A Special Day.....

Today we attended church and it was a very special day. Firstly it was the first time we had driven to church on our own! It was hairy at times but we managed to get there on time. It was also a day on which three people were baptised into the church and it was amazing to see three people announcing to the world their desire to follow Jesus! Finally, and by no means leastly, the children had put on a presentation of what they have been doing in Sunday school. They came in and sang songs, and recited the books of the Bible. Afterwards they put on a presentation for all the adults of characters from the Bible, and also interesting things about the Bible.

We had the characters of the Bible, including a 7ft tall Goliath!

We also had food made for us at the church and it was so good to have everyone from the church there to share snacks together and walk round the different stalls, and also a good way for us to practice lots of the Spanish (Yeah right!) we have learned! Lupita's Mum organised the ladies in making all the food - it was really yummy, even though she insisted on giving me "mucho chilli!"

The stalls and the fantastically made Ark of the Covenant!

The queue's start forming!

Language School.....

On Monday we begin language school. We are both looking forward, and a bit nervous about starting, but we both have learned in this last week, that language is so important, and we need to be able to share Christ with the people we come in contact with in Mexico. So we have our little notebooks, we have a nice new shiny schoolbag, and a pencil case full of pens, pencils, highlighters and much needed erasers!! We thank you for your prayers as we take another small step in God's plan for our lives in Mexico, and do so with the knowledge that He is faithful!

Internet!!!

Margaret and Robin stood in line the other day for us, and were able to get us an internet package to get us set up. Margaret explained that it would take at least 5 days to activate the connection, which normally means in Mexico it will take two weeks! We have only had limited time to speak to family since we have arrived and at times it has been difficult with time difference etc.

On our way home tonight we were thinking what people were doing at home and it made us quite homesick imagining family etc. We got in about 6pm we decided to maybe watch a movie on the laptop and have an early night. When we turned on the laptop, it flashed up that wireless network and internet where available, and when we checked we had already been connected! Praise the Lord! We were so excited at how amazing God is, and then we also felt a bit stupid that we ever doubted His faithfullness. So we will now be updating this page regularly in order to include you in God's work in Mexico, as you are all such a part of it already. Through your prayers, we feel strengthened and sure of God's presence in our lives and in Mexico. Please keep praying!

Guarding Us.....

One thing that we feel led to pray for everyday is our guards. We have chatted to them in passing for the last few days and we have met three of them. We do not know their names yet, and don't really know much about them, but we are reminded of the verse given to us by the team we met from Armagh, who came out before us. It reminds us that God is always guarding us, and is our help. They read us the verse in Psalm 121.

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth."

I think it got to us that most of the time as Christians that we don't have an automatic realisation of this verse. Pastor Andrew (Roycroft) explained to us that when times were hard, which they would be, we should automatically go through a process of thinking.

The hills (our troubles) seem so big!
Where does my help come from?
Our help comes from God, creater of heaven and earth.

We are glad He is guarding us, and is our ever present Saviour!

First Few Days.....Church!

Julie and I are now to be members of the Santa Monica church, which is quite close to our house. It was the church that we attended while we were here with the Washbasin team, and we still remember some people that we met then. It was a bit of a daunting experience on the first Sunday as we had so many people coming up to us to introduce themselves.

Our first task was to try and translate the church magazine (semi-successful), then the service started. The worship is amazing, and is led by a guy called Chucho. It is not what we are normally used to in church at home, but there is no substituting relevance for reverence. It was so amazing to see people singing the songs with tears streaming down their faces, and I feel so challenged by seeing this.

We were a bit overwhelmed by the sermons as sometimes we had no clue to what was happening, or what was being said, however, it was such a time of fellowship and we were warmly wlecomed by everyone in the church. Jonathan brought us to the front and the whole assembly prayed for us as we start our work in Mexico and for everything we'll experience while we were here. It was such a humbling experience for us, and we felt the presence of God in the hearts of the church.

Afterwards we were swarmed by everyone in the church wishing us blessings, and introducing themselves to us.

First Few Days.....Driving!

Ok, on the second day here Christian thought it would be a good idea for us to begin driving. Ok, imagine the most crazy thing you have ever went through and then multiply it by a million.

We have been so blessed by God by being able to have our own wee car, it's a 2004 Ford Fiesta, and it is a good, safe car for us. Driving is difficult for us, as we are on the other side of the road, with a stick shift car, on the other side of the car. Plus there are no road markings and we haven't a clue where we are. So it's good fun.

After three days here Jonny missed a turn, ended up on the motorway and discovered a new place for us called Atizapan. Fortunately Christian came and rescued him, and the adventure was over! We want to thank all the people who support us and made it possible for us to have a car, as it makes such a difference to travelling, and will be such a blessing as we have lots of travelling to language school.

