Open Arms

Our trips to Pine Hill have gotten SO busy! You see, we have a problem...we have too many friends who want to invite us in to their homes. Isn't that a GREAT problem to have?!? Praise the Lord.

 

Today we took a trip out to Pine Hill, and then home again. All in ONE day. It was an extremely busy day, filled to the brim with blessings. I'll try to recap...

 

1. We stopped to talk to Don Isabel. He invited us in to eat, which has turned in to the norm. He said, "I was telling my wife this morning that it was time for you to come visit and that she should make a meal for you today." We hadn't told anyone we'd be there this week! In fact, we had told people it would be next week!

 

2. While there, Don Isabel's Dad came in. This man is old, and missing many teeth! He told us how back in the 60s, he went to DF to translate, I think for SIL. (Going daily wage in Pine Hill was only 2 pesos!) They were working on the ZK-Spanish dictionary! Is that cool, or what?!! This man was telling us about which consonant you pronounce, etc. (Granted, he was missing many teeth, but he knew what he was talking about!)

 

3. Don Isabel told us his daughter wants to be our Language Helper!  Clay offered to go to the coffee fields to work with Don Isabel where they can talk and he can learn more and of course Don Isabel liked the idea.

 

4. We visited with Guadalupe and Leonardo. On our last visit, I shared the story of creation with Guadalupe. This time I followed it up with the first sin. Afterwards, she had SO many questions about having a relationship with God and how sinned changed it. I can not wait to story more and see how God reveals himself to her! There is an amazing friendship budding with Guadalupe. Her face brightens when we show up at her house. Now, I stand with her and the women and I am included. Little by little...God is opening the doors! (Guadalupe's sister-in-law gave me a bag of tamales de elote...delicious!)

 

5. At another stop, Clay went inside while I sat in the car with 3 of the kids. The people passing were very curious. Eventually a crowd gathered, and I got to visit with a couple of ladies. One of them said that if we come to live in Pine Hill, we will be received with open arms.

All of this in less than 5 hours...plus our kids are building friendships with the kids there. Man, this is exciting! Please keep praying for Pine Hill, that God's glory will be revealed! And that we can build friendships that will last!

 

Dance of the Parachico

The state of Chiapas is full of cultural diversity in the form of indigenous people groups. One group that has caught our attention is the Zoque. Overall, they are a small indigenous group who many have never heard of. Recently we went to the Zoque Museum near Tuxtla Gutierrez. While there we learned that during the Festival of St. Sebastian, the Zoque danced the Parachico.

So we headed to the town of Chiapa de Corzo to see the dancers, hoping to learn more about the history behind the dance...

We had seen the men's costumes...with a mask that resembled a white man. But why?

And we had never seen the women's costumes. They certainly resembled traditional Spanish dresses.

And again, we asked why?

Interestingly, most people who were dressed up for the festival couldn't really tell us why. One man explained that there was a Spanish and Arab influence, which would make sense since the Moors from Northern Africa had invaded Spain in 711AD and weren't run out until 1492. There is a lot of Arab influence in Spain. And of course, Mexico was colonized by the Spanish.

Later we were able to learn more of the legend that dates back to the 1760s...

Maria de Angulo was a rich, Catholic lady of Spanish origen who lived in Guatemala. She had a son who was sick and she had been seeking anyone who could help heal him. She came all the way to Chiapas, Mexico where she found a "witch doctor" who cured her son.

A few years later a drought hit the area of Chiapas. Doña Maria returns with her servants, carrying corn, beans, fruit and vegetables. They walked through town, carrying baskets and yelling, "Para el Chico" which means "for the boy" because she was thankful for the healing of her son. In the evenings, Doña Maria's servants danced and entertained the people.

Today, the women dance in remembrance of Doña Maria and the men in remembrance of the servants.

The people were equally inquisitive of us!
Notice the "basket" that Ellie is holding. It's full of confett which the
women throw, representing the food that Doña Maria handed out.

