Well we've been back from our Mexico trip for a month now. That excursion seems long ago already. It took some convincing for me to convince self that I still had the energy and gusto to spend a month in Mexico. Push yourself, I told myself and so I did. ruth and I flew from Dulles International Airport on september 26, 2013. It was a grand trip. See below: Here are our notes on our trip to Mexico: September 26th to Sept 29: It was quite a vigorous trip and we felt God’s strength and blessing. Arrived in Mexico City at 9:30pm on the 26th on a direct flight from Washington, D.C. Stayed in the apartment of Rosario and David and six month old David James. Rosario was our student in La Generation, 1996-97 at the Bible School in Jerez and “one of the three.” Toured the city, ate in favorite restaurants and reminisced. September 30th to October 22nd. Ruth and I took an ETN bus from M.C. to San Juan Del Rio, a small city of 50,000 a three-hour bus ride north. Pastor Hector Manuel, 9-year old Mairon who is my namesake, and 7-year old Betsi picked us up at the bus station and drove us to the new house on the outskirts of the city at the bottom of the scar-face mountain that rears its summit a ½ mile behind the house. We are teaming with Hector to build this “House of Blessing”. The house is completed except for laying floor tile, painting the walls and installing appliances. We met Maricela at the house and spent the remainder of the day and overnight at the house. We celebrated Mairon’s birthday that night at the house. On Tuesday, Oct. 1st, we rode with Hector and family on a six-hour trip to their home in Zacatecas. In August of 2013 Hector and family were transferred from the church in Necaxa to the church in Zacatecas. This was a surprise for them and we since we all had hoped and expected that they would be given one more year in Necaxa. So Pastor Hector left a large and thriving church for the small, poor church in Zacatecas. The contrast couldn’t be greater: tropical climate - for high desert plateau; a two-story church building 100 feet long by 40feet wide with a lovely parsonage - for a small building that is cold, damp, dark and unappealing; helpful friends – for strangers. Starting over to build church membership and new buildings with only a handful of people is difficult work. The church in Zacatecas has been there since the 1980es but due to neglect, membership has dwindled down to 15. Evangelism, visitation and preaching and construction will fill Hectors and Marcela’s days. It will take years of work. Wednesday, Oct. 2nd … because Ruth’s brother David Rosenberger’s plane from Minneapolis was late, it wasn’t till 12:15am, Thursday morning that Hector, Ruth and I met David at the Zacatecas airport. The problem had been that while in flight, a large bird had flown into the windshield of the plane while flying at 30,000+ feet altitude and the pilot made an emergency landing, thus throwing off the whole schedule and arrival time. We were very thankful that David arrived safely. David spent the next week with us in Hectors house in Zacatecas and left on Oct. 9th. Friday, Oct. 4th … Myron’s 35th spiritual birthday celebration in Jerez. Hector, Maricela, Ruth and I drove to Jerez and ate at the restaurant on top of the hill near Lois Rasers house. Those eating with us were Jose and Jan Solis and Joan Murray. This meal came about as I lay awake one night thinking. Suddenly it came to me that Oct. 3-4, 1978 was my spiritual birthday. This would be my 35th birthday. What should I do to make it special and glorify God? The thought came to me; why not invite my close friends to a ‘birthday’ meal? So I did. I paid for our meal, each one ordering form the menu. Afterward I gave my testimony about the Lord finding me and saving me. The Hound of Heaven, Francis Thompson haunting poem is my testimony … “I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
 I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
 Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.” It was a very special celebration, one I shall never forget. Tuesday, Oct. 8th … Pablo Ramirez, a former student, and “one of the three” came from Fresnillo where he was visiting his mother, and spend the day with us. In the morning we all drove up to La Bufa overlooking Zacatecas. What a grand view! We rode the cable car down and had Hector pick us up. We all went out to eat at El Recoveco buffet in Zacatecas. It was good to see Pablo, though we were disappointed that Nick and their children; 10-year old Jaci and 4-year old Andreas were not along due to cost for the trip. Pablo rode over from near Tampico in the cab of a tractor-trailer truck. Thursday, Oct. 10-14th … stayed with Jose and Jan Solis in their home Thursday is the day that Hector and Maricela teach at the Bible School in Jerez. We left Zacatecas at 7:10am and took the four-lane highway that now runs the 35-miles between the two cities. Cruising at 100klm per hour we arrived at 7:45 in time for Maricela’s class at 8am, the first class of the day. At 9:20, we went with Hector to his class titled, The Pastor as A Counseling Shepherd. Myron took Hectors time and taught the class. Pastor Todd Schierkolk was my translator. Todd is a Lutheran pastor living in Jerez. The class of fourth year students went well and was very stimulating. When it was concluded we went with Todd to his home for a visit. At 11:30, Jose and Jan and Joan Murray joined us for dinner; Hector and Maricela came after their classes were concluded at 1pm. We had a lovely time; Barbara Schierkolk is a gracious hostess. Her daughter Kirsten helped with the dinner. We stayed in Jerez over the weekend and Pastor Jose asked me to preach at all three services in their two churches: Jerez and at La Ermita. It was good to reconnect with Jose and Jan. On Monday we rode with them back to Zacatecas where we ate lunch El Recoveco buffet again. When you find a good place, you keep going back, right? In the evening we went to visit Veronica and her twin, 4-year old daughters at her mothers house. Veronica was a student of ours in La Segundo Generation in 1997-98 at the Bible School. The days flew by filled with visiting, trips to El Centro shopping, and services. On Thursday, Oct. 17th we again returned to the Bible School where I taught the class. I presented the students with two, true, counseling cases and they presented solutions. Fourth year students are so much more advanced than freshmen and teaching and dialoging with them is exhilarating. After classes we four went to the home of Joan Murray for dinner. The Schierkolk, Jose and Jan and Jimmy Spulecki were there also. We had first met Jimmy and her husband Al in 2001 when we were living and teaching in Jerez. Al was a cripple and we often went with them on excursions. Al had died a few years later and it had been some years since we had seen Jimmy. Jimmy is quite eccentric, to say the least. Irreligious but interesting. Joan and Jimmy are bosom buddies, two peas in a pod, though Joan is more sophisticated and not as raw. Dinner was delicious and our group time together first rate. We said goodbye to our Jerez friends knowing that we would never see them again. Over the years our bond with these Jerez friends had deepened, they had been such a help to us and we will miss them keenly. I felt like Apostle Paul when he was parting with the church members on the beach at Ephesus. It was difficult not to shed tears. Friday, Oct. 18th we rode with Hector and family and Hectors down syndrome brother Esok, (Isaac), to La Quemada, the Indian ruins, 30 miles south of Zacatecas. These ruins date from around 300-400AD. We toured the museum and then began a stiff climb to the top of the ziggurat style ruins. We left Esak under a tree and the group forged ahead of Mairon and I. I decided to do the climb and the two of us slowly went up toward the summit. The view to the four points of the compass is stupendous. What a watchtower! After we had hiked down, we gathered in one of the rooms and ate a picnic lunch of Mennonite cheese, boleos, chilies, and chips washed down with pop and fruit water. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our outing tremendously. It gave the children hours of exercise and got them out of their cramped quarters back at the house. Saturday, Oct. 19th … was a quinciniera, a coming of age party for a fifteen-year old girl. It is equivalent to a bar mitzvah for a Jewish boy. It was held at the church with Pastor Hector officiating. Veronica’s niece was all decked out in a lovely, full-skirted, topless, blue gown almost as if she were getting married. Family and friends packed the small church for the hour-long ceremony. Later that night we went with Hector to her party in an upper room where a banquet had been provided. I shudder to think what it all cost her father. Bankrupted him, I hope not. Sunday, Oct. 20th … morning and evening service at the Zacatecas church. Maricela led the morning Sunday school service. After service there was a benefit meal for the church building fund in the upper rooms where the old feeding station once fed hundreds of children