[Saturday, November 01, 2003]
Hola everyone! I'm not sure where to begin today. I have a lot to share with you. Perhaps I'll start at the beginning of the week. On Monday at Bible study we did another fun activity. We did a video rally. We were given a list of things to do and a videorecorder to prove we did them. There was nothing even close to being dangerous this time. Many of the things were what Mexican people do to make money. We had to go to cars stopped at a red light and ask if they wanted to buy candy. We had to sell candy for a total of 5 pesos ( about 50 cents). I donated some "american gum" for this part. We had to all climb a tree. My most exciting thing is that I had to juggle for stopped traffic and earn 2 pesos. Well, I do know how to juggle but I only had 2 tennis balls to do it with, so that was interesting. (You see, at a lot of street corners, you'll find Mexicans juggling or selling things, or washing windows during the redlight. That's how they make money.) So, it was interesting to be "on the other side of things." So, the next time someone was juggling, I gave him 5 pesos. Well, that was a fun activity, even though my team lost. The other team not only found clowns to help them juggle, but they brought the clowns back to youth group. YOu can't really beat that one.
The next big event of the week was yesterday. My class went on a field trip with the other elementary school children. We went to a place called, "Africam" and it is what is sounds like.... a taste of Africa. Well, you know the African Safari ride at the Ft. Wayne zoo? Well, it's kind of like that on a greater scale. You drive through the "zoo" in your vehicle and it's like driving on a road in Africa. There are no gates or wall between your car and the animals. We saw Rhino's, tigers, lions, bears, ostriches, antelope, giraffes, flamingos, buffalo, monkeys, etc.etc. It was really neat! The animals may come within a few feet of the vehicle. There are safety precautions such as rolling up all the windows in the lion and tiger section, but it's perfectly safe as long as you stay in the vehicle. The kids and I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful day- about 75-80 degrees. Yes, I know you're jealous. :) So, it was nice. Last night, I went to the mall and to Burger King. It's only the 2nd time I've had a hamburger since I've been in Mexico and the 2nd time I've had French Fries and boy was it good!!!
Now, to end today, I want to share with you a burden on my heart. I'll start by explaining that today is La Dia de la Muerte ( the day of the dead.) Well, many people who have heard about this would say it's the Mexican equivalent of Halloween. If only that were true. It is much much more siginificant than just a night of dress up and trick-or treat. It is celebrated mainly in the lower class areas and by the less educated people. Many people believe that on the night of October 31, the spirits (dead friends and relatives) come back to their homes, after roaming around the earth. The way they find their homes is by following the trail of marigolds. Here in Mexico, marigolds are used only for the day of the dead. They buy marigolds and make a path with the petals from the road in front of their homes, up the sidewalk, through the gate and into the house. They believe it leads the spirit home. Also, they leave out food and "ofrendas" (offerings) for the spirits. This belief mainly came from the Aztec Indians. Today, a small group from the school drove around to see this tradition of people putting out flowers and food for the spirits. In doing so, we learned a lot more about Mexican history and culture. The Aztec Indians were extremely mythical. They believe in so many gods and spirits. They held human sacrifices to please the sun god, so that the sun would keep rising. The pyramids that stand so mighty in Mexico were the sights of human sacrifices. The Aztec Indians would conquer other people, not for possessions or power, but to use their captives as sacrifices. Then the Catholics from Spain came over. Today the country of Mexico, especially where I'm at is a mixture of Spanish and Aztec culture. The city of Cholula which is about 10 minutes from where I live was a religious center for the Aztec Indians (that is where the pyramid I went to earlier this year is at) and there are a lot of Indians living there. We went to CHolula again today and went into a Catholic church. It was filled with gold and statues. I was like such idolatry. I wonder how people could possibly worship God in that place. A statue of Mary was positioned in the direct center of the altar area. It breaks my heart that the truth has been twisted so much by the people of the Catholic church, and then to see the Aztec influence. This land is truly in need of Christ. They are so deeply rooted in tradition that they make themselves slaves to deception. They are searching for hope, for truth and their cultures points them away from it.
Finally, I want to tell you about some other sights I saw as we drove around today. As I have mentioned before, I live in Puebla, which is a city of several million people. It's growing at the amount of about 50,000 new homes every year. There are parts of town where 40,000 homes are in a 15 block area. These aren't even the poor areas. (Well, to Americans they'd be considered poor and run down, but compared with the poor of Mexico, they aren't poor.) Well, today, I was able to see how about 94% of Mexicans live....in extreme poverty. We went outside the city of Puebla and out into the surrounding little towns, called pueblitos. We saw men riding on their carts on straw pulled by horse or mule. We saw adobe (mud) houses. Most of the homes are about the size of my living room in Ohio. We saw people making bricks. Some of the roads are just mud paths. There are little stores here and there. There are elecric lines running through the town. SOme houses have electricity, some don't. SOme houses don't have doors. They use wells instead of running water, which means they are drinking the contaminated water that makes you sick. (Here in Puebla, not even the Mexicans drink tap water. Everyone buys pure water.) Now, I can say I have truly seen poverty. We drove by one of the homes of a family that attends the church I go to on Wed. nights.) It had no electricity, no door. The family rides a bike miles to get to the church. The wife works 6 days a week making bricks and gets paid 300 pesos a week ( a little less than $30) And yet, they have found the Lord. It really makes me think about what I have....what I could live without....truly honestly, what I don't need. Those people who are born into poverty have very little chance of ever getting out, but if they have Jesus, they are richer than the richest people in all the world!! This is something my mind is going to dwell on and I hope yours will, too.
