God isn't always the answer

...at least if you're answering on a Bible quiz, and the questions are ones like "Who were Adam and Eve?" or "Who was the first murderer?" One of my students is a native Spanish speaker, and he's really having a hard time with all this English. Last week when I gave the students a Bible quiz, he decided that answering "God" to everything would be a safe bet. Well, no.

Another student has terrible spelling, but at least I understand what he's trying to convey. On the same Bible quiz, I had the question "Who is our adversary (enemy)?" He replied, "Satin is our enemy." I guess if you're trying to sew a prom dress or something, satin can seem to be a formidable enemy! On a science test, he responded to one question by saying that honey bees die within a few hours after singing. I guess that's why I've never heard them sing. They want to keep living.

The atmosphere in our classroom is "interesting" at present. The rains recently picked up significantly, and it turns out this room has a gigantic leak. We have buckets strewn about everywhere trying to catch the drops raining down, but even so, the carpet is soaked. We have two fans going full blast and also a heater. The paint is flaking down from the ceiling, along with mold and mildew. Not healthy! Yesterday, someone began to repair the roof during school, so that on top of the noise of the fans, we have the sound of pounding. If the pounding fixes the roof, I don't mind!

Mexican Independence Day was Sept. 15, and we had the 16th off school. On that day Abraham and I visited Six and watched Kung Fu Panda. We all went over to church in the afternoon for the celebration there. Although it was raining almost all afternoon, quite a few people showed up to play the games and eat the potluck dinner.

The Sunday before, we had a small fiesta in Huejotzingo. We played hot potato in two different forms, and then served tostadas to the kids and the parents who came. When the kids had finished eating, Abraham and I went to visit Flor to see if her baby had been born. While there, we found out that her father was on bed rest for a back injury. Flor's baby hadn't been born yet, all though by this point, the child may have been born. Please pray for her, for her father, and for the rest of the family. With the father on bed rest, the two oldest boys are in charge of earning.

The school weeks are already flying by, and we only just started. I have a good, studious group of students. I can give them assignments, and they will work independently. What a difference from my students in 1st and 2nd grade last year! The little ones last year couldn't even read, so trying to find independent work for them was difficult.

On Saturday afternoon, Abraham and I went out to church at Dios es Amor to join the youth group for an afternoon of games and socializing. We arrived in time for the game of futbeis (kick ball) which the women lost soundly - although we might have come back for a win if it hadn't begun to rain (hah). When the rain chased us inside, we started a rousing game of four square that lasted until people began to go home at 8.

Like usual, we went to Huejotzingo on Sunday afternoon. Instead of starting with the Bible story immediately, we started out with four square, and then the kids ate their snacks before Abraham told Bible story. While the children wrote in their Bible booklets afterward, Abraham and I visited Flor to see if her baby had been born yet and to give her some donations from the church. Please continue to pray for her. The baby has not been born yet, although they expect it will arrive this week. She will have the child at home - risky considering that she is only 14 years old.

Also continue your prayers for Don Ezekiel. The medicine he was taking had helped with the pain, but it has returned now. He is angry at God for allowing this illness, although he is still willing to meet with Abraham and pray.

New beginnings

After a very active summer, school has resumed once more. This year, instead of the youngest students in the school, I have the younger middle ones. My class consists of four fifth graders and four sixth graders. On the first day, the students entered with the dazed look of "I haven't gotten up this early for months!" Don't worry kids, I hadn't either.

Most of the day we went over rules and procedures, so by the time school let out, I was really tired of the sound of my own voice. Happily, that is all over now, and on this second day, the kids are hard at work on their language arts assignments.

At first look, it seems that when I split the class, my sixth graders will be able to do most of their work independently. That is very helpful, because in fifth grade I have two boys who do not speak English very well and two other boys who need quite a bit of supervising to make sure they complete their work.

Along with his brother, mother, and alternating helpers from the church, Abraham and I continue to go every Sunday afternoon to the mission in Huejotzingo. One of the men, named Don Ezekiel, who has begun attending needs your prayers. He has been in pain for two years and until a few weeks ago, the doctors could not figure out what was wrong. Recently however, they took a scan that revealed nodules in his intestine. The doctors were able to prescribe medicine that helps with the pain, but the nodules cannot be removed without expensive surgery, and they are life-threatening. We do not know if Don Ezekiel has accepted Jesus as his savior, although he has some church background and is definitely interested in learning more.

Another person in Huejotzingo who needs your prayers is Flor. Although she is only fourteen years old, she is seven months pregnant. Her baby is due mid-September. She is living with her parents, two older brothers, and three younger siblings. Please pray for her health, wisdom, and future as she will soon be raising her own child.

