Life is good in Mexico City

Hello all! Between rather infrequent blogs Kevin and I have been quite busy, which has been good. We are feeling more and more at home here in Mexico. Let me give you a quick over view of how we pass our time here.

Monday
On Mondays we hold our homework club. We have a session in the morning from 10-12 and one in the afternoon from 2-4. Some students here in Mexico City attend school in the morning, others in the afternoon/evening. It is a little bizarre seeing some students just arriving home from school at 9 at night. Our mornings are typically light, which is nice. We have a smaller group of students, all of which are quite smart. We arrive at our church around 9:15-9:30 each day to start setting up. Our church is about a 20-45 minute micro bus ride from our home, depending on traffic and our driver! Afternoons are a little crazier. We typically have between 12-18 students, most of which are in Kindergarten-3rd grade. We also have some older students. We now have a girl from our church which helps us out at the homework club, her name is Alejandra, and she is great. We so appreciate having her. We generally plan a craft for the kids at the beginning, and then move into a time of reading. (On Thursdays we have a small English lesson in place of reading). We then move into a homework time, and finally usually finish up with a game. Many times students come without homework, so we have math sheets and other exercises for them to do instead.

Tuesday
Tuesday is our World Vision day, although it has been a slow start. Our main purpose will be to help them in some interviews and documentation of those interviews as they are planning to close down the particular project we are helping at in September. The interviews are aimed at understanding what the project accomplished, how it fell short, and how it might do better in the future.

One Tuesday a month we have a meeting with our supervisor, and the rest of the missionaries that are here for a year. This is a great time of fellowship and encouragement.

Wednesday
In the morning I (Leah) have my women's group. I am so encouraged by the women who have been coming. We only began a few weeks ago, but the women are really opening up to one another, which is so exciting to be a part of. The goal of this group is to disciple. It is mainly made up of women from our church, but there are also several who do not attend our church and are seeking. One young woman is a neighbor, and though her family is Catholic, she has become a regular attender at our women's group, English classes, and also is offering to help in the kitchen when short term mission teams come to town. Please pray for the women in this group. Many face incredibly difficult challenges relationally, financially, and from past experiences.

Our Wednesday afternoons are mainly dedicated to homework club prep, or any meetings we might have. Kevin, who now is officially on the ordination track for the Free Methodist church, often meets with his supervisor on Wednesdays.

Thursday
Thursdays are our marathon days. We are at the church around 9ish to prepare for homework club. After homework club the Millers, the missionary couple that lives next to our church, generously has invited us to share dinner with them. At 6 we have a prayer meeting, and then at 7:30 English classes begin. We don't normally get home in the night until around 10. English classes have been really encouraging for Kevin and I. We love our groups. I have all girls between the ages of 16-18. They are so great. One of them came to our church on Sunday which was a real encouragement. Hopefully she will continue coming and want to become more involved in the church body.

Friday
Our day of rest (and cleaning)!

Saturday
We leave the house early Saturday mornings to make it to Ecatapec where the World Vision office is (about an hour and a half trip). We give English classes for an hour to the young people who are promoters of human rights in their communities, and then join them for a work shop on emotions. (which we do not run) Generally we get home around 3-4 in the afternoon and then spend some time hanging out with our family. Often we have late nights on Saturdays.

Sunday
Sunday mornings are really peaceful for us. Because we have church in the evening we wake up late, and enjoy breakfast together, usually the house is empty because everyone else goes to church in the morning. We then spend the rest of the day doing this and that until church at 5. I know I have mentioned it before, but we really love our church. The people are warm and inviting, and our pastor and his wife are just amazing examples for us. I always come away feeling like I learned something new.

So that is a little look into the Book-Satterlee's week. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts, we really appreciate them!