Week 2

It will be 2 weeks tomorrow, that I have been here in Chihuahua. The weeks have definitely gone by fast. I still feel like I just arrived. Things are slowly starting to feel more comfortable like their crazy hand shake with a kiss on the cheek (a normal greeting and goodbye) followed by, "Como esta usted?... Muy bien...y tu?...bien, gracias". All straight from the Spanish textbooks! I am also picking up little spanish phrases here and there. Food is "muy rico" which means very rich. I thought "me gusto" (I like) would be more appropriate, but apparently not. "Otra cosas"- other things..."tambien"- also... "hasta la vista" - see you later  (always makes me laugh when they say this). 

God is teaching me a lot already during my time here. Pastor Sean has been encouraging me to find my fulfillment in Christ alone; especially when I am feeling homesick or out-of-place. I am really trying to live that out. When I just want to go home, I pray to the Lord to fill that "homesick place in my heart". We as humans think it only natural to be homesick, but it is really an earthly desire, not a heavenly one. It is okay for me to think often about home, but not to desire it more that serving the Lord where He has placed me at this time in my life. 

I have been spending many evenings serving in Cafe 1040 which is attached to the church building and run by the church. It is an outreach to the community. I have played games like dominoes and cards with people that speak only Spanish. That is quite a challenge, but it always produces a lot of laughter and fun! I have also learned how to use the espresso machine and how to pronounce e-spress-o properly.

I will have to update more later. Hasta la vista ;-)

1 week down...

I have been here for almost a week. God is definitely stretching me! That is really the only way I can describe my experience thus far. There hasn't been one moment where I haven't felt uncomfortable or out-of-place. The language barrier has been the most frustrating part for me. I have met so many neat people that I wish I could have a real conversations with. I keep reminding myself that it is only the first week. I know many spanish words and "forget" them when put on the spot by a native speaker. I know, with time, the words will flow more naturally.

Lots and lots of "firsts" for me. I tasted sushi for the first time when we went out for Lisa's birthday. I helped in Light Shine for my first time. I had my first service at Capilla Calivario. It was so neat to worship the Lord in English and Spanish! I ate at a road side stand for my first time with Marcos, Alma, and Fatima. I was so nervous that I would get sick, but thank the Lord I am still feeling fine! I cared for spanish speaking children in nursery for the first time. I got to practice by spanish reading books to them :-)

I don't really know what other things to tell you all about. Any questions...what do you want to hear about?

Officially in Mexico

Dad, Fran, and Bethany took me to the airport at 5 o'clock in the morning. When we arrived, I had a wonderful surprise. Zach, Amanda, and Mel were all waiting there to say goodbye before heading home from dropping off the Rafferty family. After a tearful goodbye (on Fran's part not mine), I headed towards security for my full body pat-down and leg x-ray! I enjoyed a delicious pumpkin muffin(baked by Janelle) while on the first leg of my journey. All of my flights went smoothly yesterday, and I arrived in El Paso at 11:50am. I waited at baggage claim to meet up with the Rafferty family and begin our ride into Mexico.

We made a few stops in El Paso and had to get a tire repaired as well. We crossed the first border where I applied for my 6 month visa (no, I am not actually staying for 6 months). I got my first taste of Spanish from a native Mexican, and was surprised at how much I understood! I was still glad that Lisa was there with me to help me out. The military check points were a bit intimidating. Men dressed in camouflage with machine guns across their backs made me feel a bit uneasy.

For the first few hours of my time in Mexico, all I saw was dessert land filled with dirt, yucca plants, and mountains in the distance. The sunset over the Rocky Mountains was gorgeous. I enjoyed the car ride, getting to know the Rafferty's better; their likes (asian food) and dislikes (mayo). They also taught me a lot about the culture of Mexico.

Today they took me to the church and gave me a tour. There was then a women's ministry meeting at the church where I got the meet the missionary women as well as some of the women of the church. Everyone is so welcoming, as well as understanding of my uncomfortableness and weak knowledge of the language. Rocio and Fatima took me to the local supermarket, which has a food court, for lunch.... green chili chicken enchilladas---delicious! They then took me back to their house where I will be staying for the next few months. I am now unpacked at ready to begin my Mexico missionary adventure.  I am sure I can only imagine what the Lord has in store for me!

Lasts

Worshiping on Sunday at Open Bible was just like any other Sunday there...announcements, worship, sermon, special music, etc. Yet the whole time I could not help but think about how I do not have many Sundays left here. As amazing as I am sure it will be in Mexico, I know I am going to miss everyone at Open Bible so much the next few months. It was my last time to share in the Lord's Supper with my church family until New Year's Eve. Sundays will be very different. I will not be greeted by people I have known nearly my whole life. Faces that I look forward to seeing week after week after week. I truly treasure my church family, but I know that Mexico holds new faces for me to meet and learn from.

17 days and counting!!!!

Booking my flight today. This cannot really be happening?!?!?!


