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.