Baptism

While we await a time to start planting a church our family has been attending a church near our home. I must say that I am really impressed at how well organised they are. Clearly displayed at the front of the church are banners displaying the mission statement and vision statement. Sermons are expositional and designed to evoke a response. Worship is lively and Christ centred. They have three services every Sunday and they fill the 300 - 400 seat auditorium each time. They are also aggressively planting churches in other areas of the city. What was really cool this last Sunday was that there was a baptism. Nine people ranging in ages from teen to their seventies committed their lives to Jesus Christ. There testimonies were sincere and heart felt. When the pastor would ask questions like, "Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins?" or "Do you confess Jesus as Lord?" They would respond with words like, "How could I not?" or "Yes, of course, there is no other Savior." It was quite a moving service and gave me a little hope, during a low time for us, that God is working here. I hope we can be used in the same way.

Pilot Training

As some of you know, I was at one time a pilot. Many years ago my desire was to be a commercial pilot. Tonight, I relived my past with a man that is becoming a friend. His daughter has been attending the youth meetings that we have organized since the english camp. We are enjoying getting to know their family. He likes planes, too and tonight we uploaded Flight Simulator X and started flying. I'm quite impressed with how realistic everything is. Before the "fake flying" by computer simulator, the group of youth had fun playing some games involving toilet paper (called "hygenic paper" here in Mexico). The bottom photo is of one of the girls being turned into a toilet paper mummy. It was supposed to be surprisingly constrictive if you wind enough layers but this girl broke free quite easily. We're learning more Spanish each day. Sometimes words just get tucked away in your brain and later roll off your tongue in the wrong place. We just realized that "consejo" and "conejo" sound very similar in Spanish but the first means "advice" and the second, "rabbit." Explaining the game of Chubby Bunny (adding one marshmallow at a time to your mouth until you can't say Chubby Bunny anymore) ended up sounding like Fat Advice. Oops! We're just going to celebrate that we could pronounce both of those words and enjoy having laughed with new friends.

Our First Youth Meeting

Last night we had our first youth meeting following our English camp. It was sort of a success. By that I mean we only received seven kids plus our missionary kids. Our first night was called Duct Tape Night and we did some games and activities that used the "handy man's secret weapon." One game included wrapping two kids in a garbage bag an tape (sticky side out) and two teams take cotton swabs and blow them out straws and try to hit the other team's "sticky kid." We played other games as well, did a craft and had a devotion that I did in my pitiful Spanish and finished with a snack of nachos and cheese. What was really cool was that after the youth event stopped we invited the parents in for coffee and cake. We had three sets of parents in our house and they stayed till quite late in the evening. The parent meeting lasted longer than the youth meeting...cool eh? I really got along with one dad that was interested in my aviation background and we discussed at length planes. Yet like all conversations I have with Mexicans it always leads to the question, "why are you here?" We let them know that in the absence of worship is mission. Doors are open here.

Practice, Practice, Practice...

No one likes being the object of a joke nor having people laugh at them. Yet when it comes to being a missionary, one must throw out such sensitivities. Every week or so Ingrid and I go to the retreat center to give Juan and Carolina a bible study called, Nueve Vida en Cristo: Pasos basicos de la vida cristiana (New Life in Christ: Basic Steps of the Christian Life). We both read the questions and the scripture verses and then answer the worksheet. After reading one verse, I asked Carolina how my accent was. She started smirking. How depressing never mind all the little things that when we translate too literally from English to Spanish can give a completely different meaning that can be really embarrassing at times. Juan and Carolina's sons Alejandro and Ismael will sometimes start smirking after I've said something. After I have compelled them to tell me, I realise that I've accidentally said something inappropriate and unbecoming a missionary. Such are the adventures in language learning.

