Inscripciones

Registration has started for English classes. It is really going to happen. We haven't actually had to many people sign up yet, but I am quite certain that there will be many more people coming by in the next few weeks.

Ruth and I are in the school office most of the day. Our hours are 9-1:30 on Monday - Friday and then 3:30 - 6:30 on Mondays and Thursdays as well. It makes for some slow times in the office, but there is a lot to do. It is fun to have people come in and to be able to "do something." I was telling Ruth today that I came down here planning to teach English and now it feels like I am finally getting serious about it.

There is still a lot to do to prepare for the classes. Sometimes it is a little overwhelming to think about it, but it is exciting to think of all the things that I will be able to do in the classes even if it is a lot of work. I will have to update you on the classes later when we have a better idea of how many students we will actually have.

In the meantime, my schedule fills up fast with all the things that are going on. The registration, Bible studies, Church services, taking care of day to day things. It feels good to be busy (although some would argue that sitting in an office all day waiting for people to come sign up wouldn't really be considered busy - that would be Marci, also known as Marcela).

Well, I'm back

For all who have been wondering what has happened these past few days (I returned to Mexico and proceeded to post nothing about what's going on down here) hopefully this post will help fill in the blanks.

First of all, a disclaimer for the next while, my comupter and the Internet are not getting along right now, so I have to borrow someone else's computer to access the Internet until I figure out how to make the two behave and be friends again. Not as easy as it would seem. Therefore, I cannot say when the next post will be, but I will be working on it, don't worry.

As for the quick trip home. Everything went really well. It started off with a quick trip to Mexico City with my dear sister Jodi. We went to the Zoo and wandered around the historical center of town which was really interesting. We had a good time there and were able to see all kinds of cool things.

The week passed really fast at home. We got Rhett and Laura married off smoothly. That was nice. It was also fun to see everyone and to spend some time catching up with what was happening around home. There it is always amazing what all can happen in a couple of weeks. I miss the times that I had just to hang out with people and share my life with everyone back home. You don't really realize what everyone means until you have been away for awhile.

I did come back to Mexico last Thursday. It was really hot. It was nice and cool when I left, but really hot when I got back. I am happy to say that it has cooled down some since I got here.

Yesterday, Saturday, Ruth, Rudy and I went to Zamora to choose books for the English classes. Some of you will be surprised and probably horrified to hear that we spent 3 hours at the counter of a bookstore flipping through books before we made a choice. Those of you who teach, have taught, or are connected with teaching will probably be surprised that we could pick out books in only three hours. It was a good trip though and it is nice to know that we have that much taken care of.

A further update on the English classes. We are starting registration on Tuesday this week which means that we will be spending a lot of time in the office waiting for people to come by an register. We will have registration open until the 15th of August and then, whether I am ready or not, classes start the first of September. We have looked at the schedule a little more and at this point we are planning 5 classes. We will have a class for 6-9 year olds and a class for 10-12 year olds at the same time (no I am not teaching both of those classes, I can't - Ruth will be teaching the 6-9 year olds). We will also have a class for 13-17 year olds and then two classes for the adults. This should keep everyone split up pretty well and not overwhelm us with too big of classes.

It is currently a sunny Sunday afternoon. We have nothing planned until 5:00 when we have a singing and some volleyball. It will be a quick afternoon and then starts a new week.

Going home...

Yes, already. But only for about a week.

I am going to be out of the country (by that I mean Mexico) for about a week. So I will probably not get much updated between now and then. I will ask that you pray for protection in travel not just for me but for Spencer as he goes home for a chance to see his family, Matt as he goes to Barra Vieja with Frank Sauder, Marshall as he goes to Magdalena for a board meeting, and Jodi and I as we travel home as well. Pray also for Grant as he will be taking care of a lot of things by himself in the next week. Also pray for Jan as she will be alone, too, when Marshall is gone to Magdalena. Pray that all the traveling and all the work can result in God's glory.

Just to finish up the past weekend. We had a lot of kids show up for church that hadn't been here before. A lot of really neat kids that we hope will keep coming around. Rudy taught a class of 11 boys that were 10 and older that was nonexistent last Sunday. I was able to help and it was pretty neat. A lot of possibility and opportunity there. Continue to pray for the kids that are still coming around and are still interested.

I guess I will see a lot of you in a couple of days. If not, I'll see ya' when I see ya'.

The weekend after Escuelita...

Last night we have Jóvenes which is essentially a night for young people. Usually we have a Bible study, play some volleyball and then finish the night with some palomitas, or popcorn (of course with hot sause, the only way to eat popcorn). We start at about 5:00 and the evening usually goes until about 8:30. Well, having just had Escuelita things change a bit.

