New School Year in Canada

After the first week of school, I've all ready prepared 25 lunches. Our littlest is now a first grader. She wore her Mexican kindergarten sweater to school for the first two days; I guess it was a bit of familiarity for her. Two big sisters go to the same school with her and we are figuring out the bussing system here. You don't pay or even register your child, just show up for one of the three morning buses that goes by! All three little girls have new school friends and are loving their new teachers.
The two older girls are both in high school. They had a harder time making friends this week but after some smaller group projects, they have met some girls their age who weren't afraid to talk to the "new girls". In both schools, the girls have met girls who speak Spanish and are from Columbia.
Marcel preached for the first time this past Sunday and it went very well. He's done hospital visits all ready, I've gone to a bridal and a baby shower, and the church's fall programs will begin this next week (Awana, youth group, etc.). Marcel's off to the farm today to move the old truck so we can get at our coffee tables and dressers that are stored in the seacan behind the truck. We've had some things break after being frozen and thawed over three years while in storage: decorative tiles, plastic containers of motor oil, and some Rubbermaid totes.
Our latest adventure has been dental care. All the work we had done in Mexico needs to be replaced and then some (for the cavities that the Mexican dentist hadn't noticed). Our discount through work benefits at our new church won't apply for some time and we can't wait with broken temporary fillings that were put in in Mexico. It costs extra but we hope to have sedation to get a bunch of work done in one visit, first for the two little ones, then for our tin grin teenager, and finally the other two girls and mom and dad. After so many visits to the dentist in Mexico, the girls are getting good at being patients.
We're adjusting to a few other changes that come with living in the semi-desert area of our province: different weeds, snakes, ants, and spiders. Our year in Texas was good preparation for dealing with ants. I'm happy to report that when Marcel went looking for snakes, he only found bunny rabbits! Yesterday he went on a bike ride and was five feet away from a yearling deer, its mother, and her newborn fawn. Medicine Hat has a lot of deer right in town and we've been enjoying watching them.
Our continued thanks for all of your prayers for our family.

Settling Back in Canada

To update those checking our blog, we have safely arrived in Canada. We left Mexico City on June 7. We nearly had an accident in San Antonio when we crested a hill and saw that all three lanes of the freeway were completely stopped. After looking for a good spot to pull off the freeway and check the tires, a tire on the cargo trailer blew so we had to stop at the side of the road where we were. We later met some nice Mexican Americans who had a tire shop open until 8pm. We were grateful for God's protection.
We headed to Canada via Phoenix, Arizona. We were able to spend four days in Arizona enjoying the vacation home that belongs to the moderator of our new church. We all saw the Grand Canyon except for Emma who was in Canada with her Grandmother. Our border crossing went smoothly which was another answer to prayers. We accidentally brought a scorpion to Canada from Arizona but were happy to have discovered it under our truck seat as we were cleaning up after the long drive.
July was spent camping in our new city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, house hunting, and our elementary aged daughters went to camp in Saskatchewan. Marcel drove 22 hours across the Canadian prairies to Winnipeg, Manitoba to attend our church denomination's triennial conference. The moving truck full of our furniture that had been stored near our previous church arrived. Furniture and boxes were moved into our house, Marcel spent one night with the girls and I, and then we awoke to receive a telephone call that Marcel's grandfather had passed away. We were planning to unpack our boxes and make a quick trip to see Marcel's grandparents before his new job began but God's timing was different.
We made a 3 hour trip just into Saskatchewan and back to pick up our two teenagers from their camp (after just one day being there). Marcel drove another 11 hours but this time, with the whole family and headed west to his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. We happened upon a heat wave and record temperatures for Vancouver of 34*C. We helped his Grandmother as much as we could over 10 days and attended the funeral before another 11 hours return trip back through the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
We've been enjoying sleeping in our own beds after two months of travelling. Brittany has completed a Drivers' Training program offered in our new city and the little girls have enjoyed a few sleepovers with new church girlfriends. I (Ingrid) was relieved to have a second ultrasound here in Canada and know that our littlest one is continuing to develop well. My tummy's growing and I'm feeling lots of kicks. We are expecting this little one to be born some time around Christmas. Our baby will be part of a baby boom at our new church as I am told 10 moms are expecting this year, just a couple more than last year's 8 new babies.
Marcel had his first official day on the job at the church yesterday and started right off with 5 hours of meetings. He is at an appointment right now to get his clergy parking pass to use at the hospital when he does visitation there. We've all ready been able to visit with six families at their homes and are beginning to get to know the new-to-us congregation at Temple Baptist Church in Medicine Hat, Alberta. On Marcel's way home from work yesterday, he saw a snake on the road a couple of blocks from our house. We've all ready talked to a local doctor who said that the rattlesnakes here are much less venemous than in Texas. Though Alberta has been our home for 19 years before we lived in Mexico, southern Alberta is semi-desert. We are about an hour north of the Canadian/American border and 5 1/2 hours to the south of where we used to live in Alberta.
Our immense thanks for your many prayers on our behalf during this transition in our ministry! Little Ahava hardly remembers Canada and is excitedly awaiting the snow to come. She didn't understand me when I said "icicle" and our older girls don't remember "kovasa" (koo-bah-saw) which is Ukrainian sausage - the local specialty.
We hope to meet some Spanish speaking people here in Medicine Hat as the city statistics report that 1% of the city listed Spanish as their first language. I've all ready seen one young woman at the store here who very much reminds me of a young woman at Christ Lives Bible Church in Ecatepec (NE Mexico City)!
Though we all ready miss Mexico very much, we are excited to be able to minister here as well.
Our brakes on the truck were locked up last week at 9pm so Marcel got to work on the driveway taking things apart to see what was wrong. A neighbor graciously came by to offer his help and three hours later, we headed to bed knowing that we have a new friend in this young man. He owns a distinctive truck and we have been told that he used to have a 666 decal on his back window. Marcel shares some other hobby interests with this young man besides fixing trucks. Please join us in praying that God would soften his heart to receive the gospel as our friendship develops and we spend more time with him.

