Quick Prayer Request

Hey all, I got back from my church's prayer meeting about 5 hours ago and am now leaving for Mexico City for the day. I would ask for prayer for energy and strength as I have an important meeting with all the pastors we will meet with today and that I could make a good first impression. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Saturday pastors breakfast

Hey all, the English classes, Bible studies and discipleship continue but on Saturday I am going back to Mexico City for the day for my first participation in the summer program as we are hosting a breakfast for all the interested families and pastors who are thinking about participating in the summer program. It will be the first chance for us as facilitators (leaders for the summer program) to meet the pastors and families and will be a vital opportunity to build connections and confianza (trust) with them to allow the summer to go much smoother. It is amazing here how important relationships are and I would just ask for prayer that Saturday would go smoothly and that God would give us wisdom as we choose the ministries to be involved in the summer and also I would ask for prayer for all the people that are going to be coming down this summer. Pray that God would be preparing their hearts for the experience and pray for those who are in the process of raising funds and finishing the last of their applications papers. I thank you all for your continued prayer and support. Much love to you all and God bless.

Soy poblano, soy poblano llevo a México y Puebla en el corazón

This weekend was just a great one all around and with each passing weekend the realization of leaving sets it and the realization that I am becoming more Poblano (someone from Puebla) by the week. I love my weekends, playing soccer hanging out with the youth group from church and using eating with them or doing something fun Sunday afternoon. The title of this entry in English would be I am Poblano, I carry Mexico and Puebla in my heart and comes from the theme song for the Puebla football team (soccer for those of you that are kinda slow). I always wanted to like Mexican football before but just never really had my heart in it. I always say that picking who you root for in sports is like women you can't really help who you fall for, you can't force yourself to like someone and once your heart is invested its hard to ignore a team. For the first time recently I have really been loving Mexican football and following the team in Puebla very closely. This weekend they won a really important game to avoid getting relegated or moving down to the second division here in Mexico, it would be the equivalent of the Orioles needing to win to not go down to the minor leagues, its a huge deal, even bigger than winning a championship in some sense and it was just really cool to be part of the celebration after they won. I listened to this game on the radio as I went with a few people from church to eat "breakfast" as about noon and just really enjoyed a good time with them before going home and going to a Birthday party for four different people that all share the same birthday including Robson (brasilian missionary) and his son. It was fun to be there, get to know some other people and also to see my family that I stayed with when I first moved to Puebla.

After the party I went with some of the youth from my church and from another church here in Puebla just to get coffee or whatever and talk. There I probably had one of the best conversations I have ever had in my entire year here in Puebla about what it looks like to be middle class and Christian and while being in disagreement with the majority who basically said that its good that the rich reach the rich and the poor reach the poor and just to look at the church like a business. We just talked for hours about Jesus and what it looks like to follow him as middle class people, our call to be countercultural and not just submit to the society we live in. It was really an amazing conversation that really woke up my soul as well and just kinda made me remember why I believe again. Much love to all and God bless, here's some pictures from yesterday.

Brothers??

