Tree down in our neighborhood
Hurricane season started with a bang here in Mérida as a ferocious if short lived storm passed over the peninsula last week. Tropical force winds and a half inch of rain in the span of about 45 min brought down this tree and numerous others in the city, and brought damage as shown in this slide show of the “fotos del día” from the Diario Yucatán (Opens new window, captions in Spanish). The damage shown in the shopping mall is just about a mile away from our home.
We were safe and sound during the downpour, although without power for about six hours after the storm. A few flashlights, candles, and a bit of patience were all that were required for us to deal with the aftermath of this first installment of hurricane season ‘09.
Beaten, bloody and tired, Jesus now hung from the cross. Just hours before, He moved freely about the city, teaching and celebrating the Passover with His disciples, but now He had been arrested, judged, and condemned. The hands that had healed the sick, the arms that had reached out to children, the feet that had walked in search of the lost had been stopped–nailed unjustly to the wood.
Those of you who have read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and recognize the style of the title of this post are possibly anticipating a story of magic and mystery or an epic struggle between good and evil. In that you may be a bit disappointed. This story is instead about the reality of missionary life. How, try like we may, we are unable to set aside one role for the sake of another. We are missionaries, but we are husbands and fathers first.
We were driving back from a planning meeting in Muna last Tuesday, where we’ll be hosting 
About two weeks ago, (yes, the events of our lives and ministry have taken a toll on my blogging) we celebrated the birthday of our youngest, Jonathan. It was filled with parties–one at school and another here at the house, as well as a mountain of presents, many of which have already made their way to the black hole that our boys call their closet. Of course, all of these things came as no surprise. After celebrating the 19 kids’ parties that we have, from Princess to Bob the Builder to Spider Man to Jungle themes, we’ve come to expect the anticipation, celebration, and sugar withdrawal cycle that each party brings. However, after all of the celebration was over, and Jonathan had time to reflect, he did something unexpected: he decided to testify. In fact it was such a surprise that we didn’t have our camera. The blurry picture was taken with my cell phone.
Mondays are usually a low-key day for the Godzwa family. The day after ministry is usually reserved for catching up on household items or replying to correspondence. I had a post planned about the evangelism seminars that we have been leading. But a telephone call from Paul, our mentor missionary here in Mérida, broke the routine. “Dave,” he said, “the situation in Tabasco has gotten out of hand…” The situation he was talking about was the flood that Mexican President Felipe Calderon now calls 
I understand that those who frequent 
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The definition of missions is changing. I recently returned from the 
Our missions organization, Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM), promote a missions policy that seeks to create and nurture an indigenous national church. Therefore, we as missionaries are charged with the task of forming or motivating national churches that are to be self-propagating, self-governing, and self-supporting. What does this mean you ask? Simply, our job is to partner with the church in Mexico–working, modeling, and training, so that they can, with their own people and resources, evangelize the lost and disciple new believers, administrate the work, and fund the church. 
Need. It confronts. It demands to be met. Take for example a stone in our shoe. Even the tiniest pebble can cause reduce our gait to a hobble. What’s the response? Well, it’s impossible to negate, and limping to avoid the stone usually only lasts a few steps. Basically our feet demand that we sit, take off our shoe and get rid of the stone. 
What can we say except, “Thank God for his protection!” as we assess the situation here in the Yucatán. 
Although we are still under a red alert here in Mérida, Dean is now a category 1 hurricane and is passing into the Gulf of Mexico. From our vantage point, the hurricane has proved to be little more than a big blow. We’ve been experiencing high winds since 5 o’clock this morning, but little to nothing in the way of rain. Damage has been relatively non-existent here in the city. In actuality, the 
Storm models continue to push the landfall of Dean further south on the peninsula. This means Mérida remains at a state of alert, but hasn’t declared an emergency situation. However, in the south of the state of Yucatan and in Quintana Roo, where Dean is expected to be more of a problem, many are facing the reality of this man in the picture to the left. Several have houses made of little more than sticks or corrugated roofing. While the majority of those in this situation have been relocated into shelters, the chances are that many will have nothing to return to. Please keep these in mind as you remember the people of the Yucatán in your prayers.
