Recent Events...

I've been thinking lately that we've gotten used to things here and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to blog things that seem interesting to us or new to you, because most of it seems normal. So I just thought I'd give an update on how things are going, what's happening with us and maybe some future plans- I don;t know if I'll get that far in this blog or not...

CarWash
Our van has accumulated many many weeks of desert-dust and mud around the various nooks and crannies- inside and out. And we are taking an extended trip into the US next week, so figured we'd better have a semi-respectable looking Tiuana-Van. I thought of washing it at home, but the problem is that it needs a vacuum and we only have a "stand-up" vaccum that wouldn't be able to do the job. The other problem was that our yard is a fine clay. Any water on it at all causes an incredible, muddy mess. Then the carpets in the house and van become filthy...
So Caleb and I took it down to a car wash here in Rosarito. They don't have those "do-it-yourself" car washes that are popular in Canada. And I haven't seen a "machine-wash" type one either. But all over the place they have "hand wash" car washes. You give a fellow your keys and they vaccuum the inside, the seats and carpets etc. then they take it inside the bay and rinse it- take it to the next station and wash it b hand. They had hand-scrubbies to take off the really tough grime. They scrubbed off 10 years of saskatchewan Bug-guts from the front bumper. We had no idea our bumper was that colour under the guts! After that they take it to the next station and they'll wash the inside of the vehicle, dash boards, inside glass, places where the kids hid that taco 4 months ago! I had a pair of new windshield wipers I had bought and was going to put on- and they even put them on for us! I did not recognize the van when they brought it out! The whole ordeal took close to 2 hours!!! I think they must usually have other people working- but today there was 3 of them working and we had to wait in line for them to finish the cars ahead of us. The whole thing cost $8.00 which was more than the $6 he had quoted me at first, but the van was a challenge, and they did an amazing job! Apparantly this is a common way to get your car washed because when we left, there were 6 cars waiting in line. Some of the folks had been waiting almost an hour before their cars even got to the vaccuum station! Mexicans have a lot of patience and don;t seem to get easily riled up by things they can't control. It was an interesting experience!

The Bird Man
While we were waiting for the van to be finished Caleb and I saw quite a sight.
Pet birds must be somewhat popular here in Mexico because we see them in abundance at pet shops. There are a few that put the pets out on the sidewalk for the day and when you stop at that corner (with 2 petshops on it) your ears almost drown in the cacophony of 100+ birds all trying to outdo each other with songs of joy, irritation and or hunger.
Yesterday while we were at the car wash, we saw a guy walking in the little plaza. He had a cowboy hat and leather gloves on, and strapped to his back with a makeshift seatbelt inspired apparatus was a 4 foot tower of birds. He had at least 20 birds in small bamboo-type cages and on top a larger wire cage with a large bird on top- desperatley trying to keep it's balance as the bird man walked along, trying to sell the birds.
I had to wonder if anyone actually buys birds from the bird man?!?! i can understand selling ice cream and frozen fruit sticks and elotes and tmaales from a little cart along the streets. Sometimes people are kinda hungry and when the opportunity presents itself in fron of you, you buy it... But I wonder how many people are walking around the plaza and beach and the streets thinking deep in the recesses of their mind "... boy... I kinda feel like buying a bird, if only..." And boom there appears the bird man, ready to fulfill the basic desire for a flying pet that is kept in a cage! Mexican people are incredibly resourceful, and if someone thinks they may be able to make a buck at somethign- they do it- so he must be either making money- or he's trying somethign new...

Finances
Many of you have been praying for us and our financial situation. I'm happy to tell you that we got a full cheque this month! Praise God! Thank you for praying and for giving! Please continue to pray for regular monthly-giving partners to be added to our team!

Ensenada
YUGO has an outreach Centre in Ensenada, Mexico about an hour south of us. We've been wanting to visit there and see what they do. When we were first thinking of bringing a team to Ensenada a couple years ago, we were interested in their ministry to Native people from Southern Mexico.
Outside of the city in the agricultural area there are several villages- mostly made up of Oaxacan and Mixtecan Indian people. In their home areas in Souther Mexico there is extreme poverty and almost no money as a large amount of the Native people are subsistence farmers. they hear stories of the wealth up north and come looking for a better life. There is mor emoney here, but the cost of living does not match the amount they can make. So often they have both parents working in the farm fields and sometimes the kids too ,in order to make enough to live on.
The kids can;t go to school because they often don't speak spanish when they first come, they have never been to "kindergarten" (an absolute must in Mexico- no kindergartern, no school!) and they do not have "papers" like birth certificates. They are often from very rural areas that are not serviced by many government officials, and therefore lack proof of citizenship, age and /or education.
Yugo has ministered to these folks by building houses, helping to build churches, running daycare and breakfast feeding programs and sending teams for vacation Bible School. The results right now are a few churches that are very very small ( in one area most of the churches have 10-15 people in them) struggling to know how to mkae the ministry their own. The pastors here are great guys, but they have never been discipled. Often times they become Christians and some others in the family and neighbourhood do so afterwards- and the guy whose been a beleiver the longest gets to pastor. But without many resources and no training and no discipleship, they and their churches have been struggling, usually coming to the conclusion that they cannot do ministry without the assistance of American teams coming. The ministry tends to be "hanging on" in between missionary teams. Please pray for these churches that they would experience freedom, and health to be all God would have them to be! It breaks my heart to hear of these churches struggling like that!

Language School

I have been attending language school 2 or 3 times a week for a few weeks now. It is going quite well. I get a little frustrated by the work. I wonder if I'm getting it, because it goes quite fast. But I am finding myself conjuncting the verbs now in conversation with people and sometimes even doing it without thinking. I can see progress. My Teacher, Ernesto, is expecting me to excel to the point of fluidity by June.

Mission Retreat
YUGO is haivng their annual retreat in Temecula California at the Calvary Chapel Conference centre. They have natural hot-springs and a heated pool as well. We are looking forward to taking advantage of those and having a good time of encouragement, Worship and fellowship. It will be good to meet the YUGO missionaries we haven't met yet!

Deputation
I will be in Ontario for deputation from March 7-19th. I am in the process of setting up appointments and speaking engagements. If you'd like to have a visit, see some pics and hear our vision for Ministry, I'd love to have the opportunity to share with you and/ or a group as well! I'm not sure when I will be where, but will let you all know soon!

Thank you so much for praying for us and partnering with us! We look forward to hearing form you and how we can pray for you!

God bless until next time,

Mike