Dondo la Vuelta

"Let not your longing slay your appetite for living. Wherever you are be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

Jim Elliot

Recently I have been challenged by this quote. I have found myself trying to balance desires, living in between two countries and have been encouraged to live wholeheartedly where the Lord has placed me each day. This was such a good reminder to me to focus on the will of God and to remember his faithfulness wherever you are.

Playera Give-away:

Thanks to all who prayed for T-shirt Giveaway (Playera Giveaway) this past Saturday June 23rd. All the of the details worked out great: No rain, no chaos with 200 kids, and a special time for everyone. This was the biggest giveaway yet and encouraging as this means that more and more kids are learning verses from the Bible and being trained to know God's character.



In order to win a T-shirt kids had to attend club a certain number of time and memorize 10-12 Bible verses. It is each CFCI team members responsiblity to listen and track how many verses are memorized from each student. The best is seeing the excitment on the kid's faces of this accomplishment and seeing kids wearing their shirts days after the giveaway because they think they are so great! Pray that these verses continue to be rooted deeper into the children's lives and become their Rock.


La Cena y Churros:

Friday night was filled with "donda la vuelta" while eating churros and listening to a Mexican jazz band play some tunes in the plaza. Dando la vuelta basically means walking around and it the cool thing to do:) The churros were awesome and it was so fun to watch some "viejitos" older people dance to the music. There was one part of the night that cracked me up.... the band started by asking for a "one minute" applause. Let's just say that one minute is kind of a long time and the Mexican band man definitely timed a minute and told us when to stop:)



Saturday night was my first experience eating on the street, literally. Elizabeth, Gus and Arika, (a fun married couple) and I went out to eat about 9:30 and a family had a restaurant out of their house. We took the table and chairs out on the street and ate some great mexican food... fun times and such fun people. We also "dando la vuelta" only in a car this night which means we were pretty cool. Driving around is literally what tons of people do at night. I am looking forward to getting to know Gus and Arika more.



Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire:

I just finished the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire and am encouraged and challenged by many of the author's key points. (Many of you know this is a big accomplishment finishing a book in less than a month:) It is especially fun to still be attached to NYC in some ways while reading the book as it is the journey of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. The importance of prayer is definitely evident throughout the book and God is teaching me slowly how to pray for others along with what to pray for in general as He has called me here. I have written down some key points, especially......the more you are forgiven or the bigger the debt you owe the more love gratitude and depth of Jesus' character you will know. The following verse in Luke says:



47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."



I continue to be challenged by this verse and it is my desire love more and more.

Zacatecas:

Chances are many more of you have been to Spain than you have to Zacatecas. And if you have ever been to Toledo Spain, Zacatecas is very similar. It is a quaint, hilly, and somewhat European looking city. It is about 1 hour away from Fresnillo and such a fun city to get away to every once and awhile. Some of the highlights were the convent, walking along old brick roads, the cathedral, fun parks, Sam's club and Wal-mart:)

El Viernes: Friday

It's Friday! However, this doesn't mean it is the weekend just quite yet when you day off is Monday. I am getting confused with what day of the week it is and going to have to adjust to this. Tonight, Katie and I went out for some churros ($7 pesos or rather $.70). They were great! There was also a band playing with some older people dancing. They sounded somewhat like a Mexican jazz band if you can imagine that. And to begin they started out with a one minute applause, exactly. Let' s just say this cracked me up and one minute is quite a long time to applause.



On another note, Thursday was the last kid's club of the year and they will resume again August. In order to send me off with a warm welcome, one of the little girls peed all over my leg:) That's right, I took her to the bathroom, she went, wiped her and decided it would be a good idea to wash her hands...lifted her up .... and I guess she didn't get it all out of her system. Let's just say that I smelled great the rest of the day and my jeans had dried completely about two hours later. Love like Jesus does, even when it smells!





This is a picture (left to right) with Katie, Claudia, Monica and Gloria from last Sunday in Gloria's kitchen. The food was great and they are such a sweet family!

La Primera Semana: The First Week

I cannot believe that only one week ago I was in Wisconsin. It is such a blessing and excitement to get your emails and updates. Thank you, thank you! My first week in Fresnillo was busy with meeting new people, eating so much Mexican food and seeing what a typical week will look like here. There is so much to take in when learning a new language, culture, job and city. I am excited to be changed by the people here and all that they have to offer in the many examples they set for me.

