A short video summary of our VBS - July/August 2009

La Casa de mi Padre

Well, VBS is finished now, and we are grateful for that. The last three weeks were absolutely draining in many ways. But I would not have changed it for the world! Our team was pretty commited to the vision and our kids were excited to be part of it. They do see how we, as a family, have a calling to tell others about Jesus. Samuel got to do puppets and, to be honest, he is pretty good at it. The kids laughed at what he said which was an encouragement. Rebeca, on the other hand, enjoyed more sitting with the rest of the kids, helping them with their crafts and mostly, setting a good example of behaviour. We are so blessed.

I will never be able to do justice to Matthew´s wonderful organization skills. He planned, organized, encouraged, challenged and had fun with the team. He did an excellent job leading us in this project. Thank You, my love.

The theme we used was "La casa de mi Padre" (My Father's house). We talked about creation, Noah, the life of Jesus, us being the salt and light of the world; and finally our home in heaven. We had a theme song, which goes like this, more or less:

My Father's house I want to know,

My Father's house, will be a safe place.

My Father's house, in there I will live.

My Father's house, forever with Him!

I think all of us, adults and kids, liked this song and its tune. Ironically, though, we had a tough reminder that this Earth is full of sin and imperfect. We all should be looking forward to being with Jesus for ever.

One of the VBS locations, was the street. Matthew rented a large tent to protect us from the rain. We set up things in a way that we were facing a house that belongs to a church family. On the other side of the street, live two "kids" all by themselves. Well, they are 25 and 23. They have been locked in the "house" for decades. They are victims of abuse since they were very young. Neighbors say that they used to go to Kindergarten, but all of a sudden, they were locked in the house, tied to their beds and never went outside again. They lived with their father, who died. Then their mother came in the picture but didn't stay with them. To this date she sees them every other day, gives them some food and leaves again, locking the house from the outside. If you saw them, they are so skinny and have not developed mentally. The first day we had VBS, they came out to their little yard and started clapping to the songs. Later, their mother came and locked them inside of the only room they have. We didn't see them again.

The words of the theme song were painful to sing, yet hopeful. We know that today, their house is nothing but the horrible place where they are victims of an abuse I could never imagine would exist. But one day, those kids will have a safe place to live for ever, when they are called to His presence to live in Our Father's House. May that be very soon.

Children's VBS

We are getting excited about our upcoming VBS plans for this summer. The attached document will provide some information about what we will be doing as well as a request for financial assistance for the expenses - mainly for snacks, crafts and transporation. Please consider whether you can be involved in this vital way and also consider sharing with your small group, Sunday School class, church missions committee, etc. Thanks so much for your prayers!

My Father's House VBS, Tenancingo, Summer 2009.

We have guests!

Our first guests arrived in Tenancingo today! Yes, Matthew's parents arrived to spend 2+ weeks with us. We had Rebeca's 5th year birthday party in Mexico City today and then made the two hour drive to Tenancingo. It's nice to share our home with our loved ones and we look forward to explore some of Mexico with them.

In terms of ministry, the Lord has been drawing us much closer to a neighbor couple who have been through some difficulties relationally and just two weeks ago experienced the tragedy of two deaths in the family. A sister in law and small child died in a car accident. The brother and our neighbors' teenage daughter, who was with them, survived with hardly any injuries. We have had some good opportunities for conversation with R. (the widower). He is a baker by trade and he even offered to decorate a Birthday cake for Rebeca last Monday. Pray the Lord continues to show Himself real to them through our testimony.

My Father's House - we have a VBS planned for late July and early August to be held in five locations in Tenancingo and two other towns. There are a few Mexicans who are helping us lead and coordinate everything and we expect between 20 and 30 people all in all who will somehow be involved. One big prayer request is for finances. Our total budget is just under $3,000. We have more info available to share if anyone is interested in helping with some of these expenses. In all, we're projecting 1500+ kids (counting by day and adding them all together, so there will be repeats). If you think of it, it costs less than $2 per child per day.

