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

Hello,
It has been a while since I have posted. A lot has been happening.

My sister was here for a few weeks. It was wonderful to have her here. John and I were eager to share all of our favorite places and people with someone from home. She met all of the pastors we work with, went to mission with us, played with kids at the orphanage, and hung out with the youth kids. She got to participate in all the things we do. Our lives don't intersect enough. It is good to have recent fun memories with her. I miss her now that she is back in California.

John and I also got to go home for a couple weeks. A close friend got married, and I was in the wedding. We also sold my car and bought a 4-runner a few months back. We needed to drive that back to Mexico too. It was great to spend time with family and close friends. Even though I love Mexico dearly, and missed it while we were away, you just can't replace that feeling of home. We celebrated a wedding, helped with my mom's surprise 50th birthday party, and were able to do things like bonfires with John's brother's family and a 14 mile bike ride with John's dad. John also got to do his favorite things that he can't do in Mexico, namely shooting and climbing a mountain. We were able to have a meeting with our friends and sponsors, showing pictures and telling stories about what has been going on in the last 9 months. Thank you to everyone who was able to come and watch our presentation. We are amazed and grateful for the people who love us, pray for us, and support us financially.


Bike riding with John's dad


Shooting


Me and our niece, Ellie


Hiking Brokoff Mountain


Everyone took a nap on the summit except one

We drove back last week, crossing at Nogales which is the safest and easiest way to get to the coast. We stopped a few places on the way, visiting a friend in LA, camping and doing a short hike in the Grand Canyon, and having a visit with my grandma in Arizona. It was the first time she had met John Mark and it was really good to see her. We had no problems at the border and minimal delays due to standard border paperwork and traffic. We made the trip from the border to Bucerias in 2 days, which is really great time. After 5 days total in the car, I was thrilled to pull into town.


This is what we saw for 5 days - desert


At the Grand Canyon


Hiking in the Grand Canyon





Last week, we got back in to the swing of things, going to mission and the regular church services. I had missed those things while we were away. We also started packing up our apartment. We also met up with two friends, Roanna Farley and Leslie Greenetz, who were vacationing here. We were able to drive them around and show them the area where we live and work. It was fun spending time with them.

We are scheduled to begin language school on June 25th in Guadalajara. We are cleaning and packing up our apartment this week, getting everything ready for the temporary move. We will go to language school for 4-6 months, and then return to Bucerias to continue working with the church here. Our church in Bucerias has a sister church in Guadalajara. We have met the pastors a few times. It is really nice having a church to plug into right away there. Almost no one speaks English, which will help us to learn Spanish. When we left the US, we still has no idea where we were going to live, but Pastor Keith may have found us a place with the pastor's family from the church. We haven't seen the room, but the situation sounds better than we had hoped for. Please pray that we get a great place to stay for the few months we will be there.

John and I have mixed feeling about leaving the work that we are doing in Bucerias. We are really attached to the kids that we work with at the mission and in the youth group. We are sad to be leaving them, but we know that we need the language to be more effective and to help carry the load of teaching and organizing events. We know that it is important to put our whole focus on the language to learn a lot in a short time. We took a diagnostic test as part of our application to language school. I have learned a lot in the past year and was able to complete several of the test questions. The language school director emailed me back and said that the class will cover everything I have learned the past year in only three weeks! It is going to be an intensive course and we will need to study a lot just to keep up. I am looking forward to the challenge. We leave for school next Friday or Saturday.

Excited for the things ahead,
Moorea

Prayer
Smooth adjustment to living in a new, very big city
that our living situation will be a good fit
that we will learn Spanish quickly
safety
For Mexico - the cartel activity is increasing.

Hello,

Things are starting to slow down a bit since high season is almost over. Our English speaking congregation is about half of what it was three weeks ago and it will shrink down even more in the next couple weeks. We are sad to see our snow bird friends leave, but they will be back in the fall.

