Santa Ana

No, This is not a blog about Santa Clauses wife, Santa Ana...

Santa Ana winds happen down here mostly in the fall, and we are getting a wild one today. Typically a high pressure system settles over the mountains and begins to force Easterly winds onto the coastal areas. As the wind descends it superheats and as it heats up, it increases in force- espescialy as it drives its way through canyons on the way to the coast.
By the time it gets to us- it has 45mph winds (70km/h) with higher gusts occasionally. It whips up a ton of dust and smoke (from wildfires) and sends them our way!




Typically the temperature can rise into the high 80's and into the 90s whereas the normal temperature this time of year is about 68F-- it's a hot, dusty, dry wind that fills our house with dirt through any East facing cracks we may have!

Here is a pic of our "Baño". We just gave the bathroom a really good cleaning yesterday and here's what it looks like halfway through today... Apparantly someone had neglected to put a TP roll on the dispenser...






This floor had been swept 3 times before this--- After this one we duct-taped the door cracks to prevent this amount of dust from coming in!

This is supposed to last until sunset tomorrow night--- It is very reminiscient of a Saskatchewan snow storm- with the sounds of winds buffeting the house, all of the windows closed, the day is darker and we're all huddled inside the house because to go outside is a bit unpleasant-- not cold, mind you, but unpleasant in a sand-blasting sort of way!!

Class Pictures

A little while ago I had one of our YUGO Missionaries come out with me to the class to take some pics so I could post some on the blog- and then for a potential Prayer Letter as well... here are some of those pics!

This is a picture of the front of the church we are using to teach the classes in-- it is in a Colonia called "Rojo Gomez" after the guy who owned the land and subdivided it to start this neighbourhood.
Pastor Javier and his wife Odillia lead this church and attend the classes...






This is a picture of the class as we worship together at the beginning. I love signing with these folks- no instruments- just vibrant, heartfelt singing and worshipping!









Here I am with Juan, my translator













Here is a class picture with 25 students of the class (out of about 30). They have their Bible's and Workbook... a great bunch!

La Truck

Here is a pic of our new-old truck!! We got it back yesterday after spending about 36+ days in the importation process...

It is a 1991 Ford Explorer 4x4. It will enable me to be able to make it out to East Tijuana on the rough roads- or make it out of our house when it is raining!

Next I need to get Mexican Plates and Insurance-- that'll happen Monday and hopefully, Monday night I'll be able to take this truck out to the class.. It will be nice because i've been giving rides out in the Colonias and my side door on our van does not work so older people, very large people and even a lady with physical disabilities have been coming out and needing to climb in through the front door in the van-- it will be nice to have a workign back door!

Thanks for praying!

Update on Sharlene

Sharlene went to the Dr.'s in Canada this last Tuesday. It was a whirlwind tour, for sure. We drove her up to Los Angeles Airport starting at 7am on Monday and she caught a 1:30pm flight to Calgary arriving at 5:30pm in Canada.
She and Lisa Sawatzky went looking for a jacket for Shar ( it does get chilly here in winter and a fall coat is needed!!) and out for supper.
Tuesday Shar took the bus and C-Train to her Dr.'s appointment, waited for an hour, had a 10 minute appointment at which the Doc said everything looked good! She is healing well and progressing well and needs to keep going! Her biggest challenge is re-training the muscles so that her leg walks normally--right now she still has a bit of a limp and some stiffness, but none of the joint pain! Praise God!

From there she hopped a train and then a bus to the airport where she caught a 5:30pm flight to Los Angeles VIA Vancouver and was back in LA at 9:30 that night. From Landing in Calgary to Take off the next day she was in Canada for 24 hours and 3 minutes!!

Thank you for praying for Sharlene and her recovery. She is doing well and is progressing as she should. God has been very faithful to provide for our needs, including a whirlwind Canadian medical trip ( She has been back to Canada 3 times in 4 months!) as well as our vehicle importation issues...

