Before the concert
A quick video I took tonight to show you the venue of the concert, where our Christmas drama will also take place next week.
Ministry glimpses
A Day in the Life of a First Term Missionary
It could have been a day in the life of any missionary, but because of the confusion that the day started out with, I thought I’d add "first term" in there.
Moving Instruments
You may know if you’ve been in our photo gallery that there has been some construction going on in the building where our church meets. Basically they knocked out a room so they could expand the main meeting area. At the moment, there’s quite a mess, and part of the roof is gone.
I thought we wouldn’t be meeting there on Sunday. That’s what I thought I was told. But I was asked to come early (8am) with the van to move instruments.
I got to the church and some people were there cleaning. Surely, we’re not going to meet here, I thought. But I went with Miguel to go and pick up the instruments and sound system.
Sure enough, we were going to meet at the church. We carried the speakers to the door, Miguel first, but he came back and said something along the lines of,"Ummmm… I think we won’t take these in yet."
I peeked in the door, and decided to agree with Miguel. Water was pouring from everywhere. It was cascading down the steps. It was pouring through the light fixture in the ceiling. It was dripping from various parts of the ceiling. And it was, of course, all over the floor, flooded.
A building half in construction, with rubble everywhere, dirt, and now a flood, isn’t the best place for sound equipment. "I know everything is possible in Mexico," I told Miguel,"but I’m starting to lose faith that we’ll have our service here!" I was joking. Mostly.
What had happened was that people were trying to clean upstairs. Because it’s basically a construction zone now, they just took a hose to it – a lot of water —- !
Miguel quickly checked to make sure the electricity was turned off. I was dressed in a nice suit, because I knew I wouldn’t have time to change all day. But I grabbed a broom and started sweeping the water out. Of course, the floor was sloped away from the door, so everytime you swept it toward the door, it came back.
Music Practice
Eventually, although the floor was of course still wet upstairs, we had it dry enough to bring up the equipment. But needless to say, we were a little late starting our music practice.
Music practice went fine, although there were several songs I didn’t know, so it was pretty short for me. But we were already running 20 minutes into what was supposed to be a drama practice.
Drama Practice
I got everyone together for the drama practice, only to realize almost half the cast was missing. So we talked about possible practice times for the following week, and then I got them started going over some scenes as well as I could.
Unfortunately, I had the van, and I had to pick up Shari, Hannah and Nathanael after the practice and before the service (since I was playing keyboard in the service). So I had to leave the drama practice early, pick up everyone, and get back in time to play. I was technically late for the service, but the service was late too, so no problem there.
Sunday Service
The new setup of the meeting room resulted in a session of musical chairs at the beginning, but everything got straightened out eventually. I played as well as I could (9 fingers – one was sore for some reason), and right after worship Shari and I headed out (a family from the church was watching our kids for the afternoon and evening).
Appreciation Dinner
 Jo Ann, Rollie and Shari serving ponche |
We rushed home, loaded up, and headed north to the Cena de Aprecio, the appreciation dinner for Christian leaders in CAM related churches in the Mexico City area. The trip went really well, and we arrived in good time to get set up.
The CAM missionaries were serving the tables, among other things. Our job was to serve ponche to people coming in (a delicious hot drink of Christmastime in Mexico), and later serve coffee.
All was going well, until the middle of the program when we tried to heat the water. We had three coffee makers – two for coffee and one for tea. We plugged them in and they started to heat up – and out went all the lights.
The good news is that earlier that day someone had rewired things so that the front area and the back (the kitchen and bathrooms) were on separate fuses. So for the most part we were able to keep the lights on in the meeting area.
But as we kept shuffling things, the power kept going off and on in the back. I’m not sure how they finished making the meal and how we finished making the coffee, but somehow it all worked out.
 Mauricio Perez, speaker at the dinner |
After all, todo es posible en México (everything is possible in Mexico).
The dinner was a success as far as I could see. Christian leaders who often feel very alone in the work got to see that there are others serving the Lord. A challenging message was given. We got to know a few people and see some old friends. And God very clearly got the glory for it all.
We were disappointed not to see our friends from Cuernavaca, two of whom were supposed to be at our table. We’re praying for the church in Cuernavaca, and hope we can see them again soon.
After hauling sound systems, cleaning up a flood, practising music, leading a drama practice, playing the keyboard in the service, packing up, and serving at the dinner, you might think I would be tired.
You would be right!
Not sure how we made it home, but we got back before 1am and thanked Paco and Lety for watching our kids. Then we went to bed, still able to get a few hour’s sleep before getting up just after 6am today…
Sunday was a good day. I’m sure we could use a lot of other words to describe it, but let’s just stop there. 😉
Good things happening…
There’s a lot of good news to report. Here’s a sampling:
- On the 24th of November, two friends of ours were in an accident. Alejandro and David were heading out from Ixtapaluca into Mexico City. Coming over the hill and around the corner, Alejandro saw totally stopped traffic and hit the brakes. The brakes didn’t respond right away, and then locked, sending them into the concrete divider. The van spun around, then tipped onto the driver’s side.
