Run to me when you’re broken

There has been many times throughout my Mexico Mission trip that I have felt God speaking into my life. One of the most impacting times was when we were at the orphanage in Oaxaca. We had been doing manual labor all that week in the hot sun. On this particular day we were building a trench and hauling cement in wheel barrels over to finish making it. Myself not being an overly physically strong person was nervous about wheel barreling heavy cement across the orphanage property. None the less I wanted to be working hard with everyone else.
I picked up a wheel barrel of cement to take it down the path, after just a few steps my physical strength failed me and the wheel barrel tipped and fell to the ground, spilling cement everywhere. This was an outward display of how I wasn’t strong enough to do it on my own. Because I sometimes struggle with getting my worth from what I do this broke me. I had failed. I wasn’t good enough. After my friends helped me clean it up and I continued to go down the road.
God spoke to me of how even though I’d failed it was okay, because his love for me doesn’t depend on how well I perform. Living in a world where we’re called to success, it’s hard for me to let myself fail. God told me how it’s okay to be weak and I don’t have to prove that I’m good enough or that I can do it on my own. Whether I fail or if I succeed he still loves me. It’s when we fail that we realize that we can’t do it on our own, and then we’re more able to be used by God because we know we need him.
Later that night our team devo was to have 15 minutes of alone time with God just letting him speak to you. God told me to go to the spot where I spilt the cement. I walked the path where I’d hauled cement. God continued to speak about how much he loves me. I don’t have to prove that I’m loveable. God loves me not because of what I do, but because I’m his. He chooses to love me no matter what happens.
God also spoke to me about how I’m to run to him. Run to him when I’m happy, excited, crying, disappointed, hurt, whatever. I’m not to turn to other things for comfort, but to run to him first because he loves me more than anyone else ever will. Then I felt like God telling me to actually physically run. I was like what, no, but then he said run to me when you’re broken. So I did. God spoke to me of how I’m to run to him first in everything. He told me to fix my eyes on him. As I was running a rock got stuck in my sandal and God said don’t let anything distract you or hold you back from running to me. God wants to be first in your life and the comfort you run to.
by: Tammy Gaertner

Jen

One Thursday night druing an outreach at "La Rosa", a subdivision in Puebla, I met a woman. She had twin babies that were about a year and a half old. She had watched the drama but did not go up for the alter call. Afterwards as we were packing up I felt drawn to her. I had looked over a few times and smiled at her, and she had smiled back. When I stood up to leave Rob came up to me and told me that the woman had just decided to accept Christ. She motioned for me to come over to her, and though we couldn't talk to each other, I sat with her for a few minutes and played with her kids. Even though we were there to teach the people about Christ, she taught me something that night. It was then that I learned to have compassion for the Mexican people. God called us to Mexico not only to save his people, but to love them as well. Her and her children are the people that I will remember, and even if I forget everything else that happened, that lesson will stay with me.

Being Known - Colin Zimmerman

During the time we spent in Mexico city we were accompanied by a Pastor named Hymie. He was our guide to Mexico city, a spiritual encourager, and all around fun person to be around. After being with him a few days, and knowing him as well as you can know a person who doesn't really speak your language, we attended an evening worship service at his church. The service was conducted completely in Spanish, so naturally I was completely clueless as to what was going on.

All of a sudden, our host missionary, Rob Martin, turned around and told us that there was a call to come forward for anybody who wanted to be prayed for to receive more of the Holy Spirit. The team went forward, and as Hymie prayed for us, I realized that he was speaking the words of God into our lives. At that point he had only known us mostly superficially as we hadn't had enough time to really get to know each other any better. But the prayers and encouragements he was speaking were so tailor made to each of our specific situations and needs that it was as if we had written down our requests ahead of time and given them to him.

This experience showed me that we have a God who knows each of us, and knows us intimately. This intimate God is also a powerful God, who is not limited by how well people know each other or by a language barrier. This experience affirmed to me that we were where God wanted us to be, and that God had gone before us and prepared the way for our work during the trip.

