10 years ago today we were with our friend Monica in a boat on the beautiful canals of Xochimilco. Not sure how Shari escaped the pictures, but she was there too!
It was Holy Week – a fun time for a day off, but SUPER busy. It ended up being more like bumper-boats. But it was fun.
And this was actually Hannah and Nathanael’s first visit! What took us so long? 🙂
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!
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.
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.
March 2010 was a busy ministry month. We held the very first service for the church in the community of Jesús MarÃa – ten years ago this month!
But everyone needs to get away – and we did, about two weeks earlier. We went up to the Paso de Cortés (Cortés Pass) between the volcanoes. And we got this classic photo of “the kids” – our kids, the Fry kids, and the Valtierra kids (a family we worked with in the Jesús MarÃa church plant).
So here they all are – 10 years ago today!
The gospel. “Good News”.
It’s kind of like a diamond, isn’t it? So many colours and sides, and yet always the same thing.
Last Sunday, for example, our theme was love (because we’re starting a series on the fruit of the Spirit). The youth did a couple of skits, teaching about the love of God as well as the love we should have for one another.
Since this is our first Sunday on the fruit of the Spirit (we’ll be doing the series the first Sunday of every month), it was my privilege to talk a bit about the theme of the epistle to the Galatians – the theme of grace alone.
I’ve also been enjoying our Sunday school series, on words related to salvation. Rod recently taught on the theme of reconciliation – another facet of the wonderful benefits of our salvation. This coming Sunday, I’m looking forward to teaching on imputation – more about the mechanics of our salvation, maybe you could say.
I’ve certainly learned a lot in this series!
We’ve been enjoying worship music on the theme, of course. And I’ve been meditating on the theme of salvation that shines through in the next passage of Daniel that I’ll be preaching on in a couple of weeks.
We’ll also be starting a study on Saturday evening which focuses quite a bit on our salvation. It’s a wonderful theme, that continues to change our lives day by day. Is it changing yours?
It reminds me of a graphic I made up when I was preaching in Jesús MarÃa about 7.5 years ago (wait – how long??). On one side you can see repentance and faith. Our trust in Christ as Saviour is what God uses to save us – hence, faith alone. But on the other side are the many facets of our salvation – adoption, mercy, inheritance, freedom, and so on.
I’m sure that there could be many more things on that side! And we can end up being very confused about salvation if we don’t start to learn about these things.
Please pray for us, that we may clearly and accurately share this wonderful Good News!
Ten years ago today, Hannah and Nathanael were sending balloons to the three Kings.
So, if you don’t know the tradition – in Mexico, children get gifts on the 6th of January, which is Epiphany. That’s the time when people remember the visit of the wise men. They gave gifts – so we give gifts. 🙂
But it’s nice to let them know what you want to receive ahead of time, right? So you buy a balloon, you attach your note to it, and you send it up into the sky. So here’s a photo from 10 years ago today – Hannah had already sent up her balloon, and Nathanael was ready to go!
(An update for a new decade – balloons are starting to become rarer, because of environmental sensibilities. Many children are leaving a note for the kings in their shoes, which is where the gifts are traditionally left. 🙂 )
3 years already! Can you believe it? And we celebrated three years of meeting together as a church this past Sunday. It was a great service!
Rod did a great job leading the service, guitar in hand. He started with our Bible reading of the day (Psalm 119:57-64). Several people shared their thoughts on the passage.
Then we had some worship music, interspersed with testimonies from various people (see above). The focus was on the local church – how has the local church been a blessing to you? But of course it “digressed” into general praising of God and what He has been doing! (Just kidding – it wasn’t a digression, it was the main point!)
We watched a video that Rod had put together of moments from the past year (and what a year it has been!). Then – cake!
We had some time to chat and pray and eat cake, and then back to the service. More testimonies. And then I led the time of communion, talking about God as our “portion” as it says in our Bible reading of the day, and also Psalm 16.
And we had a special speaker on Sunday – Antonio Muñoz (who also helped teach the hermeneutics class on Saturday). We first got to know Antonio way back in … well, never mind how long ago. Let’s just say before any of us were married!
Anyway, it was a challenging and encouraging sermon from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10.
Then we closed our service in prayer.
It was so encouraging to hear how God has worked through this church in the lives of so many people. And we all got to take part in the service – Nathanael running the PowerPoint, and Shari cutting the cake!
We were in a different building from last week, and will be on an entirely different property next week. But hey, we’re pilgrims and we know it! At least God knows where to find us (even if occasionally people trying to come to the service get confused).
Thanks to so many of you who have had a part in the planting of this young church. May God continue to work “in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (Hebrews 13:21)