Welcome Home

Well, this last post comes from the comfort of my own bed. I just finished uploading and editing all my pictures (which took about 2 hours!). I'm going to try to add at least one picture to every post on here tonight and then post them all on facebook tomorrow. My camera failed me miserably this trip (so many pictures were corrupted or blurry!) but I'm just glad to be home.

Monday night we had our final celebration...and this time it was for the helpers! We had a small bible study then many people shared blessings from these past 2 week of celebrations and also their blessings in life. We also got a call from Joshua (the Guzman's younger son) from Japan at the party. After eating dinner, they passed out gifts to everyone that participated and also did a raffle for some extra prizes. I won one of them, but I passed it up because I would not be able to fit it in my suitcase! So, my tiny crockpot went to one of the older ladies in the church. :)

We took pictures and said our goodbyes, then I went to pack my things at the Guzman's house. Another tradition I will miss are the Adios's. Upon leaving I received the standard kiss on the cheek, but the person also gave me a big hug and told me quietly into my ear about how they pray God blesses me in my life and how they hope I have a good trip and a Merry Christmas. And this was from everyone I worked closely with! It was wonderful. People don't use the term 'adios' as frequently as you think they would, because it is saved for more permanent and special goodbyes. The word literally means 'to God' (a+Dios=to+God) or 'until God', because we know that if we don't see eachother in the near future, at least we know that we will see eachother again in heaven, in the presence of God. How sweet is that?

Airports are so nice in December; everyone just seems so at ease because they're either going home or their going to visit ones they love. No one is on a business trip on December 23rd.

I love that when you return after flying to another country, your customs checker, after looking at your passport, says those beautiful words: "Welcome home!"

El Ultimo

Today was the last day of celebrations! I can't believe these 3 weeks are almost over. We went to Vina del Rey this morning, where there had a children's production for part of the service. They reenacted when the 3 wise men visited Mary and Joseph, they sang El Tamborilero and Campana Sobre Campana, and Nalleli and Jacquelin danced. After the service, they served lunch to all of the church members and a few of us hung around the church until it was time to leave for the celebration. It was just me, Johnny, Julian, Josue, Lulu, & Adriana, so we ended up just getting back on the stage and having a jam session for about an hour.

The final celebration was in a little alley between 2 houses in Alianza Real. There wasn't much room here, like in Valles, but it was still really good.

Good news! I found out that Maria went to Laredo yesterday, so I'll be able to get my packages and the letter that were sent to me! It's kind of late, and the packages do me no good, getting them the day before I leave, but it saves a lot of trouble. Now, I don't have to wait several more weeks for the mail and Maria doesn't have to send them back to Alabama.

Well, tomorrow is my last day. I think that the only thing on the schedule is a dinner for the helpers of the celebrations. So, my next post will probably be from the airport in Dallas!

Hay un Aire Navideno

This morning Jenny and I went to Amanda's house to wrap presents for the kids in Nuevo El Miguerre (the church in the mountain last Sunday). Amanda is a missionary kid whose parents moved to Monterrey when she was about 15, and she ended up getting married here and stayed while her parents moved to Ecuador. She and her husband run a store (papeleria/internet cafe/gift shop), and she also works for a company downtown as a translator. Anyway, we sorted through gifts donated to Jenny and organized them for each individual child in Nuevo El Miguerre. We got a lot done in about 3 hours: we sorted the toys and clothes, wrapped all the gifts, and made small gift bags out of the leftover toys for the kids who aren't "fieles" (regulars) who come to the christmas celebration.

Afterwards, Jenny and I picked up a quick lunch at Burger King, then picked up Josue and his dad to drive to Rinconada for the christmas celebration. This celebration was the most peaceful and laid back of all of them; I guess because the room was really big and there were only about 50 kids. Oh, and I officially have all of the songs memorized!! And I've learned 4 other Christmas songs from Josue and Julian. They're a lot cooler than mine.

After dropping Josue and his dad off, Jenny and I went to wal-mart and, since it was only 7pm, we went downtown to see some Christmas Festivities. There was a live Nativity set up in the park, so we went to that. It was really good! There were about 4 stations with actors at each one reenacting the Christmas story. They were only "lip-singing" (sort-of, but with talking) to a pre-recorded play, but still. It was better than seeing people just stand there dressed as Mary and Joseph in a stable! We walked around some and looked at the local artisan stands and dulcerias, then got churros and watched a highschool chorus sing on a stage. It was really fun! But, it doesn't feel like Christmas yet...not when it's 80 degrees at night.

I'm listening to one of Hillsong United's cds, "United We Stand," but it's in spanish! So, therefore the cd's name is "Unidos Permanecemos." Jenny has it and I was able to put it on my computer and listen to it. I'm so glad I'll be able to listen to this cd in the future and remember this trip.

Juarez & Valles

So yesterday we had another celebration, in Juarez, and today's was in Valles. All of the celebrations are kind of running together now, and they're pretty much all the same: hectic, wonderful, crazy, & such blessings. Today's was in the one-room shack with about 100 kids and 20 adults. It was crazier than ever because there was no room to even turn around, but somehow it was all managed. I held hands with Lulu, Adriana, Nallali, & Pati to make a barricade for the kids not to cross so that we might have a path for the kids to exit the room with their gifts. After driving back for about an hour & a half (Valles was far, and there was lots of traffic on Friday night), Jenny and I went to the mall for her to do some Christmas shopping and now we're back home.

