Day four dawned and we started it with cornflakes. I am beginning to think that no matter where you go in the world you will find cornflakes. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. It is far from my favorite breakfast cereal but it is a little piece of home. We also had coffee and some kind of sweet bread which I promptly discovered tasted excellent dipped in my Nescafe.We left for the church and arrived a good 45 minutes before any children were due to descend upon us. About half of our group was scheduled to work construction and the rest VBS. Alex was with the construction group so I followed him out back to get a view from the roof before the day's activities got rolling.
When you walk through the doorway in the back of fellowship hall you have to turn right because a very tall retaining wall is directly in front of you. The retaining wall is built of brick and runs parallel to the church's back wall for about 10 feet. This trench opens up into a large back lawn area of the church's property. Directly to the right and about a good 13 feet below is the home of another family (plus 4 or 5 dogs and a slew of cats and kittens that hang out on the roof of a shed). To the left the wall cuts at a 90-degree angle and continues for about 15 feet before turning again at another 90 degrees and marking off the edge of the church's property. The wall itself holds back solid earth and creates a small grassy area right across from the church building and directly next to another family's home. Above that is the church's roof where the construction is taking place.
The actual construction project is to build a third story onto the church which will be a new home for the pastor and his wife. Currently they are renting, so having a home of their own right above the church they serve and love will help a great deal. Getting to the roof is OSHA's worst nightmare. First there is a makeshift ramp built out of random bits of 2x4s and plywood that leads from the ground to the top of the retaining wall. From there you have to walk up a steep pathway (that's easy to slip on) to an equally steep, second makeshift ramp, which is also made out of random bits of 2x4s and plywood. Going up actually isn't that bad. It's coming down that's a slight bit nerve racking. I get the impression that the Mexican workers are used to it, however. I imagine they must get a kick out of watching me carefully, slowly, plotting and inching my way down the ramps.
Regardless, it gets the job done. And the view from the roof is well worth it. The church sits on a hill and provides one amazing vantage point of Mexico City and it's outlaying areas. Rolling hills covered in green and dotted with concrete houses give way to low lying, fluffy white clouds that are cut through with snow capped mountain peaks and plateaus, all against the backdrop of a gorgeous cerulean sky.
I went back down and soon the kids started arriving. The pastor greeted everyone and we began to sing a few songs. The first one I actually knew. It was "The Lord's Army" and they even used the same motions with it that I learned when I was a kid. How fun! After the singing the children were split up in age groups (4-6, 7-9, 10-12). I hadn't been assigned to work crafts or games, so I decided to stay with the 4-6 age group simply because Debbie (my ridiculously cute, 5-year-old host sister) is in that group.
We stayed in the sanctuary and the adult leaders told a Bible story and helped the children with the memory scripture verse for the day. Periodically someone had to use the bathroom and I feared that I would be asked to take someone. All I could think about was one of those little children falling into the toilet that had no toilet seat and me not being able to understand that they needed help with something because I don't speak Spanish. An unfounded fear, perhaps, but in the moment it seemed pretty legitimate. Thankfully I never had to serve as a bathroom attendant and the group went downstairs for craft time.
The theme of VBS is the Armor of God. So today's craft was centered around the Belt of Truth. All the kids got a long strip of cotton cloth and were given markers and stickers to decorate their belts with. I helped draw a few items, but mostly just took pictures.
After this it was snack time and all the children came to the fellowship area to dine on meatballs and rice. I was impressed. When I was growing up snack time at VBS consisted of stale cookies and sugary fruit flavored drinks that burned the back of my throat. These kids had meatballs! And fresh, handmade ones, at that.
At one point during the snack time I noticed Jane playing Cat's Cradle with one of the Mexican teens. I joined in and so did some other kids. I have come to the conclusion that, like cornflakes, cat's cradle is something you'll find no matter what country you're in. And the best part is that you don't need to speak the same language to teach people how to play. You just have to show them. And it's so much fun.
After snack time everyone went back up to the sanctuary to sing more songs. I ended up getting recruited to the front of the room to help lead with motions because I knew the song. It was one I had LOVED singing as a child in my own church. You divide the room in half and each half sings a different part of the song. It's great fun, especially if you turn it into a competition to see who can sing it louder.
After singing it was game time for the youngest group of kids so we went outside to the back lawn area of the church. The Mexican men and folks from our group were hard at work on the construction and were in the process of tossing and carrying bricks up to the roof. I watched as a few men on the ground lifted up bricks in stacks to people waiting atop the retaining wall. Those people in turn would pass the bricks on to other people who would then carry them up the ramp to the roof. Alex and a few other guys, however, tossed them to each other and up to the roof. Thankfully each brick only weighed about 3lbs, but it still would have hurt to have gotten hit by one. Alex is pretty serious about safety, however, so I wasn't concerned.
After the games were done everyone gathered one last time in the sanctuary to sing a few more songs (I love these people... they love to sing almost more than I do!) and review the scripture verse for the day. The children slowly left but our day was far from over. For the rest of the afternoon we would be helping with construction.
