New Friends from Home

This past week Amy, Caleb and I had the opportunity to join in the ministries of a short-term team from the States. The team held a week of Vacation Bible School activities in the mornings and spent their afternoons painting a building that is used to implement a feeding ministry to poor children living east of Mexico City. Since the feeding ministry is maintained in part by volunteers and contributions from our church (Horeb) we had learned several weeks ago that this team was arriving in mid-July. However, it wasn’t until meeting the group that we confirmed that these fine folks also heralded from the Old North State.

The members of this team (approximately 25 strong) live in/around Drexel, NC, in close proximity to Hickory and are members of Drexel First Baptist. While painting we had the opportunity to communicate with real, live people completely in English! We reminisced about such topics as iced tea (and the inherent sacrilege of serving it without sugar) and how even a short time spent outside of NC can lead to pork BBQ withdrawals. On one day a few members even broke into an impromptu rendition of that southern American classic “Rocky Top”. (As a long-time fan of Bluegrass I can tell you that the pickings are mighty slim down here for this most sacred of musical genres… it does a body good to hear one of the bona fide Bluegrass national anthems every now and then.)

The Drexel team was made of up individuals and families from 15 years of age to those “established” enough to have reared a 15 year old or two. The team showed an uncommon dedication to their objectives which didn’t waver throughout four very lengthy days, a testimony of how our Father continues to use submitted hearts to accomplish purposes that are much larger than those we could conceive individually. It was both inspiring and encouraging for us to interact with such a diverse group that had united around the common goal of bringing the love of Jesus Christ and the message of salvation to those who are often considered the least among us.

Tito, the pastor of Drexel First Baptist and the team’s leader was continually busy as his command of the Spanish language surpassed that of all other gringos in attendance. Here, he is teaching the children a song that was used to close out the morning’s events.

Sometimes when a scrapped knee or a lonely heart interrupt the morning’s fun, nobody but a Mama can fix it. While the Mama for this little girl wasn’t coming back for another hour, my young wife did a wonderful job of filling in as a surrogate. Fortunately, the demand for her services was contained to only child at a time.

On the last day of the programs the children were all provided with a gift bag containing shampoo, soap, a toothbrush and other items that regrettably fall into the “luxury” category for those with limited financial resources. In addition to the material goods the Drexel team also gave each of the children a small card that explained Christ’s unconditional love in an easy to understand format. It was a joy to see that both gifts were treasured by the children.

What gathering of Mexican kids would be complete without the breaking of a piñata or two? As the building wasn’t large enough to handle this traditional activity (and the street out front wasn’t too busy) the piñatas were strung between two buildings opposite each other. This allowed for more room (and less chance for injury) when they finally broke and their contents were ravenously snatched up.

The aftermath... never for the faint of heart!

(One more post on the next page.)

Each day, following the VBS activities the “normal” routine of feeding ~150 children continued as it has for the last eight years. It was a blessing for Amy and I to see this ministry in action for the first time. Our pastor has mentioned the possibility of our future interaction with the feeding center once we complete our language school.

It was a fabulous week for Amy, Caleb and I! We enjoyed meeting a great team of folks from the States (and being from NC their English even sounded normal :o) . It was a blessing to have a venue provided by which to interact with the children we hope to work with regularly in the future. Additionally, it was an unexpected privilege to have the team from Drexel here with whom we could “share” our days. Sometimes it’s a bit too easy to feel isolated in this corner of the world and interaction with others that identify with our passions and quirks has often proven to be the best medicine. While our Father has been and continues to be faithful in providing for our needs, we really love it when He does so through contact with brothers and sisters we never before knew.

¡Vamanos a Taxco!

Last week we had the opportunity to see our first sites outside of the Mexico City limits. While Ellie was visiting we made the trek to the mountain city of Taxco located 2.5 hours to the south. This city is known for its attractive colonial architecture and its abundance of silver. Being that this city is something of a tourist destination I was hoping for some authentic southern Mexican food as well.

Currently Mexico is in the “low” season (read: rainy) for tourists and we arrived in Taxco during the middle of week. I believe that our hotel may have had as many as 10 rooms filled but this suited our preferences perfectly. For one thing, the hotel pool was never crowded and this allowed Caleb to be as… “enthusiastic” as he wanted with never a complaint from another guest.

One thing to note if you ever have plans to travel to Taxco is that there is hardly a level spot of ground in the city. The entire town was constructed atop more than six separate silver mines that run up and down the face of a mountain. This makes for both some challenging walks around the city as well as some fantastic views.

At the heart of the city is what is often considered its most beautiful structure, the parish church of Santa Prisca. This building has remained a globally recognizable feature of Taxco since its construction in 1758.

The two nights that we were able to spend in Taxco were extremely refreshing! Not only was it a welcome respite from the frenzied pace of Mexico City but the time spent gave us a glimpse into what this country may have looked like several decades earlier. It was Ellie that made the comment that except for the cars and electrical wires, the city probably looked very much the same 100 years ago.

Independence Day

Down here in Mexico, July fourth is just another day of the week. However, not being content to abandon the traditions that all good Americans still hold dear we endeavored to make this a special day. Not only was this day exceptional because we were blessed to celebrate the birth of our country but this year Independence Day occurred at the same time of our first visitor, my sister Ellie.

Ellie arrived on the first of July (which ensured that Caleb would still be wound up three days later). To start the day off we traveled to “Chapultepec”, an enormous park in the northern part of the city that contains several forests, lakes, museums, a zoo and even a castle. Since we only had a few hours were barely covered 10% of the park on the fourth. Below are a few pictures of the sites that we took in that morning.

Later in the day we were privileged to be invited to an actual Independence Day party. Upon arriving, Ellie used her connections to locate a few of the CCC folks that work in Mexico City. It was great to meet a few more English speakers and enjoy such rare delicacies as hot dogs, red, white and blue Jello and Dr. Pepper floats. We look forward to staying in touch with these expatriated veterans.

¡Yeehaw-o!

Tuesday the 30th of June was a very special day for the Wilson family in Mexico. This was the last day of our first set of Spanish classes! Here is a picture of most of the students in my class.

For me (Ed) my exams wrapped the previous morning and Tuesday was designated as a “relaxed” day in the classroom. This seemed like a perfect time to bring Caleb along to his first collegiate course. Here are a few pictures of Caleb enjoying his time with some of my classmates. The students from Korea and China took a particular interest in meeting this light-skinned, light-haired child that impressed them with his English vocabulary. Even if much of what was spoken wasn’t completely comprehended by Caleb or his new friends, a fun morning was had by all.

Finally, here’s Caleb receiving a free mini-tutoring session from my professor. Caleb now knows the words for both “turtle” and “snake” in Spanish!