Tuwi...Perro...Dog

   
     This is Rex. He's the newest member of our family and he has quickly earned a place in our hearts. We first met on January 6 when we visited an orphanage for Kings' Day. At the time, he was only 3 weeks old. Much too young to leave his mommy. So we patiently waited three more weeks...

     At 6 weeks of age, we're getting up in the middle of the night as if he were a baby! Seems kind of crazy, but it's worth it. He's already learning his name and he's very comfortable inside his kennel. Best of all, the kids love him. They seek him out all day long to play with him.

My How Life Has Changed

     As we near our one year anniversary of life in Mexico, it has made me think a little about how much life has changed...

1. Primary difference--speaking a new language! Well, not really new. Clay and I were both mostly fluent in Spanish when we got here. But now we use it every day, all day long. And it's absolutely awesome watching my children speak with the children around them in Spanish. Our next big challenge--learning our third language!

2. Washing dishes by hand, which equates to a LOT of dishes with 6 people in the family.

3. No indoor heat, which means when you get cold you put on a sweater instead of bumping up the thermostat.

4. Buying the majority of our fresh produce in the market and not the grocery store. And occasionally I even buy my chicken and beef in the market too...I admit, it took me awhile to get comfortable with that idea!

5. Homeschooling the two older kids.

6. We have TWO phones in our home, plus two cellphones. One is our Mexican landline, the other is our internet line for calls to the U.S.

7. Cooking on a gas stove...you really need to pay attention to make sure you don't run out of gas or you can't cook. (and without gas you won't have any hot water)

8. I cook a mostly from scratch now--bread, biscuits, pies, etc. And I enjoy it!

9. We have a maid who does dishes, washes clothes, scrubs the toilet, irons, mops...she will even watch all four kids so we can do ministry or have a coffee date.

10. We have a daytime and nighttime security guard!

11. I regularly have fresh cut flowers in my home! (Wouldn't you if you could get a dozen roses for less than $1.50?)

12. I've become a hoarder. If I find cranberry sauce at Sam's Club in February, I buy it. You might not find it in November for Thanksgiving Dinner. Or peanut butter M&Ms...Or a hair product for curly hair...


So much change...some of it difficult. Some of it just plain wonderful.  And then there are the constants...my amazing husband, my beautiful children, and my Loving Lord. I am so thankful that God has brought us here.

A Trip to the Orphanage

You never really know what to expect when you go to an orphanage. Will it be clean? Will the children be well behaved? Will they be skittish and shy? So many questions...

Images from "Little Orphan Annie" or "The Three Stooges" came to mind...but it was nothing like that.

On January 6, many Latin American people celebrate Epiphany or Kings' Day. Traditionally, it's the celebration of when the "three" kings delivered their gifts to baby Jesus. (The Bible never says there were 3 kings, or wise men--just three gifts.) In Latin America, many parents use this day to give gifts to their children instead of Christmas day.

So this year, on January 6, we joined some friends and delivered gifts to children who live at Casa Hogar Canan. What an experience! There were 22 young people, from age 5 months and up, who live in this particular house. We delivered Christmas presents, blankets, clothes, chalkboards, and hopefully the love of Christ.


This sweet girl captured the hearts of many!

This precious boy...
his father didn't watont him, so he broke his skull.
His mother sought refuge in the orphanage.

The bigger boys received nerf guns, and it didn't take them long to set up a war zone with old tires!

This guy was ready to help in any way he could!
 

Missed Opportunities

Today I spent an hour all alone with my Savior. It was a blessed, peaceful time. And it was also a time of conviction. I actually had time to LISTEN, not just spout off my list of wants and needs. Overall, God has been speaking to my heart about prayer, so it was a time to connect, listen, and learn.

Over the past few weeks, I have been praying that the Lord would open doors for me to invest in the life of a woman. I prayed fervently that He would bring someone into my life. I so desperately want to be involved in ministry outside of my home. But I just haven't had the opportunity to meet anyone, and I was sad.

As I sat with God this morning, He reminded me of this prayer.

And then He reminded me of three women who have rang my doorbell this week.