Speaking of Vehicle Importation... I have our 1991 Ford Explorer in the importation process still. Usually it takes 3-5 days, this has been in for over a month now. The lady who has been doing the importation shut down her office (I don't know if she is out of business!!) but keeps in contact on the phone saying it will be soon--- We have had paperwork issues and I'm not sure what else is holding it up, but the main issue is that with me working out in East Tijuana teaching the Bible Institute classes, the roads out there are beating my van to pieces. I was out there 4 times last week for classes and helping a little girl get to dr.'s appointments in the city and my van takes a beating on the rough roads every time. The Explorer 4x4 will be more apt to handle the rough roads, we are hoping...

Please pray that this gets imported soon! Hopefully today!

Thanks for praying and partnering with us!!

Until Next time,

Mike

Project Joy

Project Joy

Project Joy is a unique Christmas ministry that invites individuals of all ages to give gift-filled shoeboxes to poor children in Mexico. We invite you to join us by providing shoebox gifts to the children of Mexico.

This project makes for a great Sunday school, church or family project!

In Mexico, poor children may not receive any gifts at Christmas. These shoebox gifts are evidence that someone cares for him or her. Since it's likely the only gift a child may receive, it is special to him/her and greatly appreciated. The children's parents are also grateful for your generosity and touched by the gift.

The gifts are presented to the children during a Christmas program in their village. This creates a warm environment for the Gospel to be heard and understood. Children (and parents) are told that God loves and cares about them, and like their gifts, He too, offers a gift...the gift of eternal life.

Would you like to help bring joy to the children of Mexico? Individuals of all ages are invited to participate by giving gifts. You may ship the gifts to us for distribution through a local church in Mexico. Or, you may form a group to come and present the gifts and share the gospel. You will witness first hand the changing of lives.

If you would like to participate in YUGO's Project Joy Program, you may download the Project Joy Specifications. You can also request a Starter Kit, which includes a DVD for your church as well as sign up forms, gift labels and the Project Joy Specifications.

If you would like more information, or have any questions, please e-mail us at projectjoy@yugomail.org.
Yugo Ministries 2007

Mexican Breathylyzer

A friend of mine was out at night last week when he came up to a police check stop. The Tijuana police officer asked him if he'd been drinking beer that night.

He said "no" cuz he wasn't...

The office asked him to breathe into the breathalyzer for 5 seconds.

He exhaled as asked...

The cop then took the breathylyzer, held the blowing part up to his nose and took 3 good whiffs and said "ok, you can go."


Mexican breathylyzer.... no batteries required!

Esperando

Waiting in Spanish....

Part of living in Mexico is waiting...

Last week I was drafted to provide transportation for a medical visit for a little girl, Lupita. Lupita lives in the area I do my teaching and has contacts with a local pastor out there.

She has an issue with her nose-- The bridge of her nose does not narrow, it has expanded- in other words her nose is wider at the top, in between her eyes, than it is down near her nostrils. It has been like that for most of her 8 years and we're hoping we can do something about it...

Friday we had an 8:30am appointment at a hospital near the border in the Mexican side. It is about a 50 minute drive from my house to her house and another 50 minute drive to the hospital.

Our 8:30 appointment turned into 11:30 and after we went through 3 or 4 different smaller waiting periods during which they made other appointments and recorded her results... We finally got out of the hospital at about 1:00pm-- and went to go to lunch.

We got into a traffic jam and it took us 20 or 30 minutes to get 2 km and then we were off to take Lupita for pizza. Lupita has 11 brothers and sisters and they are all quite poor and so she does not get pizza very often- she and her 15 year old brother ate pizza like it was going out of style! They saved 3 pieces to share among their siblings.

I watched them eat-- and they (and Pastor Juan who was also with us) ate their pizza like a taco!- they put hot sauce on the pizza (like a tabasco sauce) and some chile peppers (not lupita - just the guys) and they then take the piece and either fold it up like a taco and eat it or rip pieces off te crust and pick up the cheese and toppings like they would with a tortilla! It was an interesting pizza experience- the only downside for the folks was that there was not any ketchup to put on the pizza... which Many Mexicans seem to like...

I dropped them off at the house and had to run across the border to get a new printer that was on sale. The radio called for a 45 minute wait a the border- it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to get across---

all together i spent more time waiting then anything- but that is part of Mexico-- it sure has helped with my patience!

Waiting to hear from you,

Mike