Mexico Part Two

This last week has been a very special week!  My team has had the huge privilege of going up into the mountains (along a very very long incredibly bumpy road) to work amongst the Cora people, who are descendants from the Aztecs.  We drove for hours and hours to the village of El Congrejo in the state of Nayarit, working alongside long term missionaries Jay and Faith from the States as well as Mexican church leaders.  About 40 families live in this small community along with lots of dogs, cows and other creatures!

I had the immense privilege of being able to visit families in their own homes (social work prepares you well for this!), pray for them and invite them to the activities which we helped organise.  We ran an event for the children (they really liked musical chairs!) but were quite reserved when acting out the Bible stories (nobody wanted to play a bad guy!).  The Mexican team then distributed food and clothing for the families as there has been little rain (so very little crops harvested) and its about to get very cold in the mountains (the Cora people wear the donated clothes under their indigenous clothes).  It was great to see many Cora people wanting prayer and to learn more about the Christian faith during our time with them.

On the way back to base camp (where I gained the most ridiculous number of mosquito bites and the rooster started crowing at 3am!!) we met the Catholic priest who is now in his 80s who has devoted over 40 years of his life to bringing hope and education to the mountain communities.  Under his leadership, children now have the opportunity to study from primary to university level.  We decided that he was a male version of Mother Teresa and you could just see the wisdom shine through him!

The last couple of days have been spent in Guadalaraja in the state of Jalisco, working with Fuega Mexico.  As well as being able to share at various church services, I was given the opportunity to help teach English..putting my TESOL qualification to good use!  We’ve all had some down time too so I’ve been able to use the internet and visit Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest natural lake.

Soon we’ll be off to Mexico City which sounds pretty big….!

Funny moments:

-          Hearing Rick Astley play in a Mexican bar (I only had a lemonade honest!)

-          A sign for no parking which read: Estacionarse

-          Being escorted by the police to one of our destinations (I think they probably wanted us off the road after we nearly caused an accident with our fleet of vehicles!)

More difficult times:

-          Learning that my friend Ian is sadly no longer with us – I’m dedicating this post in his memory

-          Missing friends in the UK

Sleeping statistics (since we started):

Bed (that fits various descriptions including potato sacks!):  10 nights

Trailer tent:  8 nights               Concrete floor: 3 nights                 Tent: 0 nights (hurrah!)

Love and miss you all and thanks for reading! 

update on journey so far!

Well I’ve been on the road for a fortnight and it feels like a lot longer, in a good way!  The first week was spent in the States helping prepare for the trip and driving from Oregon in the North to Arizona in the South, via Redding and Los Angeles in California, collecting team mates along the way!

We’ve been in Mexico for a week now and have visited three places - a small town (Pescquina), a city (in Cinola) and a coastal resort (including a work camp).  In Cinola state and Pescquina we worked in partnership with local churches and in Pescquina we got to visit people in their own homes and do some childrens work.

Highlights so far have been:

-          Seeing the sights of LA and the road trip in the States

-          Driven both the camper van (in States) and the big car towing the tent trailer (in Mexico! – slightly scary both for me and my passengers!!)

-          Seeing the children responding to the Bible stories and being keen to act out the story of the good Samaritan (the boys in Pescquina particularly enjoyed the part where the guy gets beaten up!)

-          Meeting people from the Tricqui (hope that is spelt correctly) tribe and seeing their faces light up when the audio Bible was played to them in their own language

-          Seeing young people help lead the church in Pescquina

-          Visiting a work camp on the coast (where agricultural workers and their families live – up to 6000 people on a base where each family has one room and an outside cooking area.  These camps are known for high rates of violence and alcohol use).  I enjoyed spending time with mother Olivia and her two children Montserrat (aged 5) and Jesus (aged 2) as well as telling the story of Jesus calming the storm with Spanish translation to a group of children!

-          Getting to swim in 2 pools – hurrah!

‘Pause’ points (both sad and funny):

-          Seeing a mother and her children stay for ages after a church service in Pescquina so they could share in the meal.  All four children, including the toddler ate 3 platefuls of food as they were so hungry.  Thankfully we were able to send them home with extra food too.

-          My skirt being pulled down by children when they were trying to get the stickers I was giving out (praise God for leggings underneath!)

-          My team mates from the States finding my accent and use of the English language amusing

-          Observing the living conditions at the work camp

Vital sleeping statistics (if you’re interested!):

Bed: 8 nights      Trailer tent: 5 nights        Floor: 1 night      Tent: 0 nights (hurrah!)

Next stop: to the Mexican mountains (ie the tent will now come in useful)!

on the road Stateside!

Hi friends!

Had an amazing time here in the USA and on a road trip down to Arizona from Oregon in the North, having helped prepare the vehicles and got supplies in.  We should be in Mexico by Tuesday 13th September!  Been hanging out with some amazing friends and visited some welcoming churches who have prayed for and encouraged us...and I got to check out Hollywood in Los Angeles today...that was a lovely extra surprise!

The team is almost complete and we are international with New Zealand, South Africa, UK and America all featured!

Please pray for safe travels and as we cross into Mexico on Tuesday.  Love you miss you all x

Flying Stateside ready for the adventure!

Hello friends

Well I'm off today, flying to the States to join the team before we head to the Mexican border on about the 13th September.  We'll be travelling round Central and South America working with existing Christian charities and projects like Youth With a Mission, sharing our Christian faith and demonstrating God's love in practical ways.  There'll be two teams, one doing work in the more rural areas and the other in the bigger towns and cities.  Hopefully I'll get to do a mixture of both!

Thanks so much for your support, prayers and friendship!

The tentative itinerary is as follows:

·        Mexico - September  
Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras -October
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama - November
Colombia and Ecuador - December
Peru and Bolivia – January  
Chile - February
Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguay – February and March
Brazil - April and May
French Guiana, Suriname, Guiana Venezuela - June
Carribean islands-Bahamas – July and August

WiWill update as and when I can!  Love you all lots Lizx