THREE women!
     One was selling lotion and perfumes.
          One was asking if I needed a house helper to clean.
               And one asked if I had laundry she could wash, or old clothes that she could have.

With the first lady, I considered buying something because I so desperately wanted to help her and her little girl that was tied on her back. Instead, I gave her some dry beans and some other food.

When the second lady came, I actually had 3 (unexpected) visitors sitting at my kitchen table. (A whole other story for another day!) She asked if I needed a helper. I assured her I already had one. She asked if my helper came every day. I assured her that she did. Then she asked if my neighbor needed a helper. I assured her that she did. And then she asked if my neighbor's helper came every day. I assured her that she did. Then we repeated the whole conversation, and she left.

The third lady is the one who grieves my heart the most. She was disheveled, dirty, and her front teeth were rotted away. (Something I now recognize as a sign of malnutrition.) She had an equally dirty and disheveld child on her back and another one held her hand. The children's faces lacked the bright-eyed look that children should have. Instead, only blank stares. Why didn't I invite her in? I have SO much that I could have shared with her. I have food. I have clothes.

And I have the life changing Gospel that I could have and should have shared with her.

But that day I was too busy...and now my heart aches for this mother of 2 little ones.

I pray that I will always be prepared. Prepared to rearrange my schedule to accomodate a woman in need. Prepared to share from my abundance. Prepared to share a story from the Book that transformed my life.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

1 Peter 3:15

2012...A Year in Review

Ellie and her cousin Charis

Only a few more hours of 2012...a good time to reflect on where God has brought us in the last 365 days.

Last year at this time, we were patiently waiting on the luggage embargo to be lifted on travel to Mexico so that we could bring our 17 checked items with us. We were blessed to be staying at the Mission House at Parson's Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio. That allowed us to be close to my family and to enjoy spending time with my Mom and brother.


Levi, loving on Uncle Charles




Uncle Charles playing with Matthew




Enjoying the snow...












On January 16 we loaded all of our stuff up and headed to the airport at 3am! The TSA agent had the nerve to ask me if I always travel with so many carry-ons. We had 10 for 6 people. Is that really too much? I kindly responded to him, "Only when I'm moving to another country."

We (and all 17 checked items) arrived in Puebla, Mexico around 9pm that night. We were all in fairly good moods too, considering the long day we had. The customs agents there were very happy we got the green light and not the red. (In Mexico, when you go through customs, you push a button and if the red light comes on, they check all of your luggage.)

Our front yard

We spent 2 weeks in Puebla before our move to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. There's nothing like transitional living to make you appreciate finding your own house! In San Cris, we were able to find a small 3 bedroom house with a yard. Beautiful!



A view of our house from the street

From January to about May is all really a blur. We were setting up our house, acquiring furniture, getting acquainted with our new city, etc. Clay went to language school for 3 months. Ryan and Ellie went to a local elementary school for 3 months. What was I doing?!? I still had 2 little ones at home, and we stayed busy!

Ryan and Ellie, at their school program

Easter at Arcotete

In June we went to Suriname, a small country in northern South America. We spent a month in the Interior, or the Amazon jungle. We lived in a cabin, swam in the piranha infested river, killed pink-footed tarantulas...oh, and participated in jungle training! The kids LOVED it because they got to swim almost every day and they were in kids' camp for 4 weeks with other missionary kids.

Ellie, playing tag in Suriname with a local girl

Ryan had a blast with the baby cayman...
and a variety of other creepy crawlies!

Matthew learned to walk in the jungle!

In August, my Mom came to visit for 2 weeks. We took vacation and travelled to the Pacific Coast to enjoy the beach. It was so good to show her where we live and also Pine Hill, where we are planning to eventually live.

Mom and I, at Huatulco

Ellie and Granny, on the Sumidero

Granny and Matthew

Starting in the fall, we have been visiting our People Group every other week. It's a 4 hour drive to the town of Pine Hill from where we live. We've been very blessed to meet people who have welcomed us into their homes. Our children are making friends, too! It's been a wonderful experience and we are excited to see what else the Lord has in store for this community.