My new home - Queretaro

I left Mexico City on Friday to continue the journey to Queretaro (Qro). I was really spoilt during my stay in Mexico City (errr, except for the cold shower:P). It almost felt like going back to Jakarta, where you have your home there, where you speak familiar language (English) all the time, where you´re surrounded by the people you know well but you haven´t met for a while, where you have friends to hang out with and to drive you around, and where you always try the new hip places in town. It´s a mix feeling that I have to leave Mexico City (sad to leave the familiar people, but glad to start getting involve in ministries at Qro)

My new family in Qro is amazing! I wouldn´t have chosen any other family even if I could:) My mum, Sylvia, is a very Godly, hardworking single mother. My sister, Mariana, is a very warm and beautiful girl who loves anything Japanese from anime, manga, cherry-blossoms, to Japanese food. And my brother, Alan, he´s a cool dude with dark curly hair and his electric guitar, hehehe....I´ve settled well into the family ever since I stepped into the house - that´s how amazing they are!

During my second day at Qro, I had an orientation trip to El Centro (The city centre). I was given an instruction sheet of what to do and which buses to take, I was accompanied by another intern and a Mexican friend who weren´s allowed to give me any clue on where I need to go at all:) I didn´t get lost - yay! But I was concentrating so hard to find my way that I didn´t get a chance to enjoy El Centro:P (But, don´t worry, I have plenty of time to do that!)

So far, I love the city. It´s full of colourful colonial buildings, soooooo beautiful! Just like the scenes in the telenovelas!:) The food is also interesting:) - I´ve tried eating cactuses, pig´s ear (well, we had that in Sydney and Indo,too), enchiladas, tamales, chicharron (fried pork skins), and gorditas (fried tortillas stuffed with various things - they´re so yummmmyyyy!!!)

I´ve also visited the church (Iglesia Horizonte) once and I´ve had a brief coffee making training yesterday. It´s quite daunting to take the orders and stuff in Spanish - arrrggghhh:) I´ve met with a few leaders from church and had a chat with Justin and Lluvia, an amazing missio couple whom I´ll be serving alongside with:) Exciting, exciting, exciting! (Mexicans would say: ¡Que padre!)

My family speaks English well and they speak English and sometimes Spanish to me. The ministry team here speak Spanish and Spanish only:) Some of them are very nice in making efforts to speak English to me, but in general they speak Spanish to one another. My Spanish has improved a lot since I got here, but it´s still very frustrating not to be able to express myself in Spanish. I could understand more than I could speak, so at times I find myself just just nodding and smilling.

Prayer Points:
- Thank God for the safe journey so far.
- Thank God for the great family I´m staying with and the ease to settle into the family
- Please pray that my language ability would improve soon and that the language would not be a barrier for me to minister to the people here.
- Please pray that I would not be timid in making friends with the Christians and non Christians alike and that I would have the courage to share my faith and my life with them.

Thanks for praying and God bless!

Visiting the Fletchers and Compa

On the ´camion`(the small bus) ; with the MQ gang at Mexico DF


The student group at ITAM; with the Fletchers (Charlie´s taking the pic)

The Fletchers are CMS missios from Melbourne who works with Compa (Companeros Estudiantil) or an equivalent of AFES is Mexico. They’ve been here for 6 years since 2001 and the student groups at universities have been growing since. On Wed, I took the trolley-bus and the metro from Antonio’s house to the Fletcher’s apartamento (yay! I could travel with public transport on my own J). There I had a chance to have lunch with them and chat and play with their boys: Jonathan (6) and Harry (4). Through conversations with them, I found out about the challenges in their ministry: The hostility towards the Christian leaders at some Universities, the lack of supports from the local church as some of them see Compa as a threat/competitors that tries to steal their young people, lack of good Bible training and good Bible colleges in Mexico City.

Charlie mentioned to me that Mexican Christians are very open about their faith (Hmm, I could also remember that Phil said the same thing). They are very passionate about sharing their faith and their relationship with Jesus to their non-Christian friends. I could see this through joining the students’ Bible Study at ITAM with Charlie. Before the Bible study started, the students were talking about the opportunity they had through submitting a Christian-themed article in the uni’s magazine. After the article was published, the article created reactions among the students and the Christian students were using the opportunity to have a discussion about Christianity with the non-Christian students.

The Bible study was held at a café close to the Uni. The students are currently going through the John’s gospel. They read the Bible in chunks then had a discussion using a few questions prepared by Charlie. The students who joined the Bible Study group come from different church backgrounds and yet all of them have a great desire to study the Bible and to share the gospel – Que padre!

At the Bible study, I receive the usual Mexican warm welcome. The students are very2 friendly and welcoming. They even made the effort to do a bilingual (English & Spanish) Bible Study for me! Si Dios quiere, I’d love to visit them again before I’m going back to Sydney at the end of this mission trip.

