Progress...

Hey everyone! I realized I haven't blogged much about the actual work taking place here at El Monte! You were probably wondering if we were getting anything done! :) These pictures are of Tim and the kids at the "bathhouse". This is basically just that - a bath house with sinks and showers near the soccer fields. Tim is working on getting numerous buildings wired and ready to go, and then the wire can be pulled later. He's also working on sort of mapping out an electrical plan for the many many buildings in the plans. I don't have very many pictures of the work projects because the camp is much more spread out than I expected, and I have no transportation to get around. I hope to get a chance to follow Tim around a little more so we can get some good shots of all the progress. But he pretty much works all day every day on the buildings and comes back to the house dirty and exhausted! He's having a great time working with the staff and is learning lots of Spanish, as some of the workers are from Ticuman.

The other picture above is of garden hose sticking out of a concrete wall....garden hose is what is used for conduit! Yep!

Before we came, we were warned that some days the plans go out the window because something else will go wrong, and things take much longer than planned. Tim is finding this out! On Tuesday, the whole mountain lost one phase of it's power. So everyone's lights, appliances, etc were waning in and out of power. Tim ran around on the four-wheeler most of the day trying to figure it out and at least get refrigerators and freezers working. That wasn't part of the plan, but it had to be done! (And I don't think he minded all the off-roading on the four-wheeler, either).

Another example of plans going awry happened on Monday night, when the water supply pipe to one of the toilets in our house broke! There was a mirror which fell behind the toilet, and basically guillotined the supply pipe. You can imagine the water....Tim and Ed Somerville (the other family on the mountain) searched for a shut-off, DUG for a shut-off...to no avail. The house was built with NO shut-off valve. They called Ezekiel, and the three of them finally found a shutoff up at the offices and apartments...which meant the offices and apartments also had their water shut off. Thankfully, there was a drain in the bathroom, so the water didn't flood the house. But it was still a crazy mess. The next day, everyone said that things like that are par for the course and that something similar happened just a couple of weeks ago! One of the staff told Tim that you know you're having a good day at El Monte if you have power, water, AND internet! Anyway, the pipe was fixed and everything is back to normal. "Normal" is becoming something completely new. :) Whew. Oh, and did I mention that the next night there was a tarantula in our shower?

The kids and I have spent the week at the MK "school", which is a house in town that El Monte rents. A great college grad named Lisa works with the kids here at the school, helps them with their work, and plans lots of activities for them. Our kids have LOVED doing P.E. with her! I've gotten to work with the kids learning some songs....they LOVE doing four part harmony and pick it up super quick. And a couple of the girls have wanted to do some voice lessons. They are some great kids! It has been great to get to know these missionary kids and find that kids are kids...no matter where in the world they are! They have shared their fun, creativity, and friendship with us.....and also skills on how to pick up tarantulas and gila monsters!

Our days left here are becoming fewer. Although it will be good to be home, there will be much missed here at El Monte. I know that there are things I've learned here that have changed me...not all easy lessons, for sure!

Thanks again for checking in....miss you all!

Love T

Janie's perspective at El Monte

These rectangle thingies with pink stripes happen to be pieces of candy. Half of the candy here has chili in it - that red one tastes sort of like a de-flavored fruit rollup!


Hello everybody!!!! This is Janie giving a couple of updates. Above is me (when I was sick on Sunday) and an adorable little dog named Chizpa (Sparky)! Today we haven't uploaded any pictures, so we'll have to deal with boring words:). Our family (except for Dad) went to the "schoolhouse" with the other MK's. It was awesome! The girls all learned a Swahili song from mom and harmonized. Also we went to p.e. and played soccer, AND threw each other up in the air with sheets! Peter Wilson caught a type of lizard that is 1 of 2 species of poisonous lizards IN THE WORLD! It was about two ft. long, a whopper to us, probably a mouse to them! We've gone to some very authentic eatery, such as a taco stand on the side of the road with a bunch of stray dogs in our faces - plus a Mexican soap opera going on in the back round. We have come across at least 50 stray dogs in the streets - some in not very good condition:(. Last night we had a "mini flood". There is a full length mirror sitting on top of the toilet that fell behind it, causing the supply pipe to break! This was about 10:45 p.m. and we're calling people to help, trying to keep all of the gushing water inside the bathroom with towels and a squeegee, and trying to get to bed at a decent hour - WHEW! It's all fixed now. We'd better get going home before we get eaten alive!!!!!!! Goodnight, all!

New Friends

Here are the kids playing at the Wilson's house with the Mitchell boys (missionary kids from the states), and Tito, who lives with his parents at El Monte (Tito is hanging from the tree....his parents are pictured at the bottom)



Paul and I are talking with Hermana (sister) Geno (pronounced "Hayno"..short for Genovieve)...she is lots of fun and we have her on video singing at the Independence Day celebration


This is David Mitchell, whose boys are in the first pic...he and his family are from the states, and he is in charge of the many construction projects on site...you can tell he's all business. :)



Pictured here is Roxanne Wilson and Carolina (Tito's mom)...Carolina and Ezekiel (pictured below with Tim) live on site at El Monte. Carolina makes beautiful embroidered towels..one of which I got to keep!



