The Latest

A few days back we celebrated Mexican Independence Day (which is not Cinco de Mayo as commonly believed in the USA) with the MTI students at a 'noche mexicana.' People dressed up in traditional clothes, ate pozole (a classic dish), played games, and broke home-made piñatas that the students had made. There were five piñatas and only one had candy in it. Another was empty, one had water balloons, one had flour, one had eggs and the last one had the leftover scraps from dinner! That one was kind of gross, but the rest were really fun. People seemed to really a kick out of my costume...I felt very Mexican.

Each morning the seminary students have a devotional before breakfast, which different people give each day. And last Friday was my turn. I spent an estimated total of about 9 hours over the course of the week beforehand preparing it and translating it. Which was all well worth it because I was able to speak pretty fluidly and cohesively. I talked about the importance of living out our faith, about not just being a Christian on Sunday but being a Christian every day of the week. It is something that I have been feeling more and more passionately about lately and felt like the students needed to hear. It seems like God thought that too because a lot of people (including myself) ended up crying. It was truly special. But afterwards I was just exhausted. I felt like I had used all the mental capacities I possessed between the thinking and the speaking and the praying. I'm so grateful that I had the chance to share.

Most of my office work lately has revolved around preparing the financial report for the upcoming board meeting. And it is a little scary. We have had less groups come and stay at the ranch (both American and Mexican) which means less income. And we have had some big construction projects and many more seminary students than we are financially prepared for, which means more expenses. And then there is the whole economic status in the States. Suffice it to say, we are in the negative...big-time. So please join us in praying for funds. We've been tightening our belts, but I'm worried that by the end of MTI we'll be feeding the students bread and water. So please pray. And possibly consider giving a financial gift to MTI for the students room and board or spread the word about Agua Viva to people who might be interested. Everything helps!!