Thanks for reading, we'll try to post more frequently.

Violence, Influenza and us...

Mexico has been in the news during recent months with many references to drug-related violence as well as being the supposed place of origin for Influenza A H1N1. We want to share with you our own circumstances so you can know firsthand about how these two big events are affecting us.

Violence

Much of the violence in the last few years has come as a consequence of Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, declaring a war on all drug cartels in the country. Where in the past there was a more selective and reactionary approach, now the army and different levels of law enforcement are cracking down more intentionally on drug trafficking. The cartels have increased their violence with brutal killings, extorsions, kidnappings, etc. This is true throughout much of the country. Lately, there has been much activity in the state of Zacatecas, about eight hours north of Mexico City, where Lina and I met and worked for a few years in the late nineties. That's where 53 prisoners were released just last week by a planned prison break where much corruption is suspected.

Here in Tenancingo there is some minor activity. Back in March a drug gang disarmed the local police as well as that of Zumpahuacan, 10 miles south of us. There was a shootout between gangs related to some financial debts in the drug trafficking. Many of the details have been kept from the public, with authorities stating that the case is under investigation. Our perception is that people are aprehensive, but seem to lead a relatively normal life: walking freely in the streets, going to market, taking kids to/from school. We personally have never felt unsafe since we've been here.

Influenza

Late April and the first few weeks of May much of the country was put on guard to curtail the spread of the newly discovered Influenza A H1N1 which has become a worldwide issue. Schools were cancelled for a few weeks; in Mexico City dine-in restaurants were closed and public transportation dropped notably. In Tenancingo, many wore mouth covers and were generally more careful when interacting face to face. Church was cancelled the first Sunday; the following week attendance was down about 80% and those who did attend were asked to wear mouth covers and to refrain from customary greetings (hugs, kisses and handshakes). 

When classes resumed on May 11th, all the children were grouped by class outside the school gates. Teachers assessed each child's health with a brief questionnaire and the regular ceremony to honor the flag was cancelled. It took about half an hour before all the kids were in school. This was repeated the rest of that week. Since then, things have eased up. Mouth covers are strongly encouraged, but not required. At Rebeca's kindergarten, one mother came to school each day with a mouth cover that matched her clothing (she has purple, blue and white, at least).  As you can see, even the possibility of a serious health threat cannot keep some from being fashionable.

There is generally a much more relaxed sense among the people we interact with. If anything, this has helped make people more aware of important hygene habits like washing hands and being careful when greeting, especially when sick. I've asked if people have known or even heard of anyone in Tenancingo being infected - small town news travels quick. Someone had heard of two possible cases at the hospital, but nothing confirmed. We are taking the regular precautions, and, of course, if flu symtoms develop, we will surely seek appropriate care and testing.

Blessed Water

Agua Bendita (Blessed Water) is the name of the small community of about thirty families who have made their home the upper mountains behind the city of Tenancingo. It takes about 40 minutes to get there, most of which is dirt roads. All uphill.  Once you get there, you get this great view of the valley filled with greenhouses for all the flowers. You can also see the statue of Jesus from behind and you're actually looking down at it, which is significant since most of the time we're looking up from Tenancingo.

Our assignment was to help build a new kitchen for the family, since their current arrangement had the kitchen and a bedroom together. Also, another home had plastic sheets for walls. We were going to put up corrugated cardboard instead. In the past I'd thought that homes with this kind of siding were very poor homes. Amazing to see how it blessed them to get an upgrade to that instead of what they had!

A few young adults have been visiting almost weekly since last summer. They've gotten to know the community and did a good job identifying key needs where we could be of some assistance. We look forward to continue ministering there.

Images from March

Here are some pictures that capture a few of the things we did in March.

Click here to see them

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100910&id=705566154&l=0bd1b0671c