Wrap Up.

To wrap everything up here is a map of some of the locations we traveled.

1. I think this is a map (if it shows up in your browser) of the camp Mission Quest uses as our home away from home. As you can see it is tucked away at the base of some mountains (Sierra de Hauchichil)

View Larger Map
2. This is Hauchichil I think. I could be wrong. It is in the right area and definately big enough, but don't remember seeing any ponds of any kind.

View Larger Map
3. This is Emilano Zapata. This is the town where 50 years ago the villagers chased a missionairy out of the town with rocks. This is where Chuy and his Wife Lily and thier son live and have a church. The church should be at the top of the map. It looks almost like a triangle or a slice of pizza with a square building just to the tip (south). The bigger building is the church, but the roof got destroyed. They now meet in the little one room buidling until they can repair the roof.

View Larger Map
4. This is a map of Las Hormigas. Also know as The Ants in English. This is where we did our work day. Despite how close it seems to Hauchichil, it took around 2 hours on some rough roads.

View Larger Map
5. This is the park where we did our performance in Saltillo.

View Larger Map

That give you an idea of where we were and where we taveled.

Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures from the week.

Getting some quiet times done in the morning.

Some of the guys by the concrete ping pong tables.

Jordan laying on a bed of nails while mike breaks a cinder block on him.

Some of the kids.

Part of the drama in the park in Saltillo.

I posted the rest of the pictures at wil.dwimor.com

Bienvenido a casa -Welcome Home

We made it back. We traveled about 17 hours. I got home about 11pm or so last night. I will be fixing up some of the posts, and then posting some pics.

Last day

This was it. The last day is done. It was still a very busy day. After breakfast, we wnt and heard a few testimonies from nationals. One guy was 94 and had been married for 75 years. He has spent all his spare time reading the Word and singing to God. He is much slower now. We began singing "At the Cross". Then he sang a verse in spanish. Seeing people like this who are simply dedicated to following Christ show me what faith is all about. No doubt he will be lifted high in life eternal.

Tomorrow we leave. We will be getting up at 4am and leaving at 4:30. We are travleing all the way to the city. Please be in prayer for the drivers as this wil be a difficult drive.

After getting settled back in at home, i'll get pictures added into the posts.

sunday

We started today with breakfast again. I am really starting to sense a pattern.

We went to Saltillo international church. It is an english speakig church. It was like home away from home. Especially since it was a father's day message.

We had "personal burritto" for lunch (very good).

We then traveled to an open market. It is basically a huge carnival and flea market. We handed out more Bibles and tried out my newly attained espanol. Some actaully rejected the Word this time. However it still was easy to hand out all we had. A lot of kids remarked on how appreciative the people were to be given the Bible. Also, unlike America they kept them and didn't just throw them away. Even better some began reading it there on the spot. We followed all this up with another performance.

Then we went to the local spanish church. Very friendly people. They welcomed us with smiles. And despite not knowing spanish were able to worship. The speaker was a missionary this small church sent out to another town. He spoke on being oly because God is holy. It was an incredible message. One the states used to preach, but would shy away from.

We returned to camp and had dinner. Afterwards we had a time of sharing. Again the kids amaze me. I think a lot of bogus perceptions are being corrected . I pray this will be something that we al hold onto.

Easier but still busy

Today was a lot easier than yesterday. We began with breakfast (wasn't really expecting the three course meal treatment). We then traveled to saltillo. We first exchanged some money or de niro (i pick up eventually). We then went to the capital building.

Then we visited the main cathedral. There is more oppression there than I would have believed. One of the local preachers who helps us out called it "casa de diablos", house of demons. The church incorporated the local beliefs. Inside the church, besides mary being worshipped, they have paintings of the aztec sun god. On top of the dome they have the other local gods standing watch. In the prayer room they have a clear coffin with Jesus in it. It is incredible how much false doctrine (even in regards to catholics) has been interwoven. Our missionary put it plainly to one of our girls, if you don't belong to God, you belong to Satan. There are more stories I could tel about that part, but i'll save space.

Then we went to market and had gorditas for lunch in town. We then traveled to a city park. We played for a bit on these concrete slides and played soccer in a drained pool.

Afterwards we did another performance, whichb went very well. I am still moved by the drama. i can't describe the impact. I hope we can do it in church.

Lastly we were taken to a very nice steak restaurant. It was massive. I also now have a new appreciation for limeades. It may be a beverage worth pursuing.

Tomorrow we visit a church and do another show.

I am taking pictures and will get them posted as soon as possible. Also thanks for your prayers and please continue. Especially as we travel home on tuesday.