My sister was able to come down to visit me and she will be here for a month! I am really excited to have her here. I had a few days off while the rest of the staff was at a conference in Tepic. Kaela and I spent some time catching up, hanging out on the beach, and eating tacos.

On our day off, we went to the hot springs at the river with our friends. We hiked around a bit in the river, slipping on rocks. There is small rope swing upstream from the hot spring pools. We played there for a little while, jumping, swimming, and chicken fighting. We had a pretty great day.

San Ignacio Mission

At the mission, we have been learning about Moses and the Israelite. The past two Tuesdays, we decided to show Prince of Egypt to the kids to help them understand the story and understand how everything fits together. We made pop corn and watched it. The kids really enjoyed the film. When God parted the Red Sea, most of the kids were enthralled. Their eyes were big and they mumbled “whoa!”  Also, one of the moms who had never come to the mission before stopped by that day. She is the mom of the family I blogged about a couple weeks ago. She seemed a little timid, but I greeted her and invited her in for some popcorn. Even though I don’t speak Spanish and we can’t communicate much, she seemed happy to see me. She sat with the other ladies for a few minutes and chatted. I am praying that God meets her and that her entire family comes to know Him. That Tuesday, I am praying, will be the first step for her.

John and I also had an opportunity to teach the adults at the mission this month. I spoke on who we are in Christ, our position as sons and daughters of God who can come boldly before the throne of grace and who can expect God to move on our behalf as he promises. We are both learning a lot about preparing sermons and teaching. We were talking last night about how much we have learned and grown since we have been here. We are grateful for the opportunities that we have here and for the things that God is doing in us and through us. John also preached on a Wednesday night for the main service at church. There is a link to the sermon in the post below.

Youth

John Mark has been spending a lot of time with the youth recently. There is a flock of 15 year old boys who follow him around, trade music with him, and mimic him in subtle ways. They are really cool kids. Some of them have started coming to the mission with us and hanging out with us outside of church. They are crazy and fun and “so fifteen”.  John used to help out with the youth group at Glad Tidings before we were married.  He missed it after he started working 60-80 hours a week, too busy and exhausted to make time for the youth group. Now that he has time for it again, he is realizing how much he loves it. Hanging out with youth and mentoring kids is his passion. One of the kids is throwing a dubstep/hard style/techno rave and video shoot after youth group this Saturday. The two of them stayed up late last night cutting and mixing the music, discussing which songs were worthy to be included. They will probably pull another late night tonight to try and get it done. 

En Vivo

John’s contribution:

En Vivo is a three day conference that happens once a year in Tepic at the main La Fuente Church. Everyone looks forward to it all year and we were hearing about how cool it is for several months. Moorea wasn’t able to go, but I was very excited to be able to go and was asked to drive one of the vans up. I ended up staying with the youth guys and halfway baby-sitting and halfway getting into trouble with them. It was a really good opportunity to really bond with and pour into some of the youth I haven't spent that much time with. I had more fun after hours with the youth guys but the conference itself was amazing as well. The worship was outstanding. Absolutely amazing. And a few of the preachers were from the US so those services were bilingual which was nice for me. 

It was a blessing to be able to go and be with the youth. The mom of one of the guys who was staying with us came up to me the next Sunday to thank me. I have never met her before and it was a kid I have only talked to in passing before the conference. I was really able to get to know him over the couple days of conferences.  She came up and was thanking me for all that I had done and how her son had a really great time and she had already seen a change in her son. She was really genuine and it was encouraging to me to get some feedback. 

En Vivo 2012 from Jesiah Hansen on Vimeo.

