) are closed, at least until May 6th, as are all pools, gyms, water-parks, and other places like those. Most people in Queretaro are still going to work. JP has to go - there are two headquarters for Santander Bank, and the one in Mexico City is closed, so that leaves a nice workload for the hq employees here in Queretaro... I, on the other hand, am working from home this week, per the decision of Pastor Martin to suspend activities beginning today, until I'm not sure when.

The situation is a LOT calmer here than in Mexico City. I'm trying to think of what you all see and hear in the US (and Australia! Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jones; Rose!), and the pictures of people wearing surgical masks is pretty much how it is here too, but we haven't had rediculous lines of people buying 100 liters of milk and 50 cans of tuna here in Queretaro, like in Mexico City. We went to the grocery store yesterday and didn't see anyone buying in "panic quantities."

To answer questions, Yes, this is a situation that has potential to become grave if not handled well. However, most people are being sensitive and respecting the rules and suggestions that the secretary of health has put forth. No one has died in Queretaro of flu-related symptoms, and those hospitalized with flu sypmtoms have not been confirmed to be THIS strain of the flu yet (they may have a different strain that isn't as bad).

Oh, and about the earthquake, we didn't even feel it here!

Thank you for your prayers for this situation! And we'll keep you updated on this as things unfold (or hopefully improve!).

Easter

For four weeks here at Horizonte Church we had a wonderful series about the glory of God. It ended on Easter Sunday. The series involved paintings being done love on the stage during the sermon (those of you who have been at North Point for a while, it was the “Canvas” series). It’s hard to describe the sermon series, but the paintings had everything to do with what Pastor Martin was speaking about. On Easter Sunday, all the paintings were put together and made a representation of God’s gift of salvation to us through Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection. (I’m being kind of vague here because I think you should find the “Canvas” series from North Point Ministries and watch it in English!)

One of the artists who painted during the service was Rafa. If you remember, he’s the young guy who is paralyzed from the waist down, and only has partial use of his hands and arms. Rafa arrived at Horizonte about two and a half years ago, and was very shy and rather depressed because of his physical situation. He’s since slowly gotten involved in the young adults group at church and, while still rather reserved, considers us his friends and it’s embarrassed to have to be lifted out of us chair to go to the upstairs room for young adults group, or to come to the water park with us even though he doesn’t go in the water.

Anyhow, the Easter service was very impacting for probably most everyone present. Even Arturo (a young non-Christian guy who’s been helping with our monthly children’s theater and song presentation) was touched. While he still doesn’t want to be a “religious” person, on Easter he took communion with us after saying that he believes that he’s a sinner, that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again. I really don’t care if Arturo identifies himself as being a Christian or not; he believes! And we want to help him grow in those beliefs and begin to live a life pleasing to God! (I hope you’re reading this from C.R. Phil!!!)

So pretty much, besides being a great sermon series because of the content and paintings, this past month has been amazing to see Rafa step out of his comfort and even more, seeing Arturo accept the Lord!!

My picture of all the paintings didn't really turn out, but so you can get a little bit of an idea...

Spring Break!

We've had a lot of funness going on around here in the week that JP was off school and Horizonte church staff was out of the office!

On Easter Sunday, JP and I went to the fair in the Centro. This isn't the big State Fair, but a smaller one, kind of like a county fair - no rides or anything.

One famous tradition in Queretaro (and some other cities too) is the burn a figure of Judas on Easter Sunday. I imagine that originally it was because we could say that Judas was responsible for Jesus' death, although we know that He would've died anyway even without Judas' involvement. Nowday, besides the statue of Judas, the Catholic Church - who organizes the event - also burns statues that represent people or problems that the church doesn't like. This year, figures of the "financial crisis," "drug addiction," and "violence" were burned.

