Back in Torreon

Today we headed back to Torreon for Paul to turn in some paperwork to Tec de Monterrey. Everything went smoothly, they took Paul's test scores, and it looks like he only has to take a couple entrance exams. As of now, it looks like Paul will be a student there this August studying International Business.

This evening we had Wednesday night church - Stephen was preaching on Acts 5. Afterward Paul and I hung around talking to the youth group for a while. We ended up talking with Ivan for a while. He spoke slowly for me, and I was actually able to understand most of his Spanish. It was fun listening to his stories about living in Fort Worth and the differences between America and Mexico, and it is cool to see my Spanish improving.

Happy Birthday Lily!

Another day in San Pedro. I went for a quick three mile run this morning - it was the first time I had run at a solid pace for a while, and it felt good. Then off to breakfast and Spanish lessons - today's lesson lasted two and a half hours - plenty of work for tomorrow. I spent the morning helping Paul with his address book and putting up some pictures on the website. Today was Lily's birthday, so we had a birthday lunch outside for her with everyone on the property - the food, a type of soup mixed with the remainders of the pig, was quite good, and we all got Lily some small presents.

I was reading a bit more in Perspectives today, and it hit on another passage that I had been thinking about recently: Psalm 67, where the Psalmist asks God to shine his face on him in order that God's name might be known through the earth.

Tonight I worked a bit more on music theory with Elisa and played around on the piano with her, Timothy, and Peter. I'm teaching Timothy an old chromatic jazz piece that I know, and he's picked it up really fast. I'm loving just hanging out with the Tolman family. Tomrrow I'll be back in Torreon with Paul to turn in some paperwork, and we'll see what else comes.

San Pedro Times, Pt. 2

The team from Grace Center has left and Paul and I are now settled in to our room on the property, and we have begun a slightly more regular schedule. The time with the team from Grace Center ended well. On Friday night we visited the drug rehab center in San Pedro for a night of worship and ministry with the men there. It's some of the most enthusiastic worship I have experienced, and we got to spend a lot of time praying over all the men. I was praying with my friend Jonathan over one guy, and he told us that he was in the rehab center for suicide attempts. This was exactly what Jesus had pulled Jonathan out of, and he was able to share his story with this man and encourage him with the gospel's power - it never ceases to amaze me how God sets up divine appointments for us.

The following weekend I got pretty sick (as did many of the team), but Marcela took care of me now and I am up to full strength. After the team left on Tuesday, Paul and I moved into our new room and we began to settle in to life in San Pedro. I have started taking Spanish lessons every day with Marcela - she's a great teacher and pushes me hard (far more work than I have at Stanford), and I'm picking up more and more each day. I am also teaching music theory to Elisa Tolman and I will be teaching at the Tolmans' English school.

It's been a lot of fun to start forming relationships with the youth down here. They've welcomed me in, and I'm looking forward to seeing my friendships deepen as the summer passes and my Spanish improves. This Friday Paul and I are heading with a youth group to a town called Cuatrocienagas for a retreat, which should be a fun time with them.

For me, the best part so far has been simply being around the Tolman family. They are a family that lives solely to see the kingdom of God advance and has incredible faith in God's provision after having to rely wholly on him for years. Yet they're also very real people who love joking with each other, and Paul and I have a great time hanging out with them.

I was reading recently John's vision of the multitude in white robes in Revelation 7. This scene always gets my heart pumping faster - this is the end we long for and are ultimately moving toward - the fulfillment of God's blessing to Abraham that the whole earth should be blessed! I pray God is keeping you well and that you can live in light of the end of the story.

University Shopping

After today's Spanish lesson, I headed to Torreon with Paul, Marcela, and Lily to check out a couple schools for Paul. We first went to Monterrey Tech, Mexico's top notch school. They had an international business program that Paul was interested in, and the people there were very welcoming to Paul, and it looks like they'll make it very easy for him to come there. After a bit of Dominos (pizza never tasted so good) we also visited a five room language institute that we were not too impressed with.

Tonight I took some time to rest and read, spending a while in the Word and then diving into a book called Perspectives that Sarah gave me. It's a collection of articles on the world missions movement, and it begins by looking at God's plan of redemption through history beginning with Genesis. John Stott examined the the three part fulfillment of the Abrahamic blessing, and he ended at a passage that I had recently been enjoying: the great multitude in white robes in Revelation 7. This is a passage that has always made my heart beat faster at the excitement of seeing God's plan for the redemption of the nations fulfilled. A thought from this passage: verse 10 reads, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." I sing this verse so much I forget what it means. At the moment of exultation and glory, the multitude yells out, "God, you are the reason we're here! Our saving was totally by you; it belongs to you and your Son!"