in the 1980es and where Ruth used to come to supervise. That evening Ruth played the keyboard while Israel, Veronicas brother and Eric, a student from the Bible School, along with Maricela led the singing of eight hymns. The singing of hymns is unusual in La Movimiento where they sing the same old praise songs over and over. The hymns that were sung were sung in Spanish were: The Old Rugged Cross, I would Love to tell You What I Think of Jesus, This is My Story, Onward Christian Soldiers, Take My Life and Let it Be, Nothing but the Blood of Jesus, I’m Anchored in Jesus. The words were put up on the wall since they were not regularly sung and there were no hymnbooks. Then Hector preached a good sermon. When he was finished I was surprised when Hector called me to the front to “bare witness” to his sermon. Eric, who can speak some English, though not fluently, translated for me. He done fairly well as I spoke for 15-minutes off the cuff, so to speak. It had been a long, taxing, day. Because of the chill in the narrow, un-insulated bedroom, as well as the altitude and active schedule, I was not getting more than 3-4 hours of sleep. It is distressing when one goes to bed tired but cannot get enough sleep to be rejuvenated. But God gave grace and strength. Monday, Oct. 21 … a church member named Linda invited us to her house for a nine o’clock breakfast. A former elected official to the governor of Zacatecas, Linda had set out quite a spread featuring tamales. We ate and talked for three hours, the children got quite bored. The house was quite nice befitting a government official; need I say more? I enjoyed the food but the visit seemed interminable. We left around noon. After supper that evening we sat in Hectors living-room while the family gave us gifts: a bag for Kathy, a leather belt for Ric, a leather purse for Karen, a leather belt for Roy, and a ceramic key chain holder for us. I prayed over Mairon and Hector and Ruth prayed over Betsi and Maricela and we cried. A sweet but sad time. It was difficult for me to sleep that night. The three weeks we had spent with them seemed like a dream that I did not wish to wake up from. Who knows if I will ever see them again this side of heaven. Tuesday, Oct. 22nd … we left at 9:10am for the House of Blessing in San Juan Del Rio. Passing through San Louis Potosi and arrived in the city around 2pm. We chose Toks, an upscale restaurant, as the place to eat our dinner. We arrived at the house by 3:45pm. The House of Blessing nestles at the foot of Scar-face Mountain, a summit that can be seen for miles around. It lies on the outer, NE perimeter of the city in an undeveloped colonia. I think that within ten years it will be part of the main city. It is built on a slightly promontory above the city and one has a good view of downtown from the flat roof upon which I delight to sit and view the sunset. After a chill evening and night we got up an left by 7am. We drove toTepije where we ate breakfast in the home of a former member of Hectors church when he was pastor there four years ago. This brother then drove us to the Fiesta Inn Airporto in Mexico City because Hector could not drive his car into the city because he did not have the proper plates for his car. We arrived around 10:30am. After again saying a emotional goodbye at 10:45, Hector and friend departed leaving us in the hotel lounge waiting till noon to check in. The lobby was a chilly place as there was no heat, even in a 4-star hotel. Rosario, David and baby James arrived at noon and we went to our room on the third floor. After chatting and diaper changing, David drove us to the House of Tiles near the Zokalo where we ate a good dinner from 2:00-4:30pm. This is my favorite restaurant in Mexico and well it might be. The building was built hundreds of years ago and the hand painted, blue tiles still look new. I always say; if it’s good enough for the Mexican president, it’s good enough for me. Returning, we visited till 6:30; praying, and saying farewell. Why are partings so difficult? Thursday, Oct. 24th … we left the hotel at 6am via shuttle to the airport, a mile away. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Washington, D.C. on schedule at 2:50pm. In the end it turned out to be a wonderful experience in spite of the difficult beginning. Many answered prayers, good health, ( didn't get Montezuma's Revenge) great connections with old friends, seeing/sleeping in the new house, interacting with Hector and family and Rosario, and mental and spiritual stimulation. What more can one hope for in life?

