Hello!
Yesterday's post was long, so today's is short. It is late, and we have to leave the hotel at 6:45 am to pass out breakfast at the school in Progreso.
Today/Wednesday we spent a lot of time organizing ourselves for the rest of the week. It was raining so we didnt walk around inviting people to Emmanuel's prayer service like we had planned. We had free time this afternoon too, so we are all tired from walking around the city for hours!
This evening was a powerful prayer service with our brothers and sisters at Emmanuel.
Tomorrow/Thursday we are going to be in Progreso all day, handing out breakfast, spending time with the women in their homes, having a big fiesta and also a time with pizza for the men to spend time together (something that we have been wanting to have at Progreso for quite awhile).
Peace and blessings!
PS
The rain probably means no construction tonight!!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Relationships, Relationships
Hola! I´m back. Thanks to my mom for setting up a good case for sympathy for me while I was gone... :) What she didnt mention is that baby Josue, Vanita and Lucio's boy, wasn´t feeling well either so Vanita and Josue stayed back in the hotel too for the morning. He (and his parents) need some sympathy too!
How is the snow up there in MN? We heard we are missing a lot!
So, I¨ll start with what we missed...
Monday
On Monday, as Peggy mentioned, we went to Progreso in the morning for some home visits. We also passed out bags of food (beans, oil, pasta, etc) to several families. For the team members who come to Progreso every year, it was a great time to see hermanos and hermanas and reconnect. Some of our amigos are in tough times, with loss of work or death of family members, and we carry their pain with us. But it was also an encouraging time as they shared with us their commitment to their children and to trusting God in ithe difficulties.
After lunch we went to the town of Guasave, a new place for us, which was a good 1.5 - 2 hour drive away. Pastor David from Emmanuel was working to help establish a church there before he came to Emmanuel church, when he lived in Los Mochis, which is close to Guasave. We walked around the neighborhood with some people from a church in Los Mochis, inviting the neighborhood to our fiesta in the park. At the fiesta we had a puppet show, a solo by Lindy, a clown ("Huesito," or Little Bone, is a member of Emmanuel church and is famous in Culiacan), a drama about how the devil traps us with bad decisions, a message from David, and Shawn and Kathy shared about God's work in their lives. Then we had a lot of fun carnival-like games and face paint for the kids. We started late, so we had to do the games in the dark, with the headlights from the van to help us. Several people asked for prayer after the message.
In Guasave we met Jesùs (not the Messiah, but a guy from Los Mochis), who has been holding weekly Bible studies in the park. He has been asked to be the leader for starting a church there, and just moved in to a home in the neighborhood. His fiance, Ycari, was helping us with the service too. The home he is renting has 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a hallway, and a wee room with a sink, 2 shelves, and a corner table. And a hot dog stand with picnic table right outside of it (yum). All 20+ of us took turns using the little bathroom.
Tuesday
Today we (well, they, technically) passed out food bags in another new area, Chulavista, and invited people to join us in the park for another time with Huesito. While walking around and inviting, some people came upon a woman cutting down a tree on a ladder with a machete. The men offered to help, and soon there were 5 US guys doing the same job that 1 Mexican woman was doing a minute earlier! A lot of jokes went around about that, and a great bond formed between the group and the woman and her neighbors.
After lunch we drove to Badiraguato, in the mountains. The last time North Haven went to Badiraguato was in 2003, in the pouring rain, and we were in a park in the city. Today we were on a basketball court in the neighborhood, and it looked great all set up for the fiesta. After we invited people, we had a similar program to Monday, but this time it was all in daylight: Huesito providing energy and excitement, puppets, drama, a song from Kathy, Jon, and Lindy, a message from Cipriano, and stories of God's work from Cindy and Jim. Then the fun games, prizes, and face painting. People from Emmanuel come to Badiraguato every Saturday for Bible study, and are hoping that some day the neighborhood will want someone like Jesùs to move to the neighborhood and eventually build a church. Badiraguato is close to La Apoma, another town that we have worked in before, that had an established church and building (with Raul and Gloria, if you remember their names). Sadly, that church is struggling to survive, so hopefully the church in Badiraguato will lend them support.
