La Feria (The Fair) By JenJe

     Hello! This is my first time doing a blog and I'm very excited to share with you. It has been a good two-or-so months. Life in Mexico has been very interesting.  There are definitely things I miss here, but I know God can use everything for His glory.
     It has been really nice to be together as a family all the time. During mealtimes with Maykon (who we count as part of the family) we can have the funniest time. The language we speak together is called Spanglish. Ok, so that's not really a language, but with the little bit of Spanish we know and the little bit of English Maykon knows we can communicate fairly well in Spanglish.
     We had heard that there was going to be a carnival coming to Matachi. Sure enough, a bunch of trucks came with rides and trailers. They started setting up at the plaza which is a short block from our house. We saw a Ferris Wheel go up. All the streets around the plaza were packed with booths, tents and food vendors. We went on Saturday and saw that they were selling everything from plastic toy guns to intricately beaded jewelry. That night none of us slept very well, because somebody was playing very, very loud Mexican music like you would hear in the Mexican restaurant. None of us are big fans of the tuba anymore.
    We went again on Monday with Maykon. We looked at all the booths again. Then we came to the rides.  Jevor and Maykon went on a ride and when they got off Maykon was slightly green. Dad and I went on the Ferris Wheel. It was the fastest Ferris Wheel I have ever been on, the most fun and the only one I've seen that powered by a tractor. Yeah, you read right. The tractor wheel was what made it go. Welcome to Mexico!
     They also had this bungee thing where you were strapped into a harness and were (for the lack of a better word) boinged, up and down. Jevor, of course, thought it looked fun and decided to try it. He, of course, had a great time. I nervously decided I would try it, too. I was strapped into the harness and there I went. Here's the video of me, boinging:

I did not want to do a flip at top at all. I tried to kick my legs to regain my balance when I felt like I was going to lose my balance. It worked every time except one. I told mom I was glad I did it,but I am never, ever doing it again!
     After that, We ate a really good dinner of burritos, tacos and gorditas, which are little pockets of bread stuffed with meat. We bought a few things and then finally walked home and after some winding down on Jevor's part, (Ok, Ok it was me too.) we went to sleep grateful that the dumb tuba music wasn't as bad as the past couple nights.
     Anyway there's a little glimpse into a Mexican Feria. Here are some pics of our night:

The view of the fair from our balcony. You can see how close we are.

The ride Jevor and Maykon went on. The next picture speaks for itself.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mexican version of a carousel. You can't see it in this picture, but one of the little kids on it had a cowboy hat and boots.

Jevor and Maykon in front of a food stand near the rides

Me and dad on the tractor Ferris Wheel

Eating gorditas

These are called tacos al pastor. Mom ended up eating them and Jevor ate the other half of my burrito grande.

My burrito grande, before.

My burrito grande, after.
( Just kidding! It was really good.)

The salsa inspired fear in the hearts of Maykon and Jevor.

Jevor wanted me to put this video on. It is his boinging experience. I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed it more than I did!
     Well there's my first blog! Thanks so much for your prayers as we keep learning more about our new culture.

Nuestro Primer Mes (Our First Month)

It's hard to believe that we have been in Matachi, Mexico for a little over a month now.  We are learning a lot.  Our Spanish is getting better, but communication continues to be a challenge.  The area of Mexico where Matachi is located is so beautiful.  We are surrounded by mountains, and the sunsets are remarkable almost every night.  Also, at night the stars can be seen in the full glory that God intended.  Here are a couple of picture of what we get to look at almost every day:

This picture was taken from the balcony of the school  that overlooks our courtyard.  We love to sit up here and look over the mountains. 

The town of Matachi is not that large, but it has plenty of heart.  The people that live here have a great deal of pride in their small town as is evident by the "100% Matachi" stickers that we see around town.  There are small "abarrotes" (grocery stores) everywhere. One particular street has three to choose from within a block. Unfortunately, there are nearly as many "salones" (bars) and "tiendas de licores" (liquor stores) as there are abarrotes.  We were a bit shocked by the liquor stores in Mexico because most of them have drive-through service.  There aren't any fast-food places in Matachi, but they have drive-through liquor stores.

Adjusting to life in Matachi has not been too difficult.  We have learned to live with the laid-back pace of this town.  For example, in Greencastle, if we had some of the issues with the water that we have had here (such as the lack of water pressure, or no water at all at unpredictable times of the day) the people of Greencastle would not have put up with it and demanded that things change.  But, we are in Matachi now, and that is just the way things are around here, and that is not a bad thing.

Here are a few pictures that we have taken around town.
   

