Current Events: Missing*

If you are a world news kind of person, it is likely you have heard about what happened in Mexico on September 26th.  However, if you are not, it is likely that stories of Ebola overtook the news right about that time and may have left you unaware of the crazy and sad things going on here.  I haven't mentioned much about it because I don't want to worry anyone - but since the U.S. news now seems to be noticing something happening down here, I thought I'd share as well.

Here's the situation, as I understand it.  On September 26th, a group of student teachers (who attend a school known for being radical activists) went to the town of Iguala to protest policies and raise money.  There was an altercation in which a few of the students where killed by police while trying to flee, and 43 of the students disappeared completely- and have been missing for over a month now.

Since that time, some things have been discovered.  Witnesses say they saw these missing students being put in police vehicles and carted off.  The mayor, his wife, and the chief of police have fled and gone into hiding. Another sad discovery is that several mass graves have been discovered around that area - however they say none of the bodies are those of the students.  Thousands of people have been going missing for years now in relation to activity of drug cartels, and this seems to confirm fears of what was happening to them.  This is a dark situation.

Investigators have since gotten some confessions out of a few police there.  Apparently the mayor's wife was having a major event that day as well, and the police were instructed to keep the students from disturbing her event at all costs.  The police force also seems to be deeply entangled with the drug cartel in the area, and apparently handed these students over to to the cartel.

Again, I hesitate to share this because I don't want to make people worry.  But, I decided to share it anyway so that you can be aware of what is happening to your neighbors, the Mexicans, and so that you can perhaps be supporting Mexico in prayer.  This is a hard time for Mexico.

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(Though I don't know what the general feeling is about news from the Huffington Post, I think they do a good job of summarizing the situation well in their article Mexico Is Looking For 43 Missing Students.)

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*Update (11/8/14): News has come out that three gang members have confessed to killing the students and disposing of their bodies.  Pray for their families and friends - and for Mexico as it reacts to this news.  From a Denver news site: Official: 3 suspects admit killing 43 missing Mexican students.

Photo of the Week: Baseball Games

With the World Series going on this week, I was also able to take in an evening baseball game here at the home - along with a pretty nice sunset :).

Looks can be deceiving

I was sitting downtown, waiting for a friend to meet me for lunch, when I looked up and saw this beautiful sight.  I thought, wow, this sure is a pretty place to live.  It almost looks like pictures I've seen of lovely coastal towns in Italy or something - where all the buildings are painted white.  The sharp blue and red and white, creating a peaceful, serene image.

The thing was, I had to stand up to take this picture - for surrounding it was the never-ending protest here in Oaxaca.  For so many months now, the zocalo - a main tourist destination - has been weighed down by people camping out in hopes of making their voices heard.  They've covered the zocalo with camping tents and tarps strung up with ropes - that'll clothes-line you if you're not carfeul.

And so, this is what the picture looked like when I didn't zoom in. I find it very interesting to look at photos and consider what may not be pictured.  The story behind the photo - what is beyond the frame.  No great spiritual thought to go with this :).  Just a reminder to not believe everything you see - even if it is a photo or a video.  Those can be easily manipulated to show what one wants people to see.

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“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. 

Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Matthew 10:16

Snack Time

It seems that grasshopper season is upon us.  There are grasshoppers all over.  It is hard not to step on them as I walk past tall grass.  One even landed on my shoulder as I walked past a tree - and seemed none too eager to get off.  Before a parent-teacher meeting, one of our teachers found one on a student's desk and she picked it up and put it on me - to see if I would be ok with it or freak out.  Thankfully, this was not my first grasshopper challenge, and I was able to play it cool.

When there is an abundance of grasshoppers around, it makes it easy to understand why they eat them here in Oaxaca.  I've heard it said that if you eat grasshoppers in Oaxaca, you will come back.  While it seems like just a fun saying, I think there is really some truth to it.  It seems that if visitors are willing to go beyond their comfort zone enough to eat a crunchy bug, then they are someone who will travel beyond the comfort of home again.

I recently met two young women who proudly informed me that they did not eat the grasshoppers.  They also were quite culturally inappropriate - making disgusted faces at a fancy restaurant when they tried new foods and getting offended when a vendor laughed at them for trying to bargain down to 5 pesos on something (I don't know anything in the US you can buy from someone for 37 cents).  These girls did not eat the grasshoppers, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do not come back to Oaxaca.  Small things often reflect big things. 