It was hard to take pictures in the dark of a moving piñata-type figure, but here's one of the figures before being burned by fireworks:

Lots of people in one of the main streets of downtown watching the figures being blown up:

And our favorite part of the festival... the food booths! Jean Paul loads up on candies:

I love "antojitos queretanos" - typical street food from Queretaro! However, we opted for pizza instead this time, as my stomache health has been a little delicate lately...

Then last friday, we had a water-park outing with the young adult group at Horizonte Church! I LOVED this water park, the water isn't freezing cold like it is at most of the parks! There were several water slides, a diving pilar, a wave pool, and smaller pools for kids.

Alma in the funnel water slide:

Checo, Alma, Cinthya, Arturo, and Andrea hanging out in a pool:

Dany going off the diving pilar. Several people went up to the top but never got up the courage to jump... :)

And today I made "sopes" (SO-pays) for lunch! Sopes are "antojitos queretanos" also. I kind of guessed at how to make them, and they turned out great! Sopes are thick corn tortillas grilled with refried beans, cheese, meat (I used sausage), and salad on top. YUM!

Tomorrow it's back to the office for me! I'm excited to get back with the young adults group too, next week we are going to a physical rehabilitation center to do a small skit and invite the kids there to Kid Stuff (monthly theater and musical presentation for kids at Horizonte). This is one of the projects that the young adults suggested to reach out to our community a while back!!

More to come:

Easter month services at Horizonte

Maricela's baptism

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!

Why?

Ok, this is not by far the worst thing that could happen to us, but it's just frustrating... even to me, who's usually intrigued by weird weather...

Today, I arrived at home a little after 2pm and began making lunch before JP got home from work (the big meal of the day is between 2 and 4pm here). I dropped some crumbs onto the gas stove top and immediately smelled burning, thinking it was my crumbs. I went to open the window, and a huge blast of smoke came in from outside! It wasn't my crumbs burning... I saw the girls from across the parking area covering their mouths and running back into their home, and I yelled out to them to find out what was burning. It was the vacant lot behind our neighborhood that is just a bunch of really dry grass, probably caught on fire by the lack of any real rain and the heavy winds that even knocked the top of our roof-top water tank (no longer in use) off the roof last night. Black pieces of burnt twigs and grass fell out of the sky. I grabbed a kitchen towel to cover my mouth and nose, and ran outside to see it for myself. There was a lady with a garden hose wetting down her home (she lives closest to the field), I gave her my towel and headed back inside. I ran upstairs and actually started packing some valuables - photos, money, important paperwork, laptop, JP's Bible, his new tennisshoes... into a couple backpacks to take with me in case the fire came any closer... I remember having thought several times in years past what I would grab if I had to evacuate my house fast, and today I actually packed those things...

Thankfully, the fire department came and put out the flames, but as of about 6pm there was still fire burning under the burnt grass in the field, and lots of smoke coming out. Unfortunately, weather-stripping windows and doors isn't terribly necesary here, so the smoke filled our house, which is completely concrete (no one has fire alarms in the house here). So we left in the evening because we were starting to feel sick because of the smoke. It's 10pm, I'm tired, and I'm at a coffee shop with JP and our computers, and we have NO desire to go back home. I'm not sure it's healthy to sleep with all the smoke, and if we open the windows even MORE smoke will come in because it's really smokey still... We're going back to the house to see if the smoke might have cleared out a bit, and if not, well, we'll probably call some friends to see if we can spend the night...

This makes me VERY grateful that I haven't ever lived through a true natual disaster with really bad effects... My husband and I, and our neighbors, are all alive and well. We may have a housefull of smokey clothes, and I lost my kitchen towel to the neighbor lady, but all in all we fared EXTREMELY well. And for that I'm thankful. That and the fact that we have friends with extra beds that could house us tonight... God is good for protecting us!

Just Had To Throw This In Here...

You might be a missionary if you...