Brit's ok and our stuff to sell

Brittany returned safely from her two day class trip. She was strapped into the seats of the Batman ride with her legs dangling when the earthquake happened. Six Flags closed the ride for "Technical Difficulties". Brittany and her friends saw signs moving but thought it was the wind. Then they noticed other people stopped with confused looks on their faces. Six Flags made an PA announcement that all rides would be closed for 30 minutes because there was an earthquake. This happened a second time in the afternoon when an aftershock happened.
She seemed far more excited to have found a Rhino Bug with her classmates. They thought it was dead but then it began to slowly walk across the hotel room dresser. The dads who chaperoned both yelled and kicked the bug out the door. Another boy rescued his "science project" so that he could show the science teacher on Monday. The bug is dark brown, half the size of your fist, and really has a rhino-like horn.
Our lastest news is a completed "Items to Sell" list. Bookshelf $150, Fireproof document safe $150, blue dresser $350, pulpit $300, 2 metal shelving units $50 each,

Uneventful Earthquake

Each year in August, Marcel gets a meteorite shower for his birthday. Yesterday, I got an earthquake for my birthday. Marcel was typing at the computer and felt his office chair slowly and rythmically move 6 inches, forward and back, forward and back. For a couple of seconds, he felt dizzy. Ahava was watching tv and felt the sofa move similarly. I was on the next lower floor of our house, the floor that is built against the side of the mountain. I didn't feel it but heard Marcel calling for me to come outside because we were having an earthquake.
Petra and Kirklyn were at school on a different nearby mountain. Petra was working in the computer lab and said she felt banging. Kirklyn's chair was moving as well.
Our neighbor's office is on a third floor of a university. He felt up and down movement although we are on the same mountain and his office is only about 10 blocks away from our house.
It sounded like our missionary friends SW of Mexico City felt this the most. Their bookshelf banged against the wall and they said it was quite a ride.
Still waiting to talk to Brittany briefly by cellphone. The lines went down right after the earthquake yesterday afternoon at 2:24pm. Brittany went to Six Flags Mexico City with her school class. The standard practise is for the rides to shut down immediately in the case of an earthquake. She may have had a short day at the amusement park but we trust that she is okay. I was just able to get through to her cellphone mailbox and left a message to please call Mom.
People here in Mexico City are still dealing with the trauma of having lived through the devastating earthquake of 1985. Downtown buildings were evacuated yesterday and many people were teary-eyed because of their fear and horrible memories from 24 years ago.

This afternoon we plan to attend the New Tribes Mission graduation of just one student here in Mexico City, their newest training center. The student, Diego, has been Marcel's Spanish tutor this year. In the fall he will move north to Chihuahua to complete his last two years of training before heading off to the mountains of Mexico to learn a new tribal language and share the gospel with an indigenous group within Mexico.
On Sunday we will be meeting in the "Park of the Deer" for a picnic day to enjoy with our friends as a goodbye party. Rainy season has begun so we aren't sure how long we will last before we get soaked.
The girls have only one more week of school left because they have an American school schedule and are very excited for Friday to arrive. Mexican children will have an extra two weeks of school in July to make up for missed time during the influenza outbreak when schools were closed.