"You have been faithful with a few things;
I will put you in charge of many things"

Matthew 25:23

Photo of the Week: Home

This is a beautiful place I get to call home right now.  I think I can honestly say that every day I am amazed by it and thankful for it.

What Would You Do?

The other Saturday I helped take a mission group sight-seeing in Oaxaca.  However, it was what happened when the group wasn't around that really influenced my day.  I had three different encounters with three different elderly people living in poverty.

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#1 - I love going to Monte Alban when it is green - particularly to take pictures.  I know vendors find it exceptionally rude if you take a picture of them or their product and don't buy anything, so I wanted to give this guy a little money for being in my picture.  I wasn't sure how to go about it without maybe offending him, but I decided to give it a try.

However, as I approached him, we ended up in conversation.  Soon he was telling me about the village he is from and how, when he can't get work in the fields, he comes here to sell the little statues he makes by hand.  He explained to me the history of the place - the three different people groups who had lived there, and how the artwork he had with him reflected those different times.

It seemed like he didn't mind that I wasn't going to buy anything from him.  I felt like he wasn't talking to me just to get a sale, but rather to break up the monotony of sitting around all day.  So, after about 15 minutes of chatting, I thanked him and went on with my pictures - saying a final goodbye to him later on as I climbed back down the steep stairs.

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#2 - The next encounter was when I was walking downtown to meet up with the group.  It began to rain lightly, so vendors were putting up tarps and people were walking a little faster.  And so it was that an elderly woman walking towards me tripped on a rope someone was using to put up their tarp.  She recovered, then tripped again, recovered, then tripped again - in the end falling onto the sidewalk right in front of me.  It was a slow motion moment when you want to help, but can't get your muscles to move fast enough.

But then everything sped up.  She couldn't get her foot loose from the rope, and I found that it was snagged on a broken part of her sandal.  I freed her foot, and then tried to help her up.  A man came to help as well and we each took an arm.  Meanwhile, she began to curse at the woman who had left the rope on the sidewalk.  A crowd was beginning to gather as tensions arose between the two parties and people were taking sides.

Feeling that my ability to help the situation was over, I quickly moved away.  I was a little shocked to find two policemen laughing at the whole situation.  I sent my stern "principal look" their way, but seeing as how police are generally to be avoided here, I made it quick.

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#3 - I finally made it downtown to meet back up with the mission group.  I sat down to wait for them and was just beginning to enjoy a little cup of ice-cream, when an elderly woman came up to me.  She informed me in a high-pitched whiny voice that she wanted money or food.  I am usually more inclined to give towards people who are making an effort to use their skills in a positive way, and not people who whine at me - and let's just say she had her whiny voice down.

But, of course I couldn't continue to eat my ice-cream with her standing right in front of me.  So, I stopped eating.  There was an awkward pause, and then I asked her if she wanted my ice-cream.  She said yes and sat down beside me to eat it.  When she was done, she thanked me and went on to ask others for food as well.

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In a way, these situations remind me of that TV show, "What Would You Do?".  When I watch that show, many times I like to think that I would certainly respond in kindness to strangers in distress.  However, there are other times I know I wouldn't step in - I think certain situations could be made worse if a stranger interferes.  Perhaps in the above situations you would have done more, or less.

But thinking of all this also brings to mind that famous motto from the 1990's, "What would Jesus do?"  I had several WWJD bracelets back in the day.  However, in some cases we're so influenced by our cultures, that sometimes it is difficult to have a clear understanding of what Jesus would do.

But, in the end, I think that if we truly do our best to respond in love, then we're doing alright.  We can remember what Jesus said about the greatest commandment, and respond in kind:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.^' The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

And we can also reflect on what the Lord says through Micah:

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God. "

 Love God, love others, act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.  Simple words, challenging goal.  May we strive towards it and may the Lord grant us strength and wisdom and love along the way.

Photo of the Week: Puddles

There are some definite benefits to walking to work as the sun rises
- even if your path is wet and muddy :).

The greatest of these is love

I was inspired at the recent MeXED conference to celebrate the fruits of the Spirit at the school.  Since the beginning is a very good place to start, we began with love.  I put the word "amor" on the bulletin board, along with the famous verses on love from 1 Corinthians 13 and explained the new idea to the kids.