- Greet everyone in the room when all you need to do is say hello and sit down.
- Read a National Geographic magazine and realize, "I know those people..."
- Have to stop and think about what to do with used toilet paper...
- Keep switching languages when speaking with good friends.
- Shake hands with the policeman who stops your car.
- Think a 2 hour church service is too short.
- Can't finish a sentence en un solo idioma.
- Have 6 different varieties of ants in your house and you ignore all of them.
- Your children think it is acceptable to kiss strangers...
- Your kids can recite from memory the airplane safety speech but draw a blank on the "Pledge of Allegiance."
- Your woman's magazines are at least 6 years old, but you still pass them along to friends.
- Bring a bag lunch and a novel when you go to the bank.
- Know your height in meters and your weight in kilos.
- Are okay driving without brakes, but would never do so without a horn.
- Are surprised when the electricity has stayed on all day.
- Can't figure out how to turn the water on in a U.S. bathroom.
- Thought iPod was a disease.
- Think Bimbo means a kind of bread.
- Point with your lips.
- Miss getting junk mail.
- Walk into a church and are given 2 minutes warning that, not only are you speaking, but you are translating for yourself.
- Don't have any pages left in your passport.

Not all of these apply to me, but they are funny anyway! :)

Dental Adventures

I'm now unsure about where I would opt to have any future dental procedures done...

Jean Paul had two teeth pulled yesterday (had so many teeth in his mouth that they didn't all fit!). Since I'm not easily grossed out at medical procedures (as long as it's not happening to ME!), I decided to ask if I could go in with him and watch the teeth being pulled. The dentist had no problem, so I went in.

I was happy to see the use of novicane that would be used in the US - an ointment followed by several injections in the area to be worked on. No problems there. That was about the time I started to smell the very strong and hunger-provoking smell of pizza from the restaurant next door, and realized that the dental room was actually open to the busy street outside... Hmmm...

When the novicane had set in (No general anethisia was used, dentists don't use that here), the dentist got to work. I'm pretty sure I've seen the exact same screwdriver in my dad's tool chest. At least this one didn't actually say "Stanley" on the handle, and it was pulled out of the sterilizing oven before use... The dentist dug around the offending tooth with the screwdriver, then pulled out some pliers. These didn't appear to be construction grade pliers, so perhaps they came from a medical supply store...

Yes, the dentist, with JP's eyes wide open, and in full conciousness, put his left hand on JP's forehead to hold him down, then used the other hand to put the pliers around the tooth and yank. Hard. And again. And again, until the tooth popped out with a rather loud noise that sounded like the top being pulled off a glass-bottle Coke. The second tooth didn't come out quite as easily. More novicane was applied, and more "head-holding-down" was done. I seriously almost asked if he wanted me to hold JP's forehead so he could use BOTH hands on the pliers. JP said the procedure really didn't hurt, there was just pressure on his jaw, and, well, his forehead too.

Imagine a photo of two large molars laying on a paper towel. I took that picture with JP's phone, but he forbade me from putting it on the internet.

I was put to sleep when my four wisdom teeth were pulled. Now I wonder how necesary that was, but I also doubt my ability to consiously keep my mouth open while someone is putting pliers and my dad's flat-head screwdriver in my mouth.

You should really check out the book God Save the Eggs, by International Teams missionaries Woody and Sue Roland. There's a REALLY great story in there about a dental experience in Bolivia in the late 1970's. And a lot of really great missionary stories for those interested!!

And It's Dawned On Them

We've recently had some interesting conversations with some of the people in our young adult's group here at Horizonte Church. A little over a month ago, Maricela (remember her?) asked to meet with Justin, Lluvia, Phil and I. She came to the church one weekday morning with a list of ideas for the young adults' group. Among the ideas were ways that she felt we could reach out to not saved youth in a relevant way. Maricela is a GREAT person to share these ideas, as she came to know the Lord about a year and a half ago herself. She has an amazing gift of evangelism, and even though she is rather shy, has a huge passion to see other young people know the hope that she has found in the Lord.

