Ephesians 1:3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
* God has continued to bless Tim and me in our time here in Mexico. Yesterday we had our second class of the New Believers class we are leading in Hocobá. The first week of the study things did not go as planned… we got the church’s car late, had a flat tire on the way and ended up arriving 1 hr late. But, as always, God is bigger than our plans. The pastor had invited some teenagers, and they came! We had 6 guys between the ages of 12 and 18 in our class. They were all pretty timid and would not answer any questions or share their ideas. But they were there and interested and truly listening. We used Campus Crusade’s pamphlet called “Do you want to know Jesus personally?” It is useful in outlining the main aspects of Christianity.
* Before the class began I was so nervous. Being an hour late and not knowing exactly how to lead the class was making me very anxious. So, I stepped away, and took some time to pray. I asked the Holy Spirit to lead my words and decisions, and that he did! The study went smoothly, and I think God really lead me to be able to teach effectively. It was a blessing.
* After the study Tim suggested they all go plan soccer together. The 6 guys, the pastor and Tim started playing soccer and before long 10 more kids joined. They played for 2 hrs straight. I went to visit an elderly lady, Nancy, whom accepted Christ with me before Christmas. On our way out, we stopped, sat on the car hood and looked at the crystal clear sky filled with stars and talked about our blessings!
* Yesterday our second study went well, though only 1 of the guys returned, we still had a class of 8. This group was much younger, between 8-13 and was harder to keep their focus, but still went well. We went over the booklet again and focused on prayer and having a relationship with Christ. Again they played soccer for a couple of hours afterwards while I chatted with the girls while we watched.
* Some interesting facts I learned about Hocobá: 1. There is 40% illiteracy rate. 2. Approx. 70% of the men are alcoholics. 3. Over 90% of them practice a religion which is a mix of Catholicism and Mayan religions. Please keep this town of less than 3,000 in your prayers.
Happiness:
We are so happy! We are happy as a married couple, as English teachers, as Sunday school teachers, as New Believer class leaders, as guitar lesson teachers, as tutors, as Spanish students, as worship band leaders, and living as Mexicans! Life’s GOOD!!
Adventure:
This past week we discovered Fernando (our adventure buddy) is still here (we’d thought he’d already left for Canada). Anyhow, we invited him to dinner on Saturday and we had a great evening chatting away and looking at pictures. Sunday we went to 3 cenotes and had great adventures. Here are some pictures of our trip:
Love:
We love eachother and love being married! We love living in Mexico, being teacher, (basically everything I said under happiness). Also, we love our friends and co-workers. This week Sarah (another gringa whose husband works at the US consulate in Merida) took me shopping then we went out for Pina Coladas. It was great talking and having a girl friend to share time with. And as always we are enjoying spending time with Jeff, Angelica and the newly arrived missionary Wes.
Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for our Hocobá class. The God continues to lead every aspect of our class and leadership. Please pray that more people come and that the group is consistent.
2. Please pray for the people of Hocobá and that the Good News is heard throughout the town and changes the hearts and lives of the people.
3. Please pray for Tim and me as leaders in our classrooms, Sunday school, and Hocobá. That God gives us wisdom and direction.
Random Facts:
1. Tim started Spanish lessons – the church is providing them for all the missionaries and they take them 3 days a week for 1.5 hrs each day. He’s improved so much the first 6 months we’ve been here, and now that classes have started, I know he is going to go for good to great quickly! I’m so proud of him! I can’t imagine arriving in a country where I didn’t know the language and being able to pick it up so fast! I’ve got myself a smart husband!
2. Tim is doing excellently as the worship band leader. They now sing together at the beginning as a band, then to close Tim just plays the acoustic guitar and sings alone – it sounds great!
3. We got a “Japanese Rock Garden” put in front of our house – looks great….
We did a craft that Tim's church had given us which was very fun and exciting for the kids since it was materials they've never had access to before.
Also, thanks to the Haney family from my church all the kids got to pick out a Beanie Baby. They were thrilled even though they thought it was just to play with then... when they found out it was to take home there were even more squels and loud "gracias" being said!
After Sunday School we went to one of our church members house to prepare for the lunch that we were supposed to have but never did due to time constraints. We snapped some interesting shots of a typical home in Hocoba:
This is me looking at the giant ducks. They raise them for meat.
Their homes almost all consist of one room with lots of hammocks and places along the wall stacked with clothes. But the rest of their "house is outside." Including the bathroom, kitchen (picture below) and laundry area:
A precious little girl from my sunday school class showing us her puppy! 
This is a picture of their turkeys laying on their eggs:
So, as I've mentioned in previous blogs, Tim and my phase for this whole Mexico experience is "You NEVER know (even when you think you do)". So, as I said, we were supposed to be going to someone's home for their birthday lunch that they'd invited us to. But last minute we found out it was also her brother-in-laws baptism. So we went to the service for that, but ended up leaving in the middle because the people we were with from Merida had to return. So, they filled up whatever they could find; plastic mayo bottles, a plastic sand bucket, and an old pot, with the chicken they'd prepared for us to take home with us. Here is us walking back to our car with our lunches in tow:
Needless to say, Tim and I love going to Hocoba. It is an eye-opening, perspective-changing, God-filled experience everytime we go. We are very excited to see how God is glorified through the study we are starting. Again, please pray that God leads people to the study and that he shows us how to lead it!