Sweet Friendship

 

      Sometime within the last year, I began praying that God would give me a love for our ZK people of Southern Mexico. I guess the desire to work with them began almost 3 years ago, but it's really been the last 6 months that I have fallen love with the people of Pine Hill.                                                                                        

   For starters, I wanted to introduce you to Elena. We met her when we were visiting Don Isabel, her father. He runs a telephone booth in his home and Elena often helps "man" the phones. You see, there are only 100 phone lines into the whole town, and Don Isabel has 3 of them. He charges 7 pesos per minute for you to receive a call on one of his phones.

    From the day that I met Elena, I was attracted to her sweet smile and friendly demeanor. She's the mother of two girls (ages 11 and 9) and her 8-month old baby boy, Iker. She has often wanted to invite us to her home for coffee, but we've yet to be able to go. On our last visit, I shared that we had our house and soon I would be able to invite her to my house for coffee! She said, "I rarely get out of the house. But now, I will have a friend to go visit."

 

 

     Guadalupe is another sweet friend who I can't wait to invite to my home! She has been so hospitable to us every time that we've been in her home. I admit, it wasn't easy at first. We first started visiting her father-in-law, Don Justo in August of last year. He was the first man of peace to welcome us.

     Soon, I was venturing across the street to visit with Guadalupe and the other women. It wasn't easy to build a rapport because they speak ZK amongst themselves, and therefore I understood very little. Okay, I understood nothing. Except for the day that Guadalupe shared with the rest of the woman that I was not Catholic. I understood that...and the stares that followed.

     But, we continued to faithfully visit. And to share stories! Guadalupe has come to expect that we will share a story from the Bible, and she looks forward to it.

    On our last visit, I shared with Guadalupe that we had our house, but it wouldn't be for another month until we were moved in permanently. "That long?!?" was the response! I assured her I would invite her to my house soon, and that her daughter Irene would eventually come to love me. Or at least not cry when she looked at me! (Yes, she will let Clay pick her up...but cries if left in the same room as me without her momma!)

 

 

     Today, I am thankful that I have these two beautiful women to invest in and to learn from. I am thankful that we've had the last 8 months to get to know one another...and love one another!

 

Please pray for these two women and the friendship that they have extended to me. Pray that I can continue in faithfulness to share the Gospel with them through my words and my actions. Pray that they can come to know how to have a personal relationship with the Father, and not just a tradition.



Flat Meghan--Day Two

We took Flat Meghan to Pine Hill with us last week. The kids truly love it there. There is plenty of room to run, jump, and climb...

Flat Meghan climbed the orange tree
with Ryan and Levi!

Then Flat Meghan climbed the
orange tree with Ellie!

Orange Blossoms

Some of our first oranges!
Can't wait for them to be ripe!

Flat Meghan--Day One

Recently, we had a visitor arrive at our house all the way from the state of Washington. Her name is Flat Meghan and we are delighted to get to show her around southern Mexico. Our first outing was on Sunday. We took her to church at a small, rural mission church. Clay had been asked to preach, so we loaded up and headed out by 8am. It was an hour and a half trip! The first hour wasn't too bad, but the last half hour was a rough, bumpy, dirt road.



The first part of the trip...



The last half hour...
glad we weren't walking!

We were all happy to get to the church! Once there, the people were very friendly. The ladies prepared us breakfast...they made scrambled eggs and corn tortillas! The tortillas were so yummy. They make them by hand and cook them over the fire. (Unfortunately, we had no idea they were cooking or we would have tried to venture into the kitchen to watch.) They told us that all girls know how to cook by the time they're 10 years old! And they don't have stoves like you and I do. It's all over the fire...kind of like camping, but it's every day.

When we were done eating, we entered the church and took our seats. It was kind of different because the men all sat on the right side of the church and the women and children sat on the other side. Another major difference is that although we are in Mexico where most people speak Spanish, here in the town of Tenejapa, they speak tzeltal! When Clay preached in Spanish, another man had to translate the message to tzeltal!

Clay and his tzeltal translator

After church, we went outside to sit in the warm sunshine. Again, we didn't really know what we were waiting for, but the ladies were in cooking again. They served us scrambled eggs and handmade tortillas again for lunch. It was very humbling, knowing that this church was sacrificing the small amount that they had to feed us.

