Patriotic Delight de Puebla

From Puebla from Kim

We thought it was time for Kim (me) to take a turn at a blog update. So here goes!

We have been so blessed to have incredible opportunities here in Mexico. We thank all of you that support us by prayer, finances, thoughts and concerns, from the bottom of our heart. We feel so privileged to be here.

Yesterday we met with the new director of FEB International here in beautiful downtown Puebla. We had a delightful Mexican comida meal together in an authentic Mexican restaurant and it is nothing like Taco Bell!!! Dan was a great encouragement to us.

We spent a delightful few hours showing Dan around the downtown of Puebla. You might recall that the first time we came to Mexico we lived in Puebla for 3 ½ months and got to know the city with our language guides from the Spanish school we attended. We love the “centro” of Puebla. The city is 475 years old and so very enchanting!

As we stood at entrance to the “gold” chapel where the ceiling and all walls are overlaid in gold, the beauty took my breath away! It is very sobering to ponder the spiritual condition of the people’s hearts. Do they have a relationship with our Saviour? They are very spiritual people, but are they trusting in their traditions for their salvation?

We are so grateful for those we meet along the way that are a blessing and an encouragement. There is a house here in Los Heroes, Puebla, which missionaries have prepared for visitors to stay in. The house is lovely and it is such a blessing to have a place to retreat to after busy days of visiting and meeting with dear friends. We appreciate the way the missionary team has made us feel so welcome.

Would you pray for Gary this week as he prepares to preach this Sunday, Dec 7 in Spanish? He will get help with his preparations, but needs our prayers! We both covet your prayers as we continue to work hard on learning this beautiful language. We need well tuned ears and well oiled tongues!

Many blessings to you and your families. Thank you to those that email us and let us know your needs and prayer requests. We are glad to partner with you in these matters of prayer. We love to hear from you.

Kim

Ahorita, estamos en Puebla

After a two hour bus ride with our friends, the Casteels, Kim and I got off the bus in Las Animas, a Zona of Puebla. After a bit of a break, we took a taxi to Los Heroes and wandered to Keith and Dawn Goodlings house where we were graciously offered a reheated and Delicious Thanksgiving Dinner, complete with Pumpkin pie and whipped cream.....did I mention the pie came with Starbucks coffee? Later we settled into Tim's house which Keith and Dawn had graciously prepared for us, complete with two Hershey Kisses on each pillow. We have a big day planned. We'll share more later. 

Empty house and pizza

What blessing it was to taxi over to our friends' house on the other side of town. The plan was to await the moving truck together and visit a while.  As we arrived Toby was on the  telephone to the movers, who were now stopped by the police on the side of the road in Mexico city.  The decision was made to come this morning to load the truck. This is so Mexico! 

After wandering around an empty house, sitting and chatting, we decided to go for pizza to Armando's, owned by a Canadian from Windsor, Ontario. It was a great opportunity to catch up with dear friends, Toby and Marilyn Casteel, to share what God has been and is doing in each of our lives. While Kim and I are just nicely into our 50's and excited about what God has before us in this decade of our lives, Toby  and Marilyn are just moving into their 60's decade. For us, they have been an inspiration and heroes at the same time. No one can count the ways God has used them in the lives of so many as they have shepherded CAM missionaries and graciously blessed CrossWorld missionaries just arriving in Mexico for language studies. 

We left Armando's last night in separate taxis, Toby and Marilyn back to a nearly empty house for one more night, and Kim and I back to the house we are renting from missionaries on home assignment.  We will be staying a while longer and Toby and Marilyn will be starting life anew in Texas.  

Do you ever have an evening that you suspect will be a treasured memory..... 

Thanks Toby and Marilyn 

Life in Cuernavaca

As I write this blog, our friends are across town awaiting the moving truck, which was supposed to arrive at 10 this morning. Apparently it broke down in Mexico City and will arrive sometime this evening. They wait in a near empty house I'm sure reflecting on the many precious memories that have been made over the last 8 or 9 years. When I am finished this blog, we will take a taxi across town to wait with them. Eventually, we hope, we will come back to our house to spend the night and then will travel together tomorrow to the city of Puebla by bus. They will carry on to the state of Veracruz for a missionary field conference and we will make our way to Los Heroes, a large housing development in this city of over 2 million people. If all goes well, we will have pumpkin pie by tomorrow evening with American friends and will celebrate with them American Thanksgiving.

This week we began formal language classes and have had a good week. Of course we have been learning new things every day since arriving and have done everything we can to saturate ourselves with Spanish, even to watching a TV program similar to American Idol. It goes for hours it seems with rapid fire Spanish, but this is a good way to tune our ears. It is interesting to understand what the distorted voice over the Walmart loudspeaker system is saying now, for the most part. And we overhear people talking and understand more of what they are saying. We praise God for the increase in comprehension and capacity to communicate.

