Parties Galore

For the Mexicans to supposedly be so much poorer than we are, they sure do like to spend a lot of money on 1. fiestas! A few weeks ago we went to the birthday party for a little girl at church who just turned one. Her parents rented a children´s hall just for the evento (Disneyland!) and invited everyone from la iglesia, as well as several other friends and relatives. It is not uncommon here for adultos to attend children´s birthday parties and even participate in some of the juegos. At this particular party, I really think there were close to 200 people—and only about ¼ of them were kids!!! Also, the parents invite any kid they know—edad doesn´t matter.

The little girl, Miriam, was dressed in a Snow White costume. Miriam´s hosts hired someone to paint the kids´ 2. caras, repeatedly brought us 3. refrescos and 4. platos of snacks, and broke at least 6 different piñatas—half for the kids, and half for the adult family members. They gave out nice photo 5. invitaciones of the girl, because a spoken invitation just doesn´t count. And all of the tías, tíos, abuelos, and primos worked together more than a semana to make the 6. recuerdos—decoractive wooden boxes that they hand paintd with various 7. diseños. (Another 8. ¨regla¨of parties here is that every guest has to take something nice home afterwards with the name of the person being honored and the 9. fecha.) Basically a party just isn´t a party here without lots of food, lots of piñatas, and lots of musica. There is normalmente a clown show for the kids, as well. So I must say that they make our traditional invite your 7 closest friends and go to the local pizza parlor parties look like wimpy little nothings. On the other hand, I can´t understand why the parents want to spend so much money on their kids´birthday parties—especially when the kid is only turning 1 and isn´t even going to remember anything! I really think they spend more dinero on the party than we spend on all of the gifts ; )

You may have heard of ¨quinciñera¨; that´s the big birthday party for girls who turn 15. Supposedly the quincieras are like a miniature wedding—with just as many expenses. The parents of the girl find friends and family to help them with all of the major 10. gastos, like 11. pastel and hall, just like in a wedding. And the girls have up to 40 ¨damas de honor¨ (like bridesmaids). And what do the boys get when they turn 15? Absolutely 12. nada! I haven´t actually been to a ¨Sweet 15¨party yet (most of the Christians here don´t celebrate it because they think it´s too Catholic), but I will let you know more about it as soon as I do. Of course, the Catholics here also like to have parties to remember the birthdays of their favorite santos. Well, they say it´s for the Saint, but according to what José Luis has told me, it´s really nothing more than an 13. excusa to get together and gossip with other ladies and take away their boredom.

Wedding Padrinos/Padrinos de la Boda

Now that you know a little more about the festive nature here, let me tell you more about my upcoming wedding. Los padres of the novios only pay one part of the wedding fees here; the rest are divided up among several amigos and familiares known as ¨padrinos.¨ When the bride and groom ask someone to be their padrino, it is considered a great honor for that person, and an 14. ofensa to turn them down. Remember that Mexico is still very traditional compared to the U.S. When the futuro bride and groom have decided who their padrinos are going to be, they cannot just ask them at any time; they must make a formal visita to the person´s casa. And they also cannot make any specifications; for example, with the padrino of cake they cannot ask that the cake be a certain flavor or certain color. To do so would be considered very 15. rudo, because the Mexicans believe that as long as they are paying for something, they should be able to choose how´s it´s going to be. Nor can they ask them how things are going, if they bought the item yet, etc. So basically we just have to trust each of our padrinos and hope they don´t forget about their 16. responsibilidades and pick something we will both like!

Well I say all of that to let you know that José Luis and I are going to have cuatro padrinos: two of his aunts for cake and rings, his brother Gerardo for video, and four of his cousins working together for photos. And my future in-laws are going to help us with the food and location fees. So basically the only things we have to pay for ourselves are our attire, a few 17. flores (which are really cheap because we can just go and buy them in the mercado), and a few decorations. I brought my 18. vestido back with me in June. It needed only one alteration, height (of course!), but I got it done here and only had to spend about $6!! Woo hoo! On an aside…Catholics sometimes have more than 40 padrinos—even for the small things, like the bride´s hairstyle or party favors—and don´t have to pay for ANYTHING themselves! I must say that I am willing 19. sacrificar not having the exact color and decorating sheme for everything in order to have reduced costs. And if something doesn´t turn out well, we will have a second chance to make it right anyway (in our American boda). By the way, we have now completed the first 20. paso of the long and frustrating immigration proceso, as well—getting José Luis´21. pasaporte. It was actually 22. listo on the same day that we applied for it! I will let you know more about the wedding (and immigration stuff) 23. poco por poco as we continue to plan everything…

Another American Teacher/Otro Maestro Americano

Two weeks ago another American teacher was here, and I translated for each of his clases. He taught at the church in San Cristobal on Sunday and Wednesday and at two of our Saturday preaching schools, Larrainzer and Ocosingo, on the 24. fines de semana. He made presentations about some of the Biblical 25. tierras using pictures and 26. mapas of some of the places. Before he came I had to go to the nearest Office Depot to buy an overhead projector and a powerpoint LCD projector. Both were necessary for the class, but now they will come in handy for other classes, as well. I am especially looking forward to using them in my upcoming English classes! Antonio, the director of the Ocosingo school, really went out of his way to invite several brethren to the class. He also allowed us to use his second grade 27. salon for the 28. presentación since none of the local churches were big enough. Over 70 men, women, and children came to Ocosingo, with at least 10 different congregaciones represented. Some of the people who came to the Saturday classes are so poor that they never even leave their home comunidades, so naturally they found it very hard to believe that someone has seen places where Jesus and the 29. apostoles lived. We had to explain to them several times that the fotos were in fact real and that the teacher actually visited those places several times. Once they finally caught on, they were 30. MUY impresionados.

All those who came to hear the presentation in Ocosingo/Todos que vinieron para escuchar la presentación en Ocosingo By the way, we were standing in front of a second grade classroom (to give you an idea of what the schools look like here)

My Visit to Tapachula and Cacahoatan/Mi Visita a Tapachula y Cacahoatan

A few weeks ago I also went to visit the schools in Tapachula and Cacahoatan (on the coast, 8 hours away) and take them their new Biblias. Unfortunately, I picked the worst possible day visitar. I left San Cristobal Friday night via overnight bus and had the hardest time sleeping because hard rains and strong winds rocked the bus all over the 31. carretera. The yucky 32. clima continued most of the mañana on Saturday. As a result, the streets quickly became so flooded that most of the students were not able to attend classes that day (particulary those who live in the 33. montañas and have a longer viaje to the escuela). Only four showed up in Tapachula, and only two in Cacahoatan. In Tapachula we decided to have class anyway—but only for half the morning. Then I spent the rest of the day with Fransisco and his familia (el director of the Cacahoatan school). We went to see some Mayan ruinas, and then ate and hung out at their house until it came time for them to drive me back to the bus station. ¨Cacao¨ in Spanish means cocoa, which the people grow a lot of in that area—hence the name of the ciudad. Francisco was more than eager to show me the inside of a huge cocoa plant, coffee beans, and a few other 34. plantas I had never seen before.

