Just a little video blog about July. Just a note – when you see the sports club, you’re just seeing a few of the girls play (guys and girls were switching off). Today they had a lot more people – I think there were … I forget already … 10 or 20 guys there that participated and heard the Gospel. Praise the Lord!
Two days ago I sent out an email update (if you don’t get those, you can request them here) requesting prayer for a little girl, whose name is Kaitlyn. Here’s what I wrote in the update:
First, a prayer request for some of our co-workers here in Mexico. I decided not to write about it on our website because things are happening very fast, and I want to protect the family’s privacy until they have a chance to inform their family and friends.
On the 30th of June, it was discovered that the 4 year old daughter of a missionary family has a tumour on the brain. Her Dad was out of the country, so her Mom was dealing with this without him. After talking to the doctors they decided to take her to Portand, OR right away.
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Yesterday, on the way to the airport, they got word from the neuro-surgeon that she should NOT fly in her condition. So they turned around and came home.
Now she is having surgery at 6pm in Puebla, Mexico – that’s RIGHT NOW as I send this! She should be in the hospital until Sunday, and then they’re hoping to fly to Portland a few days later to continue whatever treatment she’ll need.
Thanks so much to those of you who prayed! Kaitlyn is now home, and Dad is with the family again. They’re planning to go to the US, but it probably won’t be until next week.
Of course, this is only the beginning, and the family still needs your prayers. The family has set up a website where you can get more information, see photos of Kaitlyn, and sign a guestbook. There’s a journal there, which unfortunately doesn’t have an RSS feed, but you can sign up for email notifications when there’s news. Visit Kaitlyn Contreras’ website now! And thanks again for your prayers.
Here’s a video of our el DÃa de Canadá party. It went well (I enjoyed it, anyway). The weather was fantastic – it was cool and it didn’t rain. It rained in the morning, which was a little unusual, but it held off for the afternoon. It would have been tricky cramming that many people in our house, so it was nice to have the yard. So thanks for your prayers!
We had pancakes and Canadian maple syrup, sausages, moose and maple shaped JELLO Jigglers, maple leaf cookies, and lots more. We did a guys vs girls Canada quiz (I think I’ll post it later so you can try), the kids coloured and played with red play dough, and we watched Mexico smash Ecuador in the American Cup soccer match (hey, we’re still in Mexico after all!).
If you pray for people in Mexico for any length of time, pretty soon you’ll find you’re praying about parties. Fiestas are as much a Mexican institution as meeting at Tim Hortons after the hockey game in Canada. Philosophers have written about the Mexican party. But in this case, we’re interested in parties because they get people together.
We’re hoping this will be a chance for us to show our friends at church that we appreciate them, even though we can communicate very little. And, of course, we want to have FUN!
Late Sunday afternoon we’re hoping 30-50 people will converge on our house for some pancakes and sausages, with real Canadian maple syrup (one of the rare Canadian things we can buy here). (Pancakes are called hotcakes in Mexico – they’re not unusual, but often topped with sweetened condensed milk or cajeta) It may sound like a Stampede breakfast, but it’s a little too early, wrong time of day, and our pancakes will be better than the round sawdust-cakes I’ve had some places.
So please do pray that we will have conducive weather, good attendance, and a good time together with fellow believers. Because, after all, they share our most important citizenship of all – in Heaven.
Right now Amy is in London, England. On the 1st of July she’ll be heading to Nairobi, Kenya, to be involved in some meetings to discuss the beginnings of some new health care work in southern Sudan. Then she’ll be going through some orientation, and she’ll need to buy some more supplies for her hut in Sudan.
We just have to praise the Lord for providing for Amy – for providing for her as she took her training in child nursing, and then providing for her to be able to go to Sudan.
Amy doesn’t know yet when she’ll actually be heading to Sudan, but when she arrives she’ll be working with the Memorial Health Care Center and Training School. You can click the link to learn more, but the hope is to provide health care and train more local people to provide health care. I’m sure Amy would appreciate your prayers as she travels!
Travel with Amy – If you have Google Earth, you can download a file and see Amy’s travels from Canada to England to Kenya to Sudan (not every stop, just the main locations!). Just click on the map below. Once in Google Earth, click on Tools, then Play Tour.
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Yes, our little girl is off to college. It seems like only yesterday she was a little girl playing with Polly Pockets
Well, ok, let me clarify. She’s not going right now. Lord willing she’ll be starting in August (yes, 2007 AD). And she’s not really going away – she’s just going for 2 or 3 hours a day, and it’s close to our house. And the "college" is for little kids like her – and older too.
It’s called Colegio del Bosque (college, or school of the forest). Yes, it really is in the forest. It’s a well established Mexican bilingual school. Lord willing (Dios mediante) we plan to send Hannah here for Spanish in the fall, part time. Actually, school starts sometime in mid-August. There’s lots to do before then – medical checkups, uniforms, school supplies, and so on and so on.
We’re thankful that the Lord provided a place that is close to where we live. It was also important for us to find a school that was willing to work with us – a lot of schools are "full time or nothing". Since Hannah is continuing her education in English at home, that would be a little much for this coming year.
One big question remains – is Nathanael going to "college" as well? Actually, in Mexico kids much younger than him attend school. We’ll be thinking and praying about whether or not to send him, part time as well, along with Hannah.
Another interesting factor is the schedule. The school is actually bilingual, but Hannah will only be going for the Spanish part. So the time of her classes will change from week to week, and the same with Nathanael’s (if he goes). So things could get a little tricky with all that and our school too!
Anyway, we’re thankful that we found this school, and hopeful that we can get everything figured out before Hannah’s first day of classes. Is she excited? YES!
