San Pablito

One of the most exceptional opportunities we have, simply by living in a country that is not our own, is the ability to see aspects of who our God is through the eyes and lives of his people, people who are different from us culturally yet who put their faith in the same One we do. I am constantly learning more about our God as I watch his people seek to live for Him in their context.  On Saturday we had the opportunity to see a piece of a new context when we visited the town of San Pablito to celebrate the first anniversary of the church there.

San Pablito is a little town in the mountains of Puebla, a state to the east of Mexico City. It is primarily inhabited by a people group called the Otomi. Like many Mexican indigenous groups the Otomi face many challenges, especially economically. Many have left their hometowns to make their way in Mexico City but, isolated from their communities, life is rarely easier. Often people will drift back and forth between their home town and the city. The church in San Pablito has been strongly supported by a ministry from our church called Corazón Valiente, or Brave Heart. The ministry seeks to walk alongside the indigenous groups who come to the city, by creating relationships, promoting the education of their children, and advocating for them, all the while sharing God's hope and love. Throughout the year, members of Corazón Valiente team visit the different home communities of the indigenous groups with whom they work.

Saturday was our first visit to San Pablito, but I hope it won't be our last. The drive into the mountains of Puebla was breathtaking.

We stopped at a river near San Pablito to celebrate several baptisms!

Then we headed to the church for a service, visiting, and lots of fun. 

Owen was EXTREMELY popular. He handled it well. :)

All in all we enjoyed ourselves immensely and hope to be able to return soon. :)

El Pollito

Here's a quick link to Eliana's Mother's Day performance with her preschool. :)

Parque Nacional Desierto de los Leones

Sometimes I don't even realize how refreshing, renewing and rewarding it is to have the chance to simply BE. On Tuesday we traded the haze of downtown for this:

Last month our YearOuters read a book called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero. It is an excellent resource and I would highly recommend it. In an effort to "practice what we preach" in regards to emotionally healthy spirituality, we spent one very special day in the Parque Nacional Desierto de los Leones, or the Lion's Desert National Park. Now, there are no lions to be found here, and it is forrest rather than desert, but what it is is a unique opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of the city without actually leaving it. We spent some time sharing about different topics, but mostly we had the opportunity to be alone with God. I felt my whole body relax in a way it hadn't for some time and I felt the pure joy of observing and experiencing God's creation.

Before we left we explored an old monastery that is in the middle of the park. Here are some pictures:

We also checked out the catacombs!

And of course we enjoyed eachother's fellowship while enjoying a delicious meal!

All in all it was a wonderful day. :)

Día del Niño/Kid's Day

Growing up I remember thinking (as did most children I assume) that if there was a Mother's Day, and a Father's Day, why wasn't there a Kid's Day? My mom always told me it was because every day is Kid's Day. :) Well, it turn's out that there actually is a Kid's Day, April 30th, and here in Mexico it's a very big deal! This year Eliana's teacher from her preschool decided that the parents should choreograph a dance and perform it for their kids, so we did. It was a funny experience overall, but the most rewarding part was that Eliana loved it. Here's the link in case you want to check it out! :) http://youtu.be/APM3yCWuuKY

One aspect of Avance that I haven't shared as much about is our mobilization of Mexicans in mission. Wendy Der, one of our co-workers is the person who mainly heads up this department and she has done an amazing job of raising awareness and support for Mexicans on the mission field all over the world, and also inspiring young Mexicans to explore their call into missions as we seek to do with their North-American counterparts. One way this happens is through a week long mission exploration to Honduras during Holy Week. This year the group that went had our Honduran partner pastors raving about the quality of the young people who went and their servant hearts. One of our YearOut students, Alisa, also joined the group. Below is a link for a video of their experience. Enjoy!

Click HERE!

Los Héroes Tecámac

Tuesday morning, bright and early, (after a stop by the lady on the corner selling tamales) our Avance team headed outside the city to the neighborhood of Los Héroes Tecámac. Los Heroes is a neighborhood of 70,000 houses built by the government, all alike. Street after street looks pretty much like the one pictured above. Some of the streets are fairly well-kept, others are already looking old and dilapidated, even though the community was only built six years ago. Most of these small "shoebox" homes host several generations. It is a very "suburban" community, there is a large grocery store, a school, and, of course, a Walmart.  But more than anything there is row, after row, after row of houses.

The Héroes Tecámac community is the site of a church plant headed up by LAM missionaries John and Tracey Pieters. A few years ago John and Tracey left their modest, yet spacious home that they rented in Ojo de Agua and moved to Héroes Tecámac. This community of 70,000 houses sprouted up and was populated almost over night, and its lack of Evangelical Christian presence (the Pieters' church plant is the first) drew the attention of two (relatively) nearby sister churches that regularly send teams to support the new church. One of the ways this community is being reached is through door to door evangelism.

Door to door evangelism isn't a primary form of evangelism for most Christians in the U.S., but in Mexico it is still widely accepted and is very effective. In order to give our YearOut students a taste of this "frontline" evangelism we decided to join John, Tracey and the evangelism team from their supporting sister churches, Maria, Lola and Cynthia. Before heading out, Maria shared with our group why it is that they go door to door. At its base, door to dor evangelism is a very real and raw way to join in with how God is already moving. Whether people receive you is not based on anything you do or say, rather on how the Holy Spirit is moving in their lives. It's like a treasure hunt that God allows us to join, the treasure being those who are open to the moving of the Spirit and ready to let him take the lead in their lives. If people aren't ready to open their lives up to God, door to door evangelism affords the church planting team to invite the community to take advantage of some of the services they offer (guitar and English lessons).

Overall it was a very positive experience for our students. It challenged them to step outside their comfort zone and initiated challenging questions. Overall it reminded each of us that evangelism should be a lifestyle, and that we are propelled by our love for Christ and the amazing opportunity he affords us to be a part of his reconciliation. Have you ever participated in door to door evangelism? What was your experience?

Lately...

Lately we have been....

Signing Eliana up for swim lessons!
      --- We don't swim on a regular basis here at any point in the year, so it struck me that this is a very
           important skill for our children to learn (whether they use it frequently or not) so we found a
           place that offers lessons at a very economical price. Hopefully she'll start next week!

Encountering some sensitive and complicated situations in ministry -- please pray for God's truth, wisdom and reconciliation to be evident.

Enjoying reconnecting with our YearOuters after spring break!

Learning that our neighborhood outdoor market has a little stand that sells chia seeds, roasted peanuts and dried cranberries, normally things I have bought at the grocery store.
     --- As a side note, Eliana LOVES peanut butter, but basically the only brand they sell here is
          Skippy, and it's not cheap either, so we have begun making our own peanut butter which is a
          much simpler process than I would have ever imagined!

Planting a little roof garden!

Preparing for the summer -- please pray for the final applications!

Helping Owen survive teething -- not so fun for anyone involved!

Enjoying the warm, dry weather, summer rains will be coming soon!

What have YOU been up to? :)