May you grow in the knowledge of God as a loving, intimate, and involved Creator. May he encourage you to be bold in faith and do things that are far beyond your ability on your own. Thank you God for your involvement in our lives, and for knowing us and walking with us so closely. Amen.

Psalm 139:12-14 (New International Version)

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

This is the God who made us and knows us. Be blessed as you grow closer to him.

Prayer Ministry - Neil Kroeger

God has revealed so much to me over the course of this last month. It has been an exceptional time for me, my team, and God's kingdom. God is full of surprises, and it seems like in times of distress we are surprised very frequently. We were given many opportunities to share God's love in very unreached areas of Mexico, in slums of very large cities: Mexico City and Puebla. In all honesty I'm sure the thought of "I might die today, or atleast be sent to jail" crossed most of our minds. Our response: pray. We prayed so much throughout those days and coincidentally those were the times when we saw the most peopole saved, and the most divine instances were confronted. One of our team members asked Rob if prayer, in his mind was just as important a part of supporting a missionary as finances - seems like a very obvious question, but a very honest one. Rob replied with telling that person a story of one time when he and another pastor were sent to jail for preaching (thirty people we saved in the process!) and he told Reide that when he was sitting in jail he sure wasn't thinking "I hope somebody sent that $200 cheque this month!" his mind was solely on the hopes that there would be atleast one faithful person in Canada Praying for his safety. I took this to heart and wanted to encourage everyone to remember how important a role prayer takes on whenever doing God's work. So thank you for your prayers and your faithfullness will be rewarded not only in the lives of others but in expanding the kingdom of God. God Bless, your brother in Christ, Neil.

From Lael

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are down trodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18. I was given this passage to do a devotiohn on for the team, but it never happened. However, Jesus used it to speak to me. We, as a team were in Mexico to do all those things and were called to be there. Many times as we were travelling different places, Angela and I would notice how the sun was coming down through the clouds and how it seemed to be illuminating a special spot. We started calling those God rays and they were a reminder to us of just how He had called every one of us to Mexico and that He had a special job for each of us to do.
When we were in Oaxaca, we were doing serious manual labor. There were two drainage trenches we needed to dig in their road. We started on May 8th, a Monday, and continued for the rest of the week. We were shovelling and using pick axes and sweating in the hot sun. Somehow, between using their really short shovels and trying my hand at using a pick axe, I managed to hurt my back. I hurt it so badly that I couldn't help for the rest of the week. As I spent quality time on my back in bed regularly for the rest of the week, I found that I was disappointed with God. I didn't really want to go on a mission trip in the first place and now I had decided that I was here and might as well make the best of it, I couldn't. It was really frustrating. When we got back to Puebla with Rob, the next week, he started praying for my back to be healed. I let him do it a few times and then realized that that was not what God wanted. I played the part of the devil in the drime, which was fairly demanding for someone with a hurt back as I had to be pushed and fall down twice. I got the distinct impression that God only wanted me to pray for protection and safety before every time we did the drime and trust that He would protect me from getting hurt. It was a stretch, but God was faithful. I would pray and if there was any pain that day, it would disappear and I wouldn't even be bothered by worry about it when I was doing the drime or our dance. When the drime was over, then the pain would return. I did this before every time except once when I forgot, and that time was really painful. God taught me a powerful lesson in trust this month through this incident. I also learned a lesson in prayer and how it is direct communication with God. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". It was very true. I could not have done the drime as many times as we did without relying on God for strength to do it and trusting that He would keep me from getting hurt more.

how much are you willing to put into this?

one class during the school year involved a walk around the lake, searching for something that God uses to speak to us. since Harumbe had been the exact same thing, and i hadnt gotten anything in particular, i was not happy with this. it was cold, and spring had not quite sprung yet. i'll admitt it, i was petulant. as i walked by myself around the lake, i looked at things and pretended to be receptive, but i was inwardly scoffing. realizing what i was doing, i quickly tried to ..try. and, of course, God took the oportunity. he said to me, "How much effort are you willing to put into this?"

