Back From The Yucatan

Twins! The pastor's wife had no idea that she was
carrying twins until she delivered them. Surprise!

It's Monday. We got back Thursday night. This is the first time I have felt the desire to blog. Our time in the Yucatan was special. There were many beautiful things to see and the people we met were wonderful. I lost count of the villages we visited. We were suppose to go to five different ones, but in the world of missions you must remember a very important word - Flexibility. We flexed a lot. During our time in the first village, my 12 year old came to me and said, "These kids have nothing, but they're so happy." Of course we saw that over and over during our week. It was a good lesson for all of us.

I want one of these tricycles! It would be great to pick up groceries. One of the men let me test his out. I managed not to kill our music minister.





This is one of my buddies. I was helping her make her bracelet. Isn't she beautiful? She kept staring at me. I guess she had never seen anything so strange before!

















I bought a hammock for my family from the lady who made it. Think about this - I'm 5'4".
She only charged me $10. If I had bought it in the city it would have been $20-$30. I cut out the middle man and made a friend.
















As we began to leave on night this woman, the wife of the man that let me ride his tricycle, brought me this tortilla cover. Her 18 year old daughter makes them to sell. She and her husband presented it as a gift. I was so touched!

The people of this church fed us a wonderful dinner. It consisted of what I call "tapas", tiny soft tacos on homemade corn tortillas. Good stuff! Also at this church there was a door that I had to duck to get through. Again, I'm 5'4".









My daughter, Corinn, makes a friend in Ek Balam. Mayan temple ruins were discovered by outsiders in the late 90's. They are being excavated now. Soon this sleepy little village will be a hot tourist spot. It already has one "eco-hotel".

Clay makes some friends. This is at the Ek Balam's village square. There is no church here, but there is a Mayan missionary, Ramone, that wants to start one soon.
















Randy, the puppet master, and my daughter, Callie, showing off their dance moves during one of the puppet songs. I never got to see this live because I always had my hand up a puppet's hiney.

Sudan Refugees

If you have an interest in Africa, missions, refugees, people in need, then read this...
http://markjaffrey.blogspot.com/2007/07/40-day-fast-pray-for-nation.html

Check out Brant's Blog

http://branthansen.typepad.com/letters_from_kamp_krusty/2007/07/asterisks.html

He says it like I can't.

Mission Trip to Mexico

We leave in 5 1/2 hours for the Yucatan. At first I wasn't very excited. It wasn't what we had first planned for the trip. But right now, I'm excited. It helped to get Callie's clothes packed two days ago. She stopped bugging me.

Each day we will go to a different village for Bible Clubs and services with the local church. I would not have been comfortable going in "alone". A local believing body needs to be in place to build and support those with which a mission team works. It isn't always possible, I know, but it makes me feel more secure to know that there is someone in the village to come along side of those that need it.

I have to go to sleep now.

Fourth of July

It is the Fourth of July. I'm glad I live here. I want my country to do well, but I would rather it do what is right. That isn't happening much.

One of my greatest pet peeves is when people put their American citizenship before their Christianity. It happens all the time. It is one of the reasons we are in Iraq.

I was on a mission trip in another country awhile back when I saw this mindset raise its ugly head over and over.
"How dare she look at me like I'm a devil, I'm an American!"
"They wouldn't dare do anything to an American!"
"What do you mean he's handsome? I've got to get you back to America."
"This would never happen in America."

It was a long trip.

One of my students asked me why we didn't say the Pledge of Allegiance in our school. I told her I didn't know why any of the other teachers didn't do it, but my reason was that my allegiance was with Jesus.

I have been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In the Memoir section by G. Leibholz:

"It was Bonhoeffer and his friends who proved by their resistance unto death that even in the age of the nation-state there are loyalties which transcend those to state and nation. They proved that even in this age nationalism stands under God and that it is a sin against Him and His call for fellowship with other nations if it degenerates into national egotism and greed."

So, this is where my mind has been on this 4th - there and trying to figure out where all the new socks we just bought for Clay went to.

Today's Callieism

We were eating the spicy Tomatillo and Chicken Tostados I had made for dinner when Callie said, "Did you know when you eat soup you get tears in your nose?"

blood:water mission

make sure you visit www.bloodwatermission.com

find out how you can save lives with $1.00

From The Message:
Matthew 25:34-36
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'