mexico 2010

I started this blog last week, and am publishing it now. I tried to upload a bunch of pics, but the connection is bad. I will upload more pics tomorrow! Enjoy!





So, I am minutes before Sala to write a bit. I am not able to blog from here so I have to write on Word and then go to Dorothy and blog from there.
Jason didn’t sleep all of Thursday night. He fell asleep about 8:00am. At 11:00, Case took him and put him in the bed in the motorhome. He slept all that day and night. Never heard a word from him. On Saturday, later in the morning, he woke up and said, “now you can go home. Turn around. Time to go back to Lisa.” We had a good chuckle about that.

The weather travelling was good for most of the first day. I really enjoyed driving through Montana. Later in the evening we got into some snow. We camped at a truckstop between some rumbling trucks all night. This was just North of Salt Lake.
We had some dry weather in Nevada I think. I think that is the land of kangaroos and rattlesnakes! Dry, dry, dry!! I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Roadrunner chased by Wile Coyote come flying across the road!
The rest of the trip was mostly snowy, rainy and very foggy.
The Mexican border crossing was uneventful. The border guard said to Case, “I need to get in.” Case got out and opened the door for him. Amy and Jenn were sleeping and didn’t know that we were at the border. They popped up when the guy walked in. He saw them, turned around,checked the fridge and walked out!
Driving along the ocean was very beautiful!

We came to a stop along the ocean where they had washrooms. The doors were locked, but while we were there a very old man came to clean and open up the washroom. We gave him a Spanish bible and said have a good day. He didn’t understand of course and we were trying to figure out how that went in Spanish. I went back to the motorhome and asked the girls. They told me so I went back. When I got back, he was leaning against the washroom wall reading his bible. He wanted one more for his wife. Pray for this couple. That God will use His word to bring fruit.
After getting through Encenada, we started to get some interesting roads. You get more into the rural area then and there was a lot of construction for a while. There is nobody guiding traffic and not many guiding lines. You go where you think you should be going based on where the oncoming traffic isn’t driving!

When we got to the ‘end construction’ sign the roads were about the equivalent of what ours are like when we begin construction!
Driving through all the little villages is so interesting! I really think that all the leftover paint from Canada and the U.S. gets over here and they use it for their houses. Every different shade of pink, purple, green, blue, orange, yellow and everything in between is found here.





Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010-12-22
We rolled out of bed and hit breakfast at 7:00 again this morning. Scrambled eggs with Mexican Salsa. Very good as long as you don’t overdo the Salsa. We have about 15 minutes to eat and then it’s clean-up time. After breakfast we had a bit of time before Sala. (worship) The message was very good. We can not live with one foot in each world. We always want to blame someone for our sins. This started already in The Garden and continues on with us today. Satan is not the only one at fault. We have chosen to be disobedient and willfully carry on in our sin. It is only by God’s grace and through His power that we can overcome sin.
After Sala we were all given our jobs. Case and Glenn took Jason and David Martinez over to Santa Marta. This is an orphanage set up for special needs kids. I am hoping to be able to see this before we go. Case said it was very interesting. Jason was a rascal though so I am sure it was hard for Case to really pay much attention. I went with Gloria to clinic. There was a lady who needed a dressing change. Gloria looked at it and said it was doing so well she could wait until Wednesday to put a fresh dressing on. While Gloria was doing this, someone came running and said, “Sara needs Gloria RIGHT NOW!!” When Gloria got there, little Jared’s intestine had protruded much more and he needed medical attention right away. This was pretty tough as we saw him deteriorate right in front of us. He is in Ensanda now and I’m not sure what’s going on with him. Please pray for this little munchkin. He has the sweetest little smile.
Gloria is an amazing nurse. Her love, laughter and gentleness are like a ray of sunshine for her patients. Each one of them is special to her and somehow she seems to communicate with them. I think they all love her!
The girls have various jobs around the Orphanage. Children need to be watched, nuts need to be picked up in the orchard, nuts are sorted/bagged in the nuthouse and there is endless cleaning that needs to be done. Wilene is like a little ragamuffin running from one place to the next with Josh. She came to me today and said, “Mom, at home I feel trapped and here I just feel like I am free.” I am not totally sure what she meant. Maybe she was referring to her freedom from me?
I n the afternoon I got to try my hand at driving a Mexican wagon. A volunteer from the orphanage took Jenn, Amy and myself on child evangelism at a Migrant Camp. We spoke no Spanish (well, maybe five words) and she spoke no English (maybe 3 words). It was amazing how we could actually communicate together. We managed to actually make it there. Driving ‘Ol Blue’ has really paid off! I got to drive a full size Ford van. Stop signs here don’t actually mean ‘STOP’. You kinda slow down, look both ways and continue. There are these huge speed bumps on the highway that have a sign that says ‘tope’ on it. All the way here we were trying to figure out what those signs meant. Well, it means BUMP!! I totally missed two of those on the highway. By the time I realized there was a TOPE, we were pretty much sailing in the air in our van. Francisca (the lady who came with us) was laughing so hard. She said something to us, and the only words that I could figure out were ‘chauffer’ and ‘nervousa’ . Not sure what she was saying, but I think I have a good idea!
We turned at the grande arbol (spelling?). We didn’t figure out the meaning of this word until we were almost upon the ‘big tree’ and she was frantically directing me to turn left! We proceeded down a dirt road with telephone poles right down the middle. Logic told me to stay to the right of the poles. When we bumped into town, we couldn`t believe the poverty. There were stick houses, cardboard houses, tin houses , some cement houses or houses built from scrap wood. As we were maneuvering the potholes up and down the streets, Francisca was speaking through a megaphone. Kids came running when they heard her. Some were cheering and laughing. Some had their cups and spoons in their hands already. Some started to follow us.
We stopped and Francisca had us bring a couple of things to a house. This house reminded me of the pig barn that we had when I was growing up. We demolished it to build a new one because it was so bad! There was no window, and a door with a wheel on a track to open it. Just the same as the old parlor doors that we had at home except they slid better. There was a mattress on the floor with multiple blankets on it. From what we could gather, a mother lived her with her seven little children. Her husband is an alcoholic and does not work. She has no food and no money. One of the children was sick in bed. I wish we could have brought her more than we did. If I had known that we were going to be going to someone like this, I would have brought some of our stuff there.
After announcing our arrival, we stopped at the daycare and gathered around some tables under a leanto. Francisca gave a small Bible lesson, went over some memory verses and sang some songs. Then we served peanut butter and milk to the kids. They all line up, girls in one row and boys in another, with their cups and spoons. Each child gets a spoon of peanut butter and a cup of milk. This is apparently some of the only good nutrition they get in a week. They are so happy to have that one cup of milk and a spoonfull of peanut butter. Lesson for any of us? They come with expectant faces, knowing that we have food for them. Do we go to God each day with our faces uplifted and expectant hearts knowing that He has food for us? It was cold and raining. Some of the kids had only t-shirts and were shivering. Yet they came because they had heard us calling. So often we make excuses why we cannot go to God. I am tired or busy. You wouldn’t believe what I have done! God wouldn’t look at someone like me. Etc. But God says He will never turn away anyone who comes to Him. We have such a mediocre/ho-hum attitude towards God! Return to me says the Lord!
Today is Wednesday and it is raining. No not raining, pouring! No it’s a deluge!! When it rains like that here, it is like a blizzard in Canada. Most everything shuts down! The dirt roads turn to this slimy mud with water rivers running down it. Not that great to drive down. Driving when the potholes have only air in them is one thing. With rain, you cannot see how deep the hole is! Depending on what you’re driving, you go around it and hope for a more shallow hole on the other side, or you brave the big one and see whether you come up or not!
Gloria needed to be in the clinic today, so I have been watching little ones all morning. I’m wiping snotty noses, filling bottles, cleaning up toys and playing with babies. Just feels like I’ve gone back about 15 years. Or maybe ahead 15?
Thursday, December 23rd! Our 22nd anniversary. How we have been blessed these last 22 years! Today we went to see a family that has a boy who is paralyzed from the waist down. We needed to change the dressing s on some ulcers that he has. Gloria is an amazing nurse. She makes each person feel so special and she is so loving to everyone! Glenn and Case got to do a job there too! Some of the light bulbs in the house didn’t work so they went up in attic to see where the wires came from so they could fix it. The family is so happy. Two boys and two girls that were smiling and so thankful. We gave them each a bible and they were excited to have their own!
In the evening, we went for supper with Glenn and Gloria and another couple from the Mission for our anniversary. It was dark so I wouldn’t be able to get there again, but saw my first fence in Mexico that had straight fence posts! Honestly!! The very first straight fence! Also, you should see the windbreaks here. They have the fences and then nicely tucked or woven between the wires is either plastic, cardboard or really small branches. I guess it works. Talking about making do with what is available to you.
Friday we went to the Seal Caves and Sanddollar Beach. On our way we stopped along the road at a taco stand. They were delicious! I don’t think anything would pass health standards in Canada, but that’s ok! It was very interesting because they had a huge skeleton of some whale in front of the hut! This lunch was quite the experience! We fed the whole family for $20.00. After this we drove on until we got to the turnoff to the Seal Caves. We drove up this dirt path for about 20 minutes. The landscape is full of cacti. So many different kinds it’s amazing. The land here is so dry. I feel like we’ve been living in a sandbox. Well you have never seen anything like the seal caves! The seals swim through a cave up onto a sandy beach. We were walking on the ground and all of a sudden there is a huge hole in the ground, about 40-50 feet. Looking down into this hole we can see the seals. There were about 30 seals basking in the sunshine. Apparently they are going to be calving soon and you can actually stand up there and watch them calve!
After the seal caves we were driving back to the main road. I had seen these amazing dead branches that were full of holes. As we were driving, I asked Glenn to stop and I found one. Gloria saw one further in the cactus patch and went after that one. After shaking the ants and black widow spiders, tarantulas and scorpions out of it we took it on the bus! Just kidding, there were only ants in it but apparently you have to be very careful for the others! Glenn wasn’t really keen on stopping, but I am glad he did because I now have a really cool stick!!!
Driving on to Sanddollar Beach was next! The beach is immense and what beautiful sand! There were lots of dead sand dollars, but we found some that were alive. I think they have hundreds of little ‘feet’ to move along the sand. There is a beautiful Motel here that apparently fills up in Jan., Feb., and Mar. for Whale watching.
Saturday was mostly getting ready for Turkey dinner at Dorothy and Eduardo’s place. We did go visit a family where Rachel knew the oldest girl. She was there taking care of her siblings while her mother worked in the camp. This was the neatest house that I have seen. Someone had built this house for them and I could see that they took pride in it. The kids climbed some ‘mountain’ which they said was really beautiful too. There were caves which they played around in for quite a while.
Dinner was amazing and we had a lovely time. There were about 35 people there. A good mixture of Spanish and English going on. After supper Jenn played piano and there were 4 violinists. They played Christmas songs and worship songs. Music is a universal language and they were communicating quite nicely. It was a lovely Christmas day although it sure was different! There are Christmas decorations all around. Exactly like what we have. I don’t think they have any idea what an evergreen with snow on it looks like, but they have it for their decorations! This proves to me that all the Christmas decorating ideas originated somewhere much further North!! I did see pointsettias growing in some peoples gardens. They were about 5-6 feet tall!