Category: Mexico

A whole lot of nothin’ going on

Quick run down of the day.

I went over to a friend’s house to help with a computer problem he was having. Ended up being that his DSL modem was fried by lightening. While there, I stopped at the transmission shop next door to have them top of my tranny fluid and tell me I really need to get the fluid changed before I go on my trip. I decided against it. I hope that does not come back to bite me.

I then came home and picked up the wife so that we could do some quick running around. I needed one part for the truck. We swung into a parts store that has always been pretty good about having needed parts for my Chevrolet. They did not have it, but they recommended another store. Even told me which part number I needed. I decided to pick up a fuel filter. I have replaced those way too frequently since being here.

We did more running around and then came home for lunch. I also changed the fuel filter.

I headed downtown to the parts store that should have the sensor I needed. Grabbed the part and looked under the hood to see if I could match it up and change it myself. My mechanic is the one who told me what I needed, therefore I was clueless as to what it did or where it was. Unable to find the part on the truck, I buzzed out to the mechanics house.TPS for 1990 Suburban

The mechanic was home, thankfully. Wrong part. I even looked in the book at the parts store and verified that it was the right part number for my truck. But, that was not it. So with the truck running horribly, I had to go back down town. I got most of the way there and decided to go home and pull the part off the truck since I then knew which part it was.

After stopping at the house and getting the car I then went down town again, but this time with part in hand. They did not have the part. Better yet, they don’t give you your money back either. You only get store credit. That’s not a huge deal since I get stuff from them somewhat regularly, but I was counting on that cash to be able to buy the new part. They had no recommendations for who might have the part, but my mechanic had suggested a place (almost an hour away).

On my way to my mechanic’s suggestion, I decided to try a place where I had scored pretty well before. They did not have it, but recommended two other stores. I hit one and the other was closed. Off to find the store the mechanic suggested. Long story short, after an hour of driving around in the approximate area, I never found it. Really it did not matter. Most parts stores close at 5:00 and it was well after 5:00 by this time. I was just hoping to locate it so that I could make it there tomorrow morning.

Since lunch it has been a 5 hour quest to find this part. Nothing.

Why not call? Well, every parts store I went to shows in their books that my truck needs the exact same part as what I originally bought. If I don’t take in the physical sensor to do a part comparison with, then I won’t get the right part. They can say they have it, but no one really knows until I go in with what I have.

That’s just the way it is. My “to-do” list for today included about a half a dozen things. I accomplished three. 1). Telling my friend that I could not help him fix his Internet connection. 2). Changing the fuel filter. 3). Complaining to you as to how hard it is to get anything accomplished around here.

Missionary Talks 29: Jim Sloan

I am a little late on the announcement, but I put up an interview with Jim Sloan on Monday over at Missionary Talks.

Jim is a missionary whom I met some time back. Although we have been in a few meetings together through the years, I had not had a chance to really sit down and talk with him until last week. I really enjoyed our conversation.

I mentioned over at Missionary Talks that my conversation with Jim would probably change the direction of my ministry. I have already had one friend call me and wanted to make sure that I was not leaving the ministry that I am in. No, that is not the case at all. But, what I learned from Jim is how to more effectively do the ministry that I feel called to do.

My goal in ministry is to establish Deaf works and churches in Latin America. This would be done through training nationals in a short period of time using the sign language from their area. What I learned from Jim (and you can hear the details in the interview) is that I can do this without spending several months in an area all at once. He usually does 3 trips to an area to get a work started. As he lines it out, it makes a lot of sense to me. I will be advantaged in that when I go I will already know the spoken language of the people. I will not have to work through a translator, which I am sure causes Jim to have to spend more time making things clear.

One advantage that Jim has over me (though I am getting there) is age. One of the basic rules that (current) missionaries live by is that we, as missionaries, are not rulers over the nationals. We are co-workers in the ministry. With this I heartily agree. But there are times that, as the teacher or mentor, you have to take the stand that you are the authority on the subject. You are teaching someone something that they do not know. They will need to look to you as the authority, and you really need to handle that situation as if you are the one in control. Sometimes we missionaries work so hard to make the national our co-laborer, that we forget that someone has to be the teacher.