Gone South, Down Mexico Way

If God wills, we leave for Mexico on Tuesday, February 16th. We fly Southwest from Philadelphia to San Antonio, TX. This trip we are using the home of Nadine and her husband Miguel as our hub. From S.A. we must take a bus to Jerez. We plan to visit Lois Raser for a week. Then it’s off to Celaya to visit Pablo, Niky and children for a week before trekking off on our walkabout through Mexico to visit friends and do some teaching at the three Bible school campuses.
In the American Peace Corps I was taught to be flexible and that word defines
our 8-week trip to Mexico. No firm schedule because beginning in March it will depend on dates
Dr. Esparza wishes me to teach. I know, I know, most people pull out their hair if they are not given a hard and fast schedule of dates and places and work assignments. But our assignments in Mexico are only bookended by the dates on our airplane tickets. Once I met an itinerant wanderer who belonged to a group who communicated with notes left in a tree: a message in a park or a word-of-mouth invitation in the mouth of a wayside peddler. We are more sophisticated travelers than that; we do have cell numbers and email addresses and a blog site you can hit to keep up with our meanderings. They are as follows:

Email: noasark747@yahoo.com

Blog site: xanga.com/royalroad

Lois Raser’s cell #: 01-52-494-947-1474
So you see we won’t be completely incognito. Some enterprises we hope to undertake:
• Visit Lois Raser for 3-weeks in Jerez. Show Jesus Film in villages and mission sites like the villages of Susticacan, El Chiquiuite and Jomoquillo. Teach at Bible School.
• Visit Pastor Pablo and Niky and children in Celaya. Show Jesus Film.
• Visit Pastor Hector and family in Nacaxa for 2-weeks. Show Jesus Film in surrounding villages throughout the mountains and at the orphanage. Teach at the Indian Bible School in
La Sierra.
• Teach on the main campus of the Bible Institute in Mexico City.
• Visit John Pendleton, creationist who teaches/lectures on creation in Zacatecas
You can find him at www. creacionistas.com

Our trip centers around teaching, showing the Jesus Film and visiting friends who will be involved in our work. Last February we did not go to Jerez to visit Lois Raser and friends, so this is our major destination. Lois is 82-years old and we want to spend as much time with her as possible. While in Jerez we will stay in the home of a mutual friend named Joan, who is a member of Lois’s Scrabble Club. This club meets weekly on Friday to play, chat and eat and is one of the bright days in Lois’s schedule. Jerez is our favorite place in Mexico but since the drug cartel Zeta took over the city it has become dangerous. Please pray for Lois’s safety and ours as we move among the villages in the Valley of Jerez, in the town and on the roads to the cities of Zacatecas and Fresnillo where Ruth and I worked and traveled in past years. Inner mountain back roads to villages can be quite dangerous but they are the locations where we wish to show the Jesus Film.
We hope to be in Mexico from February 19th to April 12th. We will be taking a bus from San Antonio across the border into Mexico and then on to Zacatecas/Jerez. Our main mode of transportation will be by bus, the metro in Mexico City, and some private vehicles. We want to do whatever the Lord permits, trusting him for protection and deliverance from evil. We know we can only make this trip,” if the Lord wills.” Please keep us in your prayers.

Gone to Manana Land

"It's time!"
"It's time for what?" my wife Ruth asked.
"It's time to begin to think about returning to Manana Land."
"Oh, you mean Mexico?"

Ah. and so I do.
It seems we are always either comin' or goin', as if Mexico were the center of our universe. And so it might seem.

