Lost Phone. Pyramids. Cool Stories

Ok, so I pick up Tony Vasquez at the airport last night and return to where Daniel has a football practice in the mud and rain. After watching him wallow around a bit, we decide to go somewhere a little less damp, so Tony and I drove to a nearby area where there was an Office Max and a Carl Jrs side by side. While Tony relaxed in the restaurant, I went and printed out a bunch of stuff for this weekend, including a couple of posters for the missions conference and my sermon for Sunday.

I was instructed to take a number, and after about 10 minutes I finally gave them my flash drive for the copies, but in the meantime I was fooling around with the Bluetooth connection and the Kodak printing station. I must have left my cell phone there...I discovered this last night when I was looking to set my alarm for this morning.

On a day when a guy was coming in from Puebla, three more from Oaxaca and two people from Veracruz for the missions conference it was, needless to say, a BAD time to lose my phone. But guess what! I called this morning, my phone was there, and friends Toño and Becky, who live much closer to that Office Max tan we do, are going to retrieve my phone.

In the meantime, Tony, Teo and I picked up the video camera and portable screen for the conference, and loaded it up with the three wheelchairs, box of water purifying pills and other materials to take to the conference tonight...in Villa de las Flores, which happens to be almost as far away from here as you can drive and still be in the city. Almost.

But things seem to be coming together, my beautiful wife is making pozole complete with head meat as a treat for the guys for lunch, and we've been hearing crazy ministry stories from Tony all morning. Life is good! We also visited the pyramid and Indian ruins here in Ixtapaluca, with a great view of the surrounding area. Picture below...although not from today. Today continues to be really smoggy, which hopefully won't trigger even more restrictive driving rules for this weekend.

Note: Popo, the active volcano to the right in the picture below, has been erupting quite a bit lately, showing the neighboring areas with ash. Hopefully it continues to vent ash, and not lava or flying rocks!

Quote of the Day: "Understanding is the basis of care. What you would take care of you must first understand, whether it be a petunia or a nation. " Dallas Willard

Victor's Adventures at Aztec Stadium

Victor is back with us after a few days in Ciudad Azteca with the Topp family. While there he was able to go to a semifinals game between two soccer giants, America and Monterrey, in Mexico City's monster stadium, Aztec Stadium. You can see some photos below. Thanks to Toño Muñoz and his friend Martín López for two tickets on row 22, around midfield!

I was at Aztec Stadium years ago, witnessing a game between America and their arch-rivals, the Chivas Rayadas of Guadalajara. To be honest I didn't have a whole lot of desire to go back after that game! Intense, playoff-level games are sometimes downright dangerous here. Every goal scored means likely getting bathed in beer (or worse!). In my game, people threw powerful firecrackers from the top levels. One hit fairly close to us, and I felt the rush of air at my feet.

That being said, everyone should go to at least one soccer game! Preferably at Aztec Stadium. Glad Victor got to go!

Quote of the Day: Jesus noticed how the leaders picked places of honor at the table. This is simply one more way we value some people over others. We violate God’s Blue Book. So Jesus gave some tongue-in-cheek advice: When somebody invites you to a feast, don’t go for the seat of honor. Go sit in the kitchen. Humble yourself. Jesus was essentially saying to the host, “Hey, host! Let me give you some advice. Your seating chart is all wrong. You think healing the sick on the Sabbath is wrong and that competing with people for status is right. Let me redo your table assignment. Exalt somebody else.”
Ortberg, John Who Is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 36).

153 Big Fish

I'm in the midst of studying for a sermon for next Sunday, May 26, at Peña de Horeb, Iztapalapa. Mayra and I worked with this church for over 6 years a while back. It will be good to touch base with many old friends. My text...John 21:1-17.  Always great when people allow you to choose your text!

You can tell a fisherman wrote this chapter. The fish were counted, all 153 of them. They were described as "big" fish.  Made me think of some stories. And retrieve a picture from a few years back.

Just had to post the picture below. Just had to.

Gonna be a humdinger of a weekend. Friends arrive from Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Kansas City. Missions conference on Friday night the whole way across the city, then all day Saturday. I preach on Sunday in Iztapalapa. Love weekends like this one. Seriously love them!

Also...please pray for good friend José Antonio's father, as he is in the hospital dealing with some serious health issues.

Quote of the Day:  Something about Jesus keeps prodding people to do what they would rather not: Francis of Assisi gives up his possessions, Augustine gives up his mistress, John Newton gives up his slave trade, and Father Damien gives up his health.
Ortberg, John  Who Is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 18).

Residency Exam

Yesterday was a fun day at the Fry household, with over 40 people in our relatively small house. Late afternoon it started to rain, hard, which meant ALL of those forty people were squeezed into our house, many of them wet!

The party began with eating (of course), some awesome pork in green mole, a very traditional Mexican meal. Then, as more people arrived from the church we divided up into three teams and played a game that tested my knowledge of Mexican culture. We played Mexican hangman attemping to identify nauhatl terms and their definitions. Words like Tenochitlán, Iztaccihuatl and Quetzalcóatl.  After that, an adaptation of the game 100 Mexicans Said, which seems to identify the most common answers that Mexicans would give to questions like the following:

What is the most typical Mexican food?  tacos, quesadillas, tortas
What are slang terms used for money in Mexico?  lana, billete, feria, etc...
What are the most common tortas in Mexico? ham, cuban, hogadas, etc...
Terms for a small child in Mexico? chamaco, chiquito, etc...
Tipical Mexican drinks.  horchata, jamaica, tamarindo
Symbols that identify Mexico abroad.  Flag, escudo/shield, mariachi outfit

The last part of the exam was focused more on history and government. When did a Mexican president expropriate the oil industry (1938, Lázaro Cárdenas).  Where does the Word "Mexico" come from?  Mexica (pre-Hispanic) word that means bellybutton of the moon (really). What is the full name of Mexico?  The United States of Mexico. What is considered the mother culture of Mexico? The Olmecas.

