INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO

Our recent trip into the interior of Mexico with Spanish Bibles was interesting and successful. We drove into the heart of the country as far south as Salvatierra, Guanajuato, traveling on winding mountain roads one day and flat desert roads the next. We thought of the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys that took him many miles away from home. We were out of our comfort zone!

Throughout the whole trip we were never stopped and searched by the military or the federales. Only one time were our passports, visas and vehicle papers examined briefly. Once again the doors into Mexico were opened wide for God's word.

The most obvious truth was that we were traveling in Catholic territory; and there were few evangelical churches to be found. We drove into small settlements called ranchos where we questioned the people about churches. Most of the time the people directed us to Catholic establshments. Some streets were so narrow and winding that it was difficult for us to get through in the van. We were frustrated when one person would give us directions to go this way, and then another would say we should go that way. But regardless of all the difficulties, everyone was extremely kind and friendly and very willing to help.

MEXICAN HOSPITALITY

The unique hospitality of Mexico was demonstrated one afternoon when we were stranded on the side of a steep mountain road in the middle of nowhere. The highway we chose to take was a long and winding passage through dense forests. Hairpin curves and switchbacks with dizzying drop offs and no shoulders kept our attention until we saw a small church and stopped to investigate. After discovering that it was an empty Catholic chapel, we started back up the hill only to have the engine stall and die. After trying to start it several times, Lloyd coasted the van back into the driveway of the church. There was a lot of heavy traffic on the road and we were on a sharp curve.

Thinking the engine had overheated, we decided to wait for it to cool and tried not to panic. Meanwhile we asked ourselves what reason could there be for this to happen. Was there someone nearby that God was leading us to? It seemed possible, so we walked across the road and down a steep embankment to a little home that was perched on the side of the steep mountainside. A man greeted us while two small children watched us with curiosity. The little boy who was very excited and happy to see us, was completely naked. We sat in the shade of tall trees and visited with the man who said he had lived there on the mountain all his life.

After an hour when the van still wouldn't start, we walked down the road and found a mechanic living nearby who was willing to help us. He picked up a small plastic bag of tools including a few screwdrivers and small wrenches and walked with us to the van. While Lloyd and the mechanic tried to find the problem, I went back across the road, down the steep bank and sat in the shade. By this time the man's wife Nellie had returned home with their third small child. Nellie invited me into the tin roofed shelter on the side of their home where she was preparing a meal. On the side of the mountain in the heat of the afternoon Nellie and I talked about the Lord until we finally heard the welcome sound of the van engine roaring to life. The heat had made the float in the carburetor stick causing what we call a vapor lock.

When everything was settled and we were ready to go, Nellie invited us to share a meal with them. We sat with the children, six year old Flor and three year old Jonathan while Nellie served up bowls of soup with spaghetti and black beans with tortillas. As the children ate and played, we talked about the importance of teaching the children about the things of God. I learned that Nellie is a Pentecostal Christian and there are two other Pentecostal families in that area, but there is no church nearby for them to attend. Her husband Gerardo is not a Christian, so it isn't easy for her. Nellie suggested that we might spend the night with them and drive down the mountain early the next morning but we declined saying that we needed to be on our way. As we prepared to leave, Nellie said with great emotion, "Remember that when you are in Mexico, this house is your house."

Altogether we spent three hours alongside the road at Nellie and Gerardo's house. We left Nellie with some Sunday School books that will help her teach her children and we urged her to continue her walk with God. Was this the reason we found ourselves forced to spend time near the top of that mountain? We may never know, but we do know that there are people living up there who want to live for God and need a church to attend. And once again we experienced the sincere and open hearted hospitality of Mexico.

HANDMADE AFGANS FOR MEXICO

Don Rhodes, an elderly friend of ours who lives in Bethalto, Illinois, has a hobby of crocheting afgans using yarns of many colors. He donates many of these to our ministry and we love to give the warm and cozy wraps to the older people of Mexico. We gave out several on our recent trip into the interior of Mexico and they were very welcome. Especially since the weather was a little frosty at times. We spent a night in Ocampo at the home of Pastor Carlos Chapa who keeps a spare room ready for visitors. The next morning Pastor Chapa, his wife and his mother-in-law Matilda went with us for breakfast at a small cafe. Matilda's eyes sparkled when we wrapped one of Don Rhodes' colorful afgans around her shoulders.

TRAFFIC, FAST AND SLOW

On the side of a busy highway, the old couple rode to the feed store on a little cart pulled by a donkey. They live high up on the hill in a peaceful little settlement. We stopped to visit with these senior citizens and gave them afgans. We then watched as they waited for a break in the heavy, fast moving traffic before they urged the donkey to trot across the pavement to the other side. It was obvious that they had made this dangerous trip many times before.

BITTER COLD WEATHER

Record breaking cold, freeze warnings and reports of sleet. Those are foreign phrases to those of us in the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico. And for the many with no heat in their homes, and no insulation, those are dangerous and sometimes deadly words.

It's always good to have blankets, sweaters, caps and jackets to give out on our visits to Nuevo Progreso. The children and the elderly especially are affected by the severe weather. In the past we have heard reports of children dying from smoke inhalation from open fires and we've also heard of babies being smothered under too many blankets.

It looks strange on cold days to see little dwellings with all their doors and windows open and little campfires blazing just outside their thresholds. But they have learned that good ventilation is critical and if they try to trap heat inside, they also bring in deadly smoke and fumes.

Our prayer is that the cold weather pattern changes soon.

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

How do you begin teaching the basics of the English language? Where do you start? In our first class last week in Nuevo Progreso, we began by reciting the alphabet and the vowel sounds and discussing the differences between English and Spanish. Several children came to the class with notebooks and pencils in hand, eager and excited to learn. The adults were more cautious. As you can see in the picture, they sat in the back seats and let the children take the lead.

Our plan is to share the common English phrases with the class while teaching the basic rules of the language. This will give them the ability to speak some things right away, while learning the harder things such as how to conjugate verbs and form sentences.

Bible story books for children make good teaching tools in these English classes. God's word can be used as a bridge since everyone is familiar with the wonderful old stories. Teaching English is one more way that we can minister the word of God to the people of Mexico.

TAMALES, AN OLD TRADITION

Stacks of large corn husks, tubs of corn meal mix, a wash tub full of pork cooking over a fire between bricks on the ground, women working and laughing together. This is what we saw at Poli and Roberta's home on New Year's day. It was an assembly line, one woman filled the corn husks while another ground hot peppers into salsa using an ancient looking stone bowl and stone rollin pin. This is the way it has been done for generations, it's an old tradition. They were making tamales for a big celebration and they made it look like fun.

After the tamales were assembled, they were arranged in a large kettle on the open fire where they were steamed. The ladies told us they were preparing several hundred tamales because they were expecting lots of family and friends that evening.

In the picture our friend Gloria holds a stack of prepared corn husks while Rosa and another woman grind hot peppers by hand.