With God's help, I will preach on December the 7th in Spanish. We plan to involve ourselves in the activities of the church and just be with the people as often as is possible. We are looking forward to a Christmas party on December 19th.

People are asking us what we will do for Christmas. This will be the first Christmas ever without any of our children around and without access to any family whatsoever. We are not feeling sorry for ourselves but rather look forward to entering into the joy of celebrating Christ's birth with friends and brothers and sisters in Christ here in Mexico. Who knows what will happen?

I should close. Your prayers for strength, stamina, agile minds and liberty in talking as well as for wisdom in relationships and in counselling and encouraging our friends here are deeply appreciated. I will write more soon.

Blessings,

Gary for the both of us.

Home in Cuernavaca

Five days ago we touched down in Mexico City, Nov. 8th. The night before we celebrated Kim's birthday with Daniel and Grace in Chicago at a good Mexican restaurant called, "On the Boarder". Our Mexicana server had family in Cuernavaca and it was a neat point of conversation.

We traveled Sunday, Nov 9th, by bus to Cuernavaca (2 hours) and took a taxi to our house from the bus terminal. We didn't know how we were going to get in because we didn't have keys, nor did we have a telephone card with which to call the man (Osvaldo) that did have the keys. Our taxi driver found the house after a little while and "coincidently" Osvaldo and his wife, Veronica, and their two children were at the house watering the lawn and cleaning up a bit of dust in the house. It was a neat "God Moment" to be welcomed by our brother and his wife, whom we knew already. After helping us get our bags into the house, and lighting the water heater and turning on the gas, we went for supper to La Tortuga for wonderful tacos al pastor, our favourities. After supper they took us to Walmart (about a 15 minute walk from our house) to buy a few groceries and then brought us home. We had a delightful time with them.

Monday, Nov 10th, Osvaldo brought his coworker by the house during lunch (2-4pm) and he cut the grass and trimmed the bushes. We set out on foot to buy a mattress cushion and some new pillows and walked back from Walmart with arms full. We got a bit lost but that only added to the fun. After work Osvaldo came by and took me to get some keys cut so we wouldn't lock ourselves out of the house.

Since then, we have been coming and going, cleaning the house, shopping and just trying to catch our breath after a very busy October. We are so grateful to be here in Mexico. Tonight we will have coffee with Pastor Lorenzo Servin and his wife, Mari Carmen. Tomorrow night, CAM missionaries and fellow Canadians will come to spend the weekend with us. Jim and Shari and their children are precious to us. They serve in a suburb of Mexico City, so we look forward to learning all about their new ministry.

We are trusting God for this season in Mexico. Please pray for our minds to be quick, our hearts to be patient, and our tongues to be loosed as we work on Spanish. It is coming.

November Newsletter

Leaving Chatham Behind

How do you leave six years of your life behind? They have been six years of incredible change in our lives. God has enriched us greatly with our time in Chatham. He has used friends, pain, adversity, triumph and overcoming, His Word and Spirit and time. I was reminded this past week of a message I preached during my closing months at Emmanuel on the life of Joseph. God's work always requires time and grace.


During our time in Chatham, God took our delight in missions and made it a reality in our lives. We have spent over 8 months of the last three years in Mexico and God brought Pastor Miguel and Gladis Mahecha into our lives to keep Spanish alive and and a love for Latin American people growing.

Over the last three years Chatham has been our place of refuge. From here we have struck out on preaching ministries, made countless new friends abroad and have added West Highland Baptist Church and Oxford Baptist Church to our list of churches we have fallen in love with. We have been amazed at who God would touch to support us in our endeavors and adventures for Him and we have been humbled by the love of many and the faithfulness of God.




I'm feeling a little sentimental as I write this entry. Until now I have not had time to feel much emotion but it seems to be catching up. Our ministry in Chatham is not finished, but our time to live there is completed. We know God's peace at being homeless and at not being sure where we will eventually live. One thing we do know for certain; God knows and he is working. We have seen his hand in the sale of our home and in divine appointments that only he could have orchestrated in the last few days and months.


For now we prepare to head to Mexico with excitement. We cannot wait to renew fellowship with our missions family there and to make new friends. Pastor Lorenzo thinks he can find something for us to do in Cuernavaca! And we look forward to visiting missionary friends in Mexcio City and Puebla as well as other cities.



We do appreciate all who uphold us in prayer. Dale and Audrey Groombridge (above) and their small group have supported us in prayer over the last three years. Two weeks ago they prayed for a buyer to act within 48 hours and our house sold less than 48 hours later. We visited with them last week to thank them for their concerted effort in prayer. It was an incredible joy to be with these wonderful friends from Emmanuel.



As we put our boat in storage for the winter and drove out of Chatham, the sun was setting and I got this picture. It is kind of fitting as God was saying, "this day is closing and so is this era in your lives".


We rejoice that his mercies are new every morning and so we move on in his grace and strength.