Un Mundo Nuevo

We have now been here in Querétaro for three weeks.

In many ways, it has been a very different experience than our short visit almost a year ago. The most obvious difference is the permanence of it. While it is unlikely we will spend the rest of our lives here, we have committed for six years and our mindset is to settle in and inculturate as best as we can into our mundo nuevo. I think having this mindset has altered how we see things here, for better and for worse. It has also allowed us to think long-term and plan more concretely for the future. This has been a breath of fresh air after a time of limbo wherein we have had many questions and many travels, especially since we left our place in Hamilton at the end of January. We certainly have enjoyed many aspects of training and preparation for México, but it feels good to be here and to stay here for a while.

So what have we been busy with? A lot of the same things anybody is busy with when they move, except it’s a different country with people speaking a different language, of which we have only an elementary grasp. We’ve searched out where to get groceries (peanut butter took two days to find), which bank to withdraw money from, how to get to the park across the train tracks, and what kind of street food is safe to eat? The answer to that last one came at a price – not only in pesos. But overall we have found our way around with our limited language.

Finding a rental house and buying a vehicle were the two big tasks which loomed on the horizon. Thankfully God is good and has given us capable help for these undertakings. Through the church we have been attending we were put in contact with a real estate agent who helps ex-pats. Within a few days, we had a spacious house to rent in a suitable area of town. We move-in in the second week of May! As for a vehicle, Jeremy V. from Pan de Vida offered his assistance and as of this afternoon, we put a deposit down on a van which we will also obtain the second week of May!

One of the benefits of stepping far outside one’s comfort zone is seeing firsthand how God’s steady hand of provision is always there. This is not to say that he makes everything a breeze and we just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. No doubt there have been difficulties and challenges in our first three weeks, including illness, frustration, the language barrier, and the feeling that our very white and foreign family of three young niños is out of place. And there will be many more challenges and feelings of weakness in the future.

So we once again are reminded to throw ourselves onto the solid Rock of our king and saviour Jesus Christ and learn to trust our Father who has demonstrated his love and care for us time and again.

Speaking of the hope we have in the promises of God, the author of Hebrews writes:  

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 

It is firm and secure not because it is held at the bottom of the depths, but because it goes upwards into the very presence of God the Father where Jesus is, our living and eternal advocate. As we go forward, attempting to navigate a new world and eventually proclaiming the new world of the kingdom of God, we rest secure in this promise.