We have received various e-mails about the situation that we are facing in regards to Hurricane Dean. To update those of you following the situation, the meteorologists are forecasting that the storm will take a southerly route across the Yucatan. That puts Mérida out of the range of the 150+ mph winds that will likely accompany its arrival. Still the entire state is under an orange alert which signifies the likely arrival of hurricane activity within the next 18 to 24 hours.
For two Mid-Atlantic transplants living in the Midwest, hurricanes were at most a thing of curiosity. They were the stuff of late summer Weather channel reports. Devastating and cruel to be sure but never in our version of reality. They were events that happened to others. All of that is changing in the face of the now Category 4 
For those of you who prayed and have been waiting for my schedule to break in order to give you an update, I want to say thanks. The 
In May, I received a phone call from 
Our last post is nearly a month old, prompting many of you to start wondering, “Just what is going on with the Godzwa family?” Well after a 
I’m prefacing this post by saying that I’m not one of those people who routinely says “The Lord said to me…” In fact, even when I feel that God is impressing something on me I like to start with the words, “I feel that the Lord is moving me in this direction..,” or “I feel that the Lord would have us…” It is something that 
When, Joseph, our six year-old, began feeling his wiggly tooth, he started planning how he was going to spend his money that he would receive from the tooth-fairy. He told friends and church members alike about his wonderful good fortune. However, in the relaying of his news, we found that the country of Mexico is outside of the Tooth Fairy’s jurisdiction. Mexico is the territory of the Tooth Mouse!
Quite a tale! Now although the Tooth Mouse in Mexico doesn’t carry the Perez name, and the fineries he once wore have vanished, his tale continues to be told and his face graces the appointment books and literature of dentists throughout the country. Some other details about the mouse have changed as well, and that is where the irony comes in.
Not realizing his mission was to look for teeth, we went to war against this intruder. Our battle against him employed, not the traditional cat, but large sticky pads with cheese as bait. It seems as well, from the picture above, that although the tooth mouse could avoid the cats, he was no match for the modern technology that we employed.
I spent the last half of last week at the Yucatan District council. This 8th District Council in Ticul, a city about an hour south-east of Mérida, included three days of meetings featuring a missions night, where we saw reports from two of the three Yucatan missionaries either on or headed to the field, and the discussion of many items of business. One of those items is pictured above, the election of our district superintendent, assistant superintendent, and treasurer. 
The roads in Mexico are a pleasant surprise compared to the deteriorated byways that we had gotten used to in Costa Rica. We have a wonderfully paved road outside of our home, and it has been some time since I’ve had to swerve like a slalom skier to avoid ramming one of our wheels in a pothole. However, what makes the Mexican driving experience unique are the “topes” (pronounced tow-pays) 
To start, Dave has been teaching an ongoing evangelism series at the Golgotha Christian Center in Mérida. Each Thursday night for the past month, we’ve been meeting to discover the God’s heart for evangelism, returning to the Bible to discover the guidance it gives to those who would join in His search for the lost.
Our family was invited to three separate preaching engagements. The first was Palm Sunday with Pastor Natanael Ku. We traveled about 30 minutes outside of the city to spend the day with his family and celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the official start of the Holy Week. We were able to share with the congregation as well as spend time with many in the community, Christian and Non-Christian, coming face to face with many of the needs that Pastor Natanael faces on a daily basis.
This past Saturday, a highlight of our busy weeks, we were able to witness the baptism of 6 members of our home congregation. With the whole church traveling to the Gulf of Mexico to to take part, the baptismal candidates received their charge, waded into the waters and one by one were dipped below the waters, symbolizing death to their old life and their rebirth with Christ to life anew. We’re including a 
Thursday marked our final day of work in Muna, and certainly a bittersweet time for all of us. We finished painting the pastor’s house just in time to see the carpenters tearing down the walls of the pastor’s old home. They were removing the old home in order to make way for the columns that will support the new second floor of the church, where new classrooms will be built. With the new home completed, the pastor and his family were able to begin to move their possessions looking forward to a new house, and a new church building as well. 
