Prayer and Praise
September is not a boring month (in case you didn’t know)
We haven’t been bored, no. But as a result, I haven’t had much time to write! So far, September has been a full month. So let me just give you a quick update.
We’ve enjoyed some time with friends here in Ixtapaluca, though not as much time as we would like. For example, we were over at Martin and Laura’s home last week to get a glimpse of Mexican culture watching the 1947 movie Nosotros los Pobres (We the Poor).
The National Palace
Last week we fulfilled some of the requirements of our Orientation Year with a visit to downtown Mexico City.
 The building was packed for the church party |
I have lots of pictures of video to show you of that, so stay tuned. We visited the Latin American Tower, spent some time in the world’s second largest city square, and saw the world famous Ballet Folklórico. Our friends Rollie and JoAnn Smith were kind enough to let our kids sleep over at their house. 🙂
This past weekend was full of Independence Day celebrations (the actual day was the 16th). So Hannah and Nathanael got to dress up at school, and we all dressed up for a party on the 14th. Firecrackers, tacos, music, games – lots of fun! Pictures to follow. 😉
We also had our kitchen installed this month! That’s right,
 The carpenters install the kitchen |
we now have cupboards and counters. We’re still waiting on the table and chairs, and one more cabinet for the kitchen. And the drain isn’t hooked up yet. So, soon we’ll actually have most of our bins unpacked (in theory)! Praise the Lord!
On Monday we went with the Frys and our friends Crystal and Alberto to a zooish kind of place nearby. Lots of fun there. You guessed it – pictures are forthcoming.
Today we’re heading out again to spend the weekend in Querétaro with our friends Bryan and Lori Smith. We’re hoping to learn a little about the ministry there (this is also a requirement for our Orientation Year, though we’re happy for any excuse to visit the Smiths). We get home Sunday night, and then head the next morning to a one day retreat for our co-workers in the Mexico City area. I’ll be leading some music worship there.
Wow, I didn’t realize how crazy September has been until I wrote that. It pays to post once in a while!
In case you haven’t seen enough, here’s a quick video of music practice from last Sunday, courtesy of Rod Fry. Really, I was having a lot more fun than I look like I was having! 😛
When vans are boosted and cables are tightened
Last you heard about our van, I was sitting waiting for the van-mechanic-electrician guy. He was going to look over our van and find out why it wasn’t starting. Well, it’s time for a bit of an update.
He didn’t ever show up that day (when I was there, anyway). So, I went again the next day. I left the van there all day, and went to see how it was going in the evening (I think it’s about a 20-25 minute walk from our house). "The battery acid is a little low", he said. "Just buy this kind of acid and add some".
Well, excuse my scepticism, but . . . well, let’s just say I had reason to be unsure about his diagnosis.
Meanwhile, the Fry family was having trouble with their almost-identical van. It wasn’t charging properly. So, I was off the next day to boost their van with our van which, for the moment, was working. We got their van home with only 3 boosts (here’s a picture of one of the boosts right at the entrance of their neighbourhood, with Rod chatting with the security guard).
His problem, I believe, was an alternator. It’s fixed now.
After visiting 3 mechanic shops and feeling no closer to an answer, I was losing my faith in the specialists of the world. Watching how it was acting, I continued to revise my opinion of what the problem was.
To bring you up to date, on Friday I decided to take a look in the engine myself. I cleaned and reconnected everything I could lay my hands on. And so far… so far it’s working like nothing was ever wrong.
So who knows? I may be out looking for a mechanic later today. Or, maybe by some miracle I fixed the problem. Time will tell.
Meetings and update on Claudia
This evening I was over at Alberto and Claudia‘s house with a few friends. She is home now, and looking well (especially considering all she’s been through the last few days – here’s the back story).
She was sitting up and in the middle of a good Mexican welcome home party. 🙂
Thanks for your continued prayers for Claudia and her family. We praise the Lord that she’s home, but the treatment will be continuing. What lies ahead remains to be seen.
We enjoyed a bit of a personal planning meeting for the coming year with Rod this past week. We still have a lot to discuss, but we’re starting to get more of a picture of what will be happening in the year ahead (stay tuned!).
This went together with a brainstorming and planning meeting I went to for the church on … when was that? The week is a bit of a blur. Well, some evening this past week. I tried to mostly listen and learn, but it’s so great to hear the vision for planting new churches in the future, the vision for outreach to the community, and growth among the believers. There will be lots of great things coming up!
Thanks to those who have been praying this week. Now on to next week….
Please pray for Claudia
Just wanted to stop by to ask you to pray for a friend in our church named Claudia. Here’s the news from Rod Fry’s blog:
Yesterday after a biopsy it was confirmed that the lump that Claudia noticed in the last several months in her chest is malignant. She is scheduled to have a mastectomy either tomorrow or Friday. This news has come as quite a shock to the family and church family. Alberto and Claudia are a key family in the church; Alberto plays guitar during worship and Claudia teaches Sunday school. They have two daughters, Noemi is 7 and Karla is 5.
Not only do Alberto and Claudia do an excellent job in the church, they have already been an encouragement to us personally. Please do pray for her and the family.
More on mastectomies – a summary here, and more detail here. See a picture of Claudia and her family at Rod’s blog, In the Shadow of Volcanos.