OSC--Guanajuato 2010

The steadfast love of the Lord never changes. His mercies are new every morning.  We certainly are experiencing God’s new mercies today.  We woke up with a spring in our step, or as some in the southwest might say a little hitch in our giddy-up!  First let me say, everyone is exhausted.  We still need another night or two of good sleep to catch up and feel normal.  However, other than that the team is doing great!  Even those Krumenackers who were sick coming into things are doing very well!  Please keep praying for our health and safety, God has blessed us thus far!

Today has been a day to marvel at God.  The most amazing aspect of the trip thus far has been the weather.  We were expecting 85-90 degrees, we’ve gotten 75.  We were expecting thunderstorms and clouds, it has been dry and mostly clear.  The rains of the past week have helped to minimize the dust and dryness, so there are more greens and fewer browns in the landscape.  There is a slight breeze all the time that just seems to keep everything fresh.  The birds voice their approval of God’s handiwork constantly with a chatter and song that puts everyone and everything at peace.  Being at the camp is one of the most peaceful experiences I can think of.  Of course, a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that when we have been here, half of the team has been napping so there hasn’t been too much teenager noise to drown out the birds and the rustle of the leaves!

After waking from a glorious night’s sleep the team dressed, feasted on cereal, and had quiet times.  This morning (as with last night) we are in Ephesians.  We then loaded up the vans and drove an hour to church.  I’ve heard that in two of the vans it was a pretty quiet ride as some team members slept and others talked quietly.  That was not the case, however, in my suburban.  We decided to turn on the radio almost as soon as we pulled out of camp.  We turned on the radio and I immediately exclaimed, “Hey!   I know this song!”  and I did!  When I was in high school my dad had a business associate come to visit from Brazil (I think).  He brought me a couple of gifts.  One was a soccer book (Way to go Spain!) and the other was a CD from a popular musician at the time from Chile, I believe.  Ricardo Arjona was his name (I think).  Now, 12 years later I’m driving in the suburban in Mexico, listening to the radio to a song from that CD!  Crazy!  So after that jolt of energy seemed to awaken the van we started to scan the radio.  After not too long we found some “fun” music.  Before I knew it Evan, Ellen, Hanna, and Randy were in the back having a dance party!  Matt Fox was back there too.  I’m pretty sure I saw him bust a move or two, even though at one point he was trying to sleep through the fiesta!
We arrived at church and walked in just as they were finishing prayer.  It was a tiny church, our group just about doubled Sunday attendance.  We sat in the back (where there were open chairs) in white plastic chairs and tried to follow along in the service.  The pastor welcomed us, we sang several songs, all in Spanish of course. We had to work as a team to pass around the song numbers so we knew where to try and find the songs in their songbooks.  After a few songs the children left and we had Sunday school.  The pastor explained that normally they would go to the back into another room, but that they didn’t have another room large enough to fit our team, so we stayed in the sanctuary.  A new man, the teacher, was invited up front and we began a study on joy.  As he jumped around the bible I tried to translate as best I could for the youth sitting around me.  “He is talking about the happiness and joy we feel when we first get a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or when we ask our girlfriend to marry us and she says yes…now he is talking about the joy we have in Christ…he is comparing the fleeting joy of material possessions with the everlasting joy of possessing Christ.”  It was broad strokes, but hopefully they kept up with things.  It was a great lesson and very much tied into our devotional materials.  I was excited.  Then the children returned from their Sunday school classes and shared with us what they had learned and we shared a verse we had learned with them.  Things were great and the youth were enjoying it, although they were having trouble keeping up.  That is when the hammer dropped…we’d been there for over an hour and a half at this point and many of the youth thought the service was over.  Little did they know that we still had to take the offering, and the pastor had yet to give the sermon!  They were under the assumption that the Sunday school lesson WAS the sermon!  Pastor Javier got up and proceeded to give a great sermon about the cost of being a disciple and of following Christ.   The more he spoke the more excited I got.  See, Pastor Javier was basically rehashing the main points of our devotionals for the week!  In fact, three different times I heard him say almost word for word something that I had taught the group the night before!  I was in awe at how God worked.  (the only problem was that most of the team didn’t understand anything he was saying because he was speaking in Spanish and we didn’t have a translator!)  I also saw some points in his sermon that I hadn’t seen and made some connections that I hadn’t previously connected.  That just served to get me MORE excited about what God is doing!
After church we drove an hour and a half to Cristo Rey.  Cristo Rey is a cathedral, statue, iconic monument on top of a mountain.  Apparently it is the geographic center of Mexico.  On top of this mountain is a catholic Mecca for Mexico.  There is an 80 ft tall statue of Jesus.  It is such a neat experience because it highlights so many aspects of the Catholic faith that differ from our own.  We were able to see several devout followers take off their shoes, get down on their knees and shuffle their way across the plaza toward the statue of Jesus and the sanctuary below it.  They do this as a form of penance, to work off their sin as they work their way towards God.  Just before they get to the end, at the foot of the statue and just before they enter into the sanctuary there are two steps up.  The pathway where they walk on their knees, however does not have steps…it has a sharply inclined ramp…just a reminder that even when they feel close to God they must not stop working and struggling to get closer.  One of the most striking aspects of the statue and the sanctuary beneath was the presence of crowns.  On the statue Jesus is flanked on either side by small angel figures.  One is wearing a kingly crown; the other is wearing a crown of thorns.  The sanctuary is a globe, and Jesus stands on top, ruling the world.  Inside the center of the sanctuary is a roped off altar, topped with a kingly crown.  A step lower surrounding the altar on all sides is a walking area, so that people can come and worship from any direction. Running around the entire walkway area is the crown of thorns (and by thorns I mean 2-3 feet long each).  The afternoon was one of juxtaposition: the kingly crown and the crown of thorns, the catholic faith versus our reformed protestant faith, the harsh reality of what they have to do to get to God juxtaposed again the glory of His creation.  I could go on and on about things but it is time for lights out and I am beat…more to come tomorrow :) 
Prayer Requests:
Keep praying for our health and our team dynamics.
Pray as we begin work tomorrow for safety and good work ethics
Pray for our first VBS time tomorrow that we would be prepared and have good connections with the kids that come.
Finally, pray that God would continue to work in our hearts and mold us into the people He would have us to be.