Cleveland Team Departs

The Cleveland team from Parma Heights Baptist Church departed for home this last Monday. It was an interesting end to the week. The English camp saw 35 kids attend and we are anticipating an event with some of these kids this weekend. Pray for good attendance. Our evening event for the parents saw a good attendance of both kids and parents and we all enjoyed a great time of getting to know one another while eating tacos. On Saturday we all went downtown to do the usual tour but this time I included a little time for some kids to go to an area that specializes in selling soccer jerseys. As we made our way to the Zocolo we were able to see the lowering of the flag which is performed daily at 6 pm by the Mexican Army. The next day it was off to the Christ Lives Bible Church where Pastor Dan preached and Moises interpreted. Following the service we went to the pyramids. Sadly, nobody was able to ascend the pyramids because as we were about to go up, an incredible storm of marable-sized hail, rain and wind came up and pounded our group. Several of us huddled under umbrellas and others ran for shelter. All in all, the group's time in Mexico turned out well. I want to say "thanks" to all you people from Cleveland for your nice gifts and the many emails of thanks that have been pouring in. Blessings all!!!

Pastor Dan...at the English Camp

Pastor Dan, Senior Pastor of Parma Heights Baptist Church, arrived in Mexico City on Sunday night and spent the first three days at the retreat center in Acolman and at the VBS in Ecatepec. Now he is in the west side of the city and observing what the Parma Heights teams is doing at the English camp. He seems quite impressed with what has taken place and sees the potential of this ministry. The top picture shows Pastor Dan debriefing the kids following another intense camp today. Pastor Dan said how proud he knows the parents would be if they could just see their kids in action at the English camp. The video beneath the picture is of one of the games we play to encourage the Mexicans to speak English. The game is called, "Honey, If You Love Me." Everyone in the group sits in a circle. One person is chosen as "it" and must select another person and try to make them smile. The "it" person must go to another person that is seated and say (while making funny faces etc.) " Honey, if you love me, would you please, please smile?" The seated person must respond without smiling, "Honey, I love you but I won't smile." It is a great game to practice repetitive words, questions and statements. If the seated person begins to smile, they becomes "it". Click on the video above to hear Alex ask Esme and try to get her to smile.

We would like some prayer. Today, we invited all the young people to attend future youth meetings on Saturdays for the remainder of July and August and we opened our home to doing English tutoring for adults and youth. We would love a good response...and so far...it all sounds good! Who knows, as Moises said to me today, "Maybe our church plant will start out as a youth ministry?"

More from English Camp

We are into day four of our English camp and neat things are happening. Besides the fact that the Mexican kids are learning English, they are building relationships with the kids from Cleveland. Daily, we have a time of icebreaker games, a group song, skit, a time of watching a small video clip and then a time of small groups where the Cleveland kids ask comprehension questions in English and the Mexican kids respond in English. We also have some time to eat (today it was a traditional Mexican dish called a corn dog...I'm being sarcastic) and do a craft. For three evenings we invited the kids to come back for what would amount to a youth group meeting. Last night, we went to an activity center called Funcentral. Some kids went ice-skating and others played paintball. Ingrid and I went bowling with some parents of the kids and we got to know Jose and Tere. There really seems to be an intrigue with what we are doing in Mexico. All the parents know we are missionaries and we are teaching the Bible with our English lessons. That does not seem to be scaring them. They seem to know that there is a difference that is positive between what we teach and live and what is traditional Mexican beliefs.

English Camp in Atizapan

Hotdogs (often made of ground turkey) are enjoyed in Mexico with sliced jalepenos, ketchup, and mayonnaise as toppings. It tastes better than it sounds but the American youth generally stuck to the familiar ketchup and mustard :)
Thank you for your prayers! Our first ever English Camp in the northwest part of Mexico City is now in full swing with about 35 campers attending each day between 10 am and 2 pm. We have a sports theme and that has been well accepted. Yesterday was our first day and both Ohio youth leaders (in referee jerseys) and the local Mexican teenaged campers were all nervous. Today went much better with everyone having an idea as to what to expect. Two boys were extremely apprehensive to attend and their moms said that they weren't sure if the boys would get out of the car to come inside. They have both thoroughly enjoyed the camp and have come back for a second and third time. Some connections and friendships are being built with the families which was very much our goal. One of the mothers is a cousin of the principal at Ahava's kindergarten. As we walk with Ahava to kindergarten, we past by her house! Another father was visiting with Marcel. They were both practising their Spanish and English on one another. This father has invited Marcel and our family to his house for coffee sometime in the future after the camp is finished. Yesterday we all ready heard of 8 to 10 mothers who would like to participate in an informal time together where they could practise the English that they have studied. Marcel and I will offer English tutoring, both one-on-one but also in groups (the women seem to prefer this). Finally, we spent between 6 pm and 10 pm having a "sample" youth group event for the Mexican youth who attended our English daycamp. Nearly every one of the campers came back and had a fabulous time together. We offered this event in preparation for beginning a youth group in the area where we could not only have a blast together playing goofy games but also to study God's word. We will be inviting these campers to get together about once a month for similar youth nights and they now have an idea of what that would be like.

