We Missed All the "Excitement"...PTL (Praise the Lord!)

Dear Pastors, family and friends;

I wanted to write a quick note to let you know where we are and inform you of recent events that have occurred in our new town of Encarnación de Díaz (La Chona).

As you may know we completed 5 months of language school and at the end of June moved to our new town of La Chona.  Prior to our arrival I was contacted about my grandmothers health and quick there after her death.  My family provided the funds for our drive to the states so that we could attend her memorial service on July 1st in N.W. Arkansas.

On July 4th, I was contacted about recent cartel activity in our town.  During our absence (PRAISE GOD!), there were several shootings as a new cartel tried to gain a “foot print” in the area.  The military was called-in to help control the situation and several arrests were made.  Over the course of the week we confirmed the information and sought direction from God concerning our immediate return. 

At this time, all is at rest in the area but time is needed to prove the security of the town.  We have sought God’s direction on what we should do; at the counsel of my pastor I will be flying back to Mexico on July 20th while Carie and children stay in N.W. Arkansas. 

This trip has several objectives:

1. Confirm the security of our town for my family’s return
2. Obtain and construct the new tent for the church
3. Preach my first sermon in Spanish

PRAISES:

• We PRAISE GOD for is protection.  God used my family and the home going of my grandmother to protect us.  Thank you for your prayers.
• We PRAISE GOD for using the vacation home of a member of my brothers church to provide a home for us near family.
• We PRAISE GOD for providing for needed van repairs.
• We PRAISE GOD for providing the funds and opportunity to attend “Family Camp” last week.
• We PRAISE GOD for supporting churches that love us and pray for us.

Please pray for my safety as I travel via bus and plane back to La Chona.  Pray for Carie and the children while they are in Arkansas and try to get started on Homeschool.

NEEDS:  Carie needs to borrow or use Rod & Staff 3rd and 4th grade English materials for student and teacher.  She will be able to return them before leaving for Mexico, Lord willing in the middle of August.

              

Please do not hesitate to call us. 

In His service for His Glory,

Bro Sam

I know it's not the video I promised, but I just haven't had time to figure out how to do that.  However, it's this incredible...from being afraid to put his head under to swimming like a fish!!!

Lots Going On!

As we bring our time in Cuernavaca to a close everything has excelerated it seems.  Sam is taking six hours of private lessons at language school.  He is working with his teachers on teaching Bible studies in Spanish and preaching.  This week he was able with the help of a tutor and his teacher to actually stand up and preach!  He has 2 1/2 more weeks of private lessons.  It is very intense, but we are trying to make our last weeks here really count.

I am spending my weeks with a Mexican midwife, learning and getting more experience.  She is very busy and there have even been 3 births in one day sometimes.  I have just been observing how they do things here and helping out by doing some labor support, drawing up meds, cleaning up, ect.  Yesterday, I got to catch a baby, which for me is not the most important part of the process, but it is the fun part! :)  She was on the small side but perfect and beautiful and her membranes were still over her head.  Once we removed them, she cried with vigor.  Mama felt great and wanted to leave just two hours after the birth.  We assured them they were welcome to stay, but she wanted to have her family altogether at home.  It was her third baby, and since everything was stable and perfect, we proceeded with the newborn exam and birth certificate and home they went.  Happy babymoon mama!  And off the bed I went, since it was only about 10:30 pm and I got a full nights sleep.

Haden our 4 year old has been very scared and upset to get water splashed in his eyes or put his head under water.  I wasn't sure he was ever going to get over it.  Washing his hair was a little bit of an ordeal. Then last week he began swimming around in the deep end with his lifejacket on.  He seemed to enjoy being able to be involved with the other children and their games and became a little less stressed about water in his eyes.  Then Friday afternoon he was splashing around in the shallow end and he said, "Daddy look I'm going to go under the water."  And he did just that with no help from anyone!  Now there is no stopping him, he has been swimming underwater with ease.  He jumps off the side of the pool , floats up to the top and swims to the side.  We are all completely blown away by the change.  He even ask dad to throw him up in the air and he likes help touching the bottom of the pool, so that he can push off the bottom and fly to the top like Superman.
I will try to post video this weekend.  It really is nothing short of amazing, in my humble opinion!