Two VBS weeks

These past few weeks have been very busy. Abraham and I moved from the house we were living in while the owners were in the States to the apartments at Puebla Christian School for a brief stay. Lord willing, we'll be moving into the seminary apartment this coming Saturday. It will be my fifth place of residence this summer, but as far as we know, we'll be staying there until Abraham graduates from seminary in a couple years, so that is a blessing!

Four afternoons a week, for two hours each time, I have been teaching English to a varying group of children. Two of the boys will be in my fifth/sixth grade class this year. They are going to have to work very hard, as their level of English is quite low. Besides those two boys, the current class list has nine other students.

On Monday of last week, the vacation Bible school at Dios es Amor began. More than two hundred kids attended, and the church campus swarmed with young, energetic youth and the church volunteers who lead games, sang songs, held crying babies, cooked, cleaned, taught lessons, lead groups, and organized data. My role was washing dishes all morning Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and helping my husband Abraham with games on Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday the church held the finale for the VBS, inviting parents and family members to attend while each age group of the children presented their "participación" and then received their diploma.

This past Monday the VBS at Huejotzingo began. It's a smaller group of kids and therefore we have only two age groups. With only two age groups, the time is also shorter, so in a way, it's an easier week than the past week at Dios es Amor. In another way, it's every bit as hard. The Huejotzingo kids are not used to attending school regularly, so they are also unaccustomed to following a set schedule or listening to directions. Many of them don't read very well or don't read at all. All the volunteers working this week have to be willing to help in all areas and also have to know how to interact with children who have a different culture from the Dios es Amor kids.

Please pray for us as we continue this week. The children and their families mostly don't have a church of any kind. As a culture, they are mostly Catholic, but that is more by tradition than by conviction. Please pray for our health and energy. Everyone who is working in Huejotzingo this week also worked at Dios es Amor, so we are running tired. Thank you for your support!

Married!

Well, for the second time. The first time we got married according to the laws of Mexico in a civil ceremony in front of a judge. We were well and truly married, but the majority of the people at our church didn't think that counted, so we couldn't live together until June 21st when we married at Dios es Amor. It was a very beautiful day, and we had many willing helpers, so neither of us felt any stress or nerves. We were free to enjoy the ceremony and the reception afterward.

The day before was certainly interesting. My sister, mother, brother, and I arrived in the morning to begin the church clean up. A few at a time, the helpers began to arrive. We commeced washing chairs and tables, sweeping, dusting, mopping, and re-arranging in the church while several other people in the kitchen started preparing the chicken for mole. Not long after this, the men arrived to put up the huge tarp and set out their tables and chairs.
All went smoothly for quite some time. Everyone was working hard but having a good time, and there was much laughter and smiling. Early in the afternoon, the sky began to cloud over, and soon the rain hit. Not just any old rain, but pouring, pounding, dousing rain sheeting down, and with it a tremendous wind. The tarp, which the men had almost finished putting up, lifted, pulling at the securing ropes, and collapsed.

We went into high gear. The men dashed around re-securing the tarp and cutting more holes in it so it would drain and not collapse again. Once the rain stopped, almost everyone emptied out of the church and kitchen to sweep, squeegie, and otherwise push and pursuade the water to leave the basketball court where the reception would be the following day. As I took my post by the gate to sweep the water into the parking lot, I couldn't help thinking, "How many American brides can talk about sweeping water off a basketball court the day before their wedding?" Not many, I bet, but with all the help, soon even this difficulty turned into a chance for laughter and play. The man and boys began splashing each other with the water, making the sweeping look more like a game than work.





The roads to the church flooded, and our flower girl couldn't come. Our ring bearer arrived an hour late with his family, but that wasn't a problem, because the man officiating hadn't come either. Although the rehearsal was supposed to start at 4, we didn't begin until around 5:30. Stressful? Not really. We had plenty to laugh about then too. My brother and sister opted to go barefoot rather than wear sopping tennis shoes, and everyone was wet at least to the knee. We laughed uproariously when the pastor accidentally instructed us to light the Bible on fire rather than the candles. I wouldn't trade the memories. Totally unique, and certainly full of family and friends enjoying the time together.





