...and I love tacos!

March 4-1

...Mexico City
First day and half we stayed in Mexico City. To help us understand the culture and life Neil and Cheryl Prentice (CrossWorld Missionaries) took us to see the Vasilica. This cathedral is one of the most visited by the Pope. Neil asked us to look for Jesus all day while we were there. The sad news he was hard to find.

Some pilgrims that may have walked for miles and miles were there to be blessed by the Priests. We walked into the church as the priests were entering. They went to a sacred picture of Mary and bowed to her then they preceded to the pilgrims. I was beginning to realize. Then Neil translated a prayer written on the side of the church that said Mary was here for you to come to. She understands you and can save you.

My next shock came when we walked into an older part of the Vasilica. We were looking at all the Saints and there was Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus. The Pope made him a Saint too. Tania translated the prayer and it basically said that if Judas hadn't betrayed Christ he wouldn't have died. Therefore he can empathise if you are in a position of doing wrong and you may be doing for a reason. As Tania, Joy and I were standing there I felt something dripping on my head. I looked at Joy and she had blood all over here. In shock we looked up to see where it was coming from. Then the pigeon with a broken wing flew over. A little sickened out by our sprinkling but it made me think if that happened to anyone else in that church they may have thought they were receiving a sign. My sign was to go and wash up.

All morning we realized that Christ was not the one being worshiped and that all the thousands of people there around us were lost. The reality hit and we were ready to begin our week.

Popo...the steaming volcano
We took the 2 hr bus to Puebla. The view was incredible. We discovered that there are several very beautiful mountains...one of them being our dear friend Popo. We call him friend out of respect for that mountain is still active. Cheryl told us that as long as it's smoking we are in good shape. Thankfully most days it did just that.

Our task for the next week was to teach English. Our prayer was that God would show what to do seeing that none of us accept me have taught before. Monday morning and our first class was the women's calls. This soon became a favourite part of the day. The women were great.
In the afternoon we taught children and more children. This was by far the biggest class. It was a rough start but as we spent more time in prayer we saw a huge turn around.
The evenings were for adults. Some very good relationships started and my cousin Jonathan and friend David were able to share their faith with a young man.

The results:
- 109 students.
- many very good contacts for the CrossWorld team to follow up with.
- women's class really bonded. One woman shared that this week allowed her to make friends brought light into her world.
- the children really were wonderful and the families were very thankful we came.
-Several on the team were able to share their faith and Neil was able to give a Bible to one of the adults.

Thank you for your prayers and support! I know I didn't give you much notice to pray but your prayers were heard and answered!

IN HIS GRIP,
Bonita

If you are interested in joining a future team please let me know. There are five teams a year.