You would think they would have hit other vehicles, that another vehicle would have hit them from behind, and that they would be pretty hurt. Amazingly, none of that happened. Some other men helped them get the van up again, and when the police and ambulance drivers came asking where the accident was, David joked that it must have been further up the road!
The people of our church are thanking God for His protection in a situation which could have been far worse. Read more in Rod’s post Miracle Crash.
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It’s been "Canadians month" around here. Canadians are creatures we very rarely see, but this month you may remember we enjoyed a visit from the Knightly family, and were also able to see the Lidstones in Cuernavaca.
On Wednesday our friends the Neufelds came to visit. Greg and Shelli are Canadians living in Hermosillo, Mexico (waaaaaay up in the northern desert). You can visit the Neufeld’s website here.
It was in part a celebration of an anniversary. 15 years ago in November, a team known as Friends & Followers (Amigos y Seguidores) arrived in Mexico. Shelli, Shari and I and 7 others were on that team, and we spent 5 months in Mexico, including some time with Rod Fry.
We went out to eat at a restaurant called Espartacos, and had a delicious meal and a great time, although it was far too short. But it was great to see them, and also our friend Antonio Muñoz who came along for the ride from Mexico City.
- I already told you that our upstairs leak was fixed – we’re very thankful for that!
- Recently I got together with some men from the church as we talked about the vision for the activities in Christmas, leadership in many areas of service, and vision for making disciples and seeing new churches in areas nearby. Its wonderful to see the Lord planting creativity and excitement for His work in the hearts of people here. The next few months will be important both for us personally and the work here in Ixtapaluca as many plans are made.
Where we are in the (cool) Magazine
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So we got this cool magazine via the CAM express mail service. You might have seen one in your mailbox, or maybe on your church’s magazine rack.
But did you know that we’re in it?
All right, not us exactly, but the ministry here in Ixtapaluca is in it. And even if you don’t have a copy of the (cool) magazine, you can visit the Christmas at CAM website to see all the same stuff online!
This is one of those (cool) magazines for people that like to give to a ministry over the holidays, or give something in honour of someone. There are a lot of very specific things that you can give. After all, it’s only one month until Christmas.
For example, here’s the entry for the Ixtapaluca Church and Ministry Center (I was just there, actually). It tells you a bit about our group of believers here and the facility we’re using.
There are probably some other things in there related to us… for example you can give a gift toward Convocation, the big event all CAM missionaries will be attending in the summer of 2009 (or, of course, you could give toward our personal support and help us pay for the gas to get there!). 😉
(Edit: the day after I published this post, we got the news that Convocation was going to be postponed until 2011 due to financial concerns. So the link to the Convocation donations page is no longer available. Of course you’re still welcome to give toward our account – at the moment it would be a huge help with all the house setup we have had to do.)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that there is a personal connection in that magazine, and lots of other interesting ways you can give toward the work that’s being done in many strategic ministries.
Guide to December Activities
It’s high time we gave you an overview of December’s activities! If you’ve received our November newsletter, you will have read an overview, but I’ll try to give you some more in-depth information here. (By the way, if you don’t get our quarterly newsletter, you can sign up here)
The early days
On the 1st of December we’ll be finishing our CAM Mexico conference in FortÃn de las Flores (it’s at the same place it was last year). When we get back, we’ll be swept up in getting ready for Christmas activities – drama practices, getting costumes for the kids, all that. But more about that later (actually, we’re not sure what’s happening at Hannah’s school yet… no doubt something’s happening around the 19th).
Cena de Aprecio
The cena de aprecio is an appreciation dinner given by the CAM Mexico missionaries for Christian leaders in the related churches in Mexico. It’s on the 7th of December at a church facility north of Mexico City. Shari and I will be attending and helping out here and there.
Concerts and such
On the 13th of December, a team of 19 is planning to arrive in Ixtapaluca. They are from Woodside Bible Church in Troy, Michigan USA. The team includes a worship band from Lighthouse Collective, a ministry of the church. We’re going to let them have a night of rest before their BIG concert the next day!
Our church community, along with other believers in the area and the team from Troy will be involved in a whole bunch of activities in the following 8 days. Here’s the promo for the first concert:
Luis Penieres will be doing the comedy act for the evening, and Laura Guazà is a recording artist originally from Columbia, who now lives here. So with the both of them and Lighthouse Collective, it will be quite an evening!
Many of these activities will be at Plaza Cortijo (the "WalMart plaza") here in Ixtapaluca. They’re celebrating both Christmas and their 2nd anniversary, so we’ll be providing a great deal of the entertainment. 🙂
Through the following week, the team will be helping with music classes and English classes along with businesses at the plaza. On the 17th-19th, the team will be providing instrumental music at the plaza.
