Huejo

Yesterday in Huejotzingo, the kids learned, in Spanish of course, the song of "Joshua fought (fit) the Battle of Jerico" and they heard the story of it from the Bible. To go with the story, Abraham had created a craft where paper walls were glued to a cardboard base with a hole in the middle. The walls had strings attached, and the strings fed through the hole so that when the kids pulled the strings, the walls collapsed. He prepared the walls and bases so that the kids could put them together after hearing the story. We also made sure to leave one small section, strengthened by a toothpick, for Rahab's part of the wall. The Bible tells us that she was spared, along with her family.

It was a special treat to have Jacqueline back visiting. She had moved away when her parents returned from the United States, but she returned to see her grandparents and cousins and as a result, she was able to be with us too.

A few blogs ago, I wrote about four of that same family who had left for the United States. We have since heard that both Irene and Lina arrived safely with their parents, but the two older ones could not get through and are therefore returning to Huejotzingo. Thank you for your prayers for them.

Today at school, we had an all-day field trip to a kibbutz-like community that is also located in Huejotzingo. One of my students lived there briefly with her family, and her father had told me about the place last year. On Saturday a week ago, Abraham and I visited to see if it would be a good field trip place and concluded that it was. It is a very different way of living out the Christian faith. On the hectacre live nine families and a few single people who share almost all their material possessions in common.

The compound has a school, several cabins, a dining room, and a soy production factory. It has been in existence for 22 years, with families coming and going constantly. My students heard some of the history of the place, visited the school, ate breakfast, heard about soy production, and played happily. When we returned to school, they had a huge amount of questions, and they are likely to have more tomorrow, since the dismissal bell interrupted them.

Please continue your prayers for Abraham and I in the various ministries we are involved in. We continue to pray for a place to live in Huejotzingo, and we may be moving there even before the school year ends, as the seminary is selling the apartments where we currently live.

Walk Thru

Abraham is teaching Caminata Biblica in Huejotzingo to the kids, and I am learning from him and teaching it in English to my students at PCS (in English it's Walk Thru the Bible). Both groups of children are learning and reviewing and enjoying as they learn. My students eagerly ask me, "Are we having Bible class today?" They listen with fascination to the stories from the Old Testament and ask about a million questions. In Huejotzingo, Abraham is teaching the Caminata as a review, because we had just finished going through important stories in the Old Testament. Even the really little kids are learning the key words and corresponding hand motions.

Abraham has been able to spend almost all day every Thursday in Huejotzingo, and in this way he has been able to talk with the parents and other relatives of the kids who come on Sundays. This last Sunday, the great-grandmother of four of our regular attenders had just died, and many family members had gathered for her wake. As a result, we had several extra kids with us in the afternoon which was a wonderful opportunity for us to share God's love with them and invite them to return.

On the other hand, however, Abraham said sadly later that night, "It happened again." When I asked what, he said, "Another person died without Christ, and we never shared with her." This is part of the reason why we feel God is leading us to move to Huejotzingo, so we can invest much more time with the people. Abraham has heard story after story of tremendous need, and by ourselves we cannot meet all the needs, but we can reflect and point to the One who can. Please continue to pray with us that we would find a place to live there and that God would show us what he wants us to do.

gaps in knowledge

My fifth and sixth grade students write journals every day, first thing in the morning. Their responses from one journal topic made me wonder and write a follow-up journal topic with the question, "How does a person get to heaven? Support your answer with verses from the Bible." They all answered some form of the response that a person must believe Jesus is the son of God and ask forgiveness for sins in order to go to heaven. Only one of the students confidently found and wrote verses. The other eleven exclaimed in dismay, "Do we have to read through the whole Bible? Where will we find verses?" - and this response from students who are, the majority of them, children of missionaries and pastors. Also, the majority of them have been attending PCS since first grade. I cannot assume they know things about the Bible simply from osmosis.

Here they are struggling to find verses. After some time, I asked those who had found verses to share them with others who were still looking

In Bible class, I am teaching the students Walk Thru the Bible and am telling the Bible stories that connect with the WTtB motions. The students are loving the lessons, and it seems they are learning well. Abraham is teaching the same lessons to the kids in Huejotzingo, and they also enjoying the method. For the Huejotzingo children, it is a review of the stories that they learned over the past year in the Bible curriculum from Source of Light.


Please continue your prayers for the families in Huejotzingo. Pray that we can move there in God's timing and know what it is that we should do to best minister to them. We may be moving sooner than we had anticipated, because we recently found out that the seminary is selling the apartments where we currently live. If they sell soon, we have to move, and it makes sense to go straight to Huejotzingo rather than look for another place until the end of the school year. At present it's all up in the air.