Relationships
The biggest theme of Monday and Tuesday is relationships. Walking around Progreso was so rich, because we were able to reconnect with our dear brothers and sisters there. It was different in Chulavista, where we didn´t know anyone. It felt colder, more sterile, until we met the woman with the tree. Then, through shared experience, we made a new relationship, which was really exciting.
Pastor David met a policeman in Badiraguato awhile back through the Bible studies, who was very skeptical of what Emmanuel was doing there. After awhile, the policeman asked David to pray for his son who was sick. The next time David saw the policeman, he said that his son got better after they prayed, and that now he did not doubt what they were doing, and that he was open to being prayed for too. We saw this policeman today at our fiesta, and he addressed our team warmly and called us brothers/sisters.
Relationships are also why coming to Culiacan is so neat. We bond with our family from Emmanuel and the other small churches. We come to be with them, to work with them, to love and to live with them. Some on the team might even feel more bonded to people here than their own friends or family back home. It is because of the special work that we do together, and how we can share in the transformation of God and of God's transforming kingdom together.
For me, what is so important is knowing that the people from Emmanuel do not choose random towns, conduct evangelistic meetings, and then disappear. Not at all! The church visits these towns weekly, visits the people there, cares for them, prays for them, and brings them food or other necessities they may need. They provide wonderful experiences for their kids, the fiestas with Huesito, and wonderful experiences for the adults, the Bible studies. They love these people, and dont care just about their souls, but their lives and who they are. Jesùs and his fiance are great examples of this. They love the people of Guasave so much, and they really care about them and their city. So they are being incarnational, they are moving in and going to experience life, and all it brings, with these people. Even when life there means a teeny tiny apartment away from your "normal" life.
Perhaps this thing of relationships has to do with the compañerismo David was talking about yesterday...
*********
There are a few other stories I could share, and things that our team members have found encouraging, or enlightening. But, it is bed time for me. I hope that you will catch up with whoever you know who is here in Mexico for their own personal stories of seeing God work here, when they return.
For those who are pray-ers, please lift up these things:
Blessings on you, and on your relationships
Elise for Team 10
PS
For those who've been paying attention, those missing suitcases showed up Sunday evening. :)
How is the snow up there in MN? We heard we are missing a lot!
So, I¨ll start with what we missed...
Monday
On Monday, as Peggy mentioned, we went to Progreso in the morning for some home visits. We also passed out bags of food (beans, oil, pasta, etc) to several families. For the team members who come to Progreso every year, it was a great time to see hermanos and hermanas and reconnect. Some of our amigos are in tough times, with loss of work or death of family members, and we carry their pain with us. But it was also an encouraging time as they shared with us their commitment to their children and to trusting God in ithe difficulties.
After lunch we went to the town of Guasave, a new place for us, which was a good 1.5 - 2 hour drive away. Pastor David from Emmanuel was working to help establish a church there before he came to Emmanuel church, when he lived in Los Mochis, which is close to Guasave. We walked around the neighborhood with some people from a church in Los Mochis, inviting the neighborhood to our fiesta in the park. At the fiesta we had a puppet show, a solo by Lindy, a clown ("Huesito," or Little Bone, is a member of Emmanuel church and is famous in Culiacan), a drama about how the devil traps us with bad decisions, a message from David, and Shawn and Kathy shared about God's work in their lives. Then we had a lot of fun carnival-like games and face paint for the kids. We started late, so we had to do the games in the dark, with the headlights from the van to help us. Several people asked for prayer after the message.In Guasave we met Jesùs (not the Messiah, but a guy from Los Mochis), who has been holding weekly Bible studies in the park. He has been asked to be the leader for starting a church there, and just moved in to a home in the neighborhood. His fiance, Ycari, was helping us with the service too. The home he is renting has 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a hallway, and a wee room with a sink, 2 shelves, and a corner table. And a hot dog stand with picnic table right outside of it (yum). All 20+ of us took turns using the little bathroom.
