Retro: Board Game Inventor
The beginning of an illustrious career? I don’t know, but on this day ten years ago, Nathanael and Shari were playing a game created by Nathanael himself. I have no idea how to play – maybe he remembers?
Family
Turbulent Times
These have been difficult days for our church. Difficult days drive us to God’s throne in prayer.
An elderly lady recently passed away, after some very difficult final weeks. She didn’t attend our church, but has children and grandchildren and a great-grandchild who do, so her passing affected our church quite a bit.
If you get our email update, you may have been praying with us for our friend who suddenly collapsed two weeks ago, and has not regained consciousness. He is not only a good friend, but a man who has been a key servant to the church. We continue to pray earnestly for him and his family. [Edit: As I was posting this, our brother in Christ Edgar passed away.]
Last week his family and some of his wife’s family came to the service. His daughter and son volunteered to join the worship band, and they helped lead us in praise to God. It was a moving service, as we prayed together for this and many other needs in the congregation.
In the midst of all this, we’re preparing for the 6th anniversary of the church – this Sunday. We’ve simplified the celebration somewhat due to the circumstances, but we’re still looking forward to thanking God for His faithfulness over the past few years.
(The photo above is from the music time last week – Rod is leading, and you can see Nathanael on the ukulele to the right. The banner in behind is actually from last year’s anniversary service, with text from Exodus 6:7 – “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God”. We’re just finishing our study of Exodus now, seeing the fulfillment of this promise in the book, and the application for us.)
You may have also been praying for our fellow missionary Chalo, who was in the hospital. He’s doing much better, and we were able to visit him last week. He’s home and already working, although he probably should be resting some more! 🙂
In the mundane of our own lives, this has also been a strange time. Without going into details, we’ve had some doctor’s visits. And as I mentioned in the last podcast, we went on an overnight trip to get Nathanael’s visa, only to find that the person who needed to complete the process wasn’t at the office! So this past week we made the trek again, and this time – success! Thanks for your prayers.
So in the end, the last few weeks have included a lot of unusual travel and appointments. It makes it hard to keep up with regular work (including Nathanael’s school). On the bright side, we’ve enjoyed some good family time together in the midst of it all. The “unusualness” will probably continue for the next couple of weeks, as we have at least one more appointment, the anniversary service, a wedding, rather urgent van maintenance…
So we appreciate your prayers as we navigate these turbulent times; that we would have the strength to deal with the “mundane” and still to be a light and an encouragement to others. I guess that’s a good prayer request for us all, isn’t it?
Full Days
I’m sorry I haven’t been writing here more, but we’ve been trying to catch up on a number of things, as I mentioned earlier.
But that’s not to say that nothing has been happening!
For example, one Sunday this chicken ended up on the church property. (No, this has nothing to do with Church’s Texas Chicken.) It did get out alive, you’ll be glad to hear (although there was some talk about wanting to illustrate the burnt offerings in Exodus). (Many of us may or may not have been inspired to have some yummy chicken dinners, though…)
For example, the last class of the Church History course was completed, with certificates being handed out. These are currently being given under our “civil association”. That’s how our community centre is recognized by the government.
This last class marked the end of three years of classes, with four churches involved, covering five college-level courses. We will likely be continuing with something in the new year, but we’re not sure yet what that will look like. We would like to do some more pastorally-focused courses (such as a preaching class), but I’m sure there are others who would like to continue their education as well, so we’ll see.
Shari and Nathanael enjoyed some time with other missionaries to Mexico at the annual InterMission Conference. What happened to Jim? Well, he was a little sick and so decided to sit this one out. Thankfully, it was a quick recovery.
Last Sunday I spent some time with some of the leaders of the churches in the Mexico City area. We’re hoping to restart having some meetings and activities on a regular basis, starting in the New Year. It was great to see some familiar faces and share and pray together.
Services and studies continue, of course. I won’t speak for everyone, but I’ve really enjoyed our study of Exodus! Lord willing we’ll be finishing our study in November, after more than a year. Right now we’re talking about the priests – their special clothes and their consecration.
Shari was teaching Sunday School last week. Look – rainbows! As you might guess, they were in Genesis 9. A wonderful testimony of the mercy of God in the face of our sin. They’re going through the Generations of Grace curriculum, which takes them right through the Bible.
