The "Flyers" in Mexico City

We saw these guys "fly" in two different places in Mexico City! This is an old Indian custom called "Los Voladores". Just a quick video I thought you would find interesting!

Mexico City

The week before Thanksgiving we took the SMCA kids and families on a 5 day trip to Mexico City! The trip was packed full of exploring the city and learning more about Mexican history and culture. What a joy it was for me to see the kids so excited about learning and experiencing some of the things that we had been learning about in the classroom.

Nine hours with 18 kids can be long, so we decided that it would be wise to break up the trip with some stops along the way. So we took a couple of hours to explore the city of San Luis Potosi.

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On Day 2 we headed out of the city to the Teotihuacan Pyramids.

The Pyramid of the Sun.

Juan Porto is one of the teen home parents on our campus and he grew up in Mexico City. He kindly offered to be our tour guide and teach us about all of the sites that we would be visiting. Below is a picture of Juan explaining to us the history of Teotihuacan.

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Myself, Ruby, and Jessica on top of the Pyramid of the Sun!

On Day 3 we toured the Palace of Chapulepec, explored the Museum of Anthropology and ended the day hanging out at the Children's Museum. Below is a picture of Jessica and I in the palace.

Some of my students in front of ruins in the Anthropology Museum.

On Day 4 we walked around downtown and visited the Federal Palace or Zocalo. Here is a picture of the National cathedral... notice that it has a slight tilt to it.... Mexico City was built on a lake! As a result many old buildings have begun to sink. If you look closely you can see it is leaning!

Mexico City is built on top of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan. In the heart of downtown is el templo meyor. The is the site where the top of the largest pryamid is being excavated. It is incredible to think that while I was walking through the city, an entire ancient civilization was buried under my feet. Here is a picture of the ruins of the Templo Meyor, one of the tallest buildings in ancient Tenochtitlan. It can be seen sticking up out of the ground downtown.

The federal building downtown Mexico City.

One of my favorite moments was when when all 30 of us road the metro in downtown Mexico City! We wanted to give the kids an idea of how many people live there! Boy did this 2 block ride paint a crammed picture! I have never been so close to so many people! We barely squeezed into an already packed subway and road 2 blocks. After nearly losing 2 of our students we safely made it to our destination, all feeling slightly skinnier :)

A trip to Mexico City would not be the same without a view of the Independence Angel! We didn't have time to stop, but here is a view from the car!

Throughout the trip we also ate some delicious... and unique... Mexican delicacies! Below is the taco stand near Juan's mom's house. He insisted that we try some tacos made by his friends. They sure were delicious! Did I mention that they were cow eye tacos?

Yum yum! We love tacos!!

And just to prove that the trip had an educational focus, here is a picture of the kids writing in the travel journals that we kept throughout the trip. They used their journals for notes, sketches and reflections throughout the trip!

Gorditas+Dancing+Twins+Sunday school = Rio Ministry

There are many reasons why I love being in the Rio. One is that there is never a dull moment! Here are a few pictures from a regular week serving in the Rio.

Holding twin baby girls!

Miriam and Marian are about 6 weeks old now. This picture is from the first day I got to hold them (they were 2 weeks old). I love babies and have been able to strike up a friendship with the twins mom, Magdalina. She has been coming every week to the soup kitchen with the twins and her two older girls. She likes the break from the babies and I don't mind cuddling with them at all! Last Saturday I went to Magdalina's house to help her bring the babies up the the soup kitchen. I saw that she had ingeniously invented a swing for her twins! She had hung an infant car seat from a rafter and one of her girls was being gently rocked to sleep in it. It was brilliant! In a hard situation (where dirt floors in your house are the norm!) you have to be creative for your children! Please continue to pray for this precious family.

Trying on a Catholic festival hat!