Four more gone

About a month ago, two of the girls who sometimes attended Sunday afternoon Bible class in Huejotzingo left the home with their grandparents, aunt, uncles, and many cousins to live with their parents who had recently returned from the States. We miss Jacqueline and Gaby, but it's probably better for them to be with their mom and dad again.

Yesterday we learned that two more girls had gone, along with their adult uncle and fifteen-year-old aunt Margarita. Last Sunday, Irene, age six, and Lina, age eleven received a call from their parents in Philadelphia. The call was to tell them that their parents had arranged for them to cross the boarder and join them in the States. The four left from Huejotzingo on Wednesday and are now somewhere near Tijuana where they will spend anywhere from two weeks to a month before making the dangerous crossing with the dubious help of a coyote. It's hard to know what to pray. That they be caught and returned? That they make it safely into San Diego and from there continue to Philadelphia to be reunited with parents they haven't seen for a long time? The best prayer comes from Matthew 6:10b "...Your will be done..."

Regardless of your views on illegal immigration, please pray for these four. They are risking their lives to cross the boarder and then travel to the Northeast in fall months.

Fiestas and more

The week of the bicentennial of Mexico's independence from Spain provided us with two and a half days off from school, but we had more than enough to keep us busy. On Wednesday the students' last class was right before lunch, and then when the bell rang, releasing them from their classrooms, they all gathered under the school's balcony for a reenactment of El Grito. After the final "¡Viva México!" rang out, the students dispersed to various games, piñatas, or their lunch of tostadas. The festivities ended at 1:20 when the last child had left for home and two days of vacation.

For the teachers there was still grading, room cleaning, lesson planning, photocopying, and more to keep us occupied for some time. When I returned home, it was to prepare the ingredients for the tostadas that Abraham and I signed up to take to the church's Noche Mexicana. We needed to arrive early at church, because Abraham was asked the day before if he would lead the games for the party. He led musical chairs, dramas, the singing of the himno nacional, and other activities until it was time for the potluck dinner. During the meal, the final game was that no one could say 'no.' That made conversation difficult but hilarious, and in the end two of the youth won.

The celebration of independence didn't end on Wednesday night for us. On Saturday five church youth groups met at Dios es Amor for another Noche Mexicana, and again Abraham lead the games. Forty youth and their leaders gathered at 4 p.m. for three hours of fun and fellowship. Abraham is gathering quite a repertoire of group games!

On Sunday in Huejotzingo, he continued teaching Walk Through the Bible to the kids. They really enjoy hearing the Bible stories and learning the motions. We pray that God's word is taking root in all their lives as they learn more. Abraham continues to go on Thursdays to visit with the kids' parents and grandparents as well. Please keep praying for these families. Also please keep praying for land and a house in Huejotzingo so we can work there full time.

Happy Independence Day

Mexico is gearing up to celebrate 200 years of freedom from Spanish rule. At midnight on Wednesday/Thursday, thousands will gather in the country's zocalos to yell along with the president, "¡Viva México!" I'm sure it will be quite a stirring event for everyone. How different life would be here if Spain still controlled this country.

We celebrated with the kids in Huejotzingo on Sunday. When we first arrived, we played different games with various kids, and Six read with Flor, a 15-year-old who does not attend school but is eager to learn.

At about four o'clock, Abraham called everyone together, and we began playing a game similar to hot potato where everyone sits in a circle and passes a hat from head to head as music plays. When the music stops, the person with the hat is out and takes their chair with them. After playing "hat potato" we began a game of musical chairs, and then we played bingo (loteria in Spanish). There was much hilarity and noise in the room.

When the games ended, Abraham spoke about freedom, telling the Bible account of the boy who would throw himself into fire or water until Jesus healed him. Abraham reminded the children that, even though we are free from the rule of an outside country, we can still be slaves to sin. Later he talked with one of the girls who faithfully attends and asked her if she had received Jesus in to her heart. She said no. He asked what she was waiting for, and she didn't answer. Please pray for Zalma. She has heard the message of salvation many times, but her heart isn't open.

We left after 6 o'clock. The advantage of the church van still being out of commission from the accident during VBS is that we don't have to return the van to the church at a certain time, since we go and return by bus. The bus trip is much longer, but we then have the freedom to stay in Huejotzingo as long as we want.

Abraham has begun to go during the day on Thursdays as well. He is not able to take many seminary classes this semester, because the classes he needs aren't being offered. This allows him a more open schedule that he has fast filled with visiting family and friends and going to Huejotzingo. The two times he has gone so far have been wonderful opportunities to talk with the adults. On Sundays we typically only have children, but as Abraham visits, he can go to their homes, and the adults have been very open to talking with him. One of the fathers is almost illiterate, and so Abraham has begun reading aloud from the Bible, starting in Genesis. As he finishes each chapter, the man asks questions, and they discuss what the Bible says. Please pray for these weekly visits, that they help more people give their lives to Christ.

another beginning

We have begun the school year again. I am teaching 5th and 6th grade again, but this time I have 12 students. For a public school teacher, that may sound like a small class, but compared to the 8 students I had last year, it's a jump in size. Although larger in size, the class is slightly less international with several Mexicans, some Americans, two Koreans, and some students who are double nationality.