I did alright in the historical part of the night...less so identifying and defining the long, nahautl words! Thanks to Pablo and Jesica for putting that all together, and for Mayra, for all the prep beforehand and clean-up afterwards!

Two Videos about Good Works and God's Love

Here are two videos related to two workshops that will be presented at the FAMEX missions conference coming up next weekend. Both are creative ways to extend the love of Jesus to our communities. I'm a firm believer that our faith needs to be active 7 days a week, not just on Sundays, and that good works help people trust us and ultimately glorify God. Hmm, that might even be biblical (Matt. 5:13-16)

The organizations represented are Adventures in Life Ministry, with Dave Miller, and Operation Blessing Mexico, working together with freewheelchairmission.org

The first video is in Engish, the second in Spanish.

Fish Farms in Oaxaca
Armando Sillas de Rueda
Ensamblaje Silla de Ruedas GEN-2 from Mauricio Rivera on Vimeo.

Quote of the Day: What we don’t need in this world is more politics, spirituality, morality, or religion. We don’t need more sinners trying to act like a savior. We need a Savior. The answer to the question of who saves us is simple: Jesus. Or, as I like to say, “It’s all about Jesus!”
Driscoll, Mark Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ (p. 74). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Colorful and Aromatic (!) Xochimilco

Yesterday we took advantage of Teacher's Day (May 15 in Mexico) to take Victor and the family to Xochimilco, euphemistically referred to as Mexico's Venice. It actually takes a significant amount of imagination to make that comparison, but at the very least, Xochimilco is unique. As part of the only remaining system of canals that date back to pre-Hispanic times, Xochimilco is a fun, colorful place, replete with the typical tourist traps, but with a lot more.

The colorful boats, called trajineras, come complete with a long table and chairs, and are polled through the murky waters by helpful men who, in some cases, fill you in a bit on the history of the place.  While out on the water you can buy everything from beer to blankets, plants to plantain. For a small fee, mariachis with varying degrees of skill could play you a Mariachi Loco or Cielito Lindo.

I had never seen the canals quite so busy as yesterday, with buses filling up the parking lot, and boats on the water so dense that it was difficult for our pole man to navigate through the mass of color and music. Xochimilco has seen better days, for sure, but the place is still enchanted, in its own Mexican sort of way.

A special treat...spending time with Toño and Becky Muñoz and their daughters on the boats and afterwards at their home in Xochimilco.

(Thanks to Victor for the pics!)

 

Reaching the World is Better Together

Planning continues for the FAMEX missions conference coming up in two weeks. Tony Vasquez will be the main plenary speaker. Tony is a Camino Global missionary who has worked with his wife Brenda and family in Spain for many years in church planting and missionary mobilization at IIBET.

David Gómez arrives from Uruguay mañana, and we'll be picking him up at the airport after a LONG flight from Montevideo. David is a FAMEX missionary working with youth and supporting a church in Uruguay's capitol city. He will also be sharing at a number of churches during his time here (Sendero de Vida, Buen Pastor Pachuca, IBC Ciudad Azteca)

Representatives from Misioneros de Verano will be present, which is a Bible church ministry that trains young people (and not so young people) to give 5-day clubs for 3-4 weeks each summer. This ministry recently visited Honduras to train young people in that country.

Teo Moreno will also be at the conference. Teo is a bi-lingual Mexican young man, graduate of the Puebla Bible Seminary, who is on his way to China to teach English (and Spanish?).  A number of students from the seminary will also be helping in the conference.

We are pleased to have Dave Miller, founder and president of Adventures in Life Ministry, at the conference, sharing a wealth of information and stories from his over 20 years in ministry in Oaxaca, Ensenada and Jalisco. Dave's particular emphasis in identification and integration with Mexican believers is encouraging and a great model for us.

Operation Blessing, an international organization with main offices in Virginia Beach, VA, has a very active branch in Mexico under the capable leadership of Scott Hill. Julio Dominguez, their Mexican coordinator, will be present at the conference.

Talented artist and friend Samuel Valtierra will be doing a workshop on the use of art in missions. His perspective is needed and challenges the mentality of many local churches, who do not value the use of graphics arts in their outreach and discipleship.  Chuck Topp will be giving a helpful workshop on the blessings and challenges of being a missionary sending church.

Fernando Amezcua will be giving a report on his recent trip to the Philippines, a country that will likely be a focal point for FAMEX missionaries in the future, beginning with Priscilla from the Buen Pastor church in Pachuca, who has committed to go to the Philippines for one year.

Please be in prayer for our small, stretched to the limit FAMEX coordinating committee, Fernando Amezcua, Erik Morgo and un servidor.

Quote of the Day: In living together as God’s people under his reign and lordship, our churches provide to the world the closest resemblance of the kingdom of God on this side of eternity. We are the invisible kingdom made visible through the people of God and their shared lives on earth. We are the church. Where the world comes to window shop. To see if they’re “buying it.”
Stetzer, Ed (2012-03-30). Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation (p. 185).