La Vida Ixtlan

So April Came and Went

2011-06-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Since trying to excuse my long lapses without blogging seems to be the way that I start each post, I am going to treat you all with another excuse. This time it may be relatively understood and accepted, but only by a minuscule degree (if even that).

You see, we currently have no internet. This is because we are not living in the guest house anymore. Yes, that is right. We moved. No, not to the house we are planning on ending up in, but moved none-the-less. More on the move in the next post. First…what about the month of April?

Yes, you are right to ask. April proved to be very interesting for us. We left for the states and the wedding of Abe and Julie Habegger on April 1^st. That was a Friday. We rushed to Ft. Wayne for pictures, back to Milford for the wedding and then I was on a plane at 1:00 AM Monday morning on my way back to Mexico while my beautiful wife stayed behind with her family. Yes, two whole weeks, Bev and I were separated. It was a long couple of weeks. Thankfully we have Skype and were able to talk a lot. I kept busy and the two weeks were soon over.

By the way, Abe and Julie’s wedding was great. I am honored to be Julie’s cousin and a close enough friend of Abe, an import to Milford from Bluffton, to be included in the wedding party. It was fun to see so much of the family and so many old friends. We are super excited for the great things that Abe and Julie will do as a couple and that we get to be their friends.

Anyway, the two weeks ended and I got back on a plane for Chicago. Spring Break finally came to Mexico so, naturally, we spent it in the states. Mexico always gives two weeks off for Spring Break, the weeks before and after Easter, so most of the first week we spent with Mom and Dad Beer who were watching my little cousins. So we filled the time with all kinds of exciting activities. Thursday we headed to Ohio for some Schlatter family time. To top off the day, my sister Angie had a little baby boy, Jace David, and on Friday morning we made a quick trip back to Ft. Wayne to see Mark, Angie, and little Jace.

Here are the Murray cousins. We had a lot of fun with them and they had a lot of energy.

Jace David. You really can't see him very well, but I can't wait to get back in July and get my hands on him again. I am sure he is growing fast.

That was when Spring Break really started. After seeing Jace, we made the trek up to Toledo to meet up with Kent to head down to Florida with Mark, Missy and family. We almost drove through a tornado somewhere in Kentucky, but the trip otherwise went very well and we drove out of the cold nasty Midwest weather into the warm Sunshine State. We spent a week relaxing in Orlando before catching a plane back to Mexico on April 30^th. Yep, the last day of April. That was the month of April. It was super exciting and fun. More later on the house and the last eye clinic.

Here is the spring break crew (except for Mark and Missy, of course. I don't know how they got out of getting their picture on here. Some other time, like when they come to visit us, right?).

An Update-ote

2011-05-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

That's Spanglish for a huge update. Yeah. I wish I was self-disciplined enough to not have to start every post with some apology for not having posted.

So way back in March, yeah, March, Bryan Stoller and company were here. This included Bryan, his wife Kara and their three kids, Corey and Beth Steffen and their six kids, and Hannah Zimmerman. It was a crowd and they all stayed here in the guest house with Bev and I. It was a tight fit, but we all got on fine. Life was definitely a lot more interesting that week.

Someone turned 40 while they were here, but I won't say who....
We went out for tacos one night at a little stand on the street. Yeah, all 16 of us crowded around poor Luis and asked for 40-some tacos. He's was more than happy to serve us.

Bryan ran an eye clinic to give out eye glasses. He met with several hundred people over the four days that he worked. He was a very busy man. The girls that came down helped him out with the work that needed to be done in the clinic. That consisted of testing everyone on the wall chart and actually giving out the glasses. Everything seemed to go quite smoothly and we even were able to send over all the kids in the elementary for a quick exam. A couple of them came back proudly wearing new glasses.

This is apparently what the girls did helping Bryan all week. Looks pretty tough to me.

Oh, wait, here's the wall chart. It had pictures instead of letters for all the people who don't know how to read.

Here is the room where they gave out the glasses. You can see all the glasses around the side of the room. There are thousands of them. If anyone has used glasses that are no longer in use, you can send them to Bryan for the eye clinic here in Ixtlan. His address is in the Silver Lining.

Meanwhile, Corey set up the new computer lab for the school. The boys and I were the lucky ones to help him. We now have 15 brand new computers in the school and are thankful that we will be able to give computer classes next year as well. I won't say that the set up went without glitches, but everything is now pretty much ready to go.

Corey and Beth with the wonderful new computers. Computer classes will start next year and the kids are very excited.

I can't forget about the most valuable people of the week Kara, Beth (and sometimes my very own wife - when she wasn't helping at the clinic). They were the ones that kept us fed. Obviously the most important job of them all. We ate very well all week thanks to their work.

Here is Kara with some of the girls at the market doing her job for the week. Looks like fresh pineapple was on the menu.

Saturday we took a little break in the morning and gave the group a chance to get away for a little while. We made a quick trip to the market in Zamora and managed to get a good cultural experience in, even if we missed the ever elusive chorros. We then headed out to Lake Camecuaro for a little bit of relaxation. The lake is fed by natural springs and is crystal-clear and very cold. We snacked and walked around a bit before we headed back to Ixtlan for lunch and a little more work.

Here is a shot at the market in Zamora. That's zucchini, chayote (a type of squash) and onions in the very front.

The market isn't all fresh produce and pig heads, just ask these girls. They were taking one big whiff of the pleasant aroma before going through the fish market.

Here we are at the beautiful Lake Camecuaro.

The crew left on Monday morning, crammed into the big green van. Thankfully, Beth took a lot of pictures which we copied onto our computer before they left, so we can actually give you some good pictures this time. Thank you, Beth!!!

Pig Heads for Anita

2011-04-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Anita had asked that we bring her a pig head, but we got held up a little in customs coming up to the states. Something about contamination, but by the looks of their faces, I think they were just plain disgusted.

Okay. So we didn't even try, but for Anita's sake, here is another reminder of the wonderful Mexican delicacy (which I have never tried).

Guest post (a revision of ANITA, KENT AND GINA)

2011-04-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

Written by anonymous. (Unless by sheer luck you can figure out who wrote it. I will give one clue. It starts with A and ends with an NITA.) See previous post for a picture.

It was an eventful week, to say the least. We were very fortunate to have Bev’s brother and sister, Kent and Anita, and their cousin, Gina, delight us with their presence. Our lovely visitors didn’t waste any time getting down here to the warmth, arriving in Guadalajara a little after 8 am. Bev and I decided to treat them to burritos on the drive back to Ixtlan. It’s not a bad breakfast, let me tell you. Kent was bold and tried the lengua en salsa verde (tongue in green sauce) while Gina and Anita played it safe with pollo (chicken). Anita ended up being incredibly brave as her second burrito was some funny-looking chicken that was actually tongue. “It was interesting,” she lauded when asked how it tasted. “I wouldn’t eat it every day, but it wasn’t too bad. It looks much worse than it tastes.” Once we arrived back in Ixtlan, Bev was showered with gifts from the states. The gifts included cream of chicken soup, peanut butter, chocolate chips, some personal items, yarn, and a quilt that her mom sent. Needless to say, the suitcases were much lighter on the trip home. But Bev was very appreciative of her newly-acquired wealth.

After giving the visitors a chance to unpack, freshen up and change clothes (the matching BevRegg shirts needed to go), we headed out with others from church to Samuel and Maria’s property for a true Mexican lunch. It was delicious food and a quite enjoyable afternoon. We had youth group that evening which included volleyball before the Bible study. A fun time was had by all. Many of the girls couldn’t believe how much Michael had changed since last year, as they mistook Kent for his younger brother. Kent also acquired the nickname “no puedo” from Alejandro. That one may stick around for awhile. Gina’s height was mentioned frequently as she tended to look down on everyone else. Anita was glad to be able to sing in Spanish again, but not so thrilled about volleyball bruises. All in all, it was a great first day for the visitors and just a preview of all the good times yet to come.

The most popular event of the week was evening conversations held on the kitchen counters, the most logical place to hang out. There was much laughter and good-humored teasing, or at least they tell me it is only teasing. I have learned from my short time in the Schlatter family that understanding what is going on or being said is not required, just laugh when everyone else is and don’t be afraid to dish it out. They tell me that I’m fitting in nicely.

According to the visitors, it was a very relaxing week. I still had to work all week, but it worked out well. A lot of books were read and games of pinochle played. We all learned interesting, not so accurate facts about how to treat goiters, snakebites and other infirmities. Anybody have some buzzard brains on hand? Anita made sure we went to the plaza for tacos at least once. She frequently inquires as to why we don’t go more often when the tacos are so fantastic. We were able to climb La Mula on Friday and despite continual jabs about me getting more thorns in my head, we made it up and down without any mishaps.

Saturday morning was rough, as the three visitors packed up to go home. Their flight left at noon, so we hit the road early. I personally was quite distraught at the thought of their departure. No more comments about soccer players or uncanny strength, at least not in person. Thank goodness for skype! It was hard to say goodbye, but we hope to see them all soon during my spring break in April. Thank you all for gracing us with your presence!

Anita, Kent and Gina...

2011-04-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

I don't have to say anything else.

They were the next visitors. They came in on Saturday the 5th of March and left a week later on the 12th. So it was a busy week. It started immediately after they got here on Saturday. Samuel and Maria, an older couple in church had invited the church over to some of their property to have lunch. So a group of us, including Anita, Kent and Gina, headed over and enjoyed some good Mexican cooking. We had carne asada, tripa, nopales, chorizo, grilled onions, beans, tortillas, rice. It was some good stuff. So they started the visit off right. Later we managed to do all the normal stuff. Tacos in the evening (didn't work so hot when we went to get them on Ash Wednesday), ice cream, trips to the market (both in Ixtlan and in Zamora), and eventually even the good ol' climb up La Mula, the mountain that we always climb close by. Besides that everyone had a lovely opportunity to enjoy the warm/hot weather and relax a little bit. I (Regg) had to keep on working, but that worked out alright. Bev was able to try out Mexican driving for the first time and survived the trip to Zamora and back just fine. So, it was a very successful week. So then they left and we had some peace and quiet before the next group of visitors. The big event during that time was another school parade. I managed to get a ton of confetti dumped on me while I helped the kids. It was a little better than some of the others. It wasn't as long and the kids did pretty well. It's just hot and a lot of standing and walking around. But it was finally over and I was left picking confetti off my clothes. (Some of the colors stain, as we discovered from the last parade.) Well, I guess that is enough for this time. In the next post, the Eye Clinic.

More Visitors

2011-03-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

I first have to apologize for making everyone wait a month for the next post. I would say that we have been super busy and didn't get time to do with all the visitors, but that wouldn't be truthful. I just haven't posted. So, I will try to fill you all in on what has been going on. It may take a couple of posts, but we'll get it done.

Mom and Dad Beer visit. At the end of February, Mom and Dad came down for a long weekend. It was really nice to have them around and we really enjoyed the weekend. They came in on Thursday and we stopped for burritos on the way home, which made Mom's night, I think. Friday morning we went to the market in Zamora. It is much bigger than the one here in Ixtlan and gives you a much better cultural experience. We didn't buy much besides candy, but you can pretty much find it all there. Fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, clothes, souvenirs, kitchen utensils, sombreros, you name it and there is a pretty good chance you can find it (yep, even pig heads). Friday evening and Saturday morning I had Mom and Dad practice with some of my students. It is always good for them to hear a different voice and put some of what they are learning into practice. The rest of the time that they were here was pretty normal. We took them back to the airport on Tuesday morning and still made it home in time for class.

Here they are. This is Rosa with Mom, Bev, Dad, and Rosa and Alejandro's little boy Isai (translated - Jesse).

So, that finished up the weekend with Mom and Dad Beer. We then began to look forward to the next group of visitors which arrived on the next Saturday. More about them in the next post. For right now, we just ask for prayers in the next week as we will be having an eye clinic here. It will make for a busy week and we want to be able to serve the people here with the love of Christ and let His work shine forth in our lives. Pray for His presence during the week and that hearts would be touched by His love. We will probably hand out somewhere around 200 pairs of glasses. We will see what the week brings. The clinic will begin on Wednesday and go through Thursday.

Thorn to the Head

2011-02-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

It was a very normal week here. Something that hasn't happened for a while. Jeff left on Monday and we regrouped from having visitors for the previous 3 weeks. We have just enough time to get back into the routine of things before the next round of visitors, which starts on Thursday. More information on who those visitors are when that happens. (We've got to keep some suspense here...)

I thought I would share a little story from our hike up La Mula, the mountain, last Friday (and hence the name of the post). We had made it up the mountain fine, had spent some time enjoying the weather and view from the top, and were on our way back down when I, Regg, stumbled. Now before you go forming ideas or comments about how clumsy I am, please take into account the fact that the trail is actually pretty bad and that when it gets dry here, all the stones loosen up and the dirt gets all worked up so that in some places there is no other option than to ski a couple of feet with each step. So, as the story goes, I stumble and veer off to the left of the trail in a desperate attempt to regain my balance, crash into some branches of some sort of woody vegetation, juke to the right with a little spin move to escape the branches, almost wipe out on the right side of the trail, and finally get my feet to catch up with my body. I survived the stumble while remaining on my feet even.

I was feeling good except for what felt like a scratch across my forehead. I reach up to feel it and found a piece of wood. It didn't just wipe off so I figured I had a bigger problem and turned to my back-up crew. Well, to make a long story short, it wasn't just a piece of wood. It was a thorn about 1 cm long stuck straight into my head. I think my skull stopped it. After a bit of work, my medics, specifically, Bev, pulled it out, and we were on our way again.

That was the big news of the hike.

All that we've heard on the house is that it will be longer still and that even then, who knows. For those who feel out of the loop, the people who are now renting the house that we plan to rent are not yet out. They are building their own house and are trying to get everything finished before they move in. That means that what was originally a Christmas/January move in date was pushed back to February, which was pushed back to maybe March or April. We don't really know and now are thinking about checking out some other options. We don't really know what exactly will happen at this point. So keep praying for our patience in the waiting. We appreciate all the prayers as we continue to adjust to everything down here and where our lives are heading as we move on.

We hope that all is going well up there and the weather is warming up some. We're hoping that it is nice and warm when we are up there in April.

Guadalajara

2011-02-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know. It has been about a week and a half since posting. We have been somewhat busy and somewhat lazy in regard to posting. But enough of that, you want to know what has been happening. Well.

First, last Monday was an official holiday. So without school, we headed back to Guadalajara Sunday night with Christy Stoller. We then spent the day Monday in Guadalajara. Sunday night we went to Walmart and then out to eat at this little Italian pizza place. Strangely enough, they were playing the Super Bowl there. It was an interesting mix of cultures, truly a Mexican-Italian-American evening. Whatever that really is.

On Monday we went downtown. There is a large market there and we walked around there for a while before we got some ice cream and sat relaxing and watching the crowds in a small plaza downtown. Feeding the pigeons was incredibly popular that day and all the little kids in the area entertained themselves running through the birds and scaring them away. Except for the boy that was apparently trying to catch one with his sister's bright pink coat. He couldn't do it.

We then went back to Los Colomos, a park near Christy's apartment. We took along lunch and ate there. It was a really nice and relaxing park. We walked and walked and walked and then we decided to walk a 5k running path. We were well walked out by the time Bev and I got back on the bus to head to Ixtlan. It was a nice day and it felt good to be away for a bit.