There is so much that I want to share, but I am first going to stick to the basics to hopefully give you all a picture into my world here. One transition here that I have quickly learned this week is that we (CFCI) along with some national workers are the church here and many of the responsibilities are administrative and physical labor. Example, if you don't mop the floor, make communion bread, etc.... it doesn't get done! There is so much purpose and explanation that goes into each day that I hope and pray to somehow communicate effectively throughout this year. However, to start I will give you a basic run down the ministry that CFCI does in Fresnillo and as time goes on explain how it is effective with the Mexican culture. Everything that is done has to be seen with the lens of the Mexican culture and through the eyes of the Lord.

A typical week from what I can tell so far:

(One thing to note is that all the Mexicans here do not speak English at all; therefore, the English I speak is with the 8 other Americans here and is not very frequent:) Which makes me excited, so I am going to throw some Spanish words in here and there. Chido? Cool? Perfecto!)

Mondays: Dia libre (Free Day)






Tuesdays:

• Chores: This may not seem like a big deal or at least to me it didn't at first. However, it is dusty and dirty here as Fresnillo is located in a semi-desert area. Also, living both indoors and outdoors with rain, sun and wind can really mess things up a bit. We are responsible for cleaning the church, la escuela (school) and the patio.
  
• Team Meeting: Planning for the week of all that needs to get done along with a time of prayer.


• Cell Group: Bible Study with Mexicans

Wednesdays:

• Club Meeting: Preparing lessons/activities for Club (200 kids)



• Club: Includes inviting kids for 1 hour (if you saw the neighborhood it is easier to understand:), club, taking kids home and visiting with kids at their homes individually after club.

Thursdays:

• Morning Club



• Afternoon Club



• Visiting with kids individually (playing, reading a story from the Bible, practicing Bible verses, more playing and building relationships with the families

Fridays:

• A mix of doing other jobs including: bills, money items, visiting kids, etc.

Saturdays:

• La Torta (sandwich): Buying, preparing, and serving 300 sandwiches to give out in the neighborhood to children and families. This also includes preparing a short devotional to share before distributing the food and cleaning up. This takes the whole day!!
  

Sundays:

• Church: Including set up, serving during the church service, clean up (I should communicate that clean up here always means sweeping and mopping along with hand washing all dishes including the communion cups with grape juice that we throw away in the states in order to re-use them)



• Prayer Walks in the neighborhood

It is my prayer that I will effectively communicate and bless each of you with the things that God is doing here in Mexico as He hears and answers our prayers. I hope that this gives you a better pictures into my days here and to soon show you the hearts, culture and lives of the Mexicans leaving here along with opening our eyes to an eternal perspective which is seen so much clearer to me here.

El Miercoles: Wednesday

God is good and my transition thus far to Fresnillo has been such a blessing. It is definitely a transition to do ministry full time just because it has always been something I have done and loved in addition to a job, but now it is my job and it is awesome! The people here are so welcoming.

Today, I observed the kids club in, La Colonia, that CFCI runs during the week with children ages 3-10. There will be 2 more clubs on Thursday, both in the morning and in the afternoon. There are 2 fifteen passenger vans and one normal van that we used to pick up the children in the neighborhood. Here are a couple pictures of the road (rather the roller coaster) and neighborhood where we pick up the kids.

Normally, one might think that a 15 passenger van sits 15 people; however, here in Fresnillo the 15 passenger vans seat 31 children each and the normal van has a limit of 12 children. The children are precious. I cannot put into words how excited I am to be here and confident that God is in these neighborhoods. I am confident that the Lord loves these children and that He has lead me here as a tool to teach and show this kids who He is. It is also so awesome to be able to spend more time with the Lord, truly seeking his example for ministry.

El Patio

It doesn't take very long to get settled when you only have 2 suitcases to unpack for a year. I will be living in "El Patio" while I am in Fresnillo with 2 other missionaries, Becca and Meredith.


"El Patio"

The patio is located in "El Centro" which is the center of town and surrounded by a lot of stores. There are five rooms in "el pasillo" (the hallway) when you first walk in, mine is the first room and the other rooms are used for other bedrooms, an office, and a prayer room. The hallway leads into the patio. So far I really like living both outside/inside all the time. I love having the sunshine! However, with sunshine comes rain. This means that when it is raining you have to walk through the patio and get pretty wet if you want to get to any other room besides your own. The rest of the rooms including 2 bathrooms, a computer room, kitchen and living room all come off of the patio. Christ for Children International (CFCI) uses this house as their main meeting room and planning room for all of the clubs.

Here are a couple pics: