Work & Fun in March & April

So what’s been going on over the last two and a half weeks?

We enjoyed having David Radlowsky here. He was around for a couple of weeks, learning about the ministry in the area. We went to Puebla, toured a Christian publishing house, and spent time with fellow missionaries Chalo and Beth (including some time downtown with Chalo’s Model T Ford). We also enjoyed visiting some people around Ixtapaluca, and then in Ixtapalapa as well. (Say that five times fast – Ixtapaluca, Ixtapalapa…)

We also finished up our community centre classes for the semester, and had our closing program.

There was a soccer tournament in Las Palmas on the 21st, and then we welcomed our friends Shelene and Alyson here for about a week and a half. We showed them around Ixtapaluca and Mexico City, enjoyed Resurrection Sunday here with our church family, and then headed to Taxco for a few days off with them, where we road cable cars and camels and had various other adventures.

Hannah and Nathanael are continuing with school. We’re struggling to keep up this year, with so many other activities going on. But so far so good.

I’ve been working hard to prepare orientation materials for new missionaries coming to the field. We’re creating packets with resources and requirements for missionaries at various stages, particularly at the beginning of their journey to serve here.

We’ve got some big things coming up this month. A retreat for our Camino missionary team in a little over a week. A visit from Shari’s parents. And – why are they coming again? Oh yes, for Hannah’s 15th birthday party! That will be a big deal. And the weekend after that, a big outreach event – actually four outreach events, over the course of four days!

As usual, we have emerged from cold season and have entered directly into hot season. So within the space of a month we’ve exchanged scarves and gloves for fans and sunscreen.

The practical parts of life are complicated as usual. Lately our water pressure has been turned way down during the day (and other random times), which means either you do laundry when people are trying to sleep, or you don’t do it. And showers are touch and go.

But the big topic of conversation is pollution and new vehicle restrictions. Pollution in Mexico City has improved a lot in 25 years, but it took a down-turn recently. So the government has decided to restrict all vehicles during April, May and June. That means that we can’t drive our van one day a week, and an additional one Saturday a month (that’s 16 days over 3 months).

During that time, they’ll be thinking up new restrictions for the future.

So juggling transportation, and trying to be home when there’s water pressure, does make life interesting.

But right now I need to prepare for next week, get some things ready for the kids’ school, and deal with some practical matters. Talk to you later!