Category: México

Angel on the Wall

“Folk religion” is a term used in the study of missions to refer to the beliefs and practices of a religion that happen at a popular, everyday level, but are outside of the accepted teaching of said religion. The religion and its elite officially teach one thing, but the religion that is actually lived out among the people is different, usually incorporating the traditional beliefs of the culture. This means, for example, that people may publicly pledge allegiance to the Church, but during the week, when real-life problems happen, they go to see the witch doctor or consult the horoscopes. 

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A Week in the Life – VBS Edition

Sunday

Crepes for breakfast and then we are out the door shortly after 11:00 am. On the way to church at Pan de Vida we pick up Laura who lives in Santa Barbara and also attends at Pan de Vida. Return home at 2:00 pm and at 3:00 Armando and Laura, and their two daughters, come over for lunch. After that, we head over to the outreach centre for our 6:00 service. Sermon on Ephesians 2:19-22 – being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Christ the cornerstone.

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Bread for the Scare

When learning language it often happens that you go months, perhaps years, being oblivious to certain words or phrases. You can be so focused on understanding what a person is saying that your brain just skips over a word you don’t know and it never registers in your mind. Or maybe it is a phrase you learned but you haven’t yet heard it used in a real-life context, and so the phrase is merely theoretical. 

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Ode to Ofelia

She was always smiling. That’s what I’ll remember about her. 

She lived just down the street from our ministry centre so it didn’t take me long to meet her and strike up a conversation. After that, I would see every week, usually several times a week. I’d smile back at her and wave, or stop by her doorway to talk a bit.

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Sowing the Seed

Into the Field

Mission in Mexico is a relatively new missions endeavour. My family and I have been on the field for a mere four years and our current ministry in the Santa Barbara neighbourhood was started less than two years ago. Much of our work is focused on sowing the seed – outreach and evangelism. If a metaphor is useful, we’ve just stepped into a field of dry, crumbly dirt, dotted by weeds and rocks (kind of like the actual fields we see around here). Taking a handful of seed, we scatter it about, not knowing what will happen to it. 

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The Man Up The Street

 I’d seen him walk by a few times in the past weeks. Apparently we was living up the street with Manuel. Today, he stopped, took a hesitant step forward and then asked if he could come in. I closed my laptop and rose to greet him. His name was Francisco.

“Would you like to sit down?” I asked.

“Sure.” He took a seat opposite me at the plastic folding table where I had been working. His tired eyes took a quick survey of the room. He looked like a man with a burden.

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Upon Returning

The first week back in México felt a bit weird, but we adjusted quickly and it feels good to be back. We realized that we missed a lot of the noises, smells and other things that remind us that we are in México. In general, things are a little less neat and tidy here compared to Canada and it makes things more interesting.

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