Living Up to Our Name

In keeping with our "wandering" theme, the Means family will be moving to Encarnation de Diez during the month of July.  Sam will be pastoring for a missionary who will be on forlough.  The plan is for us to be there for 11 to 12 months.  Please pray, Sam will need to be able to preach in Spanish by the mid/end of July.  Language learning is a process, a very frustrating one at times.  Right now I feel very unprepared and overwhelmed and am generally fighty the feeling to run and hide.  However, I must be making progress, as I sit outside typing this blog, my neighbors are chatting in Spanish and I find I can ease drop pretty easily if I so desire.  :P
We share a beautiful and very large "Jardin" and a few weeks back there was a very large wedding.  No one was asked permission, and no one was given any warning.  On Friday night crews came and began setting up chairs and stages!  When they came by the house hours before the ceremony on Sat. night, Sam was very clear they had to shut off the music no later than midnight, to which they agreed.  Hundreds of guest poured into our now, not quite as big looking communial backyard.  After the 6:00 pm ceremony, festivities continued until well after 3:00 am!!  Including a band, loud speakers, a catering tent, lots of drunk people wandering around just outside the back door.  Anyway, tomorrow the owners are having a meeting to discuss the situation and several have gathered next door to discuss tomorrows meeting.
Normally only 3 - 6 of the 20 homes are occupied at a time, but this weekend it's a little busier.  Still, I am sitting outside in the pleasant weather and the kids are enjoying the pool.
I missed the whole wedding excitement, because I was having my own exhausting excitement in El Paso, TX.  Yes, Sam drove down from Rogers, AR to Cuernavaca, MX all by himself with five children.  Five very great children, but still five children.  We have been able to hire a caretaker for the children during the day, so they have been able to do their spanish lessons at home and she makes dinner also.
I'm not sure if I have mentioned it on the blog before, but I am a CPM (certified professional midwife).  However,  I don't have as much experience as I would like to have and ever since we have been in mexico I have not been able to attend births.  The trip to El Paso came at a perfect time, well actually, I wish I had not gone quite so long between births.  However, it did help get my "midwifery legs" back under me and get some more much needed experience.  I spent 4 weeks at Casa de Nacimeinto, a birth center I had spent some time at several years ago.  It was nice to see the midwifes there again, to be around birth and remember, I really do love it.  We feel my midwifery skills will be a good outreach tool in the coming years.

Avocados and God's Provisions

On an update note:

It seems that you can obtain a "permit" to barricade a public road.  Good to know, anyway the gate is back.  As they were re-erecting it, we stopped by to ask the guard how long this one would be up, he got a kick out of that.  Sometimes dealing with paperwork is so frustrating here, so glad for a little comic relief.  But seriously, it wouldn't be so funny if you just built a church building and someone comes in and tells you don't have a certain "permit" you need (when you are certain you had already jumped through all the right hoops) and they confiscating all you building supplies until you obtain it.  Not that I've heard of this happening, but it's very possible.  Fun times, thankful we have God on our side, very important not to do things here without first making sure God is in it!

Avocados:
We had a strange and unusual wind storm today, it even knocked the power out for awhile.  It also knocked all kinds of fruit off of the trees, mainly oranges and avocado.  Actually a boatload of avocado, which my kids promptly gathered up.  They even found some mangos, which I thought must have blown in from another yard, but no it was from ours, who knew!  And Samuel had just ask me what a mango tree looked like!

On a more spiritual note:
We had cake and coffee this afternoon after school, which reminded me of all the afternoons I spent at my dear friend Manuela's house.  She is German and cake and coffee in the afternoon is a very good habit they often keep.  One that she shared with me often when we lived in Lawton, OK.  Our kids are close to the same age with Samuel and T being only about a week apart.  Her L and Hannah were incredibly close and it was so hard on Hannah when we moved.  Our new church did not have any girls Hannah's age, then we were an deputation for a year, and then we moved to Mexico.  So, since I was reminded of Manuela we gave her a call and the whole family chatted with our wonderful friends.  What a blessing Skype is!  Manuela and I are always able to pick right up and talk and talk as if we have never been apart.
Then we gave the girls a chance to chat.  As I worked in the kitchen, I could here Hannah and L, talking and talking and talking.  They even read a little from their favorite books to each other.  I suddenly realized how much Hannah needed to talk with a friend her own age, that loves God, that shares some of her passions and interest, and that speaks English.  God was taking care of my little girls needs, all the way down here on the mission field, and he used a piece of cake to do it!

God Bless All.