My plan had two parts.  First, the students would find a verse about love in the Bible, write it on a little note, explain it to me, and I would give them a piece of candy.  It quickly became apparent that I underestimated the amount of times love is mentioned in the Bible... and now am quite low on candy.  Ah well, I suppose that's a good problem to have.

The other part of my plan was to have the teachers watch the students for loving behavior and give notes to the kids when they were acting loving.  The kids could then bring these notes to me for a piece of candy.

The students would in turn be watching their teachers to see if they were acting loving, and they could get a piece of candy for their teachers.  It kind of got out of hand when the kids then also wanted to acknowledge their fellow classmates for being loving - but again, I suppose that's a good problem to have.

Then an interesting thing happened the other day. One boy was having a tough week, behavior-wise.  Among other things, this student had begun to mock the smallest boy at the school and call him bad names - and he was promptly kicked out of P.E. class.  I held off on talking to the student because I knew he had a math test coming up, and his volatile anger might throw off his whole day.

It turned out  that he provided the perfect opportunity to talk later on anyhow.  He came up to my desk, very excited to show me a verse about love.  What was his verse?  Ironically he began to read to me the golden rule.  I said, wow, that is a great verse - very important.  What does it mean?  He explained it to me.  And then I said, now, can you tell me about what happened in P.E.?

Ah yes... He caught on pretty quickly to where I was going with this.  And he didn't argue about it.   I told him that, due to his cumulative bad behavior from the week, I was seriously considering not letting him go play baseball during elective.  However, if he could figure out some way we could fix the situation before that time, I'd be willing to hear him out.

Later he came up to me and said he had a solution.  He would apologize to the boy he'd insulted.  I made it clear that it had to be sincere - that it was worthless to do it if he didn't mean it.  He assured me  with a serious expression that he was sincere.  I said alright, and he went off to make his apology.  I then snuck over to the door of his classroom to spot him talking to the little boy.  Then they hugged with smiles on their faces, and I scurried away with a smile on mine.

One day I walked up to my desk to see the above sight.  These boys were getting their verses ready.  Love it :).

The next fruit of the spirit is joy.  I wonder what celebrating that fruit will bring.

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Spare some change?

Wanting to talk to my sister, I called her as I walked out to the highway to wait for a ride to the city.  Right when I hung up, a taxi honked at me from across the street.  An older driver pointed towards the city, asking me if I needed a ride that way.  I pointed that way too and nodded, and he crossed the highway to pick me up.

In Oaxaca, colectivos (taxis that collect people going to a common destination) are painted red and white.  **Photo credit to Nathan Adams - 3 years old  :)

When we went through the nearby town, the taxi filled up with others who were going to the city too.  A middle aged man.  A young woman.  An older woman and her daughter.  The man beside me didn't have the correct change for the fare and asked the driver if he could break a 200 (about $15 USD).  The driver said sure - he needed to stop to gas up and could ask the attendant for change.

We pulled up to the gas pump and the driver told the attendant he wanted 30 liters of gas.  The attendant seemed surprised, so I looked up at the pump to see if that was an unusual amount - but no, the last person had gassed up 30 liters as well.  The driver then asked us all for our fares, which is unusual because in a taxi you usually pay upon getting out.  But, we all paid up.

Then the driver began to get worried.  Did he have enough money?  He began to mumble about how gassing up 30 liters was a mistake as he searched the car for more money.  The gas attendant walked up and said that'd be 394 pesos.  The driver handed him all the money he had found - which was only 300 pesos.

At this point I had begun to think about just giving the poor guy 100 pesos as a gift.  It was only about $7.  But I paused to remember how I, as an American, already seem to have a dollar sign stamped on my forehead.  Vendors veer off their paths to come sell to me.  Bus attendants come to me to break big bills.  Beggars perk up when they see me approach.  I didn't want to be callous, but I did want to be seen as something other than a walking dollar sign.  None of the Mexicans were offering to help and he wasn't asking, so I took my social cue from them and waited.

The driver dug a little deeper and found 89.5 pesos more.  Still 4.5 pesos short (30¢).  The gas attendant wouldn't let it slide.  When the driver finally asked if anyone could loan him 5 pesos, I eagerly gave him what he lacked.  Unfortunately, I still ended up drawing unwanted attention to myself in the process, but I was glad to have finally helped.

