Graduation

June is graduation time, and this year Sarah had the honor of being asked to accompany Belen (Gerardo and Susana's youngest daughter) at her kindergarten graduation. First they have a cultural presentation where all of the kids dress in costumes and perform traditional Mexican dances. There's also a flag ceremony, several speeches, then the actual graduation ceremony. Here's a few pictures of the festivities:

Of course no celebration is complete without cake!

A look into the spirit of religion here

"Susana's mother-in-law is a believer!"

"Really?!? We didn't know that."

"Yes, she has been coming to our church."

(conversation with a local church-goer)

A few days later...

"Susana, we didn't know that your mother-in-law was going to church?!?"

"She was for a couple months, but then she got mad that the woman who was taking her wouldn't spend all day every Sunday with her, so she stopped going. She still believes in witchcraft. Not too long ago she payed a man 7000 pesos ($650)-(you can imagine how much that is to an elderly woman whose livelihood is tending her sheep)- to come and do a 'spiritual cleansing.' He didn't even bring his own egg to rub over her; she came over to borrow one from us! A few months before, she also payed someone 4000 pesos for a similar type of cleansing. She's convinced that a curse has been put upon her."

(conversation between us and Susana)

This is an all-too-familiar story here. People equate being a Christian with attending a particular church. It has been a challenge for us as we look for ways to explain what being a true follower of Jesus is. People want to know what 'religion' we are a part of, and we frequently hear that people are not interested in changing their religion. We're not here to convert people to a new religion; we're here to see peoples lives come under submission to Jesus Christ. This 'spirit of religion' didn't start here with the Mexican people; Jesus himself came up against it often in his ministry, as did his apostles. We are praying that this spirit of religion will be broken and that we can accurately portray the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of this region.