A bit of encouragement from 1 Corinthians 3 to end the night: "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God."

The Sabbath

A day of church, rest, and a bit of work and play. Each Sunday there are two services in the church, one in the morning and one in the night, and today Paul and I went to both. So that I can get something from the sermon, Paul attempted to translate the sermon for me as Stephen gave it. It was a little rough on the first go (we didn't actually know till afterward what passages Stephen was preaching from), but the sermon was piercing nonetheless. Looking at Colossians and 1 Timothy, Stephen was preaching against a spirit of religion - Christianity is not a matter of rules, but relationship. The law has not disappeared - if we try to live according to it, we will fail - it is only by grace that we are made holy. When we set our "minds on things above" and live seeking to know, love, and serve Christ, we will keep from sin. Religion hinders the Spirit, holiness welcomes the Spirit.

We spent the afternoon working with Stephen on a grant proposal of sorts, running through the details of all his ministries. It was a great way for me to get a fuller picture of Stephen's approach to ministry and how he tries to engage Mexican culture with the gospel. And the stories of changed lives never cease to thrill me - lives changed through the drug rehab center, through the cell groups, through the professional soccer team. It's so cool to be around a family that lives solely to see the kingdom of God advance and will use any means available to accomplish this purpose.

After the evening service, Paul and I headed to the plaza to hang out with the youth group. We wandered around for a while and had some tasty shaved ice/ice cream stuff. A couple of girls got the idea that it would be fun to prank Paul and I, and we ended up in a shaving cream war in the plaza. The persecutions we face for the gospel . . .

Fresh Pork, Pool Parties, and Speed Court

Well, I missed the slaughter of the pig - I was tired so I overslept. But Paul was there. He told me Don Pablo finished it off quickly with two stabs to the heart. And I got to see the results and enjoy eating it later on. It is a little different eating so many parts of the animal.

This morning I had another lesson with Marcela, learning the present, the preterite, and the participles for a whole slew of verbs and practicing conversation.

Afterward we headed with the youth group to a country club where the Tolmans had been given membership. As Paul and I were the Tolmans' two lost sons, James Tolman and Cole Tolman, we were able to get in free. We had a great afternoon jumping off diving platforms, playing polo and soccer, and playing Relient K really loud. It's fun to have more time just to hang with the youth group. I'm praying my friendships with them will deepen as time passes and my Spanish improves.

Tonight, we returned to speed court for a night of "futbol rapido." It's basically a hockey rink of concrete with inset goals and bleachers where teams of six play to one goal, winner stays. The Mexicans are far better than Paul and I, but we manage to have a good time nonetheless.

Well, off to sleep before a day of church services.

Lessons

Another morning of Spanish. I did well with the first set of speeches - I think I even surprised Marcela. I have to do another three tomorrow which I am more or less prepared for. The lessons continue . . .

As part of my homework I had a to interview several people about their families and jobs. Everyone is pretty open to it and it was fun getting to talk to some of the men who work on the property. I made Jacob give me an interview in exchange for a guitar string. Then I interviewed Don Pablo, the property's handyman who can fix anything. Next I talked to a boy who I could not understand at all, and finally I talked to Don Juan, the church treasurer, who was happy to talk with me (and actually speaks good English as well).

We had youth service tonight, and Lily gave an announcement that I was able to catch most of - always an encouragement. Paul taught at the service about God's great plans for us. I knew what he was talking about, which helped, so I was able to pick up a decent bit of what he said.

I also began teaching Elisa how to read music today. She's already a good musician, so I think the lessons will go quite quickly. Today she learned the names of the lines and spaces, whole and half steps, sharps and flats, and how the notes on the page correspond with the piano. It'll be fun to see her progress throughout the summer.

Well, I'm off to bed - Paul and I are supposed to be up at 6 tomorrow to slaughter the pig - I'm not sure how we're going to get out of this one.

Español Empieza

Today I began Spanish lessons with Marcela. They look like they will be pretty fun and will improve my Spanish quickly. I'm getting more homework from her than I'd get at Stanford - pages and pages of writing to practice various phrases, and passages I have to speak either from memory or looking at the English. The trick is that I have to speak as fast as Marcela did this morning, and Mexicans talk at one fast pace. After working all day and saying them as fast I can, I feel like I am flying through them, and I'm just barely below the mandated minute mark. I'm definitely enjoying the challenge, though.