So, we begin again. I asked to have my students' art class instead of having another teacher take them. The history curriculum lends itself to many different crafts, and I'm also looking forward to teaching drawing. The kids still have other teachers for math, music, and ESL or Spanish. Abraham is their PE teacher, but I go along as his assistant on PE days.

Please pray for the school as the year begins. Pray for health, and pray that the students really grow close to God. Pray also for the teachers as we adjust to being back in the schedule and as we work with the students.

Wonderful creation

On Friday Abraham and I joined Six and two PCS teachers on a trip to Atlixco, a nearby city that is known for its greenhouses. Anyone who is a gardener can understand that a place like this is a small foretaste of heaven. There is such a variety of trees, bushes, flowers, herbs, grasses, and succulents that I can walk blissfully admiring for hours. And choosing which plants to buy and take home? A monumental task! The prices are unbelievably low and every plant at its glossy best.

What an amazing Creator we have. Who else could come up with the heady perfume of the jasmine, the eccentric forms of many cacti, or the soothing velvet of the lamb's ear leaf?

We thoroughly enjoyed the hours poking around the many greenhouses and returned home to continue the fun finding places for the new additions to our gardens.

Huejotzingo

The second VBS that we helped in ended today. Abraham, Six, and I went every day to Huejotzingo for the VBS from 12 - 2, and other adults from Dios es Amor went when they were available to help. On Saturday and Sunday before VBS, we went with a group of kids to pass out invitations in the surrounding neighborhood. Unlike past years, instead of just putting the invitations on people's doors, we knocked on the doors, handed the invitations to the people who answered, and gave them a verbal invitation too.

On Sunday Abraham went with one group of kids to hang posters on lamp posts, and I and another adult from Dios es Amor took another group of children to pass out more invitations in neighborhoods a bit further away. The kids with us turned down one street, and seeing that there was a large party going on, entered the yard and began giving out invitations. When I entered right behind one of the kids, a man shoved an invitation back into my hand and growled, "We don't get involved with this stuff!"

"This stuff" was a simple invitation to vacation Bible school that a little child had handed him. The hostile response took me off guard, but the other adult and I gathered our young team together and went to share invitations on another street.

Earlier in the day we had heard about the murder of a missionary in the Sierras. About five years before, his wife had also been murdered, and he had remarried about two years ago. In the afternoon we had showed a short video of the life of Jim Elliot to the kids in Huejotzingo. Later that evening, I told Abraham about the man's response to the VBS invitation. He asked me, "Were you scared?" And then he asked, "Would you be willing to die serving God in Huejotzingo?"

Huejotzingo is not as openly hostile a place as where the missionary in the Sierras was serving or where Jim Elliot went, but many of the people there are very entrenched in their idea of Catholicism. The idea of hostility, of people not talking to us or not letting us enter their homes, had occurred to me, but of people going to the extreme of killing? And yet, it could happen.

What makes me feel sad though isn't so much the thought of me dying. It's the idea of being left a widow. There were times during VBS when I would watch my husband playing with the kids or teaching them, and I would feel a sharp sadness and think, "Who could possibly want to hurt someone like him?"

So I ask for your continued prayers. Pray for our safety. I know that God has his plans, and they aren't always ours at first, but pray that we continue to work there as long as God wants us to. Pray that we enjoy each day together and enjoy the life God has blessed us with. May he bless each one of you.

Complete VBS week

VBS at Dios es Amor certainly keeps everyone busy. There are very large groups of children, and the young ones especially are hard to keep in hand. Thankfully, it was only on the last day that there was rain almost constantly; the other days, although rather overcast, stayed dry.

Sunday was the finale, and many of the more than 200 children who had attended the VBS invited their parents and other relatives to attend. In the church service, we sang the songs that the children had learned, and each age group gave a small presentation on stage. Our pastor spoke briefly, and then the children received their certificates and prizes. The service was very short, and after it ended, everyone went outside for cake and punch.

My sister is visiting for two weeks, and she joined Six, Abraham, and I for the afternoon in Huejotzingo. First, the children played soccer with Abraham, and then we gathered inside for the Bible story and songs. One young girl, Jacqueline, talked with Abraham after the Bible story, and she said she wanted Jesus in her heart. Please pray for her, that she will really understand the decision she made and that her life will be changed as a result. She is one of the children whose parents are in the States and who is living with her grandparents, many cousins, and some aunts and uncles.

We continue to pray for land in Huejotzingo. Please join us as we ask God how he would have us work in the area. There are so many needs.