Moving Day

Hey, all! Just wanted to let you know that Summer and I are heading into internet-free land for a couple of days, unfortunately. The movers come today at 1 and in order to get cable in the new house, I have to go to the cable office, cancel the current contract, sign a new one and then wait for them to come turn it on at the new place. And since today is Wednesday and Friday is a holiday, I would guess that the earliest we will have e-mail up would be Monday. Anyway, pray for the move today! It's going to be a long and overwhelming day, if I had to guess. Probably tomorrow and Friday will be as well. Gotta love moving! I've gotta shut down my computer and box it up, so I'll sign off. Bye!
Sara

News from the Gonzo house

There are two major pieces of news from the Gonzalezes these days. First, as you can see in the picture, Victoria lost her first tooth!! She was pretty excited about it and is especially excited because the one right beside it is wiggling quite a bit and holds the promise of a few more pesos in her piggy bank. Isn't it amazing how quickly kids grow ?! (like I really know since I don't actually have any of my own, I'm just an aunt to more kids than I can count)
The second announcement is best told by Sofía. As she told her grandmother on the phone, "My mommy has a baby in her tummy!" That's right, Sam and Ann are expecting a third little Gonzo. Looks like he or she will be joining us around the beginning of May. Sam's really hoping and praying for a boy, so you can feel free to join him in that. : ) Ann is doing well, although she is fighting off a cold. Pray for health for her and the baby.
Summer and I are doing well, although definitely on the tired side. We've been busy painting, packing and moving what we can since Thursday and we still have SO MUCH to do! As I may have mentioned before, almost every other wall in the new house is Mexican blue, along with the borders, which we have to cover in primer before we can paint it the actual color. To make the job even more exciting, every wall also has really thick texturing so it soaks up paint more than you can even imagine. We are planning to officially move on Wednesday. Please pray for strength and energies for both of us!! It's going to be a long week.
Also, while you're praying, this coming Sunday is our first ever Friend's Day. We are challenging and encouraging everyone to bring a friend with them to church for a new series that Sam is starting on what happens after death. We chose this time because everyone here is gearing up for Day of the Dead on Nov. 2, which is a big traditional holiday, especially in the state of Michoacán, and it's a time when many people wonder about what really does happen. Pray that the Lord brings seekers and even some who don't even consider themselves seekers and that he touches their hearts with his truth.
Thanks for the prayers!
Sara Holland

Convivio

Thank you so much for your prayers! We had a great day yesterday at our convivio. The theme for the day was Mexican Independence Day (which was the 16th) and we decided to do a small carnival with easy games, like ring toss and loteria (the Mexican version of bingo). It did end up raining a little bit, but it didn't ruin the mood or anything. Everyone seemed to have great fun playing the games. We then played one group game and had others planned, but everyone was too hungry, so we ate pozole, a hominy and pork soup very typical to this area of Mexico. Afterwards, the torito (little bull) arrived for everyone to dance with. We ended up having close to 90 people there, including quite a few visitors. It was a great day! Here are some pictures.

We had costumes for people to dress up in and we took their picture. This is Enrique, Rosa's son, and his family. They live next door to Rosa and we are really praying for them to start attending the new cell in her house.

People playing loteria

Summer did a great job painting a clown face for people to throw balls into. This is Adisara, one of Victoria Gonzalez's classmates, taking her turn. (I think they let her get a little too close, don't you?)

The group game after the carnival games. Everyone had a balloon tied to their ankle and they had to try and pop everyone elses balloons without getting theirs' popped. Great fun!

