Hello,

We have been doing great. 

A couple weeks ago, we had a dedication weekend extravaganze. A local non-profit sent a shipping container with a playground inside and two guys to help set it up. There was a debacle with the paperwork, so we were not allowed to open the container for a few days. The land was given to La Fuente by the government, so there was a lot of red tape. We had a huge kids event planned for that Saturday, and we still hadn’t gotten permission on Wednesday. The paperwork came through literally in the last moments. John Mark and the volunteers were able to get it up in two days. On Friday, We had a character program in a school a few blocks from the playground. We are not alowed to teach about Jesus, but we did a program for 700 kids, using crafts, sports, video, and dance to teach character. One of the crafts was an invitation to our event the following morning were we could talk about the Bible. We also had a free medical clinic. We had vison, dental, general health, and chiropractic volunteers from the local community. It was a very sucessful day. 

Craft time

Picking out new glasses

Sports and games

Dancing

On Saturday, our kids program went great. About 700 kids showed up for the event. The mayor’s wife also came to show her support. We had music, crafts, balloons, family photos, food, games, and John Mark had his own station for the slackline. We had had a lot of opposition from the community the weeks before, including a disparaging article in the local tabloid. John Mark’s picture was in the newspaper. Several times things nearly became violent. The police arrested two people to keep the peace. Once the playground was up, things clamed down quite a bit.

Setting up the Playground

Grand Opening

Passing out food to the kids

Mark's Circus - John's slacklining station

AJ teaching the kids to slackline

Giving out wheelchair to local kids

Sunday morning, we had a special service to dedicate the new sanctuary and thank the people who had made it possible. It was a great celebration that included a ribbon cutting. We had a second one in the afternoon for the Spanish congregation. 

New Sanctuary

Ribbon cutting ceremony

John and I went hiking with some friends in the south part of the bay in a place called Boca de Tometlan. We hiked through the town, out of the inlet, through the jungle to the beach. We ended at a beach that has no roads to it. The only way to get there is to hike 2.5 miles or take a water taxi. It was a beautiful hike. We found orchids, a light house, and spiders the length of my index finger.  Some of the boys we were with were not thrilled about those spiders. A dog also adopted us and walked most of the way there with us. We packed a picnic lunch and played king of the rock in the ocean. It was a great day.

Sketchy bridge

My friend, Kenia, and I

Huge spider

John has been doing a lot of construction to prepare for the inaguation weekend. I have been continuing to work with incoming teams, teaching kids classes, and do random things that need to be done. Right now, I am choreographing a hip hop dance for the youth for the christmas program. I am pretty excited about it. We had our first practice today. It was a lot of fun.

Recently, I have been helping a couple girls with their English homework. It is very different trying to teach English grammar to someone who is not a native English speaker. Both of them speak a bit of English, but they are so shy, that I only realized that recently. 

On Thanksgiving, John and I hadn’t planned anything since it is just the two of us and I couldn’t fit a turkey in my toster oven. Nearly all of our friends are Canadian, so we celebrated Thanksgiving in October. On the day of American Thanksgiving, I was feeling kind of lonely and far away from family. I wanted turkey, and gravy, and cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving afternoon, our closest friends (a Canadian family) invited us out to celebrate, knowing that we were going to be alone. It made our Thanksgiving so much better having people to share it with. I am so grateful for them. Later that night we had a bonefire on the beach which was awesome. 

There was recently some changes in leadership at the missions. John and I were thinking that we were going to be moved to another mission. I was secretly hoping that we would stay. Our mission is the smallest, but I love it. I didn’t want to leave the kids that we have been working with for the last year and a half. We found out last week that we are going to stay where we are, and I am thrilled. 

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We are doing well.

Blessings and Peace,

Moorea

Hello,

What We’ve Been Doing

This week, John Mark has been working on preparing the new sanctuary and grounds for our big dedication weekend that is coming up in two weeks. He lead a team that designed and build 25 sound deadening panels to hang in the sanctuary. Buildings are made of concrete block here and echo like crazy. Even with lots of help, it took him and several others a week to make and hang the panels. He has also been moving construction debris out of the parking area, and fixing lots of little things around the church. He took a team out to the new property that the government is giving us to clear the weeds and debris. He will be helping instal a playground there next month. After being in school for several months, John is thrilled to be back working with his hands.

Cleaning the land in Santa Fe - our newest location

New sanctuary with sound panels - view from the stage

I have been helping out with communications. I have been translating things for pastors who need to send emails in English. All of the pastors speak English, but do not write it confidently. I have also been communication with teams from the States and Canada. I have been taking inventory of the craft and medical supplies for our two kids events and free clinic next month. And of course, doing other random tasks that need to be done. I am still teaching history to Pastor Keith’s 15-year-old son, AJ, twice a week. which is fun for me (less so for him).

