Do we have any bug spray...?

So, a few weeks ago I was calmly and quietly sitting on my bed when I noticed a giant spider crawling towards me on the wall. It wasn't a tarantula, but it was huge! I'm talking giant size...the biggest spider I've ever seen in real life. And if you know me, you know that I'm afraid of spiders. Well, thankfully in the midst of my not so small freak out, Shelley came in, killed the spider, and saved the day. The girls have enjoyed pretending to see spiders around me just for the reaction. Well, since that time we've had several other little visitors. My roomate nonchalantly asked if we had any bug spray the other day. Upon further questioning I realized she meant spray to kill bugs (a.k.a. the giant spider living in our screened door to the back porch). Unfortunately he was a good hider and got away. We have yet to see him resurface, and I'm praying he found a new home. This picture is of a spider we found today and is a baby compared to the granddaddy of them all that first came to visit. Considering the number of encounters we've had and the size of these things, I think the Lord is trying to teach me to appreciate His creation and get over my fear!

Meet Mariana: This is a picture of Hannah and I with our new friend Marianna. She is 17 and is neighbors with our supervisor. We were able to get together last week and help her practice English. It was so awesome to get to know her and share our faith with her. The Lord is clearly stirring in her heart and we have planned to incorporate some Bible study into our weekly intercambios (exchanges where we help her with English and she helps us with Spanish). I'm so excited about getting to know her better and for having the opportunity to study the Word with her! Please be praying that the Lord works in mighty ways through this opportunity!

This past Thursday was Hannah and mine's 2nd day to help in the clinic in our village and we were the only nurses. The doctor's name is Iveth and she was so patient and helpful to us. She helped us organize the order of seeing patients and pull charts, and then we were basically on our own while she saw patients. The Lord was so good to us and it went so well! Praise Him! We were able to communicate with all the patients, take all of their vital signs, give some shots, and assist them with their questions. It was such good practice for my Spanish, and I even learned a few indigenous words!

Saturday was a real treat! We took two of our indigenous friends, Rosa and Raquel, to the movie theater. It was our first time to the movies here in Mexico and it was their first time to the movie theater EVER! They were so cute and giggled throughout the entire movie. We watched a Mexican film in Spanish and it was encouraging to see how much more Spanish I understand now than I did before I came. I'm so grateful for all that the Lord is teaching me through this experience including the language.

On Sunday, before church, I took stitches out of Hopey's head...with a Swiss army pocket knife! No joke! I feel like I've been officially welcomed in to medical missions! Hopey is the 3 year old daughter of one of my field contacts and she is absolutely precious!

The Lord has been doing some big things in my life personally this week. He has been showing me how to more fully trust in Him in so many different ways but particularly with His sovereign plans. I've been reminded that my job is to be obedient in proclaiming truth and making disciples. It is the Holy Spirit who saves and there is nothing I can do to save anyone. He doesn't need me at all and it is an incredible privilege that He chooses to use us for His kingdom purposes. I have also been learning to desire whatever is going to give the Lord the most glory..no matter what it is. At the end of the day He is all I have. A.W. Tozer said, "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever."

Oh, Magnify the Lord with Me

Last week the Lord gave us an opportunity to meet up with a girl we met our first week in Oaxaca. Her name is Caralina. She and her friends interviewed us for an English project and the Lord has placed them on my heart since that time. Well, we visited her church two Sundays ago and the Lord sovereignly worked it out so that she attended service in the morning when we were there rather than go to her usual evening service. We were able to make plans to meet up last Monday and the Lord surprised us with a whole day of fun with her and her parents. We met for coffee and watched part of the Independence Day parade.

Then, they took us to the tree of Tule which is over 2,000 years old and is the largest tree I've ever seen in my life. It was incredible!

The Lord used this family of believers to show me what it means to live generously, love fully, and imitate Christ. They have reminded me of Ephesians 5:1-2: "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." They could not have been more kind to us - from sharing personal stories about how the Lord has worked in their lives, to giving us their time, to buying our lunch/tickets, to being eager to help us learn the language. It was truly humbling to be shown so much love. What is so special is that this has been a common theme among the Mexicans I've met here in Oaxaca. They have been so gracious, so generous, and so loving. Oh how much I have to learn from their example of imitating Christ and walking in love! 

It was a truly special day with a special family!

Tuesday is our weekly day to visit Casa Hogar which is a children's home. Many of the children are from indigenous families that cannot properly provide for them. Since many of them do have families they live at the children's home throughout the school year where they get physical needs met as well as an education. Those that have families go home for vacations and holidays. The home receives government funding but is run by believers and the campus has it's own church. We are blessed to love on these children each week, help serve lunch, assist in kitchen clean up, and share Bible stories with them.