The reason Jim’s ministry works as well as it does, is he goes into the work with the understanding that he is the teacher…he is the boss. He is not there to control and make demands of the people, yet he does know how the ministry needs to work. He has a limited time to train them in the ministry. Again, I think his age helps with that.

It seems that missionaries today (and I am guilty of this) want to be the co-worker and not be the authority. But, the secular world does not have a problem with this mentality and neither should we as missionaries. A new restaurant opened up here in town recently. It was no surprise to walk in there and see a group of Americans in charge of telling everyone how to do their job. They were there to train the nationals in how to run the restaurant. When we went back a few weeks later, there were no Americans and the locals were in charge of everything. The same scenario can, and should, work in the ministry.

How, then, does this affect me? I still have my same goal in ministry, but how I go about it may be a bit different than what I had imagined. I will now plan shorter trips into areas to prepare the people before I actually get a ministry started.

It changes nothing about our ministry where we are today. The purpose for being here for so long is different than our future ministry. This is still training time for us. But, we are affectively doing the ministry while we are still studying the language and culture.

Happy 4th of July!

I spent last week in the US of A. It was a great time. Though I don’t mind at all being where God wants me to be in my ministry, last week showed me why I am glad to be an American.

It could be that I just understand the culture better, but it is my culture and it makes me proud. One cultural difference that frustrated me when I got here (and still does, but not as much) is the whole waiting in line issue. The way it is done in the United States is that people form a casual line always understanding who is in front of them. You don’t have to line up with one person’s nose stuck to the back of the person’s head in front of them. Also lines are wide. Enough for 2 or 3 people to stand side by side and talk.

Mexico works differently. Whoever has their hands on the counter is next. If you are patiently waiting for the person in front of you (which is only ever done by me) then people will lean around you to put their hand on the counter. Out of necessity, lines have to be cordoned off so that it is only wide enough for one person. Otherwise you have people pushing through the line to get their hands on the counter.

I was in a store last week where there were 6 or 7 people casually standing around waiting for a cashier. There were 3 cashiers, so we just took turns until you knew you were there before the next guy. No one complained and no one tried to cut in front of anyone else. How refreshing.

Comparatively, Mexicans stand in many more lines than we do in the US. Yet, they have not learned basic kindergarten courtesy when it comes to standing in a line.

I know that may seem like an insignificant thing to be thankful for, but after you have been pushed out of your place in line twice a day for three years, it is refreshing to be able to stand in line without being assaulted.

Happy 4th! Be proud of your culture.

Flight home to cap off the trip

When I finished my half marathon run in the morning, I got back to the hotel to find my ride to the airport already waiting for me. I had not even begun to pack. I asked him to give me 20 minutes so that I could get showered and packed.

I accomplished it all in my time frame. I got back down to the lobby and he said that we were a bit early to leave yet. So we sat there for almost an hour. Enough time for me to have visited the running store down the road to see if they had something that I just could not live without. Since he did not tell me that we would be waiting, I did not get a chance to go. (The Deaf are not known for being the most thoughtful communicators). But, that is the way life goes when you are being served by someone else.

My plane from LA to Mexico City was packed. I sat in the middle of three seats between a grandmother and middle aged lady. They both are US born citizens with Mexican heritage. Neither one speaks English, though they have lived in the US all their lives. I will say nothing more other than, frustrating.

The grandmother had to leave her 2 grandchildren behind (based on her age, they would be adult grandchildren) because they did not have all the proper paperwork to fly. They have applied for passports, but the passport offices are very far behind on filling orders. As a result, she had been crying when I sat down beside her.

I was just being me and tried to be kind to her, just as I would anyone else, and she really latched on to me. She loved the fact that I spoke about God like He was my friend and that I showed a concern about her situation. Needless to say, I was being kissed, like only a grandmother can, before our plane was even off the ground.

