Taco Juan

**(Due to the fact that this is not our personal story, we've changed some names)**

We may have mentioned Juan before, he's the owner of our favorite taco restaurant the Rancho.  He's been coming to our church since sometime before JP and I returned from the USA last year.

The other night, we went to the Rancho with some friends after JP preached at their church.  In a rare moment of non-busyness in the restaurant, Juan told us his story.

Our good friends, Luis and Sandy, had been going to the Rancho for some time when they invited JP and I (who, at the time, were engaged - circa 2008).  We immediately recognized the world's best taco upon eating there, and have been regular customers ever since.  Luis and Sandy had shared a bit with Juan about salvation in Christ.  He was interested in spirituality and was open to hearing what they had to say.  JP and I also talked a little with him about Christ.

Juan has a sister who lives in Canada, and she accepted Christ.  Because her town doesn't have a church service in Spanish, she looked for sermons online and found a Mexican church that offered live-streamed services every Sunday, so she began to tune in regularly.  Juan went to visit his sister in Canada, and she also told him about Christ, and encouraged him to attend a Christian church.

In 2011, our church, Horizonte Queretaro, got a new pastor.  He and his wife moved up from another city, and we took them to the Rancho.  They were hooked, and went frequently.  They, too, began sharing with Juan about salvation in Christ.

One day, Juan's sister came to Queretaro to visit.  She was in the restaurant talking with him about attending the church she tuned into online, which happened to be here in Queretaro, when suddenly that pastor walked into the Rancho!  It was Kike (KEE-kay), the pastor of Horizonte Queretaro, who was by that time a friend of Juan's.  Juan found all this to be too much of a "coincidence," and decided to go to church.  He began attending Horizonte regularly, then accepted Christ!  He now uses his restaurant as a way to point others to Christ as much as possible.

We had heard bits and pieces of Juan's story, but it was amazing to hear him tell how God orchestrated everything to bring him to where he is today!

(Just a side note: since me and another girl listening that night are from the United States, Juan piped up that he had spent some time in the US too.  "But it's in a place where hardly anyone from here (Queretaro) knows of - Portland Oregon."  Couldn't be closer to home for JP and I.  Literally!)

JP going after the "trompo" of BBQ  pork at the Rancho

My FAVORITE dish, BBQ pork and cheese taco

Found In Translation

A new ministry was kind of dropped in our laps a couple of months ago - one that was unexpected (and I *may* of actually said "Um, yeah, that's not happening" upon being asked to do it).  

At Horizonte Church, we had quite a few foreigners for some time now - three ladies from the US, two guys from Germany, an Australian guy, a Costa Rican girl, and an Argentine guy all fairly involved in church, serving and attending regularly.  We all speak Spanish at least conversationally.  Then all of a sudden, a few foreign families who work in a new car industry in the area began coming.  Most of them do not speak much Spanish.  The end of February I was asked to translate the service simultaneously for one such family.  Now, you have to understand, there's simultaneous translation for a church service, then there's simultaneous translation for OUR church services - our pastor speaks incredibly fast, and uses an insane amount of slang and plays on words.  So this was a huge challenge.  JP started doing the translation, as my hearing isn't what it should be, and he does a great job.  I'm not sure if word was spread about the translation of our 11:00 service, or what, but we now have two people from the US, two Bulgarians, and four from Africa coming on a regular basis.  It's so neat to see how God brought people who don't yet speak Spanish to be able to hear His Word preached here in Queretaro.  As I said before, the translating is not easy.  But it's been a blessing to be a part of this!

In the picture below:

The top part, JP is translating the service.

The bottom part, Pearlie (one of the USA girls) is translating children's Sunday School.

Clean Hair... And SO Much More

I HATE washing my hair.  Like I REALLY.  HATE.  IT.  I unfortunately also hate the feeling and the look of having dirty hair.  I also have hair that is prone to greasiness, and I play with my hair like, ALL the time.  That makes for an unfortunate combination.  However, I LOVE taking a shower (as long as I can do it without getting my hair wet)!  There were actually a couple of days this past summer, days when it was 95 degrees outside and 89 inside, where I showered three times in one day.  It just feels so good.  And two of those times per day were made even better by the fact that my hair didn't even NEED to be washed!  :)

