Nick and Sarah's Adventures

Congratulations, Megan!

2011-07-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

In June we had the opportunity to travel out East for Megan's graduation from Drexel University with her Masters in Public Health. We are so proud of her great accomplishment and of her landing a job in Philly!

Finney was nicknamed 'Huckleberry Finney' at the graduation as he messed his nice outfit he had on even before we got out of the car and all Mommy had brought to change him into was a pair of overalls!

As part of the trip, we also went down to Washington D.C. as a family to visit our nation's capital.

Finney loved watching the fish in the Smithsonian museum of Natural History!

parenting advice

2011-02-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Here in Mexico we get lots of advice from everyone on parenting. Here are some of the things we commonly hear:

Where is his hat? It's cold and he will get sick (said even when it's 70 degrees out)
Cover him up better. Look, his legs are sticking out of his pants. He will get sick. (again, said even when it's in the 70s)
Did you put honey on his pacifier? We always put honey on our babies' pacifiers.
Don't hold him like that (cradled). It will make his back crooked when he gets bigger.
He's drooling. That means that his diaper is wet.
Give him a green onion to chew on. It will help his teeth come in quicker.

He actually seemed to like this advice. Not sure it will help his teeth much, but it keeps him happy!

Here he is happily chewing on onion.

We also get asked questions about Finney. The one we hear most often is, "Your baby is bald. Did you shave his head, or was he born that way?"

In addition to giving us advice, people like to give Finney things. It reminds me of when I was little and would go through the drive thru at the bank and we would always get dumdum lollipops. Recently whenever I take Finney to the little tiendas nearby, the ladies working there have been giving Finney suckers. Fortunately, he hasn't learned yet what is underneath them!

Mmm...a real lollipop!

Yesterday when we were walking home from town a little 4-year-old girl ran to catch up with us and started chatting with Finney. She took a little stuffed bear coin purse from her mom and gave it to him to hold while we walked. She kept telling him, "Don't drop it." Pretty cute!

Our new addition to the family

2010-09-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

On September 8, 2010 we welcomed a new addition to our family. Phinehas Blaze James Anderson weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and measured 21 1/2 inches. He was born at home (intentionally) with the assisance of a midwife and was greeted by Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma Cramer.

Chrismas traditions

2009-12-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

One of the traditions in the Anderson family is to celebrate Santa Lucia Day on December 13th. It's part of their Swedish background. Traditionally the oldest girl dresses in a white robe with red sash and a crown of candles and serves coffee and treats to the rest of the family in bed. This year Sarah was introduced to the tradition by getting to be Santa Lucia. Later that morning we all gathered around the table for some Kringla- a Swedish pastry served on Santa Lucia Day.

Medical Clinic

2009-11-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend we made the 12-hour trek to the neighboring state in Mexico to participate in a medical outreach. We were accompanying around 60 others from various parts of Mexico and Spain. The outreach took place in one of the poorest areas of Mexico, as well as one of the most spiritually needy. The village was about 4 hours away from the nearest town, on roads that more closely resemble a dry river bed. In addition to medical and dental consults the group did clowns and sports for the kids, haircuts, provided meals, provided transportation to/from the ‘local’ villages (up to 3 hours away), showed the Jesus video, and gave a small bag of imperishable foods and clothing/ diapers to each family.

Almost everyone who came spoke the local dialect and little to no Spanish (much less English!). We had some believers from the larger town come along to interpret. After the first day of the clinic they invited us down to the river to bathe, which we gladly did after being in the heat all day. We thought it a bit interesting that it was only our team and the local interpreters who decided to go. Maybe we’re fitting in to the culture more than we realize :)

One woman brought her 8-year-old daughter to the clinic with parasites and a fever of 101. She asked if she could have medicine for her other children at home. The doctor said he needed to be able to see them to know what to give and asked why she didn't bring them along. She replied that it was a 3 hour walk (one-way) and she could not carry them that far as they were sick and couldn't make the journey. We gave her the medicine!

Another family brought their 6-month-old daughter who was blind from congenital cataracts. With a simple operation, she would be able to see, but the family would have to travel 4 hours to the nearest hospital to have it done, and it didn’t seem that they were too inclined to do so.

One family came with their 4 children and asked the doctor for some form of birth control. The doctor looked at their 4 kids and said that would probably be good since they have so many children. They responded, “Oh, we left 4 more at home!”

One the way there we got to meet a family who is translating the Bible into the dialect of these people. Hopefully soon they will be able to hear the Word of God in their own language. Please pray for the Kingdom of God to continue advancing into the areas of darkness in southern Mexico.

Enjoy some pics from the weekend!

Here's the town nestled in the mountains. There were many little villages like this along the way.

This is what these vehicles were made for!

This was a typical sight

Here's the town we did the clinics in

On the job IV training! Got it in 1st try!

Travels

2009-11-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we head out to do a medical outreach in the neighboring state to the west. It is considered to be the poorest area in all of Mexico as well as one of the spiritually least-reached areas. It will be a long drive there- 2 full days, of which the last 35 miles drops about 6,000 feet in elevation and takes about 5 hours. We should arrive to the village late Friday night, have clinics Saturday and Sunday, then return home late Monday night or Tuesday. Please join us in prayer that God would reveal His power and salvation to the people of this remote village.

Chicken!!!