Kids´Class at Church/Clase de Niños de La Iglesia

I have been teaching the kids at church again, on Sunday nights. This class is always a challenge, because sometimes there are as many as 30 kids from ages 2-11 all in one room. The church does not have the space or the funds yet to add more classrooms. A few months ago we started taking up a special 35. contribución to add classroom space behind the edificio. But there is still not enough money to start the proyecto yet because there are so many who said they were going to give and haven´t. Last week at a ladies meeting, however, we did discuss the possibility of renovating another room or breaking the class into 3 groups. It´s nice to know that others feel the same way that I do about the situation.

Many of the kids seem to have the 36. actitud that they can get away with anything just because they´re at church. Therefore, I have been thinking up some new 37. sistemas of punishments/rewards. For example, I have started giving them 38. estrellas for attendance, participation, and good behavior. For every 10 stars that they receive, they get a 39. premio. So far it seems to be working well. I have also started asking some of the teen girls to help me. Sometimes the poor kids act like they don´t even know how to use a glue stick—much less draw something from their own imaginations! And the younger ones completely depend on the older ones to do everything for them. But I can´t help but enjoy teaching them--despite their endless, crazy antics!

The materiales that the Mt. Juliet ladies contributed have really come in handy. However, there were some that the ladies here 40. obviamente had never seen before—like the flannelgraph materials. I told Ani, the preacher´s wife, that I would be glad to meet with the ladies sometime and show them how to use each of the materials. But I guess they thought they didn´t need me to show them, because they jumped the gun and organized everything themselves sometime while I was away. The result? Rather than sorting the flannelgraph pieces according to each story, they decided to put glue and laminate paper around each of them. Their reasoning? They thought it would be too easy for the kids to tear them up otherwise. Well maybe so, but I guess they didn´t realize that the 41. piezas won´t ever stick to the flannelgraph board now! Oops! And they are using the flannelgraph book as the main source for their 42. temas rather than an aid. So they are using the materials, they just aren´t using all of them in the same 43. manera that we do : )

Last week I was flipping through 44. canales and happened to catch the second half of the first Presidential debate. I didn´t even know it was going to be on. Sometimes I feel so estranged from my home country!

Well I better stop this blog here before it gets too long.
45. Cuidense,
Elizabeth

1. parties

2. faces

3. soft drinks

4. plates

5. invitations

6. souvenirs/memories

7. designs

8. rule

9. date

10. expenses

11. cake

12. nothing

13. excuse

14. offense

15. rude

16. responsibilities

17. flowers

18. dress

19. to sacrifice

20. step

21. passport

22. ready

23. little by little

24. weekends

25. lands

26. maps

27. classroom

28. presentation

29. apostles

30. very impressed

31. highway

32. weather/climate

33. mountains

34. plants

35. contribution

36. attitude

37. systems

38. stars

39. prize/reward

40. obviously

41. pieces

42. lessons

43. way

44. channels

45. Take Care

Questions, Doubts, and Immaturity

College Blues

Well it´s that time of year again when the kids are back in school and the older teens are trying to decide what to do with their 1. vida. Several of the jovenes de la iglesia are starting new jobs or starting college. I must say I never realized how difícil it is for them to study exactamente what they want here—and it has nothing to do with dinero. First, they have to know before they start what their 2. especialización is going to be because most 3. universidades only offer a few majors at most. Then they have to take a test to see if they qualify to attend that university. But oftentimes they are competing for just a few open slots out of several hundreds of applicants. Toño, José Luis´brother, had his heart set on a Universidad en Puebla, but he did not pass the 4. examen. So he has begun studying in Tuxtla instead.

But a few of the others have not been so lucky. At least dos of the muchachas want to be teachers, but they were not able to pass an exam after two or three tries. These tests are not like the SAT or ACT in that a passing score is generally 5. suficiente; there were only about 30 slots available for over 200 teens who wanted in. The girls are both very 6. inteligente, I know, but just had slim chances of passing. So they have put off studying another year and are trying to figure out what else they can do. But there really aren´t very many jobs geared towards women here (which is why I think almost every girl at church is studying to be a teacher, nothing else). Since Mexico is still so far behind the United States, the most prominent 7. trabajos are male-dominated ones we tend to overlook, like welding, pouring concrete, or painting carros. I feel really bad for the two girls who still can´t go to college and wish there was more I could do to encourage them. José Luis did give one clase de jovenes about what is truly involved in being successful, and I think most of them really appreciated it.

Daniel´s Story (La Historia de Daniel)

A few weeks ago José Luis and I invited all of the jovenes to visit one of the elderly men of the congregation, Daniel. We had planned on visiting with Daniel for about an hour and going to a coffee shop in the centro together afterwards. A whopping one teen showed up. Sometimes I wonder how many años it will take for the teens here to have the same 8. unidad and love for the 9. Señor as teens from big youth groups like in Mt. Juliet. José Luis and I work so hard to plan actividades they will enjoy and go out of our way to invite each of them, and yet they still take so many wonderful oportunidades for granted. But we have learned not to let it get to us and to ¨try, try again.¨ I think it really helps that we are in it together; that way even if no one else shows up, we can still do something just the two of us. Before José Luis seemed to get discouraged a lot easier. So maybe encouraging him to keep working hard is one of the many 10. maneras I have found to be useful here.

Anyway, we had a good visita with Daniel, and even with only three of us, I know that we were able to build him up a lot. Daniel is about 70 years old, and for the past few meses he has been battling several health problemas. Before his health started to go awry, he attended several of the classes at the preaching school and preached for the congregation occasionally. Like many elderly folks, he had some very 11. interesante historias that he was more than eager to share with us. First, he went to school on the first day of kindergarten and never went back because he didn´t like it. Instead, he devoted himself to milking cows at a nearby 12. rancho, never learning to read or write. He worked hard every year after, and also kept 10-15 13. novias at one time. As a young adult, he lived and worked in Detroit one year. I have mentioned before what a small mundo it is when I find cristianos aquí with connections to people back home, and Daniel was actually living in Detroit at the same time as mis padres. Upon returning from Detroit, he married one of his many novias. They moved to ¨the city¨ (San Cristobal) and started a small convenience store together. Since there weren´t very many convenience stores at the time, their profits eventually allowed them to contract four taxis and build a casa large enough for the whole familia. Daniel also started his own coffee business. He and his esposa and hija became Christians a few years ago after one of his vecinos invited him to la iglesia.

Daniel seemed very pleased to share his experiencias with us, but afterwards his mood quickly changed. It turns out he doesn´t feel comfortable preaching because he still has a hard time reading. And he said various times that he is ¨ready to go and be with his wife¨ (who died a few years ago). But despite his eagerness to go to 14. el cielo, he also told us that he doesn´t have any faith. Apparently he believes that God should have listened to him and healed him of his enfermedades a long time ago. For alguien who attends every worship service and leads 10 minute prayers, it certainly struck us as odd. But it just goes to show that there are many seemingly devoted hermanos fighting battles that we might not ever realize. Daniel´s ¨lack of faith¨ has already deceived him so much that he has started to confuse 15. las ciencias with 16. cristianidad. He wanted to know why, if there is a God, he allows it to rain for days on end in lugares like San Cristobal, but in other places of the world it´s completely dry and no one can grow anything? Why, if there is a God, do scientists say they have proof there were living beings 17. milliones of years before the Biblia was written? Naturally we spent the second part of our visita mitigating his doubts, reminding him of other great men of the Biblia who had great faith in tough times, and helping him to realize what some of his many 18. talentos are.

