Sunday, April 16th, 2006

Friday night the young adults from Shalom spent the night in Celestun, which is an hour and thirty minutes away from Merida. Ayve (my roommate) has an uncle who lives there. We packed our bags, grabbed our hammocks, and headed to the beach. You see, Mexicans usually don't bring sleeping bags and sheets with them when they go on a trip. There usually aren't beds in the houses, but there are always hooks for you to hang up a hammock. We spent our daytime on the beach. All of the group was huddled underneath the shade, while I was the gringa trying to get a tan. (They did tease me a bit, but it was all fun!) I really enjoyed getting to know the people of Shalom better and make new friends. One thing that I miss most from the states are my close friendships with women from the church. As my language improves, God is giving me more courage and opportunities to have closer friendships with the women in the church. Recently, a young woman's bible study has begun on Monday nights. We are going to read a book entitled Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets them Free.



This morning I went to my first sunrise service. How amazing it is to begin the day in worship with other believers! I have wanted to attend one before now, but I usually go to my parent's house to be with my family and attend their church. The service began at 6:00 a.m. with a time of praise and worship and ended with a church breakfast. As we were reading from Matthew 28 I felt like I should cheer but refrained so that I would not be considered insane. At this point I realized how we, as Christians, may become more excited about a football game than about the gospel. I don’t know anything about football, and I only went to the games in college to chit chat and socialize. However, when Southern Miss scored, I screamed for our team. I am not saying that we should really yell and scream out all of the time (every now and then, it might be good for us), but we should have that kind of energy for Christ! Christ has risen! (And the crowd goes wild!)

Just a side note: After the worship service, we go outside to eat breakfast as a family. I know what you are thinking. Someone buys the orange juice while someone else brings the doughnuts. Wrong! This is Mexico! We ate homemade tamales (best that I have ever eaten), fresh fruit, fresh squeezed orange juice, and so much more! It was unbelievable! The Mexicans know how to do things right!