House up for rent AGAIN!

As fate would have it, the family that has been renting our house has taken advantage of the housing slump to find the house of their dreams at a great bargain. Bargain for them, crisis for us! When we first moved to Mexico, we had hoped to have a single family living in our house the whole time but as it has turned out, we've now had 2 different families and it looks like we'll have to have a 3rd. Even though we'll be returning to NC to live this fall, the need to have the mortgage paid by rent payments is unavoidable. Lord knows we don't want to be come a "housing crisis" statistic!

So, we're relisting our house on Craig's List in Winston-Salem and on RentalHouses.com (search using zip code 27106). If you know of anyone that could be interested in renting our home, please let us know! You can email us at jgmills@att.net.

Great house. Great neighborhood. With a finished basement bonus room, basketball goal, bike street and treehouse, it's the perfect place for a family with school-age kids. More details available online at www.rentalhouses.com.

Youth Explosion!

The bible school in Ocosingo has been invaded! Young people and their families from across Chiapas arrived at the bible school this week for a vacation youth conference complete rapid-fire bible competitions, soccer & volleyball tournaments, live music and talent shows. When people tell you, "Oh, there will be hundreds of kids here...probably 2 or 3 hundred!" it's easy to think, "well, they're probably exaggerating a bit, but I'm sure there will be a bunch." Well, when registration was finally closed on Monday afternoon, there were over 600 youth and adult chaperones registered! The energy is high, the sound system amazingly loud and a love for Christ is evident everywhere!

Matching Gift Opportunity for Clinic

As we enter the final months of construction for Las Manos de Cristo, finances have been potentially boosted tremendously ---- IF we're able to rally contributions to meet the requirements for a matching gift! A generous steward from Boone, NC has offered to match contributions up to $25,000 to help get Phase I of the clinic open and operational. This is great news! It also means that we need your help!

Hebron USA is the nonprofit through which contributions for Las Manos de Cristo can be directed, and there are 3 easy ways to give:

1. Write a check to Hebron USA and mail to 6080 Old Brickstore Rd., Greensboro, NC 27455
2. Give using your debit or credit card through Hebron USA's site on Change.Org (http://www.change.org/nonprofits/view/123708)
3. Give using PayPal and mail to 6080 Old Brickstore Rd., Greensboro, NC 27455

More details coming soon, but please join in this final push for Phase I so we can finish construction and start making a real difference in people's lives here in Chiapas.

Samaritan's Purse Shipment on the Way!!

Thanks to lots of different folks, a 20-foot container is on its way to Ocosingo. The container is filled with donations of medical equipment from the Helping Hands Ministry in Southern Pines, NC and Samaritan's Purse in Boone, NC and was shipped courtesy of Samaritan's Purse. Starfish Fund founder, Glenn Pierce, helped store supplies collected in late 2006, and Bill Herring from Boone helped organize the effort with Samaritan's Purse. From the most basic supplies like crutches and walkers to an x-ray machine, all will be a part of getting patient care started at Las Manos de Cristo Medical Clinic.

The container arrived in a port in Veracruz and is awaiting customs approval before being shipped the rest of the way to Ocosingo. Please pray with us that the customs approval is swift and without complication. We'll keep you posted on its arrival!

Suicide (The Catholic View)

We learned today of a death by suicide in the family of a fellow missionary here. The family member was connected to the Catholic church. Sadly, Catholicism views death by suicide as the ultimate sin and certain to bring eternal damnation. This leaves the family who remains to grieve without hope, without comfort from the church and without reassurance that the person they loved will live a better life in heaven than the "hell" they chose to escape on Earth. This view is held in the Roman Catholic church and in the traditional Mayan Catholic church here in Mexico, and it makes me so sad.

While we protestants do not discount that the act of suicide is, by definition, choosing to kill one of God's children, I hope we do a better job of leaving open the possibility for God to judge the person on the merits of their whole life and not just their final act. But perhaps more importantly, I hope that we can and do reach out with loving compassion and support for the families of those whose lives have been touched by suicide.

As a personal and religious practice, we try hard to fight the temptation to fall into the denomination-bashing that happens here between protestants and Catholics and between protestant denominations in the US. When it comes to this issue though, it's really tough. For Hernan's family, we ask that you join us in praying that they are comforted by those around them and by their belief in a loving and forgiving God. For all of us, let us strive to watch for and render comfort to those in our midst who may be so despondent as to consider suicide as the only means of relief.

Diez y seis Dulce en Mexico (Sweet 16 in Mexico)

Last year we elected to not do the traditional "quinceñera" for Holly (a special 15th birthday party -- sort of like a wedding without a groom), and yet for our Mexican brothers & sisters in Christ, "Sweet 16" really didn't mean much. But we still had a big party, commemorating Holly's first passage into adulthood.

