Coin Collectors Paradise

I've been collecting coins since I celebrated my 12th birthday in Hamilton, Ontario when my Aunt Dora gave my $10 as a gift. I went though a Sears store in Hamilton later that week and happened upon a coin and stamp kiosk. I became fascinated by the old coins, how different they looked, and the history behind some of the coins, particularily Canadian nickels. With that $10 bill I bought several old nickels, an album to put my nickels into, and a book that gave prices and values of coins. Since then I have branched out and have found that this can be somewhat of a lucrative hobby. My oldest coin is 2,100 years old and is made of copper and is known as the "Widow's Mite". It is the same kind of coin that would have been spoken about in the Bible from Jesus' teaching on giving where the widow gave everything and it was her two small copper coins. I have since moved away from nickels and have begun collecting coins that have significance (like the Widow's Mite...though they are a dime a dozen; pardon the pun) or are made from bullion metals. The Mexican mint is the oldest mint in the Americas and they have a style and craftsmenship that is superior to many other mints. I have found several coin shops around here and frequent them every now and then but recently, when my friend Curtis was visiting here, we went to the mint and made some purchases directly. I was like a kid in a candy store and purchased some. Yet I saw others that I would like to get and will probably in the future. The coin above is a bullion coin. It is a type of coin purchased solely for the content of the precious metal (as opposed to coins purchased for their numismatic value or in other words, the quality and rarity of the coin), in this case, 1 ounce of pure silver. It is called a Libertad and they come in sizes as small as 1/20th of an ounce, go up to 1kg (2.2 pounds...which will put you out around $800). The coin has a famous statue on it that can be seen in the central part of this city and in the background are the volcanoes Popo and Itza. Also on the coin is a nopal cactus and a agave from which tequila is made. The reverse has several depictions of eagles which are Mexico's official bird and represent the nation. As long as I am here I will be pursuing this hobby since silver can be bought here at quite reasonable prices.

If You Can't move the Ball 10 Yards in Three Downs Then You Should Quit Playing the Game

There are a few things I miss about home...and CFL football is one of them. This coming weekend is the Labour Day Classic. It's tradition, rivalry and many good memories. It's Canadian! Go Leos!
I heard about this CFL produced video a while ago and I think it is great.
Brittany says go Esks!

Reunion

Last night we had a small reunion of parents and kids that had attended our English camp and presented them opportunities to do a English/Bible study and have a marriage retreat. We also talked about having a small Canadian Thanksgiving celebration on October 10th. We won't have a turkey supper, probably just small Canadian dishes like poutin (yes, we have been able to find the ingredients and make that here...yummy). We are quite happy that there is some interest in what we are doing and even a lady from our neighbourhood whom we met a while ago is keen to help. What is really cool is that her husband is the president of a very well known and advanced university (kinda like the M.I.T. of Mexico) near by our house where we would like to do some student ministries. God does answer prayer and hopefully soon we will start to see some fruition from our efforts.

More Visitors

The last year and a bit that we have been here in Mexico City would have been a lot more difficult had it not been for friends and family visiting us. This last week we entertained my friend Curtis and his family who reside in Vancouver. Curtis was the best man at my wedding and has always remained in contact with us through the years. He spent a couple years himself in Germany as a missionary and knows the difficulties of living cross culturally. He drove with his family to Mexico City following a route determined by his handy little GPS. I was so intrigued by the GPS Curtis bought me one as well! Daily Curtis downloads the GPS track of his travels to his blogsite: http://fast5family.blogspot.com/ (You'll find the GPS travels in the upper left side of the screen and a very nice report from them). So now its impossible to get lost here Mexico with this cool little GPS gadget! We did the usual touristy things in Mexico City and I think they were rather surprised at the size and uniqueness of this city. In addition to visiting the pyramids we visited the Centro Historico where they bought a bit of silver jewelry for themselves, friends and family and I seemed to get Curtis into the fine and lucrative hobby of collecting silver coins. Mexico is coin collectors paradise! We spent some time at the House of Tiles where we had my birthday supper: I had the enchiladas suizas. Sadly their stay here was short but it was fun. They have a great family and we enjoy very much being around them. We share many things in common and we will miss them until the next visit.

The Big 40!

I want to say thanks to everyone for the cards, emails and well wishes on my 40th birthday. We had a great time with friends that visited from British Columbia and enjoyed the first official day of turning middle-aged. Blessings all!

Canadian Road Trip Part 3

Canadian Road Trip Part 2 Just a few more pictures

Just a few more pics from the motherland...

Canadian Road Trip Part 2

It's not quite heaven but it seems to be close to here. Vancouver...my town...cultural centre of the universe...lotus-land!!! It's good to be home. Since arriving here Saturday we have been quite busy visiting and doing all sorts of fun stuff. We began by visiting my Aunt and Uncle who took us out for supper to Whitespot on Kingsway in Burnaby. They also took us out to do some shopping and get some gifts for the kids that did not come with us. We visited my moms church in south Surrey and spent the afternoon looking at show homes. We also did some visiting of the beach area in Whiterock which is close to where my mom lives. That's when things got interesting after a Burlington Northern - Santa Fe train whisked by us on the promenade we heard sirens and saw that the fire department was putting out a fire at Dock's Fish and Chips. Then I'm not sure what happened but I saw two mounties run and detain then arrest a couple of young guys. I guess they won a free night at the Crowbar Motel, a colour portrait, food and drinks were included and of course one free local call. From there we went out onto the pier saw a couple seals swimming, kids crab fishing and others diving off the deck. Briefly, I relived my youth as I saw these things (but not the arrest...I've never been arrested!!!). They were part of my life having been raised here.

Canadian Road Trip Part 1

I've been in travelling in Canada since last Wednesday with Petra and Emma. Mexicana Airlines is flying between Mexico City and Edmonton and we took advantage of the reasonably priced tickets to visit friends and relatives. We only spent 36 hours in Edmonton so we were a little rushed. I was fortunate that my former head deacon Ed picked me up at the airport and took me over to the car rental location. He's a guy with a servant's heart and has always been the guy I could lean on for the right advice in any situation. One time when Ed and his wife Deb spoke at a pastors' retreat on Deacon Leadership, a pastor asked me where I found this guy. I said, "in my church." The guy said to me he wished his deacons were as progressive and insightful as my deacon. He then, jokingly, offered me a quarter section of land for him. I un-jokingly declined the offer. The following morning we went to Ed and Deb's house for breakfast and a good talk and to cap it all off, we did a little gopher shooting. Oh how I miss my guns! From there we went to the family farm near Trochu, my wife's home town, where I did some repairs on our 40' sea container that has some of our earthly possessions. Oh how I miss the farm and its wide open spaces! I was then off to Lacombe where my sister lives and our kids had a great time playing with the Wii which is an interesting interactive video game unit. After a visit to the doctor we were off to the airport for our flight to the Mother - Land...Vancouver. Oh how I miss that city! Part 2 tomorrow.

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?"