The day of our wedding, we had the almost glitch-less ceremony at 11:15, and it ended by 12:40. The guests filed out to the reception, the church's women's group along with Puebla Christian School friends began filling plates, and the men's group and youth group began taking traysful out to the guests. Abraham and I went back in the sanctuary for pictures, and then we "meeted" and greeted. Even so, we did have the opportunity to eat some of the delicious food before cutting the cake, tossing the bouquet and garter, and then leaving at 2 for our trip by van, bus, metro, another bus, and then finally airplane to the honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta. And we created plenty of memories there too. The story in brief is on facebook if you follow the above link.

very soon to marry - again

Tomorrow is Abraham's and my church wedding. Finally! As anyone who has ever gotten married in a ceremony probably knows, there are so many nit-picky details that come up as the planning happens. Happily, here in Puebla and among the Dios es Amor church community and among the school folks, there are many people ready and willing to help. Librada washed the church windows and curtains and is getting up super early Sunday morning to finish the mole, Janelle drove out to pick up potted daisies for the table decorations, Manuel and Ruth made the ceremony bulletin, Mike took me to get my dress from the dry cleaners and will take me out to church at 8, Joe set up skype so my oldest sister could see the ceremony although she is in the US, Sarah and her sister did the flower arranging, and many more people helped in many other ways.

Today during the Great Church Clean Up, a lot of people turned up to help. We had our fair share of happenings. As my family and I walked up to the sanctuary, our first sight was the corpse of a dog who'd died during the night. Later, poor Abraham and Kevin (my brother) were the lucky ones to cart the body to the dump in a wheel barrow.

After the huge tarp had been put up outside for shade, a torrential downpour lifted it off its poles and filled the basketball court where the tables for the reception were going to go with 4 or more inches of water. About twelve people, including Abraham and I, spent the next hour sweeping and squeeging the water off the court. In one particularly grand puddle, people used dust pans to scoop water into buckets to carry off the court. I kept thinking, "How many American brides spend time before their wedding sweeping water off the church's basketball court? What memories."

Our wedding rehearsal was over an hour late because of the downpour which flooded roads. Our flower girl never even arrived.

There will be hitches tomorrow, but I already have stored up memories of willing help and lots of moments of laughter. When we return from the honeymoon, we'll have even more stories to tell.

good byes, syncretism, Vivaldi's Gloria

Friday the children cleaned out their desks, scrubbed stickers (and germs) off the tops, and loaded their back packs with a year's accumulation of school work. At eleven in the morning, the final bell rang, and the 2008-09 school year ended. What a year it has been! While preparing the Powerpoint that I will be sending out in June, I reflected on how different this presentation will be from last year's. This summer I will be one of the few American missionaries not returning to the States. Instead, on June 21st, I will be marrying my best friend, and the two of us will be staying somewhere in Puebla - although we still don't know exactly where.

Both on Friday and on Saturday, we had farewell meals. Friday was a hamburger barbecue at the PE field, and Saturday we met for a buffet brunch. Each staff member received a Puebla team jersey to remind us that this year's focus was team building. Five of the team members will be gone next year. Two of them will hopefully return the following school year, but three of them are leaving permanently. Saying good-bye is never fun. There are other missionary families also leaving this summer for home assignment or permanently.

Saturday after the brunch, Abraham and I took a bus downtown to take care of some errands. While walking past one museum, we noticed it advertised free entrance. Since the place is rarely open, neither of us had been inside before. We decided to enter, and enjoyed the tour of the mansion. The family had been extremely catholic, and many art pieces showed their religion. Curiously, they also had a Buddha and several Zeus busts. When Abraham pointed out the incongruity of the beliefs, the guide didn't understand. "They gathered art from many cultures," he agreed. Not exactly what Abraham meant.

In the evening, we had the wonderful opportunity to see a free performance of Vivaldi's Gloria at a Baptist church downtown. The Puebla Symphony and choir played and sang beautifully. They opened with Pachelbel's Canon in D, one of my favorite classical music pieces.


Because of a comment on the blog - Where I was standing with my husband and a friend, we didn't even feel the earthquake that happened recently here. The only way we knew it happened was that people came out of the school asking, "Did you feel that!?!" No, we didn't.

Spring Concert

Last Thursday evening, after many months of hard work, all the students of PCS performed their spring concert, entitled The Root Beer Barrel Cafe. The theme was movies and musicals, so the children sang a variety of show tunes, and my little munchkins had a Three Little Pigs skit which I narrated. For the final song, the students and staff sang "Resplendent in Your Glory" in praise to the God who gives us voices to sing.

Today we began our last week of school, and then several of my students and most of the staff will leave to the US for the summer or, for some, permanently. I will not be returning to the States for the foreseeable future. Abraham's and my church wedding is fast approaching, and we have plenty still left to do to prepare. Many of you should have received your invitations in the mail during this last week.

We need your prayers as we prepare for the wedding and plan where to live. We had thought we would live in apartments near the seminary where Abraham attends graduate school, but two weeks ago, the woman who had been renting Abraham's tiny house abruptly decided to move out. It would be best if we didn't have to live in the house, because it is more than an hour away from here, but we cannot afford to make house payments and pay rent at another place at the same time. If you would like to begin financially supporting us, you can make checks to Newport Mesa Church and include an insert or letter explaining that the money is for Rachel Greenlee. The address for Newport Mesa is 2599 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. Any amount would be a great help to us as we begin our new life together. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Love in the Time of Influenza

Not that I recommend the movie of almost the same title, but it did seem an appropriate title for this blog. We've got a lot going on here. I'm sure everyone has heard all about the swine flu, but it's another story actually living where it's changing our every day lives.