So yesterday at church (yeah, I DO have a point to this!) we were studying Titus 3:1-7.  At Horizonte Church we go through an entire book of the Bible at a time.  Over the course of several weeks or months, of course.  And I've really been enjoying Titus.  So the pastor was talking about verse 5 - Jesus saves us, not because of cool stuff we've done but because of MERCY.  And as all Horizonte attendees know from the Titus series, mercy is "NOT receiving what you deserve."  Christ WANTS to clean us up from sin.  And the pastor asked a big question: What part of my life do I NOT want Christ to clean?  It's like me with not wanting to wash my hair.  In fact, I probably thought of that analogy yesterday during the sermon precisely because I hadn't washed my hair a in a couple days and, honestly, it was particularly greasy-looking.  I want my body to be clean (hence 3 showers per day if it's super hot out), but I don't want to go through the bother of washing an incredibly full head of hair because, even though I love the end result, I hate the process of actually washing it, then brushing it out, waiting for it to dry, or even worse drying it with a hair dryer.  So yesterday, for example, people had reason to wonder if I'd showered recently - not because I had crap on my face, or smelled like B.O., but because it was noticeble that I hadn't washed my hair.  And that contributes to a general "not-showered" look.  The same happens if I let Christ clense me from my sins but keep going back to one particular sin because I don't want to give it up and be forgiven.  Having forgiven sins is *a little* bit bigger of a deal than having clean hair.  And the GREAT thing is that if I give over control of my life to Christ so He takes care of the sins that I don't want to let go of, I'm clean for good!  (Stupid hair gets dirty again in the next day or two!!) 

So, while I may not change my hair-washing habits, I DID get a lot to think about and work on in my SPIRITUAL life!

The Best Weekend Ever

We just had a ridiculously LONG but SUPER GOOD weekend!!

Why?  Read below!

Singles Conference
JP and I led a group of 24 young people ages 18 to 36 to Cuernavaca (supposedly 3.5 hours south of Querétaro) for a conference for singles at the Horizonte Church in that city.  About 300 people were in attendence, and we had several EXCELLENT speakers that touched on topics that I know many of our young people are dealing with.  At least two of our young ladies are dating guys who aren't Christians, and this topic was talked about very clearly - God's plan for us NOT to be joined together with unbelievers - and I know that these ladies have been thinking about the consequences of their relationships a lot this past weekend.  One of the speakers talked about SERVING the Lord as a single person.  There are SO many opportunities.  And another speaker talked to all the ladies about taking advantage of singleness to serve and living life to the fullest, NOT waiting around for life to "begin" once you get married.  Even JP and I learned a lot of good stuff to apply to our lives!

The group from Horizonte Queretaro at the conference!

Cristina, Pam, and Ramses

The Food
We ate WAY too many tacos at the conference, they brought in the biggest chunk of meat I've ever seen and between 300 people we finished her off!  :)

The Drive
So, as I mentioned above, the drive from Querétaro to Cuernavaca SHOULD be about 3.5 hours.   The 24 of us took off at about 6am from Querétaro in our car, another small car, and a 15 person van driven by JP.  We stopped for about half and hour just outside of Querétaro, as some other people from Querétaro had car problems (they were following us to the conference).  Then we stopped again for potty and coffee break for about 45 minutes.  We entered Mexico City at about 9:30 am.  This will all of the drivers' first time driving in Mexico City - it wasn't half bad!  But one girl got car sick there and we had to try to find a pharmacy to get some dramamine, and kind of got a little bit lost...  We got to the conference at noon - and hour after it started.
Then we left for Querétaro at about 10pm.  And we hit TRAFFIC at 11pm on the parking lot, er, I mean the highway, that circles about Mexico City.  We were stuck on the circle highway for TWO HOURS!  We ended up getting back to QRO at 3am!  But all arrived SAFE, thank God!

Our fearless pilot!

Bus ride! 

(Maricela, Cristina, Andrea, Adrian, Karen, Pam)

Sleep (or lack thereof!)
I don't do well on little or no sleep.  But between the time JP and I woke up at 7am on friday morning and the time we went comatose in bed at 6 pm on sunday, we slept a grand total of 7.5 hours!  And were driving for 10 of them!!  (ok like 11.5 for JP since he has to drive 45 minutes each way to work!)  But it was worth it!

MORE Changes for Horizonte Queretaro
The church leadership of Horizonte was informed of the following this past week:
Juan, the pastor who came after Martin and had gone back to pastor in Ensenada due to health problems, had left his son, Jonathan, as pastor of Horizonte QRO.  However, Juan's health is getting a lot worse (please pray for him!), and he asked Jonathan to please come back to Ensenada to be the permenent pastor there.  So where does that leave us?  With Kike (KEE-kay) and his wife Paulina from Cuernavaca!  Kike had come several times to QRO en the past few years, and had a burden in his heart for the people here (1% evangelical Cristian!).  He and Pau were praying about starting a house church here when Jonathan called up and asked them to pray about pastoring Horizonte Querétaro.  So on sunday, it was annouced that Kike will be our new pastor, beginning that day!  We're sad to not have Jonathan and Evelyn here, but Kike and Pau are awesome, and we know that they will be a huge blessing here!!

