Greetings from Mexico. We have now been here for four weeks. We have been flooded with lots of rain. And with the rain, we don't have water. I know that doesn't make sense, but when there are large amounts of rain here, the plumbling shuts down. So we shower when we can and go without for a day or two sometimes.
The nights continue to be cold, especially with the rain. But we are able to sleep just fine, we just dress a little warmer on the cold nights. Sweats, a sweatshirt with a hood, and socks.
It is starting to feel more like home here. This past week I really noticed a difference with people here. They are starting to realize that we are here for a while and not just down here for a vacation. Lots of people do that, but not a lot of people stay.
There are a group of Americans here, and we have been invited into their group. They get together every Wednesday night and it has turned out to be a wonderful blessing of community for Erin and myself.
The group meets at the home of DJ and Lynette, who run the orphanage. They have a few people there that work with them who come to the meetings. Heidi and Daniel also come, and they run a daycare service for the community. They currently have 32 kids who parents drop off so that they can work and are not forced to put them in the orphanage (which happens frequently down here) or the kids are just left at home. This happened to Daniel as a child. His parents just had to let him and his brothers go to the orphanage.
Brendan and Sarah come to the meetings as well. Sarah is trained as a Physicians Assistant in the states. She opens the medical clinic on Wednesdays for people to come to the church to get free medical help. The people here only usually have to pay $5 for a trip to the doctor, and have to wait in line for 4 or 5 hours to get this help. They quite frequently see people who literally can't afford the $5 for the visit. They have also noticed the many people here who have diabetes and aren't treated for it. The clinic therefore is literally saving lives.
Jack and Samantha also attend the meetings. Jack started a website for Christian advice called http://www.gracethrufaith.com/. They bring a couple of theological questions that they have been asked during the week so that we can react and discuss with each other what we feel.
It has been such a blessing to have people who are here to love the community of La Mision and have a passion to serve Christ, already before us, who have taken us in and encouraged us. We feel truly blessed by this. We also have been able to run our ideas by them and to hear their insights on matters of the community. DJ said that it is hard to tell where one ministry begins and the other one ends, because of the team mentality of the missionaries. That is what I prayed for and what I wanted to encounter as a missionary. We went to La Mision "on our own" as in not with an organization, and here we find ourselves networked with an amazing group of people. God is good.
Erin and I are beginning to solidify our work down here. We have lots of ideas and visions and much work to do. We continue to pray and search for where God wants us. We actually have a meeting today with the principal of Sofy's high school. We had inquired about their need for help with coaching and the principal was so excited that he wanted to meet with us the very next day. So pray for our meeting tonight at 6pm.
The nights continue to be cold, especially with the rain. But we are able to sleep just fine, we just dress a little warmer on the cold nights. Sweats, a sweatshirt with a hood, and socks.
It is starting to feel more like home here. This past week I really noticed a difference with people here. They are starting to realize that we are here for a while and not just down here for a vacation. Lots of people do that, but not a lot of people stay.
There are a group of Americans here, and we have been invited into their group. They get together every Wednesday night and it has turned out to be a wonderful blessing of community for Erin and myself.
The group meets at the home of DJ and Lynette, who run the orphanage. They have a few people there that work with them who come to the meetings. Heidi and Daniel also come, and they run a daycare service for the community. They currently have 32 kids who parents drop off so that they can work and are not forced to put them in the orphanage (which happens frequently down here) or the kids are just left at home. This happened to Daniel as a child. His parents just had to let him and his brothers go to the orphanage.
Brendan and Sarah come to the meetings as well. Sarah is trained as a Physicians Assistant in the states. She opens the medical clinic on Wednesdays for people to come to the church to get free medical help. The people here only usually have to pay $5 for a trip to the doctor, and have to wait in line for 4 or 5 hours to get this help. They quite frequently see people who literally can't afford the $5 for the visit. They have also noticed the many people here who have diabetes and aren't treated for it. The clinic therefore is literally saving lives.
Jack and Samantha also attend the meetings. Jack started a website for Christian advice called http://www.gracethrufaith.com/. They bring a couple of theological questions that they have been asked during the week so that we can react and discuss with each other what we feel.
It has been such a blessing to have people who are here to love the community of La Mision and have a passion to serve Christ, already before us, who have taken us in and encouraged us. We feel truly blessed by this. We also have been able to run our ideas by them and to hear their insights on matters of the community. DJ said that it is hard to tell where one ministry begins and the other one ends, because of the team mentality of the missionaries. That is what I prayed for and what I wanted to encounter as a missionary. We went to La Mision "on our own" as in not with an organization, and here we find ourselves networked with an amazing group of people. God is good.
Erin and I are beginning to solidify our work down here. We have lots of ideas and visions and much work to do. We continue to pray and search for where God wants us. We actually have a meeting today with the principal of Sofy's high school. We had inquired about their need for help with coaching and the principal was so excited that he wanted to meet with us the very next day. So pray for our meeting tonight at 6pm.
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