Easter Sunday in Mexico City

We had an 8 a.m. Sunrise Service at Igelsia Biblica Cristo Vive (Christ Lives Bible Church). Between 9 and 10 a.m., we enjoyed tamales that were prepared in the Vera Cruz style, wrapped in huge banana leaves instead of the usual corn husks. There were two flavors: one with a piece of chicken in the center and the other, with potatoes, vegetables and a bit of chicken. Both flavors were slightly spicy. The large banana leaves left everyones' hands messy from unfolding their tamale though the tamale in the centre was eaten with forks. We had guayaba or chocolate with a touch of cinnamon flavored hot atole to drink. This is a thick drink with a ground cornmeal base that is a bit sweet. It reminds me of how hot pudding would taste if you drank it rather than putting it into the fridge to set. At 10:30 a.m., our regular church service began. We enjoyed singing some Mexican Easter hymns with gentle Latin melodies as well as other Easter hymns that were familiar but sung in Spanish. Two Canadian youth shared their testimonies this Sunday and Moises Ruiz did a wonderful job translating. The whole Canadian group from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada sang an English song for the congregation. Another highlight was to have Abi back home visiting his family during a break from his seminary studies in south Texas. Abi is a gifted guitar player and worship leader. We are always blessed by the musical gifting God has given him.

Youth Retreat with the Chilliwack Team

On Friday and Saturday, the Retreat Centre was the location of a Youth Retreat. Though the Canadian youth from the Chilliwack team were a little nervous about being with the Mexican youth, in no time at all, everyone was having a blast together. They played a game where teams had to race to unfold a frozed t-shirt and someone had to put it on. They also built bridges out of popscicle sticks and then tested how much weight the bridge could bear. These bridges were surprisingly strong! We enjoyed milenesa, a thin piece of breaded chicken that is deep-fried, that was served with mashed potatoes. After trying many new Mexican dishes, I think that this one was a favorite and a bit of comfort food with the mashed potatoes instead of mashed beans! It was a successful weekend and injury free other than some skinned knees. The whole group posed for a final picture under the archway before everyone headed home.

What's the Panic for a Pen and Paper?

We are hosting a Gateway Team from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They arrived on Friday and first thing the next morning, we headed off on their Tourist Day. First stop was the Basilica of the Virgin Guadalupe. In the large plaza in front of this famous church, our driver, Jorge, asked me for a pen and paper. He was very serious and had a sense of urgency in his tone of voice. Lloyd had a pen in his pocket but we didn't have any paper. Jorge quickly set off to find some. I began to wonder of something was wrong with Jorge's van but he left before I could ask.

The team heard the story of Juan Diego and the Virgin Guadalupe. We climbed the various stairways up the small mountain behind the large basilica to visit the smaller original basilica at the top. As the team enjoyed the magnificent view of downtown Mexico City (top photo), the "pen and paper panic" was solved. A famous soccer player, Leandro Augusto, happened to be visiting the Basilica and Jorge had recognized him and wanted his autograph. Jorge was delighted and the rest of us joined in. Leandro Augusto is a Brazilean player on one of the large university club teams in Mexico City, the Pumas. He is apparently a very versatile player and has a surprisingly strong left foot kick though he is right-handed. The Mexican girls find his blonde hair particularly attractive.

Now, had Leandro Augusto been a famous CFL football player or an NHL hockey player, our reaction would have been equal to Jorge's. Instead, we only stopped him for about 5 minutes, had a quiet group photo, and scrounged up a Sharpie marker for an autograph on the Pumas jersey that Emma happened to be wearing. Being way up the mountain, not many Mexicans were around to begin mobbing him and it was all very subtle. The "con cariño" before his signature means "with affection." Even though Jorge's favorite sport is American football, I bet you can find him in the group picture purely by his beaming smile.

The whole experience reminded me that while many people are mistakenly worshipping the Virgin Guadalupe instead of the true living God, others are drawn into a worship of sports or gifted athletes. The worship of sports or sports figures is something we are familiar with while the worship of the Virgin Guadalupe is foreign to us. We don't get a bit excited about the Virgin Guadalupe and wonder what all the fuss is about. Different cultures, different temptations. Our passions can led us to worship a variety of false gods and this has eternal consequences.

