Random kid photos

Okay... I have alot of photos of our kids, and just have to share them.

Miss Lucy and some of her 3 year old class.

One of the toddlers that likes to open the door and hide himself in the cupboard if no one is watching.

More 3 year olds and the fun of coloring and washing the board.

"Lunch" (snack) immediately after lunch ("comida" - food)

3 year olds "sleeping" during one of our following directions songs.

Puzzle play ("rompercabezas" - literally -"head breakers")

Hard at work with clay

Enjoy!  More later!

Happy Anniversary Youth Choir!

On Pentecost Sunday, the youth choir turned three years old!  Started by another missionary three years ago, I became involved in November when she was no longer able to keep directing.  We have ample help with adults, teens, and kids ranging from 5-18.  In honor of the anniversary, we held a potluck in the church meeting room.  We had a wonderful turn out, and, as a bonus, got to celebrate Juan Pablo's 5th birthday (he is in the first row center just right of the cake with someone's arm around him).  So, the Church's birthday, the Holy Spirit, our anniversary, and Juan Pablo's birthday all in one day.  What a great day to celebrate!  

We supplied the cake, while the parish supplied the beans, tortillas, and agua de jamica.  The families each brought a guisada, a cooked dish: tinga, rice, potatoes, and other yummy creations.  One of my favorite parts was getting to meet the families, and being able to thank them for their children and the time they spent getting their children to choir. Overall, it was a great time of celebrating and a time of fellowship.

Most of the choir in front of a mural painted by Marcos, the guy
in red on the extreme right of the picture.  The mural displays part of the
history of Santa Fe, the area where the church building is.

English help

We had some people stop by the other day that we did not know.  We heard a knock on the door and had no idea who they were when we looked out the window.  They were looking for another missionary that lived here almost two years ago.  They wanted help with their niece's english homework.  She had a big test the next day and they wanted us to fill in all the blanks in her study sheet so that she could turn it in and study from it that night.  Emma and I were not sure of this, and many times tried to get the aunt to see that we did not want to do the niece's homework for her.  No, it was okay, she answered, they had another copy of the homework, and the niece would rewrite it in her own handwriting before turning it in.  No, but... The niece had piles of homework to do.... and we were not getting anywhere with the aunt, so, with uneasiness, we did the homework. (Not as easy as it sounds. It was on some kind of passive voice, something we are told never to use in English. :)  We gave it to the the aunts, and they were out the door, telling us that if we wanted cooking lessons to come on over and they would teach us.
      A couple days later these same two aunts and the girl and another boy were back at our door.  This time, with the aunt's famous Jello mold made from fruit juice, pectin, and peaches (it was very good!).  The girl thanked us, as well as the aunts, and again they invited us to come over and learn how to cook.  I still am not sure about the homework assignment, and did not want to start a precedent for doing everyone's English homework, but, I am glad that we got to meet that family, and opened the door that night.

More than Music Time

Emma and I give music classes three days a week, four 20-30 minute classes a day to 2-5 year old classes.  Our first class starts at 10am, and the last ends at around 1:30pm.  In between we have a bit of hang-out time with the kids and teachers, or time to fine tune our plans for the next class.  Then, after our last class, we have about an hour and a half to hang out with the kids and teachers before we go home.

Israel ready to play, with my guitar and "cinta" (guitar strap).

A couple months ago, I started working with kids individually after my last music class, giving guitar lessons  and private music therapy sessions.  It started out because of Israel. 

There had been a couple kids with home/behavior issues I had been hoping to work with in music therapy.  But these were also the same kids that wanted nothing, or little, to do with the music classes Emma and I were already giving.  So, how do you do music therapy with a kid that does not seem motivated by music?

Enter Israel.

Israel is 4 year old in love with the guitar.  He was always asking me questions about my guitar, and especially the exact name of the store where he could buy a guitar strap ("cinta" to him) just like mine.  He wanted to tell his grandma the name of the store so that she could buy him one.  Then he learned if he asked, he could play my guitar.  Then, one day, with much excitement, he brought in his guitar.  More decorative than anything else, he sat down with me one day after class and we had a jam session.  Him playing with nearly perfect rhythm and so much gusto, singing at the top of his lungs "Feliz Navidad," complete with hand-stops (though in odd places).  Just like I had when we taught the kids the song in December.  

Soon, there were a bunch of kids around us wanting to know, "What are you doing?" and "Can I/we play with you too?"  Among them was the little boy I had been praying most to work with.  We will talk about him in another story.  So, now I have between 4-6 kids that I work with after the end of the school day.  Only 2 or 3 a day, and then afterwards we have about a half hour each day or more where I read to the kids or have them read for me/the other kids.  I am getting to know more about the kids' home life/interests through the songs we make up together and having some fun while trying to work through some of the issues in each of their lives.  

Another one of my students :)

English

I have told you that my Spanish is getting better, and it is, but it is also a constant reminder that I am not perfect, and I already have so many of those reminders.  I was going to take another Spanish course, but in the end, with the extra money and time I would spend getting down there and back, I decided against it, and in its place I am starting to trade English for Spanish lessons/conversation and getting to know better the people in my community.  I have a guy I talk to almost every day as I pass by his store on my almost daily run up and down the hill.  Mostly Spanish with him, but I am hoping more English will come when he sets up his new store (he was so gung-ho when we met him, showing us the English lessons he was working on while he was taking care of the store, but lately, he has been doing more with the store.)  Starting yesterday, another friend and I are getting together once a week to start trading stories and getting the English/Spanish juices flowing. I am excited about this as it is so hard to make friends down here.