2009-11-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Rhonda decided to kill her 2 roosters that wake her up at 3am (I thought roosters were supposed to wait until the sunrise!) and make a meal for her neighbors. Living overseas, I decided that knowing how to kill and clean a chicken is probably a good skill to know, so I offered to come and help. Susana killed the first one to show us how it was done then handed the knife to me. (Rhonda conveniently disappeared during this time and stood as far away as possible to still take pictures.)

Here’s the step by step process!

Always a bit of a challenge to catch them, even in a small cage!

Susana, the master, teaching us how it's done

This one's next!

My turn. I'm going to be brave!

Maybe not!

Ok, if the 11-year-old can do it, so can I!

Don't mind the blood on your hands!

Mission accomplished!

The chicken was some of the best we’ve had down here, by the way!

Medical Outreach

2009-10-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

The last 3 days we have spent in 3 different villages in the surrounding area doing medical outreaches. An ophthalmologist came down, so we were able to not only provide for basic health needs, but also do eye exams and supply glasses for those who needed them. We saw more than 200 patients in the 3 days, starting around 9 or 10 AM and going until 6 or later in the evening.

Doing medical clinics in the villages always has its special challenges. First of all, many of the people speak an indigenous language, so they would have a son or daughter translate into Spanish, which we would then translate into English for the eye doctor or nurse practitioner. I had one older woman who had her 8-year-old granddaughter translating for her. I had to hope that everything was getting communicated correctly and that the woman really understood how to take her medications, as I could not directly communicate with her.

Apart from the language differences, there are also the cultural beliefs that have to be deciphered. Here are some examples:
• “I make tortillas a lot. One time my arm was really hot from making tortillas and I put my hand in cold water. Now I have pain in my arm all the time.”
• “I have fear a lot. When I have fear, I feel a ball rise in my chest and my head hurts.”
• “I get angry and my stomach burns.”

Many of the people also have chronic problems as a result of their lifestyles. Most of the women complain of back and shoulder pain. It’s not hard to imagine why when they carry large baskets of firewood down from the mountain on their backs. They also have eye problems, as most still cook over an open fire in little wood shacks where the smoke billows around them for hours at a time. It’s frustrating to give them a small bag of Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the pain, knowing that their lifestyle isn’t likely to change and when the medicine is gone they will be right back to where they started from. We did teach them some exercises and stretches to do as well as how to make a heat pack for their sore muscles, which we hope they will put into practice.

One of the biggest blessings for a lot of the women was our massage therapist that came along the last two days. For many women, it was probably the first massage they had ever received, and they were so grateful for the 20 minutes of relaxation and enjoyment. Word spread quickly, and many came just for a massage.

We hope to be going to various villages two days a week for clinics and hopefully will come up with some answers to these various cultural challenges!

Spiritual Mapping

2009-10-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

An attempt to see our communities the way God sees them; that is the definition of spiritual mapping provided by the book Breaking Strongholds in Your City, the resource that has most influenced my view on the subject.

The technique seeks to reveal the spiritual forces at work in a community so that they can be accurately addressed in prayer. Ephesians 5:11 tells us to expose the deeds of darkness. Spiritual mapping uses spiritual discernment and the observation of historical and geographical factors (such as the location of centers of occult activity in an area) to reveal the invisible forces that are interacting with our visible world. Endemic sins, such as the communal practice of idolatry, can give demonic forces greater power to keep a people blind to the truth, thus challenging the spread of the Gospel. Spiritual mapping, seeks to discern these factors so that they can be confessed and repented of (see Daniel 9:16-21 for an example of one man interceding in this way for a whole people) and so that the powers behind them can be bound so that God’s work can advance unhindered.

2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The ultimate goal of this kind of work is that God would make “his light shine in (their) hearts to give (them) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Why do we feel this will be helpful in our area? Nearly all of the villages around us have annual festivals in which they rededicate themselves and their land to the spiritual power which they perceive as being over their region. This, and similar practices, as mentioned above, darken the veil that Satan is using to deceive these people. By better understanding the working of such evil forces, we plan to cut their power at the root through intercessory prayer for our area and thus “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The Newest Addition to the Family

2009-10-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Nope, not ours! Sarah just got to meet little Wesley James Cramer today, our nephew (the first son of David and Ann). He's precious!

Medical Team Strategy

2009-10-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

We’ve had several meetings this past week to plan out our ongoing medical ministry. We’re working with the Director of Health in town to contact villages that have no medical care and set up two days a week to go visit and provide basic health care. Ideally, we would like to find people in the villages who have diseases such as diabetes and return once a month to do blood sugar checks, diet teaching, etc. We feel this will give us a more measurable goal and a chance to impact individual lives, rather than just do blitz clinics every once in a while. Diabetes runs rampant in Mexico, and often times is undetected or very uncontrolled. It was not uncommon for us to have people with a fasting blood sugar in the 400s or higher at the clinics this summer. Many of the more isolated villages don’t have any doctors present, nor do nurses come and visit, as they do in some of the villages closer to town. By us going and visiting the villages, this will allow us to provide a much needed service to the communities, as well as hopefully open doors for the Gospel to enter.

We still plan to do large scale outreaches several times a year when doctors come down from the States, but this plan will be more of our day-to-day ministry. The team will consist of us, Rhonda (RN), Joni (RN), and JoLynne (NP) for now, then will scale back to just us and Rhonda in April. We would also love to take some local believers along with us, whom we can train to check blood sugars and do the teaching, so that they could continue doing visits even after we leave someday.

