van

21 September 2018

Hogar, Dulce Hogar (Home Sweet Home)

Jim Family, Mexico, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

We’re always thankful for smooth border crossings and travel in general, and for luggage that actually arrives. And that’s what happened this time around.

In fact, God even sent us a large taxi that could take all of us and our luggage at the same time back home!

Clothes market and bus depot — A sign by the bus depot where I left to pick up our van – a clothing market, and, below, the “SuperFast” bus station.

Upon our arrival home, things didn’t go quite as smoothly. No functioning gas meant no stove, and no hot water. Which wasn’t so much of a problem, because – well, there was this major leak in the bathroom. Not really any way to put a bucket under it (and even if you could, who wants to empty a bucket every few minutes?), so we had to shut off the water. So, not much food in the house, no van yet (I had to pick it up in a different city) so no way to get gas and food, and no water – and we went for tacos, but our favourite taco place wasn’t open.

So these things put a bit of a damper on our arrival.

But isn’t it interesting how God has His ways of making you thankful? The next day, the plumber came and fixed the pipe. We got gas. And I sorta had a shower (ok, so water pressure still isn’t a “thing” around here). Then I picked up the van (and something cracked our windshield on the way home — aaack! Enough!) But then we went out for some pozole. So we were very thankful for the simple things, once we got them back!

A few laundry loads and showers (sorta) later, we might even make it to the grocery store today for some actual food to cook. Which we can now cook, because we have gas. But actually, I need some gas in the van. Well, civilization is complicated, isn’t it?

Cottrills - September 2018 — Our last evening together in Canada.

Seriously, though, it’s turning out to be a little more of a challenge than we expected to learn how to live in Mexico again, after 15 weeks away. Even before diving into “official ministry”, we’re finding a plethora of things that we need to deal with, expected and unexpected, while we try to remember how everyday life goes. So the first few days are turning out to be a little tough.

However, it’s still hogar dulce hogar – and we’re so thankful for what God has provided, and we know He’s still here – and in Canada too, with Hannah. And we have been reminded that a shower, even with very little pressure, is still a wonder.

13 October 2017

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

Jim Ministry glimpses, Practical matters, Prayer and Praise 1

Aeromexico This is going to be a month of travel for me (Jim), starting today. Lord willing I’ll be heading to Texas for an evangelism summit in Frisco, and then a series of Camino Global leadership meetings in Van (both near Dallas). Then I’ll pop back to Ixtapaluca for a day to lead worship music at our church, before heading to Tecolutla Veracruz for a retreat with our Camino Global team here in Mexico. This will be a time to update everyone on what I learn at the other meetings, as well as – I hope – a much needed time of refreshment for all!

I would appreciate your prayers for all of us for wisdom as we spend time in prayer, deal with various issues and look to the future of our ministry here in Mexico. Also for my health, which naturally tends to suffer with all the changes in altitude, diet, and schedule.

Pray also for Shari, Hannah and Nathanael as they carry on with ministry here, as well as an especially busy time for home school.

6 June 2017

Some days are like that.

Jim Practical matters 0

The day started when I contacted tech support. It’s just a small issue I’ve been meaning to deal with on the computer.

Actually, I was thinking of getting the oven/stove in for repairs today. It’s being held together (literally) with tape.

Alas, first we discovered that the fridge was getting warmer … and warming … so Shari tried a cleaning/defrosting. Will that be enough?

I did need to take the van in for repairs, and of course discovered that there was more to do than I first thought. In fact, there are several things that need to get done – I’m just trying to cover the emergencies before short term teams start arriving (Friday).

So while they kept working, I came home —

Only to discover that our phone is no longer working. I called technical support, and they plan to send someone to look at it on Thursday.

So, I still need to go back to pick up the van, and we’re waiting to see if the fridge is working now, or if it needs to go in for repairs.