Before that, however, it was lunch time for our group. We would be going to the pastor's current home again to eat (just like we did the first day we were here). It was suggested that we all walk and everyone in our group agreed that sounded like a nice idea. We left the church and walked down a very steep hill that was lined with houses. The road was actually under construction and so we had to carefully make our way, single file, down the winding and narrow street, avoiding the large crevasses and jagged rocks that were piled on one side. We actually passed by some of the construction workers who were taking a siesta. Some of them were awake and stared in unabashed curiosity at our group. This annoyed Alex greatly, but I find it somewhat amusing.
When we arrived we were served lunch by the pastor's wife, Raquel, and some of her friends and fellow church members. Oh it was SO tasty. Raquel had whipped up some homemade salsa verde that was so good I asked her for the recipe.
After lunch it was decided that we would ride back to the church instead of walk. Alex, Matt, Jacob and I piled into the pastor's car, a little VW bug (the original style)... and held on for our dear lives. I am not easily shaken by the way people drive, but Hacinto excelled at it. Never in my life have I passed five cars on the left in order to get ahead of slow moving traffic while playing chicken with an oncoming bus. I lost count of how many times I was certain we were going to sideswipe someone or hit something. Either that man really believes in the divine protection of God or he isn't too concerned with how quickly he gets to go see Jesus. Yikes.
We arrived safely back at the church and quickly discovered that there simply wasn't enough work for all 20 of us to do. No more than perhaps four people actually found things to help with. I sat down and wrote in my journal, some of the girls sat around and chatted, the boys played soccer with some of the Mexican kids (including 60-something-year-old Fidencio) and the rest of our group worked out lesson plans for the crafts and games.
Eventually our group met for prayer and we spent some time talking about alternate plans for the afternoons because there isn't enough work to do. Tomorrow we will be going to a market place and viewing some gardens along a canal. Wednesday we will be going to a park to play with neighborhood kids and do some evangelism/outreach (which I'm not too sure how I feel about because tracks are supposed to be involved and I know most Americans find those corny). Thursday we will hang out with our families (which I'm also not too sure about because my host fam doesn't seem to do a whole lot in the evenings). Friday is for packing and then a farewell party at the church. As far as tonight's activity, it was a prayer meeting with the church members at Domingo's house.
We walked and along the way I pondered what several people back home had told me when they found out I was coming on this trip. Everyone kept saying that it would be life changing. So far nothing has seemed to be life changing (granted we are only half way through our time here, but still). I asked Alex if he thought it was all hype and he told me that he thinks it is a lot of hype and that a more realistic approach is a willingness to have your viewpoint and perspective changed by the people you are with. That is not to say that God won't reveal something new to me in a powerful way, but if all I come away with from this experience is a greater appreciation of another culture and have a broader sense of and love for God's people, rather than some intense mountain top experience, I think that will be enough.
When we arrived at Domingo's house I could the man was well to do. Unlike in America where a person can be in debt up to their eyeballs and have a super posh house, in Mexico if you have a nice home you got money. Domingo's house was lovely. The outside was a pleasant shade of rust colored orange and he had large windows and the very first wooden door I had yet seen. He also had a yard and kept some chickens in a pen off to the side. Inside works of art hung on the walls and the floor was covered with large, colorful area rugs. We sat down on a comfy sofa underneath a large window while we waited for the rest of the church members to gather.
Suddenly the quiet conversation was interrupted by a loud and jarring noise.
WHAM! BUCK-UCK!
A chicken had dived bombed the window directly above the couch we were sitting on and was scrambling to stay perched on the narrow window ledge. Upon further investigation I discovered that Domingo's chicken coop was actually built right next to the house and you could look into it from the window. I had to laugh. Only in Mexico would a prayer meeting be interrupted by a kamakazi chicken.
We opened the meeting by singing and our group sang Psalm 121 in English for everyone because the Mexicans could read along in Spanish in their Bibles. Afterward we divided into groups and spent time praying for each other and various needs of the church. I really enjoyed the prayer time and realized that lately I have been far too focused on myself and my own problems regarding my unemployment. It has been consuming my thoughts and is really bringing me down. I want to focus my thought life more on others and I resolved to not pray for myself again until we get home. Please don't misunderstand. It's not that I am trying to minimize my problems or my feelings, but rather that I felt God's command to put others before ourselves applies to our prayer and our thoughts too. While I'm on this trip I don't want to think about what's at home. I'm here now, with these people in this place, and that's what I want to focus on.
The prayer time, for me, was far too short. When we were all finished we were served a very delicious dessert that was some sort of mix of chopped apples, pecans and fluffy white sweetness. It was so good that both Alex and I had seconds. It was dark when we left and we walked home with David, a few other Mexican teens and a few of the girls from our group. It was chilly and very windy, but the city lights were gorgeous. It was the first time I had been able to see them and they stretched on for miles, twinkling and shining like endless strands of Christmas lights.
When we got home Alex was exhausted and he went right to bed. I spent some time talking with Lucio. He had his laptop out (our family has internet and wireless) and so I booted up Yahoo!'s Babel Fish to aid in the conversation. It was very helpful and I was able to tell him about Alex's job at Baker and the fact that I had just lost my job.
All in all it was a good day. Tomorrow we will go the market place. I am looking forward to that.
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