In other news, Tim and Lynette Bahler left on Wednesday, so we are eight people less in the guest house. They finished up their visit by arriving in time for about the coldest weather yet this winter up in Indiana. My brother Jeff arrived Wednesday morning in Guadalajara and came back with Marshall. He will be here until Monday morning and then he hopes to go up to Aguascalientes, a state about 3-4 hours away, to visit a friend Cecilio for a couple of days before going home. It has been nice having him here and we even got in the traditional hike up La Mula, a nearby mountain, already today. Who knows what we will be up to tomorrow, but time sure goes fast.

No news on the house we will be renting yet, but hopefully we will be hearing soon!?!?!?

The weather is starting to warm up a little down here and we are gearing up for the hot season. Hopefully we can send a little of the warmth your way.

The first of the visitors

2011-02-02T19:31:00.001-08:00

Hello from the sunny south to all of you stuck in that awful snow!!

I am at least sitting down to write this blog a couple of days before it is time to write the next one. Bev and I are recuperated after our first visitors of our very own. It was a fast long weekend, but it was great!!

Our first visitors were my sister Angie, her husband Mark, and another one of my sisters, Jodi (who lives in Magdalena, Mexico). They arrived on Thursday and left early Monday morning. Jodi got to Guadalajara at about 2:30 Thursday so Bev and I headed off after lunch and we met Jodi there at about 5:00. Mark and Angie didn't get in until 9:00, so we had time to sit and chat before Mark and Angie arrived and we headed off to the famous burrito restaurant just down the road. Nothing like burritos at 10:00 at night to start the visit off right. We got home at about 12:00 and enjoyed a free morning to relax. It was a nice weekend and we really enjoyed the time that we had together. Jodi left at 6:30 on Monday morning so we packed up and left Ixtlan at about 3:00 in the morning. So, after a fast, long weekend, I took a two and a half hour nap on Monday afternoon.

Here's the happy group. (Bev, Regg, Mark, Angie, Jodi)

In the meantime, we are sharing the guest house with Tim and Lynette Bahler (Lynette is Jan and Marshall's daughter) and family. So there are 8 extras in the house now as well. They will be here until next Wednesday (the 9th). Thankfully they are very easy to share with.

We haven't heard anything about the house yet. The most recent update, when we got back from the US in the beginning of January, was that it would be open in February, so we are waiting to hear that we can move in. It could be anytime, yet we don't want to get too excited because it could still wind up being awhile. We'll keep you all posted when we hear more.

Keep warm digging out up there and we'll see if we can't send you some of the nice warm sun we have down here.

Returning the favor

2011-01-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

So, we received another 8 Christmas cards since the last post. That was exciting. We also realized that we haven't discovered where we hid at least two others for the trip back to MX. So that bumps the number up to 10 more for a total of 40 cards. Thanks!!!

I also want to put a disclaimer on here. We are not keeping track of who has and hasn't sent us a card, so I don't want anyone feeling bad if they didn't send us a card. We know that you all love us with a card or without. So, don't feel bad (you can always send us one next year :)).

So it is only fair that we 'send' out a Christmas card too, so here you go. You can even print it out and post it on you wall, door, refrigerator, or wherever you post all your Christmas cards. You can make it the wallpaper on your computer or you can just look at it on the blog. I give you complete freedom to do with it whatever you want. We will most likely never ever know what you do. So, no worries.

So, since the last post, not a lot has happened here. I, Regg, am back to teaching. I have my two classes in the elementary (Primaria). They are at 11:50 and 12:40. I also do a recess detention at 10:30 for those who need a little extra encouragement to behave in class. In the evening I have an adult class from 7:30-8:30. There are 6 (maybe 7) people in that class and I generally enjoy that class a lot. I think I am definitely more of a secondary teacher than an Elementary teacher, but I am getting along.

Bev has kept busy with several different things. She is able to fill the day with a number of things. She is a great cook and even lets me help out in the kitchen when I come back from class. She spends a lot of time on the piano/keyboard, especially now that she can record herself (Thanks, Warren, for the tip on Audacity). She is working on her share of 'Thank You's" a lot more diligently than I am working on mine. And I can't forget her love of the word game "Every word". She got a new high score yesterday. Next time I may have to interview her about some of this stuff.

In other news. I was going to put breakfast in the oven a half hour ago but I kinda forgot about it after I lit the oven, so breakfast is going to be a little later than was planned. Oh, well. What are you going to do?

Much love to all! Until next week, adios!

We were home for Christmas...

2011-01-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

First of all, formal apologies to all. We have been home over a week now and haven't updated the blog. I am sure that half the blog-stalkers who were stalking us have gone by now and won't check the blog again for a couple of months. Anyway, we are now beginning again with this blogging thing and since my better half thinks I am the better half for blogging, you all get to read my thoughts on this thing (me being Regg for those still curious).

Update on the Christmas Card Count:
First a note on the number. Apparently I didn't do a very good job getting the address out before I was married because the number of cards received has gone up exponentially. We are currently at...wait I have to go count them....22!!! Wow!!! It is great to hear from you all and we send our love right back at you. We really appreciate the work that you go to figuring out how much extra postage to put on and where to send it and all. The extra work makes it all extra special.

Now, you may have been wondering where we have been for the past few weeks. Well if you want a quick answer, which is the one I suggest (and the one that you will get on this blog), we were all over Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. (That is not counting all the states - American and Mexico that we were all over during our flights to and from Mexico. Oh, I gotta put a shout out to the Dallas Internation Airport in here too. We spent a lovely seven hours there on our way back to Mexico.) We had a great time with our families and it was great to see so many others. Thankfully the weather was never too bad while we were up there and it seems that the weather down here in Ixtlan got just a little better while we were gone.

We are excitedly looking forward to a lively visiting season this year. We have several people with plans already made to come and visit, but rather than spoil all the fun now, you will all have to check back later to see who comes and when. I am sure you are all going to agonize over this for the next few months, but at least you will keep coming back (and commenting).

So anyway, now that we are settled back in and over 'pink eye' or whatever it was, we are hoping that we will be into our house sometime in February now. Yeah, the date was pushed back so now it will be in February. So, some of our visitors may be helping us move!!!

To top it all off, I now have proof of why my better half is really my better half. She just found the 8 Christmas cards that we got today (we don't get the mail every day), so our official Christmas Card Count is now up to 30.

Much love to all until next time!!!!

We'll be home for Christmas...

2010-12-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

First of all, we would like to begin a running tally of Christmas cards/pictures that we have received here in Mexico. So far we are at 2!!!   Now, this information is not, in no way at all, to make you feel like you should send us a Christmas card. Don't feel pressured to send us a card. (By the way our address is 5 de Mayo 2-b; Ixtlan, Michoacan, Mexico CP 59280.) It is rather to keep everyone posted on the time that it takes for Christmas cards to arrive. Generally snail mail takes about 2-4 weeks to arrive.

You may be wondering what the weather is like right now here in Ixtlan. You hear of Mexico and think of hot sunny beaches with deep blue water as far as the eye can see. A warm breeze blowing in from the water. The sound of waves crashing on the shore and random vendors walking by selling anything from hammocks to homemade Tamarind Pulp Candy. Life is relaxing, warm and perfect. Well, that is not where we live. While it is sunny, there isn't much else in common with the aforementioned description of Mexico. While that place exists, it isn't Ixtlan. My hands are really pretty cold right now. It is 11:16 and I still have my sweatshirt on. The temperature in the morning when the sun comes up is generally between 35-45 degrees (that would be Fahrenheit, not Celsius). So, that means mornings are generally spent trying to keep warm. As the day progresses the sweatshirts come off and a T-shirt suffices, however, as soon as the sun begins to set, the cold comes back. We do have nice clear, cloudless days. In that case it is beautiful, but the cold remains. (Remember that the altitude here is about 5000 feet, and because of that we have more cold weather than they do along the oceans.)

Sometime Bev will have to update you on the differences between here and the US, like the roosters, donkeys, and dogs. Or there are the bands that like to walk through the streets early in the morning. Anyway it is all fun stuff.

We will be coming home on Wednesday (the 22nd) for Christmas. It will go quickly, but we hope to see as many of you as we can during the time that we are home (22nd - 9th).   Until then have a great week!!!

The I SPY Challenge

2010-12-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

I promised I SPY for this weeks blog. I hope no one got their hopes up too high. This results from a certain aspect of Mexican life in which there is no problem throwing trash wherever it might land. While there is an ongoing attempt to teach people not to litter, there hasn't been a lot of progress made. The result: lots of trash, pretty much everywhere (and I do mean that quite literally). It's sad really and it makes me appreciate just how clean roadsides, streets, and towns really are. So anyway, I took this picture at the top, yes the top, of the mountain that we hiked last week with Christy Stoller. After an hour and five minutes of grueling hiking, we reached the top and a beautiful view, that isn't to say there wasn't other stuff waiting for us...you guessed, trash.

So, here is your I SPY challenge:

Using the picture below, list as many items as you can. (A helpful hint. Clicking the picture will open it in a larger form.)

This picture really doesn't do justice to the amount of trash that you can actually find down here. We may just have to continue doing I SPY challenges as we come across more trash. Then you will really see the amount of trash that there sometimes is down here.

For those of you wondering about the hike. This is about the only 'trail' that we are aware of in the area. It actually gets you up pretty high and to a really beautiful view. The hike is strenuous, but it is always well worth it when you reach the top and it is so beautiful and peaceful. The mountain is called 'La Mula' and is next to the town Tecamatan. It is about 25 minutes from Ixtlan. If you are climbing at a normal pace it takes about 1.5 hours. We did it a lot faster last Saturday, but the time at the top was, as usual, very relaxing.

Here we are at the top. The picture is looking out across the valley. Ixtlan would be way off to the right so you can't see it here, but you get an idea of what the valley is like. There is a river that runs through the valley and because of that, the farmers in the valley can double crop or raise strawberries (during the dry season).

Here is just a landscape view. There is a large, 20 foot cross at the top of the mountain. You can climb up the cross and get this view over the brush and trees. It was a little hazy so it turned out to be Mexico's own version of the Smokey Mountains. Farmers like to burn the dead crops off their fields after harvest down here so there is a lot of haze right now. It made for a nice picture though.

Food...mmmmmm

2010-12-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Ahh, food...The main thing that I have to worry about getting done each day. (My days are obviously not too busy here yet!) Although I, Regg speaking here, am enjoying the fruits of the extra time...cookies with coffee in them?! Two of the best things in the world combined in one...YES!!! Oh, and there is lots, lots more.

This is our option in Ixtlan of where we COULD get our meat.....but, big surprise, we choose not to. We get most of our staples, like sugar, flour, eggs, bread, milk, etc. here in Ixtlan. The market here has lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which is pretty nice. Meat, on the other hand, is purchased in Zamora at either Wal-Mart or Aurrera, which is like a Wal-Mart. We get most of our packaged groceries there. We usually go about once every week or two. It's certainly been interesting trying to cook following some American recipes. I bet people don't realize that EVERY (ok, maybe not every, but close to it) recipe calls for mushroom soup and/or mushrooms, which I really don't like. So no problem, just substitute cream of chicken soup, right? Wrong. Yes, you can get cream of chicken, but guess what it has in it.....yep, mushrooms. So, thanks to a wonderful friend who sent me a recipe, I now make my own cream of chicken soup. There are several other foods that we can't get here, like crescent rolls, Velveeta cheese, Bisquick... But I've learned that recipes do turn out (how they're supposed to....?), even if you substitute for a lot of the ingredients! I've actually substituted ingredients to make a different substitute!! Most of the ingredients that we can't get here, are just products that are more convenience items, so it's back to cooking from scratch for most of it. It keeps life interesting!! (at least mine)

Check in next week for:

I SPY (The Trash Version)

Parades

2010-11-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

So, it appears that some of you didn't get the idea of the whole 'parade' thing here in Mexico. You seemed to get the idea that there would be a need for...what were they called, pageant waves? Well, I hate to spoil it for you but 'pageant waves' are not part of the Mexican parade, at least not these parades.

The parades consist of between 20 and 25 different schools, ranging from kindergarten to high school, marching through the streets. In this case, we started in the plaza and marched to one side of the town, turned around and marched to the other side of town, and then marched back to the plaza. Now, I am not real great with distances, especially when walking and keeping an eye on the kids at the same time, but the kids marched probably about a mile or more. We went to the plaza at 9:00, stood around and then had a little ceremony. This lasted until about 10:00 when we started marching. We then paraded through the town until about 12:00. The kids were utterly exhausted. This was a conversation I had with one of them about half the way through the parade.

Bryan: How much further do we have to go?
Regg: We're going to walk to the other side of town and then back to the plaza.
Bryan: Oh...
Regg: Are you going to make it?
Bryan: No.

Well, Bryan (yes that is his name) did make it to the end and did very well even though he wasn't too sure of himself. So, you wanted some pictures and we've got them. Check them out.

Lizbeth, Tea, and Nazaret are all ready to go. All the kids, except those who were in the 'escolta' (the group that goes with the flag), came dressed as revolutionaries. They all looked really good and the girls were really cute. Notice that Tea, the one in the middle, has a gun (yes, it's fake) strapped to her back.

Here are some of the boys. Most of them had on the tan/white outfits of the revolutionaries, but Brandon was dressed as Porfirio Diaz who was the president toppled in the Mexican Revolution. His mustache fell off part way through the parade.

Here are the kids in their marching formation. This isn't actually in the parade. I was too busy helping during the parade to get many pictures, but this is what they looked like marching down the street. There in front you can see the 'escolta' with the flag.

Here are our faithful leaders, Angel and Sofia, who carried our school banner through the whole parade. They did great and it is always interesting to see the reaction of the people as we go through the streets. Oh, and the confetti is always nice too. I'm just glad we don't live on a street where we have to sweep it up.

Now, some of you requested Bev's perspective on things, so I will let her finish up...

*Because of certain circumstances beyond my control, I will have to interview Bev about life in Ixtlan... so...

Regg: Bev, tell all the super-cool readers out there what the best thing about Ixtlan is.
Bev: That it's warm here most of the time and that you're here (referring to me, Regg)
Regg: Well, that's comforting. Second question, what is one thing that you would change about Ixtlan if it were possible?
Bev: Running water all the time.
Regg: Well, we have always had water and it has always run. Can you clarify?
Bev: Water that comes out of the faucet when you turn it on and that allows you to take a decent shower.
Regg: I think what you are trying to say is that it is nice when you don't have to worry about running out of water in the tinaco (small water tank on the roof) because the water from the city is off, right?
Bev: Exactly
Regg: So, I think we can understand how you feel about the lack of city water issue. Tell us about Thanksgiving. Did you do anything special?
Bev: We ate a normal Thanksgiving feast with the other Americans (Matt and Ruth Gerber and their son Caleb) at Marshall's and Jan's. (She says she ate too much)
Regg: So, in your opinion, what is the strangest thing about living in Ixtlan?
Bev: Having people walk in and out of your house at random times of the day.
Regg: Why don't you explain that to our faithful readers.
Bev: Well, we're still living in the guest house and it's not officially our house, so people still come looking for different things that are kept here.
Regg: Okay, well, thank you for your time. I really, really enjoyed talking to you tonight. Any last words before we sign off?
Bev: I miss everyone and hope everyone is doing well.
Regg: I miss everyone too. But we are thankful that we can be back for Christmas. Thanks, everyone, for checking in with us and be sure to stop by again soon.
Bev: And don't be afraid to leave a comment!! (I might be putting words in her mouth, but you get the idea.)