On Friday the 19th [this is an edit – originally it was the 20th], there will be a massive concert in front of the building where our church meets. We have permission to block off the street from 6pm until midnight. It’s going to be crazy. Brace yourself.
Throughout this time I’ll be chauffeuring the people involved all over Ixtapaluca, and trying to make sure the musicians have what they need.
Year-end for the kids
This will be the last week of school for Hannah and Nathanael. We don’t yet know what fiestas will be going on, but Nathanael does have a Christmas program at 5pm on the 19th. He’s got a Santa Claus suit just for the occasion, and apparently the school will be providing a hat with lights. No doubt it will be a busy but fun week for Hannah and Nathanael.
Pastorela
A pastorela is a traditional Christmas play. This year at the plaza, the pastorela will be presented by – the people of our church! Hence all the drama practices – at the moment, we’re doing a few each week. Time is short. The drama is being presented Sunday the 21st.
In the drama, a normal Joe … er … José. Actually, Pedro. A normal Pedro from Ixtapaluca discovers the real story of the birth of Jesus along with his family. So we see both the modern family and the actual biblical story. (If you want to read one of the monologues in Spanish, click here.)
I’m going to the practices and giving recommendations on the acting and staging and so forth.
Holidays
This year Shari’s parents will be coming from Canada to celebrate the holiday season. The team from Troy leaves on the 22nd, and Shari’s parents arrive the next day. They’re here until the middle of January. So we’ll be celebrating Christmas and Boxing Day and New Years and Three Kings Day with them. Et cetera. The Frys will also be here, so we’re talking about doing something with them too (do you think we’ll have 5 minutes between now and then to talk about it? Probably not.).
So now you know almost as much as we do about our December activities. Reading between the lines, you can see there are some incredible opportunities here. Connecting with people at the schools, and with people in the community. I’m guessing there will be other events that we don’t know about yet. There will be presentations at the plaza introducing people to the story of Jesus – His coming, and why He came. So we would all appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we continue to serve in this corner of Mexico City.
Our weekend in Cuernavaca
This past weekend we went to Cuernavaca to visit some friends and to fulfill a promise. We had promised that we would come back to the church to sing one more time.
Cuernavaca is different from Ixtapaluca. We were reminded of this as soon as we all got out of the van, and Nathanael found and killed a scorpion. 🙂
But of course the upside is the beautiful climate in Cuernavaca, as compared to Mexico City. Here at home we’re constantly trying to make sure our kids are wearing sweaters and jackets. On Sunday in Cuernavaca the kids grabbed bathing suits from their suitcases and ran around in the yard with those on and nothing else (ok, shoes too. Remember the scorpians).
But the highlight was seeing so many old friends. We had a great time with Kim and Gary Lidstone, who are here from Canada continuing with ministry and language learning for the next few months.
Unfortunately, I had a pretty bad migraine attack on Saturday, so the day is kind of a blur. I kept going for the most part, but I’m not sure what I did.
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We did a little shopping – there are things we can get in Cuernavaca that we can’t seem to find here, so we loaded up. Of course, Hannah and Nathanael don’t have much patience for shopping, so that was a little rough.
While in COSTCO, I was pushing the cart in the juice isle, and Nathanael reached up and grabbed a crate of grapefruit juice. Huge jugs of juice hurtled to the floor and burst open, on my shoes, pants, and all over the floor.
A COSTCO employee rushed up,"Oh, don’t worry about it! It was just an accident! Don’t worry, we’ll get it cleaned up…."
I’m not so sure if it was an accident, and I was going to offer to pay. But then I realized that the juice was rancid – the poisonous gases were rising from the floor, and I decided we had probably done a fellow shopper a favour.
Of course, on Sunday morning we went to Iglesia Bíblica El Renuevo. We saw so many friendly familiar faces. We sang two songs, which went all right I think (not so sure about my commentary before and between the songs, but that’s another story).
Afterwards we enjoyed catching up with people, hearing about their struggles and hearing about upcoming ministry. We were very sorry to miss some good friends who weren’t there, and to hear about the struggles one couple in particular have been going through (I won’t embarrass anyone by mentioning names, but we would appreciate your prayers).
We were also sorry to miss our former landlords, Lisandro and Lupita. We didn’t realize it when we planned to go, but this was a long weekend (for Revolution Day), and so a lot of people were travelling.
We got home late last night after going through some unusual traffic. Some of the things we saw while travelling back reminded me to thank you for your prayers for our safety on the road.
Thanks for your prayers for us, our sharing of God’s love, our safety, and our friends and the challenges they face.
About the picture: We went to Hannah and Nathanael’s favourite restaurant, Don Pollo. There was a clown there that made balloon art for each of them – and here he is, after making Hannah’s butterfly.