Maggie was determined that Holly's Sweet 16 should be really special and was party-planning for weeks. We melded in traditional Mexican aspects of birthdays like having a tres-leches (3 Milk) cake, face-slamming, and lots of party games. But it was the boyfriend who really stole the show.

Holly's boyfriend, Miguel Feliciano, created a slide show with tons of pictures, music and commentary that introduced their Mexican friends to Holly from infancy through her journey to life in Mexico. Then at 4 AM on the morning of her birthday (the party had been the night before) he arrived to serenade her with love songs and present more gifts, roses and chocolates. Needless to say, she was swept off her feet and Miguel is in (as they say in the US south) "high cotton" with Holly!

The birthday and all it's joys also reminded us all of how hard it will be to leave later this year. Holly is clear that returning for American high school is right for her, but the goodbyes are sure to be bittersweet.

Bravo, Maggie, and Bravo, Miguel, for helping to make Holly's Sweet 16 a birthday to remember. And God help us all when the time comes to say "adios por ahora." (Goodbye, for now)

Missed Opportunity, I fear

As a career substance abuse counselor, one of my biggest struggles here has been to see how the "church" responds to issues of alcoholism and addiction. Because leaving behind a life of alcohol, smoking and/or drugs is such a huge expression of faith and expectation of the church, church leaders seem to have little compassion for the "burrachos" that sometimes stagger into our services. And yet....the 12-step ministry that is Alcoholics Anonymous is alive and well in Mexico!
In this picture, you can see a stick building (and I mean, literally, built from sticks) for an AA meeting in the middle of nowhere in Mexico! The sign was clear and visible from the road. It did enough to attract my attention and remind me again how this is a missed opportunity for the church.

Churches across the world provide homes for AA meetings...locations for people to come together in the interests of seeking sobriety and recovery from the disease of addiction. These churches serve the recovering community and those not yet in recovery by simply providing a place to meet. In these meetings, members share experience, strength and hope with each other through a program that has proven time and time again that "it works if you work it!" Perhaps there's even a subtle form of evangelism by offering space because, by helping them grow comfortable walking in a church facility and knowing that "this is a place where I'm safe, where I'm supported, where I have a chance to get healthier," maybe one day they'll be walking in for Sunday worship. Pastors last summer heard a wonderful story shared by a woman in recovery who was here on a mission trip. She shared how, after months of coming to AA meetings, she decided to come back to the same church on a Sunday morning. She became a member, continued to grow in her recovery, and became an important part of an active church ministry.

It is truly marvelous that the AA community in this small town is vibrant enough, industrious enough and determined enough to have a place to meet that they were able to build this facility. But it also suggests that perhaps they couldn't find a home for their meetings without having to build it themselves.

Please join me in praying for some tiny crack in the resolve of the church here...a crack that yields to the opportunity to serve people in a whole new way. Please pray that the Presbyterian church in Mexico recognizes that, by offering their facilities for AA meetings, they can show the love of Jesus Christ in much the same way as Jesus himself.

Amen.

Belize

In the interests of acquiring new visas and car permit, we headed east to Belize. Last summer, John went to Guatemala for the car and found the experience filled with chaos, expectations of "mordidas" (bribes) and Spanish that even our Mexican attorney had difficulty understanding. So this time, we headed to Belize where they speak English....well, kinda.

Belize is the most unusual place we've visited. Because of it's historical ties to England, English is the official language. There are many people who speak Spanish too, and there are many ways in which this feels like an English/Mexican/Mayan/Island hybrid country. Unless there is no manufacturer operating in Belize (eg. soft drinks), they only sell Belizian products. That means you can buy Coke and Kellogg, but only Belizian coffee, purified water, beer and other products.

The country appears to be filled with many poor people but with a definite presence of wealthy folks capitalizing on opportunities for low-priced real estate, tax shelters, low wages for gardeners & maids, and for the island lifestyle. The poor travel by bicycles while the more affluent by car and motorcycles. There's also apparently a strong Mennonite presence here. I know about the Mennonites from my friends the Yoders and the Coppages in NC. They embrace aspects of the Brethren, Amish and Moravian traditions of simplicity and servanthood.

For our family, our visit to Belize has provided an opportunity simply for rest, exploration and achieving our goals for new documents. Holly & Maggie were glad for an opportunity to work on their tan (in bikinis, no doubt!). We've enjoyed the hospitality of an inexpensive but quite pleasant family-owned guesthouse along the Corazol/Chetumal Bay just a few miles from the Belize/Mexico border.

Please join us in praying for safe passage tomorrow back into Mexico complete with new documents that will carry us through the balance of our ministry. God has graced us thus far with green lights, friendly border guards and hassle-free inspections. We pray for more of the same tomorrow. We know that God has much more for us to do in Mexico in the coming months.