Believe it or not, we are on our way to Canada!  But we’ll only be there a few days.

Since returning to Mexico in November, we’ve been working on issues related to our visas.  A number of things have changed, and so we’ve basically been starting from scratch with a number of documents.

Our work on this has been in some ways a comedy of errors.  Emails didn’t arrive, information was lost, there were meetings about things that don’t concern us and yet impacted some document somewhere, changes in Mexican law…

The work goes on, as we try to get documents from Canada and documents from Mexico and figure out legal issues.

To make a long story short, our visas are expiring and we are required to leave the country – and then come back.

It’s not what we would have chosen.  However, we can see some good things in all this.

First of all, we will be able to briefly visit Shari’s parents and my parents.  Obviously this is not something we are able to do very often!

Secondly, we do have some business to do in Canada, and this may actually save us a trip down the road.  So we’ll try to make the most of our time and deal with some things while we’re there.

Some of the things we’re planning to do should actually save us some money, so thankfully it’s not a 100% drain on the wallet!

As an added bonus, we get to see our Mothers right around Mother’s Day, and the Grandparents get to see the Grandkids right around their birthdays!

So we’re off for a few days.  If you think of it, do pray for us as this will be a challenging trip in many ways.  Also, pray for our visa situation.  We had an encouraging meeting on Monday, and hope that we’ll be able to get the final documents in order very soon.

All right, gotta run.  We have a plane to catch.

A little over a week ago, we went to a local aviary known as "El Nido" (The Nest).  We drive by it all the time, but only recently found out that it’s the third largest aviary in the world!

And I have to admit, it was pretty cool.

So here is some video from El Nido – mostly birds, birds, birds.  But what an amazing variety!

Wow – I just don’t really know what to say about that day – today!  So much happened, it was kind of like a week all packed into a day!

Well, maybe it’s not worth it to go into too much detail.  The kids’ club went well today, as usual.  The children are learning a lot about the Gospel, about Jesus, about the Bible.

Trying bannock at the English Class

I was looking forward to hanging out at the club today, but we discovered that we were out of gas at home and Shari had baking to do in preparation for the big baking class tomorrow.  Our second tank was defective, so I went out to find somewhere to fill the gas – and that led to a stop by the police and other adventures I won’t get into (don’t worry, the police let me go… apparently I hadn’t done anything wrong.  I guess they just wanted to chat…)

In the afternoon the team did a lot of cleaning and construction-related stuff.  (Our word "construction" loosely means anything related to screws, wood, paint and metal – we’re doing a lot of small projects).

The English class this afternoon was a smash-hit – packed out with people from the church and the community.  The team played some games, taught some geography and even made bannock.

After the class we went out for tacos (YUM), and then they team went to do some more socializing (which, without doubt, is a very important reason why they’re here!).

Shari, Hannah and Nathanael were on their way to join us for tacos when Nathanael fell splat onto the pavement.  He had quite a goose egg, and we went to the doctor as a precaution.  But the doctor felt he was fine, and he’s doing well now.  Although I admit he looks a little worse for wear.

So that’s a quick summary of our day – here are a few pictures.  By the way, eventually I’ll upload some high definition pictures into our photo gallery.  Time being limited, I’m just throwing up a few previews here.

Dave plays hopscotch – with all his might!

Parachute game!

I guess it was a bit of a Dave-centric day for pictures – but here’s Dave again, showing everyone a Canadian coin at the English class.

This morning I was preaching at Sendero de Vida Santa Barbara.  It was great to see friends there again!

I was preaching on the last part of Revelation 13 – the "other" beast, and the famous mark of the beast.

It’s been good to take a fresh look at the book of Revelation.  I think one thing that strikes me again and again is the complete lack of middle ground in the visions of the book.  It’s either Jesus or Satan – who are you going to follow?

Follow Jesus, and you may not be able to conduct business.  You’ll miss out on the parties.  You’ll be running for your life.  And you’ll probably die sooner rather than later.

You know, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life*….

Follow Satan, and you’ll have a much better chance at a long life.  Let’s just say, you’ll enjoy the journey much more.  Oh, of course there is that lake of fire at the end of the journey – but it’s not about the destination, is it?

Seriously, go and read it again or for the first time, and you’ll find your heart forced to decide again and again.

I brought Nathanael’s little lamb (pictured) to illustrate the second beast in chapter 13.  After describing the terrifying and powerful first beast, about all we hear about the second is that it has little horns like a lamb.  Awwwww.  Innocent.  Vulnerable.  Approachable.  And deadly.

Anyway, we enjoyed our time with our friends, and met some new friends, and enjoyed some yummy food at Martín and Laura’s home.

I say we – but that’s just the kids and I.  Shari got some sort of stomach bug on Friday – and was very sick that night.  She’s been recovering ever since – basically in bed since then, but today starting to feel a little better.  I imagine she’ll be up and about – at least a little – tomorrow.

* Saw this book mentioned on a missionary’s blog – haven’t read it yet, but the cover image says a lot by itself!

