Getting to Know One Another

Please accept our apologies for the delay in posting last Wednesday’s blog. 

Today, our mission team hosted the first day of a two-day retreat for Horizonte’s staff. In attendance were:

• Martin, Horizonte’s Pastor
• Mayte, Martin’s wife & Head of Production
• Izamar, their daughter & a teacher in WaumbaLand (kids’ ministry)
• Edith, Head of Family Ministries*
• Sarita, Pastor’s Assistant
• Justin, University Student Ministry staff
• Lluvia, Justin’s wife & University Student Ministry staff
• Phil, University Student Ministry staff
• Ricardo, High/Middle School Ministry staff
• Ana, Ricardo’s wife and Host Team staff
• Job, Production staff
• Juan, Facilities/Maintenance & Children’s Ministry staff

* – Edith was also very helpful in assisting our team as we prepared for the retreat.  Muchas Gracias, Edith!

Horizonte's Staff & Buckhead's Team

The day’s events were designed so everyone could get to know one another, to establish connections, and to demonstrate love to one another.  Fun events included a questionnaire game and the first ever Horizonte Christian Olympics (almost as exciting as the Beijing Games).

For the Olympics, we split our groups into two teams, Uno and Dos (who says we’re not creative?).  The first of three events was a water balloon toss.  Liz & Martin pulled off a win for Team Uno in a sudden death tie-breaker against Team Dos’ Mayte & Julian.  Team Dos came back in event number two with a win in a water tray relay race; we literally had a photo finish in that contest.  At this point, athletes on both sides were in need of food and rest, so we had a relaxing lunch beside the hotel pool.  It was a relaxing place to continue conversations and share our faith.

Water Balloon Toss

Team Uno Celebrates

After lunch, we set up a quiet prayer room in our meeting space, our idea being to create a place where we and our guests could pause and reflect about God.  Jennifer & Natalie created a calming environment with candles, cushions, and soft music.  We also set up two areas in which one could cast his burdens and share your thanks.  For the burdens, we set a basin of water with rocks all around it; by placing a rock in the basin, you symbolized that you were giving a weight up to God.  In the “Thanks” area, we provided Post-It notes that could be placed up on the wall with one’s blessings written on them.  A very simple way to give thanks.

Burdens & Blessings

Later that evening, it was time to determine who were the true champions of the day’s Olympics.  Our two teams were given 40 minutes to develop and perform a 3-5 minute skit using randomly selected details.  For Team Uno, the challenge involved Batman…in ancient Egypt…writing a hit song; Team Dos’ was just as wacky:  Cupid…at the beach…planning an invasion of the moon.  Wish you had been here for this, don’t you?  We don’t think either skit will be nominated for a short subject Oscar, but we had lots of fun and laughs doing it.  Cupid won out over Batman, and Team Dos was crowned the day’s champions.  Congratulations to Mayte, Natalie, Edith, Job, Phil, Ricardo, Justin & Julian!

Team Dos, Horizonte Christian Olympic Champions 2008

After all this excitement, we broke for the day.  Some folks stayed at the hotel to watch the Olympics (we just couldn’t get enough), while others went to Taco 57 for a well-deserved dinner.

Thanks for keeping up with us and continuing to pray for this trip!

An Off-Day Turns Emotional

Today, we had breakfast at Horizonte Church which is always a treat.  We continue to enjoy spending time as a team as well as with our new friends at Horizonte.  After enjoying another great meal we split off on our own to find a quiet spot on the church property to do our daily devotional.  These devotionals have been a great opportunity for each of us to spend some quiet time with God and reflect on our trip.

 

After the devotional, we were all excited to find out that we had some free time.  While a few of us went shopping for Mexican pottery others headed into town.  Eventually we all met up for lunch and to discuss the plans for the next few days.  Lunch was an experience and although Julian had us all worried that the restaurant we selected might not be safe, so far so good – we’ll keep our fingers crossed.  After lunch it was time to head back to the hotel to greet our guests.  The staff and volunteers began arriving and we had a nice welcome before settling in for some conversation. 

 

Tonight was an emotional night for all of us as many opened up and shared both personal and professional burdens.  We decided to end the evening by praying in small groups.  It was a great way to end the day.  I think our team has been touched by the strength and faith of these wonderful people.  They have taught us a great deal in these past few days as we’ve gotten to know them better. 

 

That’s all for now; tomorrow will be a big day as we plan to celebrate Mexican style!  I know the team is looking forward to a friendly game of football. 

God Bless!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing Burdens, Showing Love

Thursday began with a team breakfast in our hotel, the Plaza Camelinas.  Both our team and the church staff congregated and shared fellowship amongst warm dishes of huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, sopes, and some amazing fresh fruit.  With our stomachs full, everyone headed out to do our daily devotional, focused on thanksgiving.  We spread around the Camelinas’ grounds to read Psalm 8, Psalm 100, & Romans 12:1-2 and reflect on the people & things in our lives that we’re thankful for.

