1. Those who say they're coming to "work," have to apply for an FM3.
2. Those who say they're coming to help their church may have to apply for an FM3 through their church.
3. Americans who overstay their visas have to pay a fine based on their length of stay after their expiration date (or not).
4. The Mexican immigration system is inconsistent in its explanations and its requirements.
5. When in distress, call the US Embassy sooner rather than later. They speak your language, they're there to help you, and they have helpful information.
6. No amount of sweet-talking, bullying or cajoling will render the desired response if Mexican immigration officials think they need more paperwork.
7. All things come together for good for those who love God according to God's purposes. (Okay, so we already knew that, but we had to be reminded!)
8. We're grateful to have been free to visit the US and will return to Mexico to continue God's work, having faith that we are serving God according to God's purposes.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Fertile Ground vs. Shark-infested Waters (Part II)
So, our primary lesson through this experience has been "God will provide." God provided for us once again, but this time, I was totally surprised! As I mentioned in the other entry, I agreed to tread into dangerous waters at the Pastor's Conference by introducing the idea of addiction/alcoholism as a disease. This was, indeed, risky in Mexico.
Mexican Presbyterians (and perhaps other Protestants as well) take a very definitive position about alcohol use. It's not allowed....period. Abstinence from all alcohol is one of the ways in which Mexican Presbyterians witness to others that walking the path of Christianity is decidedly different from others, including Catholics, in their midst. Yes....Catholics.
You see, Catholicism in Southern Mexico is a variation on the Catholicism of the Roman Catholic Church. Mayan Catholicism can be loosely described as a hybrid of the practices of the ancient Mayan animists and Catholicism as introduced by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico. Mayan Catholics may wear crosses and rosary beads like Roman Catholics, but they may also sacrifice animals at the alters of Catholic churches in Chiapas, persecute and even kill Protestants, and celebrate "saints days" by getting drunk and partying in the streets. Protestants distinguish themselves from Mayan Catholics by their behavior which does NOT include drinking, smoking or dancing. Presbyterian churches also practice "church discipline," intervening when members engage in behavior unbecoming of Christians.
As a professional counselor with considerable experience in the field of addictions, I've always worried about the Mexican Presbyterian church's position about alcohol, primarily because I know the church is regularly baptising "new Christians." These "new Christians" may be very genuine in their decision to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and to embrace all the practices of the church. But what about the person who is well traveled on the road of alcoholism? Can pastors understand it if their genuine commitments to abstinence from alcohol use are unsuccessful? Will they embrace them with the love of Christ or will they chastise them for failing to live up to the behavioral expectations of Christians?
And so it was that I introduced addiction as a disease to the pastors at the pastors' conference. And once again, God provided. I gave the academic explanations, but the pastors had a chance to see the real thing. The pastors got a chance to meet a real, living Christian who had walked the path of active addiction and recovery. Let me back up...
I welcomed a new group to Ocosingo, and I mentioned that several of us would be presenting workshops at the Pastors' Conference. I referenced my plan to address alcoholism and the role of the church in addressing the problems of addiction. Later, a member of the group approached me to volunteer to speak about their own experiences of addiction, recovery and the role of the church. Now....prior to that week, to my knowledge we only had 1 actively recovering person visit Mexico this year. This 2nd person made the ratio 2:225. That there was a recovering person present at all when I spoke on this topic is miraculous. That the recovering person revealed themselves (thus breaking their own anonymity, a key principle of Alcoholics Anonymous) was another miracle. That this person volunteered to share of their experience, strength and hope with the pastors was another miracle.
Once again, God did, indeed, provide. God provided someone to share how they became addicted despite believing in God and being actively involved in a church....how they experienced rejection by a fiercely-conservative church during a time of great emotional distress....how they benefitted from a church-provided space for AA meetings....how they have found support in both the church and AA for a life of 15-years of recovery...and how they have grown in their faith through both addiction AND recovery.
