Ok, so we've been meeting a lot of new people, here are some of their stories:
Carolina (La Uni): When we were at the Uni, Sheryl met Carolina...in the bathroom. Henry and I were waiting around in the courtyard, kind of awkwardly, and then Sheryl returns with another girl in tow and a piece of paper with all of her contact information already in hand. Carolina gave us a tour of the architecture department and introduced us (briefly) to at least 10 people that we saw that she knew. She was super friendly and Sheryl got to have a few good conversations with her as she hung out with us every time we've been back to the Uni.
Yazmin (La Uni): Henry knew Yazmin because they had met briefly once and talked a little online. She came to eat with us and Carolina and we all had a great ime laughing and just hanging out. Yazmin is very interested in Christianity and the culture surrounding and the truth that defines it. She has a lot of questions, but she's so open to hear the answers. She's also met back up with us to hang out every time we've been on the campus.
Zuly (La Uni): I don't know much about Zuly, but Sheryl and Brenda met her when we were on campus and they struck up a close friendship. She gave us all free tickets to go see a Sultana (the Monterrey team*) baseball game. We went and got to spend some good time with her and now she's expressed interest in hanging out with us next time she is able.
Daniel (La Uni): Henry and I met Daniel at the end of a semi-discouraging day. As we talked to him, he told us he was already involved in a Christian church in the area and as we talked more, we found out he was one of the leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ on the Uni campus, was considering working full-time as he director and that he knew when we walked up that we were going to evangelize him, because that's how they do it! That would be funny in College Station; in Monterrey, that's crazy. Henry said that was the first active Christian he had met when doing evangelism in 5 years. The thing that is most encouraging about this, however, is the possibilities for the future. There is a growing level of unity between churches; groups that usually don't work together are teaming up like they haven't done in a long time... and now there's a connection for this to happen here? It's beautiful.
Elizabeth (El Tec): We were getting ready to leave Tec campus for the day.. Alex went to go print something and while we were waiting, Javier saw a girl he knew and we stopped to talk for a little while. She said that she was a professional singer and Javier told us that she had the most beautiful voice ever. He kept trying to get her to sing, but she refused. The conversation went on and we talked about lots of different things, but Javier kept asking her to sing and she kept refusing. Finally, he said "If you sing, I'll jump in the fountain over there." and, much to his chagrin; she agreed. She sang, he swam and the friendship was cemented. She's hung out with us each time we went to the Tec and she even came with us to clean up a campgrounds for a retreat she can't come to...
Lulu (El Tec): Jessica and I met Lulu, who was sitting and people-watching on campus. She is a Communications major (whoop) who is looking to switch into either Psychology (hence the people watching) or Industrial Design (talk about different directions). We talked to her and she showed us around campus a little and we got to see where she worked and talked for at least 2 hours (which is crazy for me). She said she'd love to hang out so we got her information to facebook stalk her... Her favorite place in Monterrey is La Fundidora, which is a park-type area that used to be a factory...and which is where we happen to be going on Monday, so we'll get to see her then.
....oh yeah, and after we left Lulu, we ran into Elizabeth again... and she told us that she and Lulu are really close friends.
I truly believe that these 5 girls, out of all our contacts, will definitely join the church here... some of the others might, but these girls are already excited to know us, looking for friends and looking for truth... Daniel won't and i wouldn't want him to leave his ministry, but he may be a key contact for future amazing things in the Church (big picture church) here. The thing that saddens me is that there are no men in the strong contacts we've made. Henry says it's because it's so rare for girls to meet guys here that aren't "machistas," but i think it's because Sheryl is doing a great job connecting with these girls. Culturally, "religion" also seems to be viewed as the woman's part in the family. However, the church here is raising up some amazing men of God that have given him all they are.
Hopefully, I'll put some cool stories about the discipleship in the church up soon, but this weekend we're going to the Mexican version of SCW... I am SO EXCITED ha.
*Monterrey is called "la sultana del norte," "the queen of the north"
10 June, 2011
07 June, 2011
Culture on a Tuesday Morning
Yesterday we went to the Tec with Alex Handal. He had to go take a test so we planned when we would meet back and went our separate ways. Sheryl and i got to spend some time talking and discussing how the trip was going and what was stressful/what was encouraging.