Plazas are the center of Mexico towns.  There are beautifully landscaped and maintained.  In Matachi, the youth gather in the afternnon and evening to play basketball or just hang out in the plaza area.

In the plaza

The main Catholic church in town sits across from the plaza.  In most towns, the Catholic church is the best maintained building.  They are beautiful buildings.  In Matachi, the Catholic church also has a school.  From our experience, there is much friction between the Catholic and the Christian (non-Catholic) communities.

Maykon and Jevor walking down a street in Matachi.  This one happens to be paved,. but most are not.  To the right you can see a dirt road, which is more the norm.  This is across the street from the plaza and Catholic church.  You can see the abandoned house with a $ sign, which means it is for sale.  Most of the buildings are made out of adobe bricks.  Some houses our finished with cement and painted, but others are just the brick.

This clock stands in another small park area down the street from the plaza.  The clock is only correct twice a day.  You can see the flags on the light poles in the background.  The town put those up to celebrate Mexico Independence Day.  They had dancing, bands, and school programs to celebrate in the plaza.  There were also random fireworks.

This picture is dedicated to Papaw because men will actually drive their tractors to the grocery store.

This is the other elementary school in town (besides the Catholic one).  You can see the children practicing their dance routine for Independence Day. 

This particular grocery store is very colorful.

This is another small park.  The green building is the local funeral home.

This building is big and beautiful.  It is the future hospital, but it's been under construction for a long time.

This is a drive-through liquor store.  Many of them are more open than this and much larger in size.

The aqua colored building on the right is a small hotel.  Some mission teams have stayed here when there hasn't been enough room at the Institute.

This is a preschool down the street from the Institute.  This one decorated with Warner Bros., but usually you'll see Disney characters everywhere.

This is our street: Hidalgo.  The Institute is on the right.  We are looking down the street towards the plaza.  The basketball courts are straight ahead.  A small hamburger stand is open down there through the week.  A bar is to the left, but it usually isn't open every day.  If you go in the door under the sign of the Institute, you walk straight into the dining room.  The classroom is where the little white fence is.  All the dorm rooms are upstairs. 

Finally, the people that we have come in contact with over the last month is what has really made the month wonderful for us.  Here is just a sampling:

On our first Sunday, we had several people join us for a time of worship and fellowship.  They include from left to right - a couple of young men from Matachi, Jose (a graduate of the Institute now living in Chihuahua) Maykon (our current student), Fabian (Matachi native and student in Chihuahua) Aleesa (former staff member of the Institute, now teaching English at a school in Parral) Adrain (brother of Fabian and a student in Cuauhtemoc) and Andy.

On our second weekend, we were visited by the Vicuña family.  They are friends from Chihuahua and wonderful supporters of the Institute.  Karen (on the far left) stayed with us for a few days to help us get acquainted to the school and Matachi.  She is a former intern of Hillside Missions in Richmond, VA.

Maykon is getting some assistance with putting on the protective gear that Adrain and Fabian wear while participating in the rodeo.  This was a fun afternoon full of laughs as many of us tried on the gear.  If you missed it, there is a hilarious video of Andy putting on this gear on the last blog entry or it can be found in his Facebook videos.  From left to right: Christian, Maykon, Adrain and Fabian

The Gil family in Chihuahua have donated a drum set to the school.  We are taking suggestions for a name for our band.  By the way, Maykon does not play guitar and Andy does not play the drums, but Jevor always looks that cool.  On Sunday's Adrian (not pictured) plays the drums during our worship time. 

One Sunday afternoon, Adrian (right) took us up one of the mountains just outside of Matachi. Apparently, it was orange-shirt day.

Fabian (left) and Maykon (middle) came back one evening with alfalfa.  Fabian made a drink from it by putting the alfalfa in a blender and adding water, sugar, and lemon to it.  Andy gave it a try.  He says that it is an acquired taste.

Maykon (middle) and Andy's first rodeo in Cuauhtemoc.  Only Adrian (left) rode in this one. Fabian (right) did not get to ride in this one.  You can see Adrian's scary ride in Andy's Facebook videos.

Lastly, we want to say how much we appreciate the prayer and financial support over the past month.  You will continue to be a valued part of our ministry as we adjust to life in Mexico and Matachi over the months to come.

It's been a couple of week now.

Sorry that is has been so long since our last post.  Matachi is a great, little town and we are starting to get to know some the locals.  The last couple of weeks have been busy with cleaning, organizing, teaching, and getting to know each other.  Our one student at the moment, Maykon, is adjusting well.  He is from Honduras.  We recently found out that a friend of his from Honduras has been accepted to the school, so we expect to see him here in about a month or so.