Oh! On the way to Valles, Jenny got pulled over! She told me that he says she was speeding in a school zone, but basically it was just testament to the corruption in Monterrey. The real reason he pulled her over was because she has a Texas tag on her car, and that they know that people with Texas tags have money. Police officers here pocket the money they make from tickets. He told her that she was going to get her liscence taken away (since she's a foreigner) and have to pay $800 pesos ($80 dollars), but Josue got out of the car and talked to the police officer to talk him out of it. He got back in the car about 30 seconds later, with her liscence, and told Jenny to start driving. He then told us that he gave the officer $50 pesos (5 bucks!) and he let us go! It was unbelievable....we could not believe that he talked Jenny out of a $800 peso ticket for $50 pesos. Way to go, Josue!

There are only 2 more days of celebrations! I can't believe it's almost over. The first half went by really slow but this last half is going by really fast.

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mi!

Yesterday was my birthday!! And it was so wonderful to spend it here in Monterrey. I was busy ALL day, with Jenny and I leaving the house a little before 8 and walking back in the door at 11:45pm. She took me to starbuck's for breakfast for my birthday, then took me to the Guzman's house for me to go with them to General Trevino again. We were packed into a huge van- 10 people fit into about 7 seats, with the bags of gifts taking up all the other seats. When we got there Laura fixed us grilled hamburgers (they eat them with fresh avocado in Mexico!) and they just sat around the kitchen and talked until it was time for the kids to come. Laura and all the adults sang happy birthday to me at lunch, and when the kids got there they sang to me again! The celebration was great; it was kind of hectic when we were passing out toys (we forgot one of the bags) but it's hectic at every site.

We got back to the church around 5:30, where I just hung out and played guitar until it was time for the christmas party. The young adults were having a Christmas party at 7:30; most of them were ones that I had been hanging out with all week. The young adult group is a mix of youth, college, & career age; from about 12 years old to about 30. We had a short bible study then started playing some games. I didn't understand some of the instructions, but once we started playing the games I got it. Jenny got there in the middle of one of the games, so she explained the instructions to me from there on out. We then drew names and exchanged our gifts of a christmas card and a candy bar. We had pizza and spaghetti for dinner, Jenny brought cookies for us to decorate, and the Guzman's had a cake for me! They sang "Feliz Cumpleanos" to me, and I had to blow out the candles, then they were telling me something and Jenny explained to me that it's tradition to put your face in the cake or at least take a bite out of it with your mouth. So, I did! I just put my mouth in it though. We hung around, joked, and talked until about 11pm, where I went to the Guzman's to get a few more clothes, then Jenny and I went back to her house.

It was a good birthday!!!

Traditions

One of the traditions here that I have come to love is the way people greet one another. Anywhere I go, as soon as I or the other person enters the room, I recieve a kiss on my right cheek. It doesn't matter of they are children, teenagers, or grandparents. Kissing on the cheek is such a precious gift; it's like I am instantly welcomed into their family. And I am! They are my family because we are all part of the family of God. It doesn't matter where you go in the world, you have an instant bond with any brother or sister in Christ that you meet. I have found this to be true in every circumstance. To a lesser extent, it's like if you found yourself walking the streets of Tokyo alone, and you suddenly saw someone wearing a shirt that said "Roll Tide" you would instantly give a sigh of relief and know that you had found a friend because you have a great thing in common: your home. And that is what all Christians have: the same home. Sigh. How wonderful!

Yesterday we had a celebration in Zapata, and there were more children at this celebration than any of the other ones! Because there were so many guests, not everyone got thier own bag of presents. But everyone got something, even if it was just a bag of dulces (candy). Florencio and Jenny worked it out so that I will be able to go to, I think, all of the celebrations, and I am so grateful for the extra time and effort they are both putting into me being able to go. Today Jenny is taking me to meet Juliano, and he'll be taking me to the celebration.

SO Much Better

After spending saturday night and last night with Jenny, there is a complete difference in my breathing. My lungs are still weak, though; I get out of breath easier than usual.

Jenny and I got caught in traffic on our way to church (they closed off the main highway for a race) so we were a little late, so when Florencio prayed I jumped on stage to play bass. Also, Florencio forgot to tell me that the kids from Amilpa were coming to sing at church. Jenny had heard that they might be coming, but I figured that Florencio would have told me if I would be directing a children's choir on sunday morning. Nevertheless, they were there, and I hadn't brought my guitar or the copies of music that the kids were supposed to look off of. The band ended up playing another song while Florencio went back to the house (across the street) to get some more copies, then I borrowed someone else's guitar to lead the kids. I was so confused with everything that was going on. The band was up and down off the stage constantly.

Once that was all over, Jenny and I brought Esther (the daughter of Sarima, from Zapata) to eat lunch at Wendy's then we went to another church service where Jenny leads worship. I don't know the name of the village, but the roads and paths up to the church were so steep up the mountain side that the car wouldn't make it. We parked and had to walk about 1/2 mile uphill to the church. Jenny and Esther sang (my voice it pretty much gone from the sickness) and I ran the computer and sound, which was a lot of fun! I never get to do that. However, the church service was a bit different. I didn't really understand the sermon, but Jenny told me that he basically preached the gospel of prosperity, and that she had been hearing similar sermons for a while at that church. Not only is the prosperity gospel unbiblical, but it is so damaging and discouraging to these poor people. They are being taught that God blesses you with wealth when you are in His will; therefore they must be doing something wrong and living outside of his will since they are still poor. There were also some people "slain in the spirit", which didn't scare me, but I just didn't see the point of it and didn't agree with it.

Afterwards we went to a Christmas Concert put on by the youth of a church near Jenny's house, then she dropped me off at her house to fix some soup while she took Esther back to Zapata.

The next celebration is tonight, in Zapata I think, so we'll go to that and I'll have to talk to Florencio about staying with Jenny for the rest of my time here. Hopefully I'll still be able to go to most of the celebrations, but it depends on if they can pick me up at Jenny's house. It will be really out of the way since she lives on the other side of town; hopefully it will all work out.