The language barrier has been more difficult than i expected; even though many people speak english here and Sheryl and i both speak pretty decent spanish, the holes are often in the same places. The concepts that we don't understand in spanish are often the same ones that the people here don't know how to express in english heh. The interesting thing about going without the team and living with the families here is that we don't have a cultural retreat; when the day is over, we don't go back to our hotel where the jokes and the processing is done in english (though the people in the church here are doing such a wonderful job of making us feel welcomed, their hospitality is amazing).
There are two other "gringas" here (gringo is used really affectionately here ha...or at least with the church). Megan and Jessica who are from a GCM church in Iowa and also know the Handal family. They're currently involved in different stuff than Sheryl and i, but we still hang out together a veces (sometimes).
Today we're going back to la Uni with Henry and then tonight we'll meet with different grupos de crecimientos. The Uni and the Tec are very different and the people there each view the other differently. They are kind of rivals, but it's amiable until a futbol game. The Uni is the big public university, more the size of A+M, and the students there are not required to study english, so communication is more challenging. They also seem more open to hearing the gospel, though the students at the Tec have been very receptive too. The Tec is a smaller, private university. It has more of the familiar and laid-back feel that A+M campus has though (possibly the layout, possibly the fact that i've been there before). The students there are generally more well-off and you're more likely to find students from other countries at the Tec. They're required to take english classes, so it's a little easier to talk... (they like to practice their english and we like to practice our spanish so the conversations switch around alot)...
The language barrier has been more difficult than i expected; even though many people speak english here and Sheryl and i both speak pretty decent spanish, the holes are often in the same places. The concepts that we don't understand in spanish are often the same ones that the people here don't know how to express in english heh. The interesting thing about going without the team and living with the families here is that we don't have a cultural retreat; when the day is over, we don't go back to our hotel where the jokes and the processing is done in english (though the people in the church here are doing such a wonderful job of making us feel welcomed, their hospitality is amazing).
There are two other "gringas" here (gringo is used really affectionately here ha...or at least with the church). Megan and Jessica who are from a GCM church in Iowa and also know the Handal family. They're currently involved in different stuff than Sheryl and i, but we still hang out together a veces (sometimes).
Today we're going back to la Uni with Henry and then tonight we'll meet with different grupos de crecimientos. The Uni and the Tec are very different and the people there each view the other differently. They are kind of rivals, but it's amiable until a futbol game. The Uni is the big public university, more the size of A+M, and the students there are not required to study english, so communication is more challenging. They also seem more open to hearing the gospel, though the students at the Tec have been very receptive too. The Tec is a smaller, private university. It has more of the familiar and laid-back feel that A+M campus has though (possibly the layout, possibly the fact that i've been there before). The students there are generally more well-off and you're more likely to find students from other countries at the Tec. They're required to take english classes, so it's a little easier to talk... (they like to practice their english and we like to practice our spanish so the conversations switch around alot)...
05 June, 2011
Church!
Saturday was relaxing, i slept in, went on errands with Omar and Edgar and then went to a homegroup (grupo de crecemientos). I got to watch them practice for their musical, which is hilarious, and then we went and played futbol...which was exhausting. I got to eat my first real Mexican tacos of the summer!
Today was my first church service in Monterrey since last January (2010). It was so wonderful! The church here has moved to a new location in the nicest hotel in town. It is so big and there were so many people...at both services : ) The church here has gotten so big that they have an 11:00 and a 12:30 service. I got to go early with Omar to help with setup; the system is alot different than Fellowship in College Station, but it works really well...
After church, we went to Burger King (yea, Burgr King) to celebrate Andres' birthday. Lunch lasted from 2:00 til around 4:30, heh. Afterwards we rested awhile and then we went to see X-Men at the Cinemex. It was a really relaxing, really long day :)
Our schedule, as i understand it, is this:
Monday: Tec Campus
Tuesay: Uni Campus and grupo de crecimientos
Wednesday: Tec Campus
Thursday: Uni Campus
Friday: Uni Campus
Saturday: relax or community service and then grupo de crecimientos
Sunday: church and relax
Today was my first church service in Monterrey since last January (2010). It was so wonderful! The church here has moved to a new location in the nicest hotel in town. It is so big and there were so many people...at both services : ) The church here has gotten so big that they have an 11:00 and a 12:30 service. I got to go early with Omar to help with setup; the system is alot different than Fellowship in College Station, but it works really well...