God provided a living, breathing, faith-professing example for our discussion. With God's help, we can hope that the pastors have a new understanding and newfound compassion for those suffering from active addiction and how important it is for churches to be a part of the solution. Thanks be to God!
Mexican Presbyterians (and perhaps other Protestants as well) take a very definitive position about alcohol use. It's not allowed....period. Abstinence from all alcohol is one of the ways in which Mexican Presbyterians witness to others that walking the path of Christianity is decidedly different from others, including Catholics, in their midst. Yes....Catholics.
You see, Catholicism in Southern Mexico is a variation on the Catholicism of the Roman Catholic Church. Mayan Catholicism can be loosely described as a hybrid of the practices of the ancient Mayan animists and Catholicism as introduced by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico. Mayan Catholics may wear crosses and rosary beads like Roman Catholics, but they may also sacrifice animals at the alters of Catholic churches in Chiapas, persecute and even kill Protestants, and celebrate "saints days" by getting drunk and partying in the streets. Protestants distinguish themselves from Mayan Catholics by their behavior which does NOT include drinking, smoking or dancing. Presbyterian churches also practice "church discipline," intervening when members engage in behavior unbecoming of Christians.
As a professional counselor with considerable experience in the field of addictions, I've always worried about the Mexican Presbyterian church's position about alcohol, primarily because I know the church is regularly baptising "new Christians." These "new Christians" may be very genuine in their decision to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and to embrace all the practices of the church. But what about the person who is well traveled on the road of alcoholism? Can pastors understand it if their genuine commitments to abstinence from alcohol use are unsuccessful? Will they embrace them with the love of Christ or will they chastise them for failing to live up to the behavioral expectations of Christians?
And so it was that I introduced addiction as a disease to the pastors at the pastors' conference. And once again, God provided. I gave the academic explanations, but the pastors had a chance to see the real thing. The pastors got a chance to meet a real, living Christian who had walked the path of active addiction and recovery. Let me back up...
I welcomed a new group to Ocosingo, and I mentioned that several of us would be presenting workshops at the Pastors' Conference. I referenced my plan to address alcoholism and the role of the church in addressing the problems of addiction. Later, a member of the group approached me to volunteer to speak about their own experiences of addiction, recovery and the role of the church. Now....prior to that week, to my knowledge we only had 1 actively recovering person visit Mexico this year. This 2nd person made the ratio 2:225. That there was a recovering person present at all when I spoke on this topic is miraculous. That the recovering person revealed themselves (thus breaking their own anonymity, a key principle of Alcoholics Anonymous) was another miracle. That this person volunteered to share of their experience, strength and hope with the pastors was another miracle.
Once again, God did, indeed, provide. God provided someone to share how they became addicted despite believing in God and being actively involved in a church....how they experienced rejection by a fiercely-conservative church during a time of great emotional distress....how they benefitted from a church-provided space for AA meetings....how they have found support in both the church and AA for a life of 15-years of recovery...and how they have grown in their faith through both addiction AND recovery.
God provided a living, breathing, faith-professing example for our discussion. With God's help, we can hope that the pastors have a new understanding and newfound compassion for those suffering from active addiction and how important it is for churches to be a part of the solution. Thanks be to God!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Fertile Ground or Shark-infested Waters? (Part 1)
This week, 2 group members and I had the honor of teaching courses in an annual pastor's conference for the Maya Synod. The event draws about 30 pastors and their families to the bible school for 2 weeks of study, fellowship and time away from their usual responsibilities. Having a group of 24 Americans, 8 Mexican paramedics, construction workers, our staff & family, and all those pastors and their families really taxed the resources of the bible school, but we pulled it off.
Mexican pastors are an interesting lot. They are incredible servants with huge responsibilities. They typically pastor 2-3 churches, with each church having spun-off or planted 5-15 small congregations and/or tiny missions. The vocabulary is a bit different than what we're used to, but suffice it to say that churches are big, start other worship gatherings, and are responsible for the church (larger), it's congregations (medium-sized) and it's missions (usually 10-50 participants in worship). Although elders in all 3 sized gatherings help with preaching and day-to-day congregational care, the pastors are expected to visit all of the above and do their best to meet the demands of each. One little tidbit....session meetings are held monthly and typically last 3 days!
