long overdue update!

I’ve been in Mexico now for only a week and a half, but there is so much to share with you! It has been a time full of re-connecting with dear friends, settling into life here in Mexico, remembering my Spanish, learning so much, and beginning to figure out my rhythm of ministry and life here…

One of the big updates is that I now have an apartment here in Tijuana! For many reasons, I decided to look for a place of my own sooner rather than later. With the help of friends here, we found an apartment in the same complex where the family I was staying with lives. It’s right across the street from the Asilo where I’ll be working, and is within walking distance to the homes of most of my other friends in Mexico as well as the church that I’ve become involved with. It’s been a gift to have a space of my own: where I can start to unpack and feel as though I’m actually living here in Mexico and not simply visiting, where I can rest and be alone when I need that, and to where I can invite friends and family! I’ve learned so much about life here in Tijuana through the process of finding and furnishing my apartment, and it’s provided some great opportunities to ask for help from friends and neighbors.

I’ll take some more pictures of my apartment later to share with you, but for now you can see a bit of it in the background of these. My dear friend Nereida came over with her son Israel to help me clean my kitchen when I moved in and we took a break to take some fotos…

We’ve figured out a tentative schedule for my work at the Asilo and a few other local ministries, and I’ll begin to spend time at those places next week. Up until now and until then however, I am so thankful for the gift of time to simply BE with people here. Please pray with me that this ministry of presence can continue to be my priority even once I begin my official “work” here…

“More and more the desire grows in me simply to walk around, to greet people, to enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simply ministry of presence; still it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for [some] progress. But I wonder more and more if the first things shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them… The greatest news of all is that God is with His people, that He is truly present. What greater ministry can be practiced than a ministry that reflects this divine presence?” (Henri Nouwen, ¡Gracias!)

Hasta luego,

PS - Below you’ll find the next episode of “the adventures of Auntie and Pink Kitty” with a few more fotos...