After church, we went to Burger King (yea, Burgr King) to celebrate Andres' birthday. Lunch lasted from 2:00 til around 4:30, heh. Afterwards we rested awhile and then we went to see X-Men at the Cinemex. It was a really relaxing, really long day :)
Our schedule, as i understand it, is this:
Monday: Tec Campus
Tuesay: Uni Campus and grupo de crecimientos
Wednesday: Tec Campus
Thursday: Uni Campus
Friday: Uni Campus
Saturday: relax or community service and then grupo de crecimientos
Sunday: church and relax
04 June, 2011
Bienvenido a Monterrey
Today was our second full day in Monterrey. After we got in, we relaxed for the night and met the families we are staying with and then got some rest. The family I am staying with is wonderful.. I am living with a new leader, Omar, his brother Edgar, Edgar's wife Jennifer and their daughter Sofia. The first night I was here, Sofia gave me her copy of "Green Eggs and Ham" to read while I was here.
Thursday we went to the Uni; La Universidad Autonima de Nueva Leon. We walked around the campus and prayed. Afterwards, we went to hangout and played pictionary (in Spanish).
Today we went back to the Uni and began to do some cold-call evangelism/contact collecting. We met a LOT of people who seemed very interested in the church. Sheryl met a couple of really cool girls and one of them gave us tickets to come see the baseball game.
After the first day here, I think the most helpful thing we can do here is to share the evangelism methods we've learned and encourage the church here in their efforts at evangelism and discipleship. Though the Americans on campus are interesting to talk to, the students here are more comfortable and connect better with the believers in the church. The harvest here is indeed plentiful; and the sooner new believers can be trained in evangelism and discipleship, the sooner there will be more workers.
Thursday we went to the Uni; La Universidad Autonima de Nueva Leon. We walked around the campus and prayed. Afterwards, we went to hangout and played pictionary (in Spanish).
Today we went back to the Uni and began to do some cold-call evangelism/contact collecting. We met a LOT of people who seemed very interested in the church. Sheryl met a couple of really cool girls and one of them gave us tickets to come see the baseball game.
After the first day here, I think the most helpful thing we can do here is to share the evangelism methods we've learned and encourage the church here in their efforts at evangelism and discipleship. Though the Americans on campus are interesting to talk to, the students here are more comfortable and connect better with the believers in the church. The harvest here is indeed plentiful; and the sooner new believers can be trained in evangelism and discipleship, the sooner there will be more workers.
01 June, 2011
Delays?
So, everything worked out pretty well. I got my support all raised and Sheryl found her passport and everything was going to go smoothly...
We got up early to ride to the airport in Houston; it was a lovely morning and it looked to be a lovely drive. 5 minutes into it, however, we had a flat tire. We changed the tire and my dad came to the rescue with a different car for us to drive to Houston. (which means i got to drive Cliff (yay) but i left my car at home with 3.75 tires (sad)) We got a little turned around in Houston, but made it to the airport on time, whch meant our troubles were finally over!
So, then our flight got delayed... for 5 hours. We did some re-arranging of our flights with the help of a nice recorded voice on a phone line and we're now still in Houston, but our flights are lined up... for now.
I guess that can go down as spiritual warfare, or maybe it's just God reminding us how dependent we are on him for anything working out smoothly.. at any rate, i think everything s worked out now and we'll be in Mexico tonight.
We got up early to ride to the airport in Houston; it was a lovely morning and it looked to be a lovely drive. 5 minutes into it, however, we had a flat tire. We changed the tire and my dad came to the rescue with a different car for us to drive to Houston. (which means i got to drive Cliff (yay) but i left my car at home with 3.75 tires (sad)) We got a little turned around in Houston, but made it to the airport on time, whch meant our troubles were finally over!
So, then our flight got delayed... for 5 hours. We did some re-arranging of our flights with the help of a nice recorded voice on a phone line and we're now still in Houston, but our flights are lined up... for now.
I guess that can go down as spiritual warfare, or maybe it's just God reminding us how dependent we are on him for anything working out smoothly.. at any rate, i think everything s worked out now and we'll be in Mexico tonight.
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