What happens in Mexico.....PART I

Well, I'm back. I'm still feeling overwhelmed by all that I have seen, heard, done and experienced. I'm sure my blog will not even come close to describing everything. If it did, you would be reading a few hours worth....So I will try to summarize.


The Team~
Early Saturday morning, and I do mean early, like 4:00am, our friends, Steve & Laurel, came to pick me up. They would be leading our team, having taken several similar trips to Africa over the past couple years. We arrived at the airport only to experience God's hand already on our team! We each had two suitcases to check, the second would cost an additional $25. Multiply that by 8 and that's $200. The bag checker man thought it too complicated and so he just waived the fee altogether. Everything went smoothly and we boarded our flight to Houston. Upon arrival, one member of our team, Doug, arranged for his friend who lived in the area to pick us up and take us back to his home during our 11-hour layover. It was a lovely home, and we were treated very well. We enjoyed a steak dinner, lounged by the pool and some even watched, gasp, football. This day of rest would have to serve as a pleasant reminder of what we were leaving behind because the rest of the week was grueling!





Back at the airport we boarded our flight to Oaxaca City. Arriving around 8:30 pm, we were ushered through customs and again, experienced no difficulties. We were driven to the Wycliffe living center in Mitla for the night where we organized and packed 90 gift bags of school supplies and hygiene items for the families we would visit. After a long day, we got very little sleep and were on our way to breakfast with the Lokers, our American missionary contact, by 8:30am. We enjoyed a hearty meal, loaded all the "Treasures", the audio New Testament Bibles, with the Mixe language, and packed a lunch for the loooong journey up into the mountains.

Wycliffe Center Accommodations


The Treasures




We secured two pickup trucks for the trip. We were able to crowd four into each cab, with a few of the men riding in the back, Mexican style. The village of Atitlan was not that far away, but due to the moutains, we had to wind our way up and the trip actually took 3.5 hours. Bouncing along, we stopped halfway in Ayutla for lunch, and switched vehicles for the duration of the trip. This was my first experience with seeing the people, the markets, and the dwellings. We arrived in Atitlan around dinnertime. We would be staying at the home of the local pastor, Renufro, and his family. The women would be in the building atop a hill and the men in another building on the side of the road. Both were constructed of cement block walls, concrete floors, and tin roofs -- noisy especially during rainy season, which of course it was. Most homes, however, did not have cement floors, but dirt, and even open windows with no glass, so we had quite a luxurious place to stay.


Ayutla



Stay tuned for Part II!