MISSIONS

News from Guadalajara, Mexico

Tim, Kim, Quincy, Karsyn and Clark Rush

November 1, 2006

 

Steps of Faith in Jocotan

About a month ago, we began studying baptism with our house church in Jocotan. We read together Acts 2 and Romans 6. They began asking a lot of questions. Although we clarified a few things along the way, we mostly threw the questions back at them and asked what they thought. We were really encouraged to hear their thoughts. Omar and Lilian both seemed particularly interested and Omar has mentioned it a few times since then. Each time though, he says that he wants to wait until he can visit with his brothers when they come home at Christmas. At one point he said, “If I decide this baptism is more valid than the one I received as a baby, then no one can keep me from it.”

We want to share this especially for your prayers; we’ve wondered how Omar’s wife, Lupe, will react. She is very nice and welcoming to us, but her Catholic roots run much deeper. This last week, Omar informed us that he’s talked with Lupe about his desire to be baptized. It seems like her response was supportive of him making that decision while at the same time wanting to ensure that he will be supportive of her path with the Catholic church, especially regarding their children. They have one son and she is expecting a baby in under 2 months. She definitely plans to have the baby baptized and certainly feels conflicted over their paths diverging somewhat. We pray for them to grow strong together in Christ and that Jesus will be at the heart of transforming the lives of our friends in Jocotan.

Trip to Lazaro Cardanas

For the kids’ birthdays, Tim’s folks sent a little extra money to take them for a fun get-away weekend. So in October we made the drive to visit our friends, Jeff and Amy Gearhart who live in Lazaro Cardanas. We went to the beach one day and took the kids to a turtle sanctuary the next so that they could release baby turtles into the ocean. We all had a blast. The Gearharts have 3 kids of their own, ranging from 4 to 15 months, so there was no shortage of fun. In your prayers please remember their adjustment to life in Mexico (especially the sometimes unbearable heat of their region), their Spanish learning, their health, and the growth of their young church.

For the drive down, we decided to take the Taurus to save on gas money. That turned out to be a bad move. At one point, a policeman informed us that the highway ahead was closed due to a protest. So, we had to backtrack a bit and then take another road. We were assured that they were all good roads. Of course, that wasn’t true. At one point, we spent 45 minutes traveling 9 miles over roads that cannot be described. The Taurus didn’t fare too well. Once we got to Lazaro, it spent the weekend in the shop. When it came time to leave, Jeff and Amy were kind enough to let us drive their Jeep home and we were able to trade cars the following week after the Taurus got out of the hospital. The trip ended up taking a little longer than expected, but the drive really was beautiful. We really are thankfully for God’s protection on the road and that the car waited till we got to Lazaro to break down. We ended up driving through several tiny towns and felt like God was impressing on us to pray for more workers in His harvest field in order to reach every pueblo and inhabitant of Mexico.

About the accompanying picture… when we came upon the bus, Tim thought we were about to witness a scene from Romancing the Stone.

Halloween Cookies

Halloween isn’t really big in Mexico, though it is growing in popularity. Still, we thought it would be fun to dress the kids up. Kim and Quincy spent the day baking cookies to pass out to our neighbors. Instead of going door to door asking for candy, we passed by all our neighbors that we’ve come in contact with, delivering cookies with our friend Felipe. It was really fun turning the tables on our friends. Most still had treats for Quincy (the twins were passed out cold in their stroller). And we got to show off how cute the kids were in their costumes. And isn’t that what Halloween is really about?

Counting with Karsyn

Karsyn and Clark are beginning to count in Spanish and English. It is fun to hear them repeating after us or when they just happen to be passing by, counting as they go. Karsyn is funny in that when she counts, though she does say the numbers mostly in order, she never starts at one. The other day she was counting in Spanish, “dos, tres, taco, cinco”. Perhaps we should start feeding her other foods on occasion.

Fun with Culture

The other day, when Kim was visiting with some friends, they decided to begin putting together some lunch. As they are a poorer family, we know to be ready for whatever they might offer. However, Kim was a bit shocked when, after deciding to make a sort of cold pasta salad with hotdogs and canned veggies, they decided to add mayonnaise. She wasn’t surprised that they were adding mayonnaise, but that they actually store the mayonnaise in the oven (yikes!) instead of the fridge. (A lot of people here never bake, and instead use their ovens as pantries.) She went ahead and ate what was offered. And to our pleasant surprise, she’s not been sick. (Well, nothing serious anyway.)

Tim, Kim, Quincy, Karsyn and Clark Rush
Apdo. Postal 5-18
Admon 5, Chapalita
Zapopan, Jalisco
C.P. 45042
Mexico
011-52-33-3123-0977
tkrush@aol.com