Tonight there’s a men’s Bible study, which Rod is leading (Rod and Mayra are back from some travelling in the US and Mexico over the past 6 weeks). And tomorrow I’ll be leading the music in the service. Nathanael often helps out with the music on the uke.
And meanwhile, we’re trying to get some personal things done – some fixes around the house (our internet is still suffering, but a lot better than it was!) – Nathanael catching up with school – some doctor’s appointments – and working toward Nathanael’s new permanent residence visa. (Yes, he already has a “permanent” visa, but because he got it before he was an adult he needs to renew it once to get his adult version.)
There’s lots of planning going on as well. We’re already looking toward next year and what will be happening in the church. But more immediate is our church’s 6th anniversary – on the 6th of November! Lord willing I’ll be able to show you some pictures – maybe even some video, if I’m on the ball.
Thanks for your prayers!
Retro: The Castle
Ten years ago today, Nathanael finished building a castle.
No, really. In fact, he even moulded all the bricks himself!
This was a very cool castle from a kit. I’m not sure they’re still making it, but I can see there are currently some on eBay. Recommended, if you can find one. But it does take time, because each brick has to be moulded and dried before you can start building.
More pictures here, although the hi-res versions are not online.
Retro: Las Mexicanas
Ten years ago today, in the community of Jesús María, we were having a big Independence Day celebration! There were all kinds of activities and carnival-type games. Even a contest to see who could eat the most hot peppers (“Who is most ‘Mexican'”?).
Here’s one of the pictures from the day – two lovely Mexican ladies… Cathy Fry and Hannah Cottrill!
(Actually, you can see a video of the activities right here – Independence Day Fiesta 2012!)
Ontario Tour: Accomplished!
It wasn’t a surprise when the flight was cancelled. We had already heard lots of horror stories about travel in Canada – and around the world.
So we were flying from Mexico City to Vancouver, and then Vancouver to Calgary. The cancelled flight was the second one. But the new flight that we were assigned to was only 1 hour later. And once we arrived in Vancouver, we realized that we actually needed that extra time to catch our next flight. God is good.
In fact, a verse was going through my mind during our time in Canada – the words of Joseph to his brothers: “…you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20). There is so much going on that is intended for evil – but we saw God use these things for our good. We don’t always see how God is working, but this summer He allowed us a few glimpses.
That being said, we certainly saw for ourselves how difficult travel is becoming. But God allowed us to make the trip!
We went to Alberta first to spend some time with family, and to take care of a few practical matters. And, of course, to actually plan our trip, which happened very last minute!
We enjoyed a week off, all four of us, which was a real blessing!
And then we had a time of ministry in Ontario, travelling as far south as Dunnville and as far north as Moosonee.
We’ve never had a tour quite like it, for several reasons. For example, we were able to see firsthand how much Canada has changed in two years. Drastic changes. And we were able to talk to all kinds of people – from many walks of life, many contexts, two provinces, believers and unbelievers, old and young, people from all over the world (we used a lot of Spanish!). And we were able to hear their stories.
What kind of stories? Well, first of all, Christians especially can see how quickly the culture around them is falling, and they see what’s coming. They may not agree on all the details, but they can see what’s happening to some degree. They are also personally experiencing the results of their community’s active rejection of Christ. Families are being attacked and destroyed. Churches are being torn apart. Jobs are being lost. Resources disappearing.
But once again, we saw God’s Hand. Although we heard a lot of sorrow and concern, we also heard people sharing the gospel. People finding new ways to reach out and help others. People getting on their knees and calling out to the Lord. People being faithful. What an encouragement!
I just went through some notes and pictures from our trip, and I’m amazed again at the number of activities and visits that we packed in, the experiences we had, and the variety of people we saw and/or talked to. And, of course, an important part of our trip was reporting on our ministry to our supporters, and serving them where we could. And we will certainly continue praying about some specific needs we heard about.
We’ve only been home for just over a week, although it seems longer! I think I’m still “debriefing” in my mind, and we’re still dealing not only with things that relate to our trip, but also things that we intended to do over the summer (originally thinking that we would be here in Mexico), and with our re-integration into ministry here. We’ve essentially been disconnected since we left for the conference in Panama on the 7th of June. There’s lots to talk about, but I’ll stop there for now!