Preparing for Our Return to Canada

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1

The above photo was taken on our return flight from Calgary, Alberta in April as we turn on to the final approach for Mexico City International Airport. Flying over the city is as amazing as being in it. The city seems to stretch into the horizon with endless houses and streets running in every direction. The green space seen at the wingtip is Chapultepec Park. At the leading edge of the wing is the castle of the Emperor Maxmilian and road stretching above is Reforma Avenue, the main road in downtown Mexico City. At the trailing edge of the wing is the National Anthropology Museum, a must see if ever visiting this great city. One may wonder why we were in an aircraft coming back from Calgary in April. We paid our Canadian taxes and visited a church in southern Alberta.
In February of 2004 Ingrid and I received a clear and compelling call to plant churches in one of the largest cities in the world. Our intention was to identify potential Mexican church leadership and invest in them from our training, knowledge and experience. When training was complete, we would send them out to minister and plant churches among their own people through home based cell churches. Our goal was that most Mexicans involved in these new church plants would never know there was a Canadian missionary ever involved in their church. We wanted it to be a Mexican ministry, through and through. Though this was the intent, numerous obstacles were before us that did not afford us such opportunities. Instead of using our spiritual gifts in this area, we were consigned to leading tours for visiting mission teams and participating in teaching English as a second language. Though these are admirable, enjoyable and good ministries much needed to grow the kingdom, they have not been our calling.
As a result of these issues and our desire to serve God through the use of our gifts, we allowed our names to stand as pastor of a church in Alberta, Canada. This past week we accepted the call to be Senior Pastor of Temple Baptist in Medicine Hat. The exact time of which we begin our ministry is unknown as we are still conferring with the church regarding a possible start date in August or the beginning of September. We are going to miss our friends that we have made here and this amazing city. When so many are fearful of the violence and influenza here, we continue to be enamored with Mexico City. To leave here will be painful yet we are looking forward to what God has in store for us at a church that shows great promise and has a desire to move forward in being a strong witness of God’s grace in their community. Mexico City will always have a profound part of our hearts and we will always be sensitive to the ministry needs of this city and the Latin people. We thank God for what He has done in our lives in our time here and trust that we will be fruitful in our next ministry.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank all of you that have supported us these last four years in giving through prayer and through your financial support. Thank you also for those who were concerned and prayed for our safety during this time of escaladed violence in Mexico and the recent outbreak of influenza. We are still safe and healthy, looking forward to a new chapter in our lives.

Dios les bendiga (God bless you all),

Marcel and Ingrid Mitchell
Brittany, Petra, Emma, Kirklyn and Ahava

Mother's Day Postcards

We're seeing less and less masks when we go out these days even though I noticed one lottery ticket kiosk advertising that they had masks available for sale. Santizing hand gel is becoming a bit more available. We still have plenty of soap!

We also have water. A month or so ago, there was a 5 day shut down of the water so that huge pipes could be repaired. The people of Mexico City are blessed that the repairs where completed when the influenza errupted. On the local news, we hear people asking the government what to do about the schools in Mexico who do not have water. Those schools cannot be properly scrubbed down with water, soap, and bleach like the majority of schools in Mexico. Those schools have dirt floors and do not even have small cisterns to supply some water. There were several cases of flu reported in this poor and densely populated area of Mexico City. The reporters say "How can we be surprised? The people in that area do not even have water available to wash their hands with." On another news report, one reporter began to laugh and said new situations are developing within families in Mexico City where one can hear "Mom, really, I'm not a drunk! This beer is full of alcohol and I am using it to santize my hands!" They are trying to have some fun in the midst of everything.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. Mother's Day is the biggest holiday of the calendar year in Mexico. The pictures are of two postcards I received as a gift from the city of Ecatepec. A string of postcards with pictures from various parts of Ecatepec were given out to each mom who passed by on the sidewalk. The top postcard is of the City Hall and the bottom postcard is a photo of the Saint Peter Xalostoc Church and its gazebo. At the speedbump on the street where you have to slow your car down, a church handed out roses to each mom with her window rolled down for some cooler air. Lots of balloons, purses, and flower arrangements were sold from hatchbacks parked at various corners throughout the city.

Today our girls went back to school. The Mexican kindergarten principal told me that none of her students or staff had a single friend or relative affected by the flu. Even though cleaning the school was a lot of work, she said that it was worth it. At the older girls' international school, their new extra academic schedule began. One Korean student went back to Korea with his family so his final grade for the year will be based on his grades up until two weeks ago when school was postphoned. As each student arrived at the school gate, they were asked if they knew anyone who had the flu. Everyone got their squirt of hand sanitizer as they entered the school. The science teacher continued her rounds to each student with the pump during the whole day. They plan to continue with their mini-musical that is planned for this Friday. Practise today wasn't too good:)

Please Keep Praying

To better see this photo, double click on it and then click "Back" when you want to return to our blog. This is a large billboard above the 12 lane freeway in northwest Mexico City. It says "We deserve jail? Legal abortion in all the country. Social democratic party. Think free." There are struggles here in Mexico, even on a normal day without the addition of the H1N1 flu virus.

Our family are still well. The girls will go to school on Monday. Their classes of art and phys ed have been cancelled so that they can have two math classes on Monday, two science classes on Tuesday, etc. in order to catch up by the end of May when their school year ends. Marcel and I went to a grocery store last night at 9 p.m. We saw one family wearing masks and one other mother/daughter with masks but the other people have all given up on the bother of this. Most of the masks available here are only effective in an antiviral way for 2 hours. Masks, hand sanitizing gel and gloves are all sold out. People are hoping that the worst has past.