Mole, Mole, Mole

2009-10-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

No, that’s not the little animal that ruins people’s yards- it’s the sauce put on meat at any big event in Mexico. Last week was the going away party for Grant and Jenn, and in typical Mexican fashion, we had mole negro (black mole). I was in charge of getting all the ingredients for the 17 lbs. of sauce (that’s only counting the chilies).

So here’s the recipe: (Don’t try this at home!!!)

17 lbs. chilies anchos

2 lbs. chilies huajillos

9 lbs. sesame seeds

9 lbs. pumpkin seeds

9 lbs. peanuts

9 lbs. raisins

9 lbs. almonds

9 lbs. apples

2 lbs. garlic

22 lbs. onion

35 lbs. banana

13 lbs. chocolate

3.5 lbs. chorizo sausage

4 gallons oil

Garlic, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, salt, and pepper to taste

It took an entire day to fry and finely grind all of the ingredients then stir them together in a huge pot over an open fire to make a thick paste. The day of the party we boiled the chicken and added the broth as well to make the sauce. It was a lot of work, but it was delicious!

Cooking over a fire is the most common way for women to cook in Mexico and the ONLY acceptable way to make mole!

A lesson on finding people in Mexico

2009-10-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

The last two days, Rhonda and I (Sarah) went on a ‘treasure hunt’ looking for a couple people from the clinic this summer to follow up with. Of the five names, only one had an address with an actual house number. The others had either the neighborhood and street names, or just the neighborhood. So we set out, determined to find at least one of the women. We decided to start easy- the one that had a number. Unfortunately, having the house number does not guarantee that all the houses along the street have numbers on them. We followed the advice of our leader and got as close as we could, then just started asking people. We asked for #39 in a salon (#33) and the lady pointed us up the hill. As we crossed the street, we came across #31. It seemed to us that we were going in the wrong direction. We asked in a tortilla shop and none of them seemed to even know what their address there was. So, we took an educated guess and went back past the salon and down the hill. As we got closer, we asked a few more people for the woman by name and were able to locate the house. A young girl answered the door and said the woman was her aunt, but she was at work and wouldn’t be home until after 6. At least we found the house!

Feeling a little encouraged, we tried the next name on our list. This time it wasn’t quite as easy. We found the neighborhood and street fairly quickly and felt pretty hopeful as there were only about a dozen houses on the street. The address didn’t have a number, so we went to the houses without numbers first. At the first one, a small girl answered and when we asked for Maria, looked perplexed and said there was no Maria there. We went two doors down and a middle-aged teacher answered the door. She ended up being our teacher for the next hour as she went from house to house asking for Maria. Everyone would stop and think for a moment then say, “Who could that be?” We were ready to give up and assume she had just been renting on the street and now had moved out. However, our teacher wasn’t as easily dissuaded. From house, to store, to another house, getting farther and farther from the street we had named, she led us along asking everyone who knows anyone where this house may be. Finally she said, “Last stop.” The woman there didn’t know Maria, but knew a family with her last name. We went there and the man said his wife’s last name was what we were looking for, but her name wasn’t Maria. However, she had gone to the ‘clinic of the foreigners’ this summer, so maybe it was her. We went back the next day, but she still wasn’t home. Her daughter also thought that her mom had gone to the clinic, so we’re hoping soon to find Maria.

We have yet to look for the other three women.

Lesson learned: Ask, ask, ask, and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Photo tour of our month in the States

2009-08-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a brief look at what the last 4 weeks looked like for us as we traveled from our home in Mexico to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and finally California. It has been a great time of visiting friends and family and making new friends as well. Hopefully you'll be able to take the tour at a much slower pace than we did!

Enjoy!

Roadtrip!!! Off to Illinois to visit Kurt and Nellie!

We love you, Grandma!

Sarah's first trip to Pella, Iowa. Love the Dutch letters!

Life on the farm with Uncle Daniel, Aunt Mary, and Max!

A trip to Indiana is never complete without a bonfire at the Saunders'

Ready to tackle Tower Hill?

We missed you Rachel!

Nick's first tea at Rachel's

Nice pinky

Happy birthday, Lance!

And Brooke, too!

The master chef... great guacamole...and apron

Fiesta at the Lewis's

Chillin' on the sailboat

Which flavor will you choose?

Visit from Karen!

2009-08-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, our dear friend, Karen, visited us, so we decided to take advantage of the warm California weather and Nick's Dad's sailboat and go sailing. It quickly became an adventure when the boat ramp's thick layer of scum caused the van to slide backward instead of drive forward. Marius waded through the green water to unhook the boat trailer, hoping that would lighten the load enough for the van to pull out. Nope. So Nick was stuck in the van with his foot on the brake (the e-brake wouldn't hold it in place either) while his Mom called AAA to come tow him out. We were glad when they arrived before the van ended up in the bottom of the lake! The sailing was great, however, and we left with some fun memories.

Keep your foot on the brake, Nick!

Thanks AAA!

Marius is quite the little sailor!

That night, we ended Karen's visit with a trip to Brock's, a famous homemade ice cream parlor, an essential part of any visit to YC! Happy Birthday, Karen!

Graduation

2009-07-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

"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.

