Santa Maria del Tule

"El Tule is a gargantuan Mexican cypress, probably the massive tree in Latin America. Its gnarled, house-size trunk divides into a forest of elphantine limbs that rise to bushy branches reaching 15 stories overhead" (Bruce Whipperman, "Oaxaca").

"In 2005, its trunk had a circumference of 119 feet, a slight increase from a measurement of 37.5 ft in 1982. However, the trunk is heavily buttressed, giving a higher diameter reading than the true cross-sectional of the trunk represents; when this is taken into account, the diameter of the 'smoothed out' trunk is 30.8 feet. This is still slightly larger than the next most stout tree known, aGiant Sequoia 29.5 ft diameter.

The height is difficult to measure due to the very broad crown; the 2005 measurement was 116 feet. According to the signboard by the tree it has a total weight of 636.107 tons; these figures are however not independently verified.

The age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years, and even one claim of 6,000 years; the best scientific estimate based on growth rates is 1,433-1,600 years.Local Zapotec legend holds that it was planted about 1,400 years ago by Pechocha, a priest ofEhecatl, the Aztec storm god, in broad agreement with the scientific estimate; its location on a sacred site (later taken over by the Roman Catholic Church) would also support this" (Wikipedia).

Ricardo and I had a great time going and seeing El Tule. We walked through the gardens, saw the tree and did a bit of shopping. Oaxaca is such a fun place to be because there is so much to do, and everything is pretty close. We've seen El Tule. We have visited some ruins, and hope to visit the ruins at Monte Alban sometime soon.

The tree El Tule

It's huge.

Thanksgiving 2009

This is the fourth Thanksgiving that Ricardo and I have been married. We have so much to be thankful for. We have a loving and supportive family, a "job" or work that we love, and we are surrounded by people who love God. We are especially thankful this year, that we were able to spend Thanksgiving in Oaxaca. We had such a wonderful day celebrating an American holiday in Mexico.

We had a traditional meal and evening with the children here at the home. One of the traditions here is to invite people from the community that the children's home is thankful for. Some of the kids' teachers were able to come, along with the lady who cuts the kids hair and some others. Nearly 150 people had dinner here. It was an evening of fellowship and recognition of what the Lord has given us. The Lord has blessed us so much, and we are indeed thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Thanksgiving Dinner cooks: Andrea, Janelle,

Jill, Celina and Samantha

Ricardo and Victoria

A full dining hall. We served about 150 people.

Mexican Revolution Day

November 20th is the day that commemorates the Mexican Revolution. The Revolution is different from the war of Independence from Spain. "The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910 with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Diaz" (wikipedia.com). The Mexican Revolution is remembered throughout Mexico through many school programs, pageants and parades.

The kids here at the Casa Hogar in Oaxaca are no different. The kindergarden, primary and middle school all had programs going on. Ricardo and I were able to go to the primary school program which was mostly dancing. The kids danced traditional Mexican and Latin American dances. It was so much fun to see them all dressed up and dancing about. Here are a few pictures:

Jose and Graciela

Chuchito

Jireh

Javier

Javier is one of the kids I worked with in Baja. He's been a part of the Day Home Ministry for almost three years now as he has lived with muscular dystrophy all his life. Over his fourteen years his muscles have broken down and he now spends most of his day in a wheelchair. He is a boy who embodies joy, and despite the challenges he faces, he is happy. The joy he has spreads to those around him and he is a blessing to all those he meets.

I am asking that you would please be praying for Javier. The winter is very hard for him as he can get a cold from any of the children and it can very quickly turn into pneumonia. Once Javier is sick, it is extremely hard for his body to fight the virus due to muscular dystrophy.

Javier

Javier is in the hospital right now after getting a cold and with it some fluid in his lungs. Please pray that the Lord's Will will be done in Javier's life and that he would be able to come home from the hospital next week. I am so thankful to know this young man and so many people love and care about him. Thank you for joining us in prayer for his healing.

We've Moved!

The FFHM orphanage in Oaxaca (wa-ha-ka) has always been a place we’ve wanted to visit. It’s much smaller than the Mission in Baja with 50 to 60 children and about 20 staff. We were invited there a year ago, but the time wasn't right.

