Passion Mexico City

Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city.

Ok... here I am catching up! Passion Mexico was INCREDIBLE! It was a massive time of excitement and blessing for our uni students and leaders. Just before lunch on the 3rd of October we all piled into our hired bus and headed on down to Mexico City with a group of 25 students from Queretaro.
Chilling out on the journey, we got ready for a big weekend. Finally all the stress and work of preparing was making sense, God was and is control of every detail! We arrived in Mexico City and checked into the hotel in the centre of the city before heading out to the first session of Passion Mexico City!!!! Wow!!

The event was excellent. I was impressed by the way everything was directed and done in the name of Jesus Christ. There was no other name lifted up, praised, exalted, promoted, except for Jesus. I was refreshed to once again hear the story of God's grace presented to a group of uni students that desperately need to take hold of the depth and amazingness of a God who offers us unmerited forgiveness as a free gift.

Friday night we ate convenience store food and a few brave young people tried the tacos outside the convenience store... bad planned, but hey, we ate okay.

I felt a few tests of my leadership thoughout the weekend, having to make some quick and tough decisions to lead the group, but God was right there beside me guiding me and helping me.

I was blessed by God's hand in everything and saw him working to transform lives. We had a new girl who came with us - Alexandra - who hasn't yet accepted Christ, but God is working in her life.

You can actually read a little more of the individual stories here at Jessica's blog... she did the hard work of writing down a big story so I thought I might sponge off her a bit..

Here is a video of the introduction... an amazing moment!

We all had fun, were encouraged, lifted up and challenged to be the generation that lives for the name and renoun of Jesus Christ. That's what my life is for, that's why I'm here in Mexico!!


Oh yes... and when they mentioned Australia, I yelled and screamed for all of us and I am pretty sure that I was the only Aussie there!!

Way behind!

Hey all... I haven't died, disappeared or got a tropical disease... I'm still here. Just got a lot of things that I'm juggling right now. Thanks for your prayers and emails, I appreciate keeping in contact! Soon, I'm going to give you all an update on what's been happening... here is what you can expect:

• A song that God allowed me to write with a friend to express our pastor's journey
• Passion Mexico City - wow! how amazing is our God!
• Yes, I'm feeling better... but still laying off the tacos ahhh!
• Lots planned for uni students here in Queretaro

In the middle of all that is going on, I have a distinct peace in Jesus that He has everything in control and is looking after the busyness of life here. He has a purpose and a plan for me here and he is showing me how much is mercies are new EVERY morning and His faithfulness is MASSIVE!

Ok... going to help one of the young people paint their apartment... see ya soon!

Busy

Hey all,

I haven't forgotten my blog, just pretty busy keeping up with things at the moment. Passion Mexico City is in 9 days and getting ready for that is keeping me very busy and a little stressed trying to get everything under control with logistics (I think I am the ideas person and need someone around me who is really good at organising events). The IT Adviser in me made a cool spreadsheet to work out the costs though... Matt O'Keefe would be proud...
Got a cool God story to share about the weekend, but will have to wait for the moment. Been a bit sick in the stomach over the weekend and until Monday but feeling better now.

Will keep in touch!

¡Viva Mexico!

These were the words that resounded in our ears as we celebrated the shout that started the Mexican revolution that subsequently led to Mexico's independence in 1810 which we celebrate on September 15 (the shout) and 16 (Independence Day).  Last night at approximately 12am, we had our "grito" and shouted Viva Mexico!  Viva!... and so on with the names of the Heros of Independence... and finally Viva Jesucristo... VIVA!

Jean Paul gritando Viva Mexico

Plaza de Armas all decked out for the party

Here's where it all started!

I celebrated the occasion with some close friends and we had a night of Mexican celebrations which I think helped me become even more Mexican... check out the photo...

We ate pozole and enchiladas which are both VERY Mexican and danced some very Mexican dances.  It was cool to see my friends dressed up in traditional Mexican dress from different parts of the republic - Jalisco etc...

The dancers

Traditional Mexican dress with Ruthie, Lucio, Sandy and Romi... (ok, the moustache isn't part of it... that was mine!)

So next year, look out - the celebration of Mexican Independence Day is coming to you - get into it!!!  