Mexico City Shut Down

Marcel and I safely arrived home from Canada the day before yesterday. We left Calgary at midnight, arrived at Toronto at 6:30 a.m., left Toronto at 9:30 a.m. and arrived in Mexico City at 1:30 p.m. Our trip home from the airport was an all time record inspite of having driving way to the south, past the downtown, and then doubling back up the main freeway. Thirty minutes! We only progressed slowly for about 10 blocks and then traffic sped up again.
Grandma had to stay an extra day in order to arrange her flight back home to Vancouver. Last night we were surprised to hear a live mariachi band outside on our street! They performed three serenade songs on the street before being invited into our neighbors' gated patio area. I didn't see a mask on anyone in the group but their music was beautiful.
We drove Grandma to the airport today. She and Emma were interviewed by one of the most popular daily newspapers in Mexico. We will check for the piece tomorrow. Something new at the airport today: thermal scanners for all outgoing passengers to check for fevers, various pamphlets about the influenza symptoms and ways to protect yourself and others, and a mobile clinic truck parked in front of the airport that was ready to assess people with presenting symptoms.
Antiviral face masks, latex gloves, and antiseptic hand gel are all sold out. We had bought a box of 20 masks in Canada for $65 Canadian dollars but they were the only masks we could find in Calgary as pharmacies were sold out there as well.
Today is the first day of a week long official shutdown of non-essential businesses. The streets are quiet. Grocery stores have employees sanatizing your shopping cart for you as you enter the store. The line ups of full shopping carts are long as people want to stock up while they are risking being out shopping.
Our family are feeling well so far. The girls spent a full week inside our house. We have since driven to the airport once and to the grocery store twice and very much enjoyed being out of the house briefly. We wear our masks, frequently wash our hands, use our antiseptic gel, and try to avoid areas with a lot of people. Then we head home as soon as possible.
We are contemplating if we should stay put in Mexico or head out. The news today says that things seem to be leveling off but who knows. We are concerned that the border may be closed and that we will then be forced to stay and who knows for what length of time. Our extended health care is for a very good if not the best hospital in the city, run by doctors from Britain and the United States. We are aware that it would likely be overwhelmed (if not all ready) as they do have the best facilities and anyone who can afford a private hospital would certainly chose that one. The girls attend an international Christian school. Like all schools in Mexico, it is cancelled until May 6th at which time they will reassess and decide what course of action to then take.
We are praying for wisdom as we think this through. Most of all, we are grateful to be together again as a family. The thought of our Canadian Grandma trying to navigate this megacity to potentially get to a hospital with one of our children or herself was concerning to say the least. We thank God for His protection so far. Grandma and Emma should be safely in Toronto and now on their way to Vancouver. The rest of us are back in our house and have enough food and water.
Mexico is a struggling country at the best of times and this health crisis will have serious long term effects. This especially applies to us as missionaries. Please pray that the many Mexicans who have heard the gospel from Christian friends, family, national pastors and missionaries will remember the hope that Christ offers and will consider submitting their lives to Him as they recognize their need of a Savior.

Recent News

Thought we'd let you know a bit about what's happening with our family currently. Marcel and I are both in Canada for a short yearly trip to submit our taxes, renew our Canadian vehicle registration, etc. I came on Sunday and Marcel on Wednesday. Marcel's mom graciously agreed to watch our girls. Her plane arrived in Mexico City and I flew back to Canada on the very same plane.

When we left Mexico, we had not heard a thing about the outbreak of Swine Flu. We check Canadian and American news sources daily in addition to Mexican news and no one was mentioning anything about this situation. When Marcel arrived in Canada, it was the breaking news story and has continued that way ever since. Marcel and I have asked Oma (Grandma) and the girls to remain inside our house and to only use the intercom to speak with anyone who should ring our doorbell. We had a month's supply of food in our home in preparation for a possible earthquake as that is an ongoing possibility when you live in Mexico City. Our Mexican friends coming over for bible studies and English classes teased us that our kitchen looked like a dispensary with boxes of pasta stacked on one wall but we are very grateful for those preparations at this time. There is plenty of food for Grandma and the girls and they can remain inside the house.

We had the anguish of watching a Mexican press conference from our hotel room in Canada and saw them pause as the Mexican health official and his colleagues felt an earthquake. It seems to have passed with little effect apart from frightening two Canadian parents who are two countries away from their family.

If possible, we hope to both return to Mexico City later today.

We all feel well physically. Grandma and the girls are dreaming of going for a walk down our residential street but that will have to wait. :)

Please pray for wisdom as we decide how best to handle this situation with our children and Grandma. The Canadian embassy in Mexico sent an email and said that the choice to stay in Mexico or to leave is a personal one. They provided several links for us to check what is the most recent information about the outbreak. Pray also for the Ruiz family, our NAB missionary colleagues who live just 10 houses down our street in Mexico City. Of course, please also pray for all Mexicans in the megacity of Mexico City, that this frightening time would be a catalyst for them to consider spiritual things.

Bernal Queretaro

Some more photos of the town of Bernal, Queretaro. We hope to take Marcel's mom there for a visit the next time that she comes to Mexico because we are sure that she will love it!

How Did They Get Up There?

Where there's a will, there's a way. The main north-south road for Mexico City runs down the west side of the Valley of Mexico. It's a 12 lane road (3 lanes and 3 lateral lanes in each direction). Roadways in a mountainous area are more challenging as you can't simply use a grid pattern of nice and square streets and avenues. None the less, the city planning for all these people who live in this megacity was a little lacking and the traffic becomes increasingly congested as the years go by. Statistics say that 2,000 people move to Mexico City each day!

In anticipation of the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence in 2010, a second level on this 12 lane road has been planned and they are beginning to build. This is also part of Mexico's economic stimulus plan - to upgrade and build new roads throughout Mexico. Deep holes are being dug in which to put the huge pillars that will support each section of upper deck roadway. Some pillars are in place and some sections of the upper deck have been put in place with some gigantic cranes! (Again, my slow draw with the camara caused me to miss a photo of the crane. Next time...) Most of the work is done between 10 pm and 6 am during the night with the use of flood lights. During the day, the boulevards where there used to be grass, trees, and flowers are now filled with cranes, rebar, and heavy equipment.