Young Adults Bible Study

While we were in Guadalajara, our friend started a young adults bible study at La Fuente. I have been going since we have been back, and I love it. It is all in Spanish, which is definitely a challenge, but I am able to follow along and contribute a little as my Spanish allows. I enjoy immensely getting to know the young adults on a deeper level. Most of them I have known for over a year, but since we are always busy serving, and I have limited Spanish, I feel like I am really getting to know some of them for the first time. I look forward to it every week.

Kids from Young Adult Bible Study

Teaching in Spanish

I taught my first class in Spanish on Tuesday. For the past year, I have been teaching through a translator. It took the kids a month or so for the kids to get used to the translator (which slows down the class), but they have been doing well with it. (It has actually work great because when visiting teams come and teach through a translator, the kids in San Ignacio listen a lot better than the kids at other missions who are not used to the language barrier). On Tuesday, I wrote out my lesson in Spanish and went over it with one of my Mexican friends to correct my mistakes. When I gave the class, the kids understood everything I said, could follow the story, and listened. It was great. I am excited that my Spanish has progressed and I will keep learning as I try more and more to branch out on my own to teach. 

 Praying for kids in San Ignacio

Playing soccer in San Ignacio

Puppy

Last week, I came home in the afternoon to find a puppy on my doorstep. He had slipped under the gate. I think that he was hiding from the other street dogs. I thought he would just go away, but he didn’t so we have adopted him. He was very pathetic looking and small, about half the size he should be. We pulled about 80 ticks off of him, and washed him up. After a couple days of food, he perked up a lot and started acting like a puppy. We named him Antioch. He still has a few health issues, like severe anemia, but he is acting surprisingly healthy, which is great.

Baby Antioch

Thank you all for keeping up with us. 

Peace be with you,

Moorea

Hello,

John Mark and I are done with language school and have returned to Buerías where we have been working for the last year. We are very excited to be back. We were planning on living in a small apartment at the church for a couple of months, but by a miracle the lady who was subleting our old apartment moved out the day we arrived. We were able to move back in the next day. It is wonderful to be in our old place. We have been renting a small room for the last few months, and it is great to have our own space again. Even with boxes everywhere, it feels like home. 

We went to the mission in San Ignacio on Saturday. It was so fun to be back with the kids. I had a little girl clinging to each leg. It was adorable. 

We were able to do some fun things around Guadalajara before we left. The coolest thing we did was outside the city. We took a daytrip with some friends to a city called Guanajuato which is almost the very center of Mexico. The fort in the city was founded by the Spanish nearly 500 years ago, and it was an native city before that. Since the roads were not built for cars, they are mostly too small, and many of the roads go underground in stone caves that used to be underwater drainage a couple hundred years ago. It is the most beautiful city we have seen here. There are more photos on my Facebook, if you are interested. 

With Friends 

A famous street in Guanajuato 

The whole city was just beautiful 

Over looking the city

We also had our third anniversery in September. We had lamb tacos, bought some flowers and got creme brulee to celebrate. It was a great day. So much has happened since we’ve been married, it had to believe that it has been such a short time. 

A team is here from Saskatchewan, Canada. John Mark is leading one of their projects to build sound deadening pannels for the new sanctuary. The building is built of concrete block, which is very bad for playing music. It echos terribly. Hopefully these pannels will make the worship sound a lot better. 

We are praparing for the official building dedication next month. Constructions is nearly over! The week of the building dedication, we are also planning on installing a playground in a neighboring town where we are founding a new mission. There will be a dedication for the playground and a celebration festival with games, food, and prizes. There will be huge event in a local school and a free medical clinic as well. And a team is coming from Southern California. It is going to be a very full week. 

Finishing up the main sanctuary

Than you very much to whose of you who gave money so that John and I can continue the work that we are doing. Mundane things, like paying rent and replacing a worn tire are much easier when there is something in the account. We are very grateful for the way that God has provided for us through you. 

God bless,

Moorea

Language School

I hope you all had a great summer. We have been in language school in Guadalajara for two month now. We are learning a lot, and studying like crazy. 

In those two months we have learned something like six new verb tenses and 1200 new vocabulary words. It has been really intense. We are working on midterms this week, and expect to finish the level at the end of the month. Though rigorous study has taken its toll, we are excited about the things that we have learned and are looking forward to using them in ministry when we return to Bucerías.

In class

Centro Guadalajara

Guadalajara

It has been interesting exploring the city during the weekends. We went to the Regional Museum in centro (downtown) Guadalajara. The building itself is 311 years old (the US is only 236 years old). We saw regional textiles, bead work, ancient statues, jewelry, and fossils, including a full wooly mammoth skeleton. Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico with 5 million people. There are lots of festivals and markets every week. We attended one street festival/open-air concert with 12,000 other young people. We usually buy our groceries from a street market called a tiangues where things are very cheap and fresh. Venders set up tables overflowing with produce, dry goods, clothes, kitchenware, meat, fish, pets, bootleg dvds, and toiletries. We hop between paving stones in the often-flooded streets to do our shopping. I will certainly miss that when we leave. 

