Saying Goodbye to Ixtapaluca

Short post here. It`s a quarter to one and I have to be at the church at 8 tomorrow morning.

Very busy day. Had `graduation` for VBS this morning. The drama team did a great job with the drama, which was followed by a sermon by Ismael. I could understand almost all of Ismael`s sermonette, which was great. He played of the drama well and talked about Jesus`claim to be the way, the truth and the light, and to be the only way to God. We had 140 kids in attendance and at least 32 parents, so it was a good morning.

Most of the afternoon was spend getting ready for tonight`s going away party. We had lots of food, humorous awards (I won the Most Social Award, James won the Person Who Slept Through the Most VBS Classes Award, and Josh won the Person Who Spoke Spanish The Most Award)

We had a time of worship and sharing. Very emotional time for both the Americans and Mexicans.

Tomorrow, we`ll help lead worship and then leave the church service before noon to catch our flight back to the U.S.

More later,

tim

In the Home Stretch

Today was the last full day of VBS. Our numbers were a bit lower today, but the nice thing is that our Mexican team should have most of the names and addresses of those who came on Thursday.

Ana Troupe and I presented a rope trick today to illustrate the difference in how men view sin and how God views sin. Went over well and the illustration is really good. Much easier having Ana read the Spanish while I was doing the trick.

We made balloon animals today for the students. Practically were stampeded in my area. They really liked them. It was a lot of fun

The theme all week has centered around fish in one way or another. Yesterday´s verse was about being fishers of men.

Tomorrow morning is a final program that ends at noon. Our drama team will be presenting.

Hard to believe we´ve been here for a whole week. Doesn´t seem like it at all.

DON GATO

A funny little story from our trip here. Those who know me well know that I have had bad allergies with cats. However, I took desensitization shots for about 10 years and they don´t bother me much anymore. My host family has two cats, one that is still a kitten (named Mr. P) and another that is 15 years old.

The older cat usually sleeps with Gabi, the girl whose room I am using. At night the cat climbs up the walls outside and comes to the window. The first few nights I was here, I had the window open and awakened to find the cat sleeping by my feet. Then, an hour or so later, the cat went to the door and made ¨cat noises¨, indicating that he wanted out. This happened 2 times each night the first 2 days I was here.

This didn´t bother me, but I closed the window one of the nights, and the cat sat outside my window and made cat noises until I opened the window and let him in.

The funniest thing happened two days ago. We had forgotten rope for the rope tricks, so we bought a length of rope, cut them to the correct sizes and burned the ends so they wouldn´t fray. My rope trick takes 3 ropes of short, medium and long length.

I had come to my host home and laid the rope on the bed, and then went to the house across the street. When I got to my bed that night, one of the ropes was gone. I knew my host family didn´t accidently pick it up, because they had been gone helping their daughter. I finally realized that the cat probably took one of the ropes to play with. Too funny.

BTW...if you don´t get the header, Don Gato is an elementary school song about a cat (gato).

THE BOGEYMAN

One other interesting fact that can affect ministry here. There is a rumor in Mexico that is believed by small part of the population. The story is that gringos (white people) come to Mexico to steal children and sell their body parts on the black market.... and no, I´m not kidding.

I had been told this by our local missionaries, but this was repeated to me by my host family this morning when I asked about the number of kids coming to VBS. If I understood Ismael correctly, he indicated that some people would not send their kids to VBS for this reason.

FISH WITH THE FAMILY

Last night, after activities, I went back to my host home and spent about 4 hours eating and talking with my host family, but at the house across the street. Martas sister Teri lives across the street and had been offering to have me over for fish (her husband Robert buys and sells fish). I had a dark meat and white meat fish. Both were very good, but I had a hard time convicing them that I really liked it.

We had a great time and talked about anything and everything, both things spiritual and non spiritual. We had a great time laughing together. We now have some running inside jokes about how serious I am, about my host father speaking German (apparently this is a running family joke), my having a husband (see yesterday´s Spanglish entry) and other things.

During the course of the conversation, Marta told me that they would really miss us all when we left. They had all listed their email addresses and Facebook names so that we can stay in contact. I´ve already had about 3 invitations to stay in homes if I or my family return. Like I said before, they are a very social people. It will be hard to leave.

This may be my last blog entry, due the schedule tomorrow. Check back to be sure...