Some other ideas that Maricela shared with us were possibilities for raising funds necesary to begin constructing a youth building here on the Horizonte campus. The idea that really peaked my interest was an art expo where we could display photos, paintings, drawings, videos, and musical productions made by youth from Horizonte and around Queretaro. We would charge a small fee, a contribution to the new youth building.

Later...

Last Thursday, after we (Justin, Lluvia, Phil and I) returned from Ecuador, we decided to share a little bit about the ministries we visited in Ecuador to let our youth see some of the creative ways that others in Latin America are reaching the unsaved. This sparked a conversation about how, as young people working and going to school in Queretaro, we have a responsibility to share the message of salvation with other QUERETANOS in the environments that we are in NOW. Ana (who I've begun discipling, and who had mentioned this same thing to be before) told about all the humanitarian aid programs that are being done by college students in Queretaro - good things like habitat for humanity, and food banks - and that we can do those things too, but even more effectively because we have the message of salvation in Christ! So, why are we not doing anything? Why do we just come every week and be "fed" and not share with others? Ok, no one was saying that our weekly Bible study time is bad - it's necesary for us to grow spiritually! But we shouldn't stop there! We're called not only to grow in our own relationship with the Lord, but also to help others BEGIN a relationship with Him, and grow as well.

Several ideas were mentioned last Thursday night and throughout this week as to WHAT we could do to meet both physical and SPIRITUAL needs in Queretaro. Among those ideas were: go to some of the hospitals in the city to pray for the sick; go to the railroad in town when the trains come by and talk with the Central Americans who are arriving illegally to Mexico on their way to the US (as you can imagine, this one really caught my attention!); make sandwiches to not simply hand out to the people asking for money in the streets, but to sit and talk with them while we eat sandwiches with them; bring some guitars and just have a worship music time downtown (young Queretanos are very in to live acoustic music); and us the art expo that Maricela mentioned as an outreach - the artists would be present with their artwork at the expo, and people would probably take the opportunity to talk to some of the artists about their work, some of which may be descriptive of our faith.

Anyhow, I've really been encouraged to see how some of the young people at Horizonte have finally caught onto the importance of growing in their faith to be able to share it with others!! And the ideas have sprung from THEM, not from the leaders of the group, we're just there to support, encourage and help them develop and begin these ministry opportunities, and to care for them spiritually in the process.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to walk along side thes wonderful young people as they reach out to the community!

Just a few random youth group pictures...

Maricela, Ingrid, Carlos, Adam, and Ana being silly:
We had a team building exercise where we build the talles tower possible with marshmallows and un-cooked spaghettis... Phil (not supposed to EAT them!), Job, Adam, Alan, and Mark attempting to get a tower together:

My team WON the contest (out of 4 teams)! Carmelita, me, Edith, and Ana hoping that our tower doesn't fall before the others see it:

Ecuador!!!

Hey! I'm back from a great week in Ecuador for an International Teams' missionary conference!

We stayed in a great retreat center in the mountains of Ecuador, and enjoyed lots of time to reconnect and get to know other missionaries serving in United States, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina!

I shared a room with my friend Michelle, who serves in Honduras (hadn't seen her in over TWO YEARS!), and it was wonderful to reconnect with her again! We had some amazing Bible teaching times, and heard reports from all the ministries represented. We also got to do a little tourism around Quito and the mountains outside the city!

I'll just post a few pictures here, you can CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS!

Michelle and I on top of the big cathedral in Quito:

We went to visit a HUGE rose farm near the conference center:

AND, we went to "the center of the earth" - the equator line!

Lori, Yetzi, Michelle, and I at the conference:

As you can see, we ate TONS of great food:

And we were spoiled with the beautiful surroundings of the conference center!

Birthdays and Stuff

JP and I had good birthdays, we're 28 (yikes!) and had a few different activities for our birthdays this year!