I am going to work with a missions group in Chihuahua, Mexico for 3 months. This group felt called to bring God’s love to this region of Mexico 4 years ago, to a population of Indians who have no word for “love” in their own language. The common occupation for the women and children is begging on street corners to feed their families because the men are not present in the homes to provide. There is also strong racist resentment from the Mexicans and these native Indians. The missionaries started a church to reach out to both groups and help bridge the gap between the Mexicans and Indians. The church, Capilla Calvario, ministers to the people through a worship service on Sundays, a children’s ministry two days a week, women’s and men’s Bible study, and a cafe which is open normal business hours throughout the week. The missionaries did not expect to see any adult come to know Christ is less than 10 years, but God saw fit to bring 3 men to Christ within the first 4 years. I am so excited to go down to this community and see, first hand, the amazing things God is doing to bring His light into this once dark city. 

This world needs Jesus, and God calls us to go out and be disciples to the nations of the world (Mark 16:15 ). Yes, there are ways to share God’s love in the United States, but at this time, God is calling me to minister to the Tahamurara Indians of Mexico. I have been trying to make my own community my missions field, just as we all should. I have served in soup kitchens, nursing homes, shelters, and assisted with various church activities/groups. It is so neat to see how God can use you on an everyday basis if you are open and willing. Now, it’s time to take things I have learned here to a new longitude and latitude. 

I covet your prayers and emotional support during my time in Mexico. Keep checking in here for more updates!!!

Heavenly Aromas

I have decided that heaven will smell of freshly baked bread. Wouldn't it be just delightful. I personally get pretty sick of smelling cookies, cakes, pies, and the like when it is all I smell for weeks, but bread has a light smell that is...well...the only word that I can think of to describe bread baking in the oven is... heavenly! So how and where did my infatuation with bread start? Well, doesn't everyone love bread!?!?!? One of the first things they tell you in Weight Watchers is to beware of bread... the basket of dinner rolls at fine restaurants can destroy a diet. They know that bread is one of those foods that everyone likes. It comes is such variety too...rye, potatoe, wheat, French, Italian, the lists goes on and on.


I was at Williams-Sonoma at Towson Town and ran into a friend of Fran's. I was introduced to him and we got on the topic of baking. He said that anyone who aspires to be a great baker needs to learn the art of bread baking. He recommended The Bread Bible. I have never dabbled in bread baking, but thought it may be something new and fun to try out. My sister-in-law, Amanda, has been learning to bake bread from my grandmother and her mother. She has had some difficulties which caused me some hesitation, but I decided to go for it. The lady I work for loves to cook and bake. I found that she owned a copy of The Bread Bible. I asked to borrow her copy and she complied adding her commendations as well. That is what brought me to where I am today... enjoying the rich aroma of fresh baked Buttermilk Honey Bread.

“Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. The countries are the soup, the meat, the vegetables, the salad but bread is king.”

~Louis Bromfield, American novelist ~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”

~Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet~

Hmmm....

Boy am I aweful at keeping up with a blog. I really need to get on and at least post pictures more often. I have been pretty busy with school work. Being junior is a lot of work. Anyway...enough excuses!

I learned something neat in my law class the other day. My ears perked right up when I heard the professor say "tort". He was not talking about the tort I was familiar with, though. Tort law is,
"A body of rights, obligations, and remedies that is applied by courts in civil proceedings to provide relief for persons who have suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others. The person who sustains injury or suffers pecuniary damage as the result of tortious conduct is known as the plaintiff, and the person who is responsible for inflicting the injury and incurs iability for the damage is known as the defendant or tortfeasor."
Quite a mouthful. My easy way of describing it and remembering it for tests is, " A civil wrong that interferes with one's property or person. e.g. tort of trespass, battery, assult, false imprisonment..." Kinda neat, isn't it.

As for my baking, I have had a few cake orders. Here are the pictures:

The cupcakes were for Mothering Mommies LLC. (Amanda's mom's business). October 9th is National Pro-life Cupcake Day. I bet you did not even know that day existed! The idea behind it is,

"Cupcakes were designed with birthdays in mind.However, not everyone has been allowed to be born.In fact one in three children will never celebrate their first birthday due to abortion. We simply don't think it's fair that so many children don't ever get to have a birthday party. So we thought that we would schedule a day to remember the children, who never get to blow out the candles, unwrap their gifts and eat some cake."

Here are some other exciting things that have happened over the past couple of months.

Anne Elise Correlli was born....

Pappy now has 4 lovely granddaughters. Only two can fit in his arms at a time, though. I'm sure he wishes he had more arms to hold them all :) ....

Summer......Annie................Kiera........................Molly....

CrossCurrent's Harvest Party was held at our house. I dressed up as a girl from the 1940's...

Dad and Luke celebrated their birthdays. I got a little lazy and just made giant chocolate chip cookies... nothing very fancy....

I also celebrated my 20th birthday. Fran made me a coconut cake (my favorite kind) and Ethan decorated a cake for me as well...

Sorry, nothing too terribly exciting has happened. Maybe I will get back on here soon and post some stories of the cakes. My aim for this post was just to get the pictures on here. Hope you all enjoy.

"The future... seems to me no unified dream but a mince pie, long in the baking, never quite done.”
Edward Young quotes