Thursday, April 23, 2009

Spanish Slip-Ups

So I'm learning Spanish. And I still make plenty of mistakes that all you can do is laugh at...

One of the language blunders came in Mexicali. We were driving around (Rick was in the driver's seat). A little lost. Very dark. No street lights. Two lane, twisting and turning road. I'm in the back seat and all of a sudden I saw a speed bump. And I could tell by how fast Rick was driving he didn't see it. Even though all of us in the car spoke English, for some reason Spanish was the first thing to come out of my mouth...I yelled "Totopo!!" Now that is not the correct word for speed bump in Spanish which is "tope." What I actually yelled was "Tortilla chip!!" Everyone in the car had a good laugh.

Another Spanish slip-up came when we were at home about to go into town or something. I don't remember. I was still getting ready and said, "Necesito ponerme mantequilla." I was pretty sure when that sentence came out of my mouth something was wrong with it. I meant to say, "I need to put makeup on." Mantequilla is not the word of make up. It's actually the word for butter. So what I actually said was, "I need to put butter on." If you're wondering, the real word for makeup is maquillaje. Close. But not nearly right.

Oh, the joys of learning a language!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mexicali Dos

My time in Mexicali was a true blessing. To be surrounded by so many people from home. To feel love and encouragement from people I’ve never met before. To watch kids be loved on who you can tell have a huge lack of love at home. To watch a church building go up in less than a week.

My personal triumph of the week was interpreting for the first time. Because it was people from home I had a little more courage to make a complete fool of myself. On Wednesday, I interpreted the pastors’ testimonies from Spanish to English. With a good bit of help from Kourtney and only a couple impatient remarks from the pastors it went pretty good. Then, on Thursday and Friday I interpreted the testimonies of the team members at the Bible school from English to Spanish. I know there were a whole lot of grammatical errors but I also know that the message of God’s love and power shone through all of my mistakes.

Every day, the Bible school at Gustavo’s church (Iglesia Vida Eterna=Eternal Life Church) had about thirty kids. And a majority of the kids returned every day to learn something new. It was very unique to see how the people from South Hills bonded so tightly with the kids. Our last night in Mexicali, we went to the first service in the new building that South Hills built. When it was time to say the goodbye, people from both sides of the border were crying because they did not want to leave one another. There was a deep bond of love which I think can only by formed through Christ.

I had no idea the week my church from home was here would affect me so much. They left over a week ago and I’m still trying to get over missing them and missing home. I thought I was so happy here. I thought I could live here forever. But seeing people who I know, who I love, who love me, who get me, who act like me really made me second guess that. And it’s not that I don’t want to be here anymore. I still love it here. I will leave a lot of love here when I go home. But I’m a Vegas girl. I’m not ready to move away for good…YET!
The Bible school throughout the week...
Sunday service on the land before the construction started...
The big party at the end of the week...And the final product!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tomasita

Her name is actually Tomasa.

But I call her Tomasita because I love her dearly.

Tomasa cooks all of the dinners for the groups that come through Ensenada. And now, she not only cooks for our groups in Ensenada, but also in Mexicali! If you didn't know, South Hills Church (my church from Las Vegas that I LOVE!) came to Mexicali last week for their Mexico spring break trip. In the next week, I'll share pictures and stories of what happened there. But right now I want to focus on Tomasa.

She needs your prayer. She loves to cook for our groups but is very sick. I don't think the doctors have diagnosed her with anything but she often has a lot of pain and fatigue and lately has also had a bad cough and fever. Last thursday, on the way home from Mexicali, Tammie took her to the hospital in Ensenada to get checked out. They sent her home with an IV in her hand and some medication to help her get better. I have been able to see a difference in her and she says she's getting better and better each day. Please pray for Tomasa. Cooking for our groups is a whole lot of work and she puts all of herself into it. She often over exerts herself to make sure everything is just right. Pray that Tomasa would be healed of her sickness and that all the glory goes to God.

Vegas loves Tomasita almost as much as I do. This picture below was taken right after Tomasa said some tear-filled goodbyes to the Vegas team on her last day in Mexicali with them. Tomasa is in the yellow sweater and grey shirt on the right hand side of the picture. Her husband, Pastor Faustino, is the guy crouched in front of her.

And on a quick selfish note...while you're praying, you can pray for me. Since the South Hills team went home I've been a little sad. I didn't realize how much I miss my church and my friends. I know I'll be going home soon enough and I want to stay focused on today and living here. All of the pastors and people here have noticed how sad I've been and I don't want them to think it's because I don't like it here or I just want to go home because I don't like them anymore. I want to love with all I am and be a shining light in the darkness.

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!! I love you guys.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Big Bear Pics

Hey!!!

So I like looking at pictures and thought you would too. Here are some pics that are from a group that came down a couple weeks ago from Big Bear, CA. They laid the concrete slab for Jamin's church which will be built this summer, built a bathroom and put a sidewalk in front of Reynerio's church, and had a whole lot of fun while they were doing all of it. And they got all of that done in just three days!! They came to do work. So here are some pictures from their group. Jim, a professional photographer, took all of them. To see more go to their BLOG.