Santa Fe

Please pray for the church we want to plant in Sana Fe. The government has promised us a piece of land that is 6000 sq meters (1.5 acres). We have started meeting in a park there, doing breakfasts, kids programs, and Bible studies. There aren’t any churches (Christian, Mormon, Catholic or otherwise) at all there even though the area is home to hundreds of families. The people are really excited to have a place to meet. Well, some of them. A small group has started a petition to try and keep us from meeting in the area. Apparently they don’t want a Christian church there. Ironically, the lady who started the petition is now attending our meetings regularly. Pastor Keith said that when the work of God is moving forward, we should expect some opposition, but we are just praying that doors will open and we will receive that land anyway. Please pray with us for that area.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support. We absolutely could not be here without you. We are really excited to be part of a ministry that is moving forward, helping people in practical and spiritual ways. We really feel like we are where we are supposed to be. Thank you for helping us follow God’s direction for our lives. 

God Bless you.

Moorea

If you would like to partner with us financially, please note that your donation is for “Holmes” and send it to:

Glad Tidings

PO Box 1630

Yuba City, CA 95992

Hello all,

I preached on this last Wednesday and just uploaded it to the La Fuente website (one of my jobs, managing the website) and I thought I would share it with everyone. Enjoy!
http://lafuenteriviera.com/index.php/multimedia/audio

Peace be with you,
john mark

Of all the things that John and I do here, going to the mission is definitely our favorite. We live and spend most of our time in Bucerias, but on Tuesdays and Saturdays, we drive 30 minutes into the jungle-covered hills to a small town called San Ignacio. We do worship, kids classes and bible studies with the people there. We also feed the people a couple times a month. Since we started working here, I have known that this is one of the poorest towns in the region. But after a few weeks, I stopped noticing the dirty faces, the ill-fitting clothes, and just focused on the kids. Basically, I forgot they are poor.  Yesterday, I was reminded. 

Let me back up. On Saturday, Pastora Maya, our pastor’s wife, stopped by the mission in San Ignacio after our service was over and we were playing with the kids. She noticed one of our youngest and most faithful attenders, a 4-year-old girl named Abby. Maya asked about how often she come to the mission and if her parents were there, if they ever came.  I didn’t know much about her family, just that she comes very faithfully with her 10 year old sister, and that I had never met her parents. Maya decided that she wanted to go home with them, to meet their parents and see where they live.

The next day, she told me about her visit. There are four children who come to the mission very often (I didn’t even realize all four of them are related!) and a cousin who also comes faithfully. Neither of their parents were home. Their mother was working cleaning houses in Sayulita 15 minutes up the road. The oldest, Alisha, said that she would be home around 6 or 7 pm. Their father was working in Vallarta, about an hour away. If he wasn’t drinking, he would be home about the same time. Maya asked if they had any food, and who would cook it for them. (Prepackaged food is very rare here, and too expensive for most people.) Alisha said that her brother and sisters like rice, and she would make if for them. Maya asked if they had a stove and if she knew how to work it. She did. Stoves here are different than in the States. They are propane and never have a striker. To light them, one must turn on the gas and light it oneself with a cigarette lighter. Alisha regularly does the cooking for her siblings because her parents work so much to support the family. Another thing about Alisha, she is almost blind in one eye.

While Maya was there, the kids showed her a photo album. It was the happiest day of Alisha’s life, her 5^th birthday party at Kindergarten. Maya was inspired by this to come back with her niece, a photographer, to take pictures of the kids and print them so they had some pictures of themselves. She invited me to go with them yesterday.

Pastora Maya with Mona, a cousin, on the porch

We drove back in to the neighborhood further than I had been before. We approached a ladder that led to a double staircase that ended at their front porch. Two little girls appeared and threw themselves into my arms. They were so excited that I was there. Daily, I wish that I could communicate more with them, that my Spanish was better, but yesterday I realized that I don’t have to speak perfect Spanish for them to feel loved. Just being faithful to them every week, showing up and doing lessons with them matters.

Their mom was home with them yesterday. Maya talked with her while the kids had their photos taken. Their mom is a beautiful lady who loves her kids and works hard for them, but is already stretched beyond her limit. She showed us her home. She knows how little they have. I was struck with how vulnerable she was.