So, our driver was completely peso-less as we arrived in the city.  I really didn't mind if he would've forgotten that I loaned him money, especially since it was so little.  But, some passengers got out and a new one got in.  The driver asked if she had correct change.  She did not - only a 50 peso bill.  In order that he could get his fare from her, I quietly passed her change for her 50.  She passed a 10 peso coin up to the driver, and he passed it back to me.  I then gave him a 5 in exchange. 

I was kind of uncomfortable that he paid me back.  The typical American response to someone who has no money is to give them some - but something held me back.  I think it was recognition and respect of him as a businessman instead of someone needing a hand-out.  I don't know if that was the wise and loving thing to do or not.  I hope it was.

What Do You Say Dear?

I have spent a lot of my life being passive aggressive when I am upset with someone - usually more on the passive than the aggressive, but still - it wasn't helpful to anyone.  It is not easy to admit this about myself, but I share it because I am finally learning a different way.

Something clicked a while ago when I was at a movie theater with a friend.  A teenage girl in front of us was texting all through the previews.  When she continued into the movie, the bright light of her cell phone became quite the distraction.  This bothered my friend so much that she began to kick the back of the girl's chair to try to get the message across that she was being rude.

I was very surprised by what my friend did, and didn't see that it was going to help anyone be better off. So I said, "Wait! Don't do that."  I leaned forward and spoke to the girl and she promptly put her phone away and it stayed away for the whole movie.  "What did you say to her?" my friend wanted to know.  Well, I basically said, "Hello.  Hey, your cell phone is really bright and it makes it hard to see the screen." And she put her phone away.

Say - this direct communication thing works pretty well - how about that ;).  So, I've been trying to do that more often.  When I recognize passive aggressive behavior in myself, I pause to really consider what is going on.  Then, if it might help to talk to them about it - I take a deep breath and try going to talk directly to the person that I'm struggling with.

This is a little tricky in the Mexican culture that uses subtle and non-confrontational communication styles (for example, someone will tell you that, yes, they are coming to a party - but depending on the way they phrase it, they might actually be saying they do not plan on coming...).  Despite that, so far this new approach is working well for me.

A few examples:

• I had a case of "Romeo and Juliet" in my English class last year.  I didn't mind it so much until their flirting became a major distraction and their grades started plummeting.  A passive-aggressive approach might've been to get angry with them and hope that they would feel bad once they saw their low grades on the report card.  Instead, I took them aside individually and showed them what was happening to their grades when they were sitting together - revolutionary idea, I know ;).  They both were surprised and began to sit apart on their own - and their grades improved.
• We live in community here - and anyone who has lived with numerous roommates knows the challenge of... let's call them "different standards of living".  One person wants dishes done every night, another person doesn't mind leaving them for a week.  There are many examples of times I've been able to set aside my passive-aggressive nature and talk directly to a roommate - whether it's about cleaning, having guests over, or sharing living spaces.  And an interesting thing has happened.  My roommates begin to talk to me more - either sharing their own frustrations with me or  sincerely asking if they're doing anything else that has been bothering people.
• It even works with kids!  The children behind me in church were being very loud and I was struggling to worship without distraction.  I understand the "let the little children come to me" bit, but these little girls were having a social hour, obsessing loudly over the jewelery and clothes they were wearing. I grew very annoyed with them, until I decided to give talking to them a try.  I leaned over my seat and calmly told the girls that their loud voices were distracting me from singing to God.  Maybe I weirded them out - but they were quiet the rest of the time.

Such simple responses to situations that we make more complicated than need be.  It reminds me of one of my favorite childhood books: What Do You Say, Dear?  In it the author presents crazy situations that seem so confusing and unresolvable.

"You are picking dandelions and columbines outside the castle.  Suddenly a fierce dragon appears and blows red smoke at you, but just then a brave knight gallops up and cuts off the dragon's head.  What do you say, dear?"  But the answer is as simple as, "Thank you."

I'm no expert at this yet, but I'm finding lots of opportunity to practice - sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't.  One key to this process, I believe, is to approach people with a humble spirit.  I know humility is a tricky thing - if you recognize you're humble, you can ironically become prideful of the fact.  But it really is important, and influences the kind of response you receive.

