Here is a little photo recap from the last few days . . .


This is a photo is from the middle of last week . . . but I just got it from Danny's camera and I thought it was a pretty nice shot of a group us, when we were stranded on the side of road with a very flat (and stuck) tire. From the left you see : Maddai, Juana, Sessia, Danny, Yuri & me. Good times with great people.



This is the team of young people from San Pedro who came and worked with us in Pajal this weekend . . . they are a great group of people, with great hearts. It was a privilege to work along side them.



I took this picture this morning . . . this is Claudia & Maddai . . . they are two of the team members from Project Paul. The whole group came back to Jaltenango for a recap of this weekends happenings. We had a full house here at the District Center . . . it was nice. I have really enjoyed getting to know this fine group of young people . . . I hope to continue many of these friendships beyond this trip.



Today in Pajal we had over fifty kids come back for our children's service. These are three of the kids who seem to be in love with getting their picture taking. We had a lot of fun singing, playing games (Duck, Duck, Goose . . . and some other games that I have no idea what their English translation is) and talking about God creating the world. It has been great having the same kids coming back each day . . . I look forward to seeing them again tomorrow.

Life is happening . . . and I am a part it.

Ya aprendiste lo necesario?

That is the question of the hour.

It is Monday . . . which means I have made it through a complete week here in Mexico.

I am few days behind in sharing about life here.

The last few days have been filled with work projects, VBS's, visitations, and lots of walking.

Since I last posted I have . . . push started a car (more times than I can count), ate lunch by a creek where I gotten eaten alive by bugs, got pulled over by the police, hitchhiked down the mountain (because the car would not start again after the police pulled us over), made sock puppets, worked with a team of young people from San Pedro to paint the Health Center in Palaal, done two children's services and who knows what else.

Here is a picture of some of the kids that attended yesterday's little service:


Yesterday it rained . . . I should say poured . . . for a couple of hours straight.

After we ate lunch (which is at 3pm) . . . we decided to go play in it.

This is what we look liked after :


I would really recommend playing soccer and kickball in the rain with this fine people, any day.

It is more fun than I could possibly convey.

Well, I am off to the farmacia, to pick up some of the things we need to make breakfast today . . . french toast for the whole team . . . it is called breakfast "Gringo Style".

Peace and love to you all.

It is rare to encounter beauty that cannot be contained in words.

I saw it twice today.

My first experience with breath-taking beauty came during my ride through the mountains to visit two of the communites we will be working in.

I took this picture (along with many others that can be found here) while riding in the back of big truck soaring down the mountain.



The picture does not even begin to do it justice.

My second experience encountering beauty was during our "culto" (service) tonight.

Due to some car difficulties we were almost two hours late for service.

When we arrived the church was praying at the altar, waiting for us to arrive.

The focus of the rest of the service was prayer and testimony.

Five or six of the jovenes on the team got up to share their thoughts on what they had been experiecing over the last four days.

Juan (my faithful translator) was up playing the guitar . . . so Danny and I had no clue what they were sharing.

But as I was sitting there . . . just listening to them talk in Spanish . . . I was struck by how deeply these young people are committed to the work of God.

Most of them are younger than me by a few years . . . some have only been followers of Jesus for a year.

But their hearts are filled with this unexplainable passion and commitment to the work that God has set before them.

Bringing the kingdom here on earth is all that matters to them . . . they have sacrificed greatly to be a part of this project . . . to have the opportunity to plant these new churches in the communites we will be working in.

Here is a picture of the fine group of people I have spent the last week with . . . if you are the praying type . . . lift these folks up this week as they bring the kingdom to five different communities here in the mountains of Mexico.

I think I forgot just how beautiful the mountains are here . . . simply breathtaking.

The hospitality of the people is amazing . . . the Molinas are beautiful people . . . it is a privilege to share a roof with them.

Maria has been taking very good care of us (the two gringos) . . . she has packed us extra sandwhiches each day, along with a cooler full of drinks.

Today is my third day here in Chiapas, Mexico . . . each day has been full of life and adventure.

I am one of sixteen jovenes (young people) involved in a missions project called "Project Paul".

We have spent the last three days in training and will continue the training tomorrow and Thursday.

Thursday afternoon we will be sent out to the communities where we will be planting churches.

There are five communities in which we will be working in . . . in teams of two and three.

My team has three people . . . the two gringos (me and Danny) and Juan, our faithful interpreter.