Pray for endurance during the next three days. The camp programs tires us, especially those from Ohio who are adjusting to the altitude as well, but we also have two more evening activities planned. We anticipated being tired but the evening events are when we have the opportunity to get to know the parents and build some trust. Wednesday evening we will go to a local mall to Fun Central, a place where they have a small ice rink with skate rentals, bowling, minigolf, rock climbing, bumper cars, and a carousel. On Thursday evening, the parents are invited back to the Williams home where everything has been hosted. A taquero (taco vendor) is going to bring his taco stand to set up at the Williams house rather than his usual spot on the sidewalk and we will all enjoy Tacos al Pastor (Shepherds' style tacos). Finally, please uphold these Mexican teenagers in prayer concerning spiritual things. The gospel is being presented in story format over the five days with the use of an Evangecube to show accompanying pictures. Three of the American youth have all ready given their testimonies, the gospel is being shared in song and our craft times include scripture. Pray that they will welcome the freedom found in Christ to save them without any works on their part.

Parma Heights Baptist Church Group Arrives

We have been pleased to welcome a large group from Ohio to help us in various ways. The Parma Heights Baptist Church has sent a group of 27 people. We have split the group into three different areas of ministry: 1) Ecatepec, a "suburb" of 3 million people that are the NE corner of Mexico City -- This group will be helping the Iglesia Biblica Cristo Vive (Christ Lives Bible Church) with their VBS that begins tomorrow and will be held all week. They have had up to 300 children attend in the past!! Carolyn Ruiz is their missionary host. 2) Acolman, a small town just touching the extreme NE edge of Mexico City that is only 10 minutes away from the pyramids of Teotihuacan -- This group will do construction projects at the Lily of the Valley Retreat Center. We are excited for these physical labor contributions that will bring us ever closer to constant ministry use of the Retreat Center. Less people contact with local Mexicans but still a very valued ministry. Moises Ruiz is their missionary host. 3) Atizapan, another "suburb" of Mexico City that is located in the NW of the Mexico City metropolitan area -- This group will be putting on our first ever English camp for a target audience of middle school/junior high school to high school aged students of middle to upper class families in the area. Marcel and Ingrid Mitchell are the missionary hosts along with Craig and Denise Williams, CAM missionaries who live 10 minutes away and with whom we (Ruizes and Mitchells) hope to begin a new church plant. Much has all ready been accomplished at the Retreat Center and we are all ready enjoying fresh bright paint in the boys' dorm. Today the "VBS group" was busy all afternoon with decorating in preparation for the arrival of children aged 4 to 13 in the morning. The "English Camp group" has been preparing and practising music. Feedback from registering parents is that their children have had the English grammar lessons but lack opportunities to practise so we have all ready "tweaked" our new program for more emphasis in this regard.
Contacts made with family members through this English camp are how we hope to form a new church plant in our area. While our family, the Mitchells, were in Texas, the Ruizes and Williams hit the pavement and went door to door in many gated communities handing out fliers of invitation. We were hoping to have at least 50 teenagers attend. Our preregistrations have brought us 19 teens. Please pray for more attendees but most of all, pray for the connection of Mexican families who are searching for a life changing experience with Jesus.
A brief summary of our past weekend: We celebrated the 4th of July with our American friends with Mexican fireworks, purchased by our own local American fireworks expert, Craig Williams. We had a noisy time bothering our neighbors with fireworks for a change rather than the other way around while the whole group of 27 were at the Retreat Center for the weekend. This morning, each person was individually introduced to the congregation of Christ Lives Bible Church and some testimonies will be given next Sunday. Another big highlight was Richard and Sue's presentation of a new wheelchair to our Retreat Center caretaker, Juan. Posted is a picture of his old wheelchair with an added donut cushion to try and improve the comfort of the hard and narrow wheelchair seat. When Juan needs to put his wheelchair into his car, the wheels now remove with the push of a button rather than the previous butterfly nuts on his old wheelchair. The whole chair is lighter and more comfortable and Juan is very pleased and thankful.