One week later...

2010-11-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Last week, we mentioned the pending arrival of Loren Schrenk and company. Well, they arrived safely last Saturday and spent the week here meeting with potential patients and then doing operations. They were able to do operations on 10 people on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nine of them were cataract surgeries and one was something else which I could barely pronounce, let alone remember and spell. Loren's work here has been a great testimony to the community and we are grateful for his help.

The group that came down with Loren consisted of Loren and Betsy Schrenk, Mike and Sherice Reinhard and their 7 month old son Caleb, and Shari Henderson (a nurse that works with Loren in St, Louis). Betsy, Sharice and Shari helped in the surgeries (they are all nurses) and Mike helped drive people to and from Zamora for surgeries and watched Caleb while Sharice was helping Loren. While it is a great week, it also throws the schedule way off. We enjoyed the fellowship and the good food a lot but are ready to get back in the swing of things next week.

The group leaves tomorrow, just missing the great parade for the Mexican Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution). At 9:00 tomorrow morning we will be in the plaza with all the kids from school and will march through the town. It should be an interesting day (not that I - Regg- particularly enjoy it, but I don't get much choice being a teacher). Providing Regg survives the festivities (mostly confetti) we will be able to get back into normal life next week and look forward to Thanksgiving.

Thanks to everyone who commented! We didn't know there were so many blog stalkers. I know there are still more out there, but it does help motivate us to continue on with the whole blogging thing. Feel free to ask us any questions about what is happening down here as well. We will try to answer them in our posts. So, keep it up. We love hearing from you (and, yes, we did check the comments at least once a day last week).

Another Day, Another Week

2010-11-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

We are praising God for His grace and love showered down on us, that we can be called His children and that He has united our lives together to serve and live for Him. Thank you to all who have prayed and are still praying for us. God is faithful and our prayers don't fall on deaf ears, our lives are evidence of that.

It is hard to believe that another week has gone by. We have been here in Ixtlan now for two weeks. After the wedding we spent a week in Zihuatanejo and then arrived here on Saturday October 30th. The past two weeks have been spent mostly adjusting to life here in Ixtlan. Thankfully, I (Regg) had the next Monday and Tuesday off, so without having to teach, we were able to spend the days getting the groceries that we needed and settling in at the guest house (referred to here as Bethesda). We will be living in Bethesda through the end of the year and then moving into the house that we will be renting. Thankfully, there is a large city, Zamora, located just a half an hour from Ixtlan where we are able to purchase a lot of our groceries. Although we still can't find a lot of basic foods and ingredients that are so common in the states, we are able to find enough to fudge our way through most recipes (maybe I shouldn't be talking about 'us' cooking - I may like to cook, but Bev is the one doing the work.)

Having settled in a little, we are about to have our first guests here in Bethesda since we were married. Loren and Betsy Schrenk will be arriving tomorrow (Saturday) for an eye clinic. Loren does consultations on Monday and the 12-13 eye surgeries on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It is a busy week, as we have to take all the patients to Zamora for surgeries. The surgeries are usually for cataracts, but sometimes vary. The elevation here in Ixtlan is a little over 5,000 feet, so the sun is a little harder on the eyes than the flat Midwest. It will be different having more people in the house (there will be a total of 6 extras), but the fellowship is always great. We will give you an update about the clinic and the week next Friday (We hope!!). The clinic has been an enormous blessing for the church here in Ixtlan as it has softened hearts to its presence and to the Truth. We pray that each person that comes for the clinic feels the love of Christ.

As a final note:

We love comments! We know that it isn't always easy to post a comment, but we would love to know if you are reading our blog. It helps to keep us motivated to continue. So, feel free to comment (even if you just want to say 'Hello'). We hope that we can keep you better updated here. It may be a long way from here to Indiana and Ohio, but God is faithful and the miles seem fewer when His Spirit is with us.

Baptisms

2010-09-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Much to our great pleasure, we had baptisms here in Ixtlan this weekend.

Three people were baptized. Javier and Veronica have been connected with the church for about 6 years now. They both come from very difficult pasts, but their lives now show the might power with which God saves. It was great to hear their testimonies of how God has pulled them out of darkness in to His marvelous light. We pray for their two children Axel and Betel as well. We pray that we will see them grow and become strong members of the church as well.

Laura was also baptized. She is from Veracruz originally and has also lived in Oregon. She has been able to be real witness to her family and we have been privileged to have her dad, Max, and her brother, Adan, here with us for a couple of weeks. It is great to get to know them and to share with them about the hope that we have in Christ.

It was a great weekend. It was very busy with a lot of visitors and a lot to do, but it was a great time. I am exhausted now and trying to get back into the swing of things before I come home again next Tuesday. Time flies and yet trickles past. School is challenging by good. A classroom full of 5-6 year olds is definitely interesting. They are slowly learning, but I am waiting for the books to come in so that we can really get started. They should be here soon and then I will be good to go.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. Satan knows that he is losing ground in Ixtlan and we can feel and see his work. We know that God is greater and stronger. He has proven that many times over, but pray for wisdom and grace to follow God even when the going gets tough.

So, what's the story?

2010-08-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

There are lots of people out there wanting to meet Bev, but seeing as we are almost 2000 miles apart, you will all have to be satisfied with the picture until a later date.

Simply writing a blog post will never tell the entire story of Bev and I (and seeing how this post is really all about the picture, you will get this small summary, which I do realize is about the same as what you got last time). Quite frankly, I'm not even going to try. But I know there are people out there who are curious about how God brought the two of us together.

Basically, I will start by saying that it is really interesting to see now how God has brought the two of us together. He has melded our interests and our passions. He has workedn in our lives and in our hearts to increase our faith and our trust in Him and His provision. That part of the story entails all of our lives. It hasn't been only a matter of a few moments. But the story goes back two years to when Bev and I met the first time. She and her sister, Anita, came down to Mexico to visit her aunt and uncle (Marshall and Jan Heinold) who I work with. She was just preparing to begin her first year teaching Spanish. In the next two years, Bev came back to visit Marshall and Jan twice more. During that time I was able to get to know her more and to see her depth of character and faith which helped me to trust that God would bless our marriage and that he will lead us in His service as the years pass. The rest is, as they say, history.

The future holds a lot of unknowns. But we do know that the wedding will be October 24th in Junction Ohio. We will be living in Ixtlan, but I don't know where yet. The house hunting is beginning. We still need your prayers as there is so much going on right now. However, I am thankful for a great (short) weekend up in Indiana/Ohio when we could see a lot of family, but, moreso, have some time together.

BIG NEWS!!!!

2010-08-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

So, even though it's been several weeks and much has happened, I will skip to the big news.

I'M ENGAGED!!!

Yep, it is true and chances are you have already heard. I am engaged to Bev Schlatter. God is good and has worked mightily and lovingly in our lives to bring us here to this point. I first met Bev in Mexico two years ago and God has used those two years to help us grow and to bring us to this point where we, trusting in His leading, can joyfully move forward.

I'm sorry to say that I cannot offer you a picture now as I am here (Mexico) and she is there (Ohio), but I will post one soon for all those who are waiting to see who she is. I will also try to post a little more later, but better yet, I will be home on Thursday. So, I will be able to see some of you over the short weekend.

We appreciate your prayers in the next months as there will be a lot of changes and difficulties, but with God we have abundant grace and we rest in that. Thanks you all so much!!!

Rain or shine...

2010-07-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

...la Escuelita must go on.

That has been the way of things this year. Last year Escuelita fell during an abnormal and long dry spell during the summer. This year, it is falling on one of the wettest times of the year. So, that has forced us to make some otherwise unwanted sacrifices here. Namely going door to door handing out invitation in the rain.

Now understand, I don't mean torrential downpour, but rain none-the-less. Sunday it rained for an hour during the singing and by about 7:00 was only drizzling, so we went out in the vans to hand out invitations. Problem was that we came to a street that was closed because it was flooded and we had to go out walking in the rain anyway. Oh well, it is worth the opportunity to reach out to the kids here.

Today was the first day of Escuelita. Praise God, it all went very smoothly. We had just over 250 kids for our first day. That number usually grows throughout the week. Thankfully the kids behaved wonderfully today.

Keep praying for the week. Pray the we can have dry weather, at least for the hours during Escuelita. Pray for the teachers. Pray for the kids. Pray even for the parents that might be touched by what their kids learn.
Finally praise God that He has even given us a chance to have Escuelita here in Ixtlan and has allowed us to join with Him in proclaiming His awesome name to the world.

Home again

2010-07-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

So, after a two and a half week hiatus, I am back in Mexico. I had a great time with friend and family back in the states and am now gearing up for the next few weeks.

First on the plate here is VBS, also known as Escuelita. This is a week-long opportunity for the church to reach out to the kids of our communities and show them God's love. It will be a challenging week filled with all kinds of activity and work, but it is always worth it. Pray for the organization that remains. Between 250 and 300 kids will be here each day. That means we need to be really prepared for everything. Secondly, pray for the teachers. We need lots of patience and wisdom. It is often very difficult to control and manage the classes. We know, however, that this is God's work. Finally, pray for the kids. It is really all about them. Pray that their hearts would be soft and ready for God's word to penetrate and that maybe in the course of a week, we can build up relationships with some of them that will bring them back for more throughout the year.

The theme this year is Joseph. It is an exciting story the connects drastically to the life of Jesus. We hope that every day we can point the kids more and more to Jesus and what He has done for us.

The second thing that is happening is the start of adult English classes. Monday the 2nd of August is the first day of the classes. It will be here fast with VBS next week. I have a lot of prep to do yet, but I am hoping that it can start well. I don't know how many people are going to be showing up. There are always several who came in the first couple of weeks of class that still want to enter, so who knows how many will actually be in the class. Hopefully we will have a good class.

In other news. My luggage still hasn't arrived. It was late at the airport, so they were going to deliver it to be yesterday, but it turns out there are two Consistoriales #22 addresses in Ixtlan and they never found me. So, hopefully it will be here around noon today. We'll see.

Apologies

2010-06-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

To all who are faithful in checking this blog and to all who gave up weeks or even months ago. My apologies. Turns out that I am really not very good with keeping up the blog.

Here is an update for the last month or month and a half:

April ended with a bang. The eye clinic and the wedding. There was lots going on and everyone was busy. Since then things have slowed down considerably. May was the month of finishing up my afternoon and evening English classes and catching up on all the other stuff going on right now. So, now it's June and I have about a month before I come home to visit. I know the real reason that everyone checks this site is the random chance that there will be a picture. So here you go.

First: This was a first for me. A mango/avacado sandwich with cilantro. Sounds strange and possible disgusting, but actually quite tasty.

Here are some pictures from the school...

Here are the kids messing around taking a picture. It's really neat to see how they have connected throughout the year and get along so well now.

Jose Carlos with Armando and Mauricio in the background on Dia del Nino. Jose Carlos and Mauricio are brothers and their family rents out these trampolines, so they were lucky enough to get this one for the celebrations.

Leslie and Litzy with Milagros in the background. The three girls. Also on Dia del Nino. Matt had the bright idea to involve water balloons on this day. The purpose was to toss them back and forth with towels, but I think most of them ended being thrown at me. hmmmm.

The school year ends on July 9th, but I am coming home on the 2nd of July. Ben Stoller will be spending some time here this summer and I am going to talk him into being my substitute for the las week. He doesn't know that yet though. I am looking forward to seeing everyone then and getting a lot of work done between now and then.

Keep praying for the church here in Ixtlan as well as Barra Vieja, Morelia, and Queretaro. Also, keep praying for the school. We already have 10 students enrolled for next year's first grade class and expect to fill up to the 15 student limit by the time school starts in August. Hopefully our second grade (this years class) class will fill up too. Next year we will have both first and second grade and will continue to add a grade each year.

Anyway. I'll be in touch later.

So much for that New Year's Resolution

2010-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, every week didn't happen at all. So you will get a big update at once here and I'll see what kinds of pictures I can find.

Grant and company:

Grant Hermann came to visit with his brother Greg and his Grandpa Marvin Leman. They spent about a week here and helped with several different things. Grant has spent two summers here helping out, and came to visit over his spring break. It was nice to have the visitors around and someone else to drive. Thanks, Grant, for all the driving you did while here. We like to take advantage of those who know the routes when they visit.

Jeff and Barra:

Jeff came down at the end of March and we went and spent a week in Barra Vieja. It was a great time to enjoy some hot weather, the ocean, and the church members there in Barra. It's hard to explain everything that goes on there in Barra. We did studies several of the afternoons we were there and we also spent time with other people in the community that we, or other people, have met. The weather was beautiful and we even saw some pretty interesting animals around the house this time. Julie Beer and Elise Maller were able to spend a couple of days in Ixltan as well right when we got back. It was great to catch up with them and have them be able to see where I live.

Here is a frog that was camping out in the yard. It was about the size of my hand.

This big old lizard came around the first day but then never came back. I think it didn't like Jeff sticking the broom in its face.

Here are a bunch of fish that Esteban caught when he took us fishing. Jeff and I weren't so lucky. We aren't yet experts in using a net to fish.

Here is a picture of Marco gettting Coconuts down from the tree. He has a really sharp knife attached to the end of that pole. They fall really hard too. You have to watch out.

Loren's Eye Clinic:

Loren Shrenk came down from the 10th to the 11th of April for an eye clinic. He did 14 operations this time. Since Loren and Betsy come down more often with Julie Heorr, it is a lot of fun to spend time with them again and to see them. I always enjoy a bunch of good food and time to sit around and talke while they are around. Praise God that the eye clinic went well. Pray that all the glory goes to God and Him alone. Pray also that those hearts would be softened to the gospel.

WEDDING!!!!!

Yeah, we had a wedding in Ixtlan. Jonathan Aupperle and Berenice Navarro were married this weekend. It was a great weekend. Mike and Deb Leman arrived on Wednesday, so I was able to spend some time with them before the Magdalena crew arrived. All the Secondaria kids, middle school kids, came down for the wedding along with several of the teachers, Bill and Joan, and some staff. Todd Stoller, the three middle school kids, and Ben Shick stayed here at the guest house with me. We had a blast getting to know each other. Saturday was full of keeping the kids, all the boys and girls, entertained with breakfast and a trip to the Geyser. Now everyone has left and peace once again reigns in this house but it is really quiet.

I have to say. It is sad that I don't have more pictures, especially from this weekend, maybe I can get someone to send me some to post later.

Keep praying. We need the prayers and appreciate them so much. I think visitor season is officially ending now. It will be nice to get back into my routine, but it will be very quiet. Pray for us as we get back to normal. Pray that new opportunities would open up here, and that we would be able to serve and glorify God effectively here.

Visitor season begins...

2010-03-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Angie for being true to her word when she said she would keep me accountable for posting.

I keep meaning to write something, enough stuff has happened, but when it comes time to sit down to do it, I think of something else to do...hmm. So here I sit being properly held to my word and needing to blog.

