Brief Update!

Wow it's been a LONG time since we've posted anything on the blog!  We're in the process of moving right now!  A week from today we move out of our house and in with our friends Walt and Diane.  Then off to Mexico City for a week, then on to Oregon for Christmas and New Years!  After that we'll be doing a good deal of travelling in the States.  Of course we'll have more info as we get a more concrete schedule!

Highlights of this week:

• We were able to meet with a local polititian and his wife to give them a Bible and share a bit about Christ!!  I've been going to their home 4 days a week to help their daughters with their Englsih homework, but we had bee praying about meeting with them to share about Christ.  More about that if you get our newsletters!
• We sold our car yesterday at a REALLY good price!
• Today is the 1st anniversary of our friends Phil and Sandy's cafe ministry to college students!  The ministry is growing bunches!  We'll be at their celebration tonight!

I unfortunately haven't taken many pictures in the past few weeks, but I'll leave you with this one from a brief trip to Tequisquiapan (try pronouncing THAT!)  a couple months ago:

Goodbyes and Holidays!

Our good friends Justin and Lluvia left Queretaro this past weekend to move on to a new ministry assignment.  I've worked with them the whole time I've been in Queretaro, and JP worked with Justin even a bit longer than that!  So we're sad to see them go, but happy that they will be used in another country soon!

Jean Paul, Jessica, Lluvia, Justin, and our good friends Sandy and Luis.

September 16th was Mexican Independence Day, so we got to celebrating on the 15th and 16th!  My first Mexican Independence actually being a Mexican!

We celebrated at church this year :)

Some of the ladies that participated in the "traditional dress" contest at church:

JP and his mom in front of the Queretaro State Capitol building

Every time is food time on this blog:

Here's a common snack in Queretaro: a big crispy pork rind with cabbage, tomatoes, onions, salsa, and thin strips of PICKLED PORK SKIN on top.  NOT one of my favorites, but it's quite popular!

This IS one of my favorites, in fact there were made at my house by me for lunch on the 16th - Queretaro Guajolotes (wah-ho-LO-tays) or in Mexico City they're called pambazos (pahm-BAH-sohs)  - sandwiches where the bread is dipped in sauce and roasted, filled with beans, cheese, chorizo sausage, onion, lettuce, and cooked squares of potato and carrot.  REALLY YUMMY

And the typical elotes (ey-LO-tays) - corn on the cob covered in mayonaise, grated white cheese, chile powder and lime!  We had a guest from Guadalajara at our house for lunch the other day and we were talking about typical foods in Queretaro and Guadalajara, and he just about gagged when we said we eat mayonaise and cheese on corn...  I guess that's only in this region of Mexico!

We had a great weekend!

STUFF

I may have written about this before, I honestly don't remember.  But I was reminded of "STUFF" just now because Jamie the Very Worst Missionary posted THIS article on her Facebook feed.  And it was a good article.  And it made me think of the STUFF in my life - present and past.

Over two years ago, when JP went the United States for the first time (and only time until this December!), he made a comment that really got me to thinking.  We were walking through some middle-class neighborhoods in South Salem (Oregon) in August, and of course, many people were doing stuff outside and had their garage doors open probably all day.  Apart from being flabbergasted that someone would leave their garage open when they weren't in it *(see note below), JP wanted to know what all the STUFF was that people have in their garages.  Good question!  My first answer was "bikes, a lawn mower, Christmas decorations, tools, and cleaning supplies."  That makes sense, even here in Queretaro those are things that you'd find in someone's back patio.  "Ok... so what's all the REST of the stuff?"  JP asked.  I thought about that for a little bit and said that I imagined that it was stuff that the people hardley ever use but don't want to get rid of.  That did nothing to take the look of confusion off JP's face.  "Why don't they have a garage sale?  They could get a ton of money from all that stuff!" he said.  And I realized that, after having moved to Mexico, that's my line of thought on the subject of "STUFF" too.  If you don't use it, you can either sell it or give it away! 

This is just a random "google images" picture, but I think it could be pretty typical of a "STUFF-filled"garage!

Since JP and I both LOATHE moving, we started really early in finding out what to do with our STUFF while we're in the US.  We've sold a few items of furniture - things that we don't use very often like a twin-sized bed, an office chair, and a cabinet.  I also decided to sell the mircrowave to a lady who opened a restaurant three weeks ago.  It's really not that difficult to be without a microwave!  :)  We're happily getting rid of STUFF, and that's really not that hard either, it feels good!  Try it!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with MY STUFF that's still at my parents' house in Oregon...  :) 

* In Queretaro, we're blessed to have a low rate of violent crimes.  However, theft is rampant.  We've had our car attemped to be broken into twice, just because we had a coat or a plastic grocery bag in the back seat!  If we left our back patio door open all day, we might come home to a completely empty patio - washing machine included!  I don't even leave jeans hanging outside of our patio to dry anymore because I think they might not be there in a couple hours! 

Seriously?!

Read even just the introduction to this Wikipedia description of Operation Fast and Furious. 
REALLY?! 
Correct me if my interpretation of this is wrong:

Give guns to bad guys so they can go commit MORE heinous crimes, then TRY to see if you can track them and the weapons you gave them down.  And make sure they all get sold in Mexico so our ridiculously high crime rate will sky-rocket even more. 

ATF FAIL.

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!

Reading and Learning

I just read a REALLY interesting book - The Unlikely Disciple, which tells about the experience of a non-Christian guy's semester at Liberty University, which is definitely on the ultra-conservative side of Evangelical Christianity.  It was interesting to see what were the things that most struck the author as odd in a conservative Christian community.  Some of the things didn't seen weird to me (like that classes start with prayer, for example).  But others were things that I don't understand either, even after having grown up in a Christian family, and gone to a not-as-conservative Christian college. 