Hamburguesas, Buenas Tardes and other Random Thoughts

THURSDAY

Well, as expected the numbers grew again today. First day was 90 then 108, then 128 and today was about 146. We´ll probably make 160 by the end of the week. We are literally bursting at the seams. We had to reassign youth today to have enough people to help the overloaded teachers here at VBS. We have been told very often that the teachers are really glad we´re here.

BTW, I uploaded 22 pictures on facebook. If you´re a facebook friend of mine, please feel free to check them out. If not, you should be able to use the link below....

Mission Trip Pictures

AMBASSADORS AND STEREOTYPES

What is an Ambassador? It is a person who represents his or her country or organization to another group of people. At one of our group times, we talked about how we are truly ambassdors while we are here. First and foremost, we are ambassadors for Christ. Secondly, we are ambassadors for the United States.

What is a stereotype? Dictionary.com defines a stereotype as ¨a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly¨. We discussed what stereotypes we have of Mexicans and what stereotypes they may have of us.

Back when I was teaching at Fremont High, we had a foreign exchange student from France. I hate to admit it, but I have a pretty negative attitude towards the French. People usually stereotype the French as arrogant and rude, along with other things, and I´m probably as guilty of this as the next person.

At the time we had this foreign exchange student, we were singing a French madrigal for music contest and I invited the student to listen to our French pronounciation and help us improve. I was shocked when this girl laughed at us and virtually mocked us for pronouncing things incorrectly. I just couldn´t believe it. Sadly, in the end this girl, who was an ambassador for her country, ended up just reinforcing the stereotypes that I and others had of the French.

I told the students this story and encouraged them to think about how they represent both Christ and the United States when they´re down here. Unlike the girl in my class, we want to help break down the stereotypes and leave a ¨good taste¨in the mouths of those we work with and for. We also talked about whether our stereotypes held true with what we were seeing. As expected, the kids noticed that they did not.

BUENAS TARDES

One of the stereotypes that Mexicans (and the world for that matter) have about Americans is that they are arrogant. Hard to believe, but one of the easiest ways to start breaking this stereotype down is to greet people and talk to them. As I walk the streets of Jesus Maria here in Ixtapaluca, I try to greet the people that I meet by saying either ¨Buenos Dias¨(good morning), ¨Buenos Tardes¨(good afternoon) or ¨Buenas noches¨(good night). Almost every time, I am greeted with a smile and a greeting and additional words that I usually (but not always) understand.

As this happens at VBS, it often leads to conversation. The best way to begin building relationships with those here in Mexico is to ask about their families. Once you´ve crossed this bridge, it´s easy to continue on and talk about everything under the sun. I´ve had some good spiritual conversations with people here that started when I just greeted them and then began asking about their families.

Yesterday, a woman named Iris, stopped by my host home because she wanted me to meet her husband before he left on an extended truck driving job. Although Iris is a good friend of the Prusia´s, I ve attempted to make conversation with her every day. She has been a Christian for over a year, and her husband for about 6 months.

IMPACT ON STUDENTS

Today at lunch, I talked with a student who shared that she thinks she may want to come down to Jesus Maria next summer as an intern. Interns spend from between 1 month to 6 weeks here and thus have the opportunity to build longer term relationships. This young girl said that she wanted to see if God might be leading her into full time missions.

There are many good things about missions trips like this. For one, it challenges students to think about the possibility of a life as missionary. However, even if things don´t go this far, I believe that ¨up close and personal¨mission experiences develop a heart for missions within our students. They are much more likely to support missions, both in spirit and in giving, if they see what actually goes on in the mission field When you see lives being changed, churches being planted, families being healed, it really makes an impression on you, no matter what your age.

HAMBURGUESAS

Today was a special day for the kids at VBS. For lunch they got to have hamburguesas (hamburgers). Yes, I did say hamburgers. And French Fries. While this might seem strange to us in America, a trip to McDonalds is an unusual treat for many of the kids in Jesus Maria. I would imagine a trip to something comparable to Applebee´s would probably be reserved for very special occasions.

Yesterday Marta shared with us that this was a BIG surprise for the kids at VBS. They are used to a steady diet of tacos (mexican style), so this was a big treat for them. There´s even an interesting story about how the ¨hamburger¨day at VBS got started that is very interesting. I hope to share this at a later time.

SPANGLISH

A highlight of the trip that is not spiritual in nature is the experience I´ve had speaking Spanish here in Ixtapaluca. I actually started in Mexico City, making conversation with families on the subway.