With all that responsibility, Mexican pastors also very authoritative. They command a huge amount of respect, are often waited on hand-and-foot by women, are prone to not respect women's intelligence, and often have bought into the notion that they really do know everything. To offer up new information to pastors can feel intimidating, even to the most seasoned teachers. Which brings me to our week... 3 American women, teaching 12 hours worth of content with translation by Pablo. While we were admittedly a little anxious that we might be venturing into shark-infested waters, we prepared ourselves to share important information with pastors with the fervent hope and prayer that we would be sowing seeds in fertile ground.
Penny Musson from N. Wilkesboro, NC has been participating in medical missions in Mexico for at least 5 summers. She has seen literally thousands of patients, loves the Tzeltal people, and hoped to share some important insights from her experiences here in hopes of reducing incidents of water-borne illnesses and other illnesses that can be prevented with better personal hygiene. She was joined by another highly experienced nurse and fellow group member, Margie Turner. They'd prepared for weeks but were feeling a little anxious about the audience. "Oh, it'll be fine!" I reassured her. To me, Penny & Margie's topics of community health, personal hygiene and handwashing seemed so benign and obviously important that I couldn't imagine them getting any flack from the pastors. I was worried for myself though, because I knew that I would be introducing very controversial information about alcoholism as a disease later on in the week.
Well, wouldn't you know it?! One pastor just had to take the benign and turn it into a theological discussion about the different biblical positions on the practice of handwashing! He challenged our teachers as if they were biblical scholars, wanting them to defend their recommendations biblically! For heavens sakes! These women were simply trying to help people avoid getting worms, amoebas and other things that make them unnecessarily sick! The atmosphere in the room went sour fast! The only saving grace was that it was at the end of the Tuesday session. All 3 American women walked away angry, defensive and highly guarded about proceeding with our part in the conference.
As it turned out, we were able to comfort ourselves and regroup sufficiently to resume our discussion the next day. Pablo was helpful in that, and he is the one who pointed out to that the source of the challenge was a "young whipper-snapper." Clearly this phenomenon is not unique to American culture! The next day, Penny returned to the classroom, armed with a strong biblical response to the young whipper-snapper, and prepared to move on with other topics --- hoping and praying that we would not have a repeat of Day One! Well, sure enough, Young Whipper-Snapper bowed out of that day's session, and his colleagues discreetly expressed their sympathies to Margie and Penny for the behavior of their colleague and encouraged them to proceed with the day's topics. Day Two, Three and Four went beautifully, and when Young Whipper-Snapper returned and was rebutted, he thanked Penny for her well-thought-out and biblically-defensible response. Even my sessions on Stress Management (which challenged them to be able to say "no" to some requests), Alcoholism as a Disease (worthy of the same kind of compassion as other diseases) and Pastoral Counseling (as a counseling approach rather than telling people what do) were all seemingly well-received.
As a teaching team, we found the fertile ground, but perhaps not until after we swam through some waters infested with at least 1 shark. God truly challenged each of us in different ways as we sought to share information with these Tzeltal pastors. In the end, I believe that our seeds did fall on fertile soil, that they did seem to consider some new ways of looking at old issues, and that our time together was valuable. For us as teachers, we learned to be prepared to face biblical challenges to modern conventional wisdom, to resist getting pulled out of our area of expertise, and to find ways to entice Mexican pastors to want to hear more about what we had to say. We as teachers grew. Hopefully they as pastors grew. Thanks be to God.
Mexican pastors are an interesting lot. They are incredible servants with huge responsibilities. They typically pastor 2-3 churches, with each church having spun-off or planted 5-15 small congregations and/or tiny missions. The vocabulary is a bit different than what we're used to, but suffice it to say that churches are big, start other worship gatherings, and are responsible for the church (larger), it's congregations (medium-sized) and it's missions (usually 10-50 participants in worship). Although elders in all 3 sized gatherings help with preaching and day-to-day congregational care, the pastors are expected to visit all of the above and do their best to meet the demands of each. One little tidbit....session meetings are held monthly and typically last 3 days!