First Few Days.....Moving in!

Our first few days were a bit hectic due to jet lag etc. but we had a great time. We were shown our new house, here it is before we went shopping!

As you can see it is pretty basic, and then we set about filling it a bit. We went with Robin Mackinnon (A few times for general stuff), Robin Efing & Margaret (Curtains, Cleaning stuff etc.) and Christian (Home Depot/B&Q things.) We were so blessed to have so many missionaries donate furniture and other things to us to help us get started with our house, and now it looks more like a little home.

Ok, maybe it doesn't seem a lot, but it's fine for us. We have a television now (to watch Power Rangers, and Mexican Soaps to learn Spanish!) and the internet to keep in contact, so we are happy. We are really safe in our house, we have three guards that we know of at our estate, who are all lovely, and we have a big electric fence at the back(!) but we have been so welcomed by everyone here that it is beginning to feel like home!

From

To

First Day in Mexico

On Thursday, we woke up at about 5:30am (Not by choice, but by jet lag!) We then met with Jonathan Morton and Christian Mackinnon (HR Director) about our first weeks in Mexico. For the first few months we will concentrate on bedding into our new church, Santa Monica, and getting the language. I don't think we realised how limited we really are without the language, we weren't even able to order a coffee at our meeting. Slowly but surely! In the afternoon we went with Christian's wife Robin (Get used to the names, they'll be used alot!) The Mackinnon's have been in Mexico for 2 years, and live about 2 minutes from our house. They have 4 kids, Maddy, Josh, Ethan, and Amelia, all of which we have great fun with! Robin took us to get a bed, a table, and a washer - it was all great fun. We then had the team meeting with all the missionaries and the Armagh team. The team led worship, and then we had some time going through a lot of team business. Afterwards, Kay Lindsay (Leroy & Kay are the directors of the Seminary) made muffins and party stuff for Julie & I coming. We felt so encouraged at everyone's welcome. We also saw Gary, and it was so good to catch up with him after missing him for nearly 5 months!

The beginning! Wednesday 15th August

Ok, in short. We arrived to Dublin airport for our smooth transition into a nice relaxing departure lounge ready for take off. Actually we didn't! Apparently we are only allowed a temporary Visa to Mexico for 180 days, however, Delta had booked our "as much as we can" tickets for 184 days and were not going to allow us to leave Dublin. Good start. So we had to pay £150 to change dates for four days, and then we were set. After a few sad goodbyes we travelled from Dublin. Two meals, free ice cream, three movies and alot of turbulence later we arrived in Atlanta. Atlanta was warm, and very spread out. (That's all I can think of - it's probably nicer outside the airport.) Then we travelled on a flight from Atlanta to Mexico City. There was an excellent film on (Fracture - go see it!) which took my mind off the flying bit, and in no time we landed. We got our bags and met Christian Mackinnon who was there to collect us. We went to Jonathan & Lupita Morton's house (OMS Field Director), and more or less went to sleep! That's all I think... Oh aye, the weather was rubbish!

Where do we start?

Ok, we are in Mexico, praise the Lord! I have no clue how to write up the last 7 days but I will have a go. Well here goes....

Countdown.....

So we are sitting here, and I have posted twice in two days. So by my estimations this is coming close to the most consecutive journal that we have ever written! We had a wonderful night last night with our very close friends Mark and Rachel Brown. Mark and Rachel have been friends for a few years now, and are running a young adults prayer group for us while we are away. They are also coming over to visit us next Easter - something which we will look forward too immensely.

In the last few days we have had so many cards, e-mails, gifts, visits (and some surprise visits!) from lots and lots of people. Our assistant Pastor, Billy Jones visited us this morning to pray with us before we leave. Even though Julie was just out of the shower, and I was still in my pyjamas(!) it was such a blessed time. He shared with us about Joshua going to the land that God had promised, and as I am studying Joshua at the minute it really hit home what we are doing. We are to be strong, and courageous and be of good cheer, because the Lord God Almighty is with us!

Please pray as we travel down to Dublin tonight and that we will have a good nights sleep. We would also appreciate prayers for Jonny's father who hasn't been well this past while with his heart, and has an appointment on Wednesday. Also that the Lord will convict Jonny's mum, dad, brother and his wife, of their need for the Saviour.

The Beginning!!

Well here it is!

Finally after 2 years of preparation, short term teams, and over 50 meetings, we are finally ready for Mexico!

We are travelling down to Dublin with family tomorrow night, and will stay over as we have a very early flight. So Dublin via Atlanta to Mexico, and we will arrive at about 2218 Mexico time (about 6 hours behind us in good old GMT!)

We hope to keep this updated as we go along, as I'm (Jonny) rubbish at keeping a journal! So you can feel part of our mission to Mexico, and can pray for us more effectively.

So here goes!