Babes in Christ (Bebes en Cristo)

Lately I have come to realize that there are many men in the congregation like Daniel: men who are still babes in Christ, trying so hard to understand the Bible while at the same time clinging to their Catholic roots. It never fails that anytime an Americano comes to give a clase, one of the men takes advantage of their presence to ask picky doctrinal preguntas. When Glen was here, one of our preaching students asked what he thought about listening to music. The student believes that it is sinful to listen to any kind of 19. musica at anytime (but really did not know of any versos from the Bible to support his belief other than Amos 5:23). With Kerry, someone asked if there are still people in the world today who can perform miracles, like the apostles did in the book of Acts. Another man, who was losing his eyesight, actually went to visit another religious grupo to see if they could heal him!

Of course David has preached on these 20. topicos. So José Luis and I really can´t understand why these men who have been Christians over a year now still don´t understand such basics 21. principios and don´t talk to David when they do have questions. But I have to remind myself that many of them have little educación; they rarely study their Bibles; and very few of them come to church 22. consistemente. These kinds of doubts and questions also make me aware more then ever, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, that ¨I´m not in Tennessee anymore!¨ I have told José Luis varias veces that we Americans have a different style of teaching simply because most grew up in the church and are much more mature spiritually. The congregation here may be one of the biggest in Chiapas, with over 100 members, but 23. ciertamente it is still young and in desperate need of guidance and support.

Marisol

I am also convinced more than ever now that, because of simplistic doubts like these, of how crucial it is to continue studying with new 24. conviertos. It´s una razon I continue studying with Marisol, even though she´s been baptized over a year now. In our past few studies we have been studying 25. oración. I told her that I am getting married (she didn´t know yet because she was away all verano), and out of the blue she responded, ¨I never married. I am still living in unión libre (free union) with Abel.¨ She said it like it was nothing. I, on the other hand, had no idea she never married because she has always referred to Abel as ¨mi esposo¨ (my husband). And the poorest of Mexicans don´t like to spend money on engagement or wedding 26. anillos, so it´s not like I could know if she was actually married or not just by looking at her finger.

Naturally she put me in a difficult posición. I want so badly to encourage her and help her grow spiritually, but at the same time I feel somewhat 27. responsable to teach her about God´s views of marriage since I am the one studying with her. But José Luis and I talked about it, and we agreed that I won´t say anything. She has already been discouraged lately and coming to church a lot less, so if we tell her she has to officially get married (to her non-Christian ¨boyfriend¨, no less) we would risk that she stops coming altogether. On the other hand, hopefully she will be able to continue coming to church and studying until she knows enough to make the decision to get married on her own. If anyone else has any other suggestions of how to handle the situation, please let me know.

Good Works (Buenas Obras)

Even though many of the members are having a hard time 28. espiritualmente, I really feel like the congregation as a whole is working hard and moving in the right direction. Who knows how long it will be before we have 29. ancianos, clases for all edades, or several different kinds of 30. ministerios, but at least we do more than most of the other congregations in Chiapas. Speaking of ministries, José Luis talked a few Sundays ago about some of the different kinds of works we can be involved in. I was able to give him lots of ideas of things that have worked for us in the U.S. that most congregations here haven´t considered yet. I also showed him part of the SOS booklet from Mt. Juliet´s website, and he was amazed by all the different areas. For those of you who don´t know, the ¨SOS Booklet¨ is something every member fills out to indicate what kind of actividades he/she would like to help with—some of them as simple as placing attendance cards in the pews, others as complicated as teaching at the local jail. The book is literally about 30 pages long!

Vacation Bible School? (¿Escuela Biblica de Vacaciones?)

This past verano some of the ladies decided to teach daytime kids´ classes. (Actually, I think they decided it just one or two days before they started it—one of the many things that still bothers me about this cultura.) A few of them worked together to teach the niños Monday through Saturday from 10a.m.-1p.m. cada día. I was not able to go because I was busy with one of the American maestros, but from what I heard it went well, with more 31. visitantes arriving most days than regular miembros. So you could say that it was their first VBS. No more than 40 niños came each day, which may seem like nothing compared to our high 32. numeros. But with such a lack of planning, I think that´s pretty good. As long as we are consistent, I´m sure that our ¨VBS¨ will only grow and get better each year.

Problems in Teopisca (Problemas en Teopisca)

Also, as I mentioned in the last blog, more of the men have been getting involved in preaching and teaching. Before they were preaching just to ¨fill in,¨ but now they are having to preach more out of 33. necesidad. For one reason, they are having to take turns preaching in the Iglesia de Cristo de Teopisca—about 30 minutes away. A few weeks ago David attended the Sunday morning worship services at this church to try and resolve some problemas they´ve been having recently. Supposedly some Texans came a few years ago teaching that they should practice ¨one cup¨communion. As I told David, I find it highly ironico that Americans with such bizarre ideas went evangelizar in a little known place like Teopisca when I don´t even know of any churches in the United States that are ¨one cup.¨ But Teopisca is a very poor comunidad where la gente has little to no educación (like muchas in Chiapas). We have a feeling those American 34. evangelistas purposefully seek out places where the people are more 35. ignorante because no one else will listen to them. Actually, David told me that the same men came to San Cristobal and offered him dinero if he accepted their 36. doctrina, but of course he refused. So the Christians in Teopisca adopted the one cup doctrine, and lately they have had some other extreme ideas, as well; for example, they believe that women are never to wear earrings. I don´t know all the 37. detalles, but I think their 38. predicador has a lot to do with it. Fortunately David managed to persuade the majority of members that those ideas had no ground. Those he didn´t persuade, including the preacher, basically split off and have begun meeting in a separate local. But the group that agreed with David is mostly mujeres, so of course they are without a preacher now.

A New Congregation (Una Nueva Congregación)

Also we are in the process of establishing a new iglesia in the pueblo of Pujitic—about two hours away. A brother of one of our ladies lives there, and David began studying with him one or two months ago. Last week we had the 39. privilegio of travelling together to Pujitic and witnessing the man (Antonino) and his esposa get baptized. There are several other religious groups in Pujitic, but no Church of Christ. Actually, Antonino and his wife already know a lot about the Bible (compared to other members) because they were previously Jehovah´s Witnesses. So they are the start of a new congregation in that area. They will travel to San Cristobal for our culto every two Sundays; and on the alternating Sundays, David or one of the other men will conduct the worship services in their home. In the meantime, we will continue taking groups on los sabados to evangelize in Pujitic and surrounding areas.

We took advantage of our trip to the river to go swimming!

