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.