Hard work

Yesterday was a little tougher than I expected. It took 2+ hours to get to the town we were going. The roads were rough. Especially in a 15 passenger van. The name of the town translated is "the ants". We worked all day mixing and pouring concrete. We also dug a trench for the foundation of a new churh. Then at sunset we traveled back to camp via the rough roads. It was dark, bumpy, windy and tiring. I have never been so alert and nervous while driving. By God's grace we did make it back and in one peace. I think.

On a more personal note, God again confirmed some messages of our time. The dedication and joy the local pastors have is inspiring. It as expected makes me a little ashamed. The Bible says this life is but a dream. We are a flash in the pan. Any accomplishments, other than leading and instructing others for Christ, is fleeting at best. I am reminded of the hymn, "turn your eyes to Jesus". The things of this world will grow strangely dim. I pray this stays with me.

The next day

Yesterday was an all around great day. The kids are doing very well. Some nerves are frayed but overall everyone had a good experience. I always like seeing people without the masks.

We had some devotional time last night. We shared a little and missionary spoke about the great commission. Yet again the Lord confirmed some things. It always astounds me how much we are loved.

Today is THE work day. We will be out all day, until the sun sets. We will be pouring concrete, making it the old fashioned way. We will also be digging a new foundation. Yes with shovels. Again keep us in prayers.

1st town

We stopped at our first town ans learned about it. Elmilono sappato. We listened to the preacher talk about bhis life and events. Chuy was 19 when he was saved. He began very shortly going to bible school. He is now 24 and has been in the village for aboutg 3 years. Ruled by the catholic church. Salvation availble through mary.

We then went door to door handing out programs and inviting them to the park we preform in. The funny thing is that I was reading in luke this morning. Specifically I read about the disciples going into town. If they weren't accepted to shake tbhe dust from their sandals. I'm taking that literally today.

Until later,
Wil

Made it

Looks like made it. We departed this morning around 8. We had a few issues at the border with paperwork for the vans. Thankfully, the rental agency was able to fax the appropriate paperwork back to the border. Other than that, there were no issues at border. It took about 2.5 hours all things considered.

There is a second checkpoints we had to go through, but again no issues. The highway patrol was also out searching vehicles near our camp. However not a single time did they search our bags, nor did we have to unload anything. We really do praise God for that.

Driving was interesting. We wound ourselves around several mountain pases. Not to mention the new "rules" when driving.

The camp isn't bad. We just have to be careful with our "plumbing". We are approximately 7,000 feet above sea level. We are able to drink thbe water at camp which is a blessing. Most of our meals wll be eaten here. They use all the scrap food to give to the nearby village. They use the remains to feed the pigs. They do their best not too waste anything.

I do not have service at camp so emails will be shotty at best.

I will add pictures when possible. If I can find free wifi, or when we get back to the us.

It is late and im off to bed.

First act

This morning we had breakfast. Food is tough for me in general but im trying everything giving.

After breakfast we began practicing our different activities for drawing crowds. We have clowns, balloon animals, instruments, drama skit, and a few other things.

We had lunch (a apicy chicken and rice dish). We practiced again ad are now heading into 2 towns to begin. We got a busy week ahead of us.

I'll send more tonight. Keep up the prayers.

Safe in San Antonio

We made it safe to san antone. Traveling has gone pretty well. Youth have done well and so far a good time. Different kids have prayed over walkie talkies while travleing. It is pretty neat to see some kids praying over us.

Currently i'm in a hotel room with a 10th, 9th, and 8th grade guys. Boodily functions are currently being discussed. Brings a lot of memmories from jr high.

Well the border crossing is tomrrow. Please prayer for us around noon.

Mission trip

Thus egins the trip. I am sending this from my phone so if it works great. Even if it doesn't at least i'll feel connected.

Anyhow, we are packing up and preparing to leave so i'll post again later. Please pray for us and the people of saltillo.

Laserquest Update

For multiple reasons we have posponed the our trip to laserquest.  We will reschedule.  Right now we are looking at 2nd or 3rd week of July.  More details will follow.

 

BTW, the special is 3 games for 17 bucks.

Laserquest

I am pleased to announce we will be playing Lazerquest on Thursday June 5th around 7pm. It costs about 7.50 a game and we normally play 2 of them. However, they are havin a special program during the summer for 3 games. I honestly can't remember the price, and don't want to call again, but it saved at least 50 cents per game if not 1.50.

Each game lasts about 15 minutes or so. However, the staff has to reset the system between games so book about 2 hours or so just to be safe.

There are a variety of coupons out there especially in coupon books. Ian Boyes is selling one of the said books (I know another shameless plug) to raise money for his home school baseball team. As he is always prepared, I am sure he will have one Wednesday. The coupon books are about 20 bucks I think.

If you need directions you can click here.

And if you