 

When we reconvened, we dug a little deeper into the burdens on our hearts.  Without going into much detail, suffice to say, we’ve all got issues.  They affect our souls, our families, our friends, our work.  And it can be incredibly difficult to place those burdens before God.  But one thing that came out of the discussion was that, regardless of our nationalities, we share similar problems & fears and can always turn to Christ for grace & mercy.

 

For our next activity, our team again counted on Christ, taking a page out of His playbook.  Silently bringing the Horizonte staff into our meeting space, we individually washed their feet.  How remarkable and wonderful!  Both groups were deeply moved by this event and many tears were shed.  We finished by gathering together in a circle and praying to/praising God.

 

After a short lunch, the Buckhead team started preparing for a Horizonte volunteer event that evening.  In addition to uniting with the church’s staff, we wanted to encourage their key volunteers as well.  Brief social time was followed by the wackiest, zaniest photo scavenger hunt you have ever seen.  Teams of volunteers, staff, and missionaries were tasked with taking various photos throughout our hotel.  In all honesty, Jim thought the Camelinas’ management might have us removed from the hotel, but they seemed to take our craziness in stride.  We guess that it’s just how they roll down here.

 

 

More events tomorrow…stay tuned, friends.

There was God…

If you’ll permit us, our friends, we’ll get back to the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday updates later today.  We just wanted to share our amazing Friday night here in Queretaro.  We gathered with Horizonte’s staff and volunteers to give them time to bear their burdens, open their hearts, and have a frank discussion of what’s discouraging them.  They shared their stresses and placed them before God with small group prayer sessions.  Though we speak different languages, the beauty of our prayers overwhelmed many of us. 

We believe that God was there with us last night.

Blessings.

“Can I Eat That?” Tuesday…

   

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!!!!  If food is love we have been loved on since we arrived.  We took a short walk to Horizonte in the morning and after some fellowship with each other had breakfast, not a typical bowl of cereal or fruit but a wide variety of items.  Yolanda seems to take pride in cooking for us and it shows after breakfast we had some time alone for our devotional.  Jeremy put together a devotional on thankfulness for our lives.  Later that afternoon we all developed our plan for what will take in place in the next few days. They served us lunch later that afternoon.  I’ll just say were shown love.  After brainstorming was complete we broke into groups, some shopping for items for the retreat and others having some needed quiet time.

     We regrouped later in the evening and went to the “Center” for dinner.  They have small shops & restaurants and the mixture is both tourists & locals.  The three J’s – Julian, J-Mo and Jim – have been vital to our communication and translation needs.  I am convinced J-Mo is half Mexican, the way he blends into the culture here.  We returned later in the evening and got ready for the retreat by getting some rest.

    

    More to come…

 

Jim, Julian & Edith

J-Mo & Lluvia

Dave Doing His Devotional

Julian, pondering

Natalie, listening

Church off the Square

Our Day Monday

Please pardon the delay in posts.  Between our extremely full days and a sketchy internet connection, we’ve had our hands full.  Muchas gracias.

 

 

Our team arrived at the Atlanta airport with plenty of time to spare.  There were no complications on either flight, first from Hartsfield (ATL) to Bush (IAH), and then from Houston to Queretaro.  Upon arrival in Mexico, we were greeted by Whitney, Martin, and Edith, each of whom had driven to the airport to provide us with transport to the city.  Our team jumped in to three cars, and the trip (journey) began in earnest.

 

We have been blessed with outstanding accommodations at the Plaza Camelinas and although we may feel somewhat over privileged we are quite close to the Horizonte Church itself.  The eight of us, along with Whitney, ventured out for a sabroso meal of tacos and then went off to bed.

 

After a good night sleep we convened on Monday morning and headed over to Horizonte.  For most of our team, it was our first time there, but those members who had previously visited were amazed by many of the physical improvements which had taken place.  We were taken on a full tour of the grounds. By Edith before enjoying breakfast together this had been prepared by Yolanda with help from Eduerdo.  The team then studied a devotional from Liz and were given further cultural do’s and don’ts from Julian.

 

From the church, we headed out for a PLUNGE (scavenger hunt) activity.  We hopped aboard a bus and headed to the city center.  Those who had not been to Queretaro were appointed leaders and given a guide for a tour of sorts.  The trip took us through several places, by historical buildings and beautiful fountains, as well as giving us the opportunity to sample some helado and experience a market, where vendors prominently displayed knock-off designer handbags and chicken heads could be found for purchase by visitors. A not so short bus/taxi ride returned us to the church.