During this trip, we stayed with host families. my last host home was with a lady named Julia. (its pronounced hoolia, so i'm going to write it that way so you can hear it better, but its spelled julia.) she did not have much extra money, and didnt own a car, so we took 3 buses to and from her house to where the group met, and we payed for the fares. hoolia worked as well as fed us and washed our clothes. she came with us on all the buses and talked to us as best she could with our limited english/spanish. she asked us everyday what we wanted to eat, and often she had to go out and buy it, sometinmes with our money, which we were willing to spend for this. on top of this, she made us stuffed monkeys. before you ask, i have no idea how they tasted, because im talking about a childs toy, not an exotic delicacy. it takes hoolia 2 days to make a monkey (changa, in spanish) and she made one for each of the 3 girls at her house. the last day we were at her housewe gave her a silver braclet made of dolphins. she loved it, and it was heartwarming to see how happy we had made her with so little a gift. it cost us $3 each, and was well worth the price. later that night hoolia came into our room with something in her hands. she had gone around her house and gathered together 3 things she was wanted us to take. the objects were not great, thery were obviously tacky and cheap... but the thing that touched me was this: she, who had given and sacrificed so much, wanted to give even more. she had more to give, even if it was practiacally insignificant, and she wasnt going to let the smallness of her gift keep her from giving.

how much are you willing to give? how much are you willing to put into this?

there are many other times that this lesson was reinforced in me, but i think i will just leave you with this one, as it is the clearest and if you read all of these you will be tired of all these. well, maybe not, but if you want to know the others you are more than allowed to ask me. im so glad i was given this opportunity to learn this and other things in Mexico.


Rae.

oopsies

hi, its rae again. i just thought id quick fix some things that were said wrong in a few blogs. i said that 4 pesos equaled 4 cents. WRONG. 4 pesos equal 40 cents, and one dollar is 10 pesos. so , sorry about that. i read karens blog and i saw one thing i know for sure is wrong, and one thing i think i read that if i did is wrong. if karen said we did an outreach in the Flower, we didnt. i cant remember now if she siad we did, but we didnt. but, i know for certain that the Flower DID NOT get its name because it produces opium. as far as we know, it doesnt, and it was a bit of a joke that wasnt explained to everyone. so yeah. just thought id clear those things up, and i hope you continue to enjoy the 'reading-our-blog' experiance.

The Power of...Work

Imagine with me, if you will, that you're outside in 45 degree celsius heat digging trenches and hauling cement for eight hours a day.
This is what we did for our second week in Mexico at the Foundation For His Ministries orphanage just outside of Oaxaca. I actually don't mind doing this type of work, but because we were at an orphanage there were children everywhere, and if I had the option I would rather be playing with the children!
We were given Wednesday afternoon off specifically so that we could play with the kids. This was an answer to prayer for me, but by the end of the week I was still a little disappointed at the lack of time I had spent with them. We were sitting in chapel on Friday morning, our last full day there, and one of the staff members walked to the front and began to thank us for coming that week. He went on to tell us that he understood how we must be disappointed that we worked more than we were able to play with the children, but that our work had meant so much to the orphanage family. The children saw our love for them through all the work we had done. We didn't necessarily have to play with them in order for us to show our love for them.
After he was finished speaking, the children gathered around us, laid their hands on us, and prayed for out team. That was such a blessing to me! It reminded me of Colossians 3:17 (NRSV) which says, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." It didn't matter what we did at the orphanage, as long as we did it for God, he would bless what we had done and His love would in turn flow onto others around us.

Amy Hundeby

What Do You Expect?