Finances

The last few months, things have been tight for us financially. Even as we cut back every expense we could, we still had to dip into our school money to cover living costs. If our monthly support does not improve, we will have to return to the states in the next few months. If you feel let to donate, please see information at the bottom of this email. We are very grateful for the support that many of you have given us. We feel privileged to be able to do what we have been doing. Please pray with us that God will supply all we need according to his great riches in glory (Phil 4:19)

John's new hobby: slacklining

Return to Bucerías

Tentatively, our plan had been to finish one more level of language study before retuning to full-time mission work. Through several very recent circumstances, we feel like God is leading us to return early and continue language study in tandem with our work in Bucerías. We are planning to return the first week of October. We are very excited to go back to the work and the relationships that God has given us there. 

Peace be with you,

John Mark & Moorea Holmes

Please send donations to:

The Church of Glad Tidings

1630 Eager Rd

Yuba City, CA 95992

Make checks out to The Church of Glad Tidings, and include our names in the memo

Hello from Guadalajara,

We are here in school and have just finished the first of three sessions. We feel like we are learning a lot. The program is very fast. We have quizzes everyday. We are learning 100-150 vocabulary words every week. There is a two week break between sessions, for which we are grateful. We are almost finished with out take-home tests, and have been enjoying the slower pace. My brain was feeling worn out from learning so much. We start up again next Monday.

Handicapped/pregnant lady parking at the grocery store

John's new best friend, Moli

Guadalajara

Studying in the back yard

Backyard pets: rabbits, turkeys, and dogs

Centro, Guadalajara

San Juan de Dios Market: four floors!

Between studying and being worn out from studying, we haven’t explored the city as much as we would have liked, but we have been able to do a few things. We have gone to quite a few markets in different places in the city. San Juan de Dios is a huge market spanning several square blocks downtown. A person can buy food, herbs, leather products, men’s clothes, shoes, jewelry, pets, and more there. It was huge: four stories in some buildings. We also went to a ballet performance a couple weeks ago. It was really fun.

La Fuente Guadalajara

 A couple of weeks ago, La Fuente Guadalajara held their VBS. John and I had school off those days, so we were able to help out. The theme was The Jungle, and several of the teenagers from the church dressed up like jungle animals. It was fun, but made me miss the kids that I know back in Bucerías. I am looking forward to being back there where I have strong relationships with the kids.

Los Animales!

Helping at the VBS

Kids at the VBS

 Being in Guadalajara has been an adjustment. We have been starting over with new people and new relationships. We have met some great people, especially the family that we live with, our classmates, and our teachers. We are enjoying our time here, but we are looking forward to December when we will be done with school and back in Bucerías which is where our hearts are. Thank you very much for your prayers. I am so grateful for everyone who reads this blog, prays for us, and gives so that we can be here, doing what we feel like we are supposed to be doing. It is a great privilege.

 God Bless You,
Moorea

Hello!

Spanish School
John and I have officially been in Mexico for a year as of June 25th. We celebrated the day by starting language school en Guadalajara. We have classes in the mornings, Monday through Friday. The school is called Harvest Language School and is specifically for missionaries. There are about 12 people in the school in different levels. John and I are starting out in the first level. I feel like most of it is review for me, but I have been learning at least one new thing everyday, so it is the right place for me. I do speak a bit of Spanish, definitely enough to converse with people, but there are holes in what I know. So far, the school has done a good job of finding those holes and filling them. Most of the grammar thus far has been review for John Mark too, but he is learning a lot of vocabulary. He understands a lot of spoken Spanish, sometimes even more that I do, but he can't say hardly anything. We are excited about the things that we are about to learn.

Sarcastic 1st day of school picture on the staircase :)
Interns
The last big thing we did in Bucerias before we left was speak for the group of summer youth interns. The interns are made up of young people from the church who were invited to the program. Most of the teenagers/young adults were selected because the' re already leaders in youth group, at the missions, in the kids program, and other areas. They are the most dedicated and the most servant hearted. There are about 15 of them. The first half of the program consisted of weekly teaching sessions about leadership. In the second half, the kids will live at the church and serve full time, helping with VBS, camps, and the regular services throughout the summer. John and I were asked to teach one of the leadership training sessions with a translator. Our topic was Callings, Giftings, and Talents. I taught for an hour about how we are all called to usher in the Kingdom of God by following the example that Jesus left for us in the Gospels. John taught for an hour about recognizing your giftings and cultivating them. Afterwards, we took them all out for ice cream. It was a great time, and the kids seemed to get a lot out of it. It kind of made leaving harder: we love those kids a lot and miss them.

