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.