Today was our first Sunday in the “Party Garden” in Las Palmas. It was a good service….. getting everything working was…. interesting.
Let’s just say we still have some things to work out before everything functions smoothly. We don’t really have a place for the kids’ Sunday School class, so we’ll have to rig something up for that. They have a lovely fountain in the front of the property, but that made hearing one another a bit of a challenge. I guess if you’re used to events with a band or huge speakers, it works. But we’re a church and we want to talk to each other!
But anyway, it was still a good service. I just wanted to stop by to give you a few pictures. I wanted to give you more of a view of what the place is like, but it was just too hectic – being our first time there,
So – here is just a glimpse!
Cuco leads the service
Shari explains our new Sunday School Material
A view from the front (notice the dog) 🙂
Rod preaches on Hebrews 9
So next week is a BIG week, but not in the garden – it will be at the Path of Life Bible Church in Jesús MarÃa, where, Lord willing, 5 people from our church will be baptized, as well as others from other churches. Stay tuned! 🙂
My last time preaching in the party hall in Las Palmas (on Hebrews 9).
Six weeks – one more week – how about after Christmas? Maybe February. Basically, the owners were waiting for the paperwork to come through so they could start construction.
But, finally, we find ourselves having to move. We’re not moving far away – it’s a “party garden”, in the same community. There are pros and cons to this place, and we haven’t actually met there yet, so we’ll have to see how it goes. It is a little more expensive, but attainable at this point. The good news is that it should give us some room to grow.
Andasadi Party Gardens
I’ll try to give you more details after we’ve actually had a service there.
However, it is definitely another temporary place. I don’t just mean temporary as everything in this world is temporary, I mean that we’re not sure how long it will work for us. And we’re only renting it for a set time Sunday mornings. AND even those mornings won’t always be guaranteed, if other events take precedent.
So we would certainly appreciate your prayers that this place will work for us (this Sunday, the 10th of March, will be our first Sunday there), and that the Lord would provide a more permanent place that we could use to reach out to this community, and provide more services during the week.
I’ll try to take some pictures and/or video on Sunday so you can see what it’s like!
The old place – “El Rincón Feliz” (the happy corner) (with Nathanael running our music PowerPoint)
To make things more confusing, we’re there for a week, and then we’ll take a Sunday “off” to meet with the other two churches in Jesús MarÃa (the only building that can hold all of us!), where we will be having a special joint baptism service this St. Patrick’s Day.
No matter where we are – we’re thankful that the Lord is building the Church – the people that are coming to Him!
The team from Camp Bighorn’s Journey program is here for one more night, before leaving for other parts of central Mexico. We’ve had some good times with them – hopefully it was useful for them too!
Some of the highlights of their visit included going up to the pass between the volcanoes, some “cultural challenges” such as eating some very strange tacos (you probably don’t want to know), and learning to get around on public transportation, a trip downtown, serving here in Ixtapaluca (getting to know some of the people here, helping with some construction-related stuff), and a visit to a public high school in a nearby town.
The school put on a “Mexican Traditional Fair”, a carnival with various stations where the team members played different games along with the students. In this case, it was an excuse for the students to practise their English.
Photo shoot with the superstars from the USA!
Here’s one of the girls trying out a trompo, a traditional spinning top. Mexicans grow up with these, as did our kids here in Mexico. For the newbie, though, it’s not so easy! But these guys learn fast.
A visit from a team like this brings new opportunities to share God’s Word, and to demonstrate a Christian character to the community. And its a chance for us to see things through new eyes! Especially in the case of the teams from Camp Bighorn, it’s a chance to continue discipleship in a (very) different context, and learn about the joys and challenges of serving in that culture.
Thanks, team, for visiting! Many more pics and videos from Rod here – Camp Bighorn 2019.
Someone was having some problems with one of our contact forms, so they have now been updated – hopefully all functioning!
Here are the forms I updated, in case you want to try one:
Contact the Cottrills: Pretty simply – this is how you can contact us via email. Also remember that our email address can be found on the newsletters we send you, if you’re on our Support Team.
Join our Support Team!: If you would like to receive our newsletter and be a part of our team, this is where to go! There are a lot of things that we don’t post online, so if you’d like to be a part of the ministry here, be sure to sign up.
Change Newsletter / Update Options: Change of address? New email? Want to receive our email update as well as our quarterly newsletter? Here’s where you can change your options.
The Fry family – in this case, Rod, Mayra, and son David – returned to Ixtapaluca full of excitement and energy on the evening of the 21st of January!
Ok, well – maybe the excitement and energy came later. After many hours of driving, we should probably say that they arrived “alive” and leave it at that. 😜
Mayra and Rod share pictures (last Sunday morning) of something called “invierno” that they apparently experienced in Pennsylvania.
But, in spite of many hours of travel, and some van issues back in the USA (not to mention the threat of gas shortages here in Mexico!), they returned safely. And so – thanks to those of you who prayed for them!
We’re thankful to have the Frys back here on the team, and already they appear to running way ahead of us as they pursue God’s work here in Ixtapaluca.
The other day I was sorting through some old papers, reviving memories of some past ministry, such as the initial stages of church planting in the community of Jesús MarÃa. I was reminded of the incredible amount of work that Rod and Mayra have put into the Lord’s work in Mexico City.
Perhaps most of the things that missionaries do are not seen by most people. And that makes it all the more amazing – the things that the Frys have done, that we know about – well, we’re so thankful! And God knows the many things they have done, prayers they have prayed, tears they have shed – that few people, if any, see.
And before they get too annoyed with me for writing this post, I’ll just leave it at this – we’re thankful for many years of working with the Fry Family – Rod, Mayra, Daniel, Cathy and David – and we pray that God will continue to use them as He has in the past.
In the midst of no water pressure for showers, no gas for cars, and other adventures here in Mexico, it’s time for a more positive note.
This past Sunday we continued our Sunday school series, Where did the Bible Come From?, with the Bible Translation Museum. Using some floor mats, I was able to cover over (some of) the Disney characters on the wall to create the timeline of Spanish translations. With the help of the rest of the congregation we had samples of many different translations in physical form, and even showcased Bible software.
The history of Spanish translations is fascinating, especially when compared with the timeline of English Bibles. The determination to see the Bible in Spanish was in some ways stronger, while the persecution was often fiercer.
At a unique moment in history a new version of a historic translation hit the market – the Reina Valera 1960. The Reina Valera has a similar history to our Authorized (or King James) Version, but in many ways because of timing this version became so popular it’s often just known as “The 60”.
But in modern days, various sects have multiplied in Latin America, many clinging to their own version of the Bible. A splintering has taken place, leading to many, many “Reina Valeras” (between us, in our small group, we have many RV versions), and also to several strange and occasionally heretical versions (which we also talked about).
The common claim here that various sects try to deceive you with “their own Bible version” has led us to put very little emphasis on which version should be used – “bring your own Bible” – because the gospel is there! But we also try to balance that with information about how the Bible is translated and what the strengths of various specific versions/translations are.
One newer couple in our church shared with us that they had had some major questions about the Bible – its origin and transmission. Then they started attending our Sunday service – and guess what started the week after? “Where did the Bible Come From?”!
God has His timings that we know nothing about. It’s been an encouragement to hear people’s responses to the series. We have two weeks to go in this series. But, bottom line – we can trust God’s Word – we have it in our hands – now what will we do with it?
Right: The first Mexican translation of the Bible, La Biblia de Vence, created soon after Mexican Independence. Shown is the title page for one of 25 volumes parallel Spanish and Latin.