All of us who went to Pujitic

I also witnessed a bautismo in Larrainzer a few weeks ago. I had gone to see how everything is going with the preaching school there. (You may remember that those students recently started meeting in their own church building instead of coming to San Cristobal each week.) But in place of classes that day, the students, several others from the congregation and I drove to the nearby 4o. rio to watch an older lady be baptized.

By the way, I really enjoyed watching the 41. Olimpicos this time. There´s just something about being in another país that makes you feel even prouder of your own. I´ve never paid much atención to the medals count before, but this time every time an American won algo I would want to get up and cheer. The Mexians can´t understand how we can win so many 42. medallas and almost feel jealous of our 43. atletas! At the same tiempo, however, they consider a 44. victoria for us a victory for them, simply because we are the closest country to them.

Public busses decorated for ¨Día de Choferes¨ (Driver´s Day), when all the bus and taxi drivers go together to el cerrillo de San Cristobal (the San Cristobal hill) to receive a blessing from the ¨santo de motoristas¨ (saint of motorists). They believe that the saint will help them drive well and protect them from accidents. Supposedly it is strictly a San Cristobal tradición because no other ciudad has the santo de motoristas.

Well I think I have said enough for one blog ; ) As always, I am open to your suggestions and 45. comentarios. Elizabeth

P.S. I still need support money, if anyone can help me out, whether it be a one time donation or monthly. So far I have only received little more than 1/4 of what I need for my second year here.

1. life

2. major

3. universities

4. test/exam

5. sufficient

6. intelligent

7. jobs

8. unity

9. Lord

10. ways

11. interesting stories

12. ranch

13. girlfriends

14. heaven

15. science

16. Christianity

17. millions

18. talents

19. music

20. topics

21. principles

22. consistently

23. certainly

24. converts

25. prayer

26. rings

27. responsible

28. spiritually

29. elders

30. ministries

31. visitors

32. numbers

33. necessity

34. evangelists

35. ignorant

36. doctrine

37. details

38. preacher

39. privilege

40. river

41. Olympics

42. medals

43. athletes

44. victory

45. comments

José Luis and I have a new sobrina (niece)!

One Year and Counting!

Thank you all so much for your comments the last time! I always enjoy reading each of them, and I have an extra ¨boost¨now to keep working hard 1. publicar my blog each month. Speaking of which, sorry it´s been so long since I last gave 2. un reporte! I promise I have wanted to do it sooner but have just been really busy; usualmente whenever I plan to do it something else comes up that takes precdence. On August 3 I just had my ¨one year anniversary¨—one year since I first arrived in San Cristobal! If you are like me, you are wondering where the time has gone. You may remember that I never thought I would live here past May. (Actually, I was halfway expecting that if I didn´t like it here, I would just stay home when I visited in December ; ) But fortunately I have had a good experience (mostly), and I feel like God has really used me to put me in this posición. Well, no experiencia can be completely buena, so what can I say?? I am especially grateful to José Luis for his constant support and understanding. Without him I´m sure my culture shock would have been much more profound.

Una Gringa Menos (One Less American Girl)
Last week we also had to give a final 3. despedida to Chantel and Adrian. Chantel, like me, had never planned on staying down here more than a year. But after nearly three years (and a 4. matrimonio), she finally travelled back to the U.S. with her new husband. I´m really going to miss having an American around! Not only was Chantel my roommate until she got married, but we also used each other a lot to vent and complain about all the things we don´t understand or don´t like about the culture, the way things are run here, the rudeness of some people, etc. I know Chantel and Adrian will probably be happier back in Mississippi, but I will really miss having someone who listens and understands exactly where I´m coming from.

Clase de Preparación y Presentación de Sermones (Sermon Preparation and Delivery Class)
In the 5. medio of Julio Kerry Reid was here to give a class on ¨Sermon Preparation and Delivery.¨ Actually, he focused the clase more on how to teach or prepare a Bible study since some women came to the class. He gave very useful tips on how to speak in public, how to get the audience´s attention, how to 6. concluir, etc. Our preaching students already received the class a year or two ago, but I have noticed that many of them make the same basic 7. errores; they don´t make good eye contact, talk in a monotone, don´t use personal examples and illustrations much, etc. So I suggested to J.C. Enlow that an American teach the class again—instead of David.

Unfortunately the class attendance was very inconsistent (one of the major problems we have with the school). I know that many of the men from our congregacion can preach, because David has been on vacation the past mes, and at least eight dfferent hombres have preached or given classes in his absence. But many of them work at night, when we had the class, and some of them just seem to think that they don´t need to go. Those who did come regularly were either women, or men who already preach well. The ones who need more help preaching, on the other hand, are the ones who hardly came. So 8. es una lastima that more of the 9. ¨predicadores¨did not go and take advantage of the class that was specifically for them. I told José Luis that most American preachers cannot stay away for more than two weeks at a time, and that the congregation here is very blessed to have so many men who can fill in when David is away. But they seem to take it for granted that there will always be someone to preach, rather than realizing how 10. fortunados they are.

Luckily Kerry was very flexible and did not get too upset about the wavering 11. ausistencia. On the noches of our regular church services, Wednesday and Friday, he gave the class for the whole congregation. He gave them 12. exercisios on how to study a 13. pasaje more carefully and also explained to them several diferentes tipos de 14. preguntas that they can ask in a Bible study. I think most of the people from church really enjoyed it, even though it was something different that they really didn´t understand at first. Once David understood the need for the class, he decided on a whim that we would move all of the classes to the church building instead of having them at the school. I think maybe he thought more people would come because they wouldn´t have to drive/ride as far; and because they would think of it more as going to worship service. On the first night it worked, as we had about 20 present—many of whom don´t usually come to the classes. But every night after we averaged only 5-10.

Lugares Turisticos (Tourist Attractions)
While Kerry was here I was able to visit a few tourist lugares I hadn´t seen yet. On one Saturday we woke up at about 5 a.m. and drove about 3 hours to see some 14. cascadas, Aguas Azules and Mishola (where part of Predator was filmed). Then we drove about another two hours to Palenque, some Mayan ruins. Basically these are three of the ¨must see¨ places for all of Chiapas. José Luis, his brother, and his mom accompanied us, so we were a little 15. incomodos in such a small carro Mexicano. But the trip was much more fun with more people, and well worth the long drive.
Another of the lugares we visited is San Juan de Champula—an indigenous town about 30 minutes away. What makes ¨Chamula¨so unique is that it is 100% 16. Catolico. Anyone who converts to Cristianity is immediately expelled from the town and threatened with lynching. Missionaries, likewise, may face death if they try to enter the city. Oh, and they can also put you in jail just for taking pictures!! Naturally we feel a little spooked anytime we go. But despite Chamula´s extreme ideas and extreme sense of 17. unidad, it has actually turned into quite the tourist trap! They charge 18. turistas 20 pesos just to see the cathedral! But I must admit that it is a rare experience.