So, just to prove how much fun we have been having, here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure.

First video is of Jevor smashing an apple.  His reaction is the best. Some apples that we bought a couple of weeks earlier from a roadside vendor were going bad so we decided to smash them just for the fun of it.

Next video is a game of Pit.  For those who are not familiar with the game, it is a game where you trade cards around until you are able to collect all of the same item.  It was our first time playing with that many people, and the results could not have been any better.

The final video pretty much speaks for itself, but I will go ahead and provide a bit of info.  There are two brothers from Matachi who are wonderful friends of the school.  Their favorite sport is the rodeo.  They brought their equipment to the school and several of us tried it on.  The rest is history.

In Chihuahua

We have to admit that we were a bit nervous about crossing the border.  It's not that we were smuggling anything illegal, or something like that.  We just did not know what to expect so we were bracing for the worst but hoping for the best.  One thing that we knew that we had on our side was the large number of people praying for us at that moment.  We believe that our "no-hassle" border crossing was largely a result of the number of prayers on our behalf.  For that we are grateful.

The trip to Chihuahua was rather uneventful as well.  We did have to pass through a couple of checkpoints and getting a permit for our vehicle involved a lot of hoop to jump through.  The highlight of the trip was when we were at a military checkpoint and a soldier has us get out of our vehicle so that it can be searched.  He looked into the back seat and was a bit startled at first by the cats.  However, he laughed it off and decided to go ahead and check the vehicle for explosives with some fancy device.  After all, a family traveling from the states with two cats could be a terrorist threat.

Chihuahua is an interesting city.  Driving is a bit insane, but I learned defensive driving in Chicago, so it's no big deal.  That doesn't keep Lora from being white-knuckled though.  Yesterday (Saturday) Kris and I had the opportunity to meet with some pastors and missions representatives here in Chihuahua.  The meetings were very productive.  Yesterday evening we had dinner with a couple of local families who are friend of the school and of Hillside.  Most of the conversation was in Spanish, so we were lost at times, but it was a wonderful experience for us and the kids.

Today we are having breakfast with another couple who are friends of the school, then we began our final trip to Matachi were we will finally be able to settle in.  Also, we were surprised last night by the arrival of our first  student, Maycon.  He is from Honduras.  We are excited about starting this new adventure together.

Here are some pictures:

A Quesadilla Stand on the way to Chihuahua

 Views of the city of Chihuahua

On the Road - Day 3

We spent the morning in Colorado Springs.  We visited Focus on the Family, and drove through The Garden of the Gods.  This is such a beautiful area!  We will have to return someday.  When then traveled through the sparsely populated southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.  The views were wonderful, but there was not much more beyond that.  We are in Santa Fe, NM now, and will be heading out for El Paso, TX soon.  We expect the traveling to be much like it was yesterday.

Here are some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

Visiting Focus on the Family

Whit's End Soda Shoppe at Focus on the Family

View of Colorado Springs

Garden of the Gods

Our Ride

JenJe walking one of the cats at a rest stop in Kansas

Picked up an extra passenger sometime in Kansas.

Our Kansas view.

On the Road - Day 1 & 2

We are on the road.  Our trip started on Sunday.  We got as far as Kansas City.  By the time we got there we were pretty worn out, so we basically ate dinner and went to bed.  Kansas City looks like a neat place.  We got to see more of it today than planned because we missed our exit, but we got back on track eventually.  The first few hours of driving through Kansas was alright.  It was fascinating to see the rolling plains with very few trees in sight, and black dots (cows) scattered throughout, but after the first few hours, it got pretty boring.  The first couple of hours in Colorado was much like Kansas, only it got better as we went.

Today's trip has brought us to Colorado Springs.  For those of you who know your geography, you will know that Colorado Springs is not between Greencastle, IN and Mexico.  It is about 3 hours out of our way, but we chose to come here because the kids are big fans of Adventures in Odyssey (a kids radio program by Focus on the Family).  The headquarters of Focus on the Family is in Colorado Springs.  Their visitor center has a Whit's End Soda Shoppe and the kids have talked about how they would like to go there someday.  So we thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Hopefully we can post some pictures tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers as we travel.

The Date is Set

It's official!  We are leaving for Mexico on Sunday, August 14th and should be arriving in Mexico on Thursday, August 18th.  We are currently in Richmond, VA for a couple of days of training with the Hillside staff and Interns.  Once we return to Greencastle, IN, we will have about 10 days to get everything in order, packed up, and loaded before pulling out that Sunday.

