Independence day celebration

One of Mexico's days of Independence was on Sept 15th this week. We ended up going to see a dance show in front of the town hall. There was a big stage set up with a set of bleachers that was about 6 or 7 rows of seating. It was not going to work when we had two strollers for Lilly and Aletta. They brought out chairs that were in between the bleachers and stage & it was there we found enough seats for all of us to sit down. We waited around for a while for the show to start. A lady got on the microphone and started the program by talking about what groups were going to be dancing and by welcoming everyone to the Independence celebration. It was at this point she started speaking English. She said very clearly "And we want to welcome all the people who have come from the United States to be with us here tonight." Talk about being pointed out in a crowd. It was instantaneous that the whole crowd of people were now looking at us four gringos (John, Elizabeth, Jessie and I) with three little girls sitting in the front row. We just laughed and looked at each other. I looked down the row where we were sitting and all eyes were on us. Here was our unofficial welcome to the small town of Autlan, Jalisco, Mexico.It was a great eye opener to know that even being here a short amount of time, we are being recognized. We had someone just come to our door today saying that someone had told them that Americans live here and that they might buy something from them. We are not in Guadalajara any more.
The English classes are an instant involvement in meeting a need. A lot of college students need to have some level of English before they graduate. A number of Jessie's students are middle age people who need to learn English for their job. Elizabeth has said that she is already getting more ministry opportunities than she has ever gotten before, this early in the school year. God is doing great things. We are only starting to see the fruit from the seeds that have been planted. We are blessed to be apart of what God is doing here in Autlan.

Here are some pictures of La Roca

Ok, I have tried three times to put on a video of La Roca coffee house. It did not work, so here are some pictures instead.



The back terrace of La Roca. The classroom where we are teaching English.



What you see when you get up the stairs. The kitchen where we make the coffee drinks.



The front room where there are Christian materials in Spanish and English.

The terrace and the middle room for more seating. The book shelf is where some of the games are stored, such as Uno, Phase Ten or Skipbo. They get a lot of use.

These photos are just to give you an idea as to what La Roca is like. We hope to give you more as time goes on, as we do ministry here.

Jessie and I both will be teaching English classes at La Roca. I will be teaching level 2 and Jessie will be teaching level 3. They are both on Wednesday nights. It will take a little juggling with the girls, but we are very excited to be a part of this ministry. There is over 100 students at this time. Last year there were only 60, so you can see the need and the ministry is growing. Level one alone has 60 students plus. The more people who are in the classes the more that are getting the truth of God's word. We use a lot of Bible stories and Bible verses to get the students to start reading the Bible themselves. The transformation is beautiful, when God starts opening their eyes.

I do want to let you know that we are going to need prayer partners for our English students. Elizabeth has said that it is a great way to get people praying for these students to come to know the Lord. It is vital to our ministry and it gets you involved. We will be sending more info soon. I wanted to put it out there, so that you are thinking about it.

A few pictures

Here Andy is learning how to make coffee drinks at La Roca coffee house.



The teachers of La Roca English School.



Rick giving a placement interview for the English classes.