A short update

I (Andy) was praying today for the church that we are going to and thought that I should update you on our little project we are helping with the end of April. We are going to have an event for the celebration of children. They have a day in Mexico that is called El dia de Nino (the day of child literately). It is just like Mother's Day or Father's Day. The church wants to have a two hour celebration that would bring kids into the church to hear the gospel message through a few puppet skits, food, crafts, games, and a short message . We started planning for it last Sunday at church. So, I am sharing this, for those who want to pray for the event, that the right kids would come and that the seeds would be planted. Also, that we would be well prepared for this event.

Happy Easter!

Well, here it is Saturday night and Jessie and I are finally feeling better. We ended up going to a big water park for the the day on Wednesday. We didn't realize that the sun was much brighter than we thought. It turned out we got completely fried. Jessie, on top of her sun burn, was also dealing with a cold. When she woke up this morning, she was complaining of pain in her ears. Needless to say, our little break turned out to be just resting time, because our sunburns hurts so much. Jessie and I both agree that we will be much better prepared next time. We will not underestimated the amount of sun screen to use.

I was reading the Bible today, I read the Easter story. I read over the verses about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. It is in Luke 24:13-35. It was right after Jesus had just been crucified on the cross. These two disciple had just heard that Jesus' body was no longer in the tomb. There had also been talk of angels who said that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus' response to them was he had not heard a thing about what was going on. They told Jesus everything that had happened. Then, Jesus began to talk. It is interesting that they listened to Jesus talking, for who knows how long, but never even knew that it was Jesus. They wanted him to stay with them that evening and Jesus stayed with them for dinner as well. It was just after Jesus broke the bread, that their eyes were opened and they were able to know that it was Him that had been with them the whole time. It must have been a weird feeling to them, to have been listening to all that Jesus was talking about in the scriptures and yet they had no idea that it was Jesus. How often do we, as his disciples, hear Him speaking to us and we don't even know it is Him that is speaking. It remains a mystery, the reasons why He does that at times. I think He hides the purpose of what He does until the exact right moment, because He has perfect timing. What would those disciples have done if they had known that it was Jesus all along? Would they have listened? Would they have been freaked out knowing that the person they were talking to was the man that they had just seen put to death only days before? The Lord knew what He was doing when He didn't open their eyes right way. I hope and pray that your eyes may be open to what God is doing in your life. If it is not right now that your eyes are not open, be confident that God, who raised His son from death to life, knows what He is doing in your life. Trust him! Be encouraged today.

Happy Easter!

Picture of Andy on the mountain

Here I am on a near by mountain. As you can see Guadalajara is a pretty big city.

A month goes quick

We have been really busy. That is no excuse though. I (Andy) had finals for the last week of my first session of language school. Then, the day after I finished, we headed to Autlan, which Jessie got to see for the first time. We stayed there for a week and got sick while we were there. So, when we got back, we crashed. After getting home, our next priority was working on our newsletter. Needless to say, our blog has been a bit neglected. I apologize for that. I am going to work on communicating more often through the week.

It has been a bit challenging balancing school and home work with the family life. I must say that it is a bit weird to be going back to school. I am learning the language slowly, but surely.

The trip to Autlan was a good trip for Jessie and I, as Jessie had only seen pictures and a small video of what Autlan is like. Even I had a different opinion of Autlan. It is a much smaller city than the 10 million strong city of Guadalajara. I think it would have been a much harder transition, if we had gone to the small town and then moved to the big city. In Autlan you will never have to worry about traffic. Actually, there are more motorcycles and bicycles in Autlan than cars, I think. It would seem that way, as the branch of Guadalajara University is there and the college kids need to get around the city. We are very excited to go to Autlan and get started in helping in the ministry there. We have already committed to teaching two of the levels of English that start in September. As we wrote in our newsletter, this is where a lot of fruit is coming out of. The seeds are being sown and they are beginning to grow. John and Elizabeth have started La Roca Church for people to go to, as they begin to see the truth setting them free.

Jessie had her birthday on Sunday. We ended up going, after church, to Lake Chapala, which is about an hour drive from home. It is the largest lake in Mexico. It was a good day to go, the weather was beautiful. We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and then went to an outside market that was really busy. Sundays are the Saturdays of the U.S. Most Mexicans have to work half days on Saturdays, so they plan on doing everything on Sundays. We, then, went back to Rick and Jo'ell's house for some homemade carrot cake (Jessie's favorite cake).

This weekend we are going to celebrate Anna's birthday with Christian, Rick and Jo'ell's youngest, who also just turned four this month. If I forgot to mention who Rick and Jo'ell are, they are our teammates from the same mission as us and are doing language school as well. They are doing the same thing we are. They will be moving to Autlan in August, as well, to help with the ministry. They have become a great help and encouragement to us. We have really enjoyed getting to know them. The more time we spend with them, the more we realize that God has brought us together. Jessie and I both feel like we have known them for a long time and it has been only two months. They are experiencing the same culture shock we are, I could not imagine being here without them. The girls love to play with their kids, whenever we go over to their house, and they have been a tremendous blessing to Jessie and I.