On this mission trip I realized that I expect too little of God. I've always believed in miracles, but I never really expected to see them. After going to Mexico, I've come to believe that if we don't see miracles, it's not God's problem; it's ours.
We were on an outreach in a neighborhood of Puebla. It had been a wonderful success. We had done the drime, and Pastor Rob had preached a sermon and given an altar call, and about twenty-four people had prayed to receive Jesus. We had collected their addresses and were changing our costumes when Rob said that two of the women who had just become Christians wanted prayer for their mother-in-law, who was ill. Reide and I volunteered to go with him to pray. Upon entering the women's house, we saw the mother-in-law, an older, respectable woman, fairly well-dressed, sitting on the sofa in their living room. We greeted her, and Rob started talking with her in Spanish. He told us that she was suffering from high blood pressure. So he led out in prayer, and we joined him, praying earnestly for her healing. Afterward as we were visiting she started crying. Reide and I couldn't understand what she was saying, but Rob told us later that she was completely overwhelmed by the presence of God and said she could feel His presence. As we were leaving, he also said that that very morning, a friend had come to her and said that someone was going to come to her house that evening and pray for her and she would be healed. I was blown away by the fact that God had planned this all out beforehand and even took the time to let this lady know we would be coming. We hadn't even originally planned to be in that neighborhood on this particular evening, but because of some frustrating, last-minute plan changes, that's where we ended up.
After we prayed for the mother-in-law we were asked to pray for one of the women who had invited us, who was suffering from a hernia. She was scheduled to go into surgery a few days later. Rob asked me if I would pray for her. I agreed, but I was a little unsure about how to pray. So I asked Rob, "Should I pray for her to be completely healed, or should I pray for the surgery to go well?" He answered right away, "Pray for her to be completely healed, so that the doctors don't even have to do the surgery." So I did. And I realized what a silly question I had asked. Of course God wanted to work a miracle to heal this lady, and of course He had the power to do it, so why did I even hesitate to ask Him?
I kept wondering about that later that day. I think I just don't expect enough from God! So often I hear prayer requests for someone who is going through surgery, or for a doctor to do a good job, or that God will be near to a person as they battle a deadly disease, but rarely will anyone ask prayer for a miracle. I've become afraid of asking too much of God, because I've seen suffering and death before and don't want to be disappointed or disillusioned by a prayer not being answered. But I think the reason that I've been disappointed in the past is precisely because I haven't asked for enough--not with conviction, not fervently, not in complete agreeance with other Christians.
Our faith doesn't determine God's faithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." However, our faith does determine whether we are going to see His faithfulness. Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he told Martha, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). So often in Jesus' ministry, he was prevented from doing miracles because of people's lack of faith. But God wants to work miracles, and He wants us to believe in Him. His power wasn't just available two thousand years ago; it's available now, and it's available to us. If you believe, you will see His glory.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24).

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).

by Karen Olson

Lessons Learnerd

At the beginning of our second year at CLBI we were asked to pick a Bible vere to be our theme verse for our year beaed in servant leadership. I picked Isaiah 6:8, not realizing at all the impact it would have on me throughout the year as well as on my mission trip nine months later. The verse is as follows: " Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said. "Here am I. Send me!"I spent the last eight months of my life trainin gin the word of God to be send out from this place(CLBI) into the world as a sevant leader, in my day to day life; and to prepare me for my mission trip. I went to Mexico to be a missionary only to find that I was trained here to go out, and in the end spent more time trainng by learning to spread the gospel in new ways and once again be ent ou this time as a missionary to Canada. Home ! God will use you in ways you will not expect in the least and make you life a missionary experience not just a trip you take. Not that thisisn't a huge revelation in itself but I would also like to share a short story that impacted my faith while I was in Mexico. I have really truly grown to see the power of prayer. Prayer was a huge part of every sort of gospel outreach and everything else we did while we were there. If something was going to go "right" there was going to be a lot of prayer backing it up. One day after we did our drama our missionary host was giving the message and there as a little boy about eight sitting on a bench by himself, listening intently. I had seen him pray the prayer to accpet Jesus and he really seemed like he want tot come up and be prayed for. However there was a group of teenage boys just behind him and he kept looking at the with the "but what will they thing of me, will I ever stand a chance of being cool if I go up." It was hear breaking but I kept praying fervently for him to be bold and when we came foward to gather around the people to pray for them, I got to walk up to him hold out my hand and say, "come on its ok." Which was followed by a smile and a shy step as he walked up beside me and to the group. His name was Matia and I got to pray with him. This is just a simple glimpse of the wondrous and power of prayer and the way God works in and through us. God is sending you, have faith believeing that the power of God is beyond anything you could ever grasp. Our God is amazing!