On Wednesay morning, Jenny took us out to her friends house where we learned more about spinning and dying wool for tapetas (tapestries). This family was so kind to open up their home to us and teach us in this intensive process. First, they buy the wool. Then they spend a couple of days carding the wool as seen in the picture below. This is a long process that involves two paddles to disentangle and clean the wool.

Then the wool is spun on a loom. This process is amazing because the wool quickly goes from fluff to string instantly. It requires skill so that the entire strand is the same thickness.

After the wool is spun, they wash it and then begin the dying process. They collect small branches for several days in order to have enough wood to keep the pots boiling for several hours. They use different organic objects such as nuts and flowers to die the wool different colors. It takes several hours of constant boiling and stirring in order for the color to set in.

After the wool has dried, it is ready for use. This entire process of getting the wool ready to use takes approximately 2 weeks (from sheep to loom). And then depending on the size of the tapeta, it can take another week to 2 weeks to weave it. This was a truly remarkable process to learn about and has given me a whole new appreciation for the art of weaving. I asked what they do when they mess up during the process of weaving on the loom and was informed that you don't mess up because there is no way to fix a mistake. The designs are so intricate and so perfect. It is no wonder that their faces light up when you take notice of the tapestries they've completed!

Last Thursday was the first day that Hannah and I served in the clinic in one of the villages. We were blessed to be able to attend a youth event held at the clinic last Wednesday where we were invited by the municipal leaders to eat dinner with them at their table. This was a huge deal and the Lord showed us so much favor during this evening! We were able to meet and talk with all of the important community leaders including the president, sheriff, and health administrator. It was so neat because when the doctor of the clinic introduced us to them, she told them that we are Christians. It was so neat to see the Lord opening up this door for us and showing us favor with these men. In many of the villages, protocol and formality is extremely important so getting approval and favor from the community leaders is huge. In addition to a great time at the youth event, the Lord gave me the opportunity to share the Gospel in Spanish with our taxi driver. It was a truly humbling experience and a great reminder that the Lord doesn't need us to save. He doesn't need us to say X amount of words, or speak eloquently, or even share in our heart language. We are purely called to speak the Truth and the Holy Spirit is the One who does the work. And praise the Lord for that! It is truly incredible to see how powerful the Lord is and how He chooses to use us for His kingdom purposes. I am amazed because it was nothing in me except for the Spirit that could have shared with this man in Spanish. It was a divine appointment that served as a humbling experience as well as motivation and encouragement for me to speak openly even if not eloquently about my faith. "Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

The clinic time on Thursday went well and we were able to use our observation skills in addition to our limited Spanish to learn what we needed to do in order to assist the nurse. We took a lot of vital signs, administered some shots, and changed some dressings. I was surprised at how busy we were and how fast the time went by. The nurse informed us that she would not be at the clinic this week so Hannah and I will be on our own to handle all of the nursing tasks as we work with the doctor. Needless to say, we are a little nervous considering the language barrier. But, I know that the Lord has sovereignly placed us in this situation and He will equip us with what we need to do what He has called us to do. Please be praying that we would rely on Him, make few mistakes, be able to communicate with our patients clearly, and that we would show them Christ's love as well as share Truth. 

After working in the clinic, I met up with my CTT team - Moises and Rosa. We went out into the village from house to house in order to share health lessons and Bible stories. Due to the rain we didn't get many takers but several families asked us to come back at a later time. We were able to spend an hour or so talking with one lady and her elderly mother. It was beautiful to see the Lord at work! We were able to discuss some health concerns with them, pray for them, and share stories from the Word with them as well! It was so encouraging to see the Lord working in the lives of these 2 nationals, giving them a heart for missions and boldness to proclaim the name of our Savior to these people. Continue to pray for our team as we continue to go out into this particular village. Pray that we will form strong friendships with each other as well as build relationships with families in this village. Pray that the Lord would show us favor among families and individuals, that He would be preparing their hearts, and that He would save many.

Saturday night was Fiesta night! We celebrated Jeff and Natasha's birthdays with hamburgers!

This is a picture of Natasha and me! We are so blessed to have Natasha here during this season. She was in the Hands On program throughout the Spring semester and has stayed to help over the Summer as well as the first half of the fall. We LOVE her and are so grateful for how she has helped us learn Oaxaca and transition to life in a new culture!

 Here are just a couple glimpses of my view on my morning runs! How blessed I am and how beautiful is God's creation!

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" Psalm 34:1-3

Viva Mexico!

