Vacation Bible School

Hi folks,

We’re on the home stretch our week-long Vacation Bible School, and so far it’s been great (although it got off to a rough start for me as Monday night I came down with a nasty stomach flu bug, which mercifully was only of the 24-hr variety). It’s hard to imagine that Jose and Yolanda used to do this all summer long — it’s exhausting!

We added two new clown skits to our repertoire, The Selfish Clown and The Vagabond Clown (which has me stealing some clothes that just happen to be infested with fleas, with predictable results).

The kids are here about 3 hours per day, roughly split between worship, classes, lunch, and skit/song practice for the Friday competition (my group has changed ideas three times midstream, but we finally settled on the parting of the Red Sea, so pray that everything will come together, for all the groups, and that God would be glorified!)

Gotta go, time to set up before the kids get here!

Que Dios les bendiga! (May God bless you)
-Tos

Back in Rosarito

Hi folks,

I’m back in Rosarito after two fun weeks in Seattle visiting family and friends (and applying to graduate school — I found out yesterday that I was accepted!).

School starts in mid August. I may come home a week early for a last hurrah — either another horse trip in the Canadian rockies with the guys from church, or being a camp counselor with the American Cancer Society’s Camp Goodtimes (either of which will be virtually impossible for the next 3 years given the trimester class format)..

My flight back was uneventful, although I had an interesting moral dilemma on the trolley to El Cajon when I sat across from some street youth who were marking the seats and windows with graffiti. I was alone and had visions of the confrontation turning violent, so I said nothing, but felt like a coward for it.

I’m back in my old spot seated at the computer for hours. Jose said while I was gone he would picture me here when he walked into the office. It’s nice to know you’re missed.

It’s been strange being back, even before I knew I was accepted to school. Two weeks doesn’t seem like that long given the months I’ve been here, but it’s plenty. Church, cornflakes, fresh tortillas, toothbrushing with bottled water, no-TP toilets, picking up treasures — it all feels familiar and homey, but my heart is already looking toward the next chapter of my life. Pray that I can focus on what I came here to do, and finish well.

Today we’ll be rehearsing the skits we’re going to do for the Vacation Bible School next week. We’re going to do the same ones as before, but it’s been a few months so hopefully we can remember them all (I say “we” but I mean “me”).

I’ve been lousy at mentioning this up to this point, but if you want to support me in this ministry down here you can make a check out to Snoqualmie Valley Alliance (PO Box 2178 North Bend, WA 98045) with “Tos” in the subject line (this is an important detail, or else it goes to the general missions fund).

I will also try to do a better job of telling you about prayer needs and what is coming up, rather than just telling you after the fact. Of course, I haven’t been back long enough to tell you much at the moment.. Anyway, know that I feel and appreciate your prayers, please keep it up!

Dios les bendiga! (May God bless you)
-Tos

Home for a visit

Hi folks,

A lot has happened since the last update I sent out. I broke up with my girlfriend and almost threw in the towel down here as well, but God got me through with encouragement and prayers from friends back home.

I’ll be in town June 7th-18th for a much-needed break. I just want to hang loose, spend some time outdoors, have a few quiet dinners with friends & family, and try to hear from God about where my life is headed. I hope to be able to see many of you, but no guarantees!

I will likely still be in Mexico until September as planned, but there is a new idea of graduate school on the horizon, and since I just happen to be in Seattle the last possible week to turn in my paperwork (and even do the interview) for the Counseling Psychology program at Mars Hill Graduate School, I figure why not? Please keep me in your prayers. Assuming I get in and decide to go forward, I’ll need a part-time job and a place to live with cheap rent in the Seattle area, so keep your eyes open if you would!

Six weeks is too much to try to summarize, but here are some of the highlights anyway:

• April Kids’ Fellowship. Our “Deflated Clown” skit went well, but I didn’t realize it was foretelling the next 6 weeks of my life!

• Koreans. A Korean church came to visit at the end of April. They spoke very little English and did not bring the medical clinics we were expecting, but they did a great “David and Goliath” puppet show, gave hugs generously and sang great karaoke (with participation required by all – fortunately for everyone else, my attempt at “Amazing Grace” was nearly drowned out by those humming along)

• Mother’s Day. My first genuine Mexican piñata experience, and my first time reading one of my poems in public (and my first Spanish poem, for that matter).

• Frankie & family. One of Jose’s grandsons and his young family are visiting for a few weeks while Joe paints his Dodge Charger candy-apple red. Jose’s sons have a fiberglass and painting shop in El Cajon, and Frankie is getting the full initiation into the family business (and the endless practical jokes that go with it).

• Youth retreat. We went to Tecate for a youth retreat with the other 7 churches in Jose’s association. I remember a message about Absalom (outer beauty vs. inner beauty) that made me want to get a haircut. I made friends with a youth named Oscar who had recently come out of a brutal gang lifestyle and been completely changed by Jesus — he’s so soft-hearted and soft-spoken now that you’d never know if not for the tattoos. God is amazing!

• Women’s conference. It was our turn to host the women’s conference this month. We made taquitos for about 200 (don’t worry, all I did was chop lettuce).

• Father conversations. I am having some long and important conversations with my father and brother over email.

• Prophecy. I had two different people tell me I was not going to marry Ellison (something I was sensing anyway but not wanting to believe), and in less than a week it was over. I feel some sadness still, but I feel much more peace.

Things will get busy when I get back here. We have a kids camping trip weekend and then a week-long Vacation Bible School that will require our entire clown repertoire and more. In July we have another group coming down, supposedly doctors again but like everything down here, seeing is believing!

I hope you are well, and perhaps I’ll get to see you next week. If not, let me know how you are doing!

-Tos