Murals Of Mexico - A Photo Journal

Recently one of our guests said that the thing that stood out to her was all the graffiti. It’s true we do have plenty of graffiti, but Mexico is filled with murals as well. Historically they have been painted as political and revolutionary statements by famous artists and muralists such as Diego Rivera. (see his work) Today the concrete of the city has become a canvas for budding artists to display their work, brighten up a myriad of structures and for some to make a statement.


Breaking Free From...


Christina's Favorite

Ancient Aztec Warrior

Contemporary Psychedlic Urbanite

Maria's Favorite

You'll Find Them At The Metro Mexico City

On Walls In Veracruz

Under Bridges In Puebla

And At Mercado Zapata

You Tell Me

The Mask of La Lucha (Professional Wrestler)

You Know You’re a MK When

Just the other day Daniel sent me a list a friend’s friend had posted on Facebook. It was entitled You Know You Are an MK When…and went on to list 202 characteristics of MKs (Missionary Kids). They were down right true to life and left you thinking uh huh, nodding your head and laughing out loud. Then we begin to realize that these things are true of our kids. This IS their experience. The last three and a half years have changed them. It’s given them different lens to look at their world. Sometimes that’s been good, sometimes bad but regardless it is. They identify. Maybe it will let you enter into their world just a bit. Here’s a sampling:

1. You speak two languages, but can't spell in either.
2. You have a passport, but no driver's license.
3. You'd rather never say hello than have to say goodbye.
4. You know what real coffee tastes like.
5. A musical instrument can be anything-- even a tambourine made from bottle caps nailed to a board.
6. You get upset when people don't finish their food, and feel worse when they scrape it into the trash.
7. Someone in your passport country has to explain to you that the double yellow line means only oncoming traffic can drive on that side of the road, even when there isn't any oncoming traffic... and you don't understand why.
8. The same individual also has to explain that red lights mean stop, every time, without exception, and you must stay stopped until they turn green, whether or not there is cross traffic... and you still don't understand why.
9. You are accused by your friends of being a maniacal driver, and you're driving just like your dad taught you to.
10. All Hispanics do not look even remotely alike, nor do all black people or Asians... but Europeans and North Americans are kind of hard to tell apart at first.
11. You used to hate hand-me-downs clothes, but when an old friend leaves a shirt at your place that happens to fit, you wear it often because it reminds you of your friend and your childhood.
12. You don't know whether to write the date as month/ day/ year, day/ month/ year, or some other variation.
13. You honk your horn at an intersection to let people know you're coming through, and everyone gives you looks that could kill.
14. Seeing a shriveled-up mango in the grocery store makes you yearn for the real thing, along with other tropical fruits that are unknown to the Americans.
15. You still hesitate before drinking water straight from the tap.
16. You know a smattering of more foreign languages than you can remember, but you cannot fully express yourself fully in any of them.
17. You are thankful for hot running water.
18. You were given a map of the U.S. to fill in, and marked several places "Destroyed by nuclear bombs" just to fill all the white space.
19. You're amazed at how empty U.S. city buses are.
20. You know not to joke around at border crossings.
21. You tell time using a 24 hour clock.
22. People leave the table when you start telling stories of things you have eaten while on the field.
23. You have to make a conscious effort not to kiss Americans when you greet them.
24. You have never called a 1-800 number in your life.
25. You think someone is drunk when they are driving in a straight line instead of swerving to miss the potholes.
26. You hear people complaining about potholes in the roads, and you can't see any.
27. You tell the clerk at the shoe store that your shoe size is 38, and you don't know why he laughed so much.
28. You claim no place as home, but you do home-schooling.
29. You can't understand why people are so upset when you're 15 minutes late.
30. People in America have never even heard of your favorite meal.
31. "Weather forecasting" means looking across the valley at the approaching wall of rain and knowing you have less than five minutes to get the clothes off the line.
32. The road says "bump”, and five miles down the road you become curious as you haven't felt anything.
33. People simply don't understand.

The Secret Place

Do you have a secret place where you meet with God? A tranquil, peaceful, quiet place to settle down for a few minutes and be alone with Him undisturbed. A place where you have a heightened sense of God’s presence. I grew up in the mountains of Tennessee beside my aunt. She was always on the lookout for a new place to have her quiet time – on the deck overlooking the mountains, in a little attic room, behind the house near a flowering tree, down beside the creek, in her bedroom where she had set up a reading corner, in a wooded area.

The idea of finding a special place to meet with God has been engrained within me. I read recently of someone who had an oversized bathroom and used the extra space to create a “prayer closet”. She hung artwork in that corner, lights candles and retreats there for the sole purpose of prayer.

Certainly we can’t say this idea is strange or foreign to the Bible. Peter went to the roof-top to pray, Moses went to the mountain to meet God, Daniel went to his upstairs room and opened the windows to Jerusalem, and Jesus Himself went out to the mountainside to pray.

While I seldom ask for comments on this blog (though I appreciate them greatly), I would be interested to hear from you. Where is that place(s) for you? If you don’t have such a place I encourage you to look for one, and if you can’t find one create one. God is waiting to meet you there.

We Are El Puente

I just want to take a moment to introduce you to El Puente, an international, multicultural and bilingual gathering of the body. When we first started meeting with the believers there, we had no idea that we would eventually end up being a part of the team. We were looking for soul refreshment and backed into a ministry. God is full of surprises that way.

For us El Puente has been a gracious community. A place where admitting a struggle does not bring judgment but an understanding assurance and an encouraging word. Our pastor and his wife set the tone for this atmosphere as they shepherd the wide variety of people who make up El Puente. Some are retired missionaries, others are new to the faith, some have a Christian heritage, and others are not yet counted among the children of God. Most are thirsty.

Diana and I play a role that is pretty common to us – jack of all trades, master of none. When we started out we said that we just wanted to help in whatever ways we were needed, and if that meant sitting up chairs that was fine. Well, we have had that opportunity since we meet in a hotel on Sundays. There have been other things along the way. Administrating, teaching children and adults, hosting a Thursday group, leading meetings, cooking, writing worship challenges, and mentoring have all fallen to our lot at one time or another.

One thing that is on the radar screen of El Puente this fall is having two pastors and their wives to visit from Colombia. They will be coming up to lead a weekend prayer retreat with the idea that we in turn will lead others in the future. These retreats are designed for us to wrestle with issues like wounds in our upbringing, forgiveness, and living as beloved children all in the context of prayer. It promises to be good here at El Puente.

Drinking some eye popping Burundi coffee