The older I get, the oftener I find myself in Eccl.12. A trip to Mexico seems more intimidating. The "what if's", loom larger.
It becomes more difficult to come to a decision. Should we go, or stay? What about ...?

And then I think about my open invitation to teach at the Bible Institute, "whenever you are in Mexico", as Dr. Esparza put it.
And we think of Lois Raser, our Mexican mentor. Of Hecor and Pablo and Rosario and their families. "Your grandchildren send their greetings and ask, "when are the abulitos coming?" Hector informs me in a letter. "Will abilito Carlos walk me to school?" Jaci asks her father Pablo. Who could turn down an invitation like that?

Myron and Ruth possible schedule

Arrive in Jerez between Feb. 8-13 … visit Lois through the weekend and leave Jerez on Feb. 17th to go to Celaya to visit Pablo. The climate in Celaya is warm, sunny and pleasant in February. Pablo and Niky pastor a small church in the garage of their house. We could stay in their guest bedroom. Would be with them perhaps a week.

Leave Celaya somewhere around Feb. 24th , and take a bus to Mexico City. Spend the weekend with Rosario and her husband David.

Hector picks us up in his car on March 1-2 and drives us to Nacaxa. This is a 3 ½ hour drive. Necaxa is SE of M.C. at an elevation of around 7,000 feet. Hector and Maricela pastor a church in Nacaxa. The church is located at the gate leading into the denominational orphanage. We would spend 2-weeks with Hector.

Return to M.C. where Myron would teach his Death and Dying course at the main campus.
When this is completed, we would take a bus back to Jerez and spend a few weeks with Lois and friends. March 25th to April 6th. We want to be in Jerez for Easter and for the annual farm fair.
While in Jerez Rosario and David would come to Jerez to talk to Joan about the possibility of migrating to Canada

April 6-7th, return to USA

We are told in the Book of James, (4:13-15) to say, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that." And in this light we make tentative plans to travel to Mexico. We invite you to pray for us.
Keep tuned for updates.

Being A Sojourner

Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

The concept of being a Sojourner is a Biblical theme that follows us through the O.T. into the New. Our forefather Adam, became a sojourner when he was put out of the Garden of Eden after he sinned. Father Abraham left Ur as a wanderer. Jesus walked the hills of Galilee as an itinerant preacher, never owning even a tent.

And we? Well, we own our our lands and estates, our cars and vans that would make Jehu envious, and our wardrobes and dozen pair of shoes as a noose around our neck. If we were called to leave "this place," how long would it take us to pack?

I am afraid we would answer Jesus as those called to the feast in Lu 14:16-20 ... (18) And they all with one consent began to make excuse.....
What is your excuse not to be a sojourner?
If you claim to be one, what is your proof?

C.M. and Ruth on Otter Cliff, Acadia Nat. Park

God Bless Your New Year / 2010

Ruth and I greeted the Sandman at his usual time on New Year's Eve, no special accommodation for him. If rowdy neighbors exploded firecrackers or shot off a pistol at the midnight hour, we were oblivious to their celebration. Walking in dreamland down some ancient path, under a new year's eve blue moon, blessed my slumber-time. And do you know, we won't see another blue moon like it for nineteen years? By then I will be in heaven, O glorious thought.

If the Lord tarries and permits us to go, we hope to journey to Mexico in February. I am looking at a teaching assignment which may likely take me to the three campuses of the Bible Institute: Mexico city, Jerez and La Sierra, the Otomi Indian Bible school. At present we are trying to determine the best route to take to Jerez: fly to San Antonio, TX. and take a bus, fly into Mexico City and backtrack to Jerez by bus or go from M.C. to Celaya where the clime is grand in the winter. Rosario's birthday is on February 20, so we must be in M.C. for that celebration. Escaping the winter here in the states would be a bonus.

Would welcome your prayers for our travel plans. Will keep you posted.
We wish you all a blessed year full of happiness and health. Let us remember Jeremiah 29:11.
C.M. and Ruth