It seems like anything written more than three days ago is ancient history right now! But hey, let’s follow tradition. Here are the most popular posts from the past 90 days. Thanks for reading!
As usual, these are in chronological order. But the most popular post of all is in bold.
So the Mexican government has been introducing everyone to the country’s new superhero – Susana Distancia! Here she is:
So in case you don’t get it, “Susana” sounds like “su sana” – “su sana distancia” is “your healthy distance”. So instead of this depressing social distancing, or perhaps the more PC physical distancing, we’re much more positive here – with healthy distancing! Thanks to smiling Susana. 🙂
We continued with our study and service over the weekend, together in spirit while distancing at the same time. (By the way, I’ve been hearing lots of opinions on this issue – if/when churches should stop meeting physically, for how long, etc. I affirm what I’ve said before – these are difficult, complex issues, that we are seriously wrestling with here. At this point, the opinions I disagree with the most are those who are saying that the answers are obvious! But the discussion needs to continue.)
A bit of clowning around after one of our Saturday night studies
Anyway, as I was saying, we did continue this past weekend. The service was a little more sophisticated, with Rod leading us in worship. Oscar led the service, and I continued our series on Daniel (we finished with Daniel 7 this week). We had some good times with people on Saturday and Sunday praying together and sharing specific prayer requests.
X marks at check-out, reminding us to maintain a healthy distance.
While the official numbers of COVID-19 cases remain low compared to the rest of North America, they are rising on the predictable curve. But we are certainly seeing the trickle-down effects of the worldwide responses to the pandemic, as well as the dive in oil and gas prices. People are starting to lose their jobs or see a cut-back in hours/salary.
And in the stores over the past few days, I’ve seen items disappearing from the shelves, and prices rise. The price rise is obviously a serious thing. For us personally, the unavailable items remain more of an inconvenience at this point – you can’t find your “brand”, or the ingredient you needed for that specific recipe. However, if everything follows the predictable pattern, this is only the start.
But anyway, we’re trying to be aware of the situation, and to stay in touch with people in new ways.
On Saturday, Lord willing, our scheduled Old Testament course will continue, but this time using video conferencing. It will be interesting to see how it goes! I just hope our eyes can handle the extra screen time. Maybe I should buy some of those blue light glasses. 😎
10 years ago today, the Path of Life Bible Church of Jesús MarÃa (Iglesia BÃblica Sendero de Vida Jesús MarÃa) had its first service. Below are a few somewhat random photos that I put up on Facebook earlier this month (just click the collage for a larger version).
We are so thankful for these people, and the way the church continues to grow and reach out! To God be the glory!
A useful article from the BBC regarding taking ibuprofen if you have COVID-19 symptoms. In short, we know almost no… https://t.co/SMimaErACH2020-03-18
So far I’ve written a little about COVID-19 in general, and then more about COVID-19 in Mexico. Today I’ll continue talking about Mexico a little, but I want to bring things a little closer to home.
First of all, when I say “closer to home” I’m not hinting that anyone in our family is sick. Our family, and extended family, is healthy at the moment. Well – as healthy as normal!
A “cart-wiper” doing his job at Walmart
Here in central Mexico, things still appear mostly normal on the surface. I’ve seen supermarkets, markets, banks, highways – even a medical lab – all in the past couple of days. Yes, every employee at the lab was wearing a face mask (I don’t think I saw anyone wearing one correctly – so I doubt they did anyone any good!). And at the supermarket, there were friendly (and not-so-friendly) attendants who freshly wiped your cart with something supposedly anti-bacterial before giving it to you.
There are very few shortages – one has been the ubiquitous face masks, and the other anti-bacterial gel. But if you go to buy something, you’ll find the shelves mostly stocked as normal.
We are trying not to be envious of those who are looking for things to do during isolation. Isolated or not (not, at the moment), we have more to do than ever – and that isn’t likely to change.
Yes, we still have mountains of TP. – Oh, this is the store, not our house!
So, like everyone, we’re adjusting to the new reality.
This weekend we will be doing some “online ministry”. Today we ran a test on Google Meet to see if we could use it for our Bible study tomorrow night. So far, so good. So our study will continue via live video chat.
We reluctantly decided to go online for our Sunday service as well. I won’t go into all the reasons why, but lets just say these are difficult and complex decisions. And we see this as a temporary step. Depending on how long this continues, we may move at least to small groups again. The assembly of the saints is a “necessary service”.
I’m curious to see what happens on the internet when thousands of churches try to go online Sunday morning. We shall see! But Lord willing they will at least have a sermon (my turn to preach) that they can watch or listen to sooner or later.
Hannah is facing the new reality, in her grade 12 year, of having a grad dress and no grad. Well, of course the students will graduate, but friends in the dorm are quickly saying goodbye and moving out, as the rest of their instruction continues online.
So earlier than normal, Hannah is thinking about a place to live in the months ahead, getting a job to pay for it, and all the things that we had put off dealing with in detail until graduation in June.
And Nathanael, the lucky home school student, is struggling to keep up with school while his parents are overly distracted with everything else that’s going on!
So we’re staying in touch with family and helping where we can, and also carrying on with ministry here in Mexico. The need is great here, and it’s likely to get greater in the weeks ahead. So we’re trying to figure out, day by day, how to best minister to our community in times of great uncertainty and change. We’re all fine, but everything that’s going on is a significant strain, so as usual we appreciate your prayers.