¡Una boda! The wedding of Jessica and Jean Paul

On the 9th of August, one of our team members got married! Jessica tied the knot with Jean Paul in a fun and meaningful ceremony at Horizonte. I played drums in the wedding (I think that's at least three weddings now "the wedding drummer") and also helped out with the serving at the party. Congratulations JP and Jessi!!

From Boda de Jessi y JP

From Boda de Jessi y JP

From Boda de Jessi y JP

God’s Way Camp

Cruising down the highway for Cuernavarca, I didn't have any idea of how fantastic the weekend would be. After a quick stop-off in the city of Cuernavarca for the comida, and following some of the organisers down the wrong road (they were collecting the signs they had put on the road giving incorrect directions to the camp hehe), we arrived at Camp Kikoten.

Camp Kikoten is just out of Cuernavarca which is about 45 minutes or a bit more south of Mexico City. The theme of the camp was 1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

One of the most impacting times for me was in the Friday night session when we had a time of worship and we sang (in Spanish) the song "Lord I Give You My Heart". This song was the song I chose for my baptism just about 10 years ago. It connected with me in a new way as I remembered how God has brought me through so many things to arrive here and that he has much more in store for my life. I can't believe that I'm here in Mexico, serving Him, being used to impact the lives of others. God is growing me lots and in that moment I remembered once again that I have to leave everything in God's hands, let go of my own pride and let God work. After I spent a little time reflecting and writing some things down that I wanted to say to God, I felt so much joy and freedom! I wanted to shout out how good God is! It was something really cool for me and another step in my journey with God.

The rest of the weekend was awesome also – a great balance of fun activities and great bible teaching. My favourite was a talk on love and purity by Jaime Foote (www.semillacuerna.com) which was very relevant and impacting for us blokes.

Check out some of the photos!

¡Sezza en Mexico!

Last week I had the excitement of another visitor from Australia – Sezza B! Unfortunately, her flight was cancelled last Sunday, so she ended up only having three short days in Mexico! However, we did our best to pack the mexperience into those three days.

Quick note: Mexico City now has two airport terminals, T2 is actually a new terminal (absolutely amazing actually!) that is separated from the other one and you have to take an aerotrain or bus to get to the other one. That caused a bit of fun when picked Sezza up from the airport as things weren’t the same as two years ago!

Anyway, on Tuesday we ventured out into the big wide world of Mexico City for a whirlwind tour of some of the city sights. After passing by the Angel of Independence, we had breakfast at the historical Sanbornes in el centro, then on to the Palace of Bellas Artes to look at some interesting (and some kinda crazy out-there) Mexican art exhibitions.

After feeling nice and arty farty, we headed through the crowded streets to reach the Zocolo which is the main square, surrounded by historical government buildings. Zocolo is used for a range of events from big concerts to protests to showing off the new Mexico City tram that’s going to be put into service. On one side of the Zocolo is the Iglesia Principal (main church) in Mexico City. We went inside to have a look and it is HUGE! I found that there is a Saint Felipe who was the patron saint of youth which I thought was pretty cool...

After that we started looking for a market I went to two years ago, but unfortunately it’s been cleaned up, so we chatted to an information guy who ended up being a tour guide trying to sell us tours, but we ended up with a cheap ride to the arts market and later to the bus station.

Rocking our way back to Queretaro by bus, we headed out for a farewell pozole for Nolan at Job and Sandy’s house. The pozole was great and Sezza was impressed (if not a little overwhelmed) by a big Mexican cena. After dinner we jammed out some worship songs with Job and Nolan on guitars and me playing the makeshift djembe on a water cooler container (sounds really cool!).

On Wednesday we went for a lap of the Queretaro sights and sounds taking in Theatre of the Republic (where the Mexican constitution was signed), el centro including the plazas and gardens and andadors, some quick shopping, Templo de la Cruz and the convent and finally los arcos!

Wednesday night after our uni students event, we headed out for some authentic Mexican tacos at Tacos Francia and Sezza really got into those tacos de pastor. It was Nolan’s (by the way, Nolan is a mate from Atlanta who has been a missionary here for over two years) last night in Mexico so there were a stack of young people hanging out, which turned into arm wrestles on the pavement – goodtimes!

Then Thursday flew by with a late brekky, a bit of a wait to go out and some rapid shopping for souvenirs before rushing to the bus station a little stressed but all good. Sezza came and went on her whirlwind tour of Mexico!