Words cannot express how encouraged I feel and how excited I am about the work that the Lord has done this past week in Oaxaca. On Wednesday, Jenny (our field contact) took us to a torta (sandwich) stand in a particular village. She and her husband eat at this particular place on occasion and have become acquainted with the owners. They have been unable to get further connections with this community until this last week when the Lord widely opened up the door. In many of the villages in Oaxaca, there is a certain process that needs to take place in order for someone to enter the community for a specific purpose. This often involves going before the village counsel/leaders and asking permission. Well, when Jenny told our contact at the torta stand that Hannah and I are nurses and would like to see the clinic, our contact offered up information to us regarding exactly who to talk to at the municipal office. We were able to go through the process of meeting him immediately after lunch and he was extremely open to assisting us. He even walked us over to the clinic and introduced us to the doctor and 2 nurses. They were so open to us and invited us to come and learn from them and assist them at the clinic once a week. I think they were almost as excited as we were! They even invited Hannah and I to a special event they are having for the youth this week.

Needless to say, we were beyond thrilled to see the Lord opening these doors for us to get into this community and begin building relationships. It was so encouraging and such a blessing to see the Lord at work. The way that it all happened was evidence of His power and sovereignty because only He could have worked it all out so beautifully. It was also humbling to me to see how the Lord used a variety of situations, circumstances, and our background as nurses to bring everything together at once and show us favor among these people.

In addition to all of this, I'm also super excited about how well the CTT event went on Saturday. We had 4 nationals attend the training event and all seemed excited about using what they learned to partner with us and go out into villages. This week we will all be going out into the same village where Hannah and I will be helping in the clinic. The nationals will share health lessons in story form as well as Bible stories, and hopefully the Lord will continue showing us favor and allow us to use these stories to build relationships and share the truth of God's Word. It has been truly amazing to see our great God working for His kingdom purposes and I am extremely thankful that He chooses to use us in His plans.

 Hannah and her team, Jose and Raquel

 Me and my team, Moises and Rosa

Las tres hermanas!

Our friend and fellow missionary, Jim, who has served the Lord for 30 years in Central America.

Sunday night began the celebration of Mexico's Independence Day. The festivities involve a grito or "cry" at 11pm on September 15th which is reminiscent of the Grito de Dolores or "Cry of Delores" which marked the beginning of Mexico's war of independence from Spain in 1810. Our friends Jose and Moises were kind enough to meet us and escort us during the night's festivities.

We tasted some elote which is mexican-style corn on the cob.

The Zocolo (main plaza) was beautifully decorated with lights.

After the Grito, there were awesome fireworks and a free, live concert. I was so excited because one of my goals for these 4 months was to attend a music concert/event. It was so fun and so crowded. We joined some of our Mexican friends in the dancing and got more than a few stares! It was definitely a fun night that I will always treasure.

Here is the whole group squashed in together and posing for a picture in the crowd!

Viva Mexico!

CTT

This past week we went through Community Transformation Training (CTT). Basically, this involves training nationals in basic, preventative healthcare lessons in order to improve the health of a community and establish relationships in order to tell God's story. This is a great way to model Christ's approach of making disciples by meeting needs and teaching truth. The purpose of this strategy is to function as part of an overall, comprehensive church planting plan.  

We learned how to incorporate health lessons into stories so that we teach applicable health prevention in a way that the listeners can easily understand and relate to. After telling the health story, we can then segue into sharing a story from the Word of God. 

I'm very excited about getting started using CTT this week. We will be holding a CTT event this coming Saturday in one of the nearby villages. We hope to gain some interest from nationals that can partner with us in reaching these communities and the results of this event will likely impact the rest of the work we do over the next few months. Please be praying for us as we prepare for this event, for interest among the locals, and for hearts to be won over to Christ.

We did get to do some touristy things as well this week. On Monday we went out for breakfast and several of us got our first cup of leche de chocolate (Mexican hot chocolate). It was absolutely amazing!

Then, we went out to Monte Alban which are some ancient Zapotec ruins in Oaxaca.

My roomate, Jasmine, and me

Natasha, Hannah A., Hannah B., Shelley, Jasmine, and Kat

We went to La Churreria for my first ever Churro one evening and made a new friend! Please be praying that we will continue to have opportunities to meet locals and build relationships.

Words cannot express how happy I was when I found a Paleteria (Popsicle Store) in the Zocolo (main plaza). These are real Steel City Pops! Although it didn't taste exactly the same as a strawberry cream pop from Steel City, it was delicious! It was like finding a little piece of Birmingham right in the center of Oaxaca. Culture shock is real you guys...and I'm so grateful for little glimmers of home!

We also had the opportunity to act as tour guide and hang out with a short term team from a church in South Carolina. These guys were great and it was a blessing to get to know them and learn from them. We were thrilled to realize we are familiar enough with the city to show others around!

Dinner on the Zocolo with the South Carolina Team