My parents have been here for a week now, they leave tomorrow. I've been a bit sick, but have been able to show them around Queretaro a little more...
Here's them in Tequisquiapan, a small town in the State of Queretaro:


My parents leave Friday, then I have Saturday to get my house in order and cook a week's worth of food for JP, Sunday is family picnic/carnaval day at church, then on Sunday evening, 6 of us head off to Mexico City to go to Ecuador for a week! I'm excited, but sad to leave JP... :(

So if you don't hear from me again for a while, it's because I'm out of the country! Yeah!

Only Rich People and Missionaries...

In college, I had a professor who told of experiences during his time as a missionary, and described some of those experiences as "things that only rich people and missionaries get to do." So true! I'm so grateful for the many life experiences I've had, most having come to pass from being a missionary. I'm not rich by US standards (ok, not by mexican standards either!), but I've had the opportunity to travel and do some "exotic" (in the good sense of the word!!) things.
Here are a few highlights:

• Visiting a tribe in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
• Going to three famous sets of indigenous ruins (Teotihuacan in Mexico, Tikal in Guatemala, and Copan in Honduras).
• Burning cockroaches out of a toilet before using it in El Salvador (I said "exotic," that doesn't necesarily mean pleasant!!)
• Spending a month in the Amazon swimming and walking through the jungle barefoot. No lie, I went several days at a time without putting on shoes or even flip-flops!
• Having the chance to taste "delicacies," such as: monkey (used in place of ground beef in spaghetti sauce), cow intestine soup and tacos, chicken feet, pig hoof tostadas, corn fungus, cow head, curdled milk, and cactus. Some are tastier than others... :)
• Being "adopted" into a wonderful Honduran family.
• Sight-seeing in the world's largest city (Tokyo doesn't count, they cheated) so much that I know my way around Mexico City better than a lot of Mexicans.
• Going to a museum of dead people (mummies) in Guanajuato Mexico.
• Swimming in a natural wave-pool in the Pacific Ocean in El Salvador.
• Swimming through 1.5 KM of underground caves.
• Actually using frequent flyer miles from flying enough in Latin America...
• Getting "stuck" in a nice hotel in Nacaome Honduras while the bus and truck driver strike prohibited any traffic from leaving the country.
• Being on a hijacked bus in Central America. (oops, not sure if my parents ever heard about that one...)
• Being in TWO bus wrecks in L.A. county on the way to Mexico.
• Travelling the entire distance of Interstate 5 betweek Canada and Mexico TWICE in TWO WEEKS on a SCHOOL BUS.
• Seeing the Aurora Borealis.

Ok, so maybe most of my experiences aren't necesarily things that "rich people" really want to do, but they're unusual and exciting experiences none the less. Jean Paul always shakes his head in disbelief at the stories I tell, saying that they couldn't be true, but they must be because no one could make up stories as odd. Hopefully, we'll have the chance to have many more of these experiences TOGETHER in the future!! (although I think I lost JP for any future visits to Central America with the cockroach thing, but it's really not that big of a deal when you're actually facing the decision: a). burn those little buggers out of the toilet and do your business in peace; b). use the toilet with the cockroaches in it and chance them flying up at you; or c). hold it and risk going in your pants. Option A seems best to me!)

Preparing cactus for a BBQ:
At Teotihuacan:

Wonderful Honduran family!

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!!

Christmas Celebrations!

Yes, I'm finally putting up pictures from Christmas!

This was actually my first Christmas in Mexico! I spent my first two Christmases out of the country (2005 & 2006) in Honduras, then last year I was in Oregon.

Christmas in Mexico is celebrated mostly on the 24th. People work on the 24th, but get off by 6pm or so. I didn't think we really had any plans for the 24th, except to have my mother-in-law over for dinner. But JP decided that the three of us (me, him, and his mom) should go downtown in the evening. That was a GREAT idea!!