An update on the team coming from Canada in three weeks, family health update, and some news about other things we’ve been up to.  Just a chat on my way home from a meeting.

A popular pastime for kids here is playing with spinning tops, otherwise known as trompos.  This afternoon Nathanael was playing with some boys on the street, while some of us parents watched.  So, I whipped out my iPod and took some video, so you could see it in action.

The idea was to see whose trompo would spin the longest.  But the other boys had a problem – Nathanael is starting to get pretty good.  Even though they tried to get him to start first (so that his was stop spinning first), he kept winning (or almost winning) almost every time…

I had my computer automatically generate a brief video based on video I took at the spiritual emphasis camp that Nathanael and I went to last week – which means the computer chooses the clips and the length of them.  Crude, but quick!  So here are a few glimpses of the camp for you…

Late Saturday afternoon we returned from camp (and were greeted by a hailstorm in Ixtapaluca – go figure!  Just a mild one, though…).  A good time was had by all.

Topp Talk – Chuck and Karla Topp did a great job in the younger kids’ chapels

Nathanael had a great time, and I’m sure he’ll be talking about it for weeks.  Even though he did fall out of the top bunk onto the cement.  And there was that freak swing accident – ***kerTHUMP*** right on his face.  So now when people greet him, they say,"Hi Nathana… what happened to you?!"

But it was fun.  We learnt verses, songs, stories… had great food (I kept asking them when were were going to get the "yucky camp food", but they never served it), played great games (thanks to Tina)… I even got to lead an activity, and help with crafts, and help with the younger boys cabin.

Nathanael was introduced to kick-ball

One thing I noticed about this camp was that there were a lot of bloggers (and former or delinquent bloggers – but we won’t talk about them!) there.  So let me see if I can remember them all, and not get nasty comments from the people I forget.

Helping in the kitchen among other things was The Ice Cream Grandma.  The camp director is the man known by Knowing Your ABCDs.

Since it’s a family blog, I’ll mention The Smith Connection – the kids were at camp, and their parents showed up on the last day.

And we had someone in avoidance of the perfunctory who was also a great counsellor and game-leader.  And we enjoyed getting to know the person who posts about This and That.  The Aguirres helped with the youth chapel.

And, of course, yours truly.

So now we’re home recovering… Nathanael had a slight fever last night, but seems to be feeling better.  And – did I hear a rumour that we’re supposed to check for lice?

I love camp.

The young boys cabin.  Jonathan Baker and I are young boys at heart.

Today (Lord willing) Nathanael and I will be making the long and arduous journey of about 200km (124mi) to Campamento Koinonia (Camp Koinonia).  We’ll be at the camp with a few other missionaries and MKs (well, most of the MKs are missionaries too – but you know what I mean) from CAM (and perhaps the occasional other mission – I think some are coming from Pioneers).

The purpose of the camp – well, apparently it’s somewhat in a state of evolution (and in the State of Querétaro), but it’s mainly for MKs who are homeschooled – and some of their parents – to get together and worship and play and all stuff like that there.

All right, so we’re not 100% clear about what it’s all about.  But we know most of the people who are going and organizing it, and they’re cool, so how can we go wrong?

Tina Barham (the mid-missionary who is running the community centre Centro Cultural Tiempo de Vivir in Jesús María) will be going with us.  She’s going to add her rather considerable camp experience to the venture, and lead some games and stuff.

They tell us it’s going to be cold at night – I believe these are unheated cabins – so we’ll see if we can find something warm enough to wrap ourselves in when we need it!  (Then again, if we were camping somewhere like around Buffalo Narrows, SK, it would be about 18C colder.  Except that the buildings would be heated!)

Shari and Hannah are having their own girls’ camp back home.  They have some neat things planned, so they should have a fun time too.

So – here we go!

So I did it – I took and posted 30 photos in 30 days.  Looking them over, I thought they presented an interesting glimpse into life here.

Of course they didn’t always represent what we were doing on a certain day, though I often talked about that.  But it’s a good mix of ministry, culture, and daily life, over the course of a month in Mexico.  A typically untypical month, I suppose!

So here they are, all together.  Just click the image to go to the post.  If you want to go in order, go down the left column then the right column.

Just for your interest, I put in bold the 5 which have been the most popular so far.

Ismael and Marta		Guilty Pleasure?
The Lime		The Moon at 23%
Prayer Meeting		Arroz con Leche
Sergio and Elizabeth		Joint Service in Santa Barbara
A Sunday Morning in January		Gas!
Half Ollie?		José Teaches (exam night!)
The Growing Community Centre		Yogourt Drinks Galore!
Our Mini Street		Tigers going to Church?
Out to Lunch		Ixtapaluca Monument (and a taco stand)
Terminal 2		Coffee Shop – Grand Opening!
Violin Class		Temporary Meeting Place
Three Guitarists		Our Team (I finally took a picture)
The Captive Child		Freshly Squeezed
Priorities		Volcano Popocatépetl Appears
Pigeons in Puebla		Ixtapaluca at Night