Celebrating 5 Years in Mexico!

Today, June 30, marks 5 years since our arrival to Mexico! (I am in the process of making a short slideshow but it is not done yet - I'll post it if it ever gets completed!). Benjy technically drove in 5 years ago yesterday, but little baby Reece and I flew in 5 years ago today. I spoke no spanish and was pretty nervous bringing my litte boy through customs. As the glass sliding doors opened there was a sea of people waiting, but we were quick to see Benjy and the rest of our mission team ready to welcome us. Wow! That seems like forever ago. So much has changed in not that much of time. My heart and mind are flooded with memories of those first weeks and months in this huge City. Juggling a new baby and a very new culture - language - lifestyle. Finding a home, adjusting to Mexico City traffic and driving styles (getting lost more times than we care to remember! I will never forget one of our first ventures out on our own - being stuck in traffic and construction zones - completely lost - seeing the same stray dog an hour after we had passed him earlier - we never did arrive at our destination that day!) The personal effort it took to study spanish for hours at a time while leaving my sweet baby boy in his Daddy's care (although it was wonderful bonding time for them!) The struggle to be the only one on the team fumbling through basic language errors while they seemed to speak as easily as they breathed! I remember that first year of meeting as a team in the bosque for church - dreaming about where God might lead us in our humble attempts to serve Him. I remember conversations of following His lead to be about making disciples! Many memories of outreach events like the Jesus film, the Passion. Meeting lots of new faces and beginning small home based churches. Friday night Bible classes....that later became Friday night prayer time in our home. Moving to the "blue house" in Volcanes. Adding little Chase to our family. Facing the pain of losing a parent with the unexpected death of my Dad. Welcoming and saying good-bye to AIM apprentices. Saying good-bye to teammates and good,good friends Paul, Kristi, Maddi, and Olivia Miller. Lots of very encouraging visits throughout the years from family members, friends, supporters, and summer groups. Thinking outside of the box and attempting to build relationships in the community through a coffee shop. Some ways a success. Some ways a failure - but in both, lessons learned. More AIM apprentices. Changing direction with our team strategy - us and the Hendersons following the call of simple Christianity in the form of house churches. New relationships made. Ministry successes and diappointments. Always personal insight and growth through each high and low of missionary life. Adding little Piersen to our family! Putting Reece in school part time and then full time the next year. Moving to a new neighborhood (where we are now). A whole new world of relationships for us in this phase of life - school friends for Reece, new neighbors. Serving Mexican people by teaching english classes. Lots of personal relationships at many different stages in respect to seeking Jesus. Losing our baby. Slow going in planting new house churches but encouragement in the strength and growth of established ones....

Through all of these times - high and low, good and bad - we have continually confronted cultural differences and language barriers...even obstacles in how to view our mission here. It has not always been easy being so "different". But without hesitation we feel fully blessed and thankful for these past 5 years. Mexico has been good to us. It is where we have raised our little ones to this point! Our family is richly blessed to be able to experience our life mission of sharing Jesus together. Our lives have crossed paths with so many beautiful people and wonderful relationships. We have seen some difficult times and enough disappointment in what we might of prayed turn out differently....but we march onward. We continue in our task here of being and making disciples. We look back on these past 5 years with a smile and with gratitude for what these times and this place and these people have taught us and showed us about life, about ourselves, and about Jesus. Thank You God for all You have been up to and will continue to do to transform us and use us as Your instruments!