Fun in the Kitchen

2009-06-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

We've decided recently that we want to start eating healthier, so we've been experimenting with more natural snacks. We're quite proud of some of our accomplishments. We made natural peanut butter, made from raw peanuts that we roasted ourselves. We also made homemade granola, and have been experimenting ways to turn them into granola bars. It tastes great on yogurt, and we're planning on trying it as an ice cream topper as well (ok, so that defeats the purpose of it being healthy, we know, but everything in moderation, right!)

When we come back from the States, we're planning on planting a small garden so that we can eat garden fresh produce. Additionally, our neighbor sells fresh milk, straight from the udder, which we plan to buy instead of the boxed shelf milk. We may even start making our own yogurt and churning our own butter. Maybe we should start our own line of natural food products to sell!

Visit to Village

2009-06-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to go with Gerardo and Susana and their kids to their home in his home village. It is more of a mountain cabin, actually. We drove to the village then walked another 20 minutes up the mountain to their little wooden home, nestled among the trees. There's no water, bathroom, or electricity there, so we had our evening coffee and bread (a very typical Mexican dinner) cooked over the fire and eaten by the light of a torch they made out of a branch and a rag soaked in diesel.

Upon awakening in the morning, we helped them with the task of planting corn on the mountainside. We quickly discovered that this was not only a new process for us but for them as well. First we cleared the brush and burned it, then we planted the corn in the still smoldering ground. I wouldn't have been surprised if some of the kernels had popped!

Of course, there's always room for a little fun!

Creepy Crawlies

2009-05-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

Living in Mexico we're learning more about creepy crawly critters than we may have cared to. Within the last 2 weeks, Roberto (our neighbor) has brought home 2 snakes that had been run over, the second still being alive for a brief time after arriving to our homestead. The first he skinned and is going to hang on his wall (I'm sure his wife will be very happy about that); the second he sold. Fortunately neither of them made it to our table! However, we did learn several important lessons :

rattlesnakes curl up as seen below when about to strike
if you want to kill it you should come from the front, because they always strike behind them (as do scorpions).

Other random facts we have observed about the wildlife here is that daddy-long-legs like to hide in yellow gingham curtains and that flies are their food of choice!

Mi Rancho es Su Rancho

2009-05-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

(For those of you who don't speak Spanish, that's an invitation to come to our house! It literally means 'my ranch is your ranch.')

Last week Nick spent 4 days working with our neighbors Roberto and Don Josue to make our house a bit more rain proof and to add a large front porch onto it. We invited both families to join us for an 'inauguration' meal on Thursday to thank them for their work and to try out the 14 person table that Nick built.

We hung our double hammock between the two post of the porch where we can lay in it and look at the stars at night or enjoy the sound of the rain.

We hope our peaceful lifestyle and comfy accommodations (anyone want to sleep in a hammock overnight?) will entice many of you to come down and visit us!

shared meals with our neighbors are becoming
quite a common occurrence

An Inside Job

2009-05-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

God continues to open our eyes to the blessings He surrounded us with when He led us to live as a part of this little familial community in the picturesque pine forest at the edge of town. The heart of our work down here is to extend the message and lifestyle of Jesus Christ to the surrounding villages where there currently is no Christian witness. Our strategy is to raise up local leaders here in town, where people are generally more open to learning about God and His Word, and train them to follow Christ and take His love back to their native villages. Don Josue and his family are an example of God working in this way.

Don Josue moved into this peaceful spot many years ago partly as a means to escape the persecution he faced in his village. Members of his home community burned Bibles, spoke death threats, jailed, and even forcibly expelled from the village Don Josue and other local Christians. I thought that with that kind of history, his wife and he would be reluctant to even talking about reaching out to their village. But the God at work in His heart is bigger and better than that. Now we're really starting to sense that God wants to use this family to share the love and freedom they enjoy in God with those back home.

A few nights ago, we went to visit Don Josue and his wife. We were hoping to ask them about their prayer life and possibly decide on a time when we could get together for prayer. Shortly after we arrived, he asked if we could pray. I told Don Josue that I'd like to pray for their village with them. At the mention of his village he launched into what at first seemed like the usual spiel about the people being too hard-hearted and how there was no hope that they'd change. Instead he testified to a hope and a grace that persevered under trial and gained the victory. He shared the experiences of his uncle, who was kicked out of the village for his efforts to share God's Word with others in their village. Despite this rejection, his uncle continued to pray for his community. Today, Don Josue told us, the people of the village are less hard, and many of the youth especially have begun to follow God. His eyes moistening with tears, he fixed his gaze on me, and concluded, "Thank you for praying for my village."

Down here, people usually all pray at the same time. In many prayer meetings I've been to it seems like a lot of people spend half the time with their eyes open, staring around at the walls, waiting for the others to stop and say "Amen" so they can all leave (I know this because I am so spiritual, not because I too spend half the time with my eyes open, staring around at the walls). :) Don Josue prays until he's good and done, regardless of what the rest of the group is doing. And when he's done, he usually has tears in his eyes. The guy might not know a lot of theology, but he knows how to talk to his God. And I think that is what will make all the difference as God leads us to pray for and minister to the people of his village.

sowing the seed (literally and spiritually)

2009-05-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

What do you think of when you hear the words "church planting"? Ever think of the body of Christ coming together to plant corn? I didn't, at least not until last Friday.

This past week we joined our good friends Geraldo and Susana and their children in sowing corn and squash seeds in their fields. This family, like so many others here on the outskirts of town and in the surrounding villages, have a few modest sized fields around their house where they plant in hopes of harvesting a crop of corn, squash, and beans that will sustain them for all or most of the year.