It is so hard to know what is really true. Are hundreds dying? Thousands? A handful? One report says one thing, another says another thing. The reality is, we don't know, but people are panicking. All public places are closed, by order of the Mexican government. Anyone in public service - bus drivers, taxi drivers, etc. - have to wear face masks and latex gloves. Of the few people walking around outside, about half of them have masks as well. All schools, churches, government buildings, museums, and theaters are closed, as well as some restaurants. The plan is for everything to reopen May 6th, but that will only happen if the ministry of health believes the flu threat to have diminished enough.

During all this brouhaha, the date for Abraham's and my court wedding arrived. We were concerned that the court would be closed, since it is a government office. Abraham called the day before and then again in the morning of April 29th. The office was open! Therefore, at 10 a.m. a 'great cloud of witnesses' gathered with us at the court, and we began signing and finger printing a bunch of papers. Our four legal witnesses also signed, and then all of us went into a back room with the judge. She looked over our papers, and then, with solemnity, read the vows. Abraham and I said our 'I dos' and the judge declared us married. Just like that!

We returned home and the party began. There was plenty of good food and more than abundant laughter. The guests stayed until late afternoon, and then in the evening, Abraham also left. We are continuing to live in separate houses until after the 'real' wedding. Kind of a bizarre arrangement, but we did the court wedding so early in order to avoid last minute snafus.

Please pray for Mexico and for the flu to end. Pray for wisdom for the authorities to know how long to continue this virtual quarantine of the entire country. Pray for Abraham and I as we continue preparing for the church wedding and as we begin married life (although not together yet).

Easter and vacation

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

I hope you had a truly blessed Easter and took the time to remember all that Good Friday and Easter mean. On Friday Abraham, Six, Ken, and I went to Huejotzingo at three p.m. to present the true meaning of Good Friday to the kids. We hung curtains over the entrance to the back room, and Abraham went back there. Another man who had come with us represented the high priest, and he was the only one who could enter the 'Holy of Holies' to communicate with Abraham. After this introduction, Abraham came out, lit a candle to symbolize the life of Christ, and briefly told the story of the events leading up to Jesus' death. Usually, when Abraham is telling a Bible story, the kids are fairly chatty and restless, but this time they listened absolutely attentively. After this, Abraham explained to the children that Good Friday is his birthday, spiritually speaking, and told them that they could talk to any one of the adults if they too wanted to have new life. Four of the children did approach us and pray to accept Jesus into their hearts. Please pray that they grow, and that their parents also accept the Good News.

Saturday night I spent at the Lechugas' house, because Dios es Amor had a sunrise service on Easter, and buses don't run that early. We were supposed to get up at 4:30 to leave at 5, but someone's alarm didn't go off, so we woke up with ten minutes to get ready before the pastor and his wife arrived to pick us up. About half the regular congregation showed up for the pre-dawn service, and we enjoyed a time of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. Following the service, we ate a pot-luck breakfast together, and then some people stayed to watch the movie Facing the Giants. Those of us going to Huejotzingo saw about half of it before leaving.






Once at Huejotzingo, Abraham and I went out inviting the families like we normally do. Once the kids had gathered, I sneaked back outside to hide twelve eggs with symbols of the Easter story inside them. The kids sang some songs with Abraham and then searched high and low for the eggs. Once back inside, those who had found an egg opened them in numerical order and explained what was inside and what it meant. If they didn't know the significance, Abraham told them. We sang a few more times, shared a snack, and then left for home.








Back at my home, Florina had invited several people for a special Easter lunch. We ate good food and shared lots of fellowship, but I was more than ready for bed by 11. It had been a very long day.

Starting today, it's vacation time from school, but there is plenty to keep me busy. Wedding planning continues at a great pace. More and more details keep surfacing, but we've also completed a few things. For example, today Abraham and I finally planned the actual ceremony. We also went into the registro civil and the office of immigration this morning and will be returning there tomorrow to, Lord willing, finish all the paperwork and set the date for the civil ceremony.

After completing our visits to the offices today - and they are not close to each other - we took the one hour bus ride to Abraham's neighborhood so that we could go to a clinic. I needed a mole removed, since a few people had told me that it should be removed and analyzed. Please pray that it turns out to have no suspicious cells, because if it does, the doctor will have to remove all my moles, and there are quite a few.