Tarahumara discipleship

A couple of weeks ago, another pastor (Bro. Ernesto) who works in Creel and a couple of Tarahumara villages asked Jose Luis to share with some of the Tarahumara Christians and others interested in learning more about God. We spent Fri. evening through Sun. afternoon, Oct. 16-18, with about 13 Tarahumaras (10 adults) and the pastor, his wife, and 2 other Mexican missionaries who work with Bro. Ernesto. On Sat. morning, Jose Luis shared his testimony in Tarahumara and every single Tarahumara in the room was crying by the time Jose Luis finished. Following his testimony, Jose Luis shared the plan of salvation as presented in the book of Romans (the "Roman road") and 3 Tarahumaras accepted Christ as their Savior & Lord! (the others had already accepted the Lord). What a special time! Then on Sat. afternoon, the whole group went with us to Los Manzanos for Bible study. On Sun., we all went to San Luis Majimachi for church in Tarahumara (mostly!). We were privileged to participate in what the Lord is doing here - how awesome is that?
This photo shows part of the group at the Bible study in Los Manzanos (outside of Crucita's house).

Time to catch up!

Well, I have certainly not been very diligent at updating this blog and I apologize for that. There are no excuses. We have been busy, but no more than normal. We have gone through our share of health challenges, but also no worse than other people. So I will try to catch up over the next couple of days. Jaynie wanted me to post a photo of her new pet - Lulu May! We have had her for 1 week exactly and Jaynie really enjoys taking care of her kitten. Lulu has adjusted well and has survived being surrounded by the 3 dogs living at our base (Wishbone, our toothless wonder dog, can't do much more than scare her). My hope in getting Lulu is that she will grow up to be a great mouser. I don't like it when mice invade my home! Thankfully, we have not had any mice inside for a few months now.

Where to start?...

We began week 3 of homeschool today. Jaynie seems to be understanding her new books, classes; however, we had a bit of a setback last week in English. I tend to think it is my failure to explain the material well AND her lack of paying attention to the questions asked. It's a good thing that I have 4th grade English worksheets, and Jaynie is working on those for the next couple of days. She is doing really well in Saxon Math - it is very different from last year's Modern Curriculum Math.

As a bonus today, Henk's sister Ida came and taught us the basics of knitting. I took a class back when I was just a little girl, but haven't knitted much since. Then in March, when we were visiting Claremore, OK, Jaynie & I attended a 1-hour craft class and I learned knitting again. Well, with the first slipped stitch, I was stuck and didn't know what to do. So I took all of my stitches out, but I forgot how to start again. What a blessing that Ida took time to teach us! Ida makes beautiful sweaters - maybe next year we can graduate to knitting sweaters. But first, we will master the basics.
On a down note, while Jaynie and I were grocery shopping in Creel, someone lightened my load, so to speak. As I was getting ready to pay, I realized that my money bag (aka coin purse) was gone! Ooh, I do not like the feeling of being robbed! But, I am thankful that whoever took it, did not take my billfold with my important id's, etc. We are getting ready to go to El Paso for a few days next week, and we really couldn't afford to lose the $200 pesos and change, but I know that the Lord will provide what we need. I just need to keep my eyes on Him and not on my circumstances.

Finally, keep Jose Luis in your prayers. He leaves for Samachike bright and early in the morning for translation committee work. The committee has been translating the book of Acts last week, and they hope to continue that work this week. Jose Luis is also learning a new program by SIL on adapting a translation of the Bible into a variation of that language.





This is a view of the mountains with a rainbow that Jose Luis took on his way to Choguita of Norogachi to pick up another member of the translation committee.

Purpose & Party

At first it seemed hard to believe that over 2 weeks have passed since I last posted something, then I remembered what happened from Sept. 6-11. We hosted a team that worked with another ministry in Creel, but they stayed at our base and Edith & I cooked 3 meals a day for them. It was such a good time - a little opportunity for me to remember why I am here. This was and is a lesson that God has been teaching me for the past 11 years. I am here to serve Him however and whenever the opportunity arises. In other words, every day I pray to glorify God in all I do and say. I must admit that I do not always succeed - I say something that is not very uplifting, or I lose my patience, or I chose to ignore someone - but I strive to be better and the Lord, in His mercy, patiently corrects and encourages me.

Then last Sat., we celebrated the birthdays of 2 of Crucita's children in Los Manzanos; Jose and Maribel both have birthdays on Sept. 15. I made a chocolate sheet cake (from my mother's recipe) and we took a large bottle of soda. Now, I was thinking that we would just have a bit of cake and then continue with our study. Little did I know that Crucita had called on her mother and one of her sisters to help get ready for the party. They killed and butchered some chickens and made chicken soup with fresh tortillas and beans. Crucita said that it was the first time that they had celebrated the birthdays of any of her children and her husband David said that he was very happy that we came to join in the festivities. It is so awesome to be a part of what the Lord is doing in the hearts of this family!

Let it snow!

Last winter was very mild with very little snow, and now we are feeling or seeing the effects of that mildness. We are inundated with caterpillars of every size and color. We saw some huge, hot-dog size caterpillars near our grape vines. However, we have seen many orange ones.

As a result, Jaynie has a new hobby - picking the caterpillars off of plants and giving them to the chickens for dinner.

A-OK

I got news earlier this week that the thing that was removed from my back/shoulder was benign. Praise God! This was great news! However, it was tempered by the term the doctor used to describe the growth...barnacle (for those who prefer the sophistic medical version...seborrheic keratosis). Now, when I hear the word "barnacle", I think of old ships that have been at sea a long time. I feel like that ship that went to sea over 46 years ago! Better to cling to the good news that I do NOT have a malignant growth.

Sites from around here:

Jose Luis has been taking photos and I think he does a great job. From San Luis Majimachi (above) to the Piedra Volada (below) to the cable car construction aiming to install cables to carry a car across the canyon (bottom photo). What do you think?

An Italian company is installing the cables. Nevertheless, I think it would be safer and prettier to just hike into the canyon or go off-road in our truck! Could be that my fear of bridges just expanded to include hanging cable cars?