A very practical message; for anyone, but especially those in “full time ministry”: Autopsy of a Moral Fall (video) ow.ly/TKEO308LpNU (8 February 2017)
So far this week has been dominated by paperwork. But every once in a while, that’s just the way it has to be.
Most of it has been a matter of getting documents together for my visa process. That has meant a lot of emailing, printing, signing, packages being sent here and there, talks on the phone, visits to banks to take out money and pay this and that.
In fact, this morning I visited 6 bank machines before I found one that (sort of) worked.
No calls from the licence plate place yet, but it’s kind of irrelevant at the moment, because I don’t have the documents I would need – they’re all tied up in the visa process now.
In spite of some issues, I think the paperwork is ready to be submitted, and we can pray that the process will be finished quickly! Then we can get back to the licence plates, and have a bit of a reprieve before the rest of the family starts their visa paperwork in later in the year.
This weekend we had the privilege of having Shelli (Corina) Neufeld in Ixtapaluca for a few days. Shelli and her family have served for many years as missionaries in Hermosillo, Mexico. But in fact, during our first visit to Mexico, Shelli was with us – a part of our team that served in Mexico City and Apatzingan many years ago.
Practical teaching at the children’s ministry conferenceOn Saturday the church in Jesús MarÃa hosted a children’s ministry seminar, with Shelli as the conference speaker. Four churches were represented. Shari (don’t get mixed up, now – I realize we’ve got a Shari and a Shelli in the same post!) went to a lot of work organizing the conference.
Well, Shelli’s teaching was pure gold – so many tips for teaching children (and, in fact, teens and adults too)! We heard some excellent feedback from those who attended. So after all the hard work, we’re very encouraged that there will be a positive impact on the method of teaching God’s Word in several churches.
On Sunday, at our church in Las Palmas, Shelli worked with several of those who normally teach. They put into practice much of what they learned on Saturday on Sunday.
Speaking of which, here’s Hannah teaching the craft of the day.
Shelli also shared her testimony on Sunday morning.
So, it was a good weekend. We struggled a little because – well, we thought we were getting over whatever bug it was that we had, but apparently we either got a new one or the other one wasn’t quite finished. So Shari and I were working at significantly lower-than-normal energy. But God worked in spite of that all.
So, thanks, Shelli, for joining us! And thanks to everyone who was praying for the weekend. To God be the glory!
Seriously, if you don’t want another update on our quest to get licence plates, just move along.
You’re still here? It’s a short story anyway. I went today for my fourth visit to the applicable office, and spoke to four people there, including one new person who took some of the paperwork that I had brought, made some copies, and took my phone number. “We’ll call you in one to two weeks.”
So, what else could I do but walk home.
One to two weeks may be optimistic, depending on where our visa paperwork is at by then, so – the bottom line is, we will continue to have no vehicle to drive for a while.
As always, these things are a part of God’s good plan, as frustrating as they may seem at the time. And I look forward to having some time in which I’m not waiting in line yet again at the same place!
Yesterday I joined the long line, almost an hour before opening time. Within a couple of hours, I had reached the front door, and Mayra joined me.
Before actually getting into the line to request the plates, we talked to the man at the information desk. He looked at our papers, and told us that we could use a couple copies. Also, we needed to go to a stationary store, get a magical form, fill it out, and the magical form would allow us to get the plates.
So, playing a little real-life Frogger, we dashed across the highway, got the magical form, dashed back across, filled it out, and were permitted to take a number and join the indoor line, where we could wait in cushy seats.
Finally we spoke to the man with the power, who shuffled through our paperwork and entered the information about the van into the computer.Oh dear! It appears that we won’t be able to help you today, sir.
Hmmmmm…. can’t give you plates today. You see…. [a) excuse about the computer system] and [b) excuse about personnel available today]. But come back Thursday, and everything will be rainbows, tulips and unicorns.
So we left – me, feeling very bad for Mayra who had spent all this time on a process that wasn’t hers – to no avail.
Here we are again – the most popular posts from the last 90 days. A couple retro posts (from 10 years ago), but otherwise they should give you an idea of some of the things we’ve been up to. The three posts in bold were the most popular overall.
Shelli also shared her testimony on Sunday morning.