Taking photos

The mom told us that she works 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week. For that, she earns about $400 USD a month. Her husband, who probably works similar hours, earns less. Maya explained that she wanted to make a photo album to give to the kids like the one they had showed her the Saturday before. The mom thanked her humbly, and told us that she had never seen a photograph before Alisha had brought some home from school. Ever. Her kids had to explain what a photo was.

The front porch and entrance to their house

The house has one room with a bunk bed made by her husband, a tv, a two burner range, and a small table that acts as a kitchen counter. The bathroom is two stories at ground level. I didn’t see a mattress on the bed frame, just blankets. Her husband and her shared the bottom with their youngest, and the older three shared the top bunk. The walls were made of exposed cement block, and two of the walls were unfinished, leaving a 7 ft x 5 ft opening. She told us that it used to get very cold at night, but they had recently bough a green mesh to cover the window. They didn’t really have a front door, just a sheet and a piece of plywood to lean against the opening.

I didn’t know what to do or say. It is one thing to see something like this on tv. If we are going to compare it, maybe I’ve seen worse, but never in real life, never with kids that I care about. I knew that this is what San Ignacio is like. I just hadn’t seen it before. This family is not unusual. The long work hours, the kids caring for each other because no one else is home: that is normal. I’ve heard the kids at the mission say that their parents hit each other, or that they drink too much. Life here is really hard, and I know that. It is different seeing it.

Maya asked the mom if she believed that Alisha is totally blind in one eye. The mom said that she had never asked her. She said that she had never taken Alisha to the doctor because she didn’t have time because of her work schedule. I am thinking that money is also a factor. Maya is planning on taking her to the doctor in the next couple weeks. Alisha might need surgery.

When we climbed back in the car, Maya said to me “those girls are never going to forget your face. They will remember you for the rest of their lives.” She went on about how important what we are doing is. How it will change these kids’ lives. Then, she said “I still remember the missionary who came to my village and taught me about Jesus. Her face is still in my mind.” She said that the mission is the highlight of the week for them. They look forward to it the way that we would look forward to a movie coming out or something like that. I asked her son later if Maya had been raised as a Christian. He said no. Maya was the first one in her family to accept Christ. Here is the thing: Maya is the 9^th of 10 children, raised in a very poor family on the Baja. She was exactly like these kids. She met Jesus at a mission like the one in San Ignacio. Several of her family members have accepted Christ and she has led many many children to Jesus in Sunday school, at kids programs, and on her front porch. Those kids have grown up and broken the cycle of poverty in their families. They don’t drink or smoke dope like their parents did. They have real jobs. Some are the first in their families to have steady work. They don’t beat their kids. They love their spouses. They don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend on the side, like is so very common here in Mexico. Their lives are changed because of Jesus. That is what we are doing in San Ignacio. With my sputtering Spanish and ridiculous kids songs, I have the privilege of watching Jesus change these kids in to movers and shakers in their communities. Jesus is plucking them out of impossible poverty and turning their hearts to him. In the middle of awkward, stressful circumstances, when I can’t understand what they are saying, God is here. I am so grateful to be here too. 

-Moorea

Please pray for this family, that God will touch their hearts, and change their lives. Pray that  Alisha's eye is healed, or that the doctors will be able to correct the damage.

Please also pray for one of the La Fuente Pastors, Fredy. He has been having some health problems and the doctors do not know what is wrong. The words hernia and cancer have both been used. He is in his thirties and has two young children. He has faith that God is going to heal him. Please pray into that with us and for peace for his family.

Hello,

So this is going to be a guest post by John Mark, so it may not be as refined as you are used to but I will give this blog thing a shot. We have been doing really good, staying pretty busy with the day to day work but finding really fun things to do in our free time. We really feel at home here in Bucerías and are enjoying the work we are able to do with La Fuente (the ministry we are working for).

