August 9
Buenas dias amigos! Today our group started off with devotional led by Maegan and Sam. While waiting for our ride to church, we went to see the roof of BAM Center when we ran into our friends from Texas who are also staying at the BAM center. (P.S. The Texas team is working at the same orphanage we will go to and working on well projects led by one of the El Pozo students, Rene.). They invited us to join in on their team devotional time and in that we saw God at work in joining our two teams together as brothers and sisters. The devotional that Maegan and Sam led us through matched up well with the devotional that our new friends Lori, Shannon, and Miguel led us through on relinquishing control and putting all trust in God to lead us through the week.
Courtney and her husband, Jow, picked us up to take us to church at Mosaico, a CMF church plant that currently meets at Casa Verde. They do church right. They had a potluck breakfast where we all were able to gather around tables for a meal to meet the Church there and then moved right into praising God through song and sharing stories of all the good things He has done and is doing. After church, we got ready and made our way to downtown Cholula with Jordan, Kami, Rut, and Ilena. We climbed the Great Pyramid of Cholula, which is the biggest pyramids in the Americas. It was a pretty steep climb, but once at the top, the view of Puebla and Cholula was breathtaking. Since it was bright clear day, we were able to get a perfect view of the volcano Popoctaepetl. Kami took the time to share the history of the pyramid’s construction and how that lumps in with the history of Cholula. As is tradition with all the groups that come down to serve with El Pozo, we all tried chapulines, which is a dried out, flavored cricket. To our surprise, most everyone enjoyed it. The easiest comparison we could find to the taste is like a bbq potato chip…except with legs. After walking down the pyramid and passing through the ruins, we had some free time for shopping in the markets and buying some Cholula merchandise.
When we got to the bottom of the pyramid, there we could enter the ancient pyramid tunnels. These tunnels are dark, narrow, lacking oxygen with low ceilings. It was quite cramped and only one person’s width could fit through at a time. (Lauren says “A tortoise could have moved quicker than the pace we were going.” Lauren also has some intense claustrophobia.) I (Lauren) found this to be quite challenging as there was no immediate escape route ANYWHERE in sight. It simply felt like waiting for your death inside of the pyramid. Thankfully, by God’s grace, I was sandwiched between Angela and Andy, who kept telling me stories to keep my mind off my fear. Seeing light at the end of the tunnel (literally) was the biggest rush of relief. God was able to show me through this that even though things in this life may seem dark and grim with no way out, Jesus has provided a light at the end of the tunnel.
After this death-defying experience, we went to Flautlan for dinner. Here the rest of the missionaries joined us for flautas and burritos. (And no, the burritos are nothing like Chipotle and put Chipotle to shame.) We wrapped up the evening by going over to Courtney and Jow’s house to hear the vision for the week and for the vision for the upcoming school year. Last month the missionaries from all the Globalscope ministries across the world gathered together for Celebration to share the work God has done in their ministries and encourage one another. Courtney said the team felt so inspired and had been challenged to reflect on the why and how of how they do ministry in Puebla. This resulted in so many new exciting adjustments to how they are going to continue to reach students in a culturally catholic country and secular university. This was particularly exciting for me (Sarah) because of how much this is aligning with the dreams for young adults ministry at Mountain. I am already taking so many notes. God is so good with how he is using us to serve them and using them to pour into us to contribute to the mission back home.
Continúe orando para nostros! Estamos tan agradecido por su apoyo! (Continue praying for us! We are so grateful for your support!)
God is on the move!
En Cristo,
Lauren and Sarah
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