Prayer and Praise
Answered Prayers
Thanks for your prayers for Nathanael! He slept very late this morning, and is feeling a lot better today. Rod and Mayra’s son Daniel was in school today, and I haven’t heard the latest about their son David.
If you’re talking to God, be sure to thank Him! And pray that we’ll all be feeling well enough to go to Texcoco and Mexico City tomorrow and Thursday. We’ll be visiting Rollie and Jo Ann Smith in Texcoco, and then heading downtown to visit El Museo Nacional de AntropologÃa (the National Anthropological Museum) (as a part of our Orientation Year requirements). Hannah and Nathanael are looking forward to staying overnight at the Smith’s.
Tonight, Lord willing, I’ll be leading our weekly prayer meeting. Please pray with us that we would learn to trust the Lord more, and that He would do great things here in Ixtapaluca.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1Jo 5:13-15)
Praying for sick kids
I mentioned in a previous post that we need to be praying for sick kids. It seems like, between Martín and Laura’s family, Rod and Mayra’s family, and ours, that we can’t keep a full set in school!
Rod and Mayra’s two sons were out of school yesterday (just when their daughter finally made it back). Martín and Laura’s kids were both there yesterday, though Martin was telling me the whole family had been taking turns sick.
And, if you’ll notice the time – it’s 1:26am and I was just up with Nathanael, who has a fever again.
There have been some pretty nasty bugs going around, though it doesn’t seem like it’s been all one thing.
Anyway, do be in prayer for us – for everyone’s health, and also that we will trust the Lord and not be discouraged. Psalm 86:15-17
A Kind Man, a Coat, and some Kids
On Friday morning Shari rushed out the door with Nathanael, a couple of books, packages of mini-M&Ms and children’s band-aids.
She picked up Ceci and Abraham, and they all headed to school. Unfortunately, Ceci, a nice little girl a year younger than Nathanael, was feeling rather poorly on the way. Let’s just say her breakfast didn’t provide her with much nourishment that day.
So instead of calmly gliding into the school, Shari came breezing in with lots on her mind. Ceci claimed to be feeling better, so she went to her class, Abraham went to his, and Shari went with Nathanael.
Almost every week, some parent comes in to read a story to the children. This was Shari’s turn.
The stories were the good Samaritan and the story of Joseph and his special coat.
The children paid attention to these stories that Shari said were really true stories from the Bible. At the end, she gave them each M&Ms (to remember Joseph’s coat, which some translators believe was colourful) and a band-aid (to remember to help someone else, as the Samaritan did).
After, Shari took Ceci home, because her teacher felt that she wasn’t doing so great.
The moral of the story?
- Praise the Lord for the freedom we have to be able to go into a school and teach Bible stories!
- Please pray for the many children who are sick around here right now.
Power and Light in Cuernavaca
This past weekend we went to Cuernavaca to visit some friends and to spend a little time as a family.
 A New Testament, and the Teachings of Buddha |
We stayed in a hotel this trip. Take a look at what I found in the drawer! Now you can take your pick between Jesus and Buddha (apparently Buddha had a lot more to say – thicker book!).
On Saturday we went to visit David, Lety, Giselle and Ricardo at their house (which they moved into since we last visited them). In the afternoon we saw Osvaldo, Vero and Pamela (their son Ivan was gone to 6 Flags with the church youth).
The Cottrills with David, Lety and family
These are two families that we haven’t been able to see since we moved away, so it was great to spend some time with them and to hear what God has been doing.
 Shari and the kids with Osvaldo, Vero and daughter Pamela |
On Sunday morning we went to our old church Iglesia Biblica El Renuevo. It was great to worship with a bunch of our friends there. Unfortunately, the service started an hour later than we expected, so our time was short at the end (since we had an appointment with someone else for lunch). So we weren’t able to talk to people as much as we wanted (an no pictures!).
In the afternoon we met up with our former landlords, Lisandro and Lupita, and their son Luis Mario.
Some of you may remember some trouble we had with our electric bills back in Cuernavaca. After several months, our bills suddenly jumped to several times the normal amount. Well, Lupita went into the office of the power and lights company (Fuerza y Luz) and eventually got it all straightened out.
But after we left, our last bill came – and this time it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2600 (Canadian equivelant)! That would be for two months, and unless we were running our own amusement park in the backyard, that’s not right!
So, Lupita started her visits to the office again, graciously trying to help us out.
Later in the summer, though, she had more motivation. The next bill was well over $5500 dollars – and no one had been living in the house!
Pretty soon she was meeting with a lawyer and the people at Fuerza y Luz to try to get it all straightened out.
Some expenses are high here in Mexico, but electricity is not that high!
Anyway, she has another appointment in April, so we all would appreciate your prayers that she can get the mess worked out and that the correct amount is charged to her and us.
Anyway, we had a good visit with them, and came home that night.
We would appreciate your continued prayers for all our friends in Cuernavaca, as they face many challenges.
Shari and the kids with Lisandro and Lupita, and son Mario (left)
Click the people pictures to see the photo in our photo gallery.
Ixtapaluca makes the News
There certainly hasn’t been a lot of good news coming out of Mexico in the last few weeks, so it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that when Ixtapaluca makes the news, it’s not good.
Our Municipal President (ie the head guy in Ixtapaluca), Mario Moreno Conrado, was arrested yesterday outside of his home here in Ixtapaluca. He’s under investigation by SIEDO, an official organization that monitors organized crime. Though I haven’t heard official reports, it sounds like the arrest was made due to links with organized crime such as kidnappings and drug trafficking.
Just another reminder to pray for Mexico, the leadership here, and the church here.