Finding direction

27 February 2010

A Big Pile o’ Despensas!

A big pile of despensas, ready to go!
Last night the youth of Sendero de Vida (our church) got together and created some "despensas". That is, packages of provisions. These are going to go out to the people in Chalco over the next couple of weeks.

We wanted to try to stretch the money farther, so after getting a few pre-packaged despensas, we went out and got some things in bulk – beans, rice, tuna, toothpaste, New Testaments, milk, and so on.

With a huge assembly line, the youth put together the packages, and I think we must have ended up with about 140 despensas.

As we give these out, we’ll be inviting people to a special event on the 14th of March – a service of thanksgiving right in Chalco.

25 February 2010

Chalco and Other Notes (podcast)

Jim Audio Blogs, Family, Ministry glimpses, Podcasts, Prayer and Praise 0

Wow, you don’t realize how out of it you are until you listen to yourself talking! Oh well, with a little work I think this podcast is understandable.

Note, however, that I slipped in a Spanish word by mistake – my "teclado" class is actually my keyboard class.

Also, I mention information about donating to the Chalco Flood relief effort – you can find that information here. For more on the flood, you can find the related posts easily using the Chalco Flood tag.

And now, without further confusion, here’s the podcast…

24 February 2010

How to donate (the new cool way)

Jim Practical matters 0

Due to some recent confusion with our (very) old donations page, I’ve recreated the donations section of this website! (I think I created the old page in 2004 – that’s a long time in website years!)

Actually, this is a continuing trend to update the whole site and migrate it into the WordPress software that we use for this blog.

The page was also in need of updating because there are now new options for donating online that we haven’t had before.

Anyway, a few quick notes about donating. The new pages on this site will give you information about donating to the work that we’re doing here in Mexico. You’ll be donating to our account through our mission.

If you want to donate to a special project, there are special details. For example, those who have been giving to the Chalco Flood Relief need to make a note that the donation is for Project #062250 (CAM’s relief fund), and a note that it’s specifically for Chalco Flood relief. Read more details about the Chalco Flood project here.

That’s not hard, is it? But simply donating to our account is a lot easier.

For more information about donating to our account, visit the brand new donation page (I’m not proud of it or anything)!

And for those who give so generously – thank you! You have such a big part in the work that’s being done here in Mexico!

23 February 2010

Flavours of Canada

Jim Food, Just for fun, Mexico 0

This morning I got this email from Sam’s Club. It says,"Flavours of Canada; Enjoy our variety of products".

I guess everyone is celebrating the Olympics in their own way…

22 February 2010

Keyboard Class Update

Jim Mexico, Ministry glimpses, Video Blogs 0

Tonight we had week 4 and week 5 of our keyboard classes.

Last week I was sick, so we crammed two weeks into one today. Which was a bit of a challenge, because it cut down on the much-needed practice time. But I think it went well.

The student count has been somewhat erratic, but we had 6 students tonight and a host of people "auditing".

This week we talked about pedals and chord inversions, and then tried putting everything into practice. One of the songs we’ve been talking about from the beginning is México Lindo y Querido, a national classic (sometimes called the country’s second national anthem).

Here’s the classic rendition of the classic song. It’s brilliant in more ways than one. The singer is one of Mexico’s most famous singers/actors, Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (1911-1953). Obviously you’ll only get so much out of it if you don’t know Spanish, but here’s a rough translation of the chorus:

Beautiful and beloved Mexico
Should I die far from you
Let them say that I’m asleep
And bring me back here(see a full translation here)

17 February 2010

It’s raining in Chalco

Jim Mexico, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, Video Blogs 2

Yes, after quite a few days with no rain, the rain has returned.

We went back to Chalco today, this time to a new location, to serve breakfast. Mostly we saw dry streets (all right, they were dry until it started raining!), though there are still pools of water here and there (such as in lots and buildings).

So the clean up is really getting rolling, which means mass chaos (as you’ll see). Most businesses in this area are still closed (well, the door may be open, but there’s nothing inside worth selling!), but people are shovelling things out of houses and out of sewers and so on.

Though some help is coming now, it’s little and it’s late. There were some recent protests by people from one community in Chalco a day or two ago. They had a "discussion" with police, as they asked why more help has not come.

A few of you have helped, and it’s appreciated. A couple people have mentioned that there’s been little (no?) coverage of this in Canada. Considering the thousands impacted, that’s pretty amazing. But we appreciate those of you who have been watching and listening here, and praying and giving.

Here’s a brief video to give you an idea what the street looked like today. With the rain, it was pretty miserable, and let’s just say the air wasn’t pleasant (which is why you’ll see many wearing facial masks)…

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