Tuesday and Wednesday have been completely different experiences. This area makes Guadalajara poor look luxurious. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, after an extra excursion because Larry stopped for directions too late! but we got to see more mountains... Anyway when we arrived in Zopoco, Mich, MX, they had lunch ready for us, just after we ate our packed comfort food. Lunch was good, but many of the team were not prepared to eat local food. :-) Actually those with adventurous taste buds, and those without who tried it, were in for a treat.
Then we got down to ministry. First we were missing an audio cable, so we had to make a new program on the fly. While we were trying to resolve tech problems, we jumped in to face painting, balloons and crafts. Then the team started singing and telling the gospel to the kids in Spanish. This was a first for Larry and Sherry. They had never before been in ministry together. They loved it. Then, it was time for dinner. Marbi cooked and we all ate up and headed for a late night sleep. Have you ever slept 15 feet from the highway, right where trucks, with and without mufflers use their engine brakes to slow down dramaticly and then immediately accelerate? The road has a huge speed bump right outside our windows. Traffic ran all night, we checked!
Well, after getting the gas heater hooked up, the water tank went dry. We can´t smell each other cuz we´re all the same. We took a quick drive to Zamora after breakfast to restock supplies and returned to do our program at two different locations. Brian, Peter and Mike tried some up-to-code electrical wiring. That´s code for tying wires together with tape and throwing them across the ceiling beams. Not much protocol here.
The kids in both groups enjoyed the program. The first was held in a courtyard of four or five families. The second back at the church. The grown ups are very generous when we serve and therefore serve refreshments. Hope they really used purified water. Cathy will let you know tomorrow! The refreshments consisted of fresh tamarind seeds ground and mixed with sugar and water. tasty.
Cathy and Laura spent much time organising Dr. Dave´s kit of medicines and laughing with him and the other doctor and nurse, while they saw patients. Dr. Dave married a Mexican and moved to Guadalajara 7 months ago. He´s quite a hoot.
We´ve had some changes in plans. The remote location we were to travel to asked us not to come as the son of the pastor was severly beaten for not paying money to ´ the Virgin of Guadalajara´ because he was a Christian. The pastor´s son in Paracho went for surgery, so we´ll be heading back to Guadalajara without ministering in those two places - the reason we were here for two full days.
Well its off to more authentic food, then a night of truck engine choruses.