I am going begin teaching Elisa music theory tomorrow. She has an amazing natural talent and already knows a lot by ear, so it should go pretty fast. Paul and I spent the rest of the day completing the internet setup, working on a bit of mandolin, and hanging out with some friends of his from the English school.

Well, I'm off to work on getting those passages to fly off my tongue. Good night!

Hidden Treasure, Batman, and Rooftops

Today was a fairly restful day, spent mostly hanging out with the Tolman family.

We enjoyed breakfast with the family, listening to Stephen tell tales of hidden treasure and poison filled caves and other cool facts of Mexican history. Then we headed to Torreon with Marcela, Lilly, Elisa, and Timothy to make a Wal-Mart run for needed supplies. Afterward, we met Stephen and Peter for lunch at a shopping mall that was nicer than any I've been to in the States. After a meal of Chinese (with the fortune cookie written in Spanish) we went to the theater that Paul has been telling me about to see "Batman Begins." Tickets were only $2, it was a great theater, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

When we came back, Paul and I began setting up the internet for our apartment - pushing the wire through walls and scrambling over rooftops to set it in place. We stopped for church, which was fun, but I only caught random words of the sermon - I'm hoping to pick up a lot more as the summer continues. Sammy took us to a computer store that let us borrow the clamp to make ethernet cable, so now we have working internet in our room which allows me to post this blog. Overall, it was a relaxing day, and it was a lot of fun just getting to be around the Tolman family.

In San Pedro

Thanks for your prayers so far - we have arrived safely in San Pedro and are beginning ministry here. Paul and I had a great time on the road-trip - we passed through the border fairly easily. We actually got stopped twice to unload the car for inspection, but by God's grace both were fairly painless - the guys were friendly and only made us take a couple things out of the trunk before waving us on. The drive through the Mexican desert was beautiful, and a bit of an adventure - we encountered dust storms, rain, and even hail.

I am loving being in San Pedro, and Paul and I are beginning to settle in. I am enjoying getting to know the Tolman family - I am so blessed to get to spend the summer under them. Paul has also been introducing me to his Mexican friends, and I am beginning to form friendships with the believers down here. My Spanish is slowly improving, and it should get a jump start as I start intense classes with Marcela Tolman next week.

Right now, the youth team from Grace Center is here, and I am loving getting to know them and minister with them. On Wednesday and again today we went into the prison to meet with the prisoners and do worship, teaching, testimonies, and prayer. God has granted us a lot of favor in the prison - they have let us go through without a search, and today they actually let us take a video camera in - one of the guards even helped film. I also got to meet some of the Christian prisoners whom Paul and James discipled while they were living in San Pedro - I am looking forward to getting to know better these men of God in the coming months.

On Wednesday night we had a church service here at the Tolman's church. It was a rich time of worship and prayer - it's always amazing to see how God crosses cultures. Aaron, the youth pastor at Grace, spoke on Galatians 3 and the temptation to try to master our sin and change ourselves, forgetting that it is wholly God's power that brought us to where we are, and it is wholly God's power that will continue to change us. One of my prayers for this summer is that I would more deeply grasp the wonder of God's grace, and God is wasting no time in addressing this with me.

Yesterday we traveled to Monclova, a town three hours away from San Pedro where Stephen has begun to mentor the pastor. We had a great meal with the church there, and we ended up spending much of the day walking through the town in the heat (107 degrees), inviting people to a presentation that never actually came together. And yet in God's crazy economy, the day was a success - as James reminded us, Jesus does not demand results, he calls us to serve. And simply our presence there and our willingness to be out in the heat was a huge encouragement for the pastor and the church there. That night, we had a great service where we got to encourage and pray for the church there, and we left that congregation incredibly blessed.

The Journey Begins

Tomorrow morning, Paul and I begin our trek to San Pedro. We'll stop one night in Dallas and then drive into San Pedro on Monday for a total driving time of about 24 hours. Pray for God's traveling mercies and for an easy passage at the border. We've got the car packed pretty tight and we're hoping to not have to totally unload it!

This first week a team of 60 high schoolers from Grace Center will be down doing ministry, and the Tolmans' daughter Elisa is having her big quinciañera (fifteenth birthday) party - altogether an exciting week. Pray that Paul and I can settle in the midst of the craziness and that we can see God do some cool stuff as the summer kicks off.