So in the month of Febuary we recieved over 6 inches of rain, a complete mystery to Mexico as it isn't supposed to rain until the end of May, maybe. It was the middle of June last year. Anyway, it stopped raining in time for Jodi and I to climb a mountain two weeks ago. We had a great time as I found out how out of shape I am. It was great to get away and have some brother/sister time on the trail. Takes me back to those Colorado day hikes we used to take. Anyway, here is a picture that Jodi and I took at the top. If it looks familiar, it is because I took it from her blog. Thanks, Jodi.

So, the Saturday that Jodi and I climbed the mountain, a group of guys came for a visit. Evan Schmidgall, Jaylin Taibel, and Colin Knapp spent about a week here and on Monday we climbed the same mountain, La Mula, again. I found that I was in much better shape and the climb went much better. It was great to have some time with a group of brothers since we don't get groups like that very often down here.

Here is another picture of us, triumphant at the top of the mountain.

It was a fast week full of good fellowship and lots of tacos.

The school year is passing fast, but it is exciting to see how far we have come in what seems like so few months. The kids are now reading and adding and behaving so much better. They have grow so much in these months. They love being together even come to play together when the parents have to come for meetings. It is exciting to see all that growth. The other day at recess they were running around singing "He decidido seguir a Cristo" (I have decided to follow Jesus) and it made me smile. I can't wait to see them after 6 years. They all have so much potential for growth and understanding. Keep praying for the kids. Litz, Landon, Leslie Daniela, Milagros, Jose Carlos, Mauricio, Juan Diego, and Armando. Keep praying for the families. Pray that they will be touched by the truth of who Jesus is and what He did for us. Pray for the teachers and staff. Pray that we will always show the love of God and Christ in our actions and teaching.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Sunny South?????

2010-02-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

So, it may be the south, but this week hasn't been so sunny. If you have been following Jodi's blog, you already know this. I think I could probably count the hours since Sunday night sometime (I really don't know when I was asleep, I think) through Thursday at about 2:30 when water wasn't falling from the sky on one hand.

Marshall, the official recorder for rain accumulation, reported over five inches of rain. I know that isn't the biggest amount of rain ever recorded for a day span, but you really have to take into consideration that the average rain accumulation for the month of February is bordering on nothing (Marshall said less than a half inch, but I don't think we got a drop in February last year). It was just plain weird to get that much rain in February. Now we have farmers trying to pump water out of the fields and the river appears to have almost gone over its banks. On top of the rain, it has been COLD. Marshall recorded 41 this morning. REALLY COLD when you don't have a heater. It makes me anxious for the hot May and June days to come when I will be wishing for just an hour of this kind of cold weather. NOT that I am complaining. I am surviving just fine and am just thankful that God has brought me here in life, thankful to be a part of the church here in Ixtlan. If I have to be a little cold for a week, so be it.

We did go to the geyser on Monday. It was a nice opportunity to get out and do something different. We even had a couple of hours (probably the only hours since then when it wasn't raining) to play some volleyball, but then it started raining a lot. (See below) We had fresh made tortillas and some good Mexican food. That is always a plus. I made the guacamole. Everyone graciously ate it, even if I didn't put enough chiles in it. Oh, well. Check out some of the action.

Claudia and Elsa preparing the masa for tortillas.

Rudy and Maria trying to get the fire going. It's hard when everything is just a tad bit damp.

Rudy and I enjoying a little bit of guisado. Yum, yum.

And then the rain came...and kept coming...and kept coming.

The group. Charming, aren't we.

Thanks for your prayers that have been offered. Keep them coming. The community here in Ixtlan and the country of Mexico needs your prayers. Mexico is waiting for a return to the truth of Jesus Christ and prayer is the most powerful tool we have to partner with God to help that change come about. Beg to the Father for the souls and hearts of the Mexican people.

Babies

2010-01-31T16:47:00.000-08:00

When you are part of a small church, things like babies make a big difference. Not only are services a little more disrupted, in a good way, but it puts a new hope for the future in the church. Especially when the babies are all boys.

Since August, four boys have been born in the Ixtlan Church.

Esteban is the son of Efrain and Ana. They also have two other children David and Liliana.

Caleb is the son of Matt and Ruth. He is their first child and has been keeping them super busy (and tired).

Andres is the son of Javier and Rosi. He is their second child. Sarahi is his older sister.

Alejandro Isai is the son of Alejandro and Rosa. He is bringing them special joy as they lost their first child in childbirth.

Pray for these boys and all the kids of the church. Pray that they would grow up to be stong leaders of the church and that they would be firmly grounded in the word of God. Pray for the Spirit's work to keep them from the evil of the world and that they can grow like Samuel, "in favor with both the Lord and men."

Also, in other news. Tomorrow is an official holiday. We are going to the geiser for volleyball and to eat. Hopefully I will remember my camera and be able to post some.

Back into the grind

2010-01-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

I am officially back into the grind. All the English classes are again up and running and things feel a little more normal. I wonder sometimes how I ever get things done. If I'm not busy doing one thing, I'm doing something else. Yet I have decided something. I really need to do a better job posting. I really need to keep you better updated about what is going on here. So, I am going to do better.

Notice: I am going to do better, NOT I am going to try to do better. Two different things. That being said, on to other things.

I will start with an update about the Americans here in Ixtlan.

Marshall and Jan have just completed their 15th year ministering to the people of Ixtlan. They came down all those years ago to a small two bedroom house with kitchen/living room (that doubled as the church) and a porch. Since then the church as grown and matured. They have seen the construction of the church, the guest house and the school. More importantly they have seen the conversion of hearts.

Caleb Alan Gerber just celebrated one month. He is growing and healthy. I say he's a happy boy. His parents might say different. He is keeping Matt and Ruth busy, but they are very happy to be parents. Matt is a minister here in Ixtlan, along with Marshall. Matt is also the Administrator of the school and he teaches the values class every morning in school.

I continue teaching English. I have four classes and it takes some time to prepare and teach each class and also takes a large chunk out of my afternoon since none of my classes start before noon. I also help with church activities and take part in several studies.

The work here in Ixtlan is a thing of perserverence, but it is much more a thing of hope. Mexico is waiting for a revival. The people are searching and soon they will be found. I invite all of you to lift up the people of Mexico in prayer to God, the only One who can find and save His people. Pray that God's Church would shine brightly in the darkness of Mexico. Pray for huge things. Pray that Mexico comes to Christ.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

There are times in life...

2010-01-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

There are times in life when one has to eat his own words. They usually don't taste very good either. There is typically a bitter taste that goes along with them.

I am now in this situation. For all my ridicule of Warsaw Community Schools for their MANY canceled days of school, I now stand ridiculed myself. School was officially cancelled on Thursday and Friday because of, yes I'm really going to say it, the cold.

For what it's worth it didn't hardly get out of the 50's both days and was probably in the lower 40's through the night. While I always enjoy and appreciate days off, there is something almost embarrasing for me, a Hoosier, to accept the fact that school was cancelled for 50 degree weather.

So, you can all pray that we don't get sick down here, we don't have heat and it is cold in the morning. Pray that we can get a good start on the rest of the school year on Monday.

Also, congrats to Matt and Ruth. Caleb Alan Gerber was born December 22. Pray for Caleb's healthy growth and for Matt and Ruth as they begin this new stage of their life with much less sleep.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

I know it is a few days late, but better late than never.

I returned last night from Indiana and am settling in again for another round of teaching and God's service. It was great to see many of you during the holidays, but it s good to be home again. As I try to return to the normalcy of everyday life, I ask that you continue to pray for Ixtlan and the many things happening here.

Pray for the church. Pray for its growth and unity. Pray that in each day of this year the believers here can grow in their relationship with God and with each other. Pray that the church family here would be a blazing light to the community here.

Pray for the school and the work that has been started there. Pray for the opportunities that we have to transform the lives of not only the kids, but also their families. Pray that the truth of the word sticks in their hearts and that each one can eventually come to understand the love of God completely.

Pray for me and the others here (Marshall and Jan, Matt and Ruth). Pray that we stay strong in the word and in prayer. Pray that we have the endurance to power on when things get difficult. Pray for our unity and relationships with each other. Pray for our willingness to follow the will and direction of God regarding the work that He is doing here in Ixtlan.

Thank you for all the support and the encouragement as the time goes by.

Nothing short of a miracle

2009-12-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Prayer is an interesting thing. It can sometimes feel so weak, and we doubt its power being result oriented people that we are. I so often pray knowing that I should and knowing that we are told to prayer to communicate with our Father, but I often find it difficult to get past the easier said than done part of prayer. It's easier to talk about its power than to truly believe it, but sometimes God gives us little boosts anyway.

Estela called this morning to give an update on Victor. Victor returned to his house last night. They had done more studies in Guadalajara and couldn't find anything wrong. Victor told Estela already that he has no pain.

As Estela was telling this, I had to think back on all that I had witnessed in Victor last Thursday. He was bleeding from the ears and vomiting blood. An MRI done in La Barca, the first hospital he was at, showed a cranial fracture and fractured vertabraes. My tendancy is to try to write this off as doctor error or something similar, but I know that this is God's work and I can only praise and thank Him for that.

Victor is a miracle. I don't know all the details and maybe I never will, but maybe it should be that way. Thank you for praying and for your passion and compassion on Victor, a boy from Mexico that you don't even know.

I will ask this. Keep praying for Victor and his family. (Father-Jesus, Mother-Monica, Sister-Marisol, Brothers-Alex and Brian). Victor may be healed, but there is still a spiritual battle being waged. Pray that God gets all the glory and not some saint to which they might have prayed. Pray that the power of God would be manifested above all else and that the deafness and muteness of the Catholic saints would be clearly seen through this. Pray for the salvation of Victor's entire family and that they could be a testimony of God's transforming power to their community. The easy part is over, now begins the real battle for their souls.

PRAY!

And thank you all so much!!!

Updates

2009-12-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

I don't have any specifics, but the report is that Victor continues to improve little by little and has gone through the critical 72 hours, so our hope is that he will continue to heal. Praise God for His provision and continue to pray for both Victor and his family. They still have a very long way to go. Thanks from all of us here in Ixtlan!

Updates on Victor

2009-12-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

After talking with Estela tonight, I have a few more specific details.

First, Victor has a fractured skull as well as several fractured vertabrae. This is apparently what is causing the other issues that he has (bleeding and vomiting). What information Estela has recieved from Guadalajara is that Victor is responding well to treatments so far and possibly improving, but still has some bleeding. After 72 hours they will be able to do more studies with better results.

Please continue praying for Victor's continued healing as well as praising God for the healing He has done so far.

Victor

2009-12-04T10:34:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Victor that I found. Thanks for the prayers.

Victor

2009-12-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

Pray for Victor.

Victor is a 13 year old boy, the great-nephew of Estela, one of the sisters in the Ixtlan church. Today while at school (not ours, because I know that some will wonder), Victor climbed into a tree to get a ball that had gotten stuck and fell out.

While I am not sure of the exact injuries, I know that he has fractured vertabrea and possible a fracture in the skull. He also has some internal injuries in his head that is causing some bleeding. His case is still very delicate, and the doctors are transferring him t Guadalajara, a hospital about 2 hours away.

Pray that Victor would heal completel from this injury and that he could return to a normal life quickly. God is the Great Physician and we can trust His diagnosis and treatment more than any man's.

Pray also that this would make Victor think more about Jesus and what he really wants and needs in his life. Victor has come to some church events like Jovenes on Saturday night and he was pretty regular back when we used to play soccer. Pray that through this time God would start greater, spiritual healing in all of Victor's family.

Thanks for all who pray. Prayer is the one thing we can do no matter where we are at and no matter how helpless we feel. It is the single most powerful force of our world. Please pray for Victor, his family and this whole community of Ixtlan and its surrounding towns.

November

2009-11-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is November and it has been way too long since I sat down to blog. Internet Explorer didn't even recognize the web address when I typed it in. I have to sincerely apologize to everyone who has been faithfully checking for updates and to everyone who has given up and just doesn't check anymore. I would promise to do better, but I don't know if that would be letting my yes be yes.

There hasn't been a lot of action in the past couple of months. Mike and Deb Leman were here for a visit in October. It was very good to have them around the guest house some. We always have some very good conversations. The chruch really appreciates Mike because he can speak Spanish and there is no langauge barrier. We look forward to their return sometime in the spring.

Last weekend we had a full guest house. Daniel and Tami Coughlin who are studying Spanish in Morelia were here for the extended weekend (some of us had Monday off). Dwayne and Ann Wulf were also here Saturday and Sunday with their kids, Cassidy, Axel, Zach, Garret, and Marshall. They are studying Spanish in Guadalajara. Both families are planning to go to Magdalena from here. It was a very different environment with four little boys around, but it was a fun change. It sounds like everyone will be back for a Thanksgivng celebration on the 21st. So we will enjoy their presence again soon.

School has been going well. The eight kids in first grade are much more adjusted now and are doing well. They have improved a lot. They just recently learned animals in English as well as some important adjectives like big, little, fast, and slow. They were acting out the animals in class the other day and, wow, it got crazy fast. We've had a lot of fun though and next week they are going to learn some foods, I think. The other classes are going well as well. All the classes exxcept 1st grade are going to end at the end of November, Thanksgiving Day is actually the last day of class. So, I will have a little more time in December to get some more things done before I come home on the 22nd.

Here are some pictures from the bondfire we had last Sunday evening. With the time change it is dark by about 7:00, so there was plenty of time for a bonfire.

It was a very nice evening and the hotdogs tasted pretty good considering I probably haven't had on since I was home in July. Besides bonfires are always good reminders of all the good times I've had back in the states with all my family and friends. Just don't have to much fun at campfires without me (of course, maybe it's getting too cold up there. I haven't heard any reports lately, so I don't know).

Here is a picture of a sunset a couple weeks ago. The sunsets have been pretty lately and you can conveniently see them very well from my bedroom window. I did doctor it up a little to get back the true color so I might have made the contrasts a little strong, but it looks pretty cool.

The past months have been a great challenge to further find my identity nd fulfillment in Christ alone. Living alone in the guest house gives me a lot of alone time whether I want it or not. Solitude can teach you a lot and the past months have been no exception. I understand so much better the journey that is being a follower of Christ. What I thought I once knew turned out to be just the smallest beginning of the truth. What I am learning, while new and deep and challenging tells me that there is so much more to learn. The more I learn the more I understand the difficulty of giving up myself for God, the more I take joy in leaving behind the world and walking with the Spirit. There is an incredile joy in this journey in the world and it only comes from coming into the presence of God. Please join with me and many, many others who are praying for God's powerful name to be heard and accepted by unbelievers in Ixtlan,in Mexico, and in every part of the world so that more can come to know this joy and hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

To parade or not to parade....

2009-09-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, that was the question this morning.

Today is the 16th of September, the Mexican Independence Day. It is tradition that the schools all gather and parade through the town after a civil presentation in the plaza. So, the kids have been busy learning how to march in formation, learning the different commands, and staying in good order. They have improved a lot actually. Today we all met at the school and went to the plaza, the kids all excited about the parade. But....

The parade was cancelled. Last year in the parade in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan (our state), there were some bombs, or grenades thrown which killed several people. It was the result of fighting drug cartels from what I have understood. So, as a matter of safety, the parades this year were cancelled. So, here in Ixtlan, we just had an Acto Civico, as they are called and then, for the kids, and Lizet, their teacher (who was very sad not to march), we paraded back to the school. The kids did very well and even got some confetti (a parade must around here) thrown on them by the Gonzalezes as we passes their store.