One of the families I am getting to know in the Rio loves to participate in festival dances in their Catholic church. This family sews their own costumes out of whatever they can find, make their own instruments, and then as a family go nearly every weekend to dance in parades. This picture is of one of the hat's they made for a traditional dance... however I don't think the dance looks quite like what I am doing :) I asked this family many questions about the dancing and parades and the father told me that they consider it a way to worship the Lord. "We dance for joy in the Holy Spirit," he said! This is for sure different from the way I dance, but I was encouraged by what he told me about his faith. Please pray that they continue to have a revelation of Jesus.

Making gorditas with the Rio women

This past Wednesday we took an American group from Cincinnati out to the Rio to serve the people. While there a lady named China taught us all how to make yummy gorditas. Gorditas are kind of like sweet tortillas and are considered dessert. We made nearly 100 and all enjoyed them together. I also tried my hand at making Mexican beans... it is harder than it looks! Needless to say the ladies at the Rio were impressed and are now wanting to train me in all sorts of recipes. I have another cooking date with China next week. The Menu: flour tortillas and what I call "orange rice".

Sunday school on Saturday :)

Every Saturday I help out with the soup kitchen. Usually I am with the young kids during the lesson time. We have some tiny kids that come, but they surprisingly pay great attention. Recently we have been seeing many new faces:) This is a picture of Tere and Marilin telling the kids the story of baby Moses. Afterward we did a craft and then I taught the kids a song with hand motions called, "Mi Dios es Tan Fuerte".

As you can see, never a dull moment and never the same experience at the Rio!!!

Christopher's Shoes

The sound of many little hands applauding echoed throughout the bus. The bus driver turned around in surprise. I too was taken back. The smiling faces kept grinning, the hands kept giving praise. Mama Connie nodded her head saying, "Gracias a Dios!" The 20 children from the children's home knew why they were giving thanks... Christopher especially was thankful that day... God had heard his specific prayer and sitting on the bus that day were a pair of brand new shoes just for him.

A church group from Cincinnati came to Monterrey with money specifically to buy new shoes for the children at Casa Hogar Villa de Juarez. We loaded up 20 kids on a bus and headed to Wal-Mart. Each child was allowed to pick out a pair of gym shoes. We were pinching toes to make sure there was room to grow, searching for Barbie and Spiderman designs, helping the teen girls find something fashionable... finally we all loaded on the bus with shopping bags full of shoe boxes.

Back on the bus, Christopher tapped Mama Connie, his caretaker, on the shoulder. "Look hermana," he said pointing to his toes. The entire sole was falling off of his old shoe! Mama Connie looked Christopher in the face and said, "God has answered your prayers Christopher." She turned to me and explained that Christopher had been asking God for new shoes and that Jesus had heard that prayer and provided for him. Mama Connie stood up and told the rest of the children on the bus that God had met them and answered their prayers that day through these people who had heard God and come to take them shoe shopping. The kids smiled and laughed. Mama Connie asked the kids to applaud the Lord and thank Him for answering their prayers and providing for their needs. The bus echoed with the sound of grateful hearts that day, not just for the new shoes, but for the physical reminder that God cares for His children.

Christopher showing his ripped shoes.

Sierra Madre Christian Academy Fall 09

Last week marked the end of the first quarter of school! Where is the year going!!!! Along with Rio ministry this year I am also the social studies and science teacher for 4th and 7th graders at SMCA. I feel so privileged to be able to teach the subjects I love most once a week and then spend the rest of my time working in the Rio, with groups from the states, with jovens, etc... I am very blessed.

Here are a few photos of what has been happening in SMCA. This year we are doing an in depth study of botany for science class. The kids and I have spent many hours building light huts, germinating seeds, watering plants, etc... we have quite a little garden so far. We decided to plant a mixture of vegetables, flowers, and herbs and watch the growth process as we study it in class. The kids love what we are doing, as do I:)

Our light huts where we germinated our seeds. Our plants are now MUCH bigger!

Transplanting the plants that outgrew our light hut.

In social studies we are studying ancient world cultures. So far we have done an in depth study of creation and the book of Genesis. Then we looked at early Mesopotamian cultures. We are now midway through Ancient Egypt! It is so much fun!!!!!

