Weā€™ve continued to be blessed by God and his people here in Mexico. The woman we had been staying with pastors a small independent church, which we attended on Sunday. She was eager to get us involved, as two of us sang in worship. Throughout the service, the Spirit moved through the congregation, as people worshiped the Lord and prayed for each other. It was truly a moving reminder of Godā€™s love towards his kingdom. This would be our last day staying with the lady, so after the service, she and her family took us to a beautiful botanical garden in the countryside to send us off.

We then went on a two night retreat, and while we all thought that maybe we hadnā€™t yet done enough to deserve it, it was a truly incredible and rejuvenating experience. The retreat center was half an hour out of the city, surrounded by hills and next to a lake. Truly beautiful. The two nights allowed us to recuperate before a big move, and draw us closer as a team, to our in-country coordinatorā€™s family, and to God. We arrived back in Puebla, relaxed, and ready to get back to work. We went back to the same church for a mid-week, smaller congregation service, where we got properly stuck in. We continued to serve in worship, read readings and shared testimonies. Afterwards, the pastorā€™s family took us out again for a massive meal of tacos as another send off.

We moved into the house of a lovely lady, Alicia, from another congregation and we were shocked by the kindness of hosting six young British teens. However, we found that the house would be too small to accommodate us all until the end of May. The pastor of a church and school we would be serving very generously offered a room for the men in the church/school building, only a five minute walk from Aliciaā€™s, where we would be cooking, eating and showering. The arrangement has been working out great.

 

We had yet another send off from Pastora Diana’s church, going to a church picnic with activities (sports/water games) in the park. It was a great experience, even though Diana herself was too unwell to attend, and I feel as though we’re all now very close to this congregation. Time after time, we’re astounded by the welcome and kindness of the people here.

The next day, work at Fundamento (school/church) began, as we cleaned the building. Sunday followed, and half of us went to Iglesia San Pablo (an Anglican church plant) and the others Iglesia Fundamento, a larger independent church. The team at San Pablo participated in Bible study and the service itself, and went back to the pastor’s house afterwards for lunch, churros and a (questionable) movie. We’ve already made some strong friendships at this church, and look forward to further building these relationships.

The other team, at Iglesia Fundamento, also had a blast. The church was more energetic, and the service longer, but they all thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, as with the other team, they went back to a member of the congregation’s house for dinner, where they really connected with each other.

Overall we’ve been so blessed by God and his people. We continue to build strong relationships, and are all astounded by people’s kindness and love towards us. Next week, schools will resume (it’s been half term for the last couple of weeks), and we’re all greatly looking forward to the work, and to having a week-to-week routine.

At schools we’ll be teaching English. We’ll be working at CED Fundamento (in the same building and run by the same people as Iglesia Fundamento), a school with roughly 30 children, aged 3-15, where the level of English is pretty basic. We’ll also be working at Colegio Carabez, a larger school where the level of English is a lot higher. This school has three English teachers, so we’ll be assisting rather than leading here. We’re all really looking to what’s to come.

 

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, God bless!

 

To read the previous report click here.