Here's me and my mother-in-law in front of part of the nativity display in the Centro:
Jean Paul and his mom in the Centro:

Around 8pm, a parade began. It started off with a bunch o paper-machet dolls walking past... Apparently, kids made the big dolls (out of the stuff we use for piñatas in the States), and they could be inside of the dolls, walking in the parade. Notice in the doll below, there's a rectangular hole where a kid is looking out of. They even stick their hands through the little face-hole to collect money from the onlookers!

Most of the dolls were recognizable famous mexican entertainers:

Then came the "Bible Cars." One tradition from Queretaro is to have floats of Bible stories pass through the Centro on Christmas Eve. Here's a car (float) of Adam and Eve, and angels singing behind them.

We also bumped into Gaby and her dad in the Centro! (Gaby is the lady I used to live with, with the two teenage kids)

Lots of people lined up waiting for the next Bible Car to pass. Every car stopped about every 70 yards to do a song or drama about the Bible story that the car represents. We didn't stay for very many cars, but we saw Adam and Eve, Moses and the 10 commandments, Joshua and the battle of Jericho, and some others.

Then came this Bible Car with a song and drama presentation:

The car said "The story of the brave Judith" on it. I was really confused. Who is Judith?! (Ok, my mother-in-law was standing right next to me, and HER name is Judith, but obviously the car wasn't about her!) :) I asked JP and his mom about it, and they were really surprised that I'd never heard of Judith. I grew up hearing Bible stories since before I can remember, plus I went to a Bible college... I should have a good knowledge of Bible stories!! Apparently, Judith is a book in the Apocrypha (the Catholic Bible has the books of the Apocrypha, but other translations don't have those books because it is harder to be sure that they really are God-inspired books). Judith lived around the time that Esther was alive (say JP and his mom). I believe Judith was also a queen. She saved some people (maybe the Israelites?) from a bad guy by cutting off his head and showing the head to the people of the kingdom so they'd know they weren't in danger from the bad guy any more. Mexicans learn this story along with Noah's Ark, Joseph, and all the stories that I've heard all my life too! Now I know another Apocryphal story!

We ended the night at our house with homemade chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream, and... the movie "A Christmas Story" with spanish subtitles! JP really liked the movie too, which kind of surprised me, because it's very gringo. I said it's a good thing he likes it though because we'll be watching it once a year on December 24th for the next 60 or so years! :)

We slept in LATE on Christmas Day, and opened our presents. Presents aren't near as big on Christmas here as in the States. Lots of people get one or two presents in total. I got JP his favorite candy bars, and he got me a Monopoly game where the places you can buy are all things in Mexico! (We play table games a lot more now that we have other couples over to hang out, and doing things at home is a lot cheaper than going out to have fun!) We both bought new cell phones a couple days before Christmas too, so I wrapped those up and put them under the tree. (JP's old cell phone had the letters on the black and white screen turned upside-down, and the face fell off most times when he tried to answer it. My phone heated up a lot, and some of the buttons didn't work! He had his for 6 years, and I had mine for 3. We really did need new phones!!)

Sitting by our tree on Christmas morning!

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!

Christmas Vacation!

Well, JP and I didn't leave the country for Christmas this year, but we went to Mexico City for a weekend to visit his dad. We spend a good portion of a day at Chapultapec Forest at the Castle. I'd always wanted to go to the castle but for some reason never had. It really IS as cool as I'd imagined!

The outside of one wing of the castle...

View from the Castle that's on a hill in the middle of Mexico City...

Outside of another wing of the castle...

Inside the castle...

The Chapultapec Castle was built in the 1700's, and used my foreign rulers of Mexico, Mexican presidents, as a school, and now as a museum. (The president doesn't live there now).

That weekend, JP's favorite soccer team, Cruz Azul, was in the finals for the second time in a row. We ate gigantic fried quesadillas (kekas) in Coyoacan while watching the game on the tiny TV at the keka stand. Cruz Azul lost... also for the second time in a row. Oh well, we enjoyed the wonderful Coyoacan kekas!