Team

We had a team of five people come down from Michigan from a church of approximately 1500 people to check out La Fuente. They sent down their mission’s pastor as well as one of their youth pastors to see if their church would partner with us and send more teams down. Whenever La Fuente has teams come down, Moorea is in charge of scheduling the team and what they will be doing while they are here. She acts as a coordinator and spends time emailing the teams and answering questions, acting as a go to person for both the team coming down and the pastors here when they have any questions. I also help with the teams but more logistically and hands on. I coordinated some painting and other construction projects the team helped us with while they were here. I also am the professional chauffeur for the team, picking them up from the airport and driving them around while they are here. Having the team kept us running for the whole 10 days. We ended up being behind on a lot of the stuff we normally take care of and it seems like we still haven’t caught up, and it’s been several weeks since they left. We enjoy spending time with all of the people who come. We end up meeting people from all over the US and Canada who come from all different backgrounds and are missions minded.  All in all having the team was a great success. We were able to get a lot done with their help and they have already planned a team of their youth group this summer and another team of adults next February! I think you could say they caught the vision of all that La Fuente is doing and believe in it.

Some of the team painting at the church

Santa Fe

La Fuente has been working for some time trying to get a land donation from the government in a town near Bucerías called San Vicente. Nothing has ever opened up there but the government said there were several options in a nearby town called Santa Fe. Santa Fe is an area that has several large housing developments around it, yet has no church. None. No Christian church, no Catholic church, no Jehovah's Witnesses (JW’s are actually fairly numerous around here), so the opportunity to expand the kingdom is great. Last night when they had a service in a park near the land we are hoping to get there was 90 people (mostly kids) who attended! There is also a ministry in the US called Kids Around the World who wants to donate a playground to La Fuente but we need the land in Santa Fe to put it on. Please be praying that we will be able to get this land and get it quickly.

San Ignacio kids classes

Moorea playing catch with a girl from San Ignacio

We have been going through the story of Moses in the bible with the kids in San Ignacio. The older kids were doing well at remembering the story but the younger kids (ages 3-6) were not remembering it as much. Something we have found though is if you do very tactile things / hands on things with them, they are a lot more likely to remember the story. One example of this is when we were going over the plagues in Egypt and how the Israelites had to paint the door frames with lambs blood Moorea took some paper and put it up and let the kids paint it red (I lifted the little ones so they could paint the top of the frame as well).  Another example is when the Israelites went through the red sea we brought a bed sheet and had them walk through it to music. When the music stopped we would drop the sheet on them and tickle the “Egyptians” who were drowning.  The kids really liked that one.  One more example is when the Israelites were going through the desert they were led by the cloud by day and the fire by night and if it wasn’t for that they wouldn’t know where to go and basically be lost. So I made a maze out of the chairs and tables that day, then I crumpled up a few napkins in my hand to be the cloud and blindfolded the kids and put their hands on the napkins that were in my hand and led them through the maze. I then explained how that just how they trusted me the Israelites trusted God, and how we need to trust God the same. Really simple things but it really helps the kids learn the stories better.

John Mark playing with the kids at the orphanage

Friends / Crew

This is my new love language,
carne asada tacos

We have started hanging out with the same group of friends several times a week. The best part of it is they are our age as well. We typically go get taco’s from a stand after church, but we also go to the movies, go hiking, play the Wii (Just Dance 2), go to different church events, and in general stay up ridiculously late. Moorea and I have really enjoyed having people closer to our age to spend time / goof off with.

Salsa classes

Moorea told me even before we left the US to come down here that she wanted to take salsa classes. We have a friend who told us about one and we have been going for two weeks now, twice a week. Our teacher is a little Venezuelan who has studied several kinds of dance and has even danced competitively in an international dance competition that was aired on ESPN. I have really been enjoying it. I am not super motivated to work out and this is a way that I am doing at least some cardio every week. It is also nice to have a something else that my wife and I have in common that we can do together. Another perk of the class is I feel like my Spanish comprehension is getting better as our classes are taught in Spanish.