For example, the author mentions that he felt that a lot of Christians (in his experience) don't care about the environment.  Falwell gave a sermon (seriously?!) on global warming in the course of that semester at Liberty, saying that it was a big myth.  Do I think that as Christians we should be concerned about the Earth's environment?  ABSOLUTELY!!  God made everything on the earth for our use, and we should take care of it, so in my opinion, we should use God's earth in a way that's respectful to Him - the Creator of it.  I DON'T think that taking care of the environment is our #1 priority by any means, but it's important!  And in my experience growing up in a Christian environment (mainly in the 80's and 90's) I heard people even laughing, saying that it is dumb to worry about the environment!  That's shameful to me. 

The author had his run-ins with people who were completely ignorant and rude, as well as with those who were really, well, normal.  Reading this book has made me think a lot about how I am viewed as a Christian (especially living in a place where there are VERY few Christians!)  Do people see me as loving and accepting, or as some rude religious fanatic?  I'm pretty sure the "rude religious fanatic" isn't how people see my husband and I, seeing as how we are frequently invited out with people who aren't Christians and even those who don't want anything to do with Christianity.  But they like US as people.  I don't want to be a "religious" person - I want to be someone who truly loves and follows Christ and shares that love with others!  In all I do I want to love others, at the same time not compromising my values or sinning.  Sometimes it's hard to balance that, but we're learning! 

Weddings

Two of our friends from church - Ivan and Selene - got married the other week.  We are SO happy for them!

Weddings in Mexico generally have a LOT more festive mood than those in the United States (at least the U.S. weddings I've been to!)  After the wedding ceremony there is a party with FOOD - a WHOLE meal, usually catered.  And cake too, of course!  There's generally either live music or a DJ.  And after everyone has eaten their fill, the real party begins! 

At some weddings they play what is called "La Vibora del Mar" (the sea snake).  The bride and groom each stand up on chairs (which area usually rented plastic collapsable chairs - real sturdy, hehe!) and hold hands with a big space between them.  In the picture below they used part of the bride's dress instead of holding hands.  Then, all the women (who want to participate) at the wedding hold hands in a chain and start running through the room, between all the tables and people sitting down, and eventually go underneath the bride and groom. 

Then it's the guys' turn.  They hold hands in a chain and do the same thing.  At some point during La Vibora del Mar, the groom will likely get knocked off his chair, and we may see the demise of a flower arrangement, centerpiece, or other decoration. 

I'm not making this up!  And it's not the kids who do this, it's the adults!  It's kind of hard to run through a room filled with tables, chairs, and people,  holding hands with other ladies in HIGH HEELS.  But it was fun!  But I'm NOT upset that we didn't do the Vibora at our wedding...  :)

Another aspect of a wedding party that is different from in the U.S. is that many times the bride and groom go from table to table collecting money for their honeymoon.  The bride has a little bag (traditionally she'd use her shoe, but most brides use sandals these days!) that people put coins in, and the groom gets bills pinned onto his suit.  I TOTALLY wish we would've remembered to do this at our wedding!!  :)

And then there's lots of music and fun until late at night.  And that's a traditional wedding in Mexico (in my experience)!

Our Stash

We just got more ministry resources!  When we invite our ministry contacts out to dinner we like to be able to give them something.  So how about a Bible!  Or a book that explains salvation by grace!  Yeah!  :)  We have a friend who gets super cheap ministry resources/Bible/etc, so we went and stocked up with her yesterday, as we were down to almost no Bibles to give away. 

JP has been sharing Christ with several of his work friends as they carpool home from the airport each day.  A couple of them have a Bible now - JP asked one guy if he'd read any of his new Bible (I believe JP recommended reading the book of John), and he said that he'd read a little bit, but his mom saw the Bible and took it with her to work to read!  So probably one of these Bibles will go to him!  :)

Done!

I FINALLY have all my documents to be able to leave the country and to go to the U.S.  I'm all set on my documents now for TEN years!  Yay!!!  (With the exception of my driver's license... which I probably need to get a Queretaro one but won't yet because it's another expense and we'll just wait to get it until we get back from the States.)

El Bajío

El Bajío (bah-HEE-oh) is the region of Mexico that we live in.  It includes the states of Queretaro, Guanajuato, and part of Michoacan.  This statistic was just shared with us in church on Sunday: this region - along with neighboring states of Aguascalientes and Zacatecas - is the region in LATIN AMERICA that is least evangelized.  And we live here.
 

Below is a map of Mexico with these states colored:

Queretaro is blue

Guanajuato is purple

Aguascalientes is red

Zacatecas is green

Michoacan is brown (the eastern-most part of Michoacan is considered part of the Bajio)

We've actually met a LOT of people who had never heard about salvation in Christ!  So many of the people we come in contact with (with the exception of those at our church!) believe that by being good, participating in the sacraments (baptism as a baby, eucharist, confession, confirmation, etc.), and praying to the saint of their church or city, they will be saved and go to heaven.  It has been sad to see so many people believe that, even though they don't have a relationship with Christ that they will go to heaven.  And we know that Jesus says: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  John 14:6

God has been giving us some amazing opportunities to share the Message of Salvation with those around us (these testimonies will be in our upcoming newsletter).  Please pray that God will open the hearts of those we share with, that they will come to know Christ as their Savior.  And pray for us too, that we may have the boldness to speak the Truth to others!

View of Queretaro at night