Since I´ve been here, I´ve probably spoken Spanish at least 2 to 3 hours a day. Yesterday was closer to 5 hours (see the next section). While I´ve noticed my Spanish getting better, there are still many funny moments. Two days ago, after talking to numerous people about the state of Nebraska (what is it like, temperature, agriculture, etc..), someone pointed out the fact that I was using the word ¨estadio¨ (stadium) rather than ¨estado¨ (state). I went to bed last night wondering how many people now think we have a stadium in the middle of the U.S. that holds 1.5 million people and grows a lot of corn and beans, and where the west part of the stadium has more cows than people.......oh well....

In addition, I spoke at length last night with someone who pointed out that I routinely refer to Lora as ¨mi esposo¨ (husband) rather than ¨mi esposa¨ (my wife). I´m hoping that this one was overlooked as well.....

LAST NIGHT

Last night was interesting. Our host family has a daughter, Gabi, that still lives at home. She works during the day, so she´s never met Josh or James. I told her I would have them stop by.

At about 7 o´clock last night, James and I went over to my host home. When we went to knock at the door, Teri (the sister of Marta, my host mother) came over and told me that Gabi had been in an accident at work and her parents had gone to the hospital to see her. From what I understand, she was lifting a television set at work, and dropped it on her leg. Gabi has an older sister, Elba, who helps with VBS. She was also at Teri´s house, and let James and I into my host family´s home. We talked with her for a while and she invited us to go over to Teri´s house and watch a soccer game while we waited.

For the next four hours or so, I sat in a small living room, watching soccer and talking with Teri and her husband Robert and Elba and her husband. While I can´t go into great detail here, there was a great ¨bridge building¨opportunity with one of the members of the family, which I knew of before I arrived. I talked at length with a number of people and answered a number of questions about Christianity in the United States with Teri and Elba. I also learned (in a nice and humorous way) that our team is perceived as being very serious and formal. (they need to go on a bus ride with us....) Today at VBS, I joked with Elba that I wasn´t going to smile all day, because I wanted to make sure I was good and serious!....

Anyway, Gabi and her parents eventually arrived at a quarter past 11, after having their 20 year old car break down on the ride home. All was well, with no broken bones or stitches, but Gabi was pretty sore.

After all of this, Marta (Gabi´s mom) insisted that she do my laundry, which she had pulled from my room without my asking for help. She also didn´t adjust her schedule, even though she´s in charge of VBS and has a tremendous responsibility. Another example of the hospitality we are shown here....

Ixtapaluca on Wednesday Afternoon

To all:

I´m at the internet cafe that´s two blocks down the street from the church building in the neighborhood of Ixtapaulca. I´ve got more time to blog, so this might be a little longer than normal.

Today was another good day. We had 128 students today from children all the way through 12th grade. We had teaching time, crafts and a serious water balloon fight for the older kids. Darroll and I went searching for rope, as we mistakenly left the ropes for our rope tricks back at church.

Marta (both my host and the leader of the VBS) expressed her gratefulness to us all for coming down. She is a really neat woman. I can´t believe all the organization that is necessary for this to come off.

Each day I´ve gotten to know another person from Mexico. Usually it starts with an introduction and the Mexicana speaking too fast for me. I´ll ask them to slow down and after I´ve attempted to answer their questions or we´ve finished introductions, I´ll start asking about their families (children, husband, etc..). Then I talk with them until I´m needed elsewhere or they need to go.

OBSERVATIONS

I´m going to backtrack and give you a few observations from the last few days, now that we´re past the halfway point of the trip. The Mexicanas are extremely nice to us here. Darrol has told us that they´ll literally give you the shirt off their backs if you ask, or if they perceive that you need it. I´ve already been asked to come to two other homes for a meal or for coffee or tea.

As an example, I´m staying with a family that has a 20 year old daughter still living with them. They have only 2 bedrooms in their home, and they have put my in the daughter´s room. I haven´t yet figured out exactly what occurs when I go to bed, but either the daughter sleeps on the floor in the parent´s bedroom (and then goes to work before I get up) or she and the parents share the master bed or one of them sleeps downstairs. Whatever the case, they´re making a significant sacrifice of convenience to have me stay.