God Bless,
Angela Faas

Be Strong and of good courage

Be Strong and of Good Courage
John-Mark Bredeson

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

This verse had been the theme verse for me for this trip. It became real to me the first time that we did the drime. We performed the drime in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Puebla, a place where no one had done an outreach before. As we were walking the streets inviting people to the drime the verse popped in my head and I was reminded that the Lord is with me wherever I go. Then half way through the drime the music cuts out and we were left to do it with no music. This was when the verse popped into my head the second time; be strong and of good courage. There were numerous other times when God used this verse to impact me throughout the month, but this was the most memorable time. If the Lord has commanded you to do something, then He will truly be with you wherever you go.

Mexico Mission Team ~CLBI~

Hi Everybody!
Well it´s been a while since we blogged. We´re in Puebla at Pastor Rob and Male´s house right now. We´re doing our drama tonight at an outreach in a place called the Flower, so named because of the opium that is sold there. This will be our second time doing the drama. We spent most of last week learning it, with some frustrating moments and much impatience--but it all came together beautifully. Lael is the devil, Reide is God the Father, John-Mark is Jesus, Neil is the American, Angela is the native Canadian, Rae is the Mexican, Tammy is the Korean, I (Karen) am the Japanese, and the rest are angels. We performed it for the first time at this ghetto area of Puebla where nobody else has ever dared to do an outreach before (but Rob didn´t tell us that till afterwards). We also did a dance that some of us girls learned, to a Spanish worship song--a "salsa rap" as Rob advertises it. It´s a lot of fun and we used it to draw people in before the drama. After the drama Rob gave a message and an altar call and about ten people were saved, including a family. They were so sincere about it, it was awesome to see. So that was on Wednesday, and then on Thursday we drove to Cuernavaca, and prayed in a mall. We had a team meeting and discussion at a restaraunt there, and it was interesting because some church people came in and Pastor Rob did a cell group meeting with them right then while we were in there and we saw a lady pray to be saved for the first time. And then that night we went to Aca Pulco, where we stayed at a condo of Pastor Jeimy´s sister, with a pool right outside the door. We went shopping and went to the beach on Friday and Saturday. Tammy experienced the power of ocean waves for the first time in her life...a bunch of us girls got our hair braided in little braids...several people were sunburnt pretty bad...it was generally an all-around good time. Then we went back to Pastor Jeimy´s church for the service on Sunday. We did our "salsa rap" again and they got me to talk about Afghanistan and Lael and Neil and Colin performed a song. I love that congregation--they´re so warm and hospitable and fun! We got to stay with our host families there again. It was like going home! They say "mi casa es tu casa"--my home is your home--and it´s really true. We went out for a Chinese buffet for Sunday dinner, and Cassy got serenaded happy Birthday by the mariachi guy playing guitar there. Then we went to the mall with Pastor Heimy´s family and extended family and that evening went back for the evening service at the church, where we again danced and sang and spoke. After that we had supper and birthday cake for Cassy, with both Spanish and English Happy Birthday songs and she got to take the first bite--a Spanish thing--and get a face full of whipped cream. Then we did a huge cinnamon bun hug for her and everybody was so hyper and giddy it was hilarious. And today we drove back to Puebla.
So now all that we haven´t blogged about is the rest of the week at Oaxaca. Well, it was a lot of manual labor. We dug and poured concrete for two drainage ditches across the road. We got to eat a lot of beans and tortillas, and papaya and fresh squeezed fruit juice. On May 10 they celebrate Mother´s day here, so all the kids came singing to the mothers at four in the morning. Then that evening we played some hilarious games after supper. John-Mark won the game of stuffing his mouth full of marshmallows while saying something about a rabbit in Spanish. And there were balloon-popping games and more singing--it was quite a party! One day I got to go to a lady´s prison where we served dinner and one lady gave a devotional. That was pretty neat. A few of the children from the orphanage will stick in my memory for a while: Cesar, this little boy with epilepsy, who is six but looks and acts like three--the sweetest kid ever, and they´re praying for his healing; Olga, the most adorable child who took a bunch of pictures with me and played I chase her with me; Karlos, the socially rejected kid who doesn´t go to school any more but hung out with us lots and is a lot of fun and sucked up all the attention we could give him; and so many others...they´re all so precious to God...and definitely left footprints in our lives too.
Well, Rae will be happy I´m caught up on the blog...we´re going to have a busy week...thanks everyone who´s praying for us, and we´ll see you on Saturday!

