Opening Doors.....

This week we had a meeting with Dr. Joel Miller (with Free Methodist Missions) and Andrew & Carol. It was in relation to developing a medical ministry within our field ministries, possibly at the drop in centre. This is an exciting idea for us, as it is a great passion for us!

We had a chat today with Carmen (Lupita's Sister) who is a doctor and had a clinic in the La Loma church, and she seems really excited about being involved. So, we are going to pray and seek the Lord in the next few weeks for what He would have us to do.

We really feel that the Lord has guided us through our training in nursing, our experience in leading teams and working in clinics at home, and this seems to be an open door that the Lord is guiding us through. So we are seeking your prayers on this, and in particular that all the pieces will fall into place. There are sure to be pressures and barriers put in front of us, but praise the Lord that with Him nothing is impossible!

Thanksgiving.....

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving with all the missionaries. We're from N. Ireland and don't really have Thanksgiving, but any day that mean we get a day off and get to eat a big dinner is a day of giving thanks!

Big thanks have to go to Margaret & Robin, who hosted the day and having everyone together was class. As this was our first Thanksgiving, it was by far the best!

3 Weeks and Counting.....

Our parents (Julie’s) arrive in 3 weeks along with Ash and Laura, and we are so excited about our Christmas together, please pray for this time together that we will have a time of rest and fun together. Please pray for them as they travel here, it will be 4 months since we said goodbye at Dublin!

Friends.....

Just a big thank you to all our friends, who have taken time out to email and sent us packages! We have had a few laughs because of some of things we have received. We have had different forms of letters, some with pictures included. Also a big thank you for your personal gifts as one reminds us that friendship isn’t a big thing, but a million little things!

Weekend Away.....

We headed off on Friday afternoon, in order to miss traffic, however every other person in Mexico tried the same, but we were able to take some pictures along the way and although it was dark there was an amazing view over the whole of Mexico City at one point. It was breathtaking and reminded us how of Gods creation in its fullness.
By the time we arrived it was late in the evening so we went to bed early in order to get up early the next morning. We travelled a wee bit further and we came to a place called Las Estacas. To be honest words would fail to describe how beautiful this place was, it has a natural river that runs through it that you can swim in, (there were fishes in it too!)It was hard to believe that in the middle of November it was 30 degrees!

Each night we had a BBQ which was lovely and looked up at the stars, which sometimes can’t be seen in Mexico City. We have included a few photos.

Weekend Away.....

This weekend we are going to a place called Cuernavaca for the weekend. We have made friends with one of our teachers in college called David and he is letting us stay at his family home there. We can't wait for the break as our heads are about to explode with Espanol!

It is also a good birthday gift for Gary and we are going to visit a few cultural places nearby, especially a lagoon nearby for a bit of swimming etc. So please visit our site in a few days time to see probably the worst sunburn you have ever seen, as Jonny has the inability to tan, it's an amazing journey from freckly-burnt-peeling to white again!

We pray that this time will be a good rest for us, as it is getting close to the visit of Julie's parents and we are so excited. We are also getting our toes wet in some ministry and are looking for a few things to happen to determine our direction of ministry in Mexico.

Please also pray for David, our teacher, as he is an unbeliever, that this weekend he will see a difference in our lives and continue to question us on why we are here in Mexico. He has spoken to Andrew and Christian while they were at school and really listens when we talk about Godly things.

Birthday Boy.....

Today is a very special time for the field and indeed for Julie and I, as it is Gary's 40th Birthday!

Gary has been a great friend for the last few years and indeed we have all been together in this whole Mexico experience, from being on the team to now working together.

We had a small party for him at team meeting and he got a few gifts and cards from home which really gave him a smile! The hardest thing for us to get our head round is that he's 40 but still about a bajillion times fitter and younger looking than me! (Jonny) Treadmill and salads here I come!

The Big Match.....

Last week we had a football match between our church, Santa Monica, and the church of Gary, Andrew & Carol. It has always been a bit of a drubbing for Santa Monica - the last score was about 13-2!

However, the new look Santa Monica team (including an overheated, overweight Belfast boy) was really up for the match. Each team had about 15 players for 7 a side game, and when I came on La Loma were already 2-0 up with only 15 mins gone, and I panicked that my first game of footy in Mexico was going to get mugged!

However, with the addition of the ever lively (and sometimes nauseous) Jonnio Pollocko, Santa Monica began to turn things around. In a two minute blitz, Pollocko, now suffering from heat exhaustion blasted a stunning volley, follwed by a low drive, to make it 2-2. The crowd, of nearly 50 church members were going wild, and when a wildly hit shot by Pollocko was turned into his own net by the other Nothern Irish import, Gary Thompson, Santa Monica were ahead for the first time - in well - as long as the players could remember!

The rest of the match was back and forth, but Santa Monica finally ran out as 6-3 winners, with the amazing Thompson managing to balance things out by scoring at both ends.

Unfortunately, a few days later we are still recovering, although it was an amazing time for us to be invloved in an amazing church event!

Las Piramides.....

We have to apologize for the late posts, this week has been hectic, but we're finally forcing ourselves time to post to our friends at home. Last Saturday we visited the pyramids in Mexico, and it was amazing! Well apart from the walking and the heat! When we were in Norn Iron we froze and couldn't wait until the warmth of Mexico, but too much of a good thing isn't always good ha ha.

We walked up the pyramids, and round the surrounding area and into the museum and it was excellent to see the history of this part of Mexico, and also be in an area with little pollution! However it's hard to beat the Giant's Causeway with a nice big ice cream out of Morelli's!

It's Been One Of Those Weeks.....

It has been a really rough week this week, for numerous reasons! Firstly Julie has got the flu, and it hasn't been nice to her, with a nasty cough, and runny nose. Then an amazing mixture of our car window breaking, our house water not working, and not having enough Spanish to make head nor tail of either situation!

On Thursday we went to the seminary to see if there was any post, and for us there were loads of cool things arrived. Alright they had taken 5 weeks to get here, but they came at the right time! Now we have chocolate, bisto and wine gums to keep us happy (I know little amuses the simple!)

We just want to say a big thank you to all of you guys who keep in touch through our site, e-mails, updates from our own personal secretaries (Granny Kelly, Nanna Irons) and phone calls via Skype.

We really value your prayers and words of encouragement, we know that you think of us while we are here, and it's so amazing to wake up in the morning with a wee bit of craic from home! (Except about Spurs - I know they are nearly bottom of the league!)

Another Away Day.....

Today we went to UNIFAM La Loma, to visit this church with Gary, Carol, Andrew, Tabitha, and Andrew's parents, who are over for a couple of weeks. We were excited to go to La Loma, as while we were here as a team we had worked at this church. It hasn't changed that much, and it was good to see a few familiar faces. God has blessed them with amazing growth since we were last here, and today was also a blessed time as it was a baptismal service.

It was also the first church service we have been at that we have completely understood the preaching, because we had the wonderful Carol (and Andrew during the baptism with wonderful sung translations of the songs into a Northern Irish accent!)