barra vieja

As many of you know, we spent the weekend in Barra Vieja. Barra Vieja is a small fishing village on the western coast of Mexico, about a 25 minute drive from Acapulco. To drive to Barra Vieja from Ixtlan would take around 13 hours, so we actually flew from Guadalajara to Acapulco and then took a taxi. We arrived on Thursday evening and did Bible studies with two groups of people on Friday afternoon and evening and Saturday afternoon and evening. During the mornings, Grant worked on Bible studies and I spent some time over at Bartolo and Kike's. Sunday, we all had church together.

On a normal Sunday in Barra Vieja, there are 10 - 15 believers who gather together. Bartolo and Kike have two daughters, Miriam and Areli, and one son, Ricardo (the oldest). Ricardo and Ana have two daughters, Daniela and Odalis. In addition, there are several other women (Paz, Cruz, Lilian, Mathias) and children who regularly gather with the group. I regret that I never got a picture of the whole group. There aren't very many pictures of the church people in general - we did spend a lot of time with them, especially in the afternoons and evenings, but I always feel a little conspicuous pulling out my camera in places like Barra, so thanks for understanding. Nevertheless, here are a few (or rather, a lot) snapshots of the weekend:

Early morning at the Guadalajara airport

Taking the bus from the Acapulco airport to Wal-Mart. These buses are quite the deal - loud music, pretty interesting interiors... but they get you where you need to go, I guess.

First meal - pancakes. We weren't sure the fridge would be working when we got there so we got all stuff that didn't have to be refrigerated. This is me holding the skillet above the stove because I couldn't get the flame low enough to avoid burning the pancakes.

Kids playing on the street outside the house.

The Guest House is on the first story. Ricardo and Ana live in the second story.

Our bedroom

The bathroom - shower and toilet are to the right.

Beautiful views!

Grant thinks we have other pictures like this already. He's probably right.

Just a little something we found on the beach.

Reading Bible stories with Daniela - every evening she would bounce in and ask if it was time to pray and sing yet... such an enthusiastic little learner. We were blessed by her.

This picture is mostly for Emily G. - remember our cold mocachinos on the beach? We did actually light the stove this time so I got to enjoy a warm chai tea - but I thought of you!

The Wal-Mart in Acapulco has a few things that the Wal-Mart in Zamora doesn't have - like Froot Loops and Frosted Mini Spooners. Can't go wrong with those!

Sunday before Bible study/church I did a little Sunday school lesson with Areli, Daniela, and another little girl named Fatima. We read the story of the ten lepers who were cured by Jesus, and the one who went back to thank him. Then, we made little books listing things for which we give thanks. Its quite amazing what you can do with supplies you find laying around the Guest House.

Our little group

Fatima joined us a little later. Daniela was already done with her book, so she helped Fatima. 

Aren't they cute?

During Sunday morning Bible study/church

Playing Barbies. :)

Sunset and palm trees - its a beautiful place!

Grant said that I really needed a picture of him in the hammock with the fan blowing on him since he spent so much time there. He did spend a lot of time in the house preparing studies - I was out more, spending time with the girls, going to the market, etc. I'm glad he had the hammock to keep him company. :)

Practicing with Odalis

Now that we have the logistical details out of the way, there's so much to share about what we learned this weekend. We can honestly say that we went empty and really saw the Lord work through our weakness. The first evidence of this came on Thursday. We were up at 4:30 a.m. to drive to Guadalajara to catch our flight, and we were able to go strong (meeting new people, having conversations in Spanish, etc.) until 10:30 p.m. that night. That is nothing short of a miracle. It was a challenging weekend in terms of language - lots of quick speaking, a little bit of a different dialect... the combination is exhausting! God really took care of us and sustained us, though - for which we are so thankful.

The next post will detail a big lesson I/we learned this weekend... I decided to break it into two so that it wouldn't be so long.