Speaking for the interns. My friend, Paola translated

John speaking

Listening

Our New Home
We left on Saturday after sorting through everything, storing some of it, and cleaning. We moved into a small room at the pastor of La Fuente Guadalajara's house. Pastor Pocho and Elli have been very welcoming. They are a funny couple; it is a blast spending time with them. We are grateful to have such a wonderful family to live with. The parents speak a bit of English since they lived in the States for 8 years, but their four kids (who were all born in the States) speak much less. The first afternoon we were here, I found myself sitting around a table with 12 other people, learning Spanish tongue twisters. I already knew how to say Parangaricutirimicuaro (thanks AJ!) which is a mountain. The name is so difficult that even some Mexicans can't say it. It is a fun party trick. Then, I was prompted to ask simple questions in English to see if they could understand and answer them in English. Things like: What color is the sky? and What is 7 x 2? It is much harder than you would think to come up with questions like that, but it is fun. The afternoon ended with several of them trying to speak English with a British accent. It was hysterical.

Pastor Pocho asked me and John to teach/practice English with their kids an hour or so a week. Since they are all American, he thinks they should be able to speak English. They range in age from 14 to 18. They have all had English in school, but they have not had a lot of practice. There is a big difference between taking a language class and speaking the language. They are all at different levels, so it should be interesting. I am looking forward to it because it will help us to develop relationships with them. I am pretty sure they think that I speak a lot less Spanish than I do and they are shy, so we have not talked much. We will start this week.

There is a wonderful backyard at the house with apple, pomegranate, mango, and lime trees. The mango and apple are both producing right now. Someone always seems to be sitting out there. It is cool and beautiful. There are two dogs (a poodle and a tea cup chihuahua) and two rabbit that live in the back yard. They are friendly, but not too friendly. The poodle will come and sit on my feet when I am out there. John and I may or may not get distracted from our homework by watching them every time we study outside.

Saturday & Sunday
Yesterday, we went to a market in the morning. It is only one block from our house. People set up stalls selling vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, clothes, bootleg CDs, kitchen supplies, cleaning products, and beauty products. It is very cheap so we bought veggies for this week. In the afternoon, we were invited to eat with our house family and their guests. We had chills rellenos (if you have never had this, stop reading right now and find some.), ceviche, and shrimp. They cook shrimp a little differently here. Everything is still intact. head, legs, eyes, long stringy tentacles. Everything is on your plate. I waited till someone else ate them to see how it is done. I was praying that I would not have to eat those bulbous black eyes and the papery shell. I didn't. I just had to peel it myself with my hands. It is very common in Mexico to eat with your hands. Traditionally, they just used tortillas to scoop up everything. Even nice dinners seem informal to me because of that.

Last night, we were invited to go to a market on Chapultepec street by our new friend, Angel (pronounced AN-hel) who also happen to be one of our teachers at school. He is our age and doing a mission program based in Texas, but he is from Mexico City. He is pretty awesome. The market was a mix of art, clothes and book venders, street dancers, traditional handicrafts, and music. It is an odd feeling watching a standing bass and bagpipe duet in Guadalajara. The city is very different from where we have been living in Bucerias. I love Bucerias, but it is fun being in an urban environment again. I told John Mark yesterday, "If we keep our mouths shut, everyone will think we are from here." Really, we don't stand out that much. We stayed at the market till the thunderstorms started. As we walked to our car amid the scurrying crowd, we watched vendors packing up quickly to save the merchandise.

Kids playing with bubbles

People watching

Sunday lunch is a big deal in this house. I hear that there is usually a lot of people here on Sunday afternoons. Today, we have been invited to eat with the family. They are making carne asada, and it smells wonderful. When we eat with them, we usually sit at the table for at least an hour after the meal, talking and joking. It is great fun. (ps you would not believe how tiny our kitchen is considering 9 people live here and more are constantly coming and going. It is the size of a walk in closet in the States.)

New Projects
John has already acquired a couple of new projects. He is going to speak for the youth group here next Saturday. He is a little nervous because he hasn't even met many of the youth, but he is excited. Pastor Pocho will translate. He is also going to be creating more web presence for La Fuente Guadalajara, starting with a website. Since he helped create the website for La Fuente Riviera, he has experience using the programs and templates. Once it is created, he will teach Pastor Pocho's kids how to maintain it. He might also be making a website for the newest La Fuente church in Tijuana which had its first service today. Last week, John helped Pastor Pocho build a wall out of drywall to create another bedroom upstairs.

Thanks for keeping up with us. We are doing really well. Please continue to pray that we will learn Spanish quickly. There is still a lot we don't know.

Dios te bendiga,
Moorea