Now after lots of thought and prayer we have decided to take a three month leave of absence from the Mission here in Baja and head down to Oaxaca. We are so excited to see what God has for us there. We pray to gain a new, fresh perspective as we serve the indigenous children there at the children's home. We are sure it is going to be a wonderful change of pace, and that the Lord will use it to bless our lives as well as the lives of those we are going to serve.

* * *

We arrived in Oaxaca this last Saturday night after driving through Mexico. Our trip was fabulous as we got to see so much of the country and take a ferry ride over the Sea of Cortez. After four days of driving and a pit stop in Morelia, we were happy to reach our final destination, and start getting to know our new home.

After being here a week we are in love with this place. The small community of believers here are so welcoming and friendly that it has been an easy transition. The children so polite and engaging that we know our time here will be a blessing.

Right now our jobs are very open-ended. Here everyone just helps out. If there is a need, that becomes your job. So far, I have cared for four little toddlers each morning so their moms can have a couple hours to themselves. Celina, Luis, Debbie and Tete are so cute, and I have already fallen in love with them. I also am helping out with the sponsorship program. Each child in the children's home has a one or more sponsors who help make it possible for them to interned here. I get to translate letters of correspondence and currently am working on what kind of Christmas cards the kids will send to their "tios."

Ricardo has quickly become the go-to-guy for all the other staff members. This week he's worked a lot in maintenance making minor improvements and fixing little things that get passed by. Because of his musical abilities, he was quickly integrated into the church worship team and played a youth conference last night. He loves doing so much music and having that be part of his "job" or service here. He is also hoping to give some lessons to the kids who live here.

Overall, we are so happy to be here and thankful that we have been so eagerly accepted into the community here. We are excited to continue to get to know the children and staff here, and serve them to the best of our abilities in the next few months.

On the ferry from La Paz to Topolabamo crossing the Sea of Cortez.

In the city of Morelia one evening. It was so beautiful.

Driving through the mountains of Oaxaca to the children's home.

Luis and Celina playing.

Debbie

Tete

Mother's Day Cakes

We missed mother’s day because of the “swine flu epidemic.” Which was such a bummer.  So we had to celebrate a little late. In our effort to honor the kid’s mothers mom or grandma. It was quite an event since it was our first day back after not having class for over a week. Nothing like jumping in with both feet, right?

Well it was a great day. The Nut House Staff brought over 16 cakes, that were a whole lot bigger than we thought they were going to be. They brought tons of frosting and cake decorating candies and sprinkles. The kids had a ball, and made beautiful works of art on their cakes.

Then the only challenge we faced was getting 16 cakes home. It all turned out fine in the end and not one cake perished on the way home. It a nice treat for each mom, grandma or family to have a cake.

An Update

So it really has been forever since I have posted anything on this blog and for that I must apologize. The last couple months have been very interesting and rather challenging. There have been lots of changes going on at the Mission. But things are going well.

I am still working with the disabled children in the Day Home. It is such a blessing. The kids are so great and so fun to be around. We do have a prayer request regarding the Day Home. We lost four staff members in two weeks. The month of April was hard for us. This loss in staff has forced us to reduce the number of children we are able to care for because we lack the personnel. So please pray that the Lord would bring us more staff so that we might have all our children back with us.

I am now teaching three little ones. I think I posted their pictures in a previous blog. Their names are Cristian, Lupita and Miguel. They are great kids. They definitely keep me on my toes.

* * *

Ricardo and I have been busy at home. We had lots of visitors in March and April. Nearly three weeks of continual visits. First from Carol and the girls, then two friends were living with us for a week and then my parents and grandparents came to visit for Easter. So we have been busy. Since then we have continued work on the fence/wall going up around our house and we are happy to say it is nearly finished. We hired some men from town to work on it. We are so thankful it is nearly done.

* * *

Now I am sure all of you have seen the bad press Mexico is getting in the news. It's the drug cartels, the Swine Flu, and an earthquake yesterday in Mexico City. We are living in very interesting times. Here the schools have been closed for two weeks. The Day Home department is also closed as a precautionary measure as well. So things here are interesting. But the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, so we are trusting that He will protect us.

I'll try to post the happenings more often. We would love to hear from you and hope you are doing well.