We have had some prayers answered recently.  Two of our biggest prayer needs have been our house, and having enough room for the things that we need to take with us to Mexico.  We now have people to rent our house.  Our house has an upstairs apartment that we have been renting out while living downstairs.  Having people in both apartments is a true Godsend. The rent will be just enough to cover our mortgage, utilities, and some other bills.  Also, we recently bought a trailer that we will load up and take with us to Mexico.  This too is a Godsend, because we were unsure of how we would be able to get the necessary things we need to Mexico.  The trailer will also come in very handy while in Mexico for collecting wood and other supplies from time to time.

It has been wonderful over these past couple of month to see how God has provided for our needs time and time again.  It is a testimony not only to what He has done and is doing now, but also to what He is certain to do in the future once we are in Mexico.

Things are starting to come together

UPDATE:

Once again God has provided.  We now the proud owners of a brown 2002 Trailblazer EXT.  Don't let the age fool you.  It runs smoothly, looks great, has a sun roof (not necessarily a selling point for us, but cool nevertheless), and the extra seating will come in handy once we are at the school.

Here is what God did today:

1. convinced a local used car dealer to buy our older vehicles for $700 more than what the dealer of the Trailblazer was willing to give as trade-in value, 
2. kept our monthly payments around $100 a month (only $3 over), 
3. enabled us to drive away in a Trailblazer that was sold to us for about $2000 - $3000 less then what other dealers in the area were asking for comparable Trailblazers that they have on their lots.
4. AND gave me an opportunity to talk with a co-worker about spiritual matters.

DIOS ES BUENO!  TODO EL TIEMPO!

"Slippery When Wet" sign was not included.

ORIGINAL POST:

Went vehicle shopping this past evening.  We found something that we really like and we think it will work well for us in Matachi.  It offers extra seating so that a couple of our students could join us when we take trips out of town.  This would allow them to get away now and then and save money by not having to take the bus all of time.  Whether or not we get this vehicle depends on financing.  It may end up being a bit more than we have budgeted.  Our budget currently allows for $100 a month for a payment on the vehicle.  That's not much, but we have seen God work with far less.  Please pray that God will work out the details and we will have the vehicle that we need while in Mexico.

I (Andy) have less to two weeks before I am officially unemployed (in the world's eyes).  My job over the last few years has been wonderful.  I have great co-workers, good work environment, steady paycheck . . . all have been a blessing and it will be hard to walk away from it.  Therefore, I chose to see it more as walking towards the next blessing that God has in store for us.  However, it all still seems a bit unreal.  I suppose that when that last day comes, that is when reality will sank in and I will begin to realize that "this is really happening."  Then we will find ourselves among the rank of the "beautifully footed" missionaries who bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the nations.  Well . . . we first need to make it to Matachi.  Then it'd be official, right?

We have listed our pray needs on the right under our profile picture.  Thanks for your continued prayer support.

Not Much Longer Now

For those who are not aware, about eight months ago we accepted the missionary calling to be directors of el Instituto de Movilización Misionera in Matachi, Mexico. This is a school in Mexico that trains and equips Latin Americans to be missionaries around the world. Over the last few months we have been raising support and preparing ourselves for the two-year commitment that we have made with Hillside Missions Organization, the parent organization that oversees the school, which is located in Richmond, VA.

We have certainly seen the Lord provide over the past few months. We nearly have all the funds needed to cover our living expenses while in Matachi and we are confident that God will lead others to give the remaining amount that is needed. The following graph provides a view of where we stand on our fundraising.

For those who have made pledges and/or have already given donations we cannot begin to tell you how much you are appreciated. Without those funds, this simply would not be possible. If you haven't made a pledge and God is leading you to do so, then it is never to late to start giving. Pledges can be made by contacting Yurihn Keating of Hillside and letting her know of the amount our your monthly pledge. If you attend New Life Baptist Church, then contact Roger Zimmernam with your pledged amount.  

While we haven't officially set a date for our departure to Mexico, it looks like we will be able to leave sometime within the first two weeks of August. Therefore, we are asking that monthly donations begin in July to help cover traveling expenses and other stuff needed before we are able to leave for Mexico. For those at New Life, this will mean giving the donations to Roger or through the church office. For everyone else, you can begin making monthly donations online by using Hillsides catalog. Just click here to get to our page of the catalog. For those who would prefer to send a check, then make the check out to Hillside Missions Organization (write "for the Stouders" in the memo) and they will see to it that we receive the funds. Their address is 8A East Broad St., Richmond,VA 23219.

As always, your prayers are requested. You can read our prayer needs in the right-hand column of our blog, under our profile picture.

In Christ,

Andy, Lora, JenJe & Jevor