Sunday Morning Service

We had a special time of prayer for the youth of the Saltillo Church. The Lord met with us in a special way as Steve prayed for each one of these precious young people.



After the prayer time they sang for us.

Here are some of the youth after Sunday School. That's Kent on the far right.

Graduation

Eli Balderas, the President of the Bible Institute for Bible Methodist Missions in Mexico, recently graduated, earning his Master's Degree. We congratulate him on this great achievement. Steve and I were able to attend his graduation, in Rio Bravo, Mexico.


Eli with some of his classmates.

Steve and Eli.

Eli's mom, dad, sister and grandma.

Eli with his wife Isela and oldest son.

Eli's father-in-law, Homero Luna, with Eli's youngest son.

Caterpillar

Steve found this interesting caterpillar outside the other day.

It's antennae kept going in and out as he tried to figure us out. :-)

It lifted itself up sometimes and we could see his little feet.

It has "false" eyes on top of its head. I assume that's to make it appear larger and more ferocious to predators.

Rain!

We have had so much rain here in Saltillo. The roads always get very flooded with mucky, muddy water. It makes traveling interesting! :-)



The traffic is nerve-wracking.

Forging ahead.

The street is flooded over the sidewalk and almost to the door of the little store.

Flooded street and a colorful bus!

We could barely see out the windshield for all the overspray.

All this rain makes it difficult to dry clothes outside on the line. Please help me pray that we can get a dryer soon.

Travels in the Country

Last week Steve and Pastor Dolores visited a couple mission stations which are in small, country villages in the mountains of Mexico.

Here is a little boy in one of the villages.



An adobe hacienda.

The road is a little rough, but you can't beat the view!

Beautiful girls.

Interesting vegetation.

Gorgeous mountains.

A dirt lane leading out of the village.

Pastor Dolores had collected used clothing to disburse in the village. The black shoes the lady on the right is holding don't even match, but they need shoes so badly, she was glad to get them.

This is a snack which Steve and Dolores were given. These come from a pine tree, the sections are pulled back to reveal a seed, the black shell is broken off and then the white seed can be eaten.

A historic chapel, with a horse grazing (in the center of the picture) on vibrant, green grass, and mountains rising in the background.

If these walls could talk...

Another rough, muddy road.

Local wildlife. :-)

Pitch-In Dinner

Sunday we had a pitch-in dinner at the Saltillo Bible Methodist Church. Here are a few snapshots from the day.




These ladies did NOT want their picture taken (as you can see from the picture above), but Steve would not take "No" for an answer. Although, one of them is still hiding behind her sister. :-)

Culture 101

There are many differences in cultures around the world. This post contains a few of the interesting differences which we are experiencing while living in Mexico.

Several times we have been awakened in the early hours of the morning, by sounds of singing and musical instruments. Evidently on special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries, the people hire musicians to come to your home and serenade you from the street. The picture below shows our neighbors being serenaded by guitar-playing singers. We went out on our balcony and experienced the music, too. We figured we weren't able to sleep anyway, we might as well enjoy it! :-)


Almost all the doors and windows of homes and businesses have metal bars. This is to (hopefully) keep the "bad guys" out.

There is a large military presence almost everywhere. This reassures the people that their government is doing everything possible to protect them from drug cartels, kidnappers, robbers, etc., which are real problems here.

Bright colors are common here on houses, signs, clothing, etc.

Miscellaneous

For all (HA-HA) of you who have been waiting with bated breath, wondering, "What will they name their dog?" We have made a decision. His name is "Jefe." It is a Spanish word that means "Boss" and is pronounced "he (e as in egg) - f e (e as in egg)," the accent is on the first syllable.

Kent was in our backyard doing schoolwork and Jefe decided to take a nap.

Steve put Jefe in his cowboy boot. :-)

Here is a picture of Saddleback Mountain in the nearby city of Monterrey.

This is the plaza in Saltillo, complete with palm trees, brightly-colored flowers, historic buildings, statues, and elderly gentlemen reminiscing.

Scenes From After Church

Here are a few snapshots of people visiting after the Sunday morning service in Saltillo.

Boys building roads with bricks and blocks.

The Penas waiting for lunch.

Mom visiting with some ladies.

Young people talking. See the mountains in the background? Beautiful!

On the porch of the church.

Great girls.

Great ladies.

These ladies are wonderful examples of Christian faithfulness, sweetness and consistency.