Ixtapaluca - Sunday Night

Been a very nice day today. Rose and had breakfast (desayuno) with my host family. We had the equivalent of corn flakes & milk as well as black beans and crackers. very good. I can`t say how much I enjoy my host family. They are so nice. They have two dogs who were playing with a small kitten in the living room this morning. Very fun. Marta (the wife) was listening to Mexican worship music when I got up.

We went to church where approximately 80 or so people crowded into a small room for worship. The worship music was loud. We had 2 electric guitars, 3 acoustic guitars and I filled in on bass. Josh and a local drummer shared the drum duties. Today was a special service that they have once a month. There was no sermon, we just had communion and then had a time of sharing. A number of Mexicans in the service shared about their lives. I could understand about 50% of what was said. One lady was very emotional. A few of our group also shared. Then the drama team from our church performed the mime drama that they will do during the week.

After the service, we went to the home of Samuel, one of the church members, who lives in a very nice neighborhood up in the hills outside Ixtapaluca. Samuel is a Physics and mathematics teacher (college and high school) and is also VERY creative. He has created a comic book to teach physics (no kidding), while at the same time using it to share the gospel. It was really cool. He and a partner have also created a cartoon that shares Christian principles. I didn`t realize that Mexico produces almost no cartoons within the country. Everything is brought in from the United States. I watched 5-10 minutes of the cartoon and it was really professional.

We all ate together, and once again, the food was fantastic. We had tortillas with beef and cactus (yes - cactus). The Mexican students and our students had paintball and water balloon fights after we ate. The two groups of students are getting to know one another well and get along great.

While the students were having fun together, Rod and Darroll took us on a ride to the top of the hill so that we could see our villages from above. Things made more sense then! We also saw some ancient pyramids and picked up some pottery pieces.

Tomorrow we begin Vacation Bible School. Our students are very excited. Even though we`ll be in a support role, everyone is ready to go.

I`ve really been enjoying speaking in Spanish. It seems to be getting easier all the time. At times, when I`ve been speaking in Spanish for awhile, I forget to change back to English when talking with our students.

I`ll give you an update tomorrow when I return to my host homes, or else early Tuesday morning.

Love,

Tim