rebekahmey’s blog

 

 

 

It's Saturday afternoon and I've rested a bit from our puppet program we held this afternoon.  As usual, the crowd seemed a bit thin and I began to think it wasn't going to be worth all the effort, O you of little faith!  We had some technical problems but Pastor Danny came to the rescue and we got the show going around 12:30.  Vashti and team had the stage set up and the moppets went into action.  They sang and dance and taught the children about honesty, kindness and over all, God’s love for each one individually.  As I watched, more people and kids started arriving and we had to make a run to the church for more chairs.  We held the program in front of our neighborhood market and as people came to do their shopping, they stopped by to watch for a while. 

 One shy little girl watched from the corner of her mother’s store, others stopped their bicycles and others rested for a while as they enjoyed the program.  Near the end, Vashti asked if any of the kids were sick and several raised their hands.  She had them came up and Pastor Danny prayed not only for their physical health, and that they would lead

 honest, godly lives.  I never did get a count of how many came, and by the end many had left already, but I know God’s word went forth and I trust many of them will come to the library not only for help with school work, but for a chance to hear more about our marvelous God.

It's Saturday afternoon and I've rested a bit from our puppet program we held this afternoon.  As usual, the crowd seemed a bit thin and I began to think it wasn't going to be worth all the effort, O you of little faith!  We had some technical problems but Pastor Danny came to the rescue and we got the show going around 12:30.  Vashti and team had the stage set up and the moppets went into action.  They sang and dance and taught the children about honesty, kindness and over all, God’s love for each one individually.  As I watched, more people and kids started arriving and we had to make a run to the church for more chairs.  We held the program in front of our neighborhood market and as people came to do their shopping, they stopped by to watch for a while.  One shy little girl watched from the corner of her mother’s store, others stopped their bicycles and others rested for a while as they enjoyed the program.  Near the end, Vashti asked if any of the kids were sick and several raised their hands.  She had them came up and Pastor Danny prayed not only for their physical health, and that they would lead honest, godly lives.  I never did get a count of how many came, and by the end many had left already, but I know God’s word went forth and I trust many of them will come to the library not only for help with school work, but for a chance to hear more about our marvelous God.

SUMMER CAMP

It was a bright, sunny Friday morning.  The bus driver showed up at 7:00 a.m. (although he’d promised to show up at 6:00), and the kids and parents were already lining up.  “Did you get the Dramamine…what if someone gets sick on the bus…did you load up the fruit…where are the puppets?”  Finally we got everyone loaded up, food, dishes, tape recorder….and the 60 people were finally on our way.

Kikoten is a lovely, wooded camp.  It has acres of green grass (a rarity in our community), those beautiful, life-giving trees and tons of space for running and playing.  The first order of business was to divide kids and counselors into teams, choose a name and a team cheer.  Names like; "Flying Eagles", "Mini-ants", "Hummingbirds" and “Tomatoes and Parsley” (even our cooks got into the team spirit!), began to fill the air with shouts of “We’re the best…we’re gonna win….hooray for the Eagles.”

            Our theme this year was “Fly Higher”, based on the life of Daniel and his brave friends in the Bible.  Thus the bird names!  It was exciting to see the teams begin to pull together, build team spirit and work at earning points.  One team in particular, The Hummingbirds, just didn’t seem to mesh.  The spirit was lacking, they weren’t working together and were way behind the other teams. 

            The days were filled with songs, game time, Bible stories and arts & crafts.  One challenge was the ball chasing, balloon eating camp dog. The first day she got hold of one of the balls and burst it.  During a balloon game, it was a toss up to see who would catch the balloons first…the kids or the dog!  Games of soccer, volleyball and free time in the “fantasy garden” kept the children busy and happy.  Even the occasional rain did little to dampen spirits.

           

 The highlight for me was on Saturday evening.  Each team had been assigned a Bible passage to act out.  They were told to use as much creativity as possible, props, acting, music or whatever ideas they had.  They presented their skits to a panel of judges (our cooks plus the camp clown “Bob”).  They were hilarious and certainly creative.  Old grass, sticks, dress up and music filled the night.  “Noah” was represented with a beard of grass and the “animals” crawled all over the floor.  Which team won the competition and the promised 1,000 points?  The Hummingbird team!  They’d pulled togethe and did an amazing representation of Noah’s ark.