Road Trip to Texas

After taking a few weeks off from blogging to take a vacation, we are back and have the pictures of our time away. Texas has become a bit of a second home to us, particularly the Rio Grande Valley. After having lived there for a year, we have our favorite places to shop and eat and several friends we like to visit with. Sadly, the vacation did not start off well. The little baby that Ingrid was carrying is now in heaven. When we announced that Ingrid was pregnant with baby #6, we assumed that she was far enough along in the pregnancy to safely tell one and all. Unfortunately, as we travelled the little one entered eternal rest. Kirklyn said that God knew that Opa/Grandpa (my dad who died 4 years ago) needed one of us to be with him. So the first few days in Texas were consumed with visiting hospitals and doctors. My mom was with us so we were able to leave the kids with her as we made the many trips to the doctor. Thankfully, we do have insurance for all the doctors offices we visited! If you want to know how we are doing after this sad loss, my most honest answer is just O.K. This is a new experience for us and we are doing a lot of talking with each other and God. I think we both feel a little empty right now. After the very kind doctor in Edinburg gave us the green light to travel, we went north to San Antonio for one day. Brittany and I attended a WNBA basketball game. We were both very impressed with the quality of the game and the nail bitin' last minute that saw the San Antonio Silverstars beat the L.A. Sparks 77 - 75. From there we went to Dallas/Fort worth for a week. We visited Dealy Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum where President Kennedy was murdered and I am more convinced that ever there was a conspiracy. We all went to Six Flags for a day and there was nowhere near the crowds we have seen at other Six Flag parks where your day is wasted standing in lines. It was very hot that day and when evening came, the relative coolness was very welcome. Emma and I also had the opportunity to take in a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and The Philadelphia Phillies. It was an excellent game in which we saw a grand slam home run and the first ever home run of an up and coming star, Chris Davis. The game was excellent and the Rangers (my second favorite team...Go Twins!!!) won 8 - 7. Emma got to see her favorite player, Josh Hamilton, who is probably one of the top players today. What is really amazing is his testimony where he came from a life of addiction to become a baseball great. Read more about him here and you to will say his life is a God thing... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2926447 . Finally, we did the Fort Worth Stockyards. It's like Alberta...but not as glitzy and a whole lot more longhorns. To all my American friends...have a great 4th of July!

A Busy Sort of Week

As a family we have been at the camp this week helping a visiting family from Iowa, the DeBergs (top photo), that came to help do some construction. Today, we did the usual tourist day visiting the Basilica, the tourist market and the historic district. In five days of activity we were able get the new kitchen painted, the sundeck re-roofed (second photo) and some sealant put on the boys dorm roof. We also got the camp readied for a youth retreat. While at the camp we also celebrated Petra becoming a teenager (third photo). To help solve our water problems at the camp the cistern is being deepened and expanded to hold 33000 liters (bottom photo).

One Year in Mexico and Another Surprise!

Yeah...we've lasted here a whole year! Today, is our first anniversary of being in Mexico. Only recently did we receive our visa to be official residents of Mexico. It took a lot of time and the efforts of many people: our Mexican lawyer, friends at N.A.B. headquarters, leaders in our last church and government bureaucracies in three countries including two Canadian provinces, one U.S. state, and the federal government of Mexico - all to be able to get our paperwork together. Now we have the little green booklet document that says we are official!

On another note, this evening we told the girls to gather together for a pose. Instead of saying, "cheese" or "smile", Ingrid said, "Ahava, you're going to be a big sister!" Note the look on Brittany's face. I think it says, "stunned disbelief." Petra's face is saying, "What?" The rest of the girls took a minute to clue in. The girls are happy and all of them want a little sister. Dad has no preference but is happy. We're expecting the baby around Christmas. Imagine if it is a sixth girl! We could probably have our own t.v. show on the Discovery Channel.

