Before & After

Can you see the sleep still in our eyes? The sun had just come up. And I had to get up before the sun to get ready and then pick up the other girls!
We all did well. Sarah Anderson got 3rd in our division of the 5K, Chris Baxter got 2nd in her division of the 10K, and I finished the 5K! WooHoo!
Everyone got a medal, so don't think I'm something special! I just hadn't taken mine off yet.

Just a Hint

Fall in Mexico is shorter daylight, nights getting chillier (which it's not as cold this year as last - hope it stays like that), and the end of the year fast approaching. One thing we don't get is many fall colors. Every bit you see a hint of color from a random aspen or these trees called "lilas." This one is a few doors down from my house. I enjoyed seeing a bit of fall color for the few days that the leaves lasted.

I'm number 348!

I'm running a race tomorrow morning!

Happy Birthday!

Sunday, October 14, 2007 was a day of great rejoicing in Heaven!

6 new names were written in God's Book of Life!

Yesterday, after the sermon, 6 people at church got saved, and one other person, Idalí, was assured of salvation!

I had the priviledge of talking with Idalí after church. She's a young girl who has been in church for many years, but has not been involved for a while. She's been doing her own thing, and just accompanying her family on Sundays. Well, yesterday the Lord got ahold of her heart, and she is repenting of living her own way. As we talked about sin & forgiveness, her whole face lit up when she learned that ALL her sin, past, present, & future has already been forgiven. Praise the Lord for the work that HE is doing in Chihuahua!

Visitors!

This week, I am having visitors! Jeremy & Nicole Hager, staff from Trinity Bible Church, are coming to visit for a few days! I'm excited.

And the winner is...

LindaSueBuhl was right when she said the snack looked like bug pieces. They were grasshoppers. Grasshoppers with chile & lime is a snack food that they eat down in the south. It's a good thing I'm not in the south!! Fhew.

Another nod to my mother, who said to me on the phone, "Rachel, you didn't eat those did you? I know you & I don't think you would." Yes, Ma, you're right. I posed but I didn't injest. If it were a question of offending someone by refusing, YES, I would have eaten. But, since this was just a fun thing in the Spanish Dept, I claimed the right to refuse.

Mmm Snack!

Look what someone brought for snack to the Spanish Department on Friday!
It's a snack food from down in the southern part of Mexico. What do you think it is?

Grammar

Over the course of the last two months, there have been many changes in the Spanish course from what it was to what it is now. I believe that we've started well, and morale remains high. I wanted to let you know about one of the changes, because it is in regards to me. My job in the department is "the grammar teacher." I teach the grammar that coinsides with the lesson that we are learning each week. There are 3 levels of classes, so that means 3 levels of grammar! Please pray for me that I might communicate accurately & effectively & that the students might learn quickly!

x3

Well, on Sunday, another new family, Mike & Karen Kelly, got robbed while they were at church. Their house wasn't cleaned out, the theives just grabbed their laptop, digital camera, & mp3 player.
Right now, there is an increase in crime here in the city. From what I've heard, people are getting layed off work, employment is down, and sustance abuse is rising. So, it seems there is an increase in need for money. Since, white Americans stick out, and even if it's not true, being white Americans shouts "rich," we as Americans are feeling the effects of this. Please pray for the Lord's protection. We know none of this is out of His control.

The Grito

Buildings downtown are lit up in September for the celebration of Independence.
All over Mexico, on September 15th at midnight, the head of government (president, governor, mayor, etc) reenacts the first cry for independence which was shouted in 1810. It's a big deal, and every year the youth group goes down. This year, we were there together with 80,000 in the downtown area.
I got in the spirit & put on a Mexican hat!
Some of the others who went. Me, Raul, Sarai, and Ruben in front.
After the "cry", fireworks galore! My friend Magos.

2x2x2x2x2

There has been a lot of things happening here in Mexico lately. And everything has been happening in two's.

2 missionaries' vehicles have been stolen. It seems both times were professional jobs: one vehicle was stolen from in front of the missionaries house without setting off the alarm. This family is still dealing with paperwork and looking for another vehicle. The other family has basically gotten the situation resolved. 1 family was new and in the Spanish course.