Tim and Ezekiel....every Sunday night, the Wilsons have friends from their church over to play volleyball. We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Ezekiel is a super nice guy!

Hurricane Karl seems to have passed by with not too much damage.... a little flooding in the valley but no power outages or anything too serious. Whew! This week will be a little more structured...last week was kind of crazy with the Independence Day celebrations and getting ready for a weekend of campers. So Tim is hard at work, the kids and I are getting some school done, and we'll join the other MKs T/W/TH for their joint school time. The MKs want to learn some new songs, so we'll do some singing together...they are also going to help me translate some of our favorite worship songs into Spanish. This week we'll also get to do some "errands" in Ticuman, which will be very different than shopping at Walmart in the bigger city. I'm really looking forward to that!

That's all for now...we are about to hike down to the construction sites to take pictures and lend a hand...I am making sure my camera battery is charged this time!

Love to you all!
Teri

Sunday morning...

a few more photos for you.....

It is Sunday morning, and a few Hurricane Karl clouds are passing away. Lots of rain and wind the last two nights, but nothing terrible and no loss of power! Whew! Our house is up the mountain a little from where the campers are, and there is a very large church group from Mexico City here this weekend. The sound of their outdoor worship services float up to us, and it's wonderful to hear! Many of the songs we recognize. We got to spend the afternoon in town yesterday with the Mitchell family (on staff at El Monte) at their house. I'm glad we've gotten to spend time in town. They have 9 and 11 year old boys (instant fun for our boys) and three teenage girls. We got to hear their story of how they ended up at El Monte. Everyone's story is different, but God is certainly calling many people here for very specific purposes! (They have lots more specific needs, too.....anyone interested?)

an electrician's dream (or nightmare?)

These pics were not taken at El Monte, but along the roadside a little distance from Ticuman. Everyone wanted Tim to see it! :)

I went to take pictures of the guys working on the buildings yesterday, but when we got down there my camera battery was dead. So we'll try again today. The house where we're staying is on the upper part of El Monte near the offices and the other family who lives on the mountain. It's a good hike to the cabins, the soccer field, and the construction areas. We either take the road, which is kind of an indirect route, or go how the crow flies through a shortcut path (I'm using the term path loosely here :) which involves tall growth, rocks, chiggers, and other native "friends". :) We've tried both, and I have to say I like the road a little better. :)

Hurricane Karl is supposed to pass over us today. We had heavy rain last night but didn't lose power, for which I am thankful! It's making it cloudy and cool, though, which is kind of nice. Janie says she hopes we lose power because she thinks that will be cozy. Umm.....I don't know about that!

Thanks for checking in with us. There is so much to share!

That's all for now. We're off to check on the workers!

Love, Teri

critters!

We're making lots of new friends! (shiver.....)

These first few photos are of the celebration Wednesday night at the church, which is called "Mount of Olives". Wednesday night was the eve of Mexican Independence Day. They celebrate the "eve" because that is when Hidalgo gathered the people into the church to organize the revolution against the Spaniards, crying out "Viva Mexico!!". (I think I have that right...) So after the church service was a huge party...everyone dressed in traditional clothing...tables set up with all different kinds of food...tacos, tostadas, tamales, jello (very popular here), and a sort of thick drink made out of corn and chocolate...reminded me a little of Malt-O-Meal. Also corn on the cob, on a stick, spread with mayonnaise, chili powder, and cheese. Um, different. :) Anyway, this photo is of El Monte staff member known as "G" smashing a hollowed out egg filled with confetti and flour, over one of the boys' heads. The egg thing is a tradition of Independence Day. Needless to say, we're still getting flour out of our hair! :)


At the celebration, LOTS of people got up and sang songs! There was also a contest to see who could shout "Viva Mexicoooooooo" and hold it the longest!


Kerra Wilson, Tim and Joe enjoying some DELICIOUS food, drink, and of course, Coca Cola!


This is a view of the town of Ticuman from a high point at El Monte. We spent a few minutes praying for the people in the valley. Between El Monte and the people at the Mount of Olives church (which is situated sort of up the hill on the other side of the valley) there is a fervent passion to make the Gospel known. At the church service on Wednesday, the pastor made the connection as they celebrated political freedom...that there is a need for spiritual freedom as well...libre! Mexico's history is wrought with "being conquered", and this permeates the culture in many ways I never realized. God has placed very passionate people here to share freedom in Christ.


Pictured here is G, David Mitchell, Paul Wilson, and Tim heading off to figure out some electrical issues.....holding up their coffee cups (real or otherwise...)


We are expecting hurricane Karl to pretty much pass right over us, which may mean loss of power and internet for a while. Hopefully not! If so, we'll be in our little house on the mountain with a few candles and hopefully not too many critters! By the way, we had a visit at our house by a tarantula today...pics to come.

Your prayers have been felt, because today I feel so much more at home and ready to dive into El Monte! Thank you so much!

Love, Teri