Mexico Mission Team ~CLBI~

Hi Everybody!
Well it´s been a while since we blogged. We´re in Puebla at Pastor Rob and Male´s house right now. We´re doing our drama tonight at an outreach in a place called the Flower, so named because of the opium that is sold there. This will be our second time doing the drama. We spent most of last week learning it, with some frustrating moments and much impatience--but it all came together beautifully. Lael is the devil, Reide is God the Father, John-Mark is Jesus, Neil is the American, Angela is the native Canadian, Rae is the Mexican, Tammy is the Korean, I (Karen) am the Japanese, and the rest are angels. We performed it for the first time at this ghetto area of Puebla where nobody else has ever dared to do an outreach before (but Rob didn´t tell us that till afterwards). We also did a dance that some of us girls learned, to a Spanish worship song--a "salsa rap" as Rob advertises it. It´s a lot of fun and we used it to draw people in before the drama. After the drama Rob gave a message and an altar call and about ten people were saved, including a family. They were so sincere about it, it was awesome to see. So that was on Wednesday, and then on Thursday we drove to Cuernavaca, and prayed in a mall. We had a team meeting and discussion at a restaraunt there, and it was interesting because some church people came in and Pastor Rob did a cell group meeting with them right then while we were in there and we saw a lady pray to be saved for the first time. And then that night we went to Aca Pulco, where we stayed at a condo of Pastor Jeimy´s sister, with a pool right outside the door. We went shopping and went to the beach on Friday and Saturday. Tammy experienced the power of ocean waves for the first time in her life...a bunch of us girls got our hair braided in little braids...several people were sunburnt pretty bad...it was generally an all-around good time. Then we went back to Pastor Jeimy´s church for the service on Sunday. We did our "salsa rap" again and they got me to talk about Afghanistan and Lael and Neil and Colin performed a song. I love that congregation--they´re so warm and hospitable and fun! We got to stay with our host families there again. It was like going home! They say "mi casa es tu casa"--my home is your home--and it´s really true. We went out for a Chinese buffet for Sunday dinner, and Cassy got serenaded happy Birthday by the mariachi guy playing guitar there. Then we went to the mall with Pastor Heimy´s family and extended family and that evening went back for the evening service at the church, where we again danced and sang and spoke. After that we had supper and birthday cake for Cassy, with both Spanish and English Happy Birthday songs and she got to take the first bite--a Spanish thing--and get a face full of whipped cream. Then we did a huge cinnamon bun hug for her and everybody was so hyper and giddy it was hilarious. And today we drove back to Puebla.
So now all that we haven´t blogged about is the rest of the week at Oaxaca. Well, it was a lot of manual labor. We dug and poured concrete for two drainage ditches across the road. We got to eat a lot of beans and tortillas, and papaya and fresh squeezed fruit juice. On May 10 they celebrate Mother´s day here, so all the kids came singing to the mothers at four in the morning. Then that evening we played some hilarious games after supper. John-Mark won the game of stuffing his mouth full of marshmallows while saying something about a rabbit in Spanish. And there were balloon-popping games and more singing--it was quite a party! One day I got to go to a lady´s prison where we served dinner and one lady gave a devotional. That was pretty neat. A few of the children from the orphanage will stick in my memory for a while: Cesar, this little boy with epilepsy, who is six but looks and acts like three--the sweetest kid ever, and they´re praying for his healing; Olga, the most adorable child who took a bunch of pictures with me and played I chase her with me; Karlos, the socially rejected kid who doesn´t go to school any more but hung out with us lots and is a lot of fun and sucked up all the attention we could give him; and so many others...they´re all so precious to God...and definitely left footprints in our lives too.
Well, Rae will be happy I´m caught up on the blog...we´re going to have a busy week...thanks everyone who´s praying for us, and we´ll see you on Saturday!