With all that responsibility, Mexican pastors also very authoritative. They command a huge amount of respect, are often waited on hand-and-foot by women, are prone to not respect women's intelligence, and often have bought into the notion that they really do know everything. To offer up new information to pastors can feel intimidating, even to the most seasoned teachers. Which brings me to our week... 3 American women, teaching 12 hours worth of content with translation by Pablo. While we were admittedly a little anxious that we might be venturing into shark-infested waters, we prepared ourselves to share important information with pastors with the fervent hope and prayer that we would be sowing seeds in fertile ground.
Penny Musson from N. Wilkesboro, NC has been participating in medical missions in Mexico for at least 5 summers. She has seen literally thousands of patients, loves the Tzeltal people, and hoped to share some important insights from her experiences here in hopes of reducing incidents of water-borne illnesses and other illnesses that can be prevented with better personal hygiene. She was joined by another highly experienced nurse and fellow group member, Margie Turner. They'd prepared for weeks but were feeling a little anxious about the audience. "Oh, it'll be fine!" I reassured her. To me, Penny & Margie's topics of community health, personal hygiene and handwashing seemed so benign and obviously important that I couldn't imagine them getting any flack from the pastors. I was worried for myself though, because I knew that I would be introducing very controversial information about alcoholism as a disease later on in the week.
Well, wouldn't you know it?! One pastor just had to take the benign and turn it into a theological discussion about the different biblical positions on the practice of handwashing! He challenged our teachers as if they were biblical scholars, wanting them to defend their recommendations biblically! For heavens sakes! These women were simply trying to help people avoid getting worms, amoebas and other things that make them unnecessarily sick! The atmosphere in the room went sour fast! The only saving grace was that it was at the end of the Tuesday session. All 3 American women walked away angry, defensive and highly guarded about proceeding with our part in the conference.
As it turned out, we were able to comfort ourselves and regroup sufficiently to resume our discussion the next day. Pablo was helpful in that, and he is the one who pointed out to that the source of the challenge was a "young whipper-snapper." Clearly this phenomenon is not unique to American culture! The next day, Penny returned to the classroom, armed with a strong biblical response to the young whipper-snapper, and prepared to move on with other topics --- hoping and praying that we would not have a repeat of Day One! Well, sure enough, Young Whipper-Snapper bowed out of that day's session, and his colleagues discreetly expressed their sympathies to Margie and Penny for the behavior of their colleague and encouraged them to proceed with the day's topics. Day Two, Three and Four went beautifully, and when Young Whipper-Snapper returned and was rebutted, he thanked Penny for her well-thought-out and biblically-defensible response. Even my sessions on Stress Management (which challenged them to be able to say "no" to some requests), Alcoholism as a Disease (worthy of the same kind of compassion as other diseases) and Pastoral Counseling (as a counseling approach rather than telling people what do) were all seemingly well-received.
As a teaching team, we found the fertile ground, but perhaps not until after we swam through some waters infested with at least 1 shark. God truly challenged each of us in different ways as we sought to share information with these Tzeltal pastors. In the end, I believe that our seeds did fall on fertile soil, that they did seem to consider some new ways of looking at old issues, and that our time together was valuable. For us as teachers, we learned to be prepared to face biblical challenges to modern conventional wisdom, to resist getting pulled out of our area of expertise, and to find ways to entice Mexican pastors to want to hear more about what we had to say. We as teachers grew. Hopefully they as pastors grew. Thanks be to God.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
ssssPsych!!!! (Immigration Update)
Okay, so we finally got the letter from Immigration that says that we are "en tramite" or "in process." Ginny thought the letter could be used as a permit to use when crossing the border and that it would explain that the Mexican government has our passports, etc. No such luck. It simply is a document that says that we´re in the process of getting a change in our immigration status, and we have to take that permit to another government facility to apply for a permit to travel. We have to get a permit to be able to LEAVE Mexico, while they decide if we can STAY in Mexico for more than 6 months at a time. Ugh!!! The process seems interminable, and our travel dates for visiting NC are fast approaching.