This wasn't our first time helping this family with their fields. We've been a part of two harvests and now two plantings. Geraldo and Susana already had an interest in God and His Word when we befriended them a year and a half ago, and it's been a blessing to watch God's kingdom take root and grow in their lives. The agrarian lifestyle has provided us ample opportunity to share the truths that Christ himself hid in stories of soils, sowers, and seeds. As we labor alongside of them in the hopes of a great corn harvest, we think about all that we and others have sown into their lives, and we rejoice that the Spirit of God is at work in their lives and pray that God will lead them to work in His abundant harvest for eternal life.

Weekend Getaway

2009-05-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Lots of people get married in the States and honeymoon in Mexico - so we figured we'd give it a try as well (we'd already honeymooned in San Francisco and Tahoe, but we liked it so much we thought we'd do it again (go on a second, or third depending on how you count). Actually, we made the plans for the getaway during a time of intense spiritual growth and seeking. We decided we would want some quiet time afterwards to focus on each other and God to see how He might lead us next.
Our destination was a tiny mountain community (located about 5 hours from our town in the direction of the Pacific Ocean). Nick had tried to save up money from his pizza business last fall in hopes of taking Sarah there after they returned to Mexico as a married couple but ended up squandering what he'd set aside on things like sheet rock and cement so we'd have a place to live instead of just a hotel room for a few nights.
We enjoyed the luxuries of our cabin, which seemed to us a 5 star resort: hot showers 24/7 (any shower for that matter would be a luxury), indoor bathroom with plumbing, drinking water from the tap (don't worry, it's fresh spring water- we didn't get any amoebas or anything drinking it), queen sized bed, and a fireplace. (Sounds a bit like our parents' homes- funny how perspective changes). The weekend away provided us time to hike, relax, pray and worship God together, and eat breakfast in bed.

Part of the Family

2009-05-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Some months ago we thrilled the blogging community with the virtual tour of our 120 sq ft home, now we thought we'd take you all a little bit bigger picture and let you meet the neighbors. We consider ourselves blessed by our living arrangements for a number of reasons. First, we live a ways out of town in a pine forest at the foot of the hilly range that surrounds our city. Second, we live in a friendly little community, made up of three houses and four families, all but one of which (us) are related. The little gray house is ours (Roberto built the frame while we were in the States last summer and then we all came to the decision that we would finish the project and live there after being married) and the green one on the right belongs to our good friends Roberto and Vero (parents of the Marshmallow Girl, Yami). Vero's parents and her sister and brother-in-law live up the hill (their house is situated behind the trees in the middle of the picture).

We enjoy good relations and friendly exchanges with our neighbors in this secluded spot and joked with them some months ago about nearly composing our own village. Sarah and Vero often indulge in their mutual habit of generosity, usually expressed through food with Sarah taking them a loaf of banana bread or other American favorite that they normally wouldn't get to experience and Vero reciprocating with hot, fresh, home-made tortillas, a treat we never turn down.

Last week we had Roberto, Vero, and Yami over for dinner and a very special dessert - campfire roasted s'mores (we felt very acculturated as we burned a broken, upholstered kitchen chair for fuel). As we sat around the fire, we thanked them for all the generosity and hospitality they've shown us and stated that we almost felt like family. "We are a family," responded Vero, and I think we all agreed.

Vero's parents have also blessed us in many ways. They always invite us to eat with them whenever their family gets together to celebrate birthdays or holidays and helped us stucco our house. Sarah has used her nursing countless times to bring healing and comfort to various members of our "family" and we both enjoy participating in the responsibilities of living in community (such as cleaning out the well - which can be seen covered with planks in the bottom right corner of the top picture). We look forward to how God will use this humble, generous extended family to extend His kingdom and we are grateful to Him for providing us with such a great place to live.

Things you learn from a child

2009-05-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

If you want to learn cultural norms and expectations, just hang out with the children, because they parrot anything they see or hear. Our neighbor girl, Yami (the “Marshmallow Girl” from March 6 post), is a good example of this. Whenever we go over to their house, her first words to us are, “Pasales; sientense” (“come in; sit down”).

The past few days she has been coming over to our house more frequently- just to play. Friday she came over just after Nick and I got home from town and knocked on our door. She didn’t really seem to want or need anything, so I asked her if she wanted to read a book. We read one, then she went to her house and brought back a stack of her own. After reading “El Patito Feo” (The Ugly Duckling), she invited me over to her house so she could show me all of her preschool projects. She then got out all her stuffed animals to play with. After entertaining her for a while, I excused myself to go up to the clinic to get some medications for our neighbor who was waiting for them. She asked me when I was going to come back and play with her.

The next day she again came over, laden with her books. After reading two she got up and said, “Ya tengo que irme; va a llover” (I have to go now; it’s going to rain). She showed back up a little while later, came in and sat down again. She asked me if she could have a pear. As she was eating that, she asked for a glass of milk. Once she was done, she again repeated, “Ya tengo que irme; va a llover.”

Yami and her mom, Vero

“It’s going to rain,” “it’s raining,” and “it was raining” are all frequently used excuses during the rainy season (which is just beginning here). Not showing up for something because of rain may seem crazy in the States, but when walking (often on dirt paths) is a common mode of transportation, rain and mud do make it more difficult to get around. I’m not sure how valid the excuse was for Yami, however, as it was sunny and clear skies!

