I thought I
would spend a few moments and give you a more descriptive update of what we are
doing here in Zacatecas. We appreciate
all the prayer and support and want you to know our God is faithful and has
provided for all our needs! We seek to
be patient in ministry and life. Knowing
that in the Lord’s timing he works and moves in ways we never thought. So pray for our faithfulness and patience as
we continue to serve the Lord here in Zacatecas Mexico.
Mary, a
believer in our group, recently became very bold with her desire to share the
gospel. Mary and Cesar have 2 little
boys and lost another son 2 years ago to Leukemia. Mary is a believer but her husband is
not. Mary has been sharing and serving
with some of her friends in the children’s cancer area at the hospital in Zacatecas. Because of Mary’s eagerness we began studying
the Bible with Dario and Patricia who made decisions for Christ last month. This family seems eager to learn and study
but it is very difficult for them as their 8 year old son has cancer (leukemia)
and is going through Chemotherapy right now. They originally sold all they owned to pay
for his treatment. Now they are waiting
and praying his blood count is good enough to go to Delaware for a bone marrow
transplant. The government hospitals here
are not very nice and their services are not good. For example for Little Dario’s treatments, the
Dad (Dario) has to go at 5:00 A.M. and stand in a line during the weeks of
Chemo to hopefully get a ticket to come back in the afternoon and see the
doctor. Of course when they return later
that day to stand in line again and wait for the appt, the doctor may not show
up or have time to see them that day. So
the next day it all starts over again.
It is hard to hear about some of the people here that cannot give their
kids what we as Americans are so accustomed to giving whenever it is needed,
especially when it involves their health.
We really need to pray for this couple Dario and Patricia. They believe whole heartedly that God will
heal their son, which is good, yet God may have other plans. We pray their faith does not waver regardless
of the outcome! They are waiting this
week to see of their sons (little Dario) blood levels are good enough so they
can go to Delaware for the Bone Marrow Transplant. The little sister is a match for the bone
marrow and would be giving the transplant.
This is just one of the trials we meet up with as we seek to share the
gospel and understand the culture and needs here.
I thought I would also give you a glimpse of
our normal week and that way you can share as you see fit. Sundays we have a bible study at Mary’s
House. In the last year we have had as
few as 2 and as many as 25 any given Sunday.
We sing some, share some and study the word. Grace recently started to prepare a
children’s class for after the singing for her Hattie, Mary’s 2 boys and any
other kids that show up. She has done
this a few times and really enjoys it.
Of course we are excited to see both girls doing this as it is all in
Spanish which is not an easy task. Every six weeks we meet at a park and
present a more evangelistic message with food, games and spend time together
getting to know one another. We also have multiple evangelistic bible studies
throughout the week with individuals and/or families in our home, their home,
coffee shop or place of work. These are very informal but have been some of the
best times of sharing the gospel clearly with individuals. Josh put together
four evangelistic studies from John and four from Romans to use in this
setting. Spurgeon said something like “If God would just put a mark on the back
of all the elect; I would go down the street checking for marks and share the
gospel with those people.” If only it was that easy. So he shares with anyone
that will listen.
Monday is
our official day off. We go to the market,
Wal-Mart and Sams. We love to go to the
Market for all our Fruits and Vegetables and always come home with plenty for a
great price! Of course this means when
we get home there is a 2 hour work period of washing and sanitizing all the
food so we don’t get sickJ this means soaking
and cleansing everything so it is ready to eat for the week. After that it is play time. We might go to the park, or any activity that
is going on around town to understand the culture better. If it rains, which doesn’t happen often, we
play games, read or watch something. The girls like the Cosby show and Josh and
I are into Matlock. Hey we couldn’t find Colombo episodes on YouTube! We
usually look for a recipe on Pinterest and make a meal together that we miss
from home. Last week we made Chick-Fil-A spicy chicken sandwiches. Others have
included PF Chang’s Mongolian Beef and Broccoli, Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi
Soup with Salad and Bread sticks, Papa John’s BBQ Chicken Hawaiian Pizza or
anything Josh sees on Man vs. Food or Eat Street.