New vehicle

We had a nice little Honda civic before w left and came down here. Since deciding to stay here longer we decided it would be best to sell it and buy something that can handle the Mexican roads better (dirt roads, pot holes, cobble stone roads, heavy tropical rain). We decided to get a Toyota 4runner as it has better ground clearance, bigger tires, and can haul people and stuff easily. My dad took the money from us selling our car and started looking for one and bought a nice clean white little 4runner for us that was down in Stockton. He is having our mechanic go over it, taking care of different maintenance items and make sure its good to go.  My mom ran around and made sure everything was squared away with DMV. The CD player was broken in the 4runner and my parents are taking a cd player out of one of their other cars and putting it in ours. My parents have been such a blessing helping us get a car and make sure its road worthy. Thank you mom and dad!

Trip Home

We are planning to fly home in the end of May for two weeks and then we will drive the 4runner back down. We have a close friend getting married and Moorea is in her wedding. We will also be visiting friends and family and shopping for cloths, technology items, and other things we cannot get down here (or there is a large markup on them). We will be having a missions meeting talking about the work we are doing, stay tuned for when.

Vision Juvenil

We had the opportunity to go to a youth conference in Tepic, which is the capitol of our state with some friends and some of the youth from church. The church we are working for has a sister church in Tepic and the conference was held at that church. There ended up being 1,200 youth from costal and central Mexico, it was awesome to be able to worship with that many youth really pressing into God! We went up early and spent some time in a big park and going to the mall for a while. After the conference we went out for hamburgers and hot dogs and didn’t get home till 4:30 in the morning! (it’s a three hour drive).

Even the monkeys drink coca in Mexico,
At the park in Tepic

Our neighbors

We rent the top floor in a little   two-story apartment building, and our neighbor downstairs is one of the pastors at La Fuente named Greg and his family. Greg is the worship leader for the Spanish services and a really awesome, upbeat guy. Around our apartment there are more apartments and a few months ago a tarot card reader moved in downstairs, directly across the street. We were defiantly praying and doing some spiritual warfare, both for the tarot card reader himself and his family and for the people who were lost and looking for answers coming to see him. But Greg took it one step further. In Mexico many businesses don’t have hours they work or normal days off. They just work when they want to and don’t work when they don’t want to. Greg took advantage of that fact and whenever someone came to see the tarot card reader and he wasn’t there Greg would go out and talk to them. He would invite them to sit on his porch and talk to them. He would say, “if you ever want you can come talk to me. I have what you are looking for”. He spent time counseling different ones and praying with them, and out of that one family got saved! They are even serving on the usher team now and the adults are scheduled to get baptized next time we have baptisms. Praise God!

Oliver

Oliver Version 2.0

Two weeks ago, we had a big scare. One of the pastors has a small son, about 14 months old named Oliver. One afternoon, he fell down a flight of stairs several meters high. When he hit the floor, he started convulsing and then stopped moving or breathing. He turned blue and then yellow.  Both his parents were there and said afterwards that they felt that his spirit was gone. He was dead. They immediately started praying for him, hysterical as any parent would be in that situation. Several minutes passed as they prayed. Suddenly, his eyes opened and he started moving normally. They put him in the car and sped to the hospital. When they arrived, little Oliver was acting totally normal, mimicking other patients and asking to go home. They stayed for several hours, testing him, but nothing was wrong. He didn’t even have a bruise or a bump the next morning!! We have been celebrating and praising God who is able to raise people from the dead. We are in awe of this amazing miracle that God has done for all of us who love this little boy. His parents have declared that Oliver has been born again in a literal sense – according to their reckoning, he is two weeks old on Sunday.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Peace be with you,

john mark

Please pray:

La Fuente will receive the land donation in Santa Fe

John Mark’s health (allergies)

Building permit for the sanctuary would come through

That we would continue to learn the language

Protection for the Staff and their families at La Fuente