The torito dancing around

Back in the grind

Well, I officially made it back to Morelia after about a week and a half in the States. I was able to see quite a few people and spread the word a little about this blog, so hopefully we'll get a few more hits. : ) Props to Summer for updating the blog while I was gone. She even included pictures and everything! I got to experience three of the greatest feelings in the world while I was home, which were (in no particular order):
1. having my 18 month old nephew, Jeremiah, start saying my name and choose me over his dad
2. eating cheese pizza in the cafeteria with my 5 year old nephew, Samuel, who started kindergarten about a month ago
3. speeding up to get on the freeway in my dad's Mazda Miata (gotta love roadsters!!)
Things have been fast and furious since I got home, mainly with plans for the convivio on Saturday. Please pray!! We are praying and planning for 100 people, including kids. Here are some prayer requests for that:
1. Lift up the people who have been invited to the convivio. Pray that the Lord will change their schedules and plans around so that there will be no obstacles to them coming on Saturday.
2. Pray for the presence of the Lord there among us while we are playing games and eating and getting to know one another. Pray that the visitors who are there will see what real Christian community should look like.
3. Pray for NO RAIN!! We are in the middle of rainy season, but have planned a outdoor/indoor event. We would really like to use the outside space where we will be for games and that sort of thing.
Evidently, I'm in list mode today. Anyway, that's all for now. I don't have any more pictures to post from here because I haven't taken any since I got back. I'll definitely post some on Saturday or Sunday of the convivio. Thanks for your prayers!!!
Sara

Gearing up for Independence Day

Mexican Independence Day is right around the corner, and the Rio de Vida church is preparing to celebrate with what we call a "convivio." This is kind of like a family barbeque or any kind of large get together where people hang out and eat lots and lots of food! We typically host four convivios a year as an evangelism tool. It is an opportunity for church members to invite their friends and family to get to know the church a little better in a fun, non-threatening environment. This particular one will be on September 17th, the day after Independence Day (that's right Cinco de May is NOT Independence Day!), and will be carnival or state-fair style with ring toss games, raffles, and lots of pozole (hominy and shredded pork soup) and taquitos!

Last Saturday, we all gathered at the office for a work day to put together the games. One of the church families, the Betanzos, have had experience in putting together fair games before, so they have been particularly helpful in designing the booths and planning the food. Adriana and José Luís, Miguel and Morelia, Rosita and Esmerandi, Phyllis, and the kids all pitched in with the work. We painted a Clown's head to throw balls through, made rings to toss onto empty coke bottles, a toro (bull) for the kids to use in a dance typcial to Mexico, posters for taking photos, and a dart game to pop balloons. I watched (and tried unsuccessfully!) as people made beautiful paper flowers to cover the bull in red, white and green tissue paper. We ended the workday with pizza- the pepperoni was good, but I'm not sure if I can consider chorizo sausage, frijoles, and corn true pizza toppings! (Sidenote: the Americans and Mexicans are constantly laughing at one another for what we consider appropiate toppings and dipping sauces on pizza. For the Americans, of course, it's parmesan cheese, marinara sauce or maybe ranch dressings. For the Mexicans it's catsup, worchestire sauce, thousand island dressing and mayo.)

We have rented a salon de fiestas (an events hall) that has beautiful outdoor space and enough roof, just in case it rains. Rainy season won't end for another month here. The church is praying for over 100 people to come, so please join with us in prayer as we continue to reach out to the community of Morelia. Pray that they can know, not just physical independence, but complete spiritual independence and freedom in Jesus Christ.

In other news for this week, we began a new cell group in an area of town called Prados Verdes (Green Pastures) that is completely lead by Mexican members of the church. Rosa is so excited to open her home every Thursday night to reach her friends and neighbors for Jesus. Adriana and José Luís, who have been with us since we started the very first cell group, are leading the group. They have a lot of family in this area, and really have hearts and giftings in evangelism. Praise God for this new opportunity to grow and multiply his Kingdom. Also, Larisa, who had to go to Mexico City for a complicated back surgery about three weeks ago, returned home to Morelia last night. The surgery was very successful, and the doctors say she will regain 70 percent of her motion. Praise God that she is back here with her two daughters and church family, and pray that the Lord will astound the doctors and restore her not only 70 percent, but 100 percent!