Every night that I´ve come in, if I don´t make it very clear that I´ve already eaten, Marta will begin preparing supper for me. As mentioned, the families are VERY social. The last two nights I´ve come back to a houseful of family. I´ve stayed up talking with my host family until nearly 12:30 a.m. every day I´ve been here.

Jesus Maria is a little ¨community¨of about 24, 000 houses. Most are two story with a living room, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor, all of which are very small. There is also a laundry room that is actually outside or appears to be so. On the upper floor their are two bedrooms and a bath. I´ve never been good at judging square feet, but I´d guess the ¨normal¨ house to be about 600 to 800 square feet, and I might be on the high side.

We feel very safe here. Most of the places we´re staying are in a gated area and I´ve not seen anything that made me worried since I´ve been here. The streets are alive with people till after midnight. Mexicanas are not quiet people, and the ¨social¨nature of the culture spills into the streets as well.

Overall, I have to say that this trip has been a MUCH easier adjustment than Cambodia. The houses are clean, as are the streets.

The students are getting along great with their Mexican counterparts. They played soccer yesterday and oftentimes hang out together at night. What they lack in communication skills, they make up for in other ways. Some of the girls attended a Zumba class and had a great time.

MINISTRY STRATEGY

As I´ve learned from other mission trips, you need to use different bait to catch different fish. Here in Mexico, the methods of evangelism differ from those in the states. Here, as I have mentioned before, everything is relational.

Marta´s hope and plan for VBS is this: At the end of the week, she will have the names and addresses of all the students who have attended VBS. On Saturday, all of the parents will be invited to attend the final activities of VBS. After we leave, each of the teachers will have a group of families to call on for follow up. They will visit the houses as get to know the families (if they don´t already) and will work to invite them to church. Then, in December, they will see how many of the families or children that attended VBS are attending the church. They will then work to analyze the success of this year´s VBS and then respond accordingly.

CULTURAL CHALLENGES

One of the issues we´ve discussed is family life, and the benefit that occurs when the father of the house becomes a Christian. In Mexico is it very common for the father to have a ¨casa chica¨, which is what we´d call a mistress. In some cases, he may even have a second family that his wife may or may not know about. While this seems impossible to us, the wife often knows very little about the husband´s business, and often has no idea how much money her husband makes.

Domestic abuse is also common, both for the wife and the children. I´ve spoken with both my host family and with the missionaries about this. One of the beautiful changes that takes place when a man becomes a Christian in Mexico is that these sinful types of behaviors begin to disappear. As the men are discipled, they are taught Christ´s teaching of how a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church and what this involves in his home life. Although I didn´t understand all of the story, my host family told me of a person they knew who beat their wife and children regularly. The man became a Christian and the man´s behavior changed and the house became the refuge that God intended it to be.

One complication for missionaries is what to do when a man becomes a Christian after he has already fathered two different families. If the man totally cuts off financial support of the second family, they will descend into poverty, and the children will essentially be without a father figure in their lives. It takes great discernment as to what to do in these situations.

Another issue is that of honesty. Corruption is rampant in Mexico, both in the police and in other areas of life. The effect this has on the average citizen´s life is significant. The challenge for the church is not only to promote honesty and to resist corruption, but also to know when church leaders are ¨being had¨. Often times they will be told something, but only because the person wants to save face, and didn´t mean what they said. Not that this doesn´t happen in our own country, but the issue is much worse on a societal scale here.

Ixtapaluca/Puebla - Wednesday Morning

Again, this will be short, but I hope to blog at greater length this afternoon.

Yesterday we had 108 kids at VBS (up 28 from the day before). Got to see the kids do the puppet show today, which goes over really well with the kids.

During a break, Rod drove us over to an established church in another neighborhood. They have purchased a building and have enough room for the church to grow to 150 or 200. He also explained the plan to have a small evangelical churches in each of the little communities, rather than 1 big church. This allows people to walk to church and is easier to reproduce.

After VBS, Darrol and Kim took a few of us 60 or 70 miles south to the town where they actually live and minister...the town of Puebla. Puebla is in much better shape, economically and it showed right away. We got visit Kim and Darrol`s house. We sat in on one of Darrol`s martial arts classes. One of the main avenues of ministry here is to provide free things like Martial Arts Training, guitar lessons, english lessons, etc.... at the church and then to build relationships with people in the process and then share Christ with them and invite them to church. Even at our session today, I believe there were 3 new faces that Darroll didn`t know.

