RESURRECTION DAY

Flowers on the altar.

Resurrection Day services were held at Bethesda Church of God in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. It was a hot, dry and windy day full of sunshine. The streets of Nuevo Progreso were abnormally quiet and empty. There was a feeling of anticipation in the air.

Sunrise service began at 6:00 am.  Morning service was at 10:00 am.  The ones who attended the sunrise service ate breakfast together, watched the sun come up and stayed to join in the second service.

Nahum opened the service with a scripture reading.

Nahum read a passage of scripture from the Bible about Jesus when his disciples were fishing all night and caught nothing. Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the other side and their boat overflowed with their catch. Then they ate with him on the shore.  It was good to see Nahum take a big part in the service. There were special songs during the time of testimonies and thanksgiving.  Viviana sang about the hardships of life and how God gives her strength to face each day.

Azucena also sang a song from her heart, expressing her thanks to the Lord. Azucena said she learned that she is named after a flower, the Madonna Lily, which we call the Easter Lily!

Viviana sang a special from her heart.

Azucena also praised the Lord with song.

Small children were happy to color in their books during the service.  A small table was set up for them, just their size. Pablo, who lives near the church, came to church by himself.  He also enjoyed a time of coloring and working word puzzles while he listened to the service.

Children with books and crayons during service.

Pablo came to church alone.

Jose Luis and his wife Viviana shared that the Lord has called them to become missionaries.  They are in a time of preparation and studying God’s Word, and they said they will know when it is time to begin their work. Meanwhile, they are content to learn from Pastor Gerardo while attending the church. It was a refreshing time of worship for everyone.  Easter lilies and other flowers dressed up the altar and the music floated out into the surrounding neighborhood. It truly felt like a day of new beginnings.

"He is not here, for He is risen."  Matthew 28:6

CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT

Nahum with his Certificate of Achievement

Conalep is a school in Nuevo Progreso that prepares students for college or for a trade.  They offer the preparatory classes Nahum needs to become an architect.  Conalep is assisted by people from the United States who want to help Mexico’s young people be the best they can be.

Nahum was awarded high honors Saturday and received a Certificate of Achievement for being #1 one in his class, having the highest grade.  He had a 9.5 out of a possible 10. There was a second place winner with a 9.1 and a third place with 9.0.  We learned that this isn’t the first time Nahum was #1.  He had the highest scores the last 2 semesters.

Nahum is showing Lloyd his name on the certificate

Each of the winners received a nice gift for their hard work.  Nahum came home with a computer notebook loaded with Windows 10.  He was extremely pleased with the prize since he enjoys using computers.

Consider the difficulties of going to higher levels of school in Mexico.  Not only is there a lot of expense involved, but the whole family needs to be supportive of these students.

At Nahum’s age most young men in Mexico are married and have a family, or they are working to help support their parents. Nahum has always had a dream and a vision for his future.  With God’s help, his dream will become real.

Prize for first place - a small laptop loaded with Windows 10.

And the winner is - Nahum Neftali Estrada Razo!

Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy youth. Ecclesiastes 12:1

MEXICAN HAT DANCE

The children watched as someone cut the birthday cake.

We had a dinner to celebrate March birthdays at the church in Nuevo Progreso.  There had been an unusual number of birthdays in that month.  Everyone had a good time, especially when the Mexican hat was passed around.

After the usual Sunday evening service, two long tables were arranged in the auditorium near the altar. Benches were placed alongside, making room for almost everyone to have a place at the table.  Others sat on benches close by or brought folding chairs to the ends of the tables.

A cool breeze finally made it’s way through the windows, making things much more comfortable. Distant lightning flashed in the east windows, but no rain or storm came near. The heat of the day eased away into a soft, warm evening.  It was the perfect time for a celebration.

Two long tables were placed together in the auditorium.

The main dish provided was chicken molé, which is chicken cooked in a rich dark sauce made of several kinds of chiles, spices and dark Mexican chocolate. Molé can take a long time to make because first the chiles need to be roasted along with the spices and the mixture blended together with chicken broth for a sauce that is so dark, it looks like melted chocolate.  This is a favorite dish for celebrations in Mexico.

Someone brought a rice dish to go along with the molé, another brought mashed potatoes, and we took our specialty - a large kettle of spaghetti with meat sauce. We all saved room for the special birthday cake, a white sheet cake covered with fruit.

Alejandro's daughter Monica was very pretty in the sombrero.

And in that relaxed atmosphere, someone brought out an enormous and beautiful purple Mexican sombrero that was covered in silver ornaments.  One by one everyone wanted to pose in the impressive sombrero.  On some it looked overly large and on others it looked small.  Monica was a beautiful example of a typical young Mexican girl.  It was easy to see pride on her father Alejandro’s face as he sat next to her.  Roman was asked to put on his “Pancho Villa” face when he wore the hat. And he did appear to be much different from his usual cheerful and smiling personality.

Roman's rendition of Pancho Villa.

Even little Kimberly got into the action and struck a pose in the sombrero.  Her portrayal of a Mexican bandit made us all laugh.

Kimberly was a lady bandit.

It was not a typical Mexican hat dance with the traditional music, but it was fun and different.  Before long, almost everyone had tried on the hat as it made it’s way around the table.

Social events such as these are a big part of our church.  They make us feel part of one big family, the family of God.  There were some neighborhood children there who regularly attend Sunday School at the church. They enjoyed the food, good clean fun and laughter as they were made to feel part of the family.  And the celebration dinner was a good way to set an example they will long remember.

Sunday School children enjoyed the celebration.

“We celebrated with laughter

    and joyful songs.

In foreign nations it was said,

    “The Lord has worked miracles

    for his people.”  

Psalm 126:2 CEV