 

After another delicious meal – tortilla soup and chicken with poblano pepper sauce – the team met in the office to discuss/plan the objectives of our trip.  Through conversation with Edith and translation provided by Julian and Jeremy, it became apparent that the members of the church are fatigued and feeling over burdened.  A retreat where we might instruct or advise them would likely be of little value in meeting their true needs.   As a result, we spent most of the afternoon discussing ways we might encourage them or give them a chance to have fun and relax (i.e., ways to love on them, which seemed to be buzzword phrase of the day).  Ideas and activities were white boarded, with the bulk of the details to be nailed down tomorrow.

 

After a respectable rainstorm half the team headed to dinner with the other half following behind shortly after David was able to put together a cool video for the team blog.  Our statements were filled yet again and it was off to bed to rest up for tomorrow.

 

This is a great reminder why we are here….Great two have 2 cultures after the same goal….

During our plunge into the city we had to find a this warrior and you can see Liz, Natlaie, and Nick got into the experience

Edith and Yolanda our wonderful chef’s

Sample our the amazing food they serve us…

J’MO after eating lunch

 

 

Our Journey Thus Far

More stuff to come regarding our very busy day in Queretaro, but we had to get this up ASAP.  If you could pass a few encouraging words to our friends here via our e-mail addresses or this blog, please do so.  In the interim, enjoy.

Blessings!

We Made it to Queretaro

We had a fun filled day traveling and getting to know each other better.   We departed Atlanta and our first stop was in Houston where we watched Nick eat the biggest Baked Potato he could find.  From Houston, we had a direct flight to Queretaro…Unfortunately, we almost lost one of our teammates but as a true team does, Julian came to the rescue and we were able to proceed to our destination.  HA HA!  We had a wonderful welcome with Pastor Martin, Whitney, Edith waiting for us at the airport.  We are so excited to do work with the Horizonte Church and to see God’s work being done.

 

Two Days Out

First off, please accept our humble apologies for the delay between entries.  Life, it seems, gets in the way sometimes.

Many of you have wondered what exactly, we’ll be doing with Horizonte Church.  As we’ve noted before, we’re going on a “Connections” trip, one designed to strength the bond between Buckhead Church and Horizonte.  For this mission, we’ll assist our friends in Mexico with three main activities:

• A staff retreat
• A gathering for key volunteers
• A congregation-wide prayer event

Much like Buckhead Church, Horizonte has grown impressively over the past few years.  Martin Macedo, the church’s pastor, has added both services and staff to keep up with this expansion, and now wants to evaluate how things are going.  Our staff retreat will focus on this task, as well as re-energizing his people around Horizonte’s vision.  We are currently preparing discussions and team-building activities around this end.

The volunteer gathering will be an abbreviated version of the staff retreat, with one key addition.  Thursday night, we will split into groups of 8-10 people to conduct prayer walks around Queretaro.  We’ll go to relevant parts of the city to pray over its people, its issues, and its health in general.  Will we be on street corners telling people to repent?  Probably not.  But we will get a first-hand glimpse of the things our friends are dealing with and have an opportunity to ask God to intercede as He sees fit.

Finally, on Saturday, we plan on inviting the entire congregation to come to Horizonte and be prayed over.  We hope to interact in smaller groups with our friends and help them bring their issues before God.  We may also have stations highlighting the use of different senses (sight, hearing, touch) in prayer.

So, in a nutshell, that’s our trip.  Not a traditional mission trip in the sense that we’re building something physical, like a home or an aqueduct.  Instead, we’re building something spiritual and relational.

Please pray that its amazing. 

A Special Thanks

Whitney Krevere, former long-term missionary in Queretaro and wife of Julian, has been invaluable during our preparation for this trip, serving as an unofficial member of our team.  She developed the budget, kept us in touch with the Horizonte staff, and coordinated many of the activities discussed above.  Honestly, we couldn’t have done our mission without her.

Whitney will be in Queretaro with us for part of next week, but is returning home to help her daughter Micaiah with the first day of school.

Thank you Whitney!

Profiles

Jeremy is incredibly familiar with Queretaro, having lived there between 1997-2001.  He is fluent in Spanish and has a deep affection for the Latin community.

• Has several friends living in Queretaro, whom he hopes to see while we’re there
• Actively volunteers with North Point Ministries, where he has attended about 1 1/2 years
• Spends his spare time playing & watching sports, travelling abroad, and being with family & friends
• Attended Furman University in South Carolina
• Works as a seller with Grainger

Our August trip will be Jim’s second mission to Horizonte Church and third trip overall.  He looks forward to reconnecting with the friends he made in November 2006 in Queretaro.

• Engaged to Toni with a wedding date on January 17, 2009
• With his fiancee, has two households full of animals (two dogs, four cats)
• Has attended Buckhead Church for four years
• Graduated from the University of Michigan and is a huge college football fan
• Enjoys watching & playing sports, movies and reading 

Please keep us all in your prayers, especially over the next 10 days.

Blessings.