Kike and his wife Paulina

Kike and Jonathan

Soccer
The Horizonte QRO girls' soccer team won our second game on sunday!  Just to top of the excellent weekend!!

Dirce, Alma, Ari, me, and Arely after the soccer game

Mini Mission Trip!

While the mission team from San Diego and Michoacan was here (see post below), the Horizonte Churches in Queretaro (our church) and Sta. Rosa (a town to the north of QRO) had an outreach event for the peole who live in the neighborhood of Horizonte Sta. Rosa.  About 30 people from Horizonte QRO came out, and a lot more donated food - free food always attracts people! - for the event.  About 180 children and adults came to the event in Sta. Rosa.

Clown show and songs for the kids!

This was the first time that many of the Horizonte QRO folks had been to an evangelistic outreach.

Behind the scenes balloon-making!

Marco, the Sta. Rosa pastor, shared the message of salvation in Christ.  Afterward, five people accepted the Lord!

JP and I wondered how many of the 180 people in attendance were from a church.  We asked Pastor Marco, who recognized the people from both churches, and he estimated that HALF of them were non-believers from the town!  That was encouraging because many times "outreaches" end up being events for the people of the church and hardly any non-church people come.  So this was different, and of course the five who accepted Christ made the whole things worth it, as well as the fact that now all those people at least know where the little church in Sta. Rosa is, and will hopefully come back!

I was also encouraged to see people from Horizonte QRO come out and help in so many ways - from making food, to leading songs and games, to being clowns...  There were several who had never been to an event like this before and really didn't know what to expect, but came anyway.  Ramses, one of the clowns, is the only Christian in his family and had very little idea what the event would be like, but did an excellent job with the kids!  Ruben, Cristina, and Adriana and her teenage boys are attendees of Horizonte who hadn't really been involved in anything except attending on Sundays, but they came and saw what an outreach is all about and jumped in to paint faces, serve food, make balloons, and pretty much help with anything! 

We hope to do a similar outreach in the town of Cadereyta (kah-dare-RAY-tah), where the mission team from SD/Michoacan went last week.  A lot of  people in Cadereyta are even hostile toward Christians, so we want to be able to help that church in any way possible!  We were so encouraged by what God did in Sta. Rosa, where Christians are not well received either, and trust that the Lord will work in Cadereyta too!

Y SU casa Tambien!

So, like the very day that I posted last about using our house in any way we can to bless others, we found out that there was some people coming from San Diego CA and Michoacan MX for a few days.  So two ladies stayed in our house! 

Robin, Diana, and I in the Centro

The team of six came to visit three churches in the State of Queretaro, to encourage, help out, and find out what each churches' needs are.  They came to Horizonte Queretaro, and the Horizonte churches in the small towns of Santa Rosa and Cadereyta.

Part of the team in Queretaro Centro

These guys were a blessing to us, and helped out in even little stuff that needed to be done.  They were an encouragement to us as a church, and mainly to the church staff!  The three from San Diego are basically doing a road trip going to various Horizonte churches through out the country.  Three others are missionaries in Michoacan.

They left yesterday to go back to Michoacan for a while, then the Californians are off to Mazatlan and a couple other places before heading home!

The team (minus Diana who's taking the picture) and some Horizonte folks: (back) Zac, Me, Cinthya, Tanto, Pepe, Sal, Chepe, Sinai, Marlene, (front) Robin, JP

Santo Relajo!

Last week we had a pretty much amazing event at Horizonte Church - Santo Relajo!  (doesn't translate well in english, but it's like "holy mess")  This was an outreach event for youth.  Many of the Horizonte youth invited non-Christian friends, and we had quite a few young people from other Christian churches come with friends as well.  We had 70+ young people at the event, which included live music from *Sweet Emily* - two girls from Horizonte are the drummer and a singer in the group.  We had a super-mega-abundance of hot dogs, chips, hot chocolate, and cider for everyone, provided by the women of Horizonte and families of the young people.  We played lots of crazy games, and had a bonfire with the biggest marshmallows I've ever seen.  And most importantly, Pablo - a youth leader from another church in Queretaro - gave a message of salvation for those who might never have heard about Jesus' saving grace.  FIVE young people accepted the Lord that night!  We want to make sure to keep in contact with them to help them grow in their new faith!

Our invitation to Santo Relajo  (my pictures didn't turn out well, it was too dark...)



We're also planning a large Christmas party together with several other Christian church youth groups in Queretaro on December 18th.  It will be held at Horizonte, and will also be an evangelistic event!  We're excited about the partyyyyyyy!!

Happy Day!

About three months ago, a family entered Horizonte and asked about the church.  This family is from Mexico City and was visiting Queretaro.  They have family that lives down the highway from the church.  The Mexico City family brought their Queretaro family members to Horizonte for the second service.  There were three girls - Pam, Karen, and Fernanda.  Pam and Karen are 23 and 20, respectively, and Fer is in elementary school.  Their parents didn't want to come.

