Monday Morning in Mexico

Monday is overcast here in Northern Coahuila and the chickens were scratching around for scraps as I washed dishes on the table outside our room. I rinsed a load of wash and hung them on the line, starting another load since the water was still on. It’s sort of like choreography, making the laundry sync with the water supply…I like it and it keeps me on my toes.
Hanging clothes on a day that might bring rain is another thing. Do you hang them anyway, hoping it won’t rain? Or do you hope they’ll get a second rinse if the rain DOES come? I guess I am rattling on, but those are things I consider. Certainly rain in itself isn’t dirty, but the wind brings the dirt and the worst case scenario is I have to wash them over again.
Once, when we first moved to Mexico in 1994, I washed all my clothes by hand, and hung them on my little clothesline I had instaled, only to watch them fall in the dirt when the line fell under the weight of those wet clothes. I sat on a bucket and cried…it was a hard lesson. It had taken me all day to wash them, and since we had to wait for the “pipa,” ~the man with the water tank that drove through town to bring water to the people for a price, it was especially discouraging. But it was a good lesson. Never hang heavy, wet clothes on a weak clothesline.
I am enjoying a cup of coffee while Bill rests from a rough night, still sick. He seems to feel better this morning but is still a little weak.

Our electrical system is somewhat challenged here. When the coffee pot begins its re-warming process, the fan slows down. Can’t have too much going with this little electric source. But it sure makes you appreciate you have electricity at all.

Our first year in Mexico, we didn’t have electricity in the little house we rented, although I brought my appliances along with us when we moved there. We used the fridge for food storage, as well as the microwave. It was such a blessing to have flashlights and candles, and I read to my children at night by flashlight. We would all snuggle up in the bed, listening to the old time radio shows out of Southern California, when the radio would catch the signal. The kids loved it and so did I. I think it was a great experience for all of us. They learned Spanish faster than I did, I think. My children were 12, 9 and 4 then. It was the beginning of our 7-year-long ‘Great Adventure!’

When we finally did have the house wired for electricity, we only lived there a few months before we moved to another house in a town nearby. That little house had electricity and water in a faucet outside. It even had a shower and a flushing toilet, that flushed when you poured a bucket of water in to the bowl. Kinda neat, huh?

After living there two years, we moved into a bigger house made of adobe, and it had running water in the sink and the bathroom shower, and a hole in the bathroom floor, but no toilet. We had an outhouse that had a bicycle tire tube for the door hinge and when you went to use it, it made our turkeys announce your arrival and departure, because the bike tube squeaked. What a kick, huh? I thought it was funny, but not all of my friends did. After a while, we installed an indoor toilet and it was great. But to me, since the water source there was unreliable also, the outhouse was always the trustworthy place to go. No need for water. And you got used to the sound of the turkeys after a while….

So much for old memories.
We are grateful for your prayers for us, and it’s also encouraging that you read our blog. God is doing wonderful things here and we feel that dividing walls are coming down, as we keep praying for that here in the area. May God be glorified!

What a blessing to catch up on a little extra sleeep with the time change! We woke up and got a lot done Sunday morning before church. We picked up Maria, her mother-in-law Soccora and four of her children; Lucero, Maria, Manuel and Ariceo. It was a great day for Children’s Church because we had 10 children. It’s the first time we’ve had any new kids at church since we arrived, and several were from the art classes: Daniel, Idalis, Kenia, Noe, and Roque. Alexis is Blas and Paula’s niece and she also came along.
Bill and I took the kids outside, behind the church under the trees and after we prayed, I shared the parable of the Lost Sheep. The kids paid attention and we drew pictures of the lost sheep and after the class, the kids came in to church and shared what they had learned with the adults. We had some refreshments for them afterwards. Hopefully, these and even more will come next Sunday.