We then looked at the church in Puebla which has an average Sunday attendance of between 1200 and 1500. Very nice place. Very similar to an American church in many ways. I was impressed by a board showing the number of missionaries from this church - they are all over the world.

We went out for tacos afterwards and visited with the Youth Pastor from Darrol and Kim`s church - David. Very nice guy. We talked about issues surrounding programs and discipleship.

By the time we returned home it was almost 11:00.

More later

Ixtapaluca - Tuesday Morning

This will be short, as I got in late last night and everyone is up early this morning.

Vacation Bible School went well yesterday. Last year on the first day, they had 60 students. Yesterday, they had 80. Everyone was very happy with the turnout. Yesterday`s emphasis was that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Each day we have a central theme and verse(s). The younger kids learn shorter verses and the older students learn longer verses.

Our team is entirely in a support role, so we help set up the puppet stage, put up a tarp to keep out the sun and hauled grass from the area where we are working to a compost area (a lady continued to "mow" the grass with a weed-whacker).

Afterwards, Rod took us on a ride up the mountains to see the two volcanoes in the area, one active and one dormant. We also went to a waterfall and stream. Seemed just like Colorado. On the drive, Rod and I talked quite a bit about everything from the national literacy rates in Mexico to our favorite music and everything in between.

We ate supper at a modern Mexican mall. I drove home with Samuel, and we talked about how he uses science and physics to share the gospel with students in Mexico.

Today is day 2 of VBS and afterwards, some of us may go with Darroll when he teaches a self-defense class in Puebla, and see how he uses it for ministry.

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

Ixtapaluca - Sunday morning, 7:34 a.m.

Well, yesterday was the first full day in Ixtapaluca. I had breakfast with my host family (Ismael & Marta). After breakfast (desayuno), Ishmael and I walked about 6 or 8 blocks to buy tortillas for Marta, who makes some type of tortillas and sells them a few days on the street here in their neighborhood.



Ismael and I talked during our walk about a lot of things. He asked about the materials used in the construction of homes in America (wood is very expensive here, so most homes are made of concrete or brick), and we talked about the schools.

After we returned, our team met at the home of David (a native missionary) for devotions and singing. The kids shared some of what they`d learned so far.

The next thing on the morning agenda was to go and prepare the area where we`d be having Vacation Bible School on Monday. We walked about 3 blocks to an area near a huge water tower that is called El Reloj (the clock). There we mowed the area in the Mexican style - with hedge trimmers. Yes hard to believe, but we cut the grass around some slides and in other areas (and not a small area) with hedge trimmers and them manually picked up the grass and put it in garbage bags.



At the same time, we swept and mopped out a few salons (small storefonts - similar to a storage unit in the United States). Once they were swept and mopped, we began to put things in place for Monday and cut out small items for our use as well.

The puppet team and the drama team met to rehearse, and 4 boys went to a home to flll sand bags for a game (don`t ask - I don`t understand either). Then we gathered to have lunch. Darrol brought a grill and we had an American-style barbeque.

At 3:00 a number of the musicians went with Rod and rehearsed to help out with music. Josh played drums without drumsticks. He may have used a wooden spoon, but I`m not sure. (there will be drumsticks this morning). Since we had an abundance of guitar players, I played bass. It was fun, however at times it was hard to follow, since we had to follow all the words in Spanish.

Afterwards, everyone was pretty tired, so we all sent and hung out at Tina`s new apartment for awhile. At around 8:00 some of the boys and men attended a bible study for Mexican men at David`s house. We studied Colossians 4. My host, Ishmael, led the study. It was interestsing, in that, while my Spanish is not excellent, I could probably understand 50% of more of what was being said, at least in a general way. On occasion, Rod translated for us.

After sharing prayer requests and spending time in prayer, we all went out as a group for tacos (taqueria). I had two tripa tacos (I didn`t realize there were plain pork tacos) and a diet coke. Most of the time I sat by Ishmael and talked to him. I won`t pretend that my Spanish has improved signifiantly, but it seemed easier yesterday. I also think that Ishmael is learning my strenths and weaknesses and is compensating by the words he chooses.

Both Ishmael and Marta like to read and they have some famous books on their shelves by Bram Stoker, Alexander Dumas and Robert Louis Stevenson. We talked about books and other cultural things.