Danny is a gringo from Arizona who is here to work with Molina's for the summer . . . I have had a good time getting to know him . . . I will admit it is nice to not be the only gringo.

Our team will spend the first two days in the community participating in a program of the church of the Nazarene called "Maxima Mission" . . . youth from local churches will come and do community service and programs for children.

The following two weeks will be spent following up on the contacts made and finding leaders for the new church in the community.

As beautiful as the trip has been thus far . . . I am almost certain that I will be returning earlier than planned.

I had planned on being here for ten weeks and helping the Molinas with there work in Chiapas (along with having a good time being in their company) . . . however the last three days have birthed a new vision in my heart . . . a calling of sorts.

I am enjoying working along side them to bring the kingdom into the unreached places in Chiapas . . . but I believe God is calling me to my own "abandoned place of the empire" . . . a place I am to settle in . . . create roots . . . live and love deeply.

It has yet to be determined when I will return to Columbus . . . it will probably be sooner rather than later . . . I am eager to begin living again.

"Coming Alive" . . . is a concept that I have been praying through over the last four months . . . coming to Mexico was a large part of making that a realization in my life.

But I had no idea that coming alive here in Chiapas . . . would lead me home.

Only God knows.

Peace to you and yours this night.

So I made it to New York.

I had hopes of blogging from the Columbus airport, but the internet connection was not being friendly.

My flight to JFK arrived thirty minutes late . . . which made me have to move quickly to get to my connection on the other side of the terminal.

I then sat on the plane headed for Syracuse for thirty minutes while we waited for the airports version of rush hour traffic to clear up . . . which consisted of some twenty three planes taking off before us.

Only to arrive in Syracuse and find that my luggage did not move as quickly as I did to make my connection and did not arrive in Syracuse with me.

I am currently waiting for a call from Jet Blue to let me know if my luggage will be arriving on the next plane flying in from JFK.

I am also baking for my own going away party.

I will be in Syracuse till my mom gets off work this evening . . . when we will travel down to Middletown where my family lives.

I'll spend tomorrow hanging out with family and leave for JFK in the early evening.

My flight to Tuxtla departs from JFK at 1:00am on Sunday morning.

I am nervous and excited . . . at the same time.

I am not sure what my internet connection will be like when I first arrive . . . but I will be sure to post as soon as I have the chance.

Be peace my friends.

In yesteday's mail I received two cards . . . both from Bowling Green, Ohio.

Each had a sentence that really struck me . . . each had a line hit me like a beautiful ton of bricks.

The first read :

"You're gonna learn & grow so much this summer Jen & I'm genuinely excited to see who this makes you".

My nerves have been slightly on edge as my departure date approaches . . . the only thing that has been able to calm them is the reality of how much my life is going to be enriched by this experience. I, too am genuinely excited to see who my time makes me.

And the second read :

"When you are lonely and down remember you have lots of people in New York, Ohio, even Bowling Green, Ohio who love you!"

What a beautiful and much needed reminder. My life is filled with amazing people who love and care about me deeply . . . people who will miss me when I am gone. And if lonely nights come in Mexico . . . I will have them to think of . . . and I know that will bring me peace.

One of my countdowns has finally come to end.

Today is my last day (. . . for the summer . . . ) at Northwest Christian Childcare.

If you know me . . . or have seen me at all in the last few weeks, you know I have been eagerly awaiting this day.

So much is happening right now . . . I feel constantly busy . . . always something to do.

It will be nice to have a day or so to finish up my preparations.

I cannot believe I leave for NY on Friday . . . then off to Mexico in the early hours of Sunday morning.

There is much to write . . . much I have experienced in the last month that I really want to share . . . that I want to remember.

Ruby arrived yesterday . . . she is beautiful . . . I am so happy I got to meet her before I went to Mexico.

Maybe the next few days will allow me sometime to write more . . . maybe.

I have tried about a dozen times to sit down and write over the last two weeks.

I seem to get two or three sentences down and then get distracted or struggle to figure out to convey all that happening.

There is a great I want to write about in these next few days . . . a great deal of things that I want to remember about the last two weeks.

But this post is for my friend Evan.

Yesterday was Evan Daniel Stetler's first birthday . . . and I was privileged enough to be in attendance.

Evan is the only person that I have ever met on the day they were born.

I cannot believe it has been one year since he was born . . . it seems like the time has passed so quickly.

This little boy (along with his two brothers) are gifts of peace and joy to my world . . . I am so very grateful to have them as such a big part of my life


Happy Birthday Evan . . . I look forward to watching you grow.