What really caught our attention in the midst of all this construction was the few upper deck sections of roadway that are in place. There are a few places where just one section is put up and in one area, four sections have been joined together. As we passed by among the slow traffic (we lost a lane for fencing barriers and materials), we saw GRAFFITTI on the brand new concrete sections, way up there. Of course the cranes are secured during the daytime when they are not being used which leaves us wondering, "How did they get up there?"

Pastor Francisco is Official

Christ Lives Bible Church in Ecatepec celebrated the installation of their very first pastor, Pastor Francisco! He and his wife Adriana were prayed over and commissioned for their first pastorate as the first national pastor of Iglesia Biblica Cristo Vive. This church is now 12 years old and is still growing and maturing. Ecatepec is a suburb of 3 million people in the NE of Mexico City. For this special day, former NAB Mexico missionaries Royce and Sue Baron returned to join the congregation of the church that they had coplanted with Moises and Carolyn Ruiz. Angel and Leti also came as they were the first founding members of the church. Moises explained what an installation service is all about as it was the first time that the congregation had called a pastor. Angel and Royce both preached. At the end of the service, we enjoyed a taco potluck - yum! My new favorite tacos are filled with a cold nopal cactus salad. Surprisingly good. I also made a new friend on this Sunday - Sara, the little 7 yr old niece of my girlfriend Sandy. Sara couldn't believe that I actually know her Auntie Sandy. She happily chattered to me and I responded based on the few words that I caught as she sped along in Spanish, smiling the whole while.
Please remember Pastor Francisco and Adriana in your prayers. They have three young girls, one of whom had a new cast on her arm after slipping on their tiled stairs and breaking her arm. The church is located in a poor neighborhood and plan to pay Pastor Francisco $500 US dollars each month. His house rent is $200 and I am amazed at how they manage with just $300 each month for food and everything else they need. Also pray for Pastor Francisco's preaching skills. He has been attending a seminary in Mexico City to strengthen this weakness. His family have been involved in the church life for about 3 years so the congregation has all ready grown to love them for their wise and freely given pastoral counsel.

Love and Respect in Bernal Queretaro Mexico

Marcel and I spent our first weekend away, without the kids, in about... four years! The girls were fine and enjoyed their time with a french-canadian young woman who teaches at their international school. Thank you Miss Julie!!
We went to Bernal, Queretaro, Mexico which is about two hours NE of our house. We have spent several months praying and asking/compelling/begging/nagging our church plant contacts to go on a marriage retreat weekend with us. Previous dates never worked out but finally, two couples could go! One wife became sick on the Friday but she and her husband set off from their home on the next morning at 6:30 am and arrived in time to join us for breakfast at 8 am!
The location was beautiful. Bernal is a little colonial town, full of charm and little shops. It is famous for a huge rock formation that Marcel thinks looks like a lava flow formation. It very much reminded me of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, the rock formation in the movie "Close Encounters". It was so hot that we passed on the 2 hour climb up and back down but we hope to return and enjoy the hike on another day.
Our hotel room exterior
and interior.

The theme of the weekend was "Love and Respect" with biblical teachings about men loving their wives and wives respecting their husbands. We also watched the movie "Fireproof" which fit perfectly with our theme. The two ladies that came with us really opened up. They and their husbands enjoyed the weekend and I believe that their marriages will improve as a result of having attended this retreat.
Before driving home on Sunday, we wandered through the little town. We saw a large graffitti mural of a famous former soccer player from Argentina snorting cocaine through a straw. Quite the subject matter but the artisty was impressive none the less.
We also saw a beautiful woven tapestry depicting a scene of Bernal but it cost $4,000 pesos so we admired it and continued on our way. Marcel bought a small bookstand and we bought 4 different crosses for wallart. The buildings' architecture and painted exteriors were beautiful. We also admired some colorful Mexican handcarved dining room chairs that filled a little restaurant.

On the drive back home, we passed a grain elevator complex and some tall green barley fields. For a few minutes, I felt a little at home again. (These pictures are for our grain farmer friends up north.)

Once we got on the main highway, one of the men began to ask questions, wonderful spiritual questions about salvation and various bible stories. He told us his spiritual background and explained his scepticism regarding a large "Christian" church in Mexico City where the pastor had published a book on tithing and seemed to teach nothing else. This experience had, obviously, put him off anything Christian yet God sent another professional Christian coworker into this man's life. Carolyn, Marcel, and I prayed while Moises was used by God to speak the words this man needed to hear. We've known his wife since September and he surprised us by coming to our Valentine's Banquet. We really enjoyed getting to know this man during this weekend and we had many fun times of laughter together.
We again invited him and his wife to our Sunday evening church services in our home. The other couple hugged us goodbye and invited us to their home for a BBQ next weekend. Please keep praying!