We returned home about 11:00 and sat down with Marta and had tea and coffee and talked for another hour and a half. This time the conversation moved towards spiritual things. We talked about the challenges of evangelism here in the Mexican church, bibilcal literacy of the people and our spritual pasts. They were both surpised when I told them that our church attended was between 375 and 400. Most of their lives, I believe they`ve attended chuches of less than 50 people, although I`m told that we may have 70-100 this morning.

We`ll be leaving for church in about an hour and a half. I wish I could upload pictures, but I can`t find the USB port on the computer and don`t want to move things around too much.

Till tomorrow,

Tim

Time......

As an American, fill in the blank below:

Time is __________

Virtually every American knows that time is money. We need to SPEND our time wisely we need to SAVE time and not WASTE time...etc...

When we sat down with the missionaries here, one of the first things we were told is that as Americans, our culture has an entirely different perspective on time that is ingrained into us.

As you might expect, to the average Mexican, time is not a commodity. Time is life. It is meant to be enjoyed an not broken into small segments and managed. In this culture, love and friendship are commnicated by time spent together. As we`ve spoken with the missionaries, they`ve told us that one big adjustment here is that a neighbor might drop by and spend 2 or 3 hours visiting with you, or ask you to stop by for almuerzo (our lunchtime) or for the eveing meal, but then want you to say for hours and visit.

As I thought about this, I compared this with my own life in the states. I have 4 houses that surround me and I barely know the names of my neighbors. Most of them have never been inside my home, let alone over for a meal. I imagine your situation may be somewhat similar.

It`s funny that you really don`t see the ingrained parts of your own culture very well, until you are placed in a situation where the practices are entirely different.

Saturday Morning - Ixtapaluca

Well, if there is one thing I`ve learned already, it is that computer keyboards are not the same all over the world. I`m struggling a bit with the one I`m using now as the layout is not exactly the same as at home.

Our flight to Mexico City on Thursday went without incident. Arrived about 3:00 p.m. central time. After passing our luggage on to Rod (the main missionary here) and Darrol Prusia, we took the metro to our hotel.

In general, Mexico City wasn`t nearly as crowded as I expected. Thursday evening we ate at a taqueria. They served us tacos, which are about 1/2 the size of those in the states. They were very good, althugh the choice of meats was interesting. You could have pork and beef (no problem) or tripe, which was beef intestine or beef tongue. I had one of the tripe tacos before I knew what it was. It tasted fine, but I couldn¨t eat another after knowing what it was.

That evening, we went to the Zocalo plaza, which was a mile or more from our hotel. Very beautfiul place. I may try uploading pictures from my camera later, but you google it if you want.

We returned to the hotel and after a team meeting with Rod & Darroll, we all got to bed about 11:00, after having been up since around 2:00 the previous day.

Friday morning, we had breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and went to the Basillica of the Virigin of Guadalupe. Quite a bit of climbing.

We then returned to downtown Mexico City via the subway (metro) and had lunch at a nice restaurant before finally leaving for Ixtapaluca.

The drive from Mexico City to Ixtapaluca was something to see. The traffic is as bad as you`ve heard. We finally arrived at Rod`s home, which is in what I think is called a puebalito (a small neighborhood). Very prety with lots of color. We had supper there and the students (both American and Mexican) played games to learn each others names, and also watched a movie together.

At about 10:30, Rod dropped me off at my host home. My hosts are named Ismael and Marta, and they have two daughters, one of which still lives at home. I`ll go into more detail later (I need to get ready for breakfast here in a minute), but the missionaries told us that the Mexican people are very relational. I found this to be true. My hosts speak no English, but we talked for the next two hours, sharing pictures of our families.

From all our conversations, I found that they had been married about as long as Lora and I, and that their older daugher, Elba, is married and has one child. I met their younger daughter, Gabriel, last night, and will meet Elba on Monday when she comes to help with vacation Bible School.

It seems that Ismael and Marta have been Christians for about 23 years. Rod told me earlier that when the church here is fully mature, they would like Ismael to become their pastor.

Need to go, but in spite of my butchering of the Spanish languge, we were able to communicate a lot about our families, what Nebraska was like (they couldn`t believe the range of temperatures) and our lives in general. Very, very nice people.

Well, gotta run. I`ll try and write again tonight. I have a computer in my room (actually Gabrieli`s room), which was totally unexpected.

Tim

Valpo - No it's not a dog food......