Supposedly the Chamulans are also 19. famosos for practicing witchcraft and black magic. So inside the cathedral it is not uncommon to see men rubbing leaves over their sons while repeating a chant in order to cure them of 20. una enfermedad, or women plucking the feathers out of a dead chicken. Actually, we saw plenty of live 21. pollos too. They believe that chickens, hens, soft drinks, and even alcoholic beverages make the best offerings to their santos. So the most devout Chamulans bring each of these things with them in order to make a special prayer request. If they do not offer one of these items after the prayer, then they believe the prayer is not valid. Each person lights several 22. velas for every offering, so it is also not uncommon to see hundreds of candles lit at the same time. (If you don´t watch your step, you will burn your feet on one!) They also worship John the Baptist and don´t put as much emphasis on Christ.

I know a lot of this may sound really exaggerated to some of us ignorant Americans, but I promise that it is true! It just goes to show how much we take for granted our freedom of religion. Every time I go I can´t help but wonder how clueless the Chamulans are about other religions, or even the rest of the world. Who knows how long it will be before they ever change their ideas or open up to other religions—maybe never! I highly encourage you to check out one of these websites if you would like to know more about the very interesting pueblo de Champula: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamula. http://www.forteantimes.com/features/fortean_traveller/253/san_juan_chamula_mexico_a_church_out_of_time.html. (Let´s face it, they explain everything much better than I do anyway.)

Curso de Verano de Inglés (Summer English Course)
When Kerry left I gave a three week summer English course—9 to 11 every morning for beginners, and 11-1 for intermediates. Lately I have been trying to think more about how I can use the class to evangelize to the comunidad. Really that´s the main 23. razon we offer free English and computer classes. But when half of our students are youngsters and the other 24. mitad are from church, it´s kind of hard 25. evangelizar. I always invite los estudiantes to worship services, tell them we could have Bible studies with them, and invite the younger ones to youth eventos, but that´s about it. Many people have told me I should use the ¨Let´s Start Talking¨method of teaching them English from the book of Luke. But I can´t exactly do that when some men from church also come to my classes—and none of them are proficient enough yet to help me with that parte. José Luis thought it might be better to reach out to the students in less direct metodos (so that they´ll keep coming to the class instead of getting scared away by the religious part) and suggested hanging up some information from the Bible. So one day I worked with Sofi, the computer teacher, to make posters to hang in our classrooms of the 26. plan de salvación and other key versos. I also drew pictures to go with mine and translated them all to English. And I hung a poster in the main entryway with the 27. dirección of the iglesia and times of worship.

This time I also specifically wrote on my signs ¨Clase para jovenes y adultos¨(in hopes of attracting an older, more mature grupo). But surprisingly, many of the adultos here act like they really don´t want to learn Inglés. Actually, the majority of my students are usually middle or high school students who are either failing their English class at school (the middle schoolers), or they ¨learned English one time but already forgot everything because the teacher was no good¨ (the high schoolers). So this time I publicized less, and got más o menos the same resultados: 5 in the beginners class, the oldest 19, and the rest 11, 12, or 13, and 6 in my intermediates class: the oldest one 33 and the youngest 15. Half of my students were from la iglesia. I have found that most methods, like putting flyers in people´s doorways, giving out the flyers personally, or advertising in the centro really don´t work. So in addition to the big vinyl sign in front of the school, I hung a few advertisements in nearby businesses but did not waste my time with anything else.

Clase de Principiantes de Inglés (Beginners´English Class)

Despite the low turnout and young age group, I really think this was my best class yet. I don´t know if it´s because they were on vacaciones de verano or what, but my students all had much better attendance this time and seemed much more eager to learn. I think another reason I liked these classes so much is that the students ¨bonded¨more. When we started the beginners´class, no one knew each other and they were all very 29. serios; they hardly ever talked, even when we did group work. But by the end of the three weeks, they were sitting together and even helping each other study. And most of the students in the intermediates class are from church. José Luis and two of his brothers made up half of the class, and they all like to joke around a lot. So naturally since we all knew each other already, the class was much more fun and relaxed. I think they also did not feel as much pressure to talk in front of the others, ask for explanations, etc. And they especially loved laughing at me anytime I pronounced something oddly in Español (I´m still learning, too : )

Clase de Intermedios de Inglés (Intermediates´English Class)

I never actually learned the Spanish word for ¨flashlight¨ because it is not very común. And anytime I translate and someone says a word I don´t know, I have about 1 segundo (30.) to think of a different way to say it. So one time when I was translating I said ¨palito de luz¨for flashlight (little light stick). In my class one day, to review some of the 31. palabras we had learned, I gave them a word in Spanish, and they had to tell me in English. Without thinking, I said ¨palito de luz¨ to ask them what flashlight means. My students got the biggest kick out of it! It took me about 5 minutes to get control of the class again because we were all laughing so much.

We finished the class last Friday, incredulous that three weeks went by so fast. Each of them took a final exam, and then they ate some American foods I had prepared while I gave them their 32. certificados. I had wanted to fix them some traditional American breakfast foods, since we had the class in the morning. But for varias razones I did not start cooking until about 11 p.m. the night before, and my oven suddenly decided to quit working. So I had to settle with what was quickest and easiest for the small amount of American 33. ingredientes I had: deviled eggs, apple crisp, and French toast. (I cheated and made the apple crisp in 34. el horno de microhondas.) And they brought chips or pop. A weird combination, I know, and not exactly ¨breakfasty,¨ but they don´t know the diferencia anyway. They must have liked todo, though, because by the time I went to fix my plate, most of the comida was already gone! Each of them stayed longer than necessary and asked when I´m going to teach again. And for once every student who started the course finished it, rather than dropping out in the middle! So the class may not have been the best for evangelizing, but nonetheless it was 35. un exito. If you have any suggestions on how we can evangelize more with the English and Computer classes, or anything else we can do to make the classes better, please do let me know.

Una Alma (One Soul)
Sometimes it´s easy to get frustrated when it seems that no one wants to come to the classes. But I have to remind myself that the results don´t always come quickly. Let me give you an example. I have had 36. un letrero in front of the school for months now advertising the English and Computer classes. Even though it´s on a busy 37. calle in plain 38. vista, very few people have called or come to ask me about it. Many who did ask me about it never actually showed up for the classes. But a few weeks ago a young guy about 30 or so came who said he was interested in learning English. It just so happened that he came on a Saturday morning, when our students from Larrainzer were there. So he also asked me about the classes they were having right then. I was able to use that oportunidad to tell him more about the school and what church we´re from, etc. As luck would have it, David was also there that day, so we went upstairs and I introduced him. David had about a one hour Bible study with him right there on the spot. El muchacho also came to a few of the Bible classes later in the week. He never actually got baptized or came to my English class, but at least that was 39. un buen inicio. If we can reach just one 40. alma through the classes, I will feel like we have done a good 41. obra.