So all in all, it was a good day. And much to your excitement, maybe, I have some pictures for you.

This isn't the parade, just me with the kids.

Here are the kids at the Acto Civico in the plaza. They were a little disinterested, but it all went well.

Here the kids are parading back to the school. It was a little confusing at first because we had to get out of all the people in the plaza.

Here are the kids again, just a little closer so that you can see them better.

Prayer:

Pray for these families. They are being introduced to Jesus and the hope that He gives the world maybe for the first time. They also face a level of persecution form the community about putting their children in a Christian school. Pray that, above all, they respond to the gospel of Jesus.

Back to School

2009-08-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the first official day of school. We have nine students currently enrolled in first grade. We are starting with only first grade and planning on adding further grades as the years go by.

Thank you for all the prayers for the school up to this point. We can really feel them, especially on days like this.

Keep praying for the school and all the kids that are here. Pray that the kids can learn academically, but also spiritually. Pray that they can grow into strong young people who can contribute to their society with wisdom and understanding. Pray that the seed of the gospel would be firmly planted in their lives.

Pray for the staff as well, that we would have understanding about how to teach and help these kids. It is a daunting task that has been taken on here, but God is faithful and has been faithful. Pray that we would continue to see His faithfulness and guidance.

And praise God for the work that he has done so far. Praise Him for his faithfulness and His work here in Ixtlan.

Escuelita 2009

2009-08-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

Just so you are aware, there are two new posts. I just couldn't put them in the same post.

It's been several weeks already, but Escuelita 2009 has come and gone. This would be VBS for those who aren't up on the Spanish lingo. It is always a crazy week. It starts at about 9:30 when the first truck leaves to pick up kids and we start at 11:00. We had an average of around 270 kids show up every day. Friday was the day we handed out the prizes and attendence was a little higher that day, probably around 300 kids. We had the theme of the Apostle Paul this year which was good, but a little hard to tell chapters 6-28 of Acts in five days. It was a good year. I taught 10-11 year old boys with Matt which was a lot of fun. We had thrity couple every day. They were a fun bunch.

Here are some pictures of the week, a lot more interesting that anything that I write.

One of the little kid classes in the church.

8-9 year old girls. The school helps out a lot for these big classes.

Matt and I with our boys working on the activity after the lesson.

Here is most of the crew that worked at VBS all week. This was taken Friday afternoon at our little 'celebration' for having survived the week.

Pray that the kids who came will remember the lessons that they heard and that the seeds that were planted during the week would sometime bring forth fruit. We place these kids in God's hands and know that He will work in them to bring up new believers (it's just hard to be patient sometimes).

Every once in a while our hearts break.

2009-08-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a long silence here on La Vida Ixtlan.

I wish that the news wasn't so bitter sweet. Yesterday our brother Roberto went to be with God. He was such an amazing brother in the church and will be missed so much by all of us. I don't know how much I will miss hearing 'doscientos, hermano' when singing in the church. I can't describe his love for the body of Christ. I can't describe his love. We will miss him and his smiling face.

As much as we will miss him, his family will miss him more. His wife Rosa, daughter Ana Rosa (her husband Edgar), his grandchildren Roberto (7 or 8 years old) and Eric (seven months). Rosa has the joy of knowing that she will see him agian in heaven. Pray that she will take comfort and strength in that. The rest of the family doesn't have that hope. Pray that they would be comforted and strengthened, but above all else pray that they would see the light and hope that is in Christ through this. Pray that the veil would be lifted from their faces and that they would come humbly before God in repentence.

It is a bittersweet day. We will miss Roberto, for that we are sad. But, more, we rejoice knowing that he is healed completely through God's amazing grace. What a beautiful hope we have.

The news

2009-06-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

So it has been a little while. Oops.

Roberto:

Some who have visited Ixtlan over the years will remember Roberto. Roberto had a hernia surgery a couple of weeks ago and during the surgery they discovered that he really had relatively advanced stomach cancer. The doctors said there was nothing they could do and have given him anywhere from a month to a year.

Roberto is an older brother in the church here with an incredible amount of love and passion for the church. He is always excited to see visitors in church and will always come up to greet them with his wife Sister Rosa following behind. It's always fun to watch him as he welcomes American visitors who often jsut look back smiling without understanding a word, but with complete recogntion of the love behind his words. Roberto can't read, but loves to be in church. Loves singing. Loves the word. Loves Christ. Roberto loves the hymns "Con que Pagaremos" and "Engrandecido Sea Dios", one of which he will call during each service. Roberto is passionate for God and one of the most, if not the most, grateful man I have ever known.

Roberto's response to hearing about the cancer was essentially "Whatever the Lord wants." (I don't know exactly what he said) He immediately placed himself in God's hands and gave God reign in his life. An incredible testimony of faith and confidence in God's goodness and mercy. We pray his faith can be a testimony to the church, his family, and his community in San Cristobal, a nearby town.

We are naturally sad with this information. It is always difficult to loose a loved one and someone so appreciated by the church, but behind the sadness is the joy of knowing that he is going home. Joy of knowing that he is finishing his race, he is finishing the fight in this life, and that he is going to his reward.

Pray for Roberto. Pray for God's hand to be present with him, comforting him and continuing to give him peace. Pray that his faith would continue to strengthen. Pray that his testimony would grow stronger. Pray for God's will to be fulfilled in his life.

Pray for Rosa, Roberto's wife. Pray that she has strength and courage to face the difficult times ahead. Pray that her faith too would grow strong. Pray that she would stand strong by her husband and take joy in knowing his future is in heaven. Pray that she would embrace God's will and be thankful knowing that it is being completed.

Pray for Ana Rosa (his daughter), Robertito (his 7 or 8 year-old grandson), and Eric (his recently born grandson). They need Christ badly and above all our prayer is that this can bring them to him. Pray that Roberto and Rosa's testimony will show the truth of God's love and the hope we have in Him clearly.

Queretaro:

On a very different subject. We are pleased to have started a new outreach/church in Mexico. I don't know technically whether it is called a church yet or not, but it's on its way at the very least.

Lalo, he was a minister here in Ixltan for a time, moved to Queretaro with his wife (and now 3 children) about 4 years ago to help his family. Lalo has recently started up church services in his home there on Sundays. We are excited about this new opportunity and the potential outreach that we have. Lalo has many contacts and from all reports are good. There are a couple of families that have been coming as well as a nephew of Lalo's who has given his life to Christ and repented.

It is exciting to know that the ministry here is definitely expanding and that there is need all over Mexico for solid Christian churches. For those that are curious and don't know. Here are our outreach locations in Mexico at this point.

Ixtlan: There is the church, school opening to at least first grade next year and multiple other outreaches in the community.

Magdalena: There is the orphanage, church, and there community outreaches and much more for the future.

Morelia: This is about 2.5 hours from Ixltan and there are three members there and three converts. There are also many American visitors that go through when they study Spanish at the Baden-Powell Institue (a language school).

Queretaro: About 3 hours from Ixtlan. Newly formed. See above.

Barra Vieja: About 30 minutes from Acapulco, or 15 hours form Ixtlan by bus. There are four believers there that are expecting to be baptized in July, Lord willing.

Those are the Apostolic Christian Chruch's ministiries in Mexico. God is definitely working here and is going to do some mighty things in the coming years.

Prayer:
1. See above requests for Roberto

2. Pray for the new ministry in Queretaro and the other ministries here in Mexico.

Beware the roaches...

2009-05-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Cockroaches.

Yes, this is a story about a cockroach. I didn't give him a name in real life, but perhaps we can call him Roachie.

Cockroaches, while not any sort of threat to life here in Ixtlan, do exist. Ask Jodi. One interrupted our Skype-chat conversation one night when it went crawling across my desk and I had to wage an impromptu war. I won that one. Raid spray is my favorite, then I don't have to deal with crunching exoskeletons and just sweep up the roach a couple of days later.

Anyway. Roachie.

Today I went to plug my iPod into the speakers I have in the classroom. The textbooks we have use quite a bit of audio and so I use my iPod during class. Well, I had a problem. The speakers weren't getting any juice. No matter how many times I pushed in the power button, nothing happened. No power light. No sound. Nothing. This can be frustrating, especially when you need sound. Thankfully I didn't need it today, although it came close.

Anyway. Speakers.

So I had class and went back to trying to figure out what was wrong. After trying different electric outlets and being generally confused, I shook the speaker to see if any parts were loose.

It sounded like a small etch-a-sketch. This made sense. It's been windy lately and dry. I just didn't think that much dust and sand could have gotten in the speaker while being in the school.

'Ah, well' I thought, 'Time to do surgury.' Of course I didn't have the screwdrive that I needed in the house so after borrowing one from Marshall and Jan, I proceeded to commence operations on my speaker. The operation was pretty typical. They put the screws in the deepest holes so you can never really tell what you are doing. You just have to have a long skinny screwdriver. I think the electonics companies are working with Craftsman.

Well, I got the speaker open and the 'sand' started to fall out. It looked familiar. It looked like the aftermath of a roach. By aftermath, I mean fecal matter. Not cool. So, with greater caution and over the trash can, I continue opening the speaker and, there, scared to death (with good reason I would think), staring back at me was Roachie. Roachie had made home amongst all the wires of my speakers. Considering that we haven't had classes for three weeks. I have no clue how long he had been living there.

I proceeded to do the only logical thing. I knocked Roachie out of the speaker and into the trash can and went for the Raid can.

That took care of Roachie, but what about the speakers. Allowing for the fact that I know nothing about the inter workings of electronics, I feel like I gave things a pretty good looking over, but I don't think Roachie like the way things were organized and had done his damage. Thankfully we didn't pay much for those things.

so I swept things up and and am ready to move on now. Excitement for the day is now over. I think, who knows what else may happen.

Here is Roachie on his way out. Poor guy. Wrong place at the wrong time.

Prayer:

1. We started classes again today. We have six more weeks. Pray that these weeks would be productive academically and in relationships. Pray that God would use this year for His glory and that He would do His work. Pray that we could finish strong leave these kids thinking about more than just English.

*By the way, I'm coming home June 29th and will be home until the 20th of July. Woohoo!

**Oh, it rained last Thursday and Friday night. Yea!!

2009-05-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

We had one day of school on Monday before schools, at least what would be elementary and middle schools, were told to shut down again as precautionary measures and to clean the schools. So here I sit again.

I am not blockmaking this week. I have to catch up on some other things. I finished an online course for teaching English and am going to try to get some more things figured out for the next year. Not much going on really.

I will say this. I am looking forward to rain. It's like a game right now. A really bad waiting game. It could rain any day, but you never know when that will be. I miss the peacefulness of a good soft rain and the power in a good storm. So I wait for the rain. Maybe today, maybe not.

Also, Grant Herrmann is coming back for the summer. He will get her the 22 of May, in about a week. So there will be another person around here. The summer will go fast I know and soon I will be teaching again, but that's okay. That's why I am here, no?

Prayers:

1. Pray for the last couple of weeks of English classes and praise God that we have been able to make connections with many kids here in Ixtlan. Pray that we can continue those relationships.

2. Pray for the continued work on the school. We still have a lot of work to do and there are still many things that need to be pulled together. Pray that we would have wisdom as we work through these things.

Swine Flu and blockmaking

2009-04-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

So, because of the Swine Flu here in Mexico, schools have been shut down until at least May 6th. Although we are not an official school, that means us too. No classes at the Colegio de las Americas until next Tuesday. So I have this short little vacation. So instead of teaching, I suddenly have all this free time. So...

I am now a bolqueador, a block maker. Mario and Efrain are starting a a block making business. I mean blocks like construction blocks. So today I went and helped them. I officially made several blocks and threw around a lot of sand and concrete. It was a good time and I enjoyed the time with Mario and Efrain. I think that tomorrow I get to play at being a abanil, an mason (bricklayer). It should be fun.

I'll fill you all in later.

Prayer:

1. Keep praying for those suffering throughout the world because of the swine flu. More pray that God calms the fears of people throughout the world.

2. Pray for continued growth here in the church and in each member and new believer. Pray that each one can grow in the word and in prayer.

Maybe that's why they were called unclean...

2009-04-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

So, I don't know what you all have heard of the swine flu up there. Probably more than I have. Apparently I am right in the midst of the excitement. Rumor has it that schools in Mexico are all closing until May sixth. I have my suspicions about this though since they already had this Friday and next Monday off, so it might just be a good excuse to have a couple of more days off.

Actually, it isn't really a laughing matter to a lot of people. The last statistic I read said that there are 140 deaths being blamed on the swine flu in Mexico with thousands of suspected cases. We haven't seen anything around here, but people are starting to put on the masks. As far as I know most of the cases are still centered around Mexico City, but I am sure it will be spreading. It brings good reason for prayer.

1. Pray for the people suffering from the sickness. Flu is never fun, especially, I imagine, when it's connected to something of this proportion. Pray for fast recoveries and God's provision for all the care providers out there.

2. Pray for the families of those who have already lost family members to the sickness. Pray that they would feel God's true comfort and come to know him through the pain and loss.

3. Pray for those who are working to stop this. Pray for the scientists and the many who are working to contain and prevent the further spread of this flu.

We know that the world is fallen and because of that things like this happen. We also know that God is in control. God loves us and He is working his wonders and mercy in the midst of this pain and suffering we have brought on ourselves.

It may sound bad, but we are all doing just fine here and look forward to continuing to serve the community here in Ixtlan.

Also, pray for the school. We are being inspected tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the last step for getting the incorporation for the school. Pray that all goes well and that we can move on with the school for next year.

2009-04-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

First, official appologies. Water came back on day 12. That was a long time ago, so if you were still worried about the water. We are doing fine now. (Although it still isn't raining and won't for another couple of months probably.) And while I am at it. Wow. It has been too long since I posted here. A lot has happened. Eye Clinic. Jeff visited. Went to Barra Vieja. Abe came and visited. Classes started up again.

So, first things first. Eyes.

Bryan and Kara Stoller were here with their son Derek for an eye clinic. They brought along their neice, Lynette, as well as Corey and Beth Steffen and three of their kids, Tiffany, Tammy and Ryan. Bryan worked with in the eye clinic all day. The kids helped to give out glasses and did a very good job. There was a lot of help from the church as well since there was a lot to do. Corey did some work in the guest house and Kara and Beth prepared meals for all the help. It was a great week and everything went really well.

Around 250 glasses were given out in the course of 4 days. It was a great opportunity provide for the people in the Ixtlan community. Pray with us that the generosity of Bryan and so many people back in the states that have given glasses would result in people seeing spiritually for the first time here in Ixtlan.

Here are the visitors: (Front: Derek, Lynette, Tammy, Tiffany, Ryan Back: Bryan, Kara, Beth, Corey)

More visitors....

Jeff came on the 30th of March to visit. We left on at about 5:00 in the afternoon on April 2nd for Barra Vieja. There is a small group there of 4 believers that the church has been discipling for some time now. (We are hoping to have some baptisms this summer.) It was about 15 hours by bus to get to Acapulco and then another 45 minutes to get to Barra Vieja. It was great to have a break and to relax a little for a couple of days. It was also great getting to know the believers there and discuss the Easter story with them and the great work of Jesus for us.