A Long Update

The teenager is sleeping in till noon. The house is noisier and dirtier. There are constant demands for food. That's right...the kids are on summer vacation! While I (Marcel) was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota this last, week taking a course at Sioux Falls Seminary, the girls completed their last week of school be fore the summer break. It is nice to have them around the house but it is going to take a little while to adjust to the noise. It's been a unique last couple of weeks. We have had a nasty computer virus which wiped out most of our hard drive. I was able to recover much of what we lost but I have a long way to go. We've been pulled over by the police three more times for every excuse under the sun. I was driving with Royce Baron when he asked me if I had been pulled over by the police lately. I said yes Ingrid was two weeks ago and I last week. Just then a patrulla jumped in front of me to pull me over. I don't think he expected that this turista would be well armed with a copy of the traffic regulations, a card from the local government that says the top ten things cops pull people over for with the instructions not to pay bribes and numerous other letters and photo copies. I must admit I'm getting good at fighting corruption at the street level. Unfortunately, new rules come into effect this July that prevent foreign vehicles from driving from 5Am till 11Am everyday plus an additional day of no driving on weekends. For the most part we are cool with this since we like to take the bus if we head downtown but it is going to be impossible to take kids to school in the morning or go to the retreat centre. There maybe a chance we can get a special permission (sticker) that allows us to drive during these restricted hours. We have also faced some new problems in our home. The other day Ingrid called some plumbers that were recommended by fellow missionaries that are good at cleaning cisterns. As they walked by the water heater we were all overwhelmed by the smell of propane gas. We found a very dangerous leak so we shut off the gas and we are now waiting for permission of the landlady to fix the problem. Thus, we are going without hot showers and have to eat out everyday till this is done. This coming weekend we are off to the retreat center to spend some time with a family from Iowa. They are coming to do some work as a family to help the center progress a bit. During that week my mom is flying here and we will be heading on vacation to Texas; the land of barbecue! ( We dig brisket and ribs) The girls want to see some friends from when they lived in Edinburg, Texas and we will celebrate a couple birthdays (Brittany's and Petra's) with them. Then we are going to San Antonio for a couple days. Brittany and I are going to a WNBA basketball game. From there we are going to drive to Dallas for the bulk of our time to shop for things we can't get in Mexico, enjoy a Texas Rangers Baseball game and do the Six Flags thing. When we return from Texas we will be greeting a large mission team from Ohio that will helping with construction at the retreat center, a VBS and an English camp. Our summer seems to be quite full and we will be seeking new opportunities to reach out to the community in efforts to plant a church here. Hopefully, my Spanish will improve and will be of some greater use here soon.

Finally Got the Sweaters

Well it's the end of the hockey season and the girls finally received their hockey jerseys. Brittany requested #99 and Petra, #13. Yet like in an episode of the T.V. show "Everybody Hates Chris" where the younger brother orders a jersey like that of his favorite hockey player -- Wayne Gretzky #99 -- he received a jersey that said Gritzky #98. My daughters both got #7 and no name on the back! Ay!!! Either way, they are happy to have received the sweaters and are looking forward to next season. In the mean time the girls are facing final exams at school and I'm sure they will do well. Two weeks after that we're off to San Antonio and Dallas, Texas for a couple of weeks of vacation before we have a large Gateway team join us from Cleveland.

Planning Meeting for Summer Camp

Today, it was Planning Day for the summer. We have a large team from Cleveland arriving in July and we will split the team in three ways. Part of the team will do construction work at the retreat centre in Acolman, led by Moises. Another part of the team will help with the VBS at Christ Lives Bible Church in Ecatepec, led by Caroline. The last part of the team will be helping to put on an English camp near our house in the town of Cuatitlan Izcalli. The picture above is of our English camp planning session with Craig and Denise, missionaries with CAM International. It will be a five day camp similar to that of a VBS but with a dual emphasis: English and the Bible. We will be using a sports theme since Mexicans really like their sports. The plan will be to have the camp in a somewhat richer area where it is generally more difficult to reach people. Pray that we will see success with this new ministry effort.