Mexico City Advertising

Advertising in Mexico City can be a little different than back home. A favorite method is to decorate an entire vehicle like we do with city buses. The interesting part is that they cover three vehicles with the exact same advertisement and then drive the line up of the three vehicles down the road. Today, we saw 5 small cars decorated with a Hannah Montana advertisement for the new season of shows on the Disney Channel. I'm a slow draw with the camara so we only caught a photo of the two vehicles at the front of the procession. I guess the thinking is that if one vehicle with advertising is eyecatching, how much moreso are 5 vehicles all together! If you double click on the photo, you can have a closer look. The bus in front of these cars is also covered with an ad for Pizza Hut.

New Vehicle

Tired of being pulled over by the police (40 times since we arrived here not including federal police and army check stops) we decided we needed to purchase a Mexican vehicle with Mexican plates that will not draw the unwanted attention of the Transito (Transit Police). The new minivan is a 2003 and we got a fairly good deal from some friends that have been helping us in the church plant. We also had a very special relative in Vancouver give us a very generous check toward the van's purchase...Thanks soooo much! It's nice to have a vehicle again that has automatic windows and air conditioning. We will continue to use the old Suburban that was originally a Telus telephone company truck but only we it's really necessary - like when we need to pull the mission trailer. The top picture is our licence plate from the State of Mexico where we live (there are 31 states in Mexico and one Federal District, kinda like Washington D.C.). The images on the plate are from the Heroes of the Revolution and are put on this year's licence plates to celebrate next year's 200th anniversary of Mexican revolution. I've got to say, Mexican plates have a lot more panache than the plates in the US or Canada.

The Day of Love and Friendship

Our Valentine's dinner pictures have finally been recovered from the depths of our computer. (Thanks Brittany!) In Mexico, Valentine's Day is known as the "Day of Love and Friendship." By far, the most commonly sold Valentine's items were: yes, balloons. We sure couldn't afford them though! $8 for an 8 inch balloon and $14 or more for a larger one. Multiply that by five girls and we decided to pass on that idea. There were balloon vendors on every corner rather than just the usual spots on weekends in the parks and outside popular family restaurants.
We had oh so much fun with our neighbors during our "formal" dinner at our home! Our fancy dinner menu plans got scaled back considering the economy and though some unchurched people were surprised that we didn't serve alcohol, everyone was content with the homemade lemonade that Carolyn Ruiz made. The evening was a success. We haven't laughed that hard for a long time. We knew that some of our friends were teasers but wow. For example, while we were playing the "Newlywed Game", Marcel asked the question "What color are the sheets on your bed right now in your house today?" The wife would describe in detail the three color plaid while the husband would falter with "kinda bluish" sort of answers. Other husbands were yelling out possible answers to "help", things like "Just say that they're black because she never wants to do the laundry!" My, my!
The most difficult question to get a matching husband/wife answer for was "Where did you share your first kiss?" Surprisingly, only one couple had a matching answer! We were having so much fun that the atmosphere in the room was really happy. A few people were annoyed/embarrassed that their spouse didn't answer the same way but everyone turned it around into some sort of joke and we kept having fun. "Wrong" answers are completely what makes the game so entertaining! When people couldn't remember, we'd say, "Just make something up." They hadn't played this game before so they thought that suggestion was just ridiculous and it is but it's just a game.
We were grateful to have Angel come and speak. He and his wife began the Christ Lives Bible Church in Ecatepec along with the Barons and the Ruizes. They are now helping with another church plant in a different part of Mexico City but graciously helped us for the evening. Angel made a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet to go with his devotional. His topic was "A Love that Blossoms" and we learned how the Bible's teachings on forgiveness apply to a marriage. Angel is a very good speaker. He's animated and able to use Mexican examples and expressions to illustrate his points. People were interested and filled all their blanks in. One man folded his paper and tucked it into his shirt pocket to take home. Such are the small evidences that we are slowly getting through with our message.
Our next event: a marriage retreat at the end of March. We hear that the location is special in that it is a place in Mexico where there is a giant rock. Our neighbor was amused to have climbed all the way to the top to find: a pop/soda machine! The new mystery is not about the huge rock but how the machine was placed on top... Sounds like something interesting to check out.

Some Visitors

We had a few visitors here in Mexico City. Chemo (pronounced Chay-mo) and Amanda along with their two children Estrella and Emmanuel. They are living at the retreat center helping with a little maintenance. Chemo is originally from the state of Vera Cruz on the east coast of Mexico and Amanda is from Wisconsin. They had to move to Mexico for a little while to help expedite his application for immigration. Our daughter Ahava and Estrella have become real buddies and play for hours on end. They are so cute to watch together.

Que Preciosa - How Precious

We're having a great time waiting during our Bible studies here in Mexico City! The Mexicans who are studying aren't seasoned Christians who know their way around a Bible. They begin looking for Revelation at the front of the Bible and often locate the "wrong" book of John (there are four to choose from). We really don't mind waiting a bit while they search and with a little direction, eventually find the passage we're reading.

Yesterday, a new lady came to the ladies' Bible study. At the end of our study, she kindly offered to read aloud the closing passage of our study for the day, Psalm 139. "Psalm 139. One. O Lord, You have searched me and known me. Two. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. Three. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways." I smiled as she carefully read each verse number as she went along. Verses 21 and 22 brought nervous giggles from several ladies. "Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies."

