December 27, 2006

Hello All!

Three thousand Christmas services down and still a few more to go! Yes, we’ve been celebrating Christmas in a different community every day since the 21st, and the last one is not until tomorrow night, the 28th. I have to admit, I’m not much in the Christmas spirit anymore, especially after the four-hour service in Huitzitizlingo on the 25th, which was followed by our own four-hour service here in Frijolillo the 26th. They were wonderful services, but long. And everywhere we go we eat tamales or zacahuil (large tamal-like meal). Great stuff, but after a while you begin to dream of other things. I do admit, though, that part of my problem is that I got sick the evening of the 24th. I was really feeling bad for several hours (I spend the worship service in bed with pretty severe stomach pain and nausea). I did recuperate some (which is a whole other story about submission to man and God’s healing touch) but I have been kind of sick all week. I think I’ve finally determined that I could have somehow gotten into gluten, but we’ll see. I just feel like I have a lump in my stomach every time I eat. Pray for my physical health. I am better, but it is slow going.

Tonight’s service was in Octlamecayo, where the team visited three weeks ago. Team members please forgive me for forgetting to take my camera, but tonight’s service was the first in the new sanctuary. They finished taking down all the forms and supports yesterday. We were grateful for the opportunity to worship tonight after going 24 hours without electricity throughout the region. The lights went out three times last night here in Frijolillo and I was glad I had my 9-volt lantern which did more for lighting the sanctuary than smaller flashlights.

And, as if Christmas were not enough, weddings and 15th birthday celebrations are filling my days as well. As I mentioned last week, I was the “professional photographer” for two 15th birthday celebrations. By the second one (today) I really started to feel like a professional—making them pose, checking out different angles, lighting, etc. Ha! At least it’s a step up! Last week, my gift to the folks here was wiggling my ears and raising my eyebrows, this week I’m a photographer and chauffer (averaging 15 people per load!). This Saturday I’ll drive a bride from Octlamecayo to Frijolillo for her wedding. Who knows what next week will bring! See the attached photo that Pastor Abel took of me with today’s quinciñera.

Of course I am grateful to be of service, but I do have to remember that God just might have something “bigger” in mind for my life here in the Huastecas. Pray that I will be ever mindful of my purpose here even as I serve in such a variety of ways.

I also ask that you pray for me as I continue to adapt to the language, customs, and culture. Most of the time I feel so very much at home (since I’ve been in Mexico for so long) but then suddenly situations come up in which I realize I am not in Piedras Negras and I feel clueless as how to act or react in appropriate ways. I need to watch and learn from the locals and ask lots of questions. But more than that, I must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me, literally with every step I take.

For example, how to handle children who are misbehaving? (I can’t just correct them as I would in Piedras—that’s kind of a no-no here, especially for outsiders.) How to determine if people are really getting something out of the messages I preach? (You wonder if you are trouble when after a 12-minute meditation on Christmas Eve, during which it seemed no one was listening, the 10-year-old next to you says “little” after you sit back down!) How to balance making my own decisions and allowing others to make them for me? (Schedule-wise, who to be with, etc.) How many people to allow to ride in my truck? (It was not built to haul 40 people!) When to receive payment for taking people somewhere and when to even ask for it? How to balance folks’ desire to do things for me (fix meals, do my laundry, clean my apartment, etc.) and my desire to do them myself or at least not bother them (and then the question of payment comes up). Anyway, as you can tell, I am facing many issues. Some are big, others are small, and their size usually fluctuates by the hour—not by how big or small a deal they really are! And only God can answer any of them.

The language is coming in bits and pieces. Because of all the activity, I have not had much time to do anything requiring long periods of focus, but I learn new words daily, try to use what I know, and of course I am hearing a lot of it. I am listening in on conversations and trying to pick up new words that way as well. I will learn it, I just have to keep reminding myself I’ve only been here 11 days. I have time.

Tomorrow I am going to go back to Tamazunchale to pick up some more things I need for the apartment. A few folks from Frijolillo will join me. Brother Moises is going to build me a cot with trees from his field so tomorrow we’ll get the burlap he’ll use for the “bed.” I am anxious to get off of this mattress I’ve been sleeping on. I can feel most of the springs in it and it’s a bit hard on my rib cage at night. I’ll stop by the cyber-café to send this email off while in Tamazunchale.

Forgive the fact that this is pretty much an “account” of my activities. Between power outages, travel to other communities for special services, and the “daily grind” here I have not yet had time to sit down to reflect much (in writing), but I will. The “daily grind” here is hardly a grind at all. I wake up around 7:00 a.m. (usually awoken by people talking on the street below my home), spend time in prayer and devotions as well as some general reflection on things until 9:00 a.m. I get ready and have breakfast at around 10:00, chat with folks there, visit someone or receive a visitor, do odds and ends here in my apartment, and then go for lunch around 2:00 p.m., shower (it’s best to take cold showers in the heat of the day!), and then we’ve been “off” around 4:00 p.m. to head to another community for worship, arriving home between 10:00 p.m. and midnight. It’s interesting because time goes very quickly but when I compare it to life in Piedras Negras, I feel like I am doing so very little. That’s not a bad thing at all. I quite like the change. It’s just a very different life.

It’s late. I’ll be back after the first of the year. I’ll be in the state capital of San Luis Potosi on the 2nd and 3rd to register with the Mexican immigration offices there, so I imagine I’ll get online during that time as well. It appears that Pastor Abel and one of his daughters will accompany me, and I hope to spend the evening with a family that used to be members of UEEE (Benjamin Garces’ brother Daniel and his wife Lety). It has been years since I’ve seen them.

After my trip to San Luis, I’ll meet with presbytery leaders to determine some first steps as to my work here as well as to clarify a number of points in regard to my position. A presbytery meeting is scheduled for mid-January so by then I ought to be able to really get into the swing of things.

Tlascamati miac for all your prayers, encouragement, and support. Keep praying that the ministry you are supporting (including the ear-wiggling, domino-playing, and transportation and photography services) will continue to develop into something that draws the people of this region into a closer walk with Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year! I pray that the New Year will bring you closer to Christ as well.

With love and gratitude from

Susie

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 66