"Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! " Psalm 105:1-2
God is Good!
Its been quite awhile since our last update. I'll try to keep it short, but informative.
To start, God blessed us with a long and refreshing break back in Ohio over Christmas break. It was hard to get home (took a total of 31 hours with all the delays to get from Merida to Columbus), but when we finally got home, it was marvolus! It was so wonderful to spend time with both of our immediate and extended families, and to see all of our wonderful friends.
I was very sad to leave home, but suprisingly happy to get back to Mexico. It feels like home now for me and Tim- which is great! A few nights after our return we went out to dinner with Jeff, Angelica, Lupita and Wes. It was so great to see our wonderful friends again and to meet a new one in Wes (a newly arrived missionary from Florida).
We are back into the swing of things here in Mexico, and our schedule this stint is much fuller. Here's a quick look at our week:
Monday= school. After school Tim gives guitar lessons
Tuesday= School. Go to Hocoba 2:30- 8 (1 hour away) to go door to door whitnessing and then hold a new believers class that Tim and I are writing and leading.
Wednesday= School. Then Kari gives English tutoring, Tim piano lessons.
Thursday= School. Then bible study/home fellowship
Friday= School. Church
Saturday= Free
Sunday= Hocoba 9-3 to teach Sunday School. Church.
Busy Schedule, but awesome!!
So, as you saw on the schedule Tim and I are leading a New Believers bible study in the small Mayan village of Hocoba on Tuesdays. We actually start tomorrow. So please pray for guidance for us in leading this, and that people are opening and excited to join! We'll update you on how it goes!
This past weekend we went to Hocoba to teach sunday school. 
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!
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!God bless you! Thanks for reading! Keep reading too, there are some fun random fact below:
Random Fun Facts:
Random Fun Facts:
1. We got a dog (Coeblence) and kitten (Cola). Not really got per say, but more like won their love. So the next door neighbors got a kitten, we named him Cola and he is very friendly - Tim loves to play with him. Two houses down they have a dog, all year we've been talking to it and trying to pet him, but he is afraid. But with time love one. Now, everyday when we leave for school they follow us down the street, and when we come home they greet us and beg to be pet. We we finally go inside, Cola stays at the door whining to get in! Its fun to have pets without really having them!
2. I (Kari) got a class pet - two fish, though one already died. The kids are thrilled. Dori and Nemo are their names.
3. Its been lovely weather. Between 70 and 80 for the high, breezy and cool nights!!!
4. I took my class ice skating for their behavior prize. It was hilarious and a blast!
5. We had our first encounter with the Mexican police: Tim left our house in a barrowed car to go to band practice before church tonight. He realized he forgot his music and therefore threw the car in reverse and drove 200meters back to our house in reverse. Well, the cops saw. So I'm at home and hear a knock on the door. It is our neighbors telling me to come translate for Tim. SO I get out there and see Tim and the neighbors talking to the cops. I come and translate for Tim. The deal is that the license plates are old, the papers for the car are incomplete and old, and Tim broke a law. So there is 1 ticket for driving back wards, 1 ticket for the plates, and 1 ticket for the documents. Our sweet neighbor explains to them we are missionaries borrowing the car for our mission in Hocoba. And flat out asks them to have mercy on us and not give us the tickets. They say no and that they will take the documents, licenses plate and Tim's license right then, and we'd have to go downtown tomorrow, pay all three tickets, pay for new plates and papers, before they give the license back. YIKES! However, our neighbor disappears into his house, returns, talks to the cops and 1 min later all is well and they drive away. Turns out he paid them off for us! It took only $10 usd to get out of all those problems and tickets. However, our neighbor took a risk for us, because you can get an extra ticket and taken in for questioning if you try bribing an honest cop. So we broke a law, then broke another with the pay-off to get out of the first law we broke!
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