Pam and Karen accepted Christ the beginning for 2010 through the influence of their family members in Mexico.  Immediately they were interested in being involved in the young adults' group and coming to the Sunday services at Horizonte.  They are learning a lot about the Bible, and are VERY eager to continue that learning.  

The other day, the three of us went out for crepes (very popular in Queretaro, and VERY yummy!!).  I had told them that Laura, the lady that was discipling me, just moved to the US.  They asked me about eing discipled, what that is, and how they can be discipled.  I'll begin meeting with each of the girls this week!  Unfortunately we aren't able to do a study all three together, as Karen goes to school in the evening and Pam gets off work at 7pm.  

Please pray for Pam and Karen, that they will continue to grow in the Lord.  And for me, that the Lord will speak through me.  I've had some frustrating experiences with discipling in the past year - girls who aren't commited to meeting for a study, or who are too busy going to dance clubs in the evening to meet.  I've been discipling Sandy, and 17yearold for about 2 months now, and that is going well.  And I trust that Pam and Karen will be commited and benefit from our times together!

Both girls were baptized yesterday at Horizonte Church!  I don't have pictures of their actual baptism - I was behind the stage helping them out!  But below is a picture of thir parents (who thanfully came to watch!), aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few friends! 

The Guys From Down the Street - Take 2

In January, I wrote about some kids - Enrique and Fernando - who live in the same neighborhood as Angel and siblings who are Christians who go to our church.  Enrique is the guy who introduced himself to us several months ago as if he were in some kind of non-christians annonymous...  hehe.  Anyhow, I'd also mentioned that he's been coming regularly to Metamorphosis group (young adults small group), Infusion, and now and then to sunday morning church service. 

Saturday was Infusion (monthly meeting and hang-out time for the young adults at church, and any friends they invite), and Enrique came.  Our topic was worry... and I was the one leading the discussion... quite fitting.  hehe  When we were all leaving, Enrique stopped me and thanked me for the discussion - that he's been suffering a lot lately from worry about all sorts of stuff, and that knowing that GOD provides a way out of worry by us putting our trust in Him, and "casting all our cares on Him." (1 Peter 5:7) It was nice to see that Enrique's life is being impacted through Infusion.  He's also going to tell a little bit about how his life has been impacted recently, at a breakfast for people who want to join a small group at Horizonte. 

Anyhow, yesterday, I just about thought I was hallucinating when I recognized Enrique's mom and sister, and the parents of Andrea (a girl from that same neighborhood who comes to youth group) in church.  I think Angel's family (they're the Christians who live in that neighborhood) are pretty much evangelists by lifestyle - they just hang out with their neighbors and the next thing you know, they all show up at church!

Please pray for Enrique and his family, and Andrea and her family, that soon, all that they have been hearing about Christ's love will move from their heads to their hearts to change their lives and bring salvation!

Two Steps In The Right Direction

Our friend Jorge, who I think we may have mentioned before, as been making some decisions lately...  He and his girlfriend have/had a really messed up relationship.  Both Jorge and his girlfriend work with JP, and they're our age, so about a year ago we started hanging out with them.  Jorge began coming to Jean Paul with situations regarding his girlfriend, ex-wife, etc.  JP always told him that there will be no advice given in this house that doesn't come straight from the Bible.  Jorge always said that was fine, but the whole "Bible thing" isn't for him, but that JP could get good advice from it. 

About 2 months ago, things took a turn for even worse with Jorge and his girlfriend.  He began showing up at our house rather late at night, looking for JP to talk with him.  It got to the point where we had to tell him to please call before coming over; that 11pm is really too late for him to "show up" at our door.  It was getting tiring.  So one of those late-nite time with JP, he asked for "marriage counselling."  Which was weird, but whatever.  We suggested that he talk with  Pastor Martin at our church.  He is now meeting with Martin every week, and is slowly learning about the importance of a relationship with Christ.  Jorge's girlfriend doesn't want him around anymore, and doesn't want to go out with me anymore either.  That was really hard for him to handle, but I'm sure it's for the best.

Jorge came to church today.  We are having a series called "Staying in Love," and I actually felt kind of bad for Jorge because I know he thought that Martin was preaching directly at him - the sermon touched on the exact things that Jorge is dealing with, and Martin knows that from their counselling sessions.  I know that Martin had the sermon prepared well before he knew that Jorge was going to come to church, and LOTS of people have said in the past few weeks that who was telling Martin about their lives because, he was preaching directly to them!  Anyhow, we hope that Jorge continues on this (slow) path to Christ because that's the only thing that's going to help him have hope!!