A new semester of classes began today at the community centre! Kaycee, teaching English, had a packed class – I think there were over 15 people there this evening.
Tomorrow the fun continues with three more English classes, and a special addition for this month – Asian Cooking with Kaycee! Shari also has a baking class this week – I think doughnut muffins may be on the menu. 😛
Praise the Lord for the many new friends we have made, and great conversations we’ve had. We’re looking forward to some great classes this semester, which runs from now until St. Patrick’s Day. Some of the students at Kaycee’s class
This morning Tina posted: I got the permit to leave and re-enter Mexico!!!! #merrychristmas #praisethelord What can be more stressful than heading to the airport on the day of your flight, knowing that there may/may not be a permit waiting for you that will allow you to leave?
Of course, you could leave without it – and start your visa process all over, leading to months of work and thousands of dollars — yeah, let’s not do that.
We arrived in good time and Tina entered the secret enclaves of the migration office (the attached picture is from there – doesn’t it just make you feel optimistic and cheerful?). After only two line ups she came out with her official paperwork, allowing her to travel.
Thanks to so many of you who prayed for Tina over the past few days! She’s off to the USA to enjoy Christmas, and also to go to Urbana to find us some more missionaries (you could pray for that too!).
I think we had more trouble getting home than she had at the office in the airport – a big police check point is set up just a few minutes from our house. But they were nice and when they saw how legal we are, they sent us on our way. 🙂
Hi everyone! I’m just stopping by to ask for prayer for our friend and coworker Tina, who is trying to get paperwork to temporarily leave the country.
Tina started a visa process back in October. She had travel plans for December (this week) – she’s going to represent Camino Global at Urbana, so that she can find us some more missionaries.
Anyway, plenty of time, right? The visa process should only take a few days, maybe a few weeks at most, right?
Well, you know what I’m going to say. She kept checking and going back and it was supposed to be done and it wasn’t so she went back again and … finally the last day came, and they didn’t give it to her.
No problem, she just needs to get a special document to allow her to leave the country temporarily.
Well – it shouldn’t be a problem. But it turns out that the process of getting a last minute travel document is not so simple either.
So would you please pray for Tina as she tried to get this sorted out – today (she’s working on it right now), tomorrow… Please pray that the officials would realize that this is not her fault, and that they would be gracious and grant her the document, so that she will be able to travel over the holidays.
Thanks for your prayers (so far) for the events of December! Here’s a quick report:
For our last adoration service of the year, we meditated on the second coming of Christ, and all the things we’re looking forward to (most of all – HIM!). I also revived a monologue I did many years ago (which I lost, and had to rewrite) (anybody remember that, by the way?). It’s a shepherd speaking just before the angels appear – and he’s pretty bitter. Little does he know that the answers to his questions are only moments away!
Some of the English students receive their certificates.We joined the choir from Iglesia BÃblica la Cosecha for the appreciation dinner, and I think it went all right. I did video the event, so I may try to post the concert or part of it. It was kind of a practice for us, so I’m afraid mistakes were made, but hopefully the message came through!
The closing program at the community centre was great – lots of people, lots of fun, and some great discussions. Please pray for these people – so many very different people with different needs and situations!
My Sunday School lessons continue through the end of the month. I’m working on the last two – the final commandment (about coveting), and then a wrap-up where we’ll discuss the law and the gospel in general. There have been some great thought-provoking discussions. I’ve learned a lot!
The choir in the parkThis past Sunday we sang with the choir again in a large park in Mexico City. There was a clever live nativity scene, puppets, hot ponche, and of course the music – two concerts! I’m guessing seven or eight hundred people were listening and getting involved and hearing the Gospel. The choir has received two or three more invitations to perform, but we probably won’t be able to join them due to schedule conflicts.
This coming Sunday is our church’s own Christmas service. Nathanael will (Lord willing) be making his ukulele debut, playing “Today is Christmas” while the kids sing.
Thanks again for your prayers during this busy season. We pray that there will be much fruit!
Tonight is the last English immersion class of the year, and we’re going to be learning some Christmas vocabulary. I zipped over to Tagxedo and made some word clouds to share with them (and you).
First is a word cloud that comes from the commonly read Scriptures about Jesus’ birth, as well as five of the most popular Christmas carols. The second word cloud comes from other common Christmas songs (maybe you can guess which ones they were!) and “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”.
Personally, I think the first cloud offers a lot more hope than the second!
I chose 15 words from each word cloud, and we’ll be doing some games with them tonight. 🙂
We would appreciate your prayers this week as we wrap up our classes and have our closing program on Thursday. We haven’t been getting a lot of sleep at our house for various reasons this week, so we’re just trying to keep going!
The season of – extra activities – has certainly arrived! We would certainly appreciate your prayers for a very busy day tomorrow, and a busy week to follow.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be teaching adult Sunday school again – we’re at the 8th Commandment, “You shall not steal.” As usual we’ll have far more to talk about that we’ll have time for, but that’s what makes it interesting. 🙂
Then we have our last “Adoration Service” of the year. We’ll be talking about the first and second coming of Christ. I’m going to try to do something a little extra. It’s – well, I won’t say. But let’s just say I’ve been learning quite a bit about sheep this week.
Now Shari and I agreed to sing in a choir for an evangelistic concert (two performances, actually) in a park in Mexico City next Sunday afternoon. This morning I discovered – suprise! – we’re going to have another concert tomorrow too!
So we’ve been frantically trying to get the songs figured out. Tomorrow afternoon is a special dinner for leaders of various churches in Mexico City. We were planning to go anyway, but not we’ll be running out right after our morning service for a practice.
So tomorrow in particular is going to be pretty busy!
This coming week we also have our final community centre classes. On Thursday after the baking class we’ll have a special closing program for all our students, with some fun and some ponche.
Nathanael also has some practices for a Christmas program, but his program isn’t until the 20th. Needless to say, there’s lots more coming up this month!
A new semester of classes began today at the community centre! Kaycee, teaching English, had a packed class – I think there were over 15 people there this evening.
Now Shari and I agreed to sing in a choir for an evangelistic concert (two performances, actually) in a park in Mexico City next Sunday afternoon. This morning I discovered – suprise! – we’re going to have another concert tomorrow too!