Corinna dressed as a ancient Assyrian noblewoman.

My fourth graders preparing a Mesopotamian meal for us to try... it included grapes, apples, grape juice, and the Sebetu Rolls we made from a 3,000 year old recipe... very cool!

My students with our model of an Egyptian water clock.... it kept time for us for the rest of the day :)

Me, my roommate Becca, and Ruby and Jessica (the other SMCA teachers) all dressed up for the SMCA fall festival. We decided we would all come as condiments. I was mustard... can you tell? The kids loved it!

Worship at the Rio

Every Saturday I spend time at Meme's Rio soup kitchen meeting people, playing with kids, and helping with children's church. We usually have anywhere from 25-40 people every Saturday, most of these being children.

A typical day at the soup kitchen usually goes like this: I arrive around 11:00 and help the rio women with the last preparations, runs to tiendas, etc. Around 11:30 my group of little neighborhood girls and I head off into the neighborhood to invite the people to come to the comedor for a warm meal and a church service. At 12:30 the people begin to arrive and we get organized for the service. The service begins with worship all together. Most of the songs we sing are older hymns with a lot of hand clapping. Just a few weeks ago my friend, Cheque, began leading worship with the guitar and began teaching the people some more contemporary worship songs. Now we have a mixture of the old spirituals and the newer praise songs. After the worship service the adults stay for a message and the kids split up into classes based on age groups. I head to a table in the back of the comedor with the littlest kids to help with their class. We sing together, listen to a Bible story, use the felt board (oh yeah! That's my day and age!), and color pictures until the parents are finished. After the teaching time we all share in a meal together. Each week the meal is different. We have everything from enchiladas, to tacos, to chicken soup and always tortillas!!! During the meal there is time to talk and fellowship with the people. To ask about their lives, their needs, and to pray with them. I love it! After the meal the service is over. These past few weeks I have hung around and played with the kids after the meal. This has become one of my favorite times. We play all sorts of games, Cheque plays the guitar, and we teach them songs and motions. I can honestly say that Saturday has become one of my most favorite days of the week!

Here is a clip from the worship service at the soup kitchen.

Mud Daisies

Meme hosts a soup kitchen each Saturday for the women and children of the Rio. This week when I arrived Meme sent me and 4 of the neighborhood girls to invite the people to come eat and hear the word of God. The girls and I trudged through ankle deep mud to knock on doors and tell the people to come. While I was a bit slow with all the mud, the girls were bouncing through it and around it very much accustomed to this kind of "street." We invited the people and on our way back to the soup kitchen, the girls and I came across a patch of beautiful yellow daisies. These daisies were growing right out of the mud and trash that are the essence of the Rio. Against the backdrop of the dilapidated houses, stinky mud, trash piles, old bones, and smelly weeds these daisies were surprisingly beautiful. With girlish instinct we all immediately started picking the flowers. The girls and I were putting them in each other's hair, collecting bouquets, and having a fine time amidst the mud. While we were collecting the daisies I looked up and realized how very similar these little girls were to the daisies growing in this place. Living in the Rio does not give these girls much hope. Their lives are filled with the muddy messes of parents' bad choices, neighbors' anger, brothers' addictions, and family tragedy. Yet despite the "mud" they are able to grow up beautiful, radiant, and cheerful. The girls and I started talking about the daisies, about the mud, about beauty in an ugly street, about Jesus and His miraculous ability to give us a "crown of beauty instead of ashes"- to change ugly circumstances into beautiful things.

With arms full of daisies we returned to the soup kitchen to share the yellow happiness we had collected with others. Worship followed and all I could do was praise God for the amazing way he changes us and saves us from the mud in our lives. He cleanses us, plants new life in us, and helps us to grow amidst hard and ugly circumstances. He is at work in the Rio. He is protecting and growing these little girls. He is turning muddy lives into daisy patches.... Praise Jesus!

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.... to comfort those who morn and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair..." Isaiah 61:1-3