Prayers for Sofy: Gladis's Quincinera: And Helio

We have some huge prayer requests for Sofy who is having some medical problems. The daughter of the Pastor.
Please pray for her. Pray for her family as well.
Thanks.


In more joyful news, we went to the 15th birthday party for Gladis. She lives at the orphanage and we got to know her when she went with us on the mission trip to Sinaloa. Her Quincinera was western themed. She was escorted down the aisle and a church service was held for her. Then off to the orphanage for an outdoor dinner.

This is Helio during the flood. Helio (pronounced el-lee-oh) has become a good friend. We coach together at the high school. Each practice, we would drive half an hour to the school and talk about football, the church, and about life.

Through those conversations, I learned that he wanted to start doing more ministry. He works and lives at the church....doing construction with the pastor. He runs the sound booth during services, and is always helping.

But lately, he has been doing more. He started a men's group and this group is visiting people at homes and serving in the community. He is also preaching every Friday night to one of the men's rehab clinics in the area.

I am excited for Helio. He is doing what God is calling him to do.

Helio is a lawyer. He grew up in Toluca, which is 45 minutes outside of Mexico City. He works when he can for the government, mainly during elections. The rest of the time he serves at the church. The work has been slow recently, due to the economy, so he is hoping to make some money so that he can one day build a house on that land.

Erin's Birthday and our new patio.

Erin had a great birthday. She wanted two things for her birthday. One is that she get to make her own cake. A cheesecake. It was really good. So the day before the birthday, she made a beautiful white chocolate cheesecake topped with strawberries.

The second thing she wanted to do, was to play golf. There is a course ten minutes from us that is right on the ocean. We had researched the price of it and found out that there is a discount for residents and for twilight. So we headed out to play. It was a beautiful day...but we had to wait until 12:30pm for the good rate. Then the weather turned. It wasn't supposed to rain, but it did. But Erin wanted to continue to play, so we did. The above picture is me playing a chip shot while it rained cold, big, sideways drops. We got drenched. And quick. But then the sun came out and we were able to finish the last few holes.

The course was beautiful and full of wild life. We loved it. It is strange to be "missionaries" in a place where there are amenities such as golf on the ocean. But it was nice for us to get a chance to take a day to be together doing something that we both really love.

The last picture is of our new patio. When Erin and I came on our trip to Mexico to determine if we wanted to live down here, our group poured the cement for this slab that is right next to our apartment on the third floor. The pastor has plans to make either a classroom or some bathrooms up in this spot. However, right now, it is used to hold scraps of bricks, lumber and rebar. We asked if we could clear out a spot to use for our patio. Erin has wanted to plant a garden for a long time. We finally were able to muster up the courage to take a few steps toward this. We planted some carrots, and spinach, and something else with seeds and then filled two pots with seeds that should turn into flowers. We will keep you posted on the "garden."

Since my parents now own a landscaping and garden center, it is fitting for us to keep up the trend down here in Mexico. Plus, we are hoping to make our own food.

On a side note, today we went to the fruit market for supplies for homemade salsa, and then had lunch on our patio. Tonight we get to go to a Quinceanera of our friend Gladis, who lives at the orphanage and is one of the girls that went with us on the mission trip to Sinaloa. We are excited for this one.

Preaching and Planning

So, it turns out that I have a lot to say. I was able to preach this last Sunday morning. It was my first time preaching in the morning. I have preached many times at the Thursday night service. Less people. People who really want to be there.
But Sunday is full of distractions and full of energy.
I really like it.
I chose a topic. I decided to preach on the fact that if we want to NOT sin, then we should be more obedient. To be more obedient, we need to follow the Bible. The Bible says we are one body in 1 Corinthians 12. If we are going to be one body, we have to work together. We also have to be heading in one direction. That direction needs to be what Jesus tells us. He said the greatest commandment is to love God, and love people. Therefore we must love. But not just love. REALLY love. Like Jesus did. And not just love alone. We need to love together.
What if all of our sins are a result of the fact that we don't love as one body.
When I finished preaching, I realized that I need more time to develop these thoughts. We have to figure out who we are and be that part of the body. We also have to continue to work together to be the body. And that is so difficult.
Lately, here in La Mision, there are many "dramatic" things going on. Here at the church there is "drama." And even in the town.
We have opportunities to love, but we aren't taking them.
As I look at my last year, I realize that I have a lot of things to say. When I was a youth pastor, I would speak three times a week. And get to share with kids when they came into my office with their problems.
Here I do not have that "stage." Instead, I just learn. I help out with the church. I just play the guitar in the band. I just help when help is needed. On the football team, I don't speak too much. The language is a barrier. And when I use the other coaches as a translator, they go on for five minutes for every sentence that I say.
This drives me to really consider my options. I become more passionate to learn Spanish. I also pray with passion, because God knows what He is doing when I do not.
But I am ready to take the next step in this ministry. I feel like I am just getting to the starting block of the race and it is nerve-racking and exciting. But I am ready.


On a totally different note. This is a picture of this flower that is all over our hills. We didn't know what the name of it was and had no idea how to figure it out. But then Erin and I got lucky and somehow stumble upon it on the internet.
It is called agave shawii....or Shaw's Agave. It grows only in our area. It is an agave plant that sprouts the shoots that are about 6-10 feet tall. They flower this beautiful and unique bloom, and then they die. (you can see some of the sticks in the background that are former agave shawii)

Rainbows in Jacume

Well…we haven’t blogged much this past month… so just thought I (Erin) would give a quick update.  Last Sunday I went to Jacume, a small town outside Tecate, to serve with PA Sarah, Nurse Miriam, and another visiting PA Maria Elena. The clinic I work with, Siloe Clinic, occasionally goes with a group called Students without Borders from Fullerton to see patients for a day.  It is always a long day. Lots of driving and lots of patients. Its hard when its just Sarah seeing the patients, but with Maria Elena this time it seemed to be much slower and less chaotic.  Here is the typical schedule when I drive:

• Wake up and leave house. 7:45am
• Pick up Sarah. 8am
• Pick up Miriam in Primo Tapio. 8:15am
• Drive to Tecate and meet Bobby and his group. 9:30am
• Follow Bobby to Jacume and arrive. 11am
• The student group sets up the pharmacy, triage station, and examination room, and starts getting patient charting going. In the mean time, I make sure Sarah has all she needs, ie nasal speculums, gloves, tongue depressors etc. and we usually start seeing patients by 11:30am
• Sarah sees 20-30 patients; Miriam gets patient history and reason for visit, and I do random tasks like ear lavages, entertaining kids/keep them from crying, discovering what medication we have available to give patients, or measuring blood sugar. 11:30-3:30pm
• Leave Jacume.  3:30pm
• Stop for ice cream or coffee depending on weather in Tecate. 4:30pm
• Drop off Miriam. 6:30pm
• Drop off Sarah. 7:00pm
• Arrive back at home. 7:15pm

Here are some pictures from the most recent visit: February 21.

Sarah Mayer and Maria Elena Guerrero

Sarah with two patients: little girl and her grandmother

Erin and Marica