Hanging out with family...

Last Days

Last Days

Now don’t presume from the title that we are talking about the book of Revelations. No, we are simply reflecting on and sharing about the last days of our recent time in Mexico.

The last six months have been spent in intensive learning of the Spanish language. It was a joy to learn under teachers that cared about you as a person and about your spiritual condition. They were there to help in every way they could and they did. Then, there were the students. They came from different places to learn for different reasons. Some already work with Hispanic people and need the better communication skills. Some train from the simple interest of learning a second language and then become so excited about the culture, the people, and the mission field experience that they find it difficult to leave. Living in different local homes gives them new perspective into the lives of the Mexican people and how friendly and hard-working they are. The village we lived in, Cacalotte, was focused on fishing the seas but holidays were always welcomed for the community rooster fights, rodeos, parades, singing, dancing, eating, and unfortunately, drinking alcohol to excess. However, the bible school campus and local church have made an impact and many families are being drawn toward knowing Christ.

We’ve spent three years now going to Oaxaca, Mexico and we have loved being there. The local church is growing and experiencing revival. We were commissioned to go and “come alongside for a time and then God brought us back home. Our time in Mexico is finished for now. Loving the missionaries that work there, loving the local people of the village, loving the students attending from all parts of Oaxaca, loving the culture of the area, made leaving difficult for us. We crammed as many times of fellowship as possible in between studying and finishing our final exams in the Spanish school. By God’s grace, we finished well.

But the most difficult experience was leaving our landlords; a precious retired couple who were small in stature but big in heart. We swapped stories, ideas, and meals. We saved our compost for feeding their chickens and received eggs. The week we left, we received meals, plants, and seeds. We had to leave the plants, distribute the seeds, but we ate the meals. Two chickens were killed during the week in our honor. That was such a huge message to us…we were loved. Friday, as we soaked our clothes with sweat while loading the truck, sweet, juicy slices of watermelon came into our hands to refresh us. Wow! Saturday morning we woke them up early as we were preparing to leave at 6am. After hugs and blessings were passed all around, we finally left. They were the BEST landlords ever.

A week before leaving, a brother walked up to us and asking when we were leaving, he told us he was available to drive with us to the border. We had been planning to ask him but what a blessing to have him suggest it first. Bro. Isidro helped us drive all the way to the border making the trip in 21 hours a smooth, swift one. We watched an accident happen in front of us on one turnpike and scooted quickly out of the way as a semi-truck was following us and we didn’t wish to be sandwiched. Fortunately for the other two vehicles, the big truck was able to stop just at their bumpers edge. God prepared our way and kept us and our vehicle all along the way and with the great number of praying people covering our trip, we had the best, blessed trip yet. We did have a little surprise when we reached the border. At 4:30am we discovered the bus station had closed and moved with no forwarding address. That was a little disconcerting as Isidro needed this mode of transportation to return home and it was rather early to find someone who could tell us where it was. However, we found a small convenience store that was open 24 hours and found the new, improved station was just around the corner a few blocks. Whew! Thank you each and everyone of you for your prayers.

In closing, to quote our daughters, “whenever something ends, something new begins and it will be fun to see what God has for you next.” So, we re-enter the American culture desiring to enjoy family, increase strength of relationships with friends, plant a garden, wait for our first grandbaby (it’s a boy) to be born in August, and wait to hear what God has for us next. We are so thankful for each of you that have continued to be partners with us in our unusual life style supporting us in prayer, finances, and communication. We always need you. Keep writing, keep praying, keep giving as God blesses you. 

Spanish School & friends

Laura & Becky singing at the Christmas concert

Nellie

Jesica

Dr Eder & Maestra Paulina
with Nelie

Maestro Ruben

Grammar teacher, David

second downhill path before we hit sandy road



School bound

Choral group

Juan & Ruth

Ruben, Adriana, Jesica

Serjio, notable guitarist
Music Teacher

Eli decorating her Christmas tree

San Lorenzo outreach

Where's the highway?

We are back to Roca Blanca after a three day trip to San Lorenzo, a new
church plant about two years old. We arrived and walked across muddy road
construction and then walked a steep incline up to where the church sat
overlooking the village. It commanded a great view which is usually the
location of the catholic churches in the village. We hustled to set up
clinic and saw probably thirty patients that evening, entertaining the
children on the side with songs and games. They fed us well...all weekend
and housed us in separate places. John and I were led to a in a newly built
room with one hammock and one cot available. We were thankful there seem to
be no mosquitoes because it was necessary to leave our door ajar to get any
cool breeze that might become available. We had bathroom facilities
outdoors and were grateful for cold bucket showers during our stay.

outreach dinner

On Friday, we saw patients off and on all day. A dentist came that morning,
Adrianna who is wife to one of our Spanish teachers, and John and I helped
her with about 20 plus tooth extractions over Friday and Saturday. We held
flashlights, sanitized instruments, led patients in and out, sweep floors,
and whatever we could do to be helpful.

roadside barber

delighted patient

When working with the children, we were both involved in a drama that was recorded into the Mixteco language. Usually the children know Spanish from going to school but many of the adults do not so we always have interpreters. We had a visiting retired
surgeon with us and his wife. He had two interpreters to translate; one from English to Spanish and then another to translate from Spanish to Mixteco. He is only in his eighties and still going strong.

