It seems like just yesterday

Dear Partners in Missions,

While it may seem like a long time for others, it seems like just yesterday that we moved to Ocosingo to serve as missionaries with Pablo & Jan Feliciano. After 5 1/2 long days of driving, we arrived safely in Pilot Mountain, NC last night to the open arms of John's sister, Kristi, and her family. We look forward to reconnecting with folks at our church on Sunday and with others in NC over the coming weeks.

Perhaps our biggest spiritual lesson was learned by experiencing God's amazing provision for our needs. Throughout the journey, our needs were consistently met, even if they were sometimes met at the last minute and/or in ways we didn't expect. That experience continued as we arrived in NC without a clear plan of where we would be living! Special thanks to Carl Utley, Mark Maxwell, Kristi Rolison, Ellen Bergland, Glenn Cobb and others who pitched in to try to make sure weren't homeless. In God's amazing provision, we are now squared away for a furnished and equipped apartment in our chosen school district until the current renters move out of our home on Heidelbury Drive. Our temporary address will be 1831 Murphy Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27104.

We ask that you continue to pray for our family as we try to transition back to life in the US. For the past 2 years, we've tried hard to maintain meaningful relationships and projects in the US while establishing a new home in Ocosingo. Now we will try to do the reverse! We will try to maintain meaningful relationships and projects in Ocosingo while re-establishing our home in NC. We have experienced so much, come to love so many, and learned more than we could ever have imagined during our time in Chiapas. We now have two homes, one in NC and one in Chiapas. On the sad side, that means we'll always be missing some that we love, but on the joyful side, it also means that we'll always be enjoying the company of others that we love at the same time!

We will continue to be involved in the development and operation of Las Manos de Cristo, the ministry of Pablo & Jan, and mission trips to Mexico, so we'll continue our updates for awhile at least. We'll craft an update on the closing days, an update on the clinic, prayer needs and opportunities for partnership in the coming weeks. For now though, please pray for our transition and for the safe travels for Pablo and Jan Feliciano as Pablo begins his journey as one of the international Peacekeepers for PCUSA!

Together with you in Christ's service,
Ginny, John, Holly & Maggie Mills

Seeing protests in a whole new way

We all get frustrated with our government, whether we live in a small town in Chiapas or in a big city like Chicago. Fortunately, we also live in countries with governments and cultures that recognize the importance of free speech, so when we get frustrated, we are free to complain without fear of imprisonment or worse. But in Mexico, I learned this week that certain forms of protest that would never been allowed in the US are not uncommon here.

Our friend, Albert, Pablo's son-in-law and Amalia's husband, is now an employee of the city government. One day last week, local citizens took Albert and 11 of his colleagues hostage for about 18 hours. They were held against their will by those who were upset with the mayor for not fulfilling promises made during the campaign. These citizens also blocked off streets and disrupted local traffic by requiring passers-by to pay an unofficial toll to continue on the street --- all as a form of protest. Albert and his colleagues were released about midnight that night, unhurt but not unaffected by the experience. There were no consequences or penalties for those citizens involved, in large part, because there were too many to jail!

Certainly we have come to understand more about the Zapatista protests since their rebellion began in the early 1990's, and we know that similar forms of seemingly unlawful behavior were allowed then as well. How can a government and a people function this way? Pablo has shared more about how political campaigns work, and that has been hard to understand too. Generally speaking, the people will only come to hear what a candidate has to say if the candidates bring them something (ie. pass out food, bring loads of gravel to improve a road, etc.) and promise them something. The giving out part seems strange, but the promising part does not. Most people want to know that voting for one candidate over the other will benefit them personally in some way -- and I don't think that is unique to Mexico. On the other hand, as is evidenced by Albert's recent experience, failure to deliver on those promises has much different ramifications.

Things that make you go "hmmmm."