Another summer completed

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of so many things and I can't believe that the summer is already over. The summer program finished last week and all the summer team went home. I think Spearhead is a unique program because our goal is that people are missing their Mexican families and churches and not the other Americans on the trip. As we had our annual closing breakfast with families and pastors I was once again impressed with this aspect of spearhead the tearful goodbyes were with families and churches and not with fellow students. We will certainly miss each other, but the people that have most impacted us are the many Mexican people that have blessed our lives. I think one of the main flaws of short term cross cultural missions is that the close bonding from a new situation occurs generally with team members of the same culture and not with members of the entered culture. I think this is really what sets Spearhead apart.

As I said goodbye to spearheaders I prepared myself for many a goodbye with my friends and family here. I attended a plethora of birthday parties and goodbye parties and just enjoyed the company of friends and family. I have continually been challenged by the value placed on family here in Mexico and have learned so much about loving my own family and the kind of family I one day want to have from my Mexican families. Also, amidst the festivities the mother of a good friend passed away from cancer and I attended my first Mexican funeral. She passed away in the afternoon on a week day and that same day at 10pm about 70 people crowded into their small house and sang hymns, shared coffee, cookies and memories and spent much of the night grieving with the family. It made me think of the early church and ponder our own culture and how we deal with life and death. I was impressed at how quickly the community came together to mourn and grieve with the family. Two pastors of the church showed up as well as maybe 20 members, most of whom did not know the woman who had passed away very well but were fellow church members with the grieving son. It was an amazing picture for me of love and community.

Tomorrow I am hopefully going to Puebla for the weekend to say hi and goodbye to my Poblano friends, returning to Mexico City monday. I have a doctor's appt tuesday with my surgeon, lunch with a friend after that, dinner with another friend. Wednesday I will be having lunch with one of my families, then meeting a friend for an earlier lunch before the US soccer game. Thursday I will be visiting my Brasilian friends who came to Mexico in March about the same time I left Brasil and then going to Miami friday to spend a week with my brother there before returning up north to Maryland. Much love to everyone and God bless.

End of Summer Program

Hey all, all the summer students are now gone and I am now going to spend the next two weeks resting from a few busy weeks and also saying goodbyes to lots of friends in both Mexico City and Puebla as well as waiting for the Mexico vs. US soccer game. I write a longer blog later, but just wanted to post this video I made that was shown at our closing conference.

Spearhead Summer 2009 from Drew Bach on Vimeo.

Wedding, my back and time wrapping up

Hey all, sorry for such a long time since I wrote. I sit here getting ready to go to church this morning and reflecting on what a roller coaster ride this past year has been. This summer has been no different. I am now 5 weeks post surgery and starting to feel better, I certainly have a ways to go still, but am feeling better and able to be considerably more mobile. I have gotten back into the swing of things with ministry, have been making some church visits and visits to make sure the summer team is doing well. This week is the last week for the summer team, today they will say goodbye to their churches as they will depart Mexico on Friday. I can't believe how fast the time has past. I will be staying here until August 14th to say goodbye to friends and families as well as to be able to stay and go to the August 12th World Cup qualifier between Mexico and the US here in Mexico City. It's always been a dream of mine to see that game here in Mexico City, the US has never won. Please pray for continued recovery of my back, also pray for the summer team that they might finish well and transition back home successfully, not forgetting the things they learned this summer. Also, as a last note I have an internship lined up in Rockville to work as the Latin America intern for the Goodwill Membership Development department. I will be working at their International headquarters there in Rockville and look forward to the experience. It's a 3 month job and then I'm hoping in January to return to Brasil, God willing. Much love and God bless.

Recuperation and getting back to some work

Hey all, just wanted to give you all an update on my recovery. My incision is healing nicely and is no longer painful. I am slowly able to get back to my work of visiting churches and families as well as mentoring and sharing with US students and helping them to continue adjusting to México. Some days are better than others as far as the pain is concerned, but definitely way better than a few weeks ago. Again, I feel so blessed to have been able to have the surgery and have my insurance company pay for it (I think, I go with the Don't Ask Don't tell policy on that one, the hospital has my credit card number and hasn't charged it, so thats a good thing). I am in far less severe pain than before the surgery and slowly getting on my feet more. I still feel pain in my back and occasionally in my legs too. The later which scares me much more as I feel paranoid that the surgery didn't work. I would ask for prayer that I can get back to my work, that I can have peace of mind about my surgery and not be worried that it, didn't work. I would pray for the pain to continue to diminish and that my body would continue to heal. Also pray for wisdom in balancing my ministry and taking care of my body. Finally, I'd ask for prayer for my trip home on Thursday. I'm really excited to be able to come home for my sister's wedding and take part in such a special day, but a little nervous about the travel. Pray for safe travels and that my back holds up, I'll only be home for a few days, but I hope I can see some of you. Much love and God bless.

Spearhead Holistic Ministry Talk

Spearhead Holistic Ministry Talk from Drew Bach on Vimeo.

The Recovery Continues

Not a lot of exciting things to write about these days. I am still on 100% bed rest, I can only sit for a while and also go up and down the stairs once a day. I normally go down to eat with my host family and spend most of the day in bed. I have been reading a little, catching up on some US TV shows I hadn't seen in forever, watching some movies and trying to figure out what comes next. I have been doing some work with Spearhead, making some phone calls, working on some computer projects and the like. I was supposed to give a talk today on holistic ministry, but instead made a video, i'm trying to post it online as we speak, i'll put it here if it works. I see the doctor on Thursday to get my stitches out and see how I'm progressing. I am no longer taking any kind of strong medicine and feel like I am optimistic about things, but it will be a slow recovery. If all goes well I can start running in 6 months or so. Hope all is well, much love and God bless.

Back at my Mexican home recovering

Hey all, thanks for your prayers and support through all this time. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am back at my mexican home resting for the next few weeks in recovery from my back surgery. Still in a fair amount of pain, but my docor seemed pleased with the surgery, no screws involved which is good. At least two weeks of straight bed rest and then another 2 of pretty much bed rest, 6 months to running if all goes well. Thanks for your prayers, emails and messages, it means a lot to me to have friends and family all over the world who love and care for me.

nervous smile before i went to the operating room


some crazy looking device holding my back open