sunday in oaxaca

Lael, John-Mark and I (RAe) went to another market in the morning before church. Neil, Reide and Karen climbed a nearby mountain and everyone else slept. the market was amazing, and we were allowed to wander it by ourselves. when we got back we changed and went to church. they had translators for us, which was nice,we were expecting to not understand and be bored. after, we had a few options, and chose to go swimming. the road to the pool was crazy. up and down mountains, one lane, in a 15 passenger van (with no vinyl and yes airconditioning!)it was quite... invigorating. when we got there, the pool was closed. there were government vehicals and federales, so we think there may have been something a bit more than 'renevations' going on. but, we went to mitla and acctually caught the market this time. more fun, but we were tired. got back in time for food, finally, and went to bed, quite ready to work the next day.

first day in oaxaca, pt 2

so we went to MItla, a nearby town to go to the clothing market. on the way it rained. when it rains in mexico, you know it. huge drops pour down and torrents rush down the streets. its very fierce for about 10-15 minutes, then its over. when we got to mitla there was about a foot of water running, and where the market would have been was standing water. we left, as no one was still open. instead we went to... a different town. this town had not rained, and it was beautiful. the town was built arond a tree. they claim that it is the oldest tree in the world. it looks it. its HUGE! we took some pictures, did some shopping and headed back to the childrens home for supper. we were too late. so, we turned back around, went into tlacaloula and ate at a local place. it was a little sketchy, but our hosts, Ian and Elaine Croft have taken people there before with no problems, so we ate. it was good! there were little tacos at 4 pesos each.. which is like 4 cents. we were not hungry after, you can buy alot with a little. we headed back, and everyone was in high spirits for the next day.

first day in oaxaca, part 1

we didnt have breakfast until 8, which was nice, it was almost like sleeping in. saturday was a special day at the childrens home, as it was the celebration of two girls' quincey annos.... my spelling is probably wrong, but thats what it sounds like. this is a 15th birthday and is a Big Deal here. it is not uncommon for families to go into debt to throw their daughters a good party, and one lady here said it is bigger than the girls wedding days. in villages, usually the girls will wear wedding dresses and be paraded through the streets. what we got to do (most of us, some were picking rocks out of a dry river bed)was clean and decorate the hall for the noon meal (at 2, also the biggest)and the party. i got to help make paper flowers, which was educational. my hands turned green from the tissue paper and glue. we hung big ballon clusters from the ceiling. then we all got dressed up and went to the party. there was a (very loud) song with whistelig, and the girls came in. Estella and Leticia came in on the arms of (i think) their sponsers, dressed in grad dress type things, both full length and light blue. they were escorted to the two head tables where their families were waiting. then we had food, and some juice that was good, but strange. we found out later that it was made out of hibuiscus flowers. after the meal the girls were seated in front of the speakers lectern and were spoke to about their Hearts, God and being young women. at least, those are the words i knew that were repeated often. after that they turned on more music (again very loudly)and the girls danced with all commers. the other children would chant someones name until they got up and danced with Estella or Leticia. and after that, it was time for pictures... so we kind of ducked out and got changed out of fancy clothes. we were going to town!

