Beloved Friends and Ministry Partners,

Greetings in the sweetest name of our Lord, Jesus Christ from the beautiful country of Mexico!

You read that right, greetings from Mexico.  I left Montana Friday, June 18th.  I survived my first week of language school.  Glory to God!

I meant to write before my departure. Unfortunately, it was a very busy two months before I left.  I was supposed to leave in mid-April, but I’m sure, some of you have heard and were praying, my mom had a heart attack, and my dad had a surgery before I left for Mexico.  God moved mightily and is faithfully.  My parents were in the road to recovery upon my departure; overall, they were doing well and I was able to start the session for my class that started Monday, June 21st.   We do serve an amazing God who heals and hear our prayers.

I arrived in Mexico City and stayed there for one night; I took a domestic flight the next day for Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.  The language school is located in a small fishing village of El Cacalote, in the State of Oaxaca, about 40 to 45 minutes’ drive West of Puerto Escondido.  I am renting a small apartment not too far from the school.  I walk to school and everywhere in the village.  God knows my heart!  My apartment is walking distance to the beach which is behind the school.  It is a beautiful place, and the people are very kind.  The downside of Cacalote is there is no cellular tower.  Yep!  You read that right.  If you cannot leave home without your cell phone, you can’t live in Cacalote!  Haha.  So, you can choose which one is more important, living next to the beach or having a cell reception.  The school has wired internet and the family I am renting the apartment from has internet.  When I’m home or in school, I am able to connect to wifi.  Unfortunately, the internet speed is very slow.  The wireless router I’m connecting to is not in the same building, it’s actually next door.  As I write this, it’s been 48 hours now that we have not had internet reception even in the school.  We had an earthquake last Tuesday morning which only lasted for a few seconds.  Everyone was ok.  Then, since yesterday, it has been raining.  I am not sure why there is no internet connection, maybe because of the storm.

Each day we start the day with worship and devotion.  On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we focus on Phonetics, Grammars, Vocabulary, and Lab/Communication; On Tuesday and Thursday, we focus on Verbs, Grammars, Review/Repetitions, and Lab/Translations.  We have homework daily.  It is a very intensive program.  Adalia, my Area Director, said to me several times when I was in school for the MTS Program (Master’s in Theological Studies in Latino/as Ministries), “I want you to have a headache.”  Haha.  Her reason for saying that was if I am getting a headache, that means, I am learning.   This Spanish Language Program is so intensive, YES, I am experiencing some headaches!   It is overwhelming.  But I am enjoying it.  I have only been in class for four days, but I can’t wait to finish so I begin to serve God in Mexicali through the Baja Baptist Seminary and its community.