We’re also expecting a delivery (a part for something needing replacement in our home). They’ve gotten used to calling us, because the bell hasn’t worked. But now the bell does work, and the phone doesn’t – so apparently they came and thought we weren’t home.

Anyway, I guess I’ll wait on the stove.

Some days are just like that.

16 May 2017

A Verified Vehicle

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

It took the better part of yet another day. And there were many more strange and bizarre adventures as I talked to many different officials.

And I’m just not going to waste your time with all the details.

But at the end of the day (yesterday), we had a verified vehicle. With license plates.

Vehicle Verification So what does that mean? That means that after three and a half months of no van, we now have a vehicle that we can drive every day (unless there’s an unusual level of pollution – sometimes the government adds special restrictions).

Praise the Lord!

We’ll be trying to get the van back into good shape before the short term teams start arriving – in 3 weeks and 3 days!

I kind of feel like I need some driver’s training to remember how to drive. But Shari says it’s “just like riding a bike”. 🙂

10 May 2017

We have License Plates! But….

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

Oh, aren’t we negative. Just when we should be jumping up and down and celebrating, we have to add that nasty, negative “but”. Some people’s children.

Well, first of all, yes, we are thankful to have license plates! I spent the better part of 3 days, this week alone, in long lines and interesting conversations with officials trying to get the process completed.

In all, it’s been 107 days – over 15 weeks – that I’ve been trying to get license plates. And we haven’t been able to drive our van during that time. 3 months and 17 days with no van, and countless hours spent in lines over – how many times did I visit that office? 8 times? 9 times? I’ve lost count.

I could tell you stories about this week alone. Like how two officials came out of the office after I’d been in line for a long time and said,”Well, the power has gone out… we’ll see if it comes back on…”

Or the time when someone came and said they were only taking 45 more people that day, and there was some confusion over whether I was person #44 or person #46.

And every day they found something else that I needed to bring next time.

And because it took so long … I had to pay a fine. Yes, even though I started the process the first day I possibly could.

But – thanks to the kindness of certain people in said office, and thanks to many of your prayers, and thanks to God’s mercy – we have license plates!

But…

But, the van will be parked tomorrow, because we won’t be allowed to drive it.

First of all, to drive here in the city you need to verify (emissions test) your vehicle. And we can’t do that until next week (because it takes that long for the new license plate process to finish going through the system). That means we can’t drive on Thursday (tomorrow), or Saturday, or until after 11am any weekday.

To add to the fun, the people at the verification place and the license plate place are arguing about one of my documents. The people at the verification place say that I need to get a form, go to a bank, make another payment, and then wait several days more before I can get the vehicle verified (bringing us to the end of next week before I can even try to get it verified!). They blame it on an error on one of my documents.

The people at the license plate place say “That’s ridiculous! We filled the form out perfectly, you shouldn’t have to pay that extra amount.”

And even after that, the question remains – will the van even pass the emissions test, or will it need some work done first?

So I hope you won’t be too hard on me for adding the “but”. We are glad to have the van – that we can drive sometimes. But the adventure of finishing all the paperwork could continue for another week or two. And I have three days of work to catch up on in the mean time!

29 April 2017

Visa #1: Finally.

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

The visa. You may not believe it, but I have my visa. And the picture to the right is proof.

93 days ago, we sent in the first document for the process. About 79 days ago, the government office started the official process. And now – what else can I say? It’s done!

So what’s the next step? The next step is to continue our quest to get licence plates for our van, which we haven’t been able to drive since January. They were supposed to call us when the paperwork was ready from their end, but we haven’t heard from them yet. So – a little face-to-face will be taking place in the next week or two (we’re going to be away a good part of next week, otherwise I would be a little more sure on the date).

Now that I have my visa, the rest of the family can begin the process for theirs. That won’t actually happen until late in the summer, because there are limits on how soon we can begin the process.

So, the adventure continues – but this is a big step in the right direction!

Thanks for your prayers!

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