Last night we had over 40 people show up for the night. Most of them quite young for jóvenes. We had planned on bigger numbers, but we weren't really thinking we would have so many. Spencer did a great job adjusting his Bible study on the go and volleyball was a little different having so many really young kids there, but we all managed to get by and I think everyone had a great time. Today, being Sunday, we are planning on a much larger crowd for church too which means we have to have extra rooms set up. Pray for all these kids that are coming around, that they would feel the power and love of God as they come around to the different events that we have.



A group of kids play knockout during Jóvenes. They would get really excited about it too, believe my ears.



Some of the typical attendees of Jóvenes. You can see we had little games going on all over the place (notice the volleyball behind them).

To those who have started to wonder if I am ever really going to teach English. We have a start date for classes now. September 1st. We will register from August 1-15th-ish. So, yes, I am actually going to teach English, even if it seems like I have forgotten all about it.

More Escuelita

Continuing the theme of Escuelita, I am providing you with another video of the fun. This one centers more on the van ride. It doesn't give you a complete picture of what it is like on the bus, but you can get an idea.



Things have gone well with Escuelita we get a few more kids coming as the week goes on. It has been rainy this week which makes things even more interesting, and muddy. We have two more days. Continue with the prayers for this week. Pray that hearts can be touched and changed.

Escuelita...Monday

So today we started Escuelita. We had over 200 kids show up today. It was a lot of fun. The kids were really good and everything went well. All the work that was done before was well worth the time. There is what some people might call chaos, but if you pause to look, you realize quickly that it is very organized chaos at the least. Kudos to Matt for all the work he did organizing the week and kudos as well to all the church members that are helping. We would be truly lost without them. Above all praise goes to God. It is His work.

I am helping with the younger kids. Specifically, Spencer and I are helping with Claudia's and Lupita's class of 8-9 year olds. It is a pretty big class with over 40 kids. Below are some videos I took. They can say a lot more than words could ever say, so I will stop typing and let you watch.



I also get to drive a van FULL of kids from Corea to Ixtlan. Corea is a psudo-suburb of Ixtlan. (I don't thing Ixtlan is big enough to have a suburb, but Corea is maybe three quarters of a mile from Ixtlan). Anyway, driveing a van with well over twenty kids, quite possibly over thrity is an experience that you don't get very often. It is more fun than you'ld think, especially when I only have to drive to Corea not the longer drive to Limon or La Plaza.

Continue to pray for the week. There are four more days and we know that God can do a lot in the lives of the kids if we trust Him to produce the fruit in their lives.

On a different note: Jodi is arriving from Morelia sometime today to help for the week. It will be fun to have her around town and being a part. It is hard to believe that we will be heading back for Rhett's wedding in less than a week and a half. <

Escuelita is here!!!!

A quick note before this week begins. Please pray for our Escuelita (Vacation Bible School). It is a huge responsibility and a lot of live can be touched. We will begin heading out tomorrow in the vans and trucks to round up the kids at about 10:00 and the Escuelita starts at 11:00. We could have over three hundred kids show up.

Pray that the teachers and helpers would have patience and wisdom. Pray that everything comes together smoothly. Pray for safety while we are driving. Pray that the kids understand the stories that they hear and the message that is being taught to them. Pray that above all, God would be glorified.

I'll try to get back soom with a post about how things are going and more updates about the week, but it should be interesting.

A quick note...

It may have been a little confusing in the last post, but to clarify, we are really spoiled here at the guest house. Jan fixes us lunch every day. So, we pretty much never go hungry. We eat very well at lunch, which is typically the large meal around here anyway. So for supper we, the four guys at the guest house have to fend for ourselves. It is usually a pretty humorous situation, we all wander around the kitchen for a bit wondering what type of cereal we should have tonight because I just had Corn Flakes for breakfast and I don't really want them again, so we pullout the Branies and eat them. (Branies, or Brainies, as we like to call them resemble some type of shredded wheat type cereal nicely coated with powdered sugar.) Anyway, that might help to understand the end of the last post.

Chairs

So on Tuesday, Marshall and I made a trip to Morelia to investigate chairs and desks for the school. The idea was to get bring some back so that we had at least some for Escuelita. So Marshall drove us there and we found the factory after only asking for directions once and managed to get 40 chairs purchased and loaded into the back of the truck.

Now the fun part of this story is that I drove back. So for about 2 and a half hours I drove through Mexico with a load of chairs. It was, I guess, a very good introduction to Mexican driving. Which is good because I get to bus people to church on Sunday. So we managed to get the chairs home alright even with a stop in Zamora.

They are all now sitting in the classroom locked up and I don't have a key or I would show you what they all looked like. Instead you have to imagine on your own. the aren't that comfortable, but do we really want the students sitting in chairs that put them to sleep? Not if Jan just served them lunch. They would all be in deep digestive sleeps. We are really spoiled here. You should see the difference between lunch and supper. It's pretty drastic, especially if we don't buy tacos from the street.