Broken hearted and naked truths

Yesterday was a great day, but at the same point a rough day in the sense of a realization that I am going to have to leave behind some great friends. I think I have written this a superfluous amount of times, but I really love the people here. I even really enjoy my ministry, but I just feel like I'm not cut out for this full time ministry, or at least one that isn't more defined. I think that maybe if the ministry was more like a job with a bit more structure I would enjoy it more, but I feel like I kinda float around and have difficulties seeing any real progress. I suppose this is the nature of ministry work, but that is difficult for me. I have a need to see progress and be judged I guess, to be needed or something. Like at the end of a semester regardless of how little work or studying I did (often it was very little) when I got my grades at the end of the semester as long as I got a 4.0 I felt like i fulfilled my job. I loved working with IV and Greek IV and having Bible studies and stuff like that, I did it for the joy of doing it, it was frustrating at times, but since it wasn't my job it didn't get to me that much. I guess my identity was in being a student, but now that my identity is being a "missionary" for lack of a better word then I find it much more difficult to feel a sense of fulfillment in my work. It tears at my hear though because I love Puebla and the people and hope I can figure out some way to at some point come back here to live for a while. My heart is torn though, because I really want to go to Brasil, I really want to spend more time in the US to catch up with people and just settle down, but I also love it here and could see myself happy here with the right job. It is so hard because now part of my heart will forever being México, but obviously a large part of my heart is in the US and the two are mutually exclusive and so my whole heart I feel will never be united. Who knows, I am just praying that God would continue to give me peace and guidance as I continue trying to discern his will. I am surprisingly at peace about things, but still would like something resolved at some point.
Last night at the Bible study we were looking at Mark 3 and talking about the man with the wither hand who put that hand forward when Jesus said reach out your hand. We talked about how we have a tendency to put our best foot forward or in this case our best hand. We keep our withered hand (i.e. sin and problems) behind our backs trying to hide them from God and others, but really all we do is prevent the healing process. God is ready to heal and forgive if we would only let him. We also got to talking about the Pharisees and how they judged things on the surface and how the church today does the same thing; how people dressed a certain way or with certain jobs are looked down upon, but how Jesus saw through all these labels and titles. Jesus was a revolutionary because in many ways he tore down all the social and economic constructs that we have built, he didn't judge based on race, gender, nationality, class, sin. He just loved people, he saw people for who they were. I think that he saw us as we were in Eden, naked. He saw through everything and saw the beloved and loved us. I only wish that I could do this, to be able to love people without strings or prejudices. I pray that each day I could be more like Jesus and that my own sins and hangups would continue to be stripped away and I could just be me before God and be able to love and be loved by Him.

On cold showers, moving and some pictures

Wow, can't believe that four weeks from today I will be moving back to Mexico City, it's hard to believe how fast time goes by. I mean it seems just yesterday that I got here, but at the same time like I've been here for a long time. I am ready to on some level to start the summer program and do something different, but I am going to miss all my friends and family here in Puebla. It has really felt like home to me. The people from my church youth group have really been some amazing friends and will be tremendously missed. I've had so much fun with them and had so many awesome and deep conversations. I still would love one day to come back and live in Puebla again. Its just kinda rough to be moving all the time and have little to no stability. It's been fun and I have experiences that most people will never have, I have met so many people and learned so many things, but its hard to keep leaving so many friends. First, after four awesome years at UMD and at SigEp it was so tough to leave them, then it was tough to leave all my Mexico City friends and family and now to leave everyone here in Puebla and in just four months or so to leave México entirely to go who knows where. I would ask for prayer for continued guidance for my future wherever it might lead me.
For the last month or so I had decided that I would only take cold showers and it has been an interesting time. I decided to do so for several reasons, one most of the world doesn't have the luxury of a warm shower, so for me it has been a daily reminder that the life I live is not the same as most of the world, that the college degree and the warm showers are something that a minority of the world has and to really be thankful for what I have. Also, it has been a way to save energy and to try to minimize my effect on the planet. This morning I took my first hot shower in a long time and really enjoyed it, but the whole time with only cold showers helped me to appreciate the little things like warm showers.
Finally, please continue to pray for the students at my school. Last week there were 7 people at the English Bible study including 3 new people and just please keep them in your prayers. Continue to especially lift up a guy named Andrés, tomorrow we are scheduled to meet up and just to pray that we would be able to meet and just have a good conversation.

My two most faithful Bible study attendees David and Luis, they came over to my place last week after the study and we made hamburgers on the grill and just had a great time chilling and talking.


Normally about once a week I go to visit a home for disabled people just to talk to the guys and cheer them up. The guy on the left is named Mario and on the right is Miguel. Please pray for them and for the disabled home that in English would be called Rivers of Mercy. Pray especially for Mario who somehow got out of the house and can't be found so is somewhere out on the street.