The girls were making necklaces and crowns by
braiding flowers together.

After lunch, we visited two families from the church. We sang and prayed, and then Clay shared a story from the Bible to encourage them. It was a very long day! Not at all like we would experience in the States. We didn't get home that night until 7:15, and then it was time to shower and go to bed!

**We recently read the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, as did our friend Meghan. It's about a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board, but not hurt. He has many adventures while flat, like being flown as a kite and mailed to his friend's house in California for vacation. And that's how we got to have Flat Meghan with us!**

For Love

We finally got to spend our first two nights in our new home in the "village." Really, it's more like a small town, but it's literally at the end of the road. No Walmart in sight. Just lots of rain clouds...

I spent the first two hours in my new home cleaning--sweeping up mouse poop, making a mental note to buy mouse poison, mopping. Scattered amongst that was caring for 3 of the 4 little ones. (The fourth was with Daddy, buying lumber.) Finally I sat down to rest and work on my embroidery project.

It was naptime for Matthew and movie time for Ryan and Ellie...it was quiet.

Well, at least it was quiet in my house.

Outside I heard
     the rain drops dripping on the leaves
          the roosters crowing               a baby crying        the twang of the neighbor's machete
                   from somewhere music was blaring             churchbells ringing    
                               dogs barking              a child's squeal                         birds chirping        

                    All that mixed with the smell of bleach...and roasting coffee.

I had never noticed just how much noise there is in Pine Hill. But I'd also never had the opportunity to just sit and contemplate why I'm here.

In August of 2010, Clay and I took a trip to San Francisco to attend a Mission Expo with our mission board. It was during that weekend conference that we heard about a people group in Southern Mexico who had never heard of the Gospel. God awakened our calling. We always knew, deep down that God was calling us to go to Chiapas, to work with indigenous people. And we were waiting patiently for His timing.

Here we are, two and a half years later. At the "beginning" of the next step of our great Adventure. All because God began a work in us years ago. He gave us a LOVE for His people. A yearning to share with them the Truth.

Pray that God will grow this LOVE in our hearts, that we will be burdened for a lost people, and that He will give us wisdom as we share the Story.

Counting my Blessings

A View of Pine Hill...
pray that God's Word with penetrate the hearts of the ZK people!

     The last few weeks have been so full of blessings that I just had to share. We have seen God answering so many prayers from the last year, and I don't want to overlook all that He has done and is doing...and all that is yet to come!

The lady in front, hugging Ellie...that's one of my Mexican Mamás
from years gone by. And the guy on the far right is my Papá.

 

About 2 weeks ago, I received a message on facebook from a teenager who said she knew Clay and me when we lived in Yajalon, Chiapas in 2001. She sent a picture of me, dressed as a clown, hugging a 5 year old girl...my host sister! We chatted back and forth via internet. Since it's not uncommon for folks to make the 6 hour drive from Yajalon to San Cristobal for shopping, I told her to let us know if they come to the city. A few hours later, she sent a message saying her parents were coming the next day! What a blessing to see Miguel and Oralia...and baby Miguelito, who isn't a baby anymore! (He was only a year old when I lived with them...and now he's almost 13!)

 

 

We took Don Guadalupe and Blanca to the caves
at Rancho Nuevo while they were visiting us.



 

The following weekend, we had visitors from Pine Hill! It was a special treat for Blanca who had never been to San Cristobal. (She is completely enamoured by the kids!) And it was very special for us to be able to host them in our home. 

 

My little monkeys!

Over the past few months, I have prayed that Ryan and Ellie will be best friends. God has been good to me. Yes, they still fight from time to time. But they enjoy being together.

 

 

 

We have been praying for a house in Pine Hill, and God has answered that request too! And it's not "just a house."  It's a house that fulfills all the requests and then some. I felt kind of silly asking people to pray for two bathrooms. But it wasn't too silly for God. This house has two toilets and two showers! (No toilet seats yet, but we can take care of that!) It also has a wonderful, private yard where the kids can play and the dog can run.

 

Does it get any more precious?

My silly Levi

Ryan turned 7 in February!

 



Matthew, just shy of 2 years old.





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.