Fourteen girls picked to stay in a cabin, all using one bathroom with one toilet and one shower, one kitchen were all the food for 25+ people is cooked, all the meals are eaten, and all the guys come and sit and wait for it to be “clear” to come in and an endless supply of any kind of bug that you could possibly think of. This is the World Race debrief in Palenque Mexico 2006.
It is definitely an interesting experience. I think after the past 2 weeks that we’ve had with bucket showers, toilets that don’t flush, and no kitchen…despite the hardship we are all very grateful for what we do have here.
The area where we are staying (the mountains of Mexico) is one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. I am constantly reminded how good God is. He is so awesome, so amazing…His creation is almost unfathomable. (I can not begin to describe the beauty…so the best I can do is post pictures for you to look at.)
We were able to go to another part of Palenque today and have a worship/meeting time. It was gorgeous. The falls (waterfalls) that are there are so amazing. There are so many of them you can’t even count. Every time you turn around there is a different fall.
It was a great day where we were able to start with worship as a group and then go out on our own and have quiet time and a day full of “Jesus” time an get TAN….what more could I ask for? I was just in awe of what I was seeing and what the Lord was revealing to me all day. I was able to stay in a worshipful atmosphere all day long and I feel on top of the world. The heaviness that I have been feeling the past couple of days gone!!!! Praise God…He is so good!!!!
On a more humorous note…just a few things that I experienced through out my day that might make you laugh…on the way to the other waterfalls today we were driving down the road (the roads here in Mexico are awful) and all of a sudden half of the road was gone. I mean not there…it had fallen off the mountain…yeah…kinda crazy…kinda scary.
Another…every where you go; people are trying to sell you things. Whether it is bananas, oranges, souvenirs, dresses, whatever…so they have come up with a tactic to stop the cars. As you are driving along…they will put a string across the road where you can not get across, unless you just run right through it…so that’s actually what you have to do… run right over their road blocks.
The first time this happened, Paul actually fell for it and stopped and our car was attacked by vendors, but now it is a game to see how fast we can run through the rope.
The debrief time her has been very relaxing, refreshing, and much needed. We are so excited about the South African teams getting here and are anxious to meet them and start our ministry with them.
Today Laura turned 23, so we were able to have her a “surprise” birthday party at dinner with everyone. Even though we are miles away from “home”, friends, and family this year we are doing our best to make each other’s birthdays as best as possible.
Please continue to keep us in prayer as we continue to get our strength and energy back so we are able to start a fresh month of ministry…starting February 2 when we race to Guatemala.
Happy Birthday Alfie!!!! I love you and Miss you so so much!!!!
