Ventana Craziness

The last two weeks have been non-stop business! Last week all of us students were split up and sent to stay with different Mexican families from our church. I stayed with an older couple named Pedro and Lupe. Pedro was the leader of our Culiacan trip, and I knew him and his wife before just randomly staying at their house, which was nice. But it was awkward nevertheless….I finally got to really see how different the culture is here, and how differently they live. We as Americans are so centered on doing, doing, doing, and having everything sanitary, and sleeping in, and so on. It was so strange because I woke up at about six thirty every morning to do nothing. I woke up, ate the breakfast Lupe had prepared for me (which was often something with bologna), swept and mopped her little house, sat down for like half an hour and did nothing, got into the car and drove to visit Lupe’s mom, sat at her mom’s house and pretended not to understand when they talked about me in Spanish, went home, at lunch, took a nap, got up and watched telenovelas (soap operas…they are sooo popular here!) and then talked to the visitors that came over every once in a while, then went to bed at around seven thirty or eight. I love Pedro and Lupe. They were very sweet and funny and genuinely cared about me and the rest of the Ventana students. They know us all well because Pedro is our maintenance man on campus.
Some funny experiences during my house stays: once I ate spaghetti for breakfast…it was wack. And then some neighbor lady who always popped in and out of the house came in and watched me try to mop. Then she just shook her head and said “No…no.” Then she took the mop out of my hands and just started going at it vigorously. It was so funny. But I have now learned the proper mopping technique, so feel free to call me up when I’m home J Lupe also told me that I should just stay in Porvenir forever…and that I could live with them. The funny thing was that they were semi-serious. That just shows what kind of people the Mexicans are…they care more about people and the relationships that they have with each other than their schedule or comfort. This is definitely something that I have had to adjust to since the American culture is so different. Oh yeah…their shower did not have running water…so I used a bucket. And the drain was right over the sewage system so it smelled like yucky things in there. I’m glad I have that experience under my belt now…I feel like I can almost do anything now J So yeah, that was my house-stay experience in a nutshell.
Then this week we had our last Camp Ventana, and it went so well. I got to watch God move powerfully again…I just love it. There are always these certain students that all of us Ventaneros feel are being specially called by God, and so we pray for them, and talk to them, and pour as much of us as we can into them, and then God just does the rest…He has brought many high school students to tears as they realize that they can’t do it on their own, that they need to give every single one of their dreams or expectations up to their Creator. I am so stoked on hearing from them all as they continue to grow. And that I get to do this for the whole summer…that’s right…I applied for and was offered a position counseling high school and middle school students at Mt. Hermon Christian Camp in Santa Cruz, California! I have felt God calling me there for these past two years, and though it is going to be so hard being away from my family for another three months, I know that God is pushing me to go there and continue to grow and encourage others to grow. It’s the passion that God placed on my heart and I am so so so blessed that I get to go and pursue it. Praise God!
Just a bit more…sorry this is getting long. I would like to place before you guys some brief history’s of some of the families here in Porvenir and how God is moving through them despite all odds. The first family I would like to share about is one that I have never personally met…the Herrera family. This is a family of six, parents and their four boys, who moved from Porvenir to Morocco (the tenth hardest city to spread the gospel in). About a month ago the four boys had tomatoes and onions thrown at them because they did not believe in Allah. For the parents, this was a very painful experience since they had packed up the little that they had, walked away from the town that they had grown up in, and went off to some hard-core Muslim country to fulfill the calling of Jesus Christ. If you guys could keep them in your prayers, they are trying to get permanent residency there because they are so confident that God put them here for a reason. The second family I would like to “introduce” to you guys is one that is actively involved in ministry with the youth of Porvenir. Geo and Pati are a beautiful young couple with a little daughter named Stephanie. They co-lead the youth group for our church and put so much time and effort in as well as working their small movie rental store in the neighboring town. They also take in teenagers who have horrible family lives. They have taken in three in the past, and now one of my best friends here, a girl named Leti, is living with them. She had a very hard family life and Pati fought hard to help her get away from it. Leti has been living with them for two years and they have been paying for her schooling with money they barely scrape together. They make sacrifices so that they can send Leti to the best school in the area, and they treat her like a daughter even though she is free to leave whenever she wants. Geo just recently went on a missions trip down to Southern Mexico. To show you how amazing he is, he was prepared to get on the plane with no more than twenty dollars in his pocket, he was so faithfully trusting God to provide for him. He was not going to be able to get a hotel room or anything…so then God provided money for him right before he left through an outrageously productive day at their video store and a check from a stranger. Praise the Lord!
I just wanted to give you all a little taste of the company that I am keeping here…pretty amazing huh? I see these people with barely anything just living totally and completely for God. It’s awesome. And it makes me want to be a radical Christ-follower. Thanks for reading, you guys! Love you all and for those of you in Corvallis…I’ll be seeing you soon ;)
Love,
Mikaela