Abe Habegger met us in Acapulco and we shared a great week there. For all of you stuck in cold weather. It was VERY warm there, but we survived. Here is a picture looking out at the ocean from the roof of the house that we stayed in.

Here are Jeff and I on the bus on the way back to Ixtlan. Abe really was here, but he didn't leave me any pictures of himself, so I guess you just have to take my word for it.

So we all came back to Ixtlan together and had a nice weekend to finish everything off. Now I am back in the groove of things and ready to tackle the last couple months of classes before summer and a trip home!

Prayer:
1. Pray for God's continued work in the lives of the believers here. Pray especially for the new converts that we have. We had five people start repenting in the past month and a half. Pray for their continued growth and for their sincere desire for a new life with Christ.

2. Pray for God's continued work in the community of Ixtlan. Pray for the many, many people who remain decieved. Pray that they would see the light, that they would be thirsty for the truth and that blind eyes would be opened.

Buckets

2009-03-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

So, today is day 11 without water. I officially ran out of 'tinaco' water today, so I am relying on buckets. This makes for a very interesting and different lifestyle. I am very spoiled by the 'tinaco' and haven't had to live out of a bucket before, but I think this will be a good experience.

Here is the the funny part. Yesterday they fixed the pump. Today rumor has it that the pump is pulled back out. They are apparently still working on it, so we're now going for the record. Marshall says the longest they have ever been without water is 18 days. That is a week from today.

To make things more interesting, Bryan Stoller is coming tomorrow with a group to do an Eye Clinic here in Ixtlan. That means 9 more people are moving into the house and we will all be living out of buckets. Things will be very interesting.

Prayer:
1. Pray for the Eye Clinic and the work that will be done during the week that Bryan and group are here. We will be working on Saturday (21st) and Monday - Wednesday (23-25). Pray for the people who come for glasses, pray that they will be touched by the spirit in some way while they are here.

2. Pray for each of us here in Ixtlan, that we would take advantage of the next week to get to know more people and to challenge ourselves to reach out to them during this week when we have so many people coming to us.

Water, water (not) everywhere...

2009-03-14T10:15:00.001-07:00

Not only has everyone given up hope that I will ever post again on this blog, but I have also failed in my resolution to include a picture of all the visitors that pass through Ixtlan. Sorry to Loren and Besty Shrenck, Julie Haerr, and Mike and Sharice Reinhard. Also, my deep apologies to Mike and Deb Leman.

Loren and group were here for an eye clinic. Loren does examinations on Monday and then does surgeries on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I believe he did 13 surgeries this time. I am not sure exactly. He does a great job and has helped a lot of people over the past 6 or 7 years.

It was nice to have people in the house for the week and to get to know them better. They were the last visitors for the month of Febuary. They left the 28th. I am always guaranteed some great treats when they are here (they made some tasty strawberry jam this time which I am enjoying a lot).

I had a couple of days off to regroup and to get used to being alone again and then Mike and Deb came from Denver. Mike is our elder, so we were able to take advantage of the time have Communion. We appreciate his willingness to share with us here in Ixtlan as well as Barra Vieja, Morelia, and Magdalena. Pray for him and his work here in Mexico. It is demanding but so rewarding.

In other news. We have been without water from the city since Monday. That means this is day six without having my little black water holder on top of the roof filled by the city.

I am having company this weekend, so I just decided to climb up and see how much what I have. (Climbing up to the roof is a little more difficult than one may think. Of course, on could get a ladder, but that would take too much work, so I have to literally pull myself up onto the roof.) Anyway, I was pleased, and I am sure Jan will be as well, to find that I have about half a tank left. That should get me to next Friday, but I certainly hope we have water again by then. Here are some pictures from my trip to the roof.

Here is the 'tinaco' as it is called here in Mexico, otherwise know as the 'little black water holder' on top of the roof. Turns about to be about as high as my chin, so 'little' might not be the right word here.

Here is a picture of the inside. You can see all the nice clear water, just waiting to be used up, just not too quickly.

So, hopefully the water comes back soon. Until then we practice a life of conservation. It is probably good practice for me. You would be surprised how little water you actually need for dishes, bathing, brushing your teeth. A little can go a long way. And no, this isn't the water we drink, otherwise there would be some bigger problems.

Enjoy the abundant water up there.

Prayer:
1. Pray for our perseverence here. Pray that we don't let Satan get us down. Pray that we keep our eyes on the cross and that we don't loss track of the reason we are here. Pray for strong purpose in our work and in our lives.

2. Pray for wisdom in seeing how God is working in the the community here in Ixtlan. Pray that we would wouldn't fight against God's work, but be willing to go where he is leading us.

Mom and Dad

2009-02-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

So, Mom and Dad have have been gone for about a week so it is probably about time to blog about their time here.

We had a great week and everything went fast. I picked them up at the airport on Friday and we made it back Jovenes crowd because the girls were all off doing their own Valentine's Day thing. We had fun and the kids really liked the pizza.

Sunday Rodrigo and Carmen came to visit. It was fun to have them around and to get to see them again. It has been about four years since they moved back to Mexico, but they seem to be doing really well.

Here are Mom, Dad, Rodrigo and Carmen and their daughter Sofia.

Sunday evening the Young Group came in to make cena and Dad even ate some of the salsa. Mom was kind enough to make Funny Cake for the crowd, so we all had a good laugh over the cake.

Here are Mom and Dad with the girls. They all had a good time trying to speak English or Spanish or some form of the two.

We climbed 'La Mula' a little mountain near Ixtlan on Monday and got thoroughly worn out. We had a great time and were able to relax a lot during the day. We also managed to get really sore and sunburnt, but the cokes we drank on the drive home really hit the spot.

Here we are climbling the mountain. I am kinda hiding, but you can see me there. It is a little dry around here. You don't notice it so much in town, but it's pretty dry.

The rest of the time we just spent in Ixtlan wandering in the plaza and spending time together. It was a great chance to show them what life is really like here.

Here are some lemons as big a my head we picked off on of Marshall's trees. They made some weird tasting juice actually.

Prayer:
1. Pray for the eye clinic that is just wrapping up. (Yeah, should have posted earlier about that) Pray for God's work in the lives of each one of the people that we were able to see and that the operations would be successful and that our lights could shine.

2. Pray for renewed energy for me and for the others down here. Visitor season is a little hard because your schedule gets thrown off. Pray that we can all stay energized and get things done. Pray for our continued strength and focus in the next month.

2009-02-17T19:54:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned several posts ago, I am now in the 'feast' of the visitors here in Ixtlan. Starting it all off was Louis and Ruth Haerr and Dick and Jeanette Graham. They were here for a week and were a blast to have around. It is always fun to have people to eat breakfast with and they were always encouraging. They continued the work on the school and we have now made some significant progress with echo reduction and usability.

Here is a picture of us in front of the church. (Dick, Jeanette, me, Ruth, Louis)

They really showed me what true brotherly love is and how to trust in God no matter what the circumstances. Their lives show the faithfulness of our God. Thank you Haerrs and Grahams for sharing your example and love with the church here in Ixtlan.

Prayer:
1. Pray for energy during the time with a lot of visitors. I sometimes get worn out when every thing adds up. Pray too that I put the time into teaching that I need to and that I don't short-change my students.

2. Pray that the school continues forward and that we can find our places and fill the needs that there are. Pray that we would continue on in God's wisdom and not our own.

3. Pray for continued growth and understanding in the word and in my relationship with God. There seems to be so many lessons that are learned here. I am sometimes completely overwhelmed by it all, but it is good. Real good.

Patzcuaro

2009-02-09T16:47:00.001-08:00

It's been too long since I posted already. Here is an update.

Jovenes: Here are some pictures of Jovenes. The kids made some granola-type snack food heads on sticks (granola, cereal, marshmallow, m & m). See the picture for a better description. Jovenes has been a little smaller lately, but that lets us get things rolling again and rethink what direction we are goin in.

Here are Matt and Jesus showing of some of the creations. Matt's little head is wearing a veil, I think.

Poncho is one of the funnest kids around. He and Jesus (and Freddy, nest to Maggie in the middle picture) are all brothers.

Sunday night supper: Here are more pictures of a supper on one Sunday night. The entertainmetn for the evening was arm wrestling. Nayeli dominated the girls division single-handedly (yes, pun intended).

Here Alvaro and I are having it out. It was honestly not a very even battle. I have a bit of an advantage being older, etc, but it was all good.

This is what the arm wrestling was really like. A lot of laughing and joking not much wrestling.

I have to be honest and say that when I say here on the blog that we cook supper together, this group is who I really mean. Notice who isn't in the picture...yes, yours truly.

Patzcuaro: Monday the 2nd was a government holiday. We didn't have class and neither did most the rest of the country. So we, the young group, went to Patzcuaro, a quaint town about two and half hours away. We spent the day enjoying beautiful weather and the sites in Patzcuaro. It was a very enjoyable, if not long, day.

This is the bag of chips that I force fed to everyone because I didn't want to carry it anymore. Everyone was very kind and kept eating until they were gone. You can see some of what the city is like in the background. It was really pretty neat.

Here is Maggie, Christy Stoller (studying in Guadalajara), and Alvaro (red hat) at the top of the statue on an island in the middle of the lake at Patzcuaro. The island/town is called Janitzio. You have to climb up a bunch of stairs and work your way through surprisingly cramped spaces to reach the top of the statue (the top being the upraised fist of Saint Peter) and then you have to squeeze your head out the little space there at the top to see around. You definitely wouldn't fall out of the statue. Inside it was a slightly different story, but we all made it up and down fine and then waited an extremely long time for quesadillas at what some might consider a 'sub-par' restaurant, but it was all part of the great adventure of the day.

Prayer: I will finish again with some requests.

1. Praise for God's help with the school and an extension on the deadline. Pray that we can still get all the work done and that we can proceed forward with the school and have classes next fall. Pray for teachers. We still need teachers, especailly primary teachers.

2. Pray for the many that are going to be traveling to Ixtlan to visit and to work in the next couple of months. Pray for safety and that God would use each person to change lives here in Ixtlan.

3. Pray for Freddy, Jesus, Poncho and their sisters. Pray that they would listen and respond to what they are hearing as they spend time with us. They have a rough life and desperately need to hope that they can have through Jesus Christ and the salvation that we have through Him. Pray that their hearts would be soft, even now, so that God can work in their lives and build their trust in Him.

Strawberries

2009-01-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

A perk of living in Mexico in the winter months is taking advantage of strawberry season. The strawberries supply a large source of employment, as does the mango season. They pick a field of strawberries every other day and water on the off days.

Now, like most things, strawberries are best when fresh picked, something that is altogether common in Indiana, although possible. The thing is these strawberries are big and tasty. They are also extremely plentiful during the season and so very easy to come by. So I thought I would share with you some of the bounty of the land, by picture of course, I can't just send you strawberries, not over the Internest anyway.

So here you are:

Here is my bowl of strawberries, all ready to be eaten and enjoyed. As you can see, I am Regg Beer and I approve of these strawberries.

Just a little picture of the size of these strawberries. No eating these thing in just one bite (although you can try, and I have, which doesn't end up working too well.)

This is what happens when I live by myself and take my own pictures. I still end up making a fool of myself, and posting it on the Internet. I will probably regret this during an interview someday. (at least that's what everyone says)

Prayer:

1. Pray for wisdom as we adjust form having five people doing studies and three. A big difference, especially when one of us is gone. Pray that we would be excited about sharing with others and that our energy and excitement would spread to others. Pray for endurance on our part when it seems like we are going nowhere.

2. Praise for Rosario's visa. Rudy and Rosario are now in Indiana to spend 3-4 months in with Rudy's parents. We will miss them and Nathan here in Ixtlan. We don't have anyone else to scream and make noise through church and Bible studies. Pray that this time could go well for them and that they could make the most of the time that they have with Rudy's family in the next three months.

Cena!!

2009-01-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, yeah, almost a week ago already, part of the young group cooked up some cena, supper, after the singing. We had to use whatever I had in the fridge which limited what we could do, but everything seemed to go pretty well. We had quesadillas and fijolillas (I just made the second one up, I don't know what exactly you would call them. Tortillas filled with refried beans and then tossed on the skillet for a little bit). There was also some salsa whipped up that was pretty tasty itself. To top it off we had smoothies which turn out to be pretty easy to make considering all the fresh fruit that exists in the area.

The kitchen was a little full, but that's what makes things fun.

The salsa came out of the blender with some pretty spicy fumes, but it turned out to be pretty good stuff.

Here we are with content and full bellies. Good food... I mean 'Good times'...I mean 'Good times and good food'.

Prayer: (If you haven't noticed, I am trying to be a little more objective in posting prayer requests.)

1. Pray for wisdom for us to use the opportunities in front of us to share the love that God has given us. Pray that we can use the resources that we have to the best of our ability and that we can always be open to the Spirit's guidance here.

2. Praise for the encouragement that God gives, even through the small things.

School improvements.

2009-01-17T10:48:00.001-08:00

I said that I would post some pictures of the school. Here you go. The carpet on the walls seems to have made a difference with the amount of echo in the room which has made a big difference in way that class goes. It also makes the room feel a litte nicer. We even thought it might work to hang student work or other teaching material. Very functional as it turns out.

My room. Not much to look at besides the newly installed carpet. Feels a little more schoolish actually.

The new fancy cabinet to hide the electric box and whatever else ends up going in there.

There isn't much to update about right now. Things are still continuing forward here even without Marshall and Jan which is surprising. (It isn't until they're gone that you figure out what all they get done in a day.)

I just turned around and saw a big ol' stack of books on my bed. Grading. I guess I should get to work.

Prayer:

1. Pray that I, and all of us, can be like Josiah (2 Kings 22-23). Pray that it can be said of me that I "turned to the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my might" (2 Kings 23:25). It is amazing to read through 2 Kings and see all the evil that was done. It becomes mind numbing. King after king succombs to the easier way out of doing what everyone else does and not following God. Then, all of a sudden there is a Josiah, tearing out everything that has to do with evil and following the directions of God to a 'T'. That is who I want to be.

Feast and Famine....and Feast

2009-01-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of two extremes right now. We just had a group of visitors down for a week. They left this morning. So did Marshall and Jan.

(Ruth and Keith Herrmann, Grant Herrmann, Brittany Sreitmatter)

You may remember Grant from early, more frequent posts, Grant Herrmann was here this summer to help. He came back to visit with his cousin Brittany Steitmatter and his aunt and uncle Keith and Ruth Herrmann. They spent a lovely week here cooking up some wonderous food (with many leftovers going into the freezer to feed me while Marshall and Jan are gone), working on improving the sound in the classes in the school, mingling with the church members, and enjoying the nice sunny weather. (A couple of side notes: I know that you are all enjoying record levels of cold, so I thought I would let you know that it was a nice sunny 76 degrees today, but then it started raining. The first rain we've had since September. To bad you had to leave so soon, Grant.)

I will have to supply some pictures of the school in the next couple of days. Thing are looking pretty good in there. We definitely appreciate the work that they were all willing to do and the friendships that were started in just a short week.