Valpo - that's the nickname for Valparaiso College in Valparaiso, Indiana. This last month, James, Lora & I spent 3 days there. James' basketball team was accepted to the National Lutheran Basketball championships, and "Valpo" is where the games are held.

It was a pretty long drive out. We left at about 5:30 or so and arrived at around 4:00 in the afternoon. On Thursday night, we went to chapel, where thay had a worship service led by some students from the college. The worship band was pretty loud, but I enjoyed their music.


James' team had their first game (double elimination) on Friday morning. They got behind early but then bounced back to tie it up in the 4th quarter. After missing a chance to go ahead in the final minute, the game went into overtime. In overtime, they fell behind and ended up losing.

They didn't end up playing again until Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. So, we decided to take a jaunt into Chicago. We visited the Museum of Science & Industry and the Navy Pier. We finished up by walking a looooong ways to the Sears Tower and then having supper with my cousin Troy and his wife Lisa at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Thanks for meeting us there!)

Below is a picture of Lora, James & I at the Navy Pier. Note the seagull giving us a strange look.......maybe he's looking wistfully at James' can of Dr. Pepper.....

The next day we got up at the crack of dawn to go the second game. Things were looking good at halftime - the Trinity Panthers were up by about 12 points. But in the second half, the Panthers just didn't do much offensively. In the last couple of minutes the game went back and forth in a tie. Then, with 2 seconds left, the other team shot a 3 pointer, to give them a 3 point lead. Sadly, the Panthers weren't able to tie it up in regulation.

I did get a number of good pictures of the team and of each of the players. Earlier this year, I purchases a nice telephoto lens, and spent most of basketball season trying different settings to see if I could get the 'blur" out of the pictures, but still not use the flash. I eventually got pretty close, but had to use high ISO settings to get it to work. Best shutter speed was between 200 and 250. Of course, my pictures will never be as good of those the true photo genius Tim Davis, but I continue on my quest to someday have one or two photos be as good as his bad shots.

Hopefully I'll write again before 3 months is up.

Yikes....I need to get a life.......

Happy New Year

Well, you can probably guess that it's been busy around here - given that I haven't posted to the blog since October. Yikes!

We had a really nice holiday, traveling about 1,700 miles to family in Nebraska and Texas. On our drive back from Texas, we crossed a cold front and saw the temperature drop from 77 degrees to 40 degrees in less than 35 miles. I personally perferred the temperature BEFORE the cold front.

Anyway, thought I'd post a few pictures from our time over the holidays.

The first is of my niece, who is rumored to be a genius. We asked her to display some of the impressive things that she's learning in high school and this is what we got:

Yes - she's certain to be a Rhodes scholar!

During the holidays, Lora stole, er... borrowed the camera and took some nice pictures of the scenery near my sister and brother-in-law's house. This was a nice shot of the sunset.

A few days after Christmas we went bowling, which was fun. The boys hung out with their cousins. The picture below clearly demonstrates that superior intelligence and charisma are deeply embedded in the DNA of this thar family.

We finally left for Texas, learning quickly that snow and cold are not a prerequisite for the Christmas season. We had a nice time with my brother and sister-in-law and their family. While we were there I got to record my niece singing "Away in a Manger". I also attended my nephew's basketball practice and my other niece's soccer practice. Lora and I cooked one night and attempted to compete with my sister-in-law's cooking (I think she's directly related to Julia Child and Martha Stewart....)

My brother and sister-in-law treated the boys to a rock-climbing session. Here's a few pictures of Josh & James (Yes - Lora & I chickened out).

We also visited the LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) Presidential Library and went to a pretty crazy movie theater.

The last night we had a cake decorating contest - Girls vs. Boys. The girls' cake was very nice and "Christmassy".

The boys' cake, on the other hand . . . . . . .(That's supposed to be Ndamukong Suh - one of Nebraska's Defensive Linemen.)


On our way back from Texas, we stopped in Dallas and had breakfast with George and Mary Stoneberg - some old friends from Fremont.

To all our relatives - thanks for putting up with us over the holidays!

Music Room Update

Here's a few new pictures with the black and yellow wall in process

Time for a Rally . . .

No, I'm not talking about Wall Street (although a rally there would be nice as well). On Sunday afternoon, after rehearsing music for a wedding, Lora & I (and my mom) went down to show our support for the McCain/Palin ticket by attending the rally at the Omaha Music Hall.