Please pray for John and Francisco (AKA Leek, the Leek or Paco) as they try to get a permit from the Immigration office in San Cristobal on Tuesday. May the process be smooth, successful and uneventful (which also means that we´re praying John doesn´t lose his cool!).
Paz en Cristo,
Ginny
Please pray for John and Francisco (AKA Leek, the Leek or Paco) as they try to get a permit from the Immigration office in San Cristobal on Tuesday. May the process be smooth, successful and uneventful (which also means that we´re praying John doesn´t lose his cool!).
Paz en Cristo,
Ginny
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
June/July MX Mission Update
This summer is shaping up to be everything we have prayed for and more!
General Mission Update:
General Mission Update:
- Mission groups from across the US have arrived each week, ready to serve and eager to grow through the mission experience. I THINK that the groups were representative of 25 churches, 114 people, and the great states of Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida. Together we have poured tons and tons of cement, moved mountains (literally) and made meaningful relationships across cultures and languages with brothers and sisters in Christ from across Mexico.
- Summer intern, Lora Nelson, has proven to be a wonderful addition to our team of volunteers working with groups and a wonderful addition to our family this summer. We celebrated her 17th birthday together and have enjoyed watching God continue to work in and through her. She was joined by adult volunteers, David Meacham from Hickory and Andrea Plakmeyer from Raleigh, who were also true blessings to have on-board this summer.
- We will wrap up our very fruitful summer by hosting 1 more mission group who join us from 1st Pres No. Wilkesboro (NC).
- We hope to join with the special efforts of Danielle Cullen (NC) to further explore water testing and purification efforts here in Chiapas. Special thanks to Danielle for her fund-raising efforts in this area. Together with the Rotary Well-Drilling Project, we hope to improve the health and well-being of numerous communities by providing resources to have cleaner drinking water.
- We will be helping with programs and hospitality for the bible school´s annual pastor´s conference in August. This event will include some community health training and a medical clinic for pastors and their families, provided by the team from North Wilkesboro, NC. Ginny will be discussing counseling, addictions and spiritual gifts, and Gray Clark from Fellowship Presbyterian (NC) will be traveling down to provide a 1-week pastoral self-care training for Mexican pastors.
Manos de Cristo Update (Medical Clinic):
- FINALLY! The impasse over roof design was resolved, and the HUGE project was completed as we poured all 37 tons of cement for the roof over Phase I of the clinic! Teams of Mexicans and Americans from all across the US pitched in to complete literally thousands of rebar ties (to reinforce the cement) and to pour cement for the whole roof over 2 incredible nights/days. Read more on the blog entries, ¨What a Difference 24 Hours Makes,¨¨Brothers & Goats," and a final entry to be written about last Thursday´s second BIG POUR for more details.
- As the cement roof is curing, American teams will be building furniture for the clinic and helping with foundation prep for Phase II of the clinic. We will need to leave the wooden forms in place until the end of August before we´ll be able to start with interior framing, but it´s exciting to know that we are finally "under roof!"
Family Update:
- Immigration hassles continue to pose serious challenges for our family as we await approval of our FM3s (temporary religious worker permits). For all those who emailed in your words of encouragement, support and prayers, thank you so much! It has meant so much to us to know that so many folks have been praying with and for us. Read more about this in blog entries ¨Bureaucratic Mess,¨¨That´s Why We Call them Bureaucracies,¨ "Immigration Issues Getting More Frustrating,¨ and soon "Psych!" We´ll definitely keep you posted, but for now, thanks for your prayers and assistance. Special thanks to Kristi Rolison, Harless & Anne Wright, Leslie and other staff at Sanford Holshouser, and Tom & Penny Musson for your assistance with documents.
