Clowning Around

Okay, as some of you might know in Mexico the people celebrate everything from the day of their independence to the birthday of some famos governor or other. Kind of crazy, but it gets worse, in addition to having a Mothers' day and a Fathers' day here they also have what's called "Dia de los Niños" (kids' day) which is celebrated on the 30th of April. Well anyway as a tradition the church always throws a big party for al the kids (kind of like the equivelent of a harvest festival in the States). Just to give you a little bit of an idea on how crazy this party always is I have to tell you a little about the kids... Since we live in a small fishing village the mentality of the people is very different. Most of the fathers in the village are drunks and those who aren't are working so hard to take care of their families that they're never around. This unfortunatelly makes for kids who have very little dicipline (if any) and no respect. This in mind I think you'll now be able to understand my explanation of the party. Karen, Mavil (there isn't a picture of her solo, I couldn't catch her before she changed, but she is in the picture above if you look) and I were asked to dress up as clowns and run the games and all that jazz. I agreed thinking it would be fun. Now, honestly it wasn't all that bad, but it was not as much fun as I thought it would be. We started off with a few songs and then followed the games. This part was one of the craziest. First off we couldn't get the kids to be quiet enough to hear the instructions for the games, when we'd finally get them to calm down and we'd explained the game all of them would start leaping up and yelling for us to pick them. We tried telling them that we weren't going to pick those who weren't sitting down quietly in their seats, but I guess they didn't understand or if they did they didn't care. After the games Diego (he's one of the students in the school) told a the story about Jesus calming the storm and then had the kids memorize a verse. After that we played one more game and then we all went outside to hit the piñata (this is another tradition in Mexico, no matter what you're celebrating you should always have a piñata). When the piñata was ripped to shreds and the mad dive for the candy was over we passed out the bags of candy to all the kids. I think the final count of the kids who showed up was around 130 (kind of funny that in a fishing village that has only 500 inhabitants there would be so many kids, and this is only 13 and under!). Afterward, Karen and I were left to clean the church (which was a definate mess) and then change back into our clothes. I think both of us yelled ourselves hoarse. But even though it wasn't the most fun experience I've ever had it was nice to be able to bless the kids and hopefully we've been able to impact some of their lives. Only God knows!!

21 Questions

This one's just for fun. What do you think this is??? Guess. I'll publish the answer in a few days.

(Yes, I did take this picture it was not taken from the internet)

You may ask questions, but only if they require a yes or no answer.



Here's the much awaited answer. You probably won't believe it, but it's oil right after we'd finished frying the fish!!

My Animals and Me

Alright, I figured it was about time to upload some pictures of me and my various pets... Enjoy!



Okay, this one isn't mine, it belongs to my uncle. But I like the picture anyway!






This is Izy. Now, actually she's already full grown (this was about six months ago), but I've always liked puppy pictures.

This is my dog. Now, I know they say that dog is man's best friend, but I beg to differ. I think they can be women's best friend as well! (funny, I just realized that my cat is under the dog...strange animal :)

This is my horse Snowy. As you can tell she REALLY wants the melon I have in my hand.

One More Trip...

Our last trip to the States was one of our shorter, but it was also very blessed. As always we drove (we find I much more economical that way with all eight of us), and as always by the time we got across the border we were all wiped and more than a little tired of driving. I'd definatelly say that riding in the car with your 5 siblings is a big test of the patience God's gives. We were able to stay in a hotel for two days after which we had planned on heading back home, but God had other plans. While we were there we visited a church and were able to meet some very nice families. When the pastor of the church found out that we were leaving so soon because we didn't have a place to stay and the hotel was too expensive he immediatelly offered us his house. It was a real blessing to us and I hope to them also. We were also able to meet a family who goes to the church. They invited us for lunch and we were able to have a great time hanging out and sharing about our ministry here in Mexico. God also provided us with the money to buy several air-conditioners to use for a team that is coming this summer. The trip home was uneventful. Unfortunately, I came down with a really bad cold on the last leg, but really I'm just glad I didn't get it during our trip!! Funny thing though, you never realize how much you appreciate your own bed until you go on a trip!!

Two New Sisters

Okay, just recently we've had two new additons to our family, Karen and Mavil. For those of you who don't know, we originally met them through the ADAPT International School of Ministries (boy am I glad I don't have to say that more than once!) about two years ago. Since I was still very far from fluent in spanish that long ago, I really didn't get to know Karen until fairly recently and Mavil I've only gotten to know in the past 4 months. They're staying with us in a hope that we can help them to learn english (they both feel that their callings are in Africa, but first they must learn to speak English, if not fluently, enough to be able to communicate). Our room seems to be smaller with four people rather than just two, but... I think I'm surviving :)! It seems amazing how much God has been changing my outlook. I know that even a year ago I would have been nothing short of angry at having two girls I had barely met move in to my house and my room. But thanks to God's grace I have been changed through various circumstances (not the least of which was moving to Mexico) and am excited to see what God will do next! Both of the girls are faithful Christians and have beautiful servant spirits. God has richly blessed us all during the the three weeks they've been staying here (not to metion I've gotten to get the older sister's I've always wanted ;^) and I know He will continue to minister unto us during the next months in which they will be with us. Please if you could pray that God would be giving them the strength to learn English quickly, I know that with Him nothing is impossible!
All the praise and glory to the Most High!