Today we (well, they, technically) passed out food bags in another new area, Chulavista, and invited people to join us in the park for another time with Huesito. While walking around and inviting, some people came upon a woman cutting down a tree on a ladder with a machete. The men offered to help, and soon there were 5 US guys doing the same job that 1 Mexican woman was doing a minute earlier! A lot of jokes went around about that, and a great bond formed between the group and the woman and her neighbors.
After lunch we drove to Badiraguato, in the mountains. The last time North Haven went to Badiraguato was in 2003, in the pouring rain, and we were in a park in the city. Today we were on a basketball court in the neighborhood, and it looked great all set up for the fiesta. After we invited people, we had a similar program to Monday, but this time it was all in daylight: Huesito providing energy and excitement, puppets, drama, a song from Kathy, Jon, and Lindy, a message from Cipriano, and stories of God's work from Cindy and Jim. Then the fun games, prizes, and face painting. People from Emmanuel come to Badiraguato every Saturday for Bible study, and are hoping that some day the neighborhood will want someone like Jesùs to move to the neighborhood and eventually build a church. Badiraguato is close to La Apoma, another town that we have worked in before, that had an established church and building (with Raul and Gloria, if you remember their names). Sadly, that church is struggling to survive, so hopefully the church in Badiraguato will lend them support. Relationships
The biggest theme of Monday and Tuesday is relationships. Walking around Progreso was so rich, because we were able to reconnect with our dear brothers and sisters there. It was different in Chulavista, where we didn´t know anyone. It felt colder, more sterile, until we met the woman with the tree. Then, through shared experience, we made a new relationship, which was really exciting.
Pastor David met a policeman in Badiraguato awhile back through the Bible studies, who was very skeptical of what Emmanuel was doing there. After awhile, the policeman asked David to pray for his son who was sick. The next time David saw the policeman, he said that his son got better after they prayed, and that now he did not doubt what they were doing, and that he was open to being prayed for too. We saw this policeman today at our fiesta, and he addressed our team warmly and called us brothers/sisters.
Relationships are also why coming to Culiacan is so neat. We bond with our family from Emmanuel and the other small churches. We come to be with them, to work with them, to love and to live with them. Some on the team might even feel more bonded to people here than their own friends or family back home. It is because of the special work that we do together, and how we can share in the transformation of God and of God's transforming kingdom together.
For me, what is so important is knowing that the people from Emmanuel do not choose random towns, conduct evangelistic meetings, and then disappear. Not at all! The church visits these towns weekly, visits the people there, cares for them, prays for them, and brings them food or other necessities they may need. They provide wonderful experiences for their kids, the fiestas with Huesito, and wonderful experiences for the adults, the Bible studies. They love these people, and dont care just about their souls, but their lives and who they are. Jesùs and his fiance are great examples of this. They love the people of Guasave so much, and they really care about them and their city. So they are being incarnational, they are moving in and going to experience life, and all it brings, with these people. Even when life there means a teeny tiny apartment away from your "normal" life.
Perhaps this thing of relationships has to do with the compañerismo David was talking about yesterday...
*********
There are a few other stories I could share, and things that our team members have found encouraging, or enlightening. But, it is bed time for me. I hope that you will catch up with whoever you know who is here in Mexico for their own personal stories of seeing God work here, when they return.
For those who are pray-ers, please lift up these things:
- Pastor David is running himself ragged. His 3 children are all sick, and he was not feeling well when we arrived. He is spending long days/evenings away from his wife and kids, and seems to be barely hanging on. He told us that he gets physically sick when he is too stressed out or too busy, and we are concerned. Lift up his health, and that of his kids and wife, to the God who designed our bodies and systems.
- The construction workers are back tonight on the street outside the hotel. Ask God that we would all be able to sleep through it.
- We are not sure yet of our plans for Friday. We might have a fiesta in Chulavista, or spend more time in Badiraguato or Guasave. Ask that God will give the leaders wisdom for this decision, and that they would be able to discern where we are needed the most and what work is to be done, or relationships to be grown, wherever we do go.
Blessings on you, and on your relationships
Elise for Team 10
PS
For those who've been paying attention, those missing suitcases showed up Sunday evening. :)
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