When we got there, the line stretched around 3 sides of the Civic Auditorium. We probably wouldn't have made it in at all, but an older gentlemen came to us while we were in the back of the line and told us that there was a shorter line somewhere else. We followed him, and sure enough, he was right!

We stood in the overflow area, as the Music Hall was already full by that time. Little did we know that we would actually be the first to hear Sarah speak. After watching the Republican Senators and Congressmen speak via a big screen TV and speakers, Governor Palin stepped in and spoke to us in the overflow area first.


One of the difficulties in being "vertically challenged" is that trying to take pictures when tall people stand in front of you is . . . well . . . challenging! I held my camera over my head, aimed the best I could and took lots of shots. The one above was one of the better shots. I could have cropped and zoomed, but I thought that the raw shot gives you a better idea of what it was like to be there.

It was a great time and fun to hear Sarah speak. Just wish McCain could have been there as well.

I guess I've tipped my hand as to who I'm voting for . . . . . . .

Also - we'll have some updates of the music room soon. The third wall has been painted and is currently being striped.

See ya!

Music Room in Progress

Ok - these are the two walls after round 5 of striping

(updated on Sunday night).

Video from Cambodia!

On August 17th, we had a presentation at church about our trip to Cambodia. Roger Eng, our former youth pastor (now Associate Pastor) put together the following video. It's mostly video, but there are also some still shots.

Enjoy - and thanks again for your support!

P.S. We are painting the music room and almost ready to begin "striping". I'll post some pictures in the not-too-distant future.

Updates

I've updated the blogs from Cambodia with inline pictures and have corrected some grammer & spelling (so my brother doesn't pick on me). I will add some pictures to the very first posts, but haven't done that yet.

FYI - I have made contact with 4 of the 5 students in our small group and 4 additional Cambodian students.

Also - couple of links that may be of interest:

The Phnom Penh Post - English language newspaper for Cambodia

International Justice Mission - An organization working in Cambodia to stop the sex slavery industry. One of their books "Terrify No More" is about the rescue of 37 Cambodian girls from forced prostitution. One of the members of our church has a relative that works with this organization. Their is also an artist support page. The organization is supported by artists such as Sara Groves, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman and Phil Keaggy.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Ok. So we're a little punchy here.

I sit at my desk at home and write this email as we do laundry and unpack.

Thanks to all of you who showed up at the airport (You too Connie!). It was a nice surprise to have so many folks there to meet us. On our way home we stopped at McDonalds to make sure we re-damaged any arteries that were healed by healthy food in Cambodia.

Hopefully, I'll post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again for all of your support!

Los Angeles

We got into Los Angeles last night and into our hotel room at a little after 11:00 p.m. Slept for about 4 hrs (feel great). Hot shower was nice. Mike, Max, Josh & I leave for the airport at 4:30 a.m., rest of crew to follow at 5:00 a.m.

See ya soon.

Wednesday Afternoon - Singapore Airport

We just arrived and found our departing gate at Singapore Airport. We're letting the kids do a little shopping and catching up on the web.

Last night in Phnom Penh, we had a nice final dinner together at a Thai restaurant. The fruit smoothies were fantastic! Two men played traditional music on regional instruments. One looked similar to a hammered dulcimer and seemed to function the same. The other was like a four-stringed guitar that you played as it laid down.

I talked for awhile with our host - Bill Labazoo about learning the Khmer language and few things about the ministry there.

The guest houses we stayed at (kind of like a small hotel) were very nice by comparison to our housing the last two weeks. Mike and I roomed together and watched CNBC on cable television. We actually had a nightstand to set things on.

Before we went to the restaurant, we went to the Genocide museum. Quite sobering. Thousands of pictures that the Khmer Rouge took of people before they killed them. There were 12-15 paintings depicting the methods of torture used by on those killed by Pol Pot. Very gruesome stuff.

Upon entering there were signs telling you not to laugh or smile during your tour, out of respect for those who were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Under one set of steps was graffiti in many languages mourning what occurred there. (The museum is actually a concentration camp that was used by the Khmer Rouge - it had previously been a school). Some of the graffitti was sad, other notes were very angry, filled with profanities aimed at those who committed the atrocities.

It is good to be back in a western-style atmosphere, however there were many that were sad to leave. Three of the Khmer friends we had met came to the airport to wish us good bye.

See you all in a few days. (Greensleeves or "What Child Is This" is playing over the speaker system here - weird!)