so much to do!

Monday morning we had a staff meeting about everything that´s happening on the base this summer. There are so many short term teams coming and so many things we have to plan. There are many needs here. The founders of the base are getting older and they are the only ones who really get out there and raise support. When they are gone this place might not make it. The base serves as a bible and music school to train pastors from Mexico to start churches in the unreached areas of the mountains. This is working! And their churches are spreading to more unreached tribes. With all the different dialects in the mountains this is the only way to reach them. It is so amazing because their unique cultures stay the same but God is changing their hearts and this whole area is becoming a more loving, peaceful place.We must find a way to raise the support they need.
Remember Franco? He and some people from the base minister at the prison in Pochutla on Tuesdays. We didn´t get to go yesterday because there was another staff meeting but we plan on going next week. The women are there for all sorts of things and some of them have children that live in the prison with them. We are going to take toiletry items and some Bibles to them. If anyone has access to Spanish Bibles or ministry tools they would be very useful to us because they´re hard to find around here. You can talk to Dave (dave@thegrovechurch.org) about getting those shipped to us.
Matt left Monday for the mountains with 4 other construction workers who don´t speak English. I´m only a little worried. The other day we were eating dinner with some Chitino guys (nearby indigenous tribe) who were here for Rebeca and Arnulfo´s wedding. So of course Matt tries to talk to this guy who we´re not even sure speaks Spanish. Turns out he does and also speaks a little English. His nickname is ¨shrimpy¨ so Matt was trying to say ¨nickname¨ and he ended up saying ¨fart¨instead and everyone laughed except us because we didn´t know what was going on.
Mexican weddings are very fun. They had a band that followed the bride and groom down the street and there was lots of food, laughter, and twinkle lights.
I have been helping in the clinic this week. I had to move there for 2 weeks until a room opens up. The only place left for me in the clinic was the top bunk bed in the hottest room and there is no mattress. So I´ve been sleeping on the floor of the office because it has an airconditioner. This weekend the next short term team will be here and there will be lots of work to do.
Here is my prayer list-
Pray for God´s will for the base, and for a plan to raise support.
Pray for Matt´s safe return from the mountains.
Pray for God to give me a humble heart to serve wherever I am needed.
Pray for my Spanish, I usually pick it up again very quickly but I am struggling this time.
Thanks for everything.

El Jardin

Yesterday was our free day and we went into Puerto Escondido to shop. Matt and I checked out some internet cafes and laundromats. We ate lunch at a restaurant called El Jardin. It is owned by a Christian Italian man named Franco. Franco looks like a 56 year old Jack Johnson with eyes as blue as the ocean. He is famous around here not only for having great food but for witnessing to others in his own special ways. Puerto is known as one of the best surfing beaches in the world. A few years ago there was a tournament and several surfers and some of the ESPN crew were eating at Franco's restaurant. They seemed down so Franco asked what was wrong and they explained that they were sad because there were no waves and they wouldn't be able to do the tournament. Franco said to them with his Italian accent, "I know the very Guy who makes the waves, I call for the waves." So the surfers chuckled and asked him to pray for the biggest waves ever seen in Puerto. The next day everyone showed up for the tournament and the announcer said over the speaker that there was magic in the air; that these were the biggest waves ever seen in Puerto. The tournament was amazing and the next day the waves were gone and everything was back to normal. Except for the surfers, who now have a little more respect for Chrisians and are a little closer to knowing God.

the first week

This week has been amazing. Half of our team went into the mountains to do medical clinics. The rest of us stayed on the base. Bethany and I are staying in an amazing resort room that looks over the ocean. We love to sit in the hammock and just watch the waves. It is so stinkin´ hot here. We have been sweating the entire time.
The girls have been painting the house of Charles and Elli, two local missionaries who have lived here for 16 years. The boys have been cementing a new floor for the chruch in Cacalote. Pastor Bartolo is so excited about the new floor, it brings a smile to his face each time he looks at it. Last Sunday we went to church there and some of us taught the children´s ministry lesson. We made butterflies out of coffee fliters and clothes pins and the kids painted the wings with watercolors. It was so beautiful to watch them paint. Pasor Bartolo asked me and Matt to lead the children´s ministry each week. That is such a blessing for me because I was sad to leave the children´s ministries at the Grove.
In the little town of Cacalote lives Ernesto´s family. He has traveled the world and lived in Canada, London, Switzerland, and Mexico but he wants to raise his kids in a place without so much materialism. He has a flat screen TV which looks a little out of place in his hut of a restaurant/house. He has 5 beautiful children and they are learning English and speak it very well. Ernesto makes these mango smoothie drinks called liquados and is also an amazing pastry maker.
Matt´s really excited about getting to work with Manuel, Chepe, and Renaldo. He hopes they will keep him working hard will be able to build relationships with them. He also met a guy named Pepe who wants to help teach him Spanish. He is so eager to learn and his Spanish is getting better everyday.

Q&A

So, Jill, what are you doing this summer?
Well, I just quit my job and I'm leaving for Mexico to serve the missionaries at the Roca Blanca mission base.
Really? Where is this place in Mexico?
As you can see on the map, it is just south of Acapulco. It's a great mission base and bible school and it's right on the coast.
What will you be doing there?
Everything! Our church is sending 21 people as a short term team to do some construction and medical clinics. After the team leaves, Matt Schilb and I will stay and work on the base. We will be helping the missionaries with the construction of a church and we will also be traveling into the mountains with them to reach the indigenous people.
What do you mean traveling into the mountains? Isn't this place on the beach?
Yes, the Base is. The missionaries travel in the back of a cattle truck for 6-8 hours to reach the people in the mountains. Then they stay at a smaller "base" in El Mosco. Aaron and his wife Jenny live in this village and they are working on building fish ponds to raise Tilapia so there will be food during the dry season when the people can't grow crops.
How long will you be there?
We will come back sometime in December.
Do you need any special shots for this?
Just the usual. Typhoid, Tetanus, and Hep A. I'm also taking some anti-malarial medicine that makes me really sick.
Will you be able to make phone calls and get online?
I think so. Occasionally we will have to travel into the nearest town, Puerto Escondido, to shop and do laundry and we can use the phones and computers there.
Wow, Jill. It sounds great. Are you scared at all?
Not really. I'm a little nervous about packing everything but mostly I'm really excited. I can't wait to tell everyone what's going on down in Mexico. Please keep in touch. I'll talk to you soon!