THE THREE AMIGOS



Three good friends together working again!

 Apolinar, Marcelino and Lloyd are working together again at the church!  This is a great event and everyone is very happy.

Apolinar is a walking miracle.  He not only improves daily, but he's spending his days working at the church.  Physically he can't do much, but he is valuable to us as a supervisor or maestro as they are called in Mexico.  He gathered a work crew, helped us negotiate for labor costs and figured amounts of materials we needed.  Best of all, he is a presence on the job to make sure things are done correctly.

Carlos, his stepson is working on the job under his guidance.  The money they earn will help with their expenses.  Many people in Nuevo Progreso are surprised to see him alive after such a horrible accident last July.

Still unable to straighten his left arm, he uses a lot of lotions and creams on his scars.  He wears long sleeves for protection against the sun.  But work is the best medicine for Apolinar!

PLANTING TREES

Lloyd and Nahum are planting an orange tree near the sugar cane plants

Lloyd has a hobby of saving seeds from fruits and vegetables, planting them and watching them grow.  In the last few years he has raised several citrus trees, mangoes and avocados which are now in the ground by the church in Nuevo Progreso.  Recently he put together some tall wire cones to put over the plants to protect them from goats and chickens.

Caring for a garden takes a lot of time and Pastor Gerardo and his family are very busy with school and other activities.  Thirteen year old Nahum has taken much of the responsibility of caring for the garden so Lloyd is teaching him how to keep them well watered and sheltered.  Nahum planted some stalks of sugar cane which have done very well.  He's proud of his little crop.

Much of the ground around the church is covered in caliche (gravel) and is not good for plants.  There's a small area behind the building that has soil for a garden, and that's where the plants and trees are being established.  There's room for a small vegetable garden and soon the weather will be just right for Nahum to begin planting.

This is a great project for the church.  Although it will take patience and many years, eventually there will be a small fruit orchard at the church.

PUT ANOTHER LOG ON THE FIRE!

Carlos struggled to light the damp wood and grass.  Apolinar was bundled up against the cold, but was excited and happy to be on the job again.

It was cold and damp last week at the church in Nuevo Progreso.  The men working at the church had to build a fire to keep warm during their lunch break, but it was hard to find dry wood.  After a long struggle, they soon had a good blazing fire to huddle around.

Lloyd said he watched as one log burned through and broke into two parts.  Each section of the log smoldered for awhile and then the fire threatened to die out.  But then someone rearranged the logs, joining them together again one leaning on the other; and the fire blazed again.

As he watched this happening, Lloyd said he thought about how Christian people need each other to keep the spiritual fire going.  When separated and alone, the fire can smolder and die out, but together with each other's support there will be a strong, hot cleansing fire.  It's difficult to live the Christian life without others to encourage us and share our successes and failures.  The Bible says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."  Hebrews 10:25

CHRISTMAS EVE, LA NOCHE BUENA

Lloyd, Joyce, Gerson, Dana, Esly, Pastor Gerardo and Miriam.  Nahum is missing because he was the one taking the picture.

La Noche Buena, The Good Night, is what Christmas Eve is reverently called in Mexico.  It's the night when Christ was born.  Lloyd and I spent Christmas Eve in Nuevo Progreso at the church where we celebrated the holiday with Pastor Gerardo and his family. 

The next celebrated day in Mexico is January 6 which is Epiphany, the day set aside to remember the wise men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem.  The tradition is for each family to share a cake or pastry in the shape of a ring that is decorated with dried fruits and nuts.  A plastic baby Jesus is baked inside the pastry.  When the pastry is cut and served, it's considered good luck to be the one who gets the baby Jesus in his portion.  And that person is required to host the next party where he should serve his guests tamales.

Many Mexican people celebrate January 6 more than Christmas Eve.  It's a very old religious tradition that has great significance.  But we enjoy La Noche Buena, The Good Night, as our time to observe the birth of Christ.