The next big event of the week was yesterday. My class went on a field trip with the other elementary school children. We went to a place called, "Africam" and it is what is sounds like.... a taste of Africa. Well, you know the African Safari ride at the Ft. Wayne zoo? Well, it's kind of like that on a greater scale. You drive through the "zoo" in your vehicle and it's like driving on a road in Africa. There are no gates or wall between your car and the animals. We saw Rhino's, tigers, lions, bears, ostriches, antelope, giraffes, flamingos, buffalo, monkeys, etc.etc. It was really neat! The animals may come within a few feet of the vehicle. There are safety precautions such as rolling up all the windows in the lion and tiger section, but it's perfectly safe as long as you stay in the vehicle. The kids and I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful day- about 75-80 degrees. Yes, I know you're jealous. :) So, it was nice. Last night, I went to the mall and to Burger King. It's only the 2nd time I've had a hamburger since I've been in Mexico and the 2nd time I've had French Fries and boy was it good!!!
Now, to end today, I want to share with you a burden on my heart. I'll start by explaining that today is La Dia de la Muerte ( the day of the dead.) Well, many people who have heard about this would say it's the Mexican equivalent of Halloween. If only that were true. It is much much more siginificant than just a night of dress up and trick-or treat. It is celebrated mainly in the lower class areas and by the less educated people. Many people believe that on the night of October 31, the spirits (dead friends and relatives) come back to their homes, after roaming around the earth. The way they find their homes is by following the trail of marigolds. Here in Mexico, marigolds are used only for the day of the dead. They buy marigolds and make a path with the petals from the road in front of their homes, up the sidewalk, through the gate and into the house. They believe it leads the spirit home. Also, they leave out food and "ofrendas" (offerings) for the spirits. This belief mainly came from the Aztec Indians. Today, a small group from the school drove around to see this tradition of people putting out flowers and food for the spirits. In doing so, we learned a lot more about Mexican history and culture. The Aztec Indians were extremely mythical. They believe in so many gods and spirits. They held human sacrifices to please the sun god, so that the sun would keep rising. The pyramids that stand so mighty in Mexico were the sights of human sacrifices. The Aztec Indians would conquer other people, not for possessions or power, but to use their captives as sacrifices. Then the Catholics from Spain came over. Today the country of Mexico, especially where I'm at is a mixture of Spanish and Aztec culture. The city of Cholula which is about 10 minutes from where I live was a religious center for the Aztec Indians (that is where the pyramid I went to earlier this year is at) and there are a lot of Indians living there. We went to CHolula again today and went into a Catholic church. It was filled with gold and statues. I was like such idolatry. I wonder how people could possibly worship God in that place. A statue of Mary was positioned in the direct center of the altar area. It breaks my heart that the truth has been twisted so much by the people of the Catholic church, and then to see the Aztec influence. This land is truly in need of Christ. They are so deeply rooted in tradition that they make themselves slaves to deception. They are searching for hope, for truth and their cultures points them away from it.
Finally, I want to tell you about some other sights I saw as we drove around today. As I have mentioned before, I live in Puebla, which is a city of several million people. It's growing at the amount of about 50,000 new homes every year. There are parts of town where 40,000 homes are in a 15 block area. These aren't even the poor areas. (Well, to Americans they'd be considered poor and run down, but compared with the poor of Mexico, they aren't poor.) Well, today, I was able to see how about 94% of Mexicans live....in extreme poverty. We went outside the city of Puebla and out into the surrounding little towns, called pueblitos. We saw men riding on their carts on straw pulled by horse or mule. We saw adobe (mud) houses. Most of the homes are about the size of my living room in Ohio. We saw people making bricks. Some of the roads are just mud paths. There are little stores here and there. There are elecric lines running through the town. SOme houses have electricity, some don't. SOme houses don't have doors. They use wells instead of running water, which means they are drinking the contaminated water that makes you sick. (Here in Puebla, not even the Mexicans drink tap water. Everyone buys pure water.) Now, I can say I have truly seen poverty. We drove by one of the homes of a family that attends the church I go to on Wed. nights.) It had no electricity, no door. The family rides a bike miles to get to the church. The wife works 6 days a week making bricks and gets paid 300 pesos a week ( a little less than $30) And yet, they have found the Lord. It really makes me think about what I have....what I could live without....truly honestly, what I don't need. Those people who are born into poverty have very little chance of ever getting out, but if they have Jesus, they are richer than the richest people in all the world!! This is something my mind is going to dwell on and I hope yours will, too.
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