It is also very culturally expected to give someone food when the come to visit, no matter how short the visit. It can range from a glass of Coke or piece of fruit to an entire meal, depending on the time of day. It is rare that we visit someone that we are not offered something. Refusing is not an option. They will insist until you take it, or at least take it home with you.

We are learning much about generosity living here. Some families hardly have enough money to put food on the table for their own family, yet when we show up they run out and buy a 2 liter of Coke or give us a portion of the food prepared for their family. It’s humbling and challenges us to be more giving as well.

English teachers for a week

2009-05-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Being a native English speaker doesn't qualify you to be an English teacher... or does it?

Our coworkers are certified in TESL and were just finishing registration for classes when they had some medical problems for which they decided to go back to the States for a while. Our team now had 2 groups of students signed up for classes to begin that next week and no teachers to teach them. So, speaking English being basically our only qualification for teaching English, we agreed to step in and teach in their absence. We had a day and a half to prepare, in which we looked over a teaching manual on TPR (total physical response- a fun and effective way of teaching a language), looked over Pam's lesson plans and began classes.

Classes actually went well, and we had more students sign up throughout the week. They seemed to be learning and enjoying themselves. After mastering commands such as "touch your nose" and "pick up the square" we moved on to "touch your right ear with your left hand" and "put your square in front of your triangle and put the circle in between." That proved a bit more difficult, but the students were excited to be able to rather quickly pick up on these more complex commands as well.

A week later, our other 'teacher' moved up her return date to the States to the following week, and it still looks like several weeks before our coworkers return. We had already spent some time praying about our long-term involvement in English classes here and felt that it wasn't something we were supposed to focus on more than just filling in on occasion. So, we, along with our leader Chris, decided to take advantage of the swine flu craze that has shut down all the schools in the entire republic of Mexico and has half the town wearing bright blue surgical masks, and cancel classes.

It was fun while it lasted, but we are a bit relieved to be done. We also hope that the classes opened some doors to some deeper relationships with some of the students. Nick is currently meeting with one of them, a chemist, to do some one-on-one English discussions with him, which we would love to see progress into talking more about the Lord.

Border Run

2009-04-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night we'll be on the road again, this time headed up to Kerrville, TX for an orientation with Commission to Every Nation, the organization that handles most of the finances for GFM and provides us with pastoral oversight. We're pretty excited about the trip as it will provide us the opportunity to mingle with many encouraging, missions-minded people, get some great advice on missionary living, camp out for four nights (we're thrifty), and to shop at Wal-Mart. We plan to return to our Mexican home the Saturday before Easter in order to celebrate Christ's resurrection with some of our Mexican friends here in our neighborhood with a home-cooked Mexican meal.

Mexico City

2009-04-02T15:12:00.001-07:00

First of all, sorry we've been so long in posting on our blog. I guess part of the irony of our blogging is that the more we do the more we have to say and the less time we have to write about it.

Anyways.

In a whirlwind 2 day tour that began and ended with overnight bus rides (no it was not as restful as it sounds), we got to know our nation's capitol. We still have a lot of names and dates floating around in our heads from all the museums we visited and it will probably be a while before we can say that we have a good grasp of Mexican History, but we did learn and experience a great deal, much of which has already proved helpful as we relate to our friends here.

One highlight was the Basilica of Guadalupe, pictured above. There are many saints and virgins (mostly with Catholic names) in Mexico, and the Virgin of Guadalupe is probably the most famous and is revered as the Virgin of all of Mexico. There were throngs of people attending (a Monday afternoon), and merchants peddling religious paraphernalia for blocks before the entrance. Many people crawl on their knees from the gate until they reach the church as a way to seek the blessing of the Virgin. The main object is an image of the Virgin that was allegedly left on a peasant's poncho after she appeared to him and requested that he build her a temple where she could dwell as a mother among the people that she loves and show compassion to those who love her and seek after her. We were surrounded by people asking a blessing for their children, or relief from some pain, or probably just about anything else one would ask in prayer. It was pretty eyeopening to see how greatly Mexicans revere this apparition of Mary.

We also visited the National Museum which is housed in a castle that has served as a military academy and the home of various political leaders throughout Mexico's history.

We also saw several of Diego Rivera's murals which are spread out in museums and historical sites around the city. These public pieces of art have a lot to say about Mexico's history, culture, and way of thinking.

We culminated our trip with a stop in Mexico City's "Little Korea". We stopped into one of several authentic Korean restaurants and enjoyed a buffet of meats (which you get to cook right there on your own table), vegetables, and other interesting (and delicious) Korean foods that we weren't sure what they were.

3 months!

2009-03-20T18:03:00.001-07:00

Today is our 3 month anniversary. Sunday was the one year anniversary since our first date. Life is good!

Divine Interruptions

2009-03-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

The story of the Triqui family is a neat testimony of how God is leading us to people who are open to Him. Friday the 20th in the morning we prayed that God would really lead us and that we would be open to His plans for the day and not just stick to the plans we had made, if He had something different. That afternoon we made our weekly trip to the market to buy our fresh produce for the week. We were just getting in the van when a man and his wife came up to Nick with their 11 year old son telling him (in Spanish), “Talk to him in English” then telling Nick, “He speaks really good English.” Having been in Mexico for a while now, we have become used to this type of encounter. Parents push their children to us telling them to practice their English and the poor kids are scared to death and don’t want to say a word. However, Nick politely conversed with them for a while and when they asked what we do here, he told them about our clinic. They wanted to see where it was and asked if they could follow us home. We took them to the base and they asked us what we were doing on Sunday and proceeded to invite us to their village so we, as Americans, could experience their village. They also asked if they could invite everyone else at the base.