He took a group of very dissimilar people, and brought them together to see something happen in Muna. And something did happen. We saw work done and a church being built, but more than that, we saw God touch the lives of children, youth and adults alike.
Before Mike and the team landed here in Mrida, he had several planning sessions with them. In one of those planning sessions, he gave each member of the team a packing list of items that they’d need for the trip. Among those items were flexibility and a servant’s heart. It became the chant of the trip. Each time we loaded up to go somewhere, someone asked if we were bringing along our flexibility and our servant’s heart. Wednesday was just one example of how important those items would be.
Monday arose with a day of work planned. We were to paint the pastor’s home as they were preparing to tear down the old house standing in the way of the construction of the church. The paint was bought and the team, using rollers, brushes, paint, elbow grease, and Christian camp songs began the work. Little by little the rough walls began to take on their new look. Here you can see Kelsey putting on the first coat. (Unfortunately for us, the paint we used on the first day was totally incorrect, leaving us to repaint what we had done over again, but that is for another post.)
As I had stated 
As I have noted in my 
The airport is a mess with security checkpoints, armed guards and commotion on the runway. The 
With my running commentary on the state of my health 
This little weather badge may not mean much to those in the states dealing with snow and temps in the teens, but for those of us who have acclimatized to the tropics, we’re suffering through a real cold snap! For the past three days we’ve experienced temperatures that have struggled to get into the 70’s during the day, only to plummet into the low 50’s a night. (The low this morning was 49!) On top of that rain, clouds, and high humidity have made everything feel that much colder. 
I’d received some feedback from my post inspired by my 
Kelly and I had a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the everyday as we were looking for a birthday present for a local pastor’s wife. With the kids being watched by fellow missionaries and the present acquired, a stop at the local 
I don’t dedicate much space to plugs on this site, although I could definitely spend some time talking about the great insight that I get reading the thoughts of others all across the net. However, there is one site that I just can’t afford not to mention. Seeing as how it’s run by the woman with whom I just happen to share my life.
It’s very rare that a movie gives me pause for thought, but those that do usually keep me thinking for some time. That is what happened last night as we settled in to watch a library-borrowed copy of The Bicentennial Man. The film, starring Robin Williams, starts off as a whimsical story of the adjustments of one family to their android helper “Andrew.” However, it takes a dramatic turn into realm of the metaphysical when Andrew begins his quest become human. The interesting point of the movie is that the immortal, self-maintaining Andrew does what most would seem to think ridiculous. He decides to make himself mortal in order to truly share in the human existence and embrace those that he has not only served, but come to love.
I just wanted to send out a quick update to thank those who had prayed. As you might have read in our 
“The City” in the U.S. is of course, New York City. It is one of the most important centers of commerce and culture in the country, and, who can forget, it is also home to the best team in baseball, the 
We’ve certainly heard that line before. Whether we’ve used it or had someone use it on us, we know that something inappropriate had been said, something that didn’t fit in the conversation or context. Now, many of us would relate that unfortunate language to various four letter words that we may have heard throughout our lives, or perhaps to the childish giggles that accompany the use of “potty words” outside of their appropriate place, but today I’d like broaden the application of this phrase.
Looking out across the blog sphere, there are a lot of people currently writing about habits. My brother, 
This year, the Godzwa family rang in the New Year a bit differently. No watching the ball drop in Times Square for us. We welcomed 2007 Mexican style. That meant of course there had to be fireworks, lots of them, and the traditional eating of the grapes.
It seems like the one thing that we can count on in life is that there will be change. We change from one year to the next, from one pant size to the next, and sometimes even from one car to the next. Our tastes change, our hobbies change and we find that those around us change as they too go through this same process. Well, things are no different for this missionary. 
We got a chance to take the kids out to help them learn to ride their bikes this Saturday. One of the drawbacks of being a missionary kid is the lack of a constant environment and routine in which one can learn basic kid things like riding a bicycle. Well, Rebekah is now 7, and we decided that it was time that she learned this basic skill. Of course, her brothers wouldn’t be left out.