Isaiah 45:18- 23 (NIV) For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right. "Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD ? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Fixing What Was Broken

Some people may recognize the top photo as that of our boys' dormitory and the dining hall. We had some problems with the roof as it was leaking during the rainy season. Thus, the decision was recently made to replace the hallway part of the roofing. To fix the problem we added more height to the outside wall, a slightly smaller incline on the roof, and just a generally thicker and better prepared roof. Francisco and his men began disassembling the roof this past Monday and as of yesterday, had put in place most of the concrete formers to receive the concrete on Monday. The second picture shows Moises looking down on one of the workers that is working perilously high off the ground. The third picture is in the hall of the boys' dorm. The young man standing there is Lucas who hails from near Ashville, North Carolina. We got to know Lucas while studying Spanish in Texas. He was writing a paper in Spanish on theology and came to our house for some help. We started talking and reworking his paper. Before we knew it, he was over every evening talking about Bible and theology with Marcel. He was really hungering and thirsting. He's wanting to be a missionary to Mexico and hopes to attend Liberty University in Virginia this coming fall in pursuit of that goal. He's very good at Spanish and will be very useful when the Gateway Team from Chilliwack, B.C. arrives later today.

Nervous Smiles

We weren't up to anything - just nervously waiting for our turn to take an Oral Spanish Exam! This is my (Ingrid's) Spanish for Foreigners class at a university in Mexico City. There are seven levels in this Spanish program and our class is in the third level. In the photo, we are are missing two young women (one is from China and the other is from the Ukraine) who were coming and going from their exams. Other students are from Germany, Quebec (French-speaking province of Canada), and France.

For our test, we chose a card with a scenario written on it. Mine, for example, was about having an important job interview. "After fidgetting with your pen, it broke and spilled ink on all the documents of your presentation. What would you say or do next?" In Spanish, there is a special way to say "I would..." The exam wasn't too hard except that, being nervous, I did forget some of the exceptions to the rule that I had memorized but didn't apply correctly. My teacher was encouraging today, telling me that though the other girls chit-chat more, she knows that I know a lot of Spanish. After each essay style homework assignment, she hands back my corrections with a big smile and tells me that I should be a writer. It's an appealing idea after struggling to speak in Spanish at the level of even a preschool child.

Camp for the Kids

Our children's school, Mexico City Christian Academy, is having a series of camps and retreats for the students. Kirklyn and Emma, pictured above, left yesterday to the city of Puebla for a elementary students' retreat. Brittany and Petra left this afternoon for a retreat near the city of Cuernavaca. The top picture of Cuernavaca is taken from a high mountain highway, the summit of which is over 10,000 feet above sea level and it takes you into the city. I took this picture from a drive that Moises and I took in January when we were shopping for a new mission vehicle. Let me just say, without kids in this house, it is really quiet :) [Ah hem - Marcel! The four-year old is quiet but she's still here!]

We are getting quite excited about events coming up this month. Ingrid and I are expecting a good friend from North Carolina, Lucas, to join us this month to do some missionary things. We met him at language school and became close. There will be plenty for him to do because we are expecting a team from Chilliwack, B.C. to join us and help with construction from the 14th of March to the 24th. Lucas speaks good Spanish and will help with translating as we get construction supplies at the ''ferreteria" (hardware store) and as we take the team out on the tourist day. We will have to take them on their tourist day (visit the Bascilica, Artisans Market, and the Zocolo) the very next day after their arrival. Normally, groups arrive on Mondays or Tuesdays and the next weekend is time to do tourist things. This time however the following weekend will have a youth retreat for them to participate in. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing people from the motherland (a.k.a. lotus-land or British Columbia). It also appears we may be getting visitors from Alberta in April - our friends Warren and Wanda whom we also met in Texas at language school. We are thrilled to be hosting them. Pray for travelling mercies for each of our guests and our missions team.

One last thing, it has come to our attention that sanctioned Catholic persecution of evangelical Christians in some parts of Mexico is on the rise, particularly in the states of Guerrero and Chiapas. Pray for these people. Below I have posted a link that describes the situation and I encourage you to watch it. It's sobering...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-oGzG12XQI