Las Escuelas de los Sabados (Saturday Schools)
Speaking of the students from Larrainzer, they have since started having classes in their own church building. As I have mentioned before, these students are very poor, and Global Missions does not like to ¨pay¨students to come to classes—thus giving very little towards their 42. transportación. For months and months they piled into the back of a small pickup truck (which, of course, was often a very cold ride). But lately the 43. dueño of the pickup truck has not been able to come to the classes as much, so there were a few times when they could not come to the classes simply because no one could bring them. They were also very particular about the food Chantel fixed (even though it was all Mexican). So we decided that it would be easier for them to have the classes where they live. Now they are able to fix the food themselves with money that David gives them each month, and more students have been able to attend the classes who could not go before. Recently Global Missions sent 100 Bibles to the school to be distributed to the preaching students. Some of the students were using other 44. versiones of the Biblia, such as the Catholic version or the Jehovah´s Witness version. In the Ocosingo school, in particular, many of the students are new converts who still have the other versions, or they attend a different church still but come with friends or family members who invite them to the classes. So naturally Antonio, the director, sometimes had a hard time explaining important concepts or allowing these students to participate. He requested that every student receive a King James Bible. José Luis and I travelled to Ocosingo one Saturday to deliver the Bibles to them. I also gave out five or six Bibles to students from Larrainzer. Some of those students are so 45. pobre they had probably never owned a Bible before. Each of the students were very glad to receive the new Bibles and instantly started looking through them. Their only concern, especially 46. algunos from the Ocosingo school, who walk several hours from the jungle each week, was that the Bibles may get wet easily anytime it rains. They said even if they put the Bible in a 47. mochilla, it would still get really wet and ruin easily. In the future those men would prefer to have hard cover Bibles. The next time I visit the schools in Tapachula and Cacahoatan I will take Bibles there, as well. And whatever Bibles are left afterwards we will keep in the San Cristobal school and give to any new students who enroll later.

Alumnos de Ocosingo con sus nuevas Biblias (Ocosingo students with their new Bibles)

Por el Amor de Las Mamas (For the Love of Moms)
By the way, moms are placed on a pedastool here much more than dads. I asked each of my intermediate students one day to tell me (in English) what person they admire most, and all but one of them said their mom. As I have mentioned before, most women do not work, so they stay in the house all day to clean and prepare every meal. Usually the only time they leave is to go to the 48. mercado or visit a 49. familiar. Those who do work often take their kids with them. The men, on the other hand, sometimes stay gone all day working in several different places and show up only for meals. They are also known to be the stricter disciplinarians. So naturally the hijos feel more of an attachment to their moms. The Christians here celebrate Mother´s Day (one of the few holidays they do celebrate), but they do not pay much attention to Father´s Day.

Well if you have made it this far in my blog, then thanks for reading everything! I know it was 50. muy largo this time; but in part that´s because I was not able to write in so long. I will try to do a better job in the futuro. ¡Que tengas muy buen día! Elizabeth

1. to publish
2. update/report
3. farewell
4. marriage
5. middle
6. to conclude
7. errors
8. It´s a shame
9. preachers
10. fortunate
11. attendance
12. exercises
13. questions
14. waterfalls
15. uncomfortable
16. Catholic
17. unity
18. tourists
19. famous
20. a sickness/illness
21. chickens
22. candles
23. reason
24. half
25. to evangelize
26. plan of salvation
27. address
28. address
29. serious
30. second
31. words
32. certificates
33. ingredients
34. microwave oven
35. a success
36. a sign
37. street
38. sight
39. a good start
40. soul
41. work
42. transportation
43. owner
44. versions
45. poor
46. some
47. backpack
48. market
49. relative/family member
50. very long

Algunas Razones de Regocijo

Youth Ministry Class (Clase de Ministerio a Jóvenes)

These past few semanas have been very 1. ocupadas for me. First, Glen Bowman, from Mississippi, arrived to give a class on youth ministry. I feel espeicalmente grateful that he was able to give the class, because it´s algo that the cristianos here don´t think about much but that they really need to hear. I only wish that more estudiantes could have come to learn more about why jovenes are so importantes in la iglesia and how to encourage them best. José Luis particularly benefited from the class since he was the only one who actually works directly with young people currently; the others were mostly older men who want to preach or teach but have more contacto con adultos. As part of the class, the students had to present two different lessons to teens during the week, and most of them had never worked with, much less taught, that age group before. They improved greatly just from the time they taught the first 2. tema to the time they taught their second. I only hope, as siempre, that they will take to heart the things that Glen taught and try to help more in the great work of teen evangelismo.

Painting the School (Pintando La Escuela)

The first week of Glen´s viaje I translated for the clase each noche, and this week we have spent mucho tiempo painting the outside of the escuela. We invited the congregación to help us paint on Saturday. Tres hombres and siete jovenes came to help. We had quite a time getting the school looking nice. First, the store we originally wanted the buy the 3. pintura from upped its 4. precios and didn´t want to give us the same discount as before. So we had to search for another paint store with the same 5. calidad of paint at lower prices. In our haste to buy just the right amount and just the right color, we completely forgot to buy trays to roll the paint in. Glen insisted that we needed the trays to keep from wasting the paint, but the first men who arrived started using the rollers before we could stop them. They insisted that we didn´t need anything else and had no idea what the roller trays even were. Many of 6. ellos also could not understand why we wanted to paint the building the same color. As you can see from the pictures, the second story had never been painted. So we first had to paint the entire building, top and bottom, a light blue primer color, then paint over everything in the main blue color. But the Mexicanos could not understand our logic. First, they thought we were done after we painted the primer color, then they couldn´t understand why we wanted to go through so much trouble to paint the escuela the same color as before. Mexicans don´t put nearly as much 7. trabajo into fixing up their casas as we Americans do (mainly because of the lack of dinero); even if they have just plain cement blocks or their paint is old and peeling, they take great pride in where they 8. viven and don´t see much necessity to change it.

Unfortunately, grafitti is very common here (both on houses and businesses). We have no idea who put the graffiti on the side of the school are probably never will. We´re just hoping that they don´t come back to do it again anytime soon, now that we have painted everything!

So we finally started painting, and 9. basicamente the jovenes were rolling and dripping paint all over the place! I don´t know if they don´t have much experience painting or if they just weren´t thinking, but I constantly had to remind them not to leave the rollers on the sidewalks, not to paint around the 10. ventanas and 11. techos with rollers, etc. Some of them did not even paint in a straight 12. linea. The men painted up top, while the jovenes and I painted 13. abajo. As you can see from las fotos, the men had to stand on a narrow ledge, and there were power lines all over the place. To reach the highest parts, Glen actualmente had the guts to stand on nothing but a paint bucket! I was scared just watching him! But we had a good time and managed to finish the main partes on that first day. And amazingly, no one got hurt! Then Glen, José Luis and I spent dos días más making touch ups and painting the trim. Here´s a foto of the producto final:



A Birthday Celebration (Celebración de Cumpleaños)

After painting on Saturday we had a little celebración de cumpleaños for one of the older muchachas from our grupo, Carmelita. Carmelita is a very buena persona, but muy diferente from most other girls her age (including me : ) She is originally from an indigenous comunidad, and she just learned to speak Spanish a few years ago. For the past few años, she has been living with one of the larger familias from church as a live-in helper. Basically she helps wash 14. ropa, 15. preparar comida, and clean in exchange for having a place to live. She is very 16. timida, but very hard-working. I don´t think she has completely learned yet how to relax and enjoy herself because she is so used to doing housework all the time. Anyway, her guardian family decided to invite all of the jovenes to a surprise lunch for her after we finished painting on Saturday. In order to surprise her, they made her go to the school even though she didn´t want to paint. And as soon as she arrived, she told me, ¨I´m going to clean your 17. baños.¨ I told her again and again that she didn´t have to do that and to just relax and enjoy herself, but she told me again and again that it was no problem; and that she preferred helping me with things than just standing around, bored. Not only did she thoroughly clean all of the bathrooms with 18. acido, but she also tidied up some and cleaned some glass windows for me—things that I have been wanting to do for so long but just haven´t gotten around to yet! I was very grateful for her help, even though she didn´t want to use any of the cleaning products I offered her (because they´re not the same cosas she normalmente uses to clean ; ) When we finished painting around 2, we walked to her casa and ate mole—the traditional Mexican birthday meal. Then we spent about another hour playing basketball in a local parque.