But what I wanted to relay is about H-.  H- is the father of one of my 3 year old students at the guardaria.  He sees learning English as almost the only way to a better life for his son and family.  He was a bodyguard for years, making good money at clubs, etc.  There are bodyguards and security everywhere around here.  I noticed one at the mall parking lot today that had a semi-automatic weapon (it could have been automatic, I do not know much about guns, but it was big and looked heavy-duty).  Anyway, one night, several years ago, H- was working and his pregnant wife was with him.  Someone came in and wanted to sequester, rape, and kill her.  It came to blows, H- threatened to kill the guy with his bare hands, and eventually the guy ran off.  So, he quit being a bodyguard, and has a little store 3/4 of the way up the hill from my house before the traffic circle that divides the richer from the poorer section of the colonia.  He took a pay-cut, a big one, and works from 7am to 11pm everyday to put food on the table for his family, but, the store is his, and he is much happier.  He has told us multiple times he does not want his son to grow up here.  And is very fearful because of the drugs, sequestering, assassinations, etc (unofficial numbers put it at about 150,000 people in the last five/six years.)  It is sad to see how desperate he is to get his family out of Mexico.  We know American citizens down here that have a Mexican spouse.  Their spouse cannot come into America because there is a five year waiting list for immigration to even look at their paperwork for a visa.  Another friend of ours is dating a Mexican.  They have been dating for over two years, and applied for a visa for him to visit her family in Wisconsin.  He was turned down because he does not make enough money.  He is an artist, and we figure that the American government is afraid that once he gets into America, he will not leave due to the better possibility of making a living.  There is a concern that H-'s family will not be able to get into America, but he says that since he owns a business here in Mexico, it is easier for him to get a visa.  So, we talked today for about an hour, a Spanish/English mix, and I plan to go back everyday or at least a couple times a week to stop by on the way back from my run to help him with English, while he helps me with Spanish.  Please pray for him and his family.  There is a bit of desperation there, and he would be considered more better off by our pueblo standards since his family owns the store.  A good amount of people down here have what is considered, "informal" jobs, ie. selling things on street corners/buses/etc.  They do not earn salaries, but just the extra from what they sell during the day.  One of the ladies I know is a bagger at a non-Walmart grocery store up the way.  She had to buy her uniform, is considered a volunteer with no benefits, and makes whatever money people give her for tips.  Her good day is making 70 pesos in a nine hour work day, about $5.  She actually turned down a steady job working as a cleaning lady at our guardaria because the pay was better being a bagger.

The weather here is wonderful, and it is sunny out right now.  Things are starting to look good for the prayer group, and we have about 20 or more families interested and should be starting up things in the next few weeks.  Please pray for the families, the getting together of the group(s), and the possible continuance after we have left.  Thanks.

The Last couple weeks

Hi everyone.
I'm back.  Spent the last couple weeks in transition.  At the end of February, we had a week-long retreat in Cuernavaca and, as the host country, spent a few days planning and getting ready for everybody's arrival, a few days picking people up as they arrived from San Antonio, Peru, and Guatemala, taking people around, getting them orientated/sight-seeing, a week in the retreat, and then a few days after retreat taking the Peru and Guatemala people around the city before they got back on a plane Monday night.  It was truly fabulous seeing everyone, but we were really tired afterward.  Before everyone came, on the same day that we were going to pick up people on the airport, Tara and I were able to pick our visas, me as a non-immigrant, and Tara as a visa renewal.  There was a concern that we would have to go back to the immigration office for a fifth time, but, thankfully, we were able to pick them up the same day.

Cuernavaca was lovely.  The sun was shiny and the company great.  It was wonderful seeing people that I hadn't seen since orientation, and meeting people from other sites that I had never met before.  There were some security concerns at the time, so we pretty much stuck together, but we had a lovely time looking at the market, lounging on the grass (a treat, since we rarely see grass where we are), and swimming in the pool as long as the sun was out.  We came back rested and rejuvenated and Emma and I started the process of starting a faith sharing/support group for the parents of the Guardaria we work at.  We got to hand out fliers at a parents' meeting Friday, to see if there was any interest, and a few of the parents were really excited.  We really don't know where this is going to go, but are hoping to see some great communities form from it. Please pray for the spanish, as it is still a trial, though, it seems to come in leaps and bounds, and it is definitely getting better every day.  I attended three afternoons of theological, biblical, and social talks last week, and I have to say that by the second day, I was understanding a lot more to most of the talks.  I am feeling a lot of pressure because of the lack of Spanish.  More on that later.  Have a good night.

Prostitution talks and small groups

Had dinner tonight with a sister that works with prostitutes down at one of the metro stations.  She does not normally talk about her work, but she did tonight.  A couple interesting things: the word for marry "casar" and the word for hunt "cazar" sound almost identical.  I was confused for a while in the conversation as she was talking about the metro stations as a place that men hunt women to capture into prostitution.  From what I gather, this sister works to help those that are in prostitution get the care they need, for them, for their children, etc and to help them get out of prostitution if and when possible.  I wish I could have understood more of the conversation.  Please pray for her and her work.  And please pray for Mexico.  I kept thinking that this kind of trafficking probably happens down the street from my house in Michigan, yet I am unaware.  Please pray for those involved in the human slave trade, both the persons that are trafficked as well as the system and traffickers themselves.  Also for a family that has had seven people murdered in their family and are in hiding themselves.

We met with another sister tonight, and got some helpful ideas about getting to know more of the families around us.  Please pray for better interactions with the families, and the possible foundation of small group communities.  Have a good night!