Marshall and Jan will be gone for the coming 3 weeks visiting their daughter in England. Pray for their safety traveling. They left today at about 9:30 and won't get there until tomorrow afternoon, I believe. This does leave me all alone here at the compound, if I can call it that. It will be a strange couple of weeks. At least Matt and Ruth are around a lot. I am sure the time will go fast, but I will get lonely, I am sure. (This would be the famine I was talkning about in the title.)

The feast comes again in February. Straight visitors from the 7th to the 28th. Should be interesting.

Prayer:

1. Please pray for safety for all those traveling now and in the next months. Especially pray for Marshall and Jan as they will be doing a lot of traveling.

2. Pray for me in the next three weeks. Pray that I don't get too lonely and that I can spend the extra time that I have profitably and get a little extra work done before we get busy in February, March, and April.

3. Pray for the school that we would make progress in the accredidation process and that we can find qualified, Mexican, Christian teachers for the school. Pray that we would have wisdom as we continue making plans and considering the needs that we will face in the next year and a half.

Adios, from the rainy way south.

I'm back

2009-01-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hopefully I will be able to keep up a little better now. I am equipped and ready to take on the blogging world again. A little break and a chance to see everyone at home gives me the push that I need to get going again with this blogging thing (hopefully).

It was really nice to see family and friends over break. There is so much to catch up on and so many experiences that I missed out on. However, Christmas is over and it is time to look forward and to see just what the year that is coming is all about. It is weird to think that the next time I am in Indiana, there will be no ice, snow, or below zero temperatures. Instead it will be hot, humid, and green. I will say that I came back to a pleasent surprise. It is a pleasent, sunny, and breezy 72 degrees today. :)

I will start out the blog for this year with a request. Pray. Pretty simple, I guess. Pray for mission here in Ixtlan. There are many aspects and we can easily get caught up in this one or that one and we miss where God is leading us. Pray that we would have clarity in our positions here and that we could be open to whatever God drops in our laps.

Feliz Navidad!

(This is a poinsettia for those that are confused. A little bigger here in Mexico.)

Goodbye...

2008-12-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

There is a mixture of goodbyes in this post. First of all, I was going to put a bunch of embarrassing photos of Spencer up, but I am not going to get it done, so - Spencer, you lucked out, man.

The first of the news is that Spencer left, Monday, for Indiana. He plans to be there for one and a half to two years before returning to sunny and warmer than Indiana, Ixtlan.

That all being said, I am much more lonely than before. In a matter of a month, less really, I have gone to living with two other guys to living alone. Bleh... Well actually, I haven't had a chance to really see how it is yet. I will be interesting. The house is a much colder, less personal place without other people there. I will have to keep you updated as time goes on.

So, Spencer (yes, I am pointing you out in front of all my hundreds of faithful readers - that statistic might be a little sarcastic), it was a good time. I will probably be talking to myself and have a long beard down to my stomach and not know what the light of day is and have myself locked away in my room as a hermit by the time you come back. If that happens, save me, please.

On the other side of things, I, too, am leaving Ixtlan, but only for two weeks. Yes, "I'll be home for Christmas," but I am not really dreaming of a white Christmas. I kinda come to like the warmer weather. It's kinda nice.

So, I will probably see you all real soon. I hope so anyway. I hear there's a winter storm going through right now. That could be problematic, we'll see.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I should have taken a picture to post as my Chistmas Card. I wasn't thinking. Oh, well.

Paz y esperanza al mundo.

Tortillas and the such-like

2008-12-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

So an important endevour on any excursion to Mexico is learning to make tortillas. Really not that difficult, or so it would appear and so the people would tell you. Well it turns out that it is a quick way to learn humility and reinforce the fact that you don't really know everything in the world. The actual making of the raw tortilla is easy, provided you have the little machine that you use to smash them. I haven't even dared doing it by hand. The hard part is getting them on the griddle, fogón (as it is said here), without folding it over, ripping it, putting holes in it, whatever it might be. Then there is the matter of cooking them. You aren't actually making tortillas if you don't use your bare hands to flip the things on the griddle. That means that you are in the constant process of burning off your fingerprints. And of course the tortilla has to be flipped at just the right time so that it "inflates" and you have the perfect tortilla. Anyway, Spencer and I are in the process of learning this. Not as easy as it would seem. Although I do believe that it provides a constant source of entertainment for everyone who might be in the area. Here are the pictures.

Hot, hot, hot.....

I couldn't resist a quick bite.

Impressive, huh?

Las Cuevas

2008-11-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

Thursday was the Day of the Revolution here in Mexico, so on Monday (the official day off), we went to an area known as Las Cuevas. It was about a 25 minute ride out into the country to the middle of nowhere where there happens to be a sand mine (or processing plant and a cave. The young groups started out to the caves with plans to arrive for the sunrise, but didn't leave on time at all and got out there in time to enjoy the cool wind and a fire.

We journeyed on to the cave and venture deep into the dark depths of the caves. Really only about 75 yards deep.

Here is a picture of the soon to be married Matt and Ruth at the entrance of the cave.

Next we found the big piles of sand. It turns out that it is both fun and slightly dangerous to play in the sand. We spent a significant amount of time filling our clothes with sand as we rolled down the hill and tried to see how far we could jump off the top of the hill. A couple of us ended up will a few bumps and bruises and sore muscles, but we all survived just fine.

Flying isn't easy...for most people.

Landing could be a little rough...

...but climbing was usually worse.

We ended with a late breakfast of tortillas and guisadas (see the picture below). It was very tasty and satisfying. I was even able to practice my tortilla making skills a little. None one was terrible impressed with the gringos' tortilla skills. More on that in a later post.

Here is a picture of the food. It was quite tasty (no, Spencer, Matt, and I didn't make any. we were in charge of the 'safer' things - anything you didn't have to cook.)

It was a realy great time for the young group to be able to have some time together and to get to know each other better. The fellowship is priceless when there seems to me so much going on down here. A day off can make all the difference in the world when it is spent with the right people.

**********

On a very different note. We ask that you pray for the school here. We hope to start a elementary school here next August and we need teachers to be able to continue with the accreditation. So far we have not found any. So we are praying that God would provide, that He would bring licensed, Mexican, primary teachers, that are also Christian. It seems like a long list of prerequisites, but we know that God is in control and He can provide abundantly for us.

A lot can happen in a month.

2008-11-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

So, a lot can happen in a month. Sometimes it feels like nothing has happened besides get ready for class, teach, grace, get ready, etc. It is pretty amazing that I ever had any time in the states. That being said. I feel like I am starting, finally to get the hang of teaching English a little better. (You would think I should know already since I did go to college for that. Of course there is a broad difference between teaching English to seventh graders and teaching English to people who don't speak the language.) If anyone ever tells you that English is an easy language to learn you have my permission to call them a liar to their face. I find that suddenly I don't know the Enlgish language well enough. There are hundreds, I'm pretty sure it will end up being millions, of small intricacies of the English language. I never knew how much count and non-count nouns ruled our lives. (look it up sometime if you don't know what that means, I am not going to explain all the funn things about them here. No one would ever return.

So, you might ask what has actually happened in the past month. Dr. Loren Shrenk came with a group to do eye surgeries. I stayed out of the way and hid in my classroom as normal. It was a fine week and everything went smoothly. Praise God for many lives that could be touched that week.

We also had Peter and Penny Shroeder here with their two kids, Jonah and Jared. Penny spent two years here in Ixtlan several years ago and it was nice to have her and Peter here to visit. We made a lot of memories and even had my first bonfire since leaving the states. Can you believe it Milford folks, I actually went through almost the entire fall season without a bonfire.

There was also an unfortunate incident where I lost the vast majority of my clothes and ended up with, well, not much left. Don't worry. I was able to restock and am getting along just fine. I will say that my hands are kinda cold today. I am in the office so the sun hasn't hit it to warm it up yet. So it's a little chilly. I am going around in a T-shirt today. So, the weather is pretty nice. It warms up quite nicely during the day. Beautiful weather actually.

I will save more information for what will hopefully be another post in the near, a couple of days, future. I will leave you with a couple of things.

First, some pictures from Jovenes, more correctly called Ninos as of late.

Some of the 'older' kids playing volleyball.

Pedro and I. As you can see we get along great.

Here are some of the girls, deceitfully calm

A final note on the last month in Ixtlan. I have discovered, well several things, but they all boil down to this. If you look at Jesus and His teachings in the gospel, He presents a pretty radical message, one that we fight against all the time. I have to think that we spend too much time trying to figure out the right way to do things instead of just living them. We need to live out what the gospel says and do what it teaches. Not sit down and discuss how it should be and then live by a list of guidelines for giving or for solving interpersonal relationships. We need to live the gospel. Not that I can do that.

I challenge you all to read the gospels, a gospel, or the sermon on the mount and see it as anything but radical. If we lived like that, we would be noticed by the world. We would make a difference. There wouldn't be any way that the world could ignore us.

Well, until next time.

Still here...

2008-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems like I haven't posted here for a while, but it was just last week. The festival here in Ixtlan is getting ready to get roaring. It has been going all week, but this weekend is the big weekend. I have been busy enough that it hasn't bugged me that much, but I also sleep on the side of the house away from the plaze, where all the noise is. It goes quite late (1-2 o'clock) and Spencer has to deal with all the noise. The fireworks do start at about 5:30 every morning which can be annoying (they apparently don't want you to miss out on anything, they don't realize that by shooting off the fireworks I am missing out on sleep - no, I don't get up at 5:30).

I never thought I would be quite so busy with the English classes. I manage to spend most of my time working with that in one way or another. I have some time to take breaks, but I am looking forward to when I start to get things more nailed down, like maybe next year (although there is a large chance I will be teaching in the school as well, which means new curriculum). The classes are enjoyable, even if I daily make a fool out of myself in one way or another. Speaking another language is a good way to get a good start on that.

The big news around here lately is that Rudy, Rosario and Natan have left to spend about two months in Barra Vieja with the small group of believers there. They will have a lot of opportunity there to work that group as well as develop some other connections with the people in that community. It is tough to see them leave, but we know that God will be glorified and that their presence in Barra Vieja is an answer to many prayers.

The dry weather is coming, we haven't had rain for a couple of weeks maybe, a big difference compared to every night, and that means it is cooling down too. I haven't opened my window at night for the past week probably. Mornings are nice and cool and evenings make me thing of campfires. Milford group, have a campfire for me some night and take some funny pictures, someone else will have to step up to the plate for that one (I'm sure that won't be a problem).

Festival

2008-09-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

If you follow the CVE blog, this will sound extremely familiar.

The town of Ixtlan is celebrating their patron saint San Fransisco, this week as well. It is a time of loud fireworks early in the morning and late at night (5:30 in the morning), loud parties at night, and overall not-to-penatent behavior. It is a time when the spiritual confusion and evidence of poor Biblical teaching is very evident.

It is a time when we are reminded of the importance of our prayers for the people here. Pray that their eyes could be opened to the truth. They are blind and don't know it. They are thirsty and are trying to get water from broken cisterns. They are seeking God, but missing him. Pray that their eyes would be open. Pray that they could recognize their thirst. Pray that the deception would be lifted from their eyes.

Happy Birthday, Mexico

2008-09-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today, the 16th of September is Mexico's Independence Day. The young group here celebrated yesterday by having a potluck of authentic Mexican food. We had a lot of fun together. It was good to have a chance to talk and spend time together as a young group. Jovenes has been full of really young kids lately and it was nice to be able to just have the young group together without all those other distractions.

Here are some pictures from the festivities.

This is the food for the evening. We had plenty and everything was extremely tasty. The Cervantes Chiles Rellenos, we especially spicy. The cake over on the side was Matt and I's work. We spent a lot of time laboring over it. (It was a difficult choice between that and all the other cakes at Aurrera, our Wal-Mart.) I think we're still actually missing a dish or two. Oh, and notice please the tri-colored drink options we offered.

Here is the whole group. In front: Me, Lalo, and Spencer. Row 2: Alvaro, Maggie, Ana, Claudia, Marcie, Gige, Christy, and Lupita. Row 3: Matt, Lupita, Issa, Ruth, and Gloria. (Welcome back to Ixtlan, Gloria)

Here we are in a more normal setting. It took us a long time to get into that formation for the group picture. You can see a few of our beautiful Red, White and Green decorations as well.

Lastly, we finally got the happy couple together for a photo. Here are Matt and Ruth. I have to say, Matt looks pretty good in that sombrero. He makes a dashing, but still extremely tall, Mexican.

Anyway, we all ended up very full, but happy, I do believe. It was a very nice evening, one I hope we can repeat often.

Tomorrow we have classes again. I it was nice having a two day break, but I know that I need to get back to the classes. The good news is that after this week, we should have all the student books and teacher books that we need. That will be a nice accomplishment, and make life a little bit easier.

Currently: Still alive and kicking

2008-09-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have been having technical difficulties with my Internet lately and so I have been off on the updating thing. I keep having ideas about what to write about, but then I forget them when I sit down to write.

School: Things have been going well and I am excited to be teaching. I have a bit of a teacher's dream job. I teach three classes a day. I don't start until 2:30 in the afternoon. I only teach for days a week. On the other hand I am teaching in a different language. That is a little more difficult. I also have a kid, Diego Alejandro, I am tutoring in English on Saturday mornings for two hours and next Wednesday we are starting a conversation hour at noon (it will be Monday through Thursday as well). So, the days are really pretty full. I have a lot to do with planning and all that. It is fun and exciting through.

Even better is the fact that I know have both my teacher's books and can actually teach a little better using the books. There is a lot of stuff that is just confusing and difficult without the books.

Life: Yes, this is a separate section than school. I have to congratulate myself on a pretty significant accomplishment. I can cook and eat eggs (over-easy) in the morning with a total of 6 dishes. That is without washing any for reuse and that isn't eating out of the skillet either. This is the way guys live, always trying to find new ways to do fewer dishes.

Other news: The river almost flooded here the other day. It was hitting the bridge on the way to Limon and La Plaza which was a pretty big deal. A little higher and there would have been some farmers having some problems. Thankfully, it didn't rain anymore and the river didn't flood.

That was the big news this week.

Keep praying for us. Life keeps going and there is always more Spanish to learn.

Love is in the air.

2008-09-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, love is floating around in the air here in Ixtlan. Marshall anounced the engagement of Matt Gerber and Ruth Cervantes yesterday. Perhaps some of you faithful readers have heard this already from other sources, but I suppose there are some that have yet to hear.

I know that I am failing miserably in my job as a blogger in not posting a picture of the couple, but I don't have one. There, it's as simple as that. Spencer and I are going to have to get used to living with a googly-eyed Matt. At least he takes the jokes well.

Pray for them both as they begin to grow together. Pray that their relationship would be a testimony to the community here in Ixtlan as well.

...and take a deep breath.

2008-09-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over. The first day of English classes came and went. In a way the day was surreal. It seemed like it would never come. It seemed like it was just a distant dream that we kept planning for, then BOOM!!!!!! here it is.

An update since the last refresher about the classes. I am teaching 3 classes. The first starts at 2:30 and is for 10-12 year olds. There are 12 kids in that class. It is going to be a fun class with a lot of energy and excitement. There are actually a lot of boys in the class which is fun.

The second class starts at 3:45 and is for 13-17 year olds. This class is more challenging because there are a lot of different levels of English comprehension. They get English starting in Secondary, I think, and so the older kids definitely have an advantage. A few of them seem to be less understanding of my poor Spanish than others as well, but I think the class will be a good one in the end.