My new blond hair

Hey all, how are things? Hope all is well. No, I didn't dye my hair but I found out yesterday for the first time in over a year here that for everyone here my hair is blond. I was really surprised when someone mentioned something about blond hair and I did a double take and had to ask again if they were talking about me. I think its kinda crazy that people here think my hair is blond. Its kinda funny because that actually explains a lot of cultural things to me. After they told me that I then proceeded to point to the door of the house I was in and ask what color it was, it was brown and then I put my hair next to it and asked if it was the same color to which of course they responded yes. It was the funniest thing because in such a long time here I never knew that. I have since asked about 20 people what color hair I have and have a 100 percent response of blond. Just thought that was interesting. Anyways to a ministry update, I have continued to get to know more students and keep the Bible study going. I would say in the time I have had the study there have been about 20 different students that have attended. I would ask especially for prayer for a guy named Andrés, just that God would continue to work on his heart and also for a guy named Victor. Victor is an awesome guy and the most atypical of Christians in Mexico. He used to be into the occult and still has some drinking issues and has a pregnant girlfriend, but we have had some awesome conversations about God and he really seems to be starting to understand what it is to follow Jesus. I am both sad and ready to leave Puebla in about 4 weeks. I love all the people I have met here and the experiences I have had, but at the same time feel ready to move on and do something different. I could definitely see myself coming back to live here at some time in the future if it could work out. Over the past few weeks I have also been having a Bible study of the book of Mark (thanks IV Chapter camp) with some of the youth from my church and I think it is going well. I am just really trying to make Jesus be alive to them again as I think a lot of them have sorta settled into the mediocrity of religiosity. I would ask that you continue to keep Jaime in your prayers, I haven't heard anything from him and don't think I will again, but just pray that God would be with him wherever he goes and that he would have a roof over his head and food on his plate and just feel the presence of God. Also, that he might be able to be reconciled one day with his family in the north of Mexico. I love you all and miss you, but am glad for the opportunity to be a humble servant of God here in México. I want to put up some pictures, but my internet is being slow and not letting me so I'll have to wait until a little later. Oh and a last thing if the movie Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna) comes out in the US I would highly recommend seeing it, its a story of a immigrant journey in the US and just a heart wrenching and well done film. Much love and God bless.

Go Caps and way to win the big one Puebla.

Soccer game, great friends and Bible studies

Hey all, I just want to again thank all of you for your love and support of me over these past few months here in Mexico. I most certainly could not do what I do without you all. I am so thankful to God for all the amazing friends I have in many different parts of the world. I am so thankful for the amazing friends I have made her in Puebla. Today I spent most of the day at a birthday party of one of the guys from my church and it has been so cool to realize that for the first time I have true genuine amazing friends that I consider as peers. It has been awesome ministering to them, being ministered by them and doing God's work today. I recently started an English class/Bible study with a group of them and have been excited with the turnout. God continues to be my strong tower despite my doubts and fears.
On another note my soccer team ministry which had/has been going well outside of the concept of winning a game finally played well enough to win a game. We have been a light I think to the rest of the teams in our league, sharing with them and bring a different level of sportsmanship to the game, but on Saturday we finally put together a decent game and won 3-2. I played sweeper the whole game and for the first time in a long time felt like I was actually playing in a real game of soccer. On another note I have continued to become a bigger fan of soccer in general, Mexican or any other country and thanks to the internet and Mexican newspapers can keep up with things very well.
Finally, to end my post I can say that each day that I spend here I am more Mexican and continue to learn so many things from my friends and the Mexican culture. I think I have learned how to be more flexible, to be more generous and hospitable and to trust God more. I continue with these lessons, but have had a great teachers to help me along the way. While I wouldn't say I necessarily feel fulfilled or called to continue with my ministry here in Puebla or for that matter as a full time career ministry worker, I continue to feel drawn to the idea of living in Latin America and maybe even staying here for a long time. As for now I continue to serve God in the best way I can and trust that he will sow me the next step in his due time. Much love to all of you and may God truly bless you all.

Bible study, team visit and a picture

Hey all, hope all is good for you. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers (all 2 of you that read this). Yesterday my Spearhead team from Mexico City came for a visit which was a lot of fun to show them around my apartment and around Puebla and allow them to know a new city. We met up with Robson (my Brasilian missionary friend) who shared with the group of his testimony and how he arrived to be a missionary. It was really cool to hear his life story, so much that I think we as a team learned from him. Tonight I have an English Bible study with some people from my church and hopefully some of their friends too. Also I attached a picture at the bottom from last week. Sorry I can't write more. Much love and God bless.