Top picture: José Luis, Glen, and Bella Lisbeth. The bottom one is a picture of Carmelita (in the middle) with Josue and Claudia, two of the teens she lives with.

Since Glen is a 19. ministro de jovenes and the kids here are mostly all out of school now, we wanted him to be able to spend time with the jovenes as much as possible. Plus, he was 20. originalmente going to come with a grupo de jovenes from his congregation, but things didn´t work out for the teens to come with him. One day we went and played soccer for about two hours (he was anxious to see how much better the Mexicans play!), and on his final night we watched a movie together in the school. We are very grateful for the class he gave and the time he spent with us. Now I have just one more día to get rested up before the next maestro americano arrives!

Kids Class Enforcement (Reforzamiento para la clase de niños)

A few weeks ago, Ani, the preacher´s esposa, asked me to talk to some of the muchachas about the clase de niños. Lately not as many of the ladies have wanted to teach the clase because they get easily frustrated and burnt out. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, there is just one class for all edades de niños and a lack of ready-made materials. As a result, the kids sometimes don´t listen very well or treat the class as ¨play time¨. So Ani hopes that some of the younger girls can start helping teach the class. I felt very honoured that she asked me to talk to them since I sometimes have the same problemas in the class as anyone else. But luckily I was able to draw on my education classes and previous experiences teaching to give the girls some helpful tips. We talked about how to begin and end the class, how to engage the kids at the beginning of the lesson, what kinds of actividades to use, discipline and positive reinforcement techniques, etc. Luckily I was also able to show them some of the Bible class materials I brought back from Mt. Juliet as ejemplos. Only 4 came, but I feel like those who did come participated well and have a strong 21. deseo to help make the classes 22. mejor. We discovered, unsurprisingly, that all of us who have taught before experience the same difficulties; the most común are that the younger kids want to play with 23. jugetes too much, and the older kids want to talk and bully too much. But we discussed soluciones for each of the most common discipline problems. I also suggested to Ani that it would help a lot to have two teachers work together: one with more experiencia who serves as the main teacher, and one with less experience who starts out as a helper.

Update on Jesús and Marisol (Reporte sobre Jesús y Marisol)

The situation with Jesús and Marisol has not changed much since my last blog. We have been to visit Jesús one or two more tiempos. He has not been there, but luckily his wife has been willing to open their casa to us and 23b. estudiar with us. The weird thing is that she never seemed 24. interesada in studying before, when we were studying primarily with Jesús. She told us that Jesús drinks a lot and sometimes hits her as a result, and that currently they are separated. However, she was very open to what we had to say and said she would like to study la Biblia some more. We have a feeling that she only wants to study and go to church when Jesús is not pressuring her, and vice versa. Marisol has been back to church a few times, but every time I try to go and study with her she´s not able to. One of her aunts has been 25. enferma, so Marisol has had to take care of her and her two young niños. And her tia lives further away, which is why Marisol says she hasn´t been able to study and come to church as much. So I only hope that´s 26. cierto and that she has not grown discouraged.

The Death of a Saint (La Muerte de una santa)

Two Sundays ago, after the evening servicio, a few of us decided to have a culto in the house of an hermana that had been bedridden with cancer for the last few months. Her situation had been grave for quite some time. This lady, Maria, was a very faithful servant to the Lord and a grand example for some of the younger ladies of the congregation. She herself established the congregation in her hometown of Nueva Leon, where two of our preaching students conduct worship services each week, by talking to people she knew about the 27. evangelio until they decided to get baptized. She lived in a tiny wooden house no bigger than most people´s living rooms with her granddaughter and granddaughter´s family. Her granddaughter, Amelia, is a miembro de la iglesia, but has not attended worship services in quite some time. So about the time her situation became more 28. serio, Maria started saying that she hoped Amelia would reconcile herself with the Lord before her 29. muerte. That noche while David and others were in the middle of the worship service, Maria said once again that she didn´t want to die until Amelia reconciled herself. A few minutes later, Amelia stated that she would come back to the church. David said, ¨You can rest in peace now.¨ They said a prayer, and by the time they finished praying, Maria had passed away. We had a viewing for her just a few horas después in 30. el local de la iglesia. I hope and pray that Amelia will come back to church as she said and that she didn´t just say she would in order to satisfy her abuela.

I hope that a lot of people are still reading my blog and that not everyone has forgotten about me ; ) Do me a favor and leave me a comment if you are still reading it. I love to read all of your comments and always feel more encouraged after I do. But the lack of comments sometimes produces the opposite effect : (

¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Elizabeth

Title: ¨Some Reasons for Recjoicing¨

1. busy

2. lesson

3. paint

4. prices

5. quality

6. them

7. work

8. they live

9. basically

10. windows

11. roofs

12. line

13. down low

14. clothes

15. to prepare

16. timid/shy

17. bathrooms

18. acid

19. minister

20. originally

21. desire

22. better

23. toys

23b. to study

24. interested

25. sick

26. true

27. Gospel

28. serious

29. death

30. the building/location

¡Yo Quiero Taco Bell!

One day I went with José Luis and his family to the 1a. rancho where his madre and tios and tias grew up--and I got to ride this caballo!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig
Can you believe that the first place I wanted to go when I got home (as in, back in the U.S. 1. temporalmente) was Taco Bell?? Actually, Taco Bell doesn´t exist down here, and most U.S. Mexican 2. restaurantes serve food that´s muy diferente from the real deal (like burritos!) Seriously though, I enjoyed my three weeks back in the US immensely--even though they went by really 3. rapido! I never realize until I go home how many small cosas I miss—hot water, carpeted floors, paper towels, driving…and sooooo much more! I must say I also got spoiled by the southern heat and humidity once again—which never actually feels like a 4. bendición until I head south (yes, south!) only to be welcomed by yucky 5. lluvia, cloudy days and chilly noches. My family just moved to Fayetteville, Georgia a little more than a month ago (about 30 miles south of Atlanta). It was the first time for me to see the new lugar, and everything but my furniture was still packed in heavy 6. cajas surrounding my 7. cama. But just being back in the United States for a few days to ¨refresh¨myself and spend time with my familia was good enough for me!