Sunday morning came and the man, Sefarino, and his son, Carlos, showed up at the base in their truck to take us to the village 1.5 hours away. They asked where everyone else was and we told them they were busy. Sefarino couldn’t seem to understand why no one else wanted to go, when he had clearly told them the day. He asked Nick several times if he should go and get the others, and after Nick assured him they could come, he looked to his son and told him to ask Nick if others were coming because, “Maybe he didn’t understand me.”

They seemed excited to introduce us to others in their village and invited several families over to eat with us. After feeding us two heaping platefuls of food, tortillas, and 20 oz. bottles of Pepsi, they fed the others, to whom the spoke in Triqui. The only words we recognized were “California” and “Sacramento” after which everyone turned to us and smiled. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that we were the topic of conversation!

There were several older women there who seemed to have quite a bit of difficulty walking. Nick really felt like he should pray for them for healing. One of the women was still there in the kitchen (more accurately described as a small wooden building with dirt floors and a fire going) so we went and asked if we could pray for her. She didn’t understand Spanish, so Eugenia (the women who invited us to come) ‘translated’ for us. We quickly discovered that her Spanish is also very poor, but we were able to get the main idea across. The woman agreed to let us pray for her crippled feet, then as we were praying, she pointed to her thigh which was also hurting, then later her stomach as well. As we finished, Eugenia asked if we would pray for her mom who also couldn’t walk well and has difficulty hearing in one ear. We prayed for her as well, then another woman asked for prayer for her back pain. We had a hard time knowing if they were feeling better as a result of the prayer, because when we would ask Eugenia to ask them how they were feeling, she would just repeat what was wrong with them to begin with.

Before we left we invited them to come over to our house the next time they were in town. We set the date for Saturday morning before they went into town for their shopping. They took us home and we invited them in for cafecito.

Saturday we were expecting them to arrive between 9-11. We had the food all prepared, then began to do some work around the house while we waited. Finally at noon we went ahead and ate. Around 2 we heard voices outside then a knock on the door. We invited them in and the first thing they said was that they wanted prayer for their son who supposedly has been losing weight and not eating well. They also wanted prayer for Eugenia who has stomach problems and for Sefarino for blurry vision. They also asked for us to pray for their house as they felt that witchcraft had been performed against them and that there was a demon there. So we fed them, shared some Scriptures with them, then prayed with them. After we prayed, they said they needed to go and got up and left.

We are praying that this family will really open doors for the Kingdom of God to come to the Triqui peoples of southern Mexico.

Neighbors

2009-03-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

One of our most frequent visitors at our house is the little 3-year-old neighbor girl, Yami. The night of our staff bonfire with smores, after everyone left, Nick and I were enjoying the fire and the night sky when we saw Roberto, Vero and Yami come outside to burn their mattress (I guess the springs were poking through and the easiest way to get rid of it was to burn it). We went over and asked Yami if she wanted a marshmallow. She readily agreed and came over for a smore. The next night Vero, a bit embarrassed, brought Yami over and said she kept begging for another marshmallow. We gave her a marshmallow, but she wanted it roasted on a stick. We didn’t have a fire going, so she settled for a cold marshmallow on a stick. Same thing happened Thursday evening, and we invited them in for pizza. A few days later I was out washing dishes and I could hear Yami pestering her mom for another marshmallow. Vero told her to come over and ask for one. Yami refused to come by herself, so Vero brought her to the back patio and told her to ask me for one (meanwhile I kept washing the dishes, facing the other way, trying not to laugh at what was going on). Yami refused, so Vero took her home, wailing. I took pity on the poor girl, and when I was done washing dishes, I went over to chat with them, as they were still sitting outside. Yami then asked me for a marshmallow and came with me to get one. Of course, she had to share with her Dad and Mom, so she took 3. After eating 2 ½ she decided she was done  A couple days ago we heard a little knock on our door. We opened it up to Yami who asked for ‘pan de tortilla,’ which translated means ‘tortilla bread.’ We had no idea what she meant by that and asked if she wanted a tortilla. She replied, “No, pan de tortilla.” I asked her if chocolate would do. She took it and went away quite happy. We never did figure out what she wanted to begin with.

The Big Idea

2009-03-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

So, as promised in our email, I'll do my best to answer the question, "Why are we here?" (This will be beneficial for me, too.) In common missions vocabulary we would describe our work as church planting. However, Jesus tells us that He will build his church (that's His job) - He's told us to make disciples of all nations (and the words he uses in Matt. 28:18-20 suggest that He had all people groups in mind, not just political nations). Southern Mexico is home to the largest concentration of people groups in all of the Americas and at least 40 of those groups are unreached. "Unreached" means there is no church in the group capable of evangelizing the rest of the people in the area. For more information on the area we're working in check out: http://www.globalfrontiermissions.com/oaxaca.html.

Our goal here is to make disciples (people who fully obey the commands of Christ); and our role (as foreign workers) is limited and temporary. Our part is to first scatter the seed broadly enough to find and then train the first generation of good soil, the people who will reproduce themselves in a spiritually sense 30, 60, or 100 times over (Read Luke 8: 5-15 if this sounds too agrarian.) Once we see the people we have taught to follow Christ teaching others to do the same we'll know that we're close to working ourselves out of a job.

