Well, "Master of Construction" is probably a bit of an exaggeration...but I did get some experience in construction, Mexican style yesterday. I spent the day yesterday helping a pastor who's building a parsonage on the church property. Right now, his family is living in the Sunday School classrooms and using the church kitchen as their kitchen. His goal is to build this house so the future pastors of this church will have a proper place to stay. A youth group in March from Crystal City, MB, had raised enough money to put a roof on his house and so I went their yesterday to give him a hand in the project. Most of the work he's done on his own. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of construction experience from back at home but fortunately it didn't really matter as there's not a lot of construction practices that carry over from our building styles at home to the building styles here in Mexico. Where everything is wood and drywall at home, everything here is concrete and plaster. So yesterday consisted of building temporary supports underneath the ceiling (which consists of these concrete "2x4's" spaced between sheets of 4" styrofoam) to support it when the concrete is poured on top, until it is dry.
This spring has gone by incredible fast out here and it's hard to believe that in exactly two weeks, I'll be taking off out of Tucson and making the flight home where I'll spend a couple of weeks and take in Brent's grad before returning here to Mexico. Of special note in the next two weeks is two opportunities to preach. The first one this coming week in the Mexican Baptist church, here in San Carlos and then the following week in the English church. No, my Spanish is not quite fluent enough yet to preach in Spanish but fortunately there's a guy who I've connected with that is quite fluent in English and can translate for me. You're prayers will be greatly appreciated!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Been awhile...
Yeah, it's definitely about time for another post to let you all know what I've been up to down here! It's actually amazing how time has flown by - I've already been here for over two months and am looking at returning home for a brief time in just over a month. Here's a couple of things that have been keeping me busy:
* Connecting with different churches in the area. There are a number of vibrant, evangelical churches in the area and it has been a privilege to connect with different pastors, taking in different services, and seeing the work that God is already going out here. There is an incredible unity among the evangelical churches here in Guaymas/Empalme. With over 40 churches (none of them very large, mostly in the 50 to 100 range) in the area, there is a strong, healthy evangelical influence in this area. But with over 200,000 people living in this area, there is a great need!
* Hanging out at the orphanage. It's a continuing blessing being involved with the kids at the orphanage. They continue to regularly tire me out as I try to keep up with them in playing soccer. Indeed, these guys who are around 12 years old have more soccer skills then I do (and more energy as well) but I'm holding my own.
* Leading worship and preaching. I'm still regularly leading worship at the English church here in San Carlos, leading every Sunday that I don't preach. I have another opportunity to preach on May 25th. I've really enjoyed these opportunities, though they have taken a lot of time in preparation.
* Helping a church prepare for running Day Camps this summer. This is an exciting opportunity that is quickly drawing near. A church in Empalme is seeking to expand their children's ministry this summer by running day camps out of their facility for a week, during the first week of July. They've never done this before so there's a lot of prep work to do and we're using some resources and contacts through Children's Camps International to get them going in the right direction. There's only two months left to go and a lot of work to do!
* Keeping things going at the house. It seems I've become a part-time gardener not by hobby but by necessity as well! Just before Art and Brenda left, they were able to put into place a vision that Brenda has had for a long time - a prayer garden here at the mission center. Along with that came a whole lot of plants that I would rather still have alive when they return at the end of the summer. Well, it hasn't rained the entire two months that I've been here and it probably won't rain for another two months of more (till the end of July) and so that means a whole lot of watering. There's other things to do as well to keep things in order here.
That gives you some idea of what I'm up to these days. Of course your prayers are always appreciated!
* Connecting with different churches in the area. There are a number of vibrant, evangelical churches in the area and it has been a privilege to connect with different pastors, taking in different services, and seeing the work that God is already going out here. There is an incredible unity among the evangelical churches here in Guaymas/Empalme. With over 40 churches (none of them very large, mostly in the 50 to 100 range) in the area, there is a strong, healthy evangelical influence in this area. But with over 200,000 people living in this area, there is a great need!
* Hanging out at the orphanage. It's a continuing blessing being involved with the kids at the orphanage. They continue to regularly tire me out as I try to keep up with them in playing soccer. Indeed, these guys who are around 12 years old have more soccer skills then I do (and more energy as well) but I'm holding my own.
* Leading worship and preaching. I'm still regularly leading worship at the English church here in San Carlos, leading every Sunday that I don't preach. I have another opportunity to preach on May 25th. I've really enjoyed these opportunities, though they have taken a lot of time in preparation.
* Helping a church prepare for running Day Camps this summer. This is an exciting opportunity that is quickly drawing near. A church in Empalme is seeking to expand their children's ministry this summer by running day camps out of their facility for a week, during the first week of July. They've never done this before so there's a lot of prep work to do and we're using some resources and contacts through Children's Camps International to get them going in the right direction. There's only two months left to go and a lot of work to do!
* Keeping things going at the house. It seems I've become a part-time gardener not by hobby but by necessity as well! Just before Art and Brenda left, they were able to put into place a vision that Brenda has had for a long time - a prayer garden here at the mission center. Along with that came a whole lot of plants that I would rather still have alive when they return at the end of the summer. Well, it hasn't rained the entire two months that I've been here and it probably won't rain for another two months of more (till the end of July) and so that means a whole lot of watering. There's other things to do as well to keep things in order here.
That gives you some idea of what I'm up to these days. Of course your prayers are always appreciated!
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