Mama, Daddy, and Gayle have placed membership at Fayetteville Church of Christ—a very friendly congregation of about 300 members. I really enjoyed meeting some of the Christians there and watching their shocked expressions as I told them that not only am I DONE with school, but that I live in Mexico : ) I also enjoyed reuniting with some old friends from Seven Hills Church of Christ (where I grew up) and Mt. Juliet Church of Christ. Seven Hills has about 70 members, while Mt. Juliet has almost 1,000. But it always comforts me to know that there are loving, friendly Christians all over the 8. mundo--whether it be a foreign country thousands of miles away or the small town where I was born--who encourage me with their kind palabras and good ejemplos. One night I was in line at a Wendy´s in Lynchburg, Virginia, and an older man behind me began to make small talk and jokes. He then proceeded to ask me how old I am and what I do. He was from another church, but when I told him that I am a missionary, he said, ¨That´s great!¨ Unfortunately that kind of friendliness just isn´t very común here in Mexico. Speaking of the church being so 9. grande and so 10. pequeño at the same time, I met a man from 11. la costa de Mexico who went to visit Maple Hill Church of Christ last year (which is like a sister congregation of Mt. Juliet) and also knows some of the same people I went to Honduras with last year! 12. Que extraño!!!

Geografia de la Biblia (Bible Geography)
Two semanas before I left on my viaje, Vladmir ?, from Lithuania, came to give a Bible Geography class at the school here in San Cristobal. Normally the only foreign teachers we have are Americans, but Vladimir had taught the same clase at the Global Missions preaching school in Russia, and he has close ties to J.C. Enlow. He also loves to travel, so he spent his time here sightseeing during the day and teaching at night. Lately we have had a low turnout for the classes at the San Cristobal school. So I thought that if Vladimir could give his class at church a few times, he could personally invite the members to attend his classes during the week and also give them a taste of what he was teaching. It worked! Between diez and 13. quince estudiantes arrived most nights (which may not seem like a lot to you all, but if you take into consideration how busy everyone is and how reluctant the Christians are here 14. participar in anything other than the Sunday culto, it´s actually pretty 15. bueno!) We had a good mix of mujeres and hombres, new converts and older ones. Vladimir spent much of his time summarizing key stories of the Old Testament. Many of his students have only been baptized cristianos a few years, so some were hearing the 16. historias for the first time. They were enthralled! We Americans really take for granted being able to send our kids to Sunday school or knowing the story of David and Goliath. Actually, many of us would probably find it hard to learn much from Vladimir´s class just because he did have to simplify it so much, but the Mexicans felt like they learned TONS!

Downtown Pachuca (where José Luis studied for his Masters/el centro de Pachuca, donde José Luis estudió para su maestria)

Estudios Biblicos (Bible Studies)
Speaking of new converts, I have been a little concerned about Marisol lately. We still have Bible studies together on Thursday afternoons whenever we can, and she always tells me she enjoys the estudios and always has good 17. preguntas for me despues. But she has cut back considerably in her attendance, and while I was away in the U.S. she didn´t come to church at all. I have a feeling her family is sometimes a bad 18. influencia on her (i.e. they question her beliefs to the point of her doubting herself or try to talk her out of going to la iglesia.) Her husband had been coming with her on Sundays for a while, but he suddenly stopped coming, as well. The last time I met with her she told me that he didn´t like that there were no activitidades for him outside of church (hence one reason that I really want to start a young couples group!) and that he felt pressured to get baptized. Jesús, whom José Luis and I were studying with, has been somewhat unpredictable, as well. For a long time every time we wanted to study with him he either wasn´t home or we had other 19. obligaciónes (there is only one time we have found that we can study with him because he stays so busy with his job.) For several weeks we didn´t see him or hear from him at all. Then suddenly, a few days after we went to see him and he wasn´t home, he showed up at church one night with his whole familia. Then they came back two or three more times, always at night, and each time they were able to meet a few more of the miembros. Please pray that Marisol and Jesús and their families keep coming to church and that we may encourage them in any way 20. posible.

La Clase de Inglés
My English class ended just before I left for the 21. estados. I am happy to say that nearly all of my students stuck with the class this time and received 22. certificados. On an aside… my most advanced student wanted to know when past tense verbs end with a ¨d¨ sound, like ¨listened¨, and when they end with a ¨t¨sound, like ¨talked.¨ Well as an English major at Freed-Hardeman, one of the classes I had to take was Structure of the English Language. And one of the main things we had to learn in that class was how to pronounce all of the 23. letras in the International Phonetics Alphabet. I never understood at the time why we spent half of every class moving our tongues around pronouncing consonants or writing nouns phonetically on the board…but I must say that it paid off! Thanks to Dr. C´s persistence in teaching us the IPA, I was able to explain the answer to her! Yea!

La gente who came to the 24. fiesta sorpresa I gave José Luis after he passed his examen de tesis and 25. el pastel I made for him. The gas ran out while I was making the cake (meaning the oven wouldn´t work)...then I could find only thick, white frosting to write the words with. But luckily it turned out all right!

Grupo de Parejas Jovenes (Young Couples Group)
Chantel and I were visiting one day, and we got to talking about how much we miss spending time with people our edad. As I have mentioned before, our age group of twenty and thirty somethings rarely spends time together outside of church; in fact, most of us barely even know each other! If we talk to each other at church at all, it´s usually just to say ¨Dios le bendiga,¨nothing else. José Luis and I really enjoy spending time with los jovenes, but seeing as how neither of us are teens anymore, it´s just not the same. So we organized a get together for all of the young couples from church. I invited them all to mi casa/la escuela one night after church. There are about ten 26. parejas our age, but only five other people showed up. (Which is really not surprising since many of them rarely even show up for church.) But we explained to those who did come that we would like to start doing something together at least once a month, such as going to someone´s house, going to a coffee shop in el centro, etc. I also explained that as long as we continue getting together, our friendship will grow, our spirituality will grow, and little by little the other couples (the ones who weren´t there that night) will become more interested and start coming, as well. Then we played a 27. juego in which everyone had to write two factual statements about themselves and one false, and the rest of us then had to guess who wrote it and what the false statement was. José Luis had warned me that the Christians here aren´t used to playing any kind of games together (evidentamente they believe that Christians should not even play cards because it is a bad example.) But they really got into it, and one of the couples actually used the same game for a reunión they had the next day. After the game, we ended by eating 28. la cena together. Those who did come seemed to really enjoy themselves and really liked the idea of us forming a grupo. (Those who didn´t come seemed to like the idea, as well.) So I only hope that the others will take turns hosting the group each mes to make this idea come into fruition…

Hasta Luego!

1a. ranch

1. temporarily

2. restaurants

3. fast

4. blessing

5. rain

6. boxes

7. bed

8. world

9. big

10. small

11. the coast

12. How strange!

13. fifteen

14. to participate

15. good

16. stories

17. questions

18. influence

19. obligations

20. possible

21. states

22. certificates

23. letters

24. surprise party

25. the cake

26. couples

27. game

28. supper/dinner