            That night we had a “campfire” around the wood stove in the dining hall (it was raining again) and campers went to bed, reluctantly, to be ready for the last day.

            Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, with the cooks getting a fright upon opening the dining hall and hearing noises.  Lo and behold, balloon eating dog had managed to spend the night inside and eat the rest of the marshmallows!  (Marshmallow eating dog?!) After breakfast it was clean up time. Then we did the awards ceremony to see which team had the best spirit, cooperation and had gained the most points.  To our surprise and satisfaction, the Hummingbird team took the prize!  God works in amazing ways and those who started out last indeed were first. 

 

            We returned home happy, tired, wet and rejoicing at the Lord can do when He gets us away from our daily routines and lets us enjoy a bit of His creation.

 

 

In August, my dad, Robert Arthur Meyerend, will turn 80.  Imagine, 80 years of joys, heartaches, hard work, sacrifice and over all, faithful service to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  First as a pasror, then as a Sunday School and Bible teacher and lately, as a faithful prayer warrior.  I will be eterrnally grateful for the wonderful heritage of faith that he and my mom have given to my brother and I.

Recently my dad faced what he says is the hardest thing he's ever had to go through.  In late February he was operated on to remove a tumor that was growing on his spine.  Doctors believe it  had been there for some time.  Thankfully the tumor was benign but he had to go through a series of 27 radiation treatments to shrink the rest of the tumor and keep it from growing back.  Although it's been a rough time, he and my mom have cotinued to rely on the Lord for strength to face each day. 

 

We are confident that he will soon regain strength and be on his feet again.  Special appreciation goes to my mom, Maude Elaine who has stood by my dad through the challenges, joys and now sickness of their 57 years of marriage.    Meantime, I know my parents will continue to bless and encourage many as they contineu to be a strong example of faithfulness in the joys and in the heartaches.  Thank you mom and dad! 

 

This year we decided to have some different events to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.  We started off December with an all-church decorating party to get our little building looking spiffy for the activities.  "All church" turned into the pastor and his wife, Felipe and his wife and a bunch of kids.  We were pleased that one of the families that had stopped coming showed up to help decorate and hasn't missed a church service yet!

                                    

The next activity was a piano and violin concert on a Sunday night.  Our neighborhood is mostly made up of working class people who don't take too much interest in "cultural" events so it was good to see the church was full and even a new family came.  Those doing the concert explained to the people about the different composers and compositions, turning it into a learning experience as well.     

Our last event was a traditional Christmas service with plays and poems from the children and  a brief Scripture meditation on John 3:16.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..."  Indeed the true meaning of Christmas! The kids did a great  job and we had a full house.

 

 So now I'm in Florida enjoying a couple weeks of sun and fun with my family.  Soon I'll be back with my Mexican family to continue into 2009 "attempting great things FOR God and expecting great things FROM God." I'll finish with a fun picture of my parent's neighbor's...Christmas pig!

KIKOMAR AND INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

Here we are nearing the end of October already and I've been meaning to write about the activities of mid-September.  Oh well, as the Mexicans say, "mas tiempo que vida" (more time than life).  Mexican Independence Day is on September 16th.  It fell on Tuesday this year meaning the kids didn't have classes until Wednesday of that week.  I decided to take the week off and visit my dear friends who are developing a camp, "Kikomar", on the coast of Veracruz.  The camp property is right on the beach and although the weather was cloudy and the sea rough most of the week, I enjoyed being with my friends, reading on the beach and getting to know the Castellano family better.

The Castellanos are the caretakers at the camp.  A family with five children they eke out a living catching fish, selling coconuts and working odd jobs.  However,their love for the Lord is evident and their faith that He will provide all their needs.  Sicne the sea was a bit rough, it was good for cathcing fish and I had a great time going along with them and seeing the work in action.  They have a large  net which Carlos, the oldest, grabs one end and walks way out into the sea, up to his chest.  The rest of hte family (since they don;t know how to swim) stay on the beach holding the oteh end of the net.  After Carlos has walked a ways he begins to circle back, trapping fish in the net as he walks.  The otehrs begin to pull on the net and bring it into shore.  They then take out the fish and drop them into a wheelbarrow or bucket.  They repeat this operation several times until they have a good number of fish. 