2 houses were robbed within a span of a few days. Both houses were of families in the Spanish course. Praise the Lord, neither family was home, and were not hurt. They both lost things, but they have both been encouraged to see how God provided things they've lost or has brought people along to help the cleanup, etc.

2 kids broke their arms on the same day! Both kids were in the dorm. Let's just say that was a day the dorm parents won't forget! Their son broke his arm in the afternoon, so they left the kids with other people and took him to the doctor. When they got back to where they left the other kids, they ate supper. While jumping on a trampoline, one of the girls in the dorm fell and broke her elbow. There was no circulation in her lower arm, so she went directly into surgery. Her parents came out of the tribe to be with her. The kids are fine, just both in a cast for a while.

2 people have/had typhoid. It is a sickness that causes fatigue and gets you run down. One lady has recovered and the other is still trying to rest and take her medicine. She's one of the teachers at the Spanish course.

2 deaths. One year ago, Alonso Cano, an NTM missionary who taught in the Spanish course, died after being run over by a drunk driver. We just passed the one year anniversary. A few days after that, we buried little Glenn Isaac Urquhart. He was the firstborn son of fellow missionaries; he was 2 months old, although he had been born early and with downs syndrome, he was recovering so well, he was about to go home. But all of a sudden, the Lord called him home.

As you can see several things have been happening in the Spanish course. Please pray for the students & teachers and for other missionaries here. It seems like we're taking a hit right now, and we would covet your prayers. Satan is trying to discourage and cause disunity. The first bit of a missionaries time overseas is a vulnerable, hard time for new missionaries, and Satan wants to take advantage of that.

They're ripe!

Finally I have ripe tomatoes. They are so good. Mmmm.

Look how green it is!!

This is a open area that I pass fairly often in the city. Usually it is just plain brown dirt, if any vegetation, you can't tell b/c it is also brown. But with all the rain we've had for the last month and a half, it is GREEN! And there are little wildflowers along the sides of the roads. It is so pretty.

New students have started Spanish study

We have fun! These first two weeks the students are just listening. Their ears are getting adjusted to hearing Spanish, different tenses and commands, etc. They are focused on comprehension and are learning a ton! Even if they don't know every single word, they understand what the teacher says.
Here we are learning the names of fruit/veggies, food. They are learning so fast.

Aaron & Kimberly Knapp (on the left) and Dan & Sarah Alkire (Sarah is on the right, Dan is not in the picture) are also new to Mexico this summer and are just beginning Spanish study. They too, are trusting the Lord to be able to plant a church in an unreached people group.

Starting the New Semester

At the start of every semester, the new students have a set of excursions they go on to get "immersed" in the Mexican culture and to get to know their way around the city a bit. The last outing is always to have "coffee" with the teachers. This year, there are 3 new families who are entering the Spanish course and 3 other families have come from other Latin American countries and have moved into other ministries. Those families tagged along sometimes for the fun of it and to get to Mexico also! They all had a great time.
The last night we went to a restaurant that overlooks the city. We got their early, before the crowd so the waiter could explain any questions the students had about the food. So, we had crash course lesson on Mexican food! It was great.

The sunset was lovely.

It was a cultural activity. Dany, one of the Mexican teachers, accompanied the group and brought his wife, Berenice and son, Miguel. We were able to observe how culturally to act/dress at a restaurant, etc.

Mike & Karen Kelly and baby Tucker are one of the new families here in Mexico. They are beginning Spanish study and are trusting the Lord to be able to work in a tribe after Spanish. Peggy Warren, left, is a teacher who used to work in Panama. She was my parent's neighbor! She's now working here in Mexico. It's fun to have her here.

Joe & Nicole Wisniewski arrived in January, and never got to go on the outings for their semester, so they tagged along! It was fun to get to know them a bit more, since I only usually see the when we talk grammar!

Steve & Marta Murray are new to Mexico, but before that they were in Colombia & then Panama. Steve was actually one of my teaches in High School! It's great to have them here also. Welcome guys!

The city at sundown.