At the end of the chapter, various ladies all chattered, "Oooh, que preciosa! Que linda!" - "Oooh, how precious! How beautiful!" They loved this chapter! I was further amazed to see three ladies all start searching back in the passage and then one read, "This is my favorite: verse 14. 'I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.' Did you hear that? 'And that my SOUL knows very well.'" They were immediately drawn to the most famous verse of the chapter without the leaders pointing this out to them. It spoke to their souls.

Super Bowl XLIII Fun and Baby Jesus Dolls

We hosted a small group of people in our home for a SuperBowl XLIII party yesterday. What an exciting game, right until the end! We had fewer men show up than we had hoped but the two who did come, we had really hoped would. Our large windows were a problem for the first hour so we borrowed extra blankets from the Ruizes and duct taped the blankets up to block the sunlight. The projector worked well and once the sun set behind the mountains, we could see even better. We had hamburgers, chips, olives, salsa, potato salad, and brisket. Marcel was the BBQ chef and the 8 pounds of brisket were quickly devoured. Yum!
We watched the first half of the game in English and the second half, in Spanish. I'm surprised at how many Mexicans like American football although soccer is definately their favorite sport.
On the streets today, we saw many people carrying their porcelin baby Jesus dolls. February 2 marks the mid point between winter solstice and spring equinox, Groundhog Day, when we "find out" how the weather will be for the rest of the winter. In Mexico, a clear day means cold is coming and clouds means it will get warmer. It's a tough call in Mexico City with the usual smog. This day is also 40 days after Jesus' birth when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus at the temple and Mary was purified according to Mosaic law.
In Mexico, if you found the tiny plastic baby Jesus doll inside your slice of Ring of the Kings Bread back on January 6th, it's your turn to host a party today. Our neighborhood had a block party like this for our local policemen. You are to serve atole (a thick cornmeal warm drink - vanilla, strawberry or chocolate flavor) and tamales (cornmeal, meat, raisins, and a bit of sauce wrapped in cornhusks). This is work and expensive so apparently, people used to hide the baby Jesus doll in their mouth or even swallow it to avoid this party hosting responsibility!
Often life-sized ceramic doll representations of Jesus are taken out of the nativity manger, dressed in special outfits and taken to the local Catholic church to receive a blessing. The dolls even have godparents. A special blessing is believed to be received by the entire household. The baby Jesus is often set on a chair to symbolize that he is no longer a newborn. My neighbor has a very humble home but during my first visit to her house, she proudly showed me her Nino Dios - God Boy. Shops have been advertising repairs of your Jesus dolls and the street market was selling new satin christening outfits for the dolls. Many children are also christened today in Mexico. Candles honoring the Virgin Guadalupe (Mexico's Mary figure) are blessed during mass and so the name Candlemas came to be given to February 2 or in Spanish, Dia de la Candelaria. Our camera battery needs charging so I don't have photos but this link has 18 very nice photos. http://gomexico.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/ig/Dia-de-la-Candelaria-Photos/Ni-os-Dioses.html
There is a lot of familiarity with scripture here in Mexico, in this case, with Jesus' life as a child. So much time and money is spent doing things to please God and receive his blessing. The right goal but the wrong method. Salvation is simple and free! I hope that during tomorrow's bible study, opportunity will arise to discuss this with the ladies in my neighborhood.

Volcano Popocatépetl is Active (Click Here to see live Volcano Cam)

We have noticed over the past few days that the volcano on the other side of the Mexico City mountain basin, Popocatépetl, has been smoking very actively this past week. Perhaps this is the sign of a major eruption ready to happen; who knows? It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. So for your interest, I have linked this post with a live cam of the volcano. The above picture is a still of the live cam. Click on the title of this post to see the live cam.
I, Marcel, saw an eruption three years ago and it was one of the most awesome sights that I have ever seen with ash being shot miles into the atmosphere.

The Shock of the Second Commandment

Our ladies' Bible study group is going through a panorama of the Bible. This week, we got to the chapter that tells of the Ten Commandments. We have a beautiful study book with an accompanying workbook. There are also CDs with recordings of a man's dramatic readings of each chapter and some occasional sound effects. I'm particularly grateful for these CDs as they save me taking my turn and poorly reading out loud in Spanish. The ladies are all very kind and only laugh that I always get the long passages to read - "More opportunity to practise for me!"

We have happened upon a new witnessing technique. One day, we accidentally dropped the CDs off at the wrong house (correct house number but wrong street). It was several days before we realized the error. Then we were a little worried but burst out laughing at our mistake. Those people must have wondered where these CDs came from and they MUST have been curious and listened a bit, don't you think? This situation also provided opportunity to invite this family to our study.

So now that we are again listening to our lovely CDs, we paused at the end of a section to see if there were questions or comments. "Are the Ten Commandments the same in every Bible?" "Well, you have a Catholic Bible there. What does Exodus 20 say in your Bible?" We discovered that yes, each Bible said the same thing. Then the ladies looked at each other in silence for several seconds. "Why does the second commandment say not to bow before a false idol and yet our Catholic churches are full of statues and pictures? Come to think of it, our whole country is full of statues that we pray to. It says very clearly here that we are breaking God's law to do this! Haven't the priests read this?"