To point out how revolutionary this whole discovery is, I will now share a Bible passage written a few thousand years ago ;).  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother." (Matthew 18:15).

If you too struggle with this, I suggest giving talking to people a try.  Effective communication is a powerful tool.  If you do not struggle with this, please don't judge me too harshly.  Speaking up is hard for some of us.

Photo of the Week: Play ball!

We are blessed to have the staff here help us teach electives for the kids.  So far this year they've gotten to choose from cooking, computers, poetry, theater, dance, anthology, choir, drums, and baseball.  

Though Oaxaca actually has its own baseball team - the Guerreros - baseball is pretty foreign to these kids.  Kicking is much more familiar than throwing.  And catching, well that's not a real developed skill either (though you should see them play soccer - wow).

So, I've loved seeing these kids, after only six classes of baseball, be able to field the ball, go up to bat, and get on base.  Some of the older boys are actually quite good, and were they to have the right training and practice, I can even picture them on the Guerrero team someday. :)

Heartbreaker

He is the new kid at the home and he is adorable.  On Monday I asked him about his friends here, and after only being here for two days, he informed me that he had 10 friends here at the home - though he couldn't remember all their names.  He is small for his age and has a beaming smile whenever he sees someone he knows - which now includes me :).

I don't know what sparked it, but today he began to tell me how he prays for his dad every night now that they have to be apart.  He then told of two memories he has of his mom before she died - one being them playing store and buying things from each other.  He also tells me he has a picture of her hugging him when he was a baby.  Then he runs off to recess - apparently unaware that he just crushed my heart.

Here the kids wait for a ride to their electives.  It began pouring rain just before class started and our gardener was good enough to drive them over.  The one in the red baseball hat is our new little guy.

He came back to spend recess with me.  He is very smart, but behind in several materials.  He offered me one of his spicy chips that they got as a snack.  I decided not to tell him about my food allergies, instead saying I would set it aside to eat later. 

When he went to get his his eraser from his classroom, I slipped the chip back into his bag just before he returned.  Then he told me to hang on a minute, and took his chip bag back to class to his give teacher a chip too.  When he got back, he of course offered me another chip.

Have I mentioned how ridiculously cute these kids have been lately?  We have our tough moments, but these are some special kids we've got here.  May the Lord help us to care for them well.

Bathroom Talk

I spent two summers in college cleaning bathrooms, and I came to the conclusion that boys bathrooms are prone to smell bad, and there's not a lot you can do about it.  Last year, we had issues at the school with... let's say, aim.  One of the male teachers would lecture the boys about it every so often.  But it sometimes seemed like the more attention we paid the problem, the worse it got.

So this year there were a few small incidents, but I was letting it slide.  I thought surely they would get tired of living like that.  But, earlier this week, one of the boys came to tell me that someone had gone all over the floor.  I went to investigate and it was indeed a problem.  I was done hoping they'd figure it out.  These boys needed to take responsibility for how nasty the bathroom was becoming.

But, I didn't know who was doing it.  I could make the boys clean the bathroom as teams, but I didn't know how to chose who would go first and such.  Then an idea came to me.  I'd put a mop and bucket in the doorway and if the boys wanted to use the bathroom, they had to mop first.

I announced the resolution after recess and the boys agreed to comply (although some did say that they would not go to the bathroom while at school - whatever works).  And so it went.  They cleaned and I checked in every so often.  We did this for two days - and suddenly the bathroom was smelling better than I ever thought possible.

I talked to the boys again this morning and said, look, you guys are doing a great job.  The bathroom doesn't smell like urine anymore.  It smells like... flowers :).

I said, now it's up to you.  Do you need to keep mopping, or can you do a better job of keeping the bathroom clean?  And they voted unanimously to... keep mopping!  Come on guys!  This was supposed to be a punishment, not to be enjoyed ;).  Ah well.  I guess more learning took place than I expected.  At least, I hope that's the case.  Time will tell - and I'll keep the mop handy. :)

Photo of the Week: Fall Colors

Posts on Facebook of fall colors have been reminding me that I'm missing out on a beautiful time of the year in Colorado.  However I don't feel the loss for long because the beauty that surrounds me here is pretty spectacular too.  Thank you Lord for the wonders of your Creation.