Bill was got very sick Sunday afternoon and wanted some Sprite so I walked to Yessica’s store across the road and went in. The brother from the Bible Study in Palmira was there and he said, “God bless you, Sister!” It was so good to see him. Pedro has such an amazing testimony. After I went outside, we talked some more. He was witnessing to Yessica’s Uncle about the Lord and what Jesus had done in his life. We spent several minutes sharing with the older man about the wonderful things that come with the Christian life. We invited him to church and I said my goodbyes. When I left walking home, Pedro was still talking to the man about Jesus. What a blessing it was to spend time with that brother who is on fire for the Lord!
Please pray for Bill’s complete healing, and that nobody else catch what he has. Nena has been sick to her stomach, also, so we hope it’s just a flu bug.

We thank the Lord for all of you reading this, and for your prayers for us. We know God is already using us here in Mexico and we are so excited about what the future holds.
May He use your life mightily for His glory, and may He do a new thing in you today, something unexpected!
Loving the King,
Toni and Bill

Fantastic Friday

 Friday morning we went to visit Hilda and her family and while we were visiting, found out she was out of propane. We took her big tank in the back of the pickup to San Carlos to get it filled and brought it back to them a few hours later. While we were in San Carlos, we went to visit some ladies who have a little café and we had a few tacos there for lunch. While we were waiting for our food, we spoke to a young couple from Monterey. He’s a truck driver and his wife and young son go with him. They were on their way back home with a load and we talked to them awhile, and got to pray with them before we left the café. We had prayed with the ladies that own the café before and knew they were Christians, so it was a pleasure to share the Lord with this young Christian couple there, also. They were encouraged and said they had about a 10 hour drive back to where they live. We had a wonderful visit with Hilda and her son and daughter and talked about the outreach coming up later this month. Felipa is trying to get permission for them to have a church service in the town square in San Carlos after the rodeo and is waiting for the okay. I am going to print up her flyers with my computer and printer so we will go over to their house tomorrow to work on those. Saturday we had an art class at 10 am and another one at 2 pm for the children that couldn’t come earlier. Then at 3 we had a Spanish class. Most of the children stayed and did art until 5 pm, which was great. I taught them Genesis 1:1 and told them the creation story from the illustrated Bible Blas loaned me. Nena (Irene, Lupita’s daughter) and her two daughters came with a friend named Abigail for the English Class. Blas also came and they learned how to say the days of the week, the months of the year and how to say the abc’s in English. It was a good class and I think they enjoyed it. Afterwards, they all stayed an hour longer and painted pictures with the children. Recently, Bill and I noticed our wheelbarrow was missing. We brought it with us but it wasn’t on the property so we figured someone had stolen it. (Bill said it was the wheelbarrow bandit!) Then while I was talking to our new friend, Sandra, she asked if we had given it to a man named Eraqueo. He does odd jobs around town and has been a big help to Blas. I told her no, that we had noticed it was missing. She said he had it and he told her we had given it to him. Needless to say, the misunderstanding was that Bill had given it to him, when in fact, Bill told him he could use it if he needed to. Saturday morning, Sandra and Eraqueo came to the house, with Eraqueo pushing the wheelbarrow, looking rather sheepish. We invited him in for a cup of coffee and thanked him for bringing back the wheelbarrow. He was smiling as he drank his coffee and ate a cookie. We told him if he needed it, he could borrow it any time. Thank the Lord for covering us in our miscommunications….. Friday night, when we went to visit Paula and Blas, Paula asked if I could drive her and her niece to the store, and I did. We went to the store that Yessica has, which is also a bakery. Paula’s niece, Alexis, is going to be 4 and she’s very cute. She wanted a cupcake and a donut and Paula bought them for her. When we got to their house, Paula and Blas invited us to eat with them, and we did, and Alexis ate part of her cupcake and donut for supper. Saturday morning before the art class, Paula told me that Alexis wanted another cupcake in the middle of the night, and Paula told her it was too late, she couldn’t go out this late to the store. Alexis said to her aunt, “But that’s when I’m hungry, Tia, when will you ever learn?” I think Art Linkletter coinëd the phrase, Kids say the darndest things!