to oaxaca

we said goodbye to himee and his van at the bus station. there we got on a bus, obviously. we rode it to puebla, and it was nice. we got to watch National Treasure, but it was in spanish with no subtitles. most people slept, but i watched it anyways. we got to puebla before the end, which was too bad. we got picked up by robs wife male,(short for magdelena) in a van much like himees. except there was no air conditioning. and it had vinal seats. we crammed in with all our stuff, dropped it off at their house and went to see the Cinqo de Mayo parade. the holiday is celebrating when the mexicans pushed back and completely decimated a surpise attack by the french armies. the parade was very military, we saw nothing but regiment after regiment of every part of the mexican military. oh, and some weird float stuck in the middle with odd scantily clad warrior fairys... not sure what that was about. we were there for maybe half an hour and then we headed back to their house for lunch... almost on time for once. there we discovered something interesting... the bathroom door had no handle. you were given a steak knife when you went in, and if you couldnt get that to work you had to knock for someone to let you out from the outside. i dont think many people got out by themselves.
then we headed off on an amaingly hot day with all our bags in a van with no airconditioning and too much vinal on a trip that got progressively hotter the closer we got to the desert. it took about 5 hours. the drive was.... close to terrifying, ask us why when we get back home. we arrived at the childrens home at about 8... which is unfortunate, because they dont follow the supper time here, so we missed supper. we were given cereal by the crofts and sent to bed. this was exciting, because we had our own beds for the first time this trip. the compound looked wonderful, and we didnt have to be up until 8 the next morning, so we were all very happy and ready to start doing some real work.

piramids ect

the next week was spent in touristy pursuits. we visited the catholic cathedrals, the basillicas, the merto (fastest in the world!) and many other sights of mexico city. we also headed up to the aztec piramids nearby. they were amazing. we climbed up the temple to the sun, where we saw many many people dressed in white raising their hands to receive energy from the sun god. it was sad. i had a song running through my head.."people, people, surely the Lord lives.... heaven and earth are his... lift your souls in wonder". if only they had raised their hands for that reason. the climb was amazingly steep. these piramids are tall, but they would rival egypts for size if they were uncovered all the way to the base. there were many many little hills with steps, but most of them had signs telling us not to climb them. which of course made us (or at least me) want to climb them. we didnt, no matter the temptation, and we left for our next stop in oaxaca more than willing to go somewhere where we wouldnt travel for hours each day and where we could do something constructive, and not touristy.

host families, ch 1

we got back to himees church during a prayer meeting. we hung around the basement looking for our bags (in the mens washroom) and waiting for them to finish. when they did, we met our host families for the week. we were so excited to go to a place where we could not travel a bit, and maybe even shower, as we hadnt done since we left canada. our families were great. they fed us when we got to their homes, even though we had eaten shortly before. in mexico the meal times are 8 for breakfast, 2 for lunch and about 8 for supper. i dont think we ever did that with rob, it was always breakfast at 8, lunch at 6ish and supper at about 9:30 when we got back to our host homes. by that time we were so hungry for luch we would stuff ourselves, and be not hungry for the huge amounts of food our hosts would prepare for our re arrival. there was always fresh fruit to eat, mangos and peaches the size of walnuts. and lots of papaya and watermellon! we really loved our families, even if we had a few communication problems with both sides not understanding the others language. mine gave us pictures of themselves. one of the host ladies was excited when she head we were comming and was sad because she didnt have enough furniture for us. so she bought some mattresses, and prayed. when her mattresses were delivered, there were bed frames to go with them, and they had the right address. she said she hadnt ordered them, but they were insistant. it turned out that her brother for ... somewhere else ... had bought her some beds, without knowing that she was in need of some to take care of us, and sent them to her as a surprise. and then my host family was given 5 minutes warning that we would be starying with them. ah, typical, and funny. im so glad we had the opportunity to stay with such generous people, even if they didnt know about if before hand.

tourist island.

so when we left the island we traveled by boat to the next island, which was entirely tourist based. on it was a very large statue of a hero from mexicos war of independence. we got off the boat and climbed up past many many vendors and it was quite hot. the streets were made of stairs going up and around, until you get to the statue. there was simply everything touristy to buy, and lots of those little fish im sure karen told you about. when we got to the top you had to pay to get into the statue, which was like a museum to the war and the part played by the hero, whose name i cant recall. the inside was more stairs, and the walls were decorated with very large murals with spanish captions underneath explaining them. which ment we had no idea what was going on, as you couldnt really follow a charcter to the next picture and recognise them there. it was high and steep. i stopped at the head, but mant others continued into his defiantly raised fist. after that, lael and i posed on the canons outside and we all went down to the docks again. there we caught a boat back to the van and headed back to mexico city.