February 10, 2006

Greetings from Cuernavaca, Mexico!

We are excited to have been accepted as mission co-workers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to work with the Iglesia Presbyteriana de Colombia (IPC). We look forward to sharing our progress, challenges, and prayers with you.

We have just finished three months here at language school. Our initial plans were to have arrived in Mexico in late August. But plans changed abruptly when John fell and fractured his ankle six days before we were to arrive in Mexico. He is doing very well now, and we are enjoying daily walks around the city.

At our age, learning Spanish is very challenging. We are full-time students, putting in long hours, struggling with remembering all the grammar, new words, and pronunciation. It compares to putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle. Our teachers keep reminding us that each day, “poco a poco” (little by little), we progress.

Our motivation is very strong, especially when we read emails from Colombia that inform us of the continual threats, killings, displacements, and disappearances that our brothers and sisters in Colombia deal with daily. Please pray for them and for the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and their program of sending accompaniers from the United States to support the pastors and leaders of the IPC.

Our school, Cuauhnahuac Spanish Institute, has an outreach program for staff and students. They visit a nearby orphanage and support the children, ages 8-17. We enjoy the weekly visits with them—playing games, talking and getting to know them. On holidays and special occasions, we join with them and become like their families.

On Sundays, we attend the Iglesia Presbiteriana Bethel. The lively congregation comprises families with children, teenagers, and older people, and the service is entirely in Spanish. We arrive early to read the Bible verses in English, so we will know what we are reading when the church service begins. The members are very friendly. When they greet us and talk to us in Spanish and we have that dumbfounded look, we realize that we still have more months of learning before we are ready for Colombia.

During our weekends in the city, on excursions, celebrating the holidays, we have been exposed to the culture and ways of the people of Mexico. Its strong family emphasis is very apparent. These experiences are most helpful to us as we prepare for our work in Colombia. We look forward to continuing these opportunities.

We’ve only been here for three months, but with all that has happened, it seems like we have been here longer. We miss our family and friends but are thankful and humbled by your support. We ask for your prayers for us, for the church, and for Colombia.

Vaya con Dios

John and Paula Ewers

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 48