We are approaching our six month milestone living in Mexico. Because of this, we had to make a trip to El Paso, TX recently to renew our visas and vehicle permit, which are only good for six months at a time. It is hard to believe that we have been in Mexico for this long. And yet, at other times it feels like we have been here for much longer than that! Although we are enjoying our time here in Matachi, it was good to spend a few days in El Paso because it strangely felt like being at home. The first place we went to eat while in the states? Taco Bell. Go ahead and laugh; it's true. The second place? Papa John's, of course. Real pizza. Yum.
We are proud to report that we have tripled our enrollment this January. That's right! We now have three students at the school. In addition to Maykon from El Progreso, Honduras, we now have his good friend, Gustavo (also from El Progreso, Honduras) and Heber who is from Tampico, Mexico. Get to know them by going to
http://matachi.org/?p=144.
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| Heber, Gustavo, and Maykon. Photo taken at "El Salto," near Matachi. |
What a difference it makes to have three students here. The group dynamics have changed as each of the new students bring their own personalities into our community. The English speakers still out-number the Spanish speakers, but that will not last long. We have two to four other prospects who are considering starting in the summer. We will also be welcoming Aleesa to the staff at the IMM. Aleesa will be teaching ESL classes and assisting in the ministry here. She is from Ohio and was an intern at Hillside Missions Organization. She is currently teaching English at a Christian school in Parral, Mexico and will be a great asset to the staff. We say this not just because she is fluent in three languages, but because she is also an all-around wonderful person.
A few events have taken place over the last month. Of utmost importance was Jevor's birthday on the 15th of January. It was an "authentic" Mexico birthday (by "authentic" we mean that we had Mexican decorated cupcakes and that it took place in Mexico). The students decorated to make it extra special for him. Jevor enjoyed it, especially the Nerf guns that he got as a present because we left his collection back in Indiana.
Another event here at the school happened just a couple of Sundays ago. We have been working to repair the pipes in the upstairs bathroom, which burst last year during a severe cold spell. One of our supporting families from Chihuahua came to help in the project. Besides bringing the material for the bathroom and some much needed knowledge and labor, they brought some delicious food with them. We grilled it Mexican style and had a wonderful picnic. Yes, you read correctly. We had a picnic in January! Thank you, Vicuna's!
God is doing some wonderful things here in Matachi, and we are privileged to be a part of it. There does not seem to be a day that goes by that God does not remind us that He is in control and all that we need to do is fully rely on Him. For example, every month since we have been here, the financial support has been provided. Each month we have been able to feed everyone, keep the lights on, and take hot showers. Then within a two week period around the holidays, we added two new students. We would be lying if we said that we did not begin to get concerned with how we were going to feed everyone, let alone all of the other stuff. But God did provide. Sometimes it was through people showing up with food (as evident in the photo above), or through extra support unexpectedly being given. God never ceases to amaze us!
Being able to adequately share on this blog what God is doing is
proving to be more difficult than what we thought it would be. Trying
to decide what information would be best to share is not an easy task.
If you have any suggestions go ahead and make a comment at the end of
this blog. We would appreciate your input and we will do our best to answer any questions that you have.