 

 

I even got into the action and pulled out a few slimy fish of my own!  The best part came later that afternoon when Carlos cleaned the fish and cooked them up in tin foil over the kitchen fire complete with garlic and onion. Delicious! 

 

 

 

While I was there we took the children to school in the "Zorro" (fox), my friends black pick up truck.  Normally Pablo, the father, takes them on his motorbike or they have to walk.  I was surprised to learn that this school exists of only two rooms and three teachers.  Two elementary school teachers and one junior high teacher.  The teachers spend a month with each family as a way for the school board to pay for room and board. 

 

It was a great week and just what I needed after the hectic time that preceded it.  I'll close with a couple pictures of my friends dogs, Pimienta (Pepper) and Mostasa (Mustard) as well as a few pictures of Independence Day here in Chalco Valley.  Thanks for  your prayers. 

Drop me a line when you can and "Viva Mexico!  Long live Mexico!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The library officially opened the 1st of September (although we had opened the two Fridays previously) and we're off to a running start!  Some days I feel like kids are coming out of the wood-work (or cement-work in my house).  Last Friday was one of those days.  Fridays are a favorite day to come to the library because it's "game day".  Instead of doing worksheets we do an art activity and pull out the board games.  Last Friday, besides the usual crew that came for game day, I had 6 or 8 girls doing a school project in my garage.  They had to make a background scene for a play they're going to do at school next week. 

 

I am especially thankful that Maru has joined me this year.  She is a pastor's wife who lives in the area and is doing a wonderful job of getting the library in shape and putting all the information about the books and registering the chidlren in the computer.   A few days her husband, Pastor Danny, has even come to help!

 

Not only has the library been full of children, but since we are enlarging our church (next door to the library) the church met in my house last week for Thrusday and Sunday services.  After a couple weeks of low attendence, I was surprised to have a "full house" on Sunday.  We used the library for the worship service and my living room and garage for children classes.  Praise the Lord that my home is being used to honr and glorify Him.  So, come visit when you come and be part of the fun.  There's plenty to do and even though it's a "full house", ther's always room for one more!

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMER FRIENDS

 

 

Summer Friends" was the title of one of the children's programs I participated in this summer. It also aptly describes my time spend in the States this summer.  Although I was anxious to return to my home in Mexico, I return with wonderful memories of time spent with new friends and old.  I praise God for these precious experiences and will warmly remember each precious person (big and little) who made this summer so special. 

 The picture above was taken at Grace Fellowship church in Unionville Pennsylvania during their Vacation Bible School.  I had my own Mexico corner and the diffferent groups viisted me there each night to learn Spanish songs and phrases and about my work in Mexico.  "Pato, pato, ganso" (duck, duck, goose) I discovered, is a favorite game among children everywhere!

SUMMER FRIENDS

 

"Summer Friends" was the title of one of the chidlrnr's programs I participated in this summer. It also aptly describes my time spend in the States this summer.  Although I was anxious to return to my home in Mexico, I return with wonderful memories of time spent with new friends and old.  I prasie God for these precious experiences and will warmly remember each precious person (big and little) who made this summer so special. 

 The picture above was taken at Grace Fellowhip church in Unionville Pennsylvania during their Vacation Bilble Shcool.  I had my own Mexico corner and the differnet groups viiste dme there each night to learn Spanish songs and phrases and about my work in Mexico.  "Pato, pato, ganso" (duck, duck, goose) I discovered, is a favorite game among chidlren everywhere!

Water is such an important part of our lives.  Weather it's for drinking, washing clothes and dishes or cooling off, we can't live without it!  Most of us are used to turning on the pipes and having water flow into our houses.  However in many parts of the world it's not that simple. I have a cistern in my garage and usually the water form the street pipes fill the cistern and I have a water pumps that pumps the water up into the tank "tinaco" on my roof and then through the pipes into my house.  Since March there has been a problem in my neighborhood and the water isn't coming into the houses.  I've heard different reasons (pipes are broke, wrong size pipes, water pumps aren't working) but no one seems to really know.  Thankfully the water company has been sending around water trucks (pipas) to fill our cisterns, barrels or even buckets.  How I praise God for the living water that is offered us in Jesus Christ.  He is the well that never will run dry!