- Everyone´s healthy and happy!
- We have a new puppy! Pablo decided that our family didn´t have enough to do, so he invited our family to care for a black and white puppy, aptly named "Oreo." He´ll be with us until we wrap up our missionary service here next August and then will continue to live at the bible school. In the meantime though, we still miss our beloved Corgi, Baxter, and thank Rick Sigler and his family for taking such good care of him in our absence!
- After 13 straight weeks of working with all the mission groups, our family will be headed to NC for some much-needed R&R and time with family and friends in mid-August. Let´s just hope all the immigration stuff works out!
- While in NC, we are currently planning to visit First Presbyterian churches in Mount Airy, Boone and Pilot Mountain for informal discussions. We welcome opportunities to share more about our ministry at your church for week night programs or small group discussions, so please let us know if you´d like to have us come to your church. We hope to be in NC from August 14th through September 12th.
Prayers:
- For God to continue opening doors of opportunity for us to serve
- For short-term missionaries from the US who have traveled to Mexico with groups this year. May they continue to reflect on their experiences and may those experiences move them to be watching for opportunities to serve in their own backyards.
- Special prayers for Lora Nelson and her family as she re-enters the US culture next weekend after spending her whole summer in Mexico.
- For short-term missionaries from the US who are preparing to travel to Mexico with groups this year. May they prepare themselves to serve and be served, bless and be blessed, and to come to Mexico with willing hands, open minds and loving hearts.
- Of support and comfort for those coping with losses in their families including, but not limited to David Meacham for the loss of his father, for the Prosser Family and all the Wake Forest University family for the loss of Coach Skip Prosser, Katie Yarbrough for the loss of her stepmother, and Dewey Yarborough for the loss of his sister.
- Of support and encouragement for those coping with illness or injury and their families, including Dot Hurley, Donna Painter, Pastor Andrès, Janet Rolison, Pablo & Jan´s daughter Amalia, Carol McClancy, Tenney Dean, Nancy Lingenfelser, Jim Scott, Mary Wynne Perryman, Bonnie Bode, Tom Edwards, Katie Yarbrough, Hal Newell, Dick Dye, Marshall Hollingsworth, Louise Holshouser, and the family of our dear friend Cecelia. Continued healing for Randy Duvall from Virginia Beach who suffered a broken arm on the worksite. As always, please let us know of your prayer needs and whether it's ok to share them with others.
- Of support and encouragement for fellow missionaries and their families around the world, including Pablo & Jan Feliciano, all the Dye Family Missionaries around the world, David Meacham, John and Sandra Wimbish, and Jim & Sharon Heneveld.
- Special prayers for Julie Alexander and her husband, John, as they too are being hampered by immigration challenges as they seek to enter the mission field in Brazil.
Opportunities:
- Anyone who has information about water testing equipment and supplies, please let us know. We need to be able to test water supplies in various communities to determine the best approach to water purification. Limited funds are available.
- Donate to Hebron USA for Phase I & II of the Manos de Cristo Medical Clinic in Ocosingo (details on the HUSA website at www.hebronusa.org/8.html)
- Donate to First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Airy, NC for our family’s missionary support (details on our website at www.millsfamilymission.org/5.html)
- Mission Tip of the Month: Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church is the proud sponsor of an incredible mission fund-raiser -"Oak Ridge Premium Coffee.¨Each blend of Chiapas-grown coffee is named after a mission destination or special person in the mission field visited by members of Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, NC. Their coffee is packaged and sold to benefit mission projects at ORPC and helps put their church´s name and mission focus in the homes of people throughout their community. If you´re just a coffee nut, like me, and want your purchases to make a difference, you can order online at http://www.orpc.org/Premium_coffee.html. If you´d like to know more about this as a fund-raising opportunity for your church, you can email Rebecca or Phillip Aydellete at praydelette@earthlink.net for more information.
As always, we are grateful for your prayers, support and encouragement as our Partners in Missions. You remain in our prayers.
Love,
Ginny, John, Holly & Maggie
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