Three weeks ago, we were surprised to see the Martin Luther biography movie was being shown on Mexican television. Just as it came to the part where Martin Luther sent his letter to his bishop explaining his deep concerns with current Catholic practise, the movie abruptly stopped! There was a test pattern for 20 minutes and we decided that we'd have to find a DVD of this new movie of Luther's life and watch the rest another time. We flicked back to check if the test pattern remained. It did but then, we saw Luther once again. We watched and realized that they were playing the previous 5 minutes before the interuption of tranmission. We were delighted and watched the movie through to the end.

Like the ladies in our study group, Luther wondered if the other priests had read the Bible as well.

"Word of God speak. Fall down like rain. Causing my eyes to see Your majesty."

Mexico Team Meetings

We've had a 14 hour trip, with stops, from our home in Mexico City to Puerto Vallarta where we had Mexico Team Meetings with fellow NAB Mexico missionaries, the Ruiz family. It was a bit of torture to have meetings indoors at a hotel beside the beach but we did it. We spent hours over several days writing and editting as a team and ended our meetings with a renewed vision regarding how we would serve in Mexico City.
As we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, we went to the store to buy bread and milk for breakfast. Our truck broke down but a kind Mexican mechanic helped us. He changed our fuel pump right in the parking lot! In the process, the gas tank slipped and fell on the pavement, splashing gasoline into the mechanic's eyes. The next day, we had further mechanical problems. Another mechanic discovered that a small seal was missing near our fuel filter. As I helped Marcel back the truck out of the narrow parking lot, the German Shepherd guard dog chained to the wall nudged the back of my leg with his nose. That was because he had lundged with his mouth open to bite me! God blessed me with a chain an inch shorter than what he needed to bite me.
Our two families spent a few hours at Punta de Mita, north of Puerto Vallarta. The pelicans were huge!
We listened to a sales pitch for whale watching or fishing trips. We had supper at a restaurant on the beach and ate a local fish specialty that is baked whole. After Marcel's offer of 10 pesos (1 dollar), Daniel offered to, for free, eat the fish eye. Not to be outdone by his little brother, David ate one, too. The things competition can drive you to do!

We especially enjoyed the last three hours of sunlight at the beach on the night before we drove back to the city. Dylan, Kirklyn, and Emma went bodysurfing. The older Ruiz boys played soccer on the sand, and everyone swam in the ocean. It was nice to spend a few smog free days at the warm coast.

The New Psycho In Our Yard

Our new black labrador puppy is dealing with culture shock. His name is Psycho. Or rather, Saicou. He spent his first night at our house last night and it went quite well with just 10 minutes of crying and howling! Psycho came from a litter of 11 puppies from a white Canadian lab father and a black German lab mother. Where did the unusual name come from? It's Japanese! The Mexican family who have cared for 11tumbly labrador pups for two long months had lived in Japan for 6 years. Each puppy received a Japanese name. Our little Psycho's name means "awesome" in Japanese. We cracked up laughing at this falsely intimidating name! Then we had to explain that it is a slang word in English that means a psychotic person. Then the Mexican family joined in on the laughter:)
We were blessed to have spent New Year's Eve with this family and the Ruizes. Their daughter is Kirklyn's age and their son plays soccer with Dylan Ruiz. We had fun learning how to play a wooden table game that I can pronounce but don't know how to spell (crow-ken-al). We also enjoyed the end of the live broadcast from downtown Mexico City. We saw the fireworks out our window and then would watch them "up close" on the television broadcast. We learned about the Mexican tradition of "12 wishes, 12 grapes". As the countdown approached midnight, we realized that everyone else was frantically stuffing each person's 12 grapes into their mouths. Guess you're supposed to eat one grape for each of the last 12 seconds of the year as well as making 12 wishes. It was a "you had to be there" moment but us Canadians once again provided some laughs as we totally messed this up.
A couple months ago, Marcel and I had some fun visiting record counters where Marcel would sing part of a familiar romantic song that we hear all the time on the radio. We knew that the soloist was an older singer with a strong, rich voice and that it was a mariachi style song. We ended up buying a couple CDs that weren't the right ones but at the last store, all the youth who had gathered to listen to Marcel's mini-serenade unanimously agreed that the song was from Vincente Fernandez. The original writer of the song sang at the New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Mexico City but everyone in our livingroom agreed that Vincente Fernandez' version of the song was far better. Be prepared: Vincente Fernandez's mariachi suit on his album cover has inspired Marcel regarding the Mexican clothes Marcel will wear when we are on home assignment in 2011. Oooh la la!
Besides the 12 grapes, we had some other special food on New Year's Eve. The Mexican family who had lived in Japan brought "Japanese tacos" for us to enjoy. Seaweed wrap + sticky rice + slivered cucumbers + salmon (no tuna was available) + wasabi horseradish sauce (to disinfect the salmon and add flavor) + mashed plums = delicious! This is apparently a regular everyday lunch in Japan. It was interesting for us to hear how their children came back to Mexico with their parents and didn't like Mexican food. The parents make a special trip to a Japanese market downtown and load up on the special Japanese rice and other groceries that they need in order to have their children eat SOMETHING and stay alive here in Mexico:) I'm trying to think up a little gift for this boy and girl who have so generously given all those adorable puppies away to other families and are now feeling sad over the loss.