On our way home!

We spent Sabbath with the Peñitas church group. It was about 56F and raining…we were Alaskans that were freezing in Mexico! We slogged through the muddy clay to the church and shivered in the recently completed church and stayed for luncheon with our new friends.

We were thrilled to have Juan (the man who donated the land to the church), his girlfriend, and their 8 month old son show up for church services. They stayed for Sabbath school and the worship service. Juan even commented that it would be a nice church to get married in! We asked them to send photos “when” they do.

Here is an interesting tidbit: In this part of Mexico, Coca-Cola drinking is taboo however it can be acceptable to drink coffee (which is a product grown in Mexico). One church elder told me:  "Muy mal!" ("very bad") when I asked to buy a cola drink at the market.  When he found out it was for an upset stomach he said it was OK to have it so medicinal use seems to be acceptable for carbonated cola drinks.  Certain members of our group were presented with coffee as a parting gift from some of the Plan de Ayala church members.  I'm still not clear on the difference between cola drinks and coffee, but accept it as simply a difference in our cultures.
The Mexicans are very strict and will censor or disfellowship members if they do not follow their church guidelines. Promiscuity or living together brings disfellowship of a member. It is quite the opposite of our ‘look the other way – don’t offend anybody’ attitude here in the U.S.

Saturday night brought tearful good-byes as the Plan de Ayala members came to see us on our last night. We found out that these church members secretly took us under their wing. They were some of the people that followed us around town. They took turns coming by and checking on us at the compound, in town, and around the jobsite. They were not only watching how we interacted with each other and with the locals, but making sure we were safe. It was a pleasant surprise that we had additional guardian angels on our side.

Sunday brought frenzied packing and cleaning. Then we left around 10am on an old bus down a bumpy road to Villahermosa and then on to Palenque. The farmers along the way put out multiple speed bumps. They build the bumps themselves to slow people down so that they can entice them to stop and buy their goods. It makes for a very long, uncomfortable ride. We finally arrived in Palenque around 5pm and had a beautiful dinner at a local eatery. Cheryl was so glad to be off of kitchen duty!

Monday brought one of the very few sunny, warm days during our trip. We spent the day at the Palenque ruins and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves—most of the time anyway. Two of our participants misbehaved and were almost kicked out of the ruins. We sat on the steps of a temple while the guards spoke to them. Just like the grace God gives us (totally unmerited), they were allowed to remain with us under our care. After chastising them, we continued on our way. As punishment for one of them, they had to pose on one of the outdoor ‘toilets’ while we all took photos of the offender.

In the evening we left Doug and Cheryl in Palenque to enjoy a couple quiet days of much needed rest. We headed back to Villahermosa for our final night. Along the way our bus was boarded twice by federal agents. I assume it was because it was night time and we were coming from the direction of the border (Guatemala, Belize) because we had not been stopped any other time during our stay in Mexico.

We rose at 5am today (2am AST) to start our journey home. We will probably we up at 2-3am and to bed by 7pm for a few days! We are sitting in Seattle waiting for our next flight and eagerly anticipate seeing family and friends.

We have some nicknames for certain members of our group. See if you can identify the person:

Princess

El Tigre

The Pampered Chef

Florence Nightingale

Doog-Lass

ReCon the Interprenator

Miss Piggy

Mr. Moneybags

The Rebel from Down Under

Special Forces, aka Special Needs, aka The Not-So-Juvenile Delinquent, aka The Nose Picker

The Silent One, Sr

The Silent One, Jr

The WonderWorker, aka The Chainsaw

The Night Owl

The Energizer Bunny

We had an awesome group of people on our team. They were independent yet willing to listen to the leaders (most of the time). To borrow a phrase from a former co-worker, a time or two James and I felt like we were "trying to herd cats", but fortunately only for a brief time.  Our group worked extremely well together and it was a blessing for James and me to have this group as our first team to lead.

I spent 2 weeks as the spiritual leader, dorm mom, bathroom attendant (hey, how about tipping guys?), laundry organizer, and flow coordinator. I am very tired and glad to be almost home. It has been an incredible time and I have cherished every moment …except for the 2 days I was sick.

God has been good to us. I can’t wait until the next opportunity to serve Him again.

Lynda