Tuesdays through
Friday are school days. The girls and I
have school from 9-3 and Josh works. We
love home school. We are doing a
curriculum called My Fathers World. This
year we are studying Rome to the Reformation.
It is a fun and interesting subject as we get to see how the history of
the world and the Bible go hand in hand.
Right now as a family we are reading a great book in the evenings that
is part of the curriculum called, The Bronze Bow. I would recommend it as a great family read
for elementary aged to high school aged kids.
Tuesday and
Thursday evenings from 5-7 the girls have volleyball practice. This, like everything else in Mexico is hit
or miss. Someday we show up and there is
no practice and no one tells us. Other
days there might be 35 girls there. We
have had to learn to go with the flow.
Nothing is set in stone here. If
it rains we are pretty much assured that practice is cancelled. What would we do in Salem if that
happened? We would never do
anything. The same goes for Bible
studies throughout the week. Nothing is
a sure thing so we might have plans one week for 4-5 different studies and
activities and they all get cancelled.
Of course we won’t know this till we arrive prepared or about 10 minutes
before the planned study.
Josh spends his time studying, meeting people,
and sharing the gospel. A normal Bible
study in English that takes Josh 2-4 hours to prepare will take about 8-10
hours in Spanish. That’s down from 14-15 when we first got here. Josh has also become very bold with sharing
the gospel. He has been studying some of
the Way of the Master Materials with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. He had an opportunity to attend their basic
training conference here in Mexico which was really helpful. Josh is now quick
to start gospel centered conversations and ask the million dollar
question. If you are not familiar with
this idea of sharing the gospel check it out at www.wayofthemaster.com. They have great
resources and tracts as well as courses in English and Spanish that are useful
whether you are a missionary, in the workplace, or a mom at home.
Throughout
the week Josh and I are both involved playing on a mixed volleyball team and
Josh on a men’s basketball team. This
has provided opportunities to meet new people as well us to understand the
culture and get more language practice. As
far as continued language learning Josh is in the lead with his ability to
communicate and he does very well, Grace and Hattie are quickly reaching my
abilities and at times I just try to hang on.J
Learning a new language is a
chore but God uses our weaknesses and for that I am thankful.
Our weekends
are spent doing normal family stuff with ministry mixed in where we can get it. We often try to have someone over for a meal,
go out with a family, check out new places, etc… The girls like to try to have
a friend over some weekends and this really helps them with their Spanish and
mine too! We try to reach out and build
relationships with our neighbors and the people are very hospitable. Here you always stop by unannounced. The people are always quick to stop what they
are doing and invite you in insisting that you sit down and always offer you
something to drink. They will then sit
and visit with you until you decide to get up and go. Of course it is not really polite to leave
before you have been there for at least 1 hr.
I love this part of the culture and wish we could adapt to this more in
the states, J Time to just be, build
relationships, not in a hurry.
We love
living here and are looking forward to what God has in our future, especially
with adoption on the horizon. The trials
at times come with lack of true Christian fellowship. We listen to multiple
messages each week that keep us spiritually refreshed. Sometimes you get tired of only talking with
your spouse or your kids or in Spanish. There
are not many believers and simple truths of the Word of God are not common
knowledge like they are in a church environment. There are also trials when you are your own
boss. If there are days you don’t want
to work you wouldn’t have to. We have found
that to prevent laziness and lack of motivation we live on a fairly strict
schedule throughout the week. This acts
as our boss and keeps us focused on our goals and purpose here on a day to day
basis. We want to take advantage of the
time we have. I recently heard the
statement that anything that causes us to need God is a blessing. It is true as we need Him daily to keep our
eyes and hearts fixed on bringing him glory.
In many ways we live a normal life here, just in another country and bit
slower paced.
We try to
keep our monthly updates brief as we know you all have busy lives and lots of
emails to read. If you have any questions
or prayer request we love to hear from you.
This also applies to your kids as our girls love to communicate with those
in the states and share stories or questions.
You can send emails to jhghdunn@hotmail.com or jhghdunn@gmail.com
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