The third class is the adult class which has 17 students. This was a fun class as well. They were all ready to learn and came with a lot of energy, especially considering that we started at 7:45. Again there is a large range of language comprehension, but it is a little easier to handle in this class.

Here is the surprising part of the day. Everyone had notebooks and were taking notes (the 10-12 year olds were constantly asking if they should write things down). Maybe it was just the classes I taught, but I am not used to that. I'll sure take it though.

In case you are wondering what the main thing you do on the first day in a class teaching English as a foreign language, I'll tell you. The most important thing is making sure that everyone has an English name (which complicates matters some because I have to relearn names of some people). This being finished, we can continue on with other important things like pronouns, "to be" and the like.

So, thank you for all the prayers, they are definitely working because I am realizing that I really have a lot to learn about teaching English. (Just thinking about the English vowel sounds could make someone go crazy.) Keep those prayers coming.

In other news, Deysi (Daisy to you English speakers), the dog, was trapped in the school bathroom for, well, long enough for us to go looking for her a time or two (Spencer and Matt said they prayed for her, but Marshall was enjoying her absense). Luckily she was set free this morning and is fine and dandy, probably never to go into the bathroom again. She did decide to try to join my adult class tonight and I had to chase her out. I don't think she needs the class. She has been raised bilingual. (Deysi, ven, ven...Daisy, get it, girl) Poor dog is probably more confused that we know.

Anyway, good night. I am all tuckered out and have another big day tomorrow. You probably do too.

Attack of the killer plants!

2008-08-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

A refresher on the past week of my life, since I haven't written for over that long. Last Friday I climbed "La Mula" a mountain close to Ixtlan. No, not alone. A small group of us left at about 10:00 and it took about a half an hour to climb through the jungle the rainy season produced. It was super peaceful at the top and it was calming to just sit there and relax.

Here is the mountain. Intimidating, eh? We went to the top of the ridge on the left. There is a cross at the top that you can see at all in this picture. My dear family will be horrified to hear that I got really worn out at first. I don't know what my problem was, but I had to stop and rest. It was rather embarrassing. I will put your worries at ease, though, and say that I was doing fine at the top and had my normal mountain climbing vigor back.

This is the view from the top. The city is Tecamatan. You couldn't really see Ixtlan from the top. It is weird to look around up there, to see nearly 20 towns, if not more, and realize that there is only one Christian church in all of them.

The mighty cross at the top of the mountain with Spencer at the top. The view from there was spectacular. Yes, I climbed up there too. Don't tell Grandma P. (I don't have a cell phone down here or maybe I would have tried to call her.)

Here are the results of the killer plant. It didn't show up until the sunday after our climb. The really dark spots actually blistered. Whatever the plant was must have had poisonous juices. Spencer has a small spot on his arm too. We don't have a clue what plant it was, but I think it makes me look pretty tough. At Bible study today Lupita and Lupita said it looked like I got in a fight with a cat. You should see the cat...

In other news, I spent Monday through Wednesday in Guanajuato with Juan, a friend of our family from the states.

It was a crazy three days of meeting his family and friends. Eating (and making) some pretty tasty food. Meeting more family. Touring the countryside.

I also got a chance to spend time with some kids he is mentoring which was really fun. We worked mainly on reading and writing. It was a lot of fun to get to know them as well as the rest of the family. Pray for them all. There is a lot of work that God can do there in Juan's family and in his town. Sorry, no pictures. I didn't want to be a tourist...and I always forgot to take my camera with me.

Coming soon...THE SCHOOL DESKS ARE HERE!!!!

Cat fights and calmness

2008-08-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, this would be one of those times, I know I should update the blog, but I just don't know what to write about. For instance, the cat fight just outside last night was, well unwelcome, but it probably doesn't warrant an entire blog on its own.

I we haven't had any other exciting rain storms. We nobody's come or left. Things are pretty quiet. It's nice for a change. The first couple of months had a lot of things going on. I missed the calmness that we have now. It is one of those things that I have to appreciate, because very soon it will be very busy and crazy.

English classes start in about a week and a half. That means a lot of planning. It means, we have to get the desks in, we have to get classrooms set up, we have to get the books, which still haven't come in. It's a waiting game, we know that everything will work out fine in the end. I am really looking forward to the classes and having fun with the students. I just pray that they learn what they are hoping to learn.

I realized awhile ago that I hadn't shown any new pictures of the school, and then never took the time to post about it. So here y'all go.

This is a front shot of the school on the left are the bathrooms, on the right are the offices. There are two levels to the school with three classrooms on both levels. That's six classrooms for all you who don't feel like doing math.

Here is a classroom. I didn't have a key so I had to take the picture through the window. They are pretty nice and big classrooms. They echo a lot right now, but that should get better as we get more stuff in the rooms.

This is just another view of the front of the school. It is really nice. Everything is bright and well done - thanks to all the guys that worked on it.

The back side. As you can see, the school is pretty big compared to everything else around it, but it will be a really nice building and school once everything gets going.

I guess that covers it for now. More later, as always.

Vinieron aguas... (The Rain Came Down...)

2008-08-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fine normal day. Everything went well, quiet and calm. And then we had church. Nothing terrible happened, but we had a rain delay for about a half hour.

We had finished singing and had the first prayer when it started to sprinkle. I use sprinkle lightly here, because they were some pretty big drops. You know the ones that say, "Hey, guess what! It's going to rain...really hard." So then Matt got up to start talking and it proceeded to rain and hail and get really windy. So much so, in fact, that we couldn't hear Matt. So, we all sat and waited until the storm passed. I can't guarantee that it was a half hour, but it was pretty close.

Of course, when it rains that hard, water always gets in somewhere. So there were several people walking around with mops to soak up any renegade waters. That also meant water here in the guest house, unforturnately for Spencer whose window wasn't latched. It blew open and his bed got soaked. Pobrecito Spencer.

A special thanks to our two volunteers. Bev and Anita Schlatter are here for two weeks visiting and practicing Spanish. They are neices of Marshall and Jan. Also here for a quick visit are the Troxel brothers. I haven't seen much of them, but I know that Rudy and Rosario are enjoying their presence.

Today was the last day of Inscripciones, registration, for English classes. We currently have 26 students. This is of course a far cry from the 65-70ish that we guess from our surveys, but it is probably better to have small classes since both Ruth and I are new at this teaching English as a foreign language thing. It is probably better if we are going to treat these classes as a ministry opportunity as well. We have several contacts that we believe will still be wanting to sign up as well. So the numbers will probably increase in the next couple of days.

Well, that should update all of you who weren't shocked to death when you saw that I updated again so quickly. Happy recovery!

Basketball

2008-08-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Spencer was gettin on me today for not updating this thing. I didn't realize the last time I posted was the 6th. It's been a week already. Where do I begin.

I am sitting here listening to dogs barking, kids yelling as they play, sheep, and the distant, echoing boom of fireworks. Yes, fireworks. In the midst of all this I realize that this is one peaceful place. It is 7:35 and I am calming down for the evening. I was in the school all day doing registration. We have two days left and expect quite a few people to come sign up yet. Classes are slowly getting a little fuller. We aren't getting as many as we initially thought to come and sign up, but it might be more effective both for teaching and for outreach to have small classes.

Last night we went and played basketball with a bunch of kids from Llano. Actually, part of the group played some other games, but I played basketball. Imagine at least 15 highly energetic and excitable kids running around a small basketball court. They probably ranged from about 7 to 12. It makes for a pretty fun time. We had a lot of fun. As will happen with kids, it doesn't always go as smoothly as planned, but we made it. Pray for the kids in Llano. The come from a very rough area. They don't have a lot and their lives can change a lot if their lives are changed by God.

That's not much of an update, but at least it's something. More later.

Adios, Grant!

2008-08-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Grant se fue. Que triste!

I have to start this with an apology to Grant. I know you left a week ago and I should have had this posted a long time ago, but it hasn't gotten done until now. So here is you official goodbye post, Grant.

Grant was here in Ixtlan for about two months this summer and has realy helped out a lot, especially when we all up and left him for a week. He was a good guy to have around, always ready to help out, build a cabinet, or drive the vans. Of course Grant and I were roommates as well which means I now don't have anyone to wake up as I stumble out of the room in the morning anymore.

Here are several of us the night before Grant left. We also went to the plaza for aguas (no not bottled water, icy cold drinks like Horchata and Limon con chaya or something like that) as well. That was nice. Lupita, Lupita, and Issa are in front and Grant and I are in the back (yeah I meant to put Lupita twice, too)

And here is a picture of Alvaro, previously spelled Albaro (my bad Alvaro), who finally got over his fear of having a picture taken.

In other news, we are still registering. Going has been a bit slow, but I think there will be a lot more peopel next week, it's a little like Indiana here, I think everyone is waiting until the last day.

Also, as is Mexican culture, we are supposed to keep the street in front of our house swept clean. As a group of guys living together, we have been very lucky to get our house clean, let alone the street. With the help of Jason and Rebekah Stoller, who were here visiting for a couple of days, we got the street swept and carried away a five gallon bucket of street dirt. Oops, I think we let it go a little too long.

Alas, it is about three and I should get going so I can get back to the office for our afternoon reistration, but hopefully this gets you back up to date a little. I have kinda gotten a little behind.

Inscripciones

2008-07-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-13T07:21:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2008-07-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Preparing for VBS

2008-06-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

A week from today we are startingour week of VBS, better known here as Escuelita. That means that we have to begin preparing. Escuelita can bring in over a couple hundred kids from the community and is a huge event. Thankfully, we have some extra room this year in the school which will help to hold all the kids. So, today we began some of the preparations. We filled in 400 invitations to hand out to the people in Ixtlan, we will go around on Saturday and again on Sunday to hand those out. We also cut out some "Pigs" that are a craft that go along with one of the stories. We have to get a lot of that stuff done for the younger kids so they don't hurt themselves or take up three days just trying to cut out and fold a little box.

Here Grant and Lupita work on filling out invitations. They are still working on their first 100. Concentration was perhaps sporadic at best for a while there. I was cuttng out and folding the pigs with Albaro.

Albaro was ready for something a little more exciting after we finished the pigs. Turns out it was raining out so vollyball wasn't such a great idea.

Here is the pile of pigs that Albaro and I made. It isn't as impressive as it seems it should have been, but there are 50 little pigs there, I think.

Albaro decided that we needed some music while we filled out the rest of the invitations. I am pretty sure he just didn't want to fill out the invitations. He sat at that piano and messed around for quite a while. If you are wondering, he doesn't play the piano and wasn't terrible proud to be playing either which made for an interesting and unique experience.

We have a lot more to get ready for, but we did get a good chunk of work done today. That was nice. Escuelita will be here before we know it, but it will be a really great week. Tiring, I am sure, but great.

Futbol (not americano)

2008-06-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

So, Saturdays here are soccer days. At about 11:00 in the morning someone heads off in the van and picks up a bunch of rowdy boys about 11-12 and under. We had a good 8-10 in the van and then picked up about that many more back in Ixtlan. So we end up with at least 15-20 boys in this little barn to play soccer.

Now, I just want to make sure this picture has been created correctly for you. There are 4 American young men, to be polite, and a bunch of Mexican kids running around. That is enough to make people think that we are crazy, but then we start playing soccer with them? Soccer is like the unamerican sport. Sure it is played in the US, but what do we really know about the sport? We have to convince our soccer stars to move in from other countries. So, these crazy Americans want to play soccer with a bunch of Mexican kids.

Who, I ask, do you think the experts here are?

I hope you didn't say the Americans. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. The kids behave really well. They are good enough that we can really have fun. They are also good enough that the goal is the post for the basketball hoop. (I will say it isn't any whimpy basketball post. Made of concrete, etc. but still much smaller than an actual goal. And these kids are good.

So if you want some good exercise, come down on a Saturday, these kids will put you through the works.

The first week

2008-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well, one week ago today I left home and came down here to Ixtlan. I really didn't know entirely what I was in for. A lot has happened in a week. I have a lot to learn about Ixtlan, about the people, about Spanish, about God. I think the same would be true no matter where I would go. We often feel we know so much, when in reality, we don't know a thing. We are just on the edge of knowledge. Every time we go a little further we just realize how much bigger everything is than what we thought.

Anyway, you probably don't want to listen to me wax philosophic. Blehh... get that taste out of your mouth and on to something different.

What have I done in the past week you may be wondering. What does a person do in Ixtlan?

We have a Bible study or Chruch or something every evening down here. That means that I have done a lot of that. I have gotten a lot of practice listening to Spanish that way. The Bible studies are done with groups or couples in the community. It is a great way to get out and get to know people a little better.

I have made a couple of trips to Zamora already. Zamora is were we go for and "Walmart runs" we might need to go to, although here they would be called "Aurrera runs". "Walmart" here seems to be a lot like walking into a Sam's Club. I don't think I will have a problem with not having the things that I need. Zamora is about 30 minutes away. It is a pretty nice city with some pretty good food.

I have had a lot of time to plan for the English classes as well. I am realizing that I have a lot of things to learn about English and about teaching English to people who don't know the language. It is a pretty daunting task, but I am excited about the possibilities that it will open up. I need to work a lot more on the different parts of the class, but it is making some slow progress.

A last thought:
Spencer said it pretty good the other day he said that the reason he came down to Ixtlan was because he heard there was this lady that cooked up really great food down here. Mom, don't worry. Jan will never let us starve, although I may eat too much. And there is always the taco stand down the road.

Jodi

2008-06-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Jodi reminded me of something in a comment on Rambling. I got to see her last weekend. I think she just about squeezed me to death but I managed to step the side and make it more of a side hug than a front on hug which I think saved me.

OK, I may be being a little bit facetious. It was great to see her and she seems to be doing alright. She didn't really try to hug me to death I don't thinks, but it was pretty....intense, some people might say. She has definitely gotten better with the whole speaking Spanish thing, which is great.

We did also get a chance to talk to Mom, Dad, Holly and Micah all at the same time on Skype. Mom and Dad were in Morris. and so we all talked together. It felt kinda like we spent the evening with them. A short, very strange evening, but an evening none the less.

Here is picture of Jodi and I as proof.

She is panning on coming again next weekend. We'll see.

Bienvenidos a Ixtlan

2008-06-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here I am. Sitting in the guest house wondering where to begin. There is so much to say and yet how can you say it all. How can you fit your life into weird little letters. I don't know so I guess I won't try too hard.

The weekend is past. It was a great weekend. We had both baptisms and communion. It was a great chance to see the church, to get to know the people who attend, and to pick up where I left of last summer when I visited. Of course, I discovered that I don't really know Spanish. I have some studying to do there, but thankfully the people here are patient and willing to listen to bad English and still be able to carry on a conversation. It is slowly coming back and I am glad to have the support that I have.

Time fills up here with studying and learning the language and Bible studies and picking people up and droppong people off. I haven't had a chance to sit down and discuss what is going to happen with the English classes yet. There are a lot of things to figure out first. Once we have things nailed down a little bit more, I will be able to do some planning.

Mike and Deb Lehman are leaving today so things will be a little different. We won't have anyone cooking us breakfast anymore. Prayers that they are able to return home safely.

Here are some more pictures. These were taken from the second floor of the guest house. Not real interesting, but part of what I see every day.

Coming soon: Lalo, our tagalong little brother.