Prayer Points:
- Thank God for the Mexican Christians for being passionate about sharing the gospel with their non-Christian friends.
- Thank God for the ministries of the Fletchers among the universities’ students in Mexico City, for their faithfulness to the gospel, for their perseverance, and their creativity.
- Please pray that God may give Charlie and Kathryn the wisdom they need to bring up their boys in the Lord in the midst of the secular culture of Mexico City
- Please pray that God may provide the fund and the person to be an administrator to help the Fletchers with the work at Compa while they’re away on their deputation in June this year.Please pray that God may continue to help the Mexican students to grow in the knowledge and love of God. And God may continue to use them to reach out to the non-Christian students around them.

A pie in the sky

That pretty much sum up what my dad thinks about Christianity:(

When the opportunity came up for my parents and I to travel together to Japan, I know it would be a golden opportunity to talk to them about the gospel, but I also know that I may end-up leaving them feeling brokenhearted because of their rejection of the gospel. And yes, both things did happen. I really thank God, though, for the opportunity for me to share what I believe with them.

With mum, it started off as she said that she isn't a religious person. It made me really wonder though, because she prays with the incense twice a day, she's got a special prayer book that she uses in the morning - it seems pretty religious to me. But anyway, I told her that with Jesus there isn't any half way: you're either believe in Him with all your lives or you don't, because He is worthy of your everything and that He wants our everything. What kind of god would let the people give only what's left of themselves to him?

Then on another discussion (this time it was because of the thing that my dad brought up), my mum noticed how my auntie (Glo's mum) has changed to the better because of her relationship with Christ. It's awesome!!! (So Christians, make sure we live a holy life that we may glorify our Father in heaven:))

It was mostly my dad who asks questions about Christianity. He's got so much accusations and presuppositions about Christianity. The good thing is at least he thinks about it, but the bad thing is he thinks negatively about all aspects of Christianity *sigh* Some of the things that he has troubled of:

1. Why does the whole humanity has to be punished and suffer because of Adam & Eve's sin? Even human's law works better: children/generations after would not be punished because of the parent's/generation before's mistakes!

2. If Jesus is God (thus He has the same level as God), why did He say that He is submitting his life into God's hands (One of Jesus' saying on the cross)?

3. He's read somewhere in the Bible that God strucked people dead. What sort of a cruel God is that?

4. If God is loving and merciful, why can't he forgive people of their sins? (I was trying to explain that God is also a just God - he cannot let sins go unpunished, and He is also a holy God - he can't be with sinful human beings)

5. The reality of suffering speaks louder than the character of God, what sort of God would allow and do nothing about the suffering in this world? (Again, tried to explain that it is the consequences of sin).

In my opinion, my dad hasn't understood the severity of sin and its consequences. He also has his own opinions of what God is supposed to be like and how God could run this world better:(

* Please pray that God may be merciful towards my parents, that God would open their eyes and their hearts to see the severity of sin and it's consequesnces, thus they could see the grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ. Please also pray that God may continue to use the children and the Christians around them to keep sharing the gospel and sharing our lives in Christ with them*

A week in Japan

The four symbols of Japan:

*Geisha*


*Cherry blossoms*


*Mt. Fuji*


*The Golden Pavilion*

:: One week in Japan was an interesting experience. It's quite a challenge as my parents aren't used to that kind of traveling (taking public transport, finding our own way, getting lost, heaps of walking). Finding our way was also a challenge since the Japanese that we met could hardly understand us.

:: The things that I really like about Japan is the food *yummmmm!*, the willingness of the people to help despite the language barrier, Japanese crafts (origami, Japanese papers and fabrics, Japanese fans) and the traditional Kyoto.

:: I found the fast pace of living in Tokyo to be quite stressful. The stations are always full of people who are running (yes, running) to their destinations no matter what time of the day it is. You'll also see people finishing work really late at night (around 11pm) and falling asleep on the train on their way home.

:: We took heaps of buses while we were in Kyoto and it's interesting how the bus works differently. The people would get on from the back door and pay the fares as they get out from the front door:)

:: We often take maps in Sydney for granted, but the maps in Japan are nothing like Sydney’s map. There’s no clear indication where to turn, how many more traffic lights before the turn, and even the street names aren’t very clear. Being used to read Sydney’s map, it’s really challenging to use maps in Japan to find your way.

:: There are many train companies and around 20 different local train and subway lines in Tokyo. The different train companies usually located at different locations. That means if you are in Shinjuku and you are looking for the train station, you need to know the train type (JR, Keisei, subway) to be able to locate the correct station.