Friday afternoon, we took a break to have a church service at 5pm. It
started with a Mariachi style band that was very rousing and cheerful. I
thought then how boring the Catholic church would seem to the people by
comparison. The band made it sound more like a fiesta along with all the
dancing, clapping, and singing. The musicians set up in the small concrete
church building where we had been holding clinic. We were sitting outside
under tarps...till it starting pouring rain. At first, we would lift and
dump the tarps where they sagged so they wouldn't seep through but pretty
soon, it was a loosing battle. Some took shelter in a small overhang, some
of us took shelter in the kitchen shed. It was rather distracting to hear
any preaching with rain pounding the tin roof and people shuffling to find a
dry place but there were two preachers and they shared the Word for about an
hour. Many of the locals were still under sections of tarp listening with
all their hearts. Afterward, everyone was served hot weak coffee and a
sweet bread roll. We had a time of fellowship then tramped carefully
through the dark and muddy street under construction to our abodes.

Some of the interesting food we had was scrambled eggs in a real chili
powder/tomato sauce, chicken/rice soup, shrimp/Spanish rice, and entomatadas
which are tortillas dipped in bean soup and served with crumbled cheese over
the top. All entrees except the last came with beans and hand ground, hand
made hominy tortillas cook over the fire on a large clay plate. There were
8-10 cooks most of the two days with several servers. They had some
kneading the tortilla dough, some pressing it in a metal press, and several
cooking them around the plate. Other fires held the huge pots for cooking
beans or meat. They fed our group of 28 plus interpreters and then fed
their men and helpers so they were feeding about 50-60 every day.

morning devos

We are thankful every time for the opportunity and privilege to share the
love of Jesus with these needy people. John and I are thankful for the
wonderful truck the Lord provided us with to come here as we are always
carrying people, luggage, and other supplies when we go. It gives us a
double opportunity to serve. Thank you for your faithful prayer and
support. For each of you who participated in this way, you are the arms
that stretch forth the hands. You are those whom make it possible.
God's blessings on you with our thanks to you.
John & Joyce

Shrimp tamales...what next?

Just when we think we have seen it all, we get yet another surprise. One evening, we had become quite tired of studying and needed a break. Not only did we need a break, we also needed some practice speaking our Spanish we were learning. So, we went outside to see what aunti and uncle were doing. Uncle was sitting sedately on the porch just watching aunti in her kitchen.

Her kitchen is outdoors under a thatched roof. It is where uncle starts the fire every time she is ready to cook. It is where the laundry is done, the dishes are washed, and food is prepared in small or large quantity. The so called “house” is really only a bedroom with a bed, television, a dresser, some nails to hang up clothes and other assorted necessities, and with boxes for storing this and that under the bed or anywhere on the floor something else isn’t taking up the space. There are chairs but they are outside as much or more than inside as they even watch tv from outside on the porch where a breeze might blow and cool them off a bit.

So, John sat down with uncle on the porch and watched me enter the kitchen with aunti. She had a basket of small live shrimp and a bowl of green sauce into which she was putting handfuls of these shrimp. She continued to push them under the green liquid until they gave up surfacing. She proudly told us about going to the nearby river and netting in the shrimp. She showed us the bag of them in the freezer and another bag in the refrigerator that had already been boiled. But, the shrimp she was drowning in the sauce were neither boiled nor dead. We visited for some time and then headed back to the books.

Today, when we reached home, she came running saying, “esperame” which means “wait for me”. She grabbed up a pretty clear glass bowl and grabbed a handful of tamales to put in it. Yes, you guessed. They were shrimp tamales made from their home grown and ground corn and those shrimp that had succumbed to the thick herbal chili sauce.

John didn’t feel too inclined to try them. I pulled the whole shrimp out and ate the tamales. They were very tasty!

When in doubt, pull the bugs out and eat the rest!

Tetepelcingo outreach

Danbi the piper

hand weaving loom

Tetepelcingo interpreter

Our Spanish classes were invited to go to a nearby village for weekend  ministry. It was a three hour drive, only 45 minutes off the highway.  Quite a few of the mountain roads will not yet be passable after the monsoon
rains. There are, in fact, rains still falling, especially in the
mountains. We traveled to Tetepelcingo on Friday afternoon and returned on  Saturday afternoon. It rained hard Friday night and it rained part of the  way traveling back so we traversed some flash flooding across the roads and  wallowed through some soft sandy beds in places. The ministry for the  Spanish school students was to the children. Of all the places we have been  yet, I believe this had the most children. They were not as bashful or  reticent as most. They were fully ready and waiting for us to come. We had  songs we learned, skits, stories, and games. We spent time with them both  Friday evening and Saturday and it was well we didn't have anymore days than  that as they had far more energy than all of us combined.

The clinic was open both that evening and the next day as well but, there weren't as many clinic personnel as usual so John and I enjoyed sitting in some of the consultations to listen and to pray. There were four mini offices made of sheets hanging from strings tied to the walls inside the church building. Three were for consultation, one was for prayer, then the front held the pharmacy and waiting room. Though we only had a few that came, we had some serious cases. I viewed one lady's endoscopy and the
cancer that she has in her stomach. She was in her sixties and is coming to church regularly, claims to have received Christ, and is for sure receiving prayer and encouragement from the body of Christ. Praise God for that.
Another lady had high blood pressure which was causing several other uncomfortable side issues. Her greatest infirmity, we found out, was that she had lost three of her family members, her husband, a daughter, and a son. These weren't recent deaths but the grief of them was staying with her constantly. She told us she had headaches and that her eyes hurt from crying so much. She needs Jesus.

Tetepelcingo children

We are thankful for the opportunity we had to share the love of Jesus with these people, to cry with them, to hug them, to play with their children.
Though many of them could not speak Spanish, let alone English, love, music,
fun, and medical care transcends all language barriers. We did have a safe
trip, a good nights sleep, and good food with no ill effects as well. Thank
you for reading this and for sharing in the rewards of God's kingdom through
your continued support.

Mariachis? Nothing draws like music.