I made it to Mexico without too many more kisses.

Then I had to stand in the immigration line. I will forego the details in an effort to not incriminate myself in case I have done something wrong. Needless to say, I need to visit the local immigration office to straighten some stuff out. I may be able to blog about it later. Maybe not.

Immigration took over an hour and a half. By the time I got through, my plane should have already left 20 minutes earlier. I ran to the closest counter for my airline and asked them if the plane had left yet. I really had no hope that it was still there, but it was worth asking. It was!

He told me I needed to run down to the other end of the concourse to see if the plane had boarded yet. Remember that 13.27 mile run I did earlier in the day? I was feeling it by 9:00 that night. Plus I was then carrying a 25 pound backpack. I ran, but I probably did not set any records.

As soon as I got there and told them my name the lady behind the counter yelled out, “He’s here! Let’s go!” They had not even started boarding everyone else while they were waiting for me. I guess since my flight from LA to Merida was a direct flight with just a stop in Mexico to do Immigration, they held the plan until the last person made it through.

We arrived just over an hour late.

Picnic at the Aquarium

Yesterday afternoon we had a banquet on the lawn of the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a fancy catered meal. We had dinner rolls, chicken breast, baked beans, tortillas, corn on the cob (probably the best I have ever eaten), fajitas all followed up by ice-cream novelty bars.

We then had free reign of the aquarium. It is not an overly large aquarium, but it was nicely laid out. They made good use of their space.

I then left the group after a quick run through the fish and headed out on my own. Though I have some good friends here, they all had much tighter relationships with this particular group. Some ofPicnic on the lawn these pastors and attendees have been meeting together annually for 27 years. This is my first time to attend this conference. I am definitely the outsider. So, I did not feel bad about taking off and leaving everyone behind.

Just outside of the aquarium area is a large shopping complex. It is not quite like a mall, more like an outlet store complex, except the stores are not outlet stores. A big jumble of just about anything high end. One of the more interesting stores I saw was the Segway store. You could rent a Segway for a few hours or all day. They were also a dealership. For $6K you could have a nice decked out machine.

I then buzzed over to Borders Books. I was pleasantly surprised by something that I had not experienced in a while. I went into the bookstore with my backpack. Being a good Mexican, I went right up to the front counter and asked them where I needed to store my bag. The lady looked at me funny and said that I did not have to leave it at the desk. That was a surprise to me after living here for 3 years. Every store here has a package counter where you have to drop off your carry in items before entering the merchandise area. I was suddenly brought back to a thought that I had 3 years ago, but had forgotten. Here in Mexico (at least in the stores) it is assumed that everyone is a thief. In the US, it is assumed that no one is. The truth is that in the US there are more high tech ways of catching someone at shoplifting than there are here. So you are still assumed to be a thief in the US, but as a regular consumer, you just don’t notice it.

I then made my way back to the church and asked for directions on taking the metro train/bus back to my hotel. One thing I have learned in Mexico is that you don’t ask someone for directions if they are walking. They are walking because they don’t drive. I should have used that knowledge to help me get back to my hotel. I asked a man in the church how to take the train/bus back to the hotel. Don’t ask someone who drives for directions on how to use public transportation.

He told me to buy an “all day” ticket when I got on the train. That would allow me to get on and off as many times as I needed for the day. Then I could use the same ticket to take the bus from the train station to my hotel. Not quite true. I ended up paying for 3 train rides (though I only rode once) buying that ticket and still had to pay for the bus. There is an all day ticket for the bus too. But, they are two separate systems. So you have to pay a fare on each.

I got back to my hotel just fine though. I had a bit of time to get ready for my sermon that night. I was pleased that, even though I was not originally on the speaking schedule, they let me preach. The man that I was supposed to serve as interpreter was not able to make the conference. Therefore, they let me speak in his place. It was an honor.