We acknowledge that there are many long-term workers serving Christ in foreign countries through medical missions, overseeing orphanages, and many other worthy things. While we see benevolence as an integral part of following Christ we don't feel led to oversee long-term compassion ministries here in Mexico. Nor do we see a point in serving here long-term as pastors or administrators for the churches that we see raised up. Rather we want to equip our disciples to appoint their own local leaders and to take responsibility for impacting their communities with the love of God as they respond to Christ's commands in the context of their own culture. ultimately depend on the Holy Spirit rather than foreign missionaries. With that said, one can see just how definable and definite our role is and why one day (hopefully in the not-too-distant future) we hope to be packing our bags and entrusting the fulfillment of the great commission to the local believers and the Spirit of God that guides them.

Our church planting team is not the only group working to see this accomplished in this region. Hopefully soon we'll be able to post again to give you an idea of some of the others who are on the same mission.

The hottest place in town

2009-03-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

We’ve been back in Mexico a total of 7 weeks now and, as a newlywed couple, we are adjusting to what ministry looks like for us here now as a couple instead of individuals. One of the ways we really enjoy reaching out to others is through inviting them over to our home. Now, with a house of 120 sq. ft. total, you may think that to be a difficult task, but we always seem to manage. The most we have fit inside of our house at one time is 28 people and a dog. Granted, most people were standing, and they didn’t stay inside long, but they fit. Here’s a bit of a look at what our entertaining schedule has looked like since we’ve been back:

Jan 20- Roberto and Vero over for coffee (our neighbors)

Jan 22- Nick’s birthday party (see post below)

Jan 23- Mike and Daysi for dinner (a couple from the mission training school- MTS)

Feb 3- David and Rhonda for dinner (fellow workers here)

Feb 4- Roberto and Vero for dinner

Feb 5- Gord and Deb and family for dinner (leaders at GFM)

Feb 10- Tucker and Pam for dinner (fellow team members- also newlyweds)

Feb 13- Laura and Valaria for coffee (the women we buy our produce from)

Feb 15- all the staff and families for dessert- the final stop of our staff progressive dinner (the 28 people plus one dog)

Feb 17- several MTS students for smores

Feb 18- Alejandro and family for coffee and Bible Study (a family we are discipling)

Feb 19- Vero and Yamilet (her daughter) stopped by and we invited them to stay for pizza

Feb 22- the Triqui family for coffee (complete story coming in later post)

Feb 24- Geraldo and Susana and family for dinner (the family Sarah lived with last spring)

Feb 27- Chris and Erin for dinner (the leaders of our church planting team)

Feb 28- the Triqui family for lunch

Mar 1- family from Nick’s language learning route for coffee

Mar 3- Liz and Tasha for dinner (fellow team members)

Maybe this is why our leader has deemed our house "The hottest place in town!"

We prayed when we moved into our home that God would bless it and make it a place that people feel welcome and feel his presence. He seems to be answering that prayer!

Our Home: Virtual Tour

2009-01-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's what you've all been asking for: photos of the Anderson Home.

The front.

The dining room.

The "closet" and dresser that Nick made.

The kitchen (with Nick's beloved hanging cookware). If you look closely you can see the plastic bowl that was melted in our toaster oven shortly after this picture was taken. I wish GE had warned us that 400 degrees would melt plastic, so we're warning you: remove all plastic objects before pre-heating oven.

The bedroom.

The back porch and the drying rack (one half of our dishwasher).

The other half of our dishwasher (kitchen/bathroom sink).

The bathroom/storage shed. Yes, the blue and yellow box is the toilet!

Life thus far

2009-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Well we've been back two weeks now and things are going well.

We've moved into our new home, and with it's roomy 10 x 12 sq. ft. of floor space we've already done quite a bit of entertaining. This week I (Nick) celebrated my birthday and we had a dozen of our local friends over to celebrate. I shared that my birthday wish was that we'd all grow closer to God in the next year. The party itself was a success due to Sarah's gift of hospitality. She made sure everyone had a good time and good food, complete with cake and jello (the Mexican version of cake and ice cream!).

This weekend we tried out our vacation home (our 2-person backpacking tent). This awesome wedding present from a couple of our awesome sisters feels almost as roomy as our house. We spent a day and night in the mountains overlooking town. It was a great retreat. We also got to field test the rest of our great new camping gear.

I've put my baked goods delivery business on hold (probably permanently) as we investigate some other ways to be a blessing to the people here and to be legitamite with the immigration office. We're hoping to come alongside the local government in some of their medical projects; but we'll keep you posted.

We've spent a good deal of time since being back studying Christ's commands and teachings. We're trying to fall in line with His way of making disciples. We've begun challenging our friends and some new acquaintances with the invitation to draw closer to God by learning Christ's commands and obeying them with us. Many of our friends have responded well so far to such invitations.

2009-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

Support checks should be made out and sent to:
Cornerstone Church
700 Washington Ave.
Yuba City, CA 95991
For tax write-off purposes, please do not put either of our names on the check. You can attach a small note saying that your gift is for Nick and Sarah’s ministry in Mexico.
Please keep in touch; we’d love to hear from you and learn of any prayer requests that you might have.
Email: nickandsarahanderson@gmail.com
Snail mail: Global Frontier Missions; Apdo. 14; Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca 69800; Mexico