Outreach Stories from Mexico
Saturday
12 January 2009
This morning we woke up early to join the pastor from yesterday and continue to help paint the church. We spent our morning painting until we were pleasantly surprised by a delicious lunch break! Several women from the congregation had volunteered to make our team traditional Mexican dishes in gratitude for the work we had done on the building. And it was delicious!!
We had taquitos, gorditas, potato cakes, and quesadillas with Mexican sodas - apple, tamarind, lime, and of course, Coca-Cola.
After lunch we finished painting with enough time to go play with little kids out on the basketball courts!
And sad to say, "We were creamed by those little kids!" And we thought they were only good at soccer!
And after several days of hard work and little rest, we took the afternoon off to enjoy ourselves.
We gathered again for a dinner of authentic Mexican tacos out on the town. Some favorites were the 'tacos al pastor' (seasoned pork tacos) and 'tacos de lengua' (yes, that's right - cow tongue taco!). Only to be followed up by a desert of Magnum ice-cream bars.
When we arrived back at the base, we had a fun night of dance lessons on the roof. We practiced our moves to salsa and cumbia - two very traditional latino music styles.
Tomorrow will be an exciting day because it is Shared's birthday! So tonight I ran to the store and bought her a birthday cake - Pastel de Tres Leches (Three Milk Cake).
So we will celebrate Shared's birthday (Jan. 12th) and Sungkyoung's birthday (Jan. 6th) tomorrow hopefully by traveling up to the city's statue of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) for a picnic and a party.
Friday
11 January 2009
This morning we again joined the Pachuca staff and Denver DTS in worship and prayer. This morning a DTS student shared a lesson from his favorite week from DTS.
After his teaching, the YWAM Pachuca base leader stood up to share that he believed this was a very important and even strategic teaching for us to all hear before we go into Mexico City. A current trend there is a new religion - Santa Muerte - or 'Holy Death'.
People are literally worshiping death to receive miracles. And the crazy thing is that these miracles are coming true. But their healings, money, or power come at a great cost--offerings are known to be as serious as human sacrifice. Even though uncommon, it is still a very serious matter that we need to be prepared to meet and share the one true Gospel with the people who are under such darkness and oppression.
After our meeting we planned and rehearsed to teach in Tec Americano, the English school. We decided to share what came natural to us and what makes our group individual - culture. In our group alone, four cultures are represented: American, Mexican, Korean, and Japanese.
So we decided to include a culture lesson on American, Korean, and Japanese culture and to finish with fun games that helped the school kids practice their English.
When we arrived at the school is was a great time to share...
...our culture teachings and the students really loved and learned a lot.
Afterward, we broke our group into three sections - Sungkyoung taught the older boys Korean tae kwon do, Nicole, Nate, Maria, and Shared played games with a mix of older and younger boys and girls, and Michi, David, Joonwoo, and Heidi talked and let the kids practice their English in conversation.
That afternoon we joined a local pastor with some service projects at his church. Joined by some of the congregation, we began a painting project and cleaned the yard of trash. It was hard labor but we left the church and its yard looking much better than we had found it!
Then later that night we returned to the central plaza with our Te de Canela (Cinnamon Tea) and again passed it out to the people congregated there. But the most exciting part was that our friends from two nights ago were there again! And since an initial relationship had been built with many of them, our group began talking to them about how personal and loving Jesus is.
We even ended the night off with a short message about how God loves each one of them and has a purpose for them. We asked if anyone would like prayer and there were kids that were honestly interested in pursuing Jesus more intimately! Praise God!
So please pray that they would not forget their commitment they made to pursue Jesus and that their friends would not pressure them to do the 'cool thing' and not follow God.
It was a truly a great day!
Thursday
10 January 2009
This morning we also started off with worship and prayer for the city of Pachuca, but today there was a surprise. The Denver DTS had the day off and went to tour the pyramids and the musically-inclined Pachuca staff had left already, so who was going to lead worship and prayer? Practicing our leadership, we stepped up!
Nate quickly picked up a nearby jimbay, Sungkyoung ran for his guitar, Nicole found some songs on her laptop, and we were off! We even closed with a never-before-rehearsed version of 'Te Alabare, Mi Buen Jesus' for the non-English worshipers.
Since YWAM Pachuca is a new base that is still growing and expanding, we had the pleasure this morning of helping with service projects around the facility: painting, priming, washing, picking weeds, and picking up trash.
A couple from the states has lived in Mexico for many years running a youth center - a place for kids to stay out of trouble, play games, and get help with their homework.
Several months ago, they received the news that their church could no longer support them financially so they closed up temporarily and headed North for a month or two to get things worked out. But two months turned into four, four months turned into half a year, and now almost a year has passed with no one in the house.
Rumor reached their friends at YWAM Pachuca that the grounds needed some love and care. It was perfect timing for our group to come to the rescue! We spent the afternoon pulling and burning weeds, sweeping, organizing, and giving their dog a much-needed bath.
The group is learning and loving more about Mexican culture: its people, language, customs, and of course, food!
Just before we called it a night, we learned that we needed to prepare an hour and a half lesson for a local English school. The lesson would be in the morning!
Wednesday
7 January 2009
This morning after breakfast we met with the Denver DTS students, staff, and YWAM Pachuca staff for worship and prayer. It was a great time and ended with a YWAM Denver student, Annalise, sharing a lesson/testimony about how her DTS's teaching 'Father Heart of God' changed her life.
This was a very good topic for our students and afterwards they reflected upon their own relationship with God and how they interact with Him. Do they pray to God selfishly asking Him to make them a better person so they will benefit or just because they want to be more like Jesus?
After our devotional time, Meghan from YWAM Pachuca, introduced us to our neighborhood and its goodies - i.e. market, freshly squeezed juices (see photo), tortillas, etc.
Around three we traveled to one of the city's parks to meet the people and play with kids. We played tag, blew bubbles, and were beaten terribly by little kids in soccer. We also started learning the language with some new friends.
The Denver DTS performed a few dramas and shared testimonies. Afterward, we talked to the people gathered there about their own personal relationships with Jesus.
Shared met a woman who was a Christian and found it very encouraging that we were there running dramas and sharing our hearts to the people. Later, Shared and a few others were able to pray for her because she was going to be joined by her church to run a similar Christian program in the same park this coming Sunday.
Leaving our new friends, we went home for a quick bite and a lesson in how to make traditional Mexican Cinnamon hot tea (Te de canela):
Bring one bit pot of water to boil, drop a handful of whole cinnamon sticks in when boiling, cover and continue to simmer for two or three hours. When done, add two cups of sugar and voila! Or, should I say, "que delicioso!"
That night, in the cool mountain air, we took our freshly made "Te de Canela" to the central plaza. We handed out cups of it to people passing by and the teenagers that hang around and skate.
“Why are you doing this?" some people asked.
"Because God loves you and so do we."
We made some great friends that night and hope to see them soon!
Tuesday
6 January 2009
Both of our flights were late - two hours late out of Chicago because of the snow and ice - and half an hour out of Guadalajara because they just were.
We got in at 10pm and feasted on enchiladas.
Amor from Mexico!
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