Not my Jesus

This creepy looking Jesus figure was in the Catholic temple in downtown Altamirano. The building was apparently built in 1945 and is beautiful inside. In one sealed off corner, they had two statues or figures of Jesus. This creepy looking guy had a necklace of dollar bills and in his bloody left hand, he had another wad of cash. He also had some 50 peso bills around his neck. I don't know if he takes credit cards..............?

Jason attempting to win the egg eating contest

This was an experimental video shot with a new iPod Nano Video - 8gb. It took 15 minutes to upload....

Tuesday

Julia standing in front of the Catholic Church founded in 1945, Ron and John talking with Pastor Moises and seminary student Orel, and the front of the church at nite.....

to the Mercado

We went to the market so Jason (Officer Blosser), the only person Ann trusted with the cash, could convert it to pesos. The yellow things the lady is selling are called nanches and are pretty tasty. I have no idea what the other stuff is........

Monday Morning

Morning meeting and prayer time. Tim lead us in an excellent prayer for Matt Farahani's surgery today back in Oklahoma .....then we rode in the back of the truck to breakfast at the church (yummy goat cheese and beans). It was someone's birthday so we took a birthday pic on the roof of the church!

This afternoon we go out visiting again - the teams consist of members of our group, local church members and seminary students and staff.

Off and Running - Sunday Morning Service

The first joint service this morning was quite an event...... Jim and Debbie gave personal testimonies, Tim did a teaching about being 'clean' in spirit, Alfaro presented a sermon, and the church praise band and the Seminary Choir both presented musical extravaganzas ! Then we ate lunch and observed an important local custom - the afternoon siesta......

A collection of pictures from today....... a rather strange couple we met when we pulled over to work on the truck, Julian's miniature (but tasty) banana, the parking lot/courtyard/family life center/kitchen where we'll eat every meal, and 2 preachers. More tomorrow - we're tard as Ron would say......

The Road Ends Here

We started the day Saturday with a killer breakfast buffet at our hotel, then we got underway to Altamirano at about 8:30am. I was in the pickup (loaded with all the luggage) following the white van with most everyone in it. After an hour or so, we totally lost our front brakes and had to do some roadside repairs. Everything worked out OK but we got to our destination an hour or two late. The trip was nice, tho - lots of mountain vistas and no military checkpoints to pass through like last year.

Morelia, Mich. at 8:30pm ......... too excited to sleep

We made it ! After one day of rather leisurely travel, we arrived at the airport here in Morelia at about 8:30 pm to find Omar & Hortencia Bustos and Alisa Duncan waiting for us. Everyone breezed thru customs and we all got checked into the local Quality Inn Hotel - a very nice place. Free breakfast at 7am then we're off to Altamirano - about a 6 hour drive thru winding mountain roads. Dramamine will be the drug of choice tomorrow !

Oh, by the way, we found the slacker in the orange cap at the airport in OKC with a sign around his neck reading: "Will Preach for Food", so we brought him along. Seriously, tho, it's great to have Tim fill in at the last minute. We've all had an enjoyable trip today. Griff and Shari: We are thinking about you guys and praying for you.

Tomorrow is D-Day !! better start packing ...

This is the hotel where we stayed in 2008........it's very nice for such an out of the way place. Ron Little and I stayed here for a night in 2007 and 2008 on 'mission expeditions'. We hope this is where we'll be staying when we finally arrive in Altamirano !

Not much to update except that tomorrow is the big day so we're packing like crazy tonight. Also, a late addition to the team is our beloved ex-Pastor himself, Dr. Tim Richardson !! We're glad that he finally caved in and is coming along :-) He has an abundance of friends in Mexico who will be glad to see him as well.

To all our prayer partners, we ask for your petitions concerning our travels. Friday and Saturday are big days for us in that regard. Thanks !

D-Day Minus 2 - The Key to the Missionary's Work

Don't tell anyone but I have a daily devotional time every morning when I get to work & most days I read from Oswald Chamber's book "My Utmost for His Highest" (that's the secret). It was first printed in 1935 and written well before that. I read alot, but try to stay current with contemporary authors and fresh publications. I like Oswald, but generally speaking, that's not how I roll.

But this morning, he totally nailed it. Here's a quote from the October 14 devotion: "The key to the missionary's work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the LOST. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don't go -- He simply says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations ......" He says "Go on the basis of the revealed Truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me."

We're not to go, expecting God to help us and we're certainly not going in order to help Him. We go joyfully because we're commanded to - He will fulfill His purpose - not me. I forget that sometimes.....

Here we go again - D-Day Minus 3

At first glance, this might not appear to be the 5-star dining experience it is - but believe me, I ate mountains of great food at this table last October. I was thrilled to find out that the church in Coyuca de Catatlan was providing all our meals again.

Right now, I should be packing to leave (Friday 9:30am), but instead, I'm looking thru photos of last year's trip - it's a lot more fun !