My brother Mike and 9 members of his Chi Alpha group from American University in Washington, DC will be working in the state of Yucatan in the cities of Muna with Pastor Julian Puc, Opichén with Pastor Leodegario Yah, and Sacalum with Pastor Hasabias Puc to lend a hand in construction as well as to hold evangelistic services.
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Traditional Holy Week celebrated by protestants and catholics in Mexico, and the final week of the Catholic Cuaresma (Lent). This week begins on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and culminates on la Pascua (Resurrection Sunday).
We missionaries have a serious job, but it’s important as well that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Kelly snapped this picture during the prayer time at Monte de Sion Church in Sacalum, Yucatán. As she showed it to me this morning, she asked, “What were you doing?” Well, I thought I would open this up to the opinions of our readers. What do you think it looks like I’m doing? Write a comment and we’ll highlight the most creative interpretation.
Tags: Photo Interpretation
Even after a year and a half here in Mérida, God still finds ways of stretching us. In January, while chatting with pastors before a sectional meeting, our president asked if I played an instrument. I responded that every now and again I played the guitar, while I had considerable experience on the drums. He followed up that question with a request that I lead worship that meeting. Now, I had lead worship in the past, but always in English. (I think the number of choruses that I know on the guitar in Spanish could be counted on one hand.) Therefore, I did what any self-respecting perfectionist would–I put him off, until the next month.
I used that time to gather the some more choruses, practice, and pray. (It’s amazing how the weeks fly when you’re anticipating something like this.) Of course, I second guessed my decision. I almost breathed a sigh of relief when I thought that perhaps the meeting had been canceled for the month, but, regardless of my doubts, the event came. The end result this last Monday certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was a beginning. I was able to sing (staying on key for the majority of the service), play the guitar, and I actually felt that I had led others in worship.
When I began my Spanish classes, I looked forward to the day when I would be able to do this very thing, but for one reason or another, I had put it off. Not enough time, other responsibilities more pressing, the list could go on. Isn’t it great that God doesn’t forget those dreams? In fact, I’ve found He sometimes uses others to push us into realizing them.
“Mérida is a tranquil place.” It’s a place where “no pasa nada (nothing happens),” the residents enjoy saying, but this headline from today’s edition of the Diario de Yucatán, one of the major newspapers of the city, seems to suggest that things may be changing.
No, we are not under military alert, nor have we hired armed guards to follow us around the city. And yes, children still do play in the park down the street, and many enjoy evening strolls along the avenues. But what many once thought was impossible here is now becoming somewhat routine.
Let me give you a run-down of the events.
- January 13th: Police officers and suspects trade fire in the Gran Plaza, a popular shopping center. Officers would later confiscate an AK-47 rifle from those charged in the shootout.
- January 14th: A homicide, thought at first to be an assassination attempt, puts the city on edge. Later investigation makes the husband the principal suspect.
- February 1st: A bomb explodes near the home of the the Secretary’s of Police home in Monte Albán (one neighborhood north of the site of our previous house).
- February 2nd: Citizens of Mérida take to the streets to denounce the escalating crime in a “March for Peace.”
- February 3rd: Meridians receive a report of the assassination of one officer and the wounding of three others in the west of Mérida.
- February 3rd: Ivonne Ortega, governor of the state of Yucatán declares that the the assassination was the result of new measures to “step on the toes” of criminals in Mérida and was an unrelated incident in the new wave of violence.
- February 4th: In what some are saying was a violent reaction to the words of the governor, a resident of Progresso, apparently involved in the drug trade, is found decapitated in a house in Garcia Ginerés (our dentist has his office in this neighborhood.)
Again, I’m not writing this post to alarm you, only to show you the current state of events here in Mérida and ask you to pray. Sure, we’d like to see Mérida return to the sleepy city that it once was, but we would also like to see this wake up call to the police become a wake up call to non-believers and Christians alike.
This world that we live in is broken, and increased security can’t fix it. Only the message of forgiveness of Jesus and a restored relationship with God can, and only a unified, mobilized church, reaching out to it’s community can bring this message.
Pray for peace, but pray for the lasting peace that only salvation can bring.
Photos are from www.yucatan.com.mx. You may also read the special section detailing these events in Spanish.
Tags: Mérida, Organized crime, Peace