:: I think overall we covered quite a number of places in our short stay in Japan. In Tokyo, we went to Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Tokyo Imperial Palace area. Then we went to Mt. Fuji (drove up to the 4th station), Hakone (the National Park close to Mt Fuji area), and one of the five lakes that surround the Mt. Fuji. In Kyoto, we managed to see the Golden Pavilion, the Silver Pavilion, the Kiyomizu Temple (one of the candidate for the new 7 wonders of the world), the Gion area, the bridge where they shot the movie 'Memoirs of a geisha', Ryoanji zen garden, Yasaka Pagoda, and the Sannenzaka slope.

Arrived Safely in Mexico City

*The aerial view of Mexico City from the plane*

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let u know that I've arrived safely in Mexico City (It's Monday nite in this part of the world:))

Haven't been able to write any update while in Japan as we're out all day everyday. Will let you know more about my week in Japan later.

Antonio picked me up from the airport and we went around the city for 1.5 hours because we got lost on our way back to his parent's place. Antonio's family is really nice: his parents are lecturers at uni, his sister is a lawyer, and his uncle is currently stay in his house overseeing the house's renovation.

I'll find out more about the metro (train) system so I could get around myself and won't bother Antonio too much. I'll be meeting CMS missionaries, the Fletchers, on Wednesday for lunch on the north side of the city and for the campus Bible Study in the south. Then I'll be meeting Keri and Dimity, my other ex-colleagues, who live in Cuernavaca (1 hr from Mexico City). I'll be going to Queretaro on Friday morning.....

Praise God that so far things have been going well. Met a few tias (aunties) on the flight to Mexico and tried to practice on my Spanish. I ordered my meal in Spanish and I had a very spicy Mexican dinner! (yes, it's spicy even for my Indonesian tongue!:))

Mexico City reminds me so much of Jakarta: the traffic, the building, the street vendors. I didn't feel unsafe or uncomfortable here - if I could survive Jakarta, I should be able to survive Mexico City:)

Ok, I'd better get some rest now since I haven't been sleeping much in the last day or two. I'll write more as soon as I find time....

Take care and chao for now!

Key dates of the journey

:: Jan 8-10: Mission Training with International Teams

:: Mar 5-12: A week in Japan with my parents

:: Mar 13-15: Mexico City

1. Catching up with ex-colleagues

2. Visiting CMS missionary: The Fletchers, who works with Compa (Mexican equivalent to AFES) to minister to the university students

:: Mar 16-May 21: Queretaro

1. Mar 20-26: 'Festival de Vida' in Tuxtla Guttierez (South of Mexico)
2. Apr 3-6: The Calvary Chapel Leaders' Conference in Aguas Calientes

:: May 21 - May 31: Merida and Cuba

:: Jun 3: Arriving back in Sydney

ITeams Mission Training

The mission preparation this year is started by the IT Mission Training held on Jan 8-10 at their Baulkham Hills office. I find the training to be really exciting as there were many suprise elements in it:)

For a start, we weren't given any info on the schedule for the 3-days training. We're just told to be there at 1pm on the first day. The purpose of this is so that we would learn to be flexible and to cope with uncertainty. It's a good exercise especially as we are so used to run on a nicely scheduled routine and tend to get frustrated by the lack of it.

Then during dinner, we played third world country simulation, where some people got to be the first class citizens, some the common people, and the rest had to be the third class citizens. The third class ppl only got to eat rice with bbq sauce and some lettuce. It is often the situation in the third world countries, where the disparity between the rich and the poor are starking and where injustice is often done towards the have nots. Through the simulation, we're encouraged to think how are we as Christians are going to respond to this situation in the country we're going to.

I find the testimony time to be an encouragement and to be a good bonding time. Through sharing our testimonies about our conversions, we could see how powerful God is. We could also feel the bonding that we have as God's children who have been saved from our meaningless life.

I also loved the 'Amazing Race' game. We had to visit countries, finish the task given, overcome challanges without talking to each other within the group (our group is the 'silent' group) *imagine what the people on the street think of us when they saw us not talking but giving signs to each other!*

My fave task during the training is 'the puzzle'. We're given different sizes and numbers of puzzle pieces between the member of the group. The challenge is to have a complete square in front of each member of the team, without talking to each other, and without being allowed to ask for the puzzle pieces from each other. What we could do it to offer the pieces to the other team members. I could remember my feelings at the time: confused, frustrated, fearful. I was fearful that I may not know the right pieces to give to the right people to help them. And I did exactly that: giving the worng pieces to the wrong people! Through this game, I learn to persevere - to keep going even in the midst of uncertainty, confusion, and frustration (it was the perseverance that get us to complete the task), to give everything I could even though I couldn't see the benefit of my giving, to look out for the needs of others even that means I need to give up on what I have.

From the training, these are the key verses that we are encouraged to live out:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

Philippians 2: 1-7