Summer 2013 :: Review

Our summer was most definitely a busy time!  The kids and I spent most of the summer trying to finish up the 2012/2013 school year.  We had gotten terribly behind during our time of deputation and then our transition back to the field.

In the beginning of June, in addition to our regular church duties (church at two locations on Sunday, visiting on Tuesdays, Bible studies on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, we (Michael) started Bible Institute classes on Saturdays.

There were about 15 students that attended between the four classes.  The classes we offered: Elements of Music, Fundamentals of the Faith, Christian Orientation, and New Testament Survey.

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We celebrated Father's Day on June 16th.  Since we had given the mother's a little gift at church for their special day, we decided to do a little something for the father's as well.  We found coffee mugs that had various Father's Day sayings in English on them and then we filled them with a candy bar.

I love my family (although they don't look impressed with me in this pic)!  This is our "it's-been-a-long-hot-Sunday-morning-at-church-and-now-I'm-tired-and-hungry" look!  =)

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Parker (3 yrs.), came in from playing outside one day with his hands looking like this...

Ouch! We couldn't figure out what was wrong, so we finally took him to see a pediatrician.  The doctor, upon seeing his hand, immediately knew the problem.  Apparently Parker had touched the sap from a certain type of tree which caused a chemical burn reaction on his hands.  We applied a cream for awhile and then over time, it has gradually healed.

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I also tried my hand at container gardening this past summer.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a success.  Between iguanas eating the plants, Parker uprooting the plants, not being able to find a sunny enough place, and then rainy season...yep, it was a no-go.  But I tried.  =)  I got one nice looking green bean and then the plant wilted.  The squash plant would flower and then die off.  Oh well, maybe another time, another place!

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The end of July we celebrated Kyle's 8th birthday!  I can't believe how fast these kids are growing!  And since y'all have read my cake making tribulations, we decided to keep. it. simple.  Yep, I bought mini cupcakes.  And it worked grand!

We have a tennis court near our house, so Kyle was so excited to receive a tennis racket for his birthday!

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A big church project that happened in August,..we were finally able to buy a combi (like a van taxi).  Some of you may remember us talking about this at your church during deputation.  And some of you gave to this project.  Thank you so much!  What a blessing this is to our church!

This is a great help in trying to make our church self-supporting.  It also helps by employing a few men from our church, and it's great for picking people up for church!  The combi has had a few rough spots since its initiation (due to the MX economy), but we're trusting the Lord to continue to make it a blessing!

And that pretty much wraps up the highlights from summer.  Now I guess it's on to see if I need to do a Fall Review!  And since we've been more than tardy in publishing a newsletter this year, it looks like I might have to do a Year-In-Review type of newsletter, like ASAP!  For whatever reason, writing newsletters seems to be our "woe" of missionary life.  It's so easy to get caught up with life, especially when it's so busy, and forget that there are supporters and friends who also want to know and see what's going on.  I'll try to do better - pray for me!  =)

Evangelistic Campaign in Salvador Urbina

While we were home on furlough, several people from a mountain village called Salvador Urbina (aka: retiro) began attending our church in Tapachula and also began new believer studies with our pastors-in-training.  By the time we arrived, some of these believers were ready for baptism.

We held a two day evangelistic campaign (April 18-19) at the retiro with attendees from our churches in Tapachula, Motozintla, Guatemala, and of course, the local village people.

On Friday afternoon we held the baptismal.  It was a neat little spot.  The water was not deep, but it was a perfect temperature and the refreshing mountain breezes were nice for keeping us city folk cool!

Some of the children finding good seats!

A lot of the adults stood on the opposite bank.
And don't tell anyone, but I stood in a few
inches of water to keep cool and get good pictures!  ;-)

Uh-oh!  Someone looks like he was missing his afternoon nap!

↑  Two of Edith's aunts  ↓

Lucy.  What a change has been made in her life!  PTL

She's the wife of Arturo and a sister to Antonio, Humberto, Diana, and Abigail.

Carlos.  The son of Arturo and Lucy.

I looked up from taking pictures and saw these guys with their phones/cameras!  From what we've discovered in our area of the world...it doesn't matter how little money you make, everyone somehow has a tv and a cell phone!  Priorities, you know?

We had another great happening Friday evening during our service.  Rainy season hadn't officially started yet around these parts, so we thought our outdoor services would be "safe."  Yep - you guessed it!  About the time that Bro. Cruz got up to preach, it decided to POUR!!!!  Most everyone grabbed their chair and ran to the porch of a nearby house, while a few others disconnected the sound system, speakers, and keyboard!  After getting settled, we finished the service crowded in the house and porch.  Great memories!

We are so thankful for how the Lord helped us in this evangelistic campaign.  For now, the people from the retiro are still traveling about 45 mins. to our church in Tapachula on Sunday mornings, and Michael and a few others are traveling up the mountains every Friday evening for a Bible Study.  Continue to keep us/them in your prayers, as the one section of road that they travel on has been known to have robbers stopping travelers in recent weeks.

We're Home!

PTL!  We have arrived back home in Mexico!

I really didn't mean to leave y'all hanging here without hearing any news, but life got a little busy these past two weeks as we were preparing to leave.  Let's see:

•    April 2-4  -  Michael and the boys got to attend Missions Convention at Penn View while I stayed at home and packed.

 { Jacinda sleeping in the swing while I'm packing }

•    April 5  -  My sister ended up in the hospital with a blood infection.

•    April 6  -  Parker had a birthday!  He turned 3!

{ the boys }

{ Jacinda }

•    April 9  -  And finally...we left in the evening to drive to JFK for our red eye flight to Mexico!

{ Getting ready to leave.  We had 10 large checked-in suitcases, and 10 carry-ons, plus a dog crate and a stroller!  Special thanks to Gratz EWC for allowing us to use their church van and to Steve Miller for driving us!  }

•    April 10  -  We arrived in Tapachula!

After our last few flying escapades, we were hoping for a smooth, problem free trip.  And you know what?  God answered our prayers and we had no problems!  In fact, at every turn and with each official, we were shown extra kindness and given extra help!

When we arrived at the airport here in Tapachula, we were greeted with a good group of people from our church.  What a surprise!  They helped us to get our luggage loaded up and then brought us back to our house.

Now the fun began!  We had no electric and no water.  We decided to spend the night at a hotel until we could get the situation resolved.  Finally yesterday, the electric company came and turned on the power.  The only problem, the downstairs worked, but not the upstairs!  We called someone to come look at our electric box and it turned out to be an easy fix!  So, we were able to sleep in our house last night.

But, we're still having issues with our water pump.  So, we're hoping to work on that today so that we can have water!  =)    **Update:  we had to buy a new water pump - but our water is now up and running!!

What else can we say?  Even with all the issues that come with returning to your field of service after begin gone for an extended period of time...it's good to be HOME. SWEET. HOME!

Guests, Earthquakes, and Seminars!

They've arrived!  Welcome Mason's! 

We have some happy little boys in our house right now!  =)

Last evening and this morning were spent running around for supplies for the Child Evangelism seminar.  We also had a 6.3 earthquake rock our world for about 30 seconds today!  (Check this link for the details.)  I was at Walmart when it happened, and the shelves were just swaying back and forth.  I heard some glass falling off of shelves and breaking, and then I saw where some food jars/bags had fallen off of shelves and broke.  But other than maybe a few minor things, it appeared that the rest of the city had no major damage.

Despite the excitement of the day, our seminars started this evening, and we had a decent turnout with our people and also some visitors from a local pentecostal church.

Some girls helping with the song, "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus."

"Whisper a Prayer in the..."

Parker enjoying some cookies and drink during a break.

Father and son doing an excellent job teaching.

Gertie helping with the song, "Oh be careful little ears..."

The B-I-B-L-E

Tomorrow we're looking forward to a morning service for the children, and then more seminar sessions in the afternoon, complete with hands-on training!

Today...

Today...I'm admiring the beautiful blue sky!

I'm also thankful for electricity!  Last week around two in the morning, a transformer blew, and we were literally, "in the dark."  It was a very miserable night to say the least!!  No air conditioner to keep us from sweating, and no option to open the windows for a breeze.  (The windows are boarded up to keep out the sun and also to provide a frame for the air conditioner.)  And with the above mentioned things, it was pitch black...and I'm a gotta-have-my-night-light sort of gal!  =)  At any rate, we all survived!

Today...I'm also taking pics of Parker.  He's too cute and growing up too fast!  At 21 months, he has finally mastered the art of walking!  He's been ABLE to do it for a few months, but has never WANTED to do it consistently without our command, until now.

Today...I'm also thinking how long it's been since I last posted!  And so, I'm working on a post about our special New Year's Eve service in Santo Domingo.  Hopefully I'll get that up on the blog soon.

Today...I've got some excited kids!  Why?  Because their Pappy and Grandma Mason are coming to visit on Friday!  While here, they (the Mason's) will be holding two separate Child Evangelism seminars in our churches.  Michael has been working hard in translating the different session materials and handouts, and the Mason's have been working hard creating visualized songs and helps, etc...  We're looking forward to a busy, yet fun time together!

And this, my blog friends, is some of my thoughts today.  And now, I best go get things ready for our prayer meeting/Bible study tonight!

Celebrate!

Yesterday, we were able to spend some time relaxing together. We also checked out the large indoor market here, drove out to the border of Guatemala, then later on, I put up the Christmas tree while Mom and Dad wrapped gifts.

All of those things that happened yesterday, brings us to today! We started the morning by eating a delicious french toast casserole, then we read the Christmas story and opened up Christmas gifts that Mom and Dad had brought with them. The boys were all excited, of course!

Parker was enjoying himself by piling his gifts on top of each other!

Later on this afternoon, my Dad and I put up some cabinets! I finally have a place to put my dishes and glasses, etc... Yay! Now, I just need to get them (the cabinets!) painted some time soon! My plans are to paint them an antique black that will match my desk.

And........today is also my 30th birthday! It was so nice to be able to celebrate it with my Mom and Dad and Pap! And we all really enjoyed Dad's chocolate/peanut butter cake!

Progress

Little by little, we're making progress with the swingset. Here, the boys are sitting on the roof.

Pap taking a break from the heat.

Tuesday p.m. - The framework was completed, and it was set up this morning.

Dad cutting boards this morning.

The frame and roof is up...now to put the floor and side boards on.

Taylor loves to help!

Pap even climbed up to help!

Now we're getting somewhere!!

(And yes, sometimes the boys like wearing their pajamas all day!)

And before we quit for the day, let's add the sliding board!

Parker even enjoyed a slippery ride!

We're hoping tomorrow to be able and finish the whole swing set! Yay!

Beautiful Day Pics

I was really hoping to upload these pics yesterday, but blogger was having issues!

Anyway, I was hoping to tease our northern friends a little, who are experiencing the first glimpses of cold and wintry weather, with some of our very beautiful weather (albeit very hot and humid, at times)!

This is a very tall tree in the park across from our house.

And of course, some more pics of the boys!

And Minka was also enjoying playing with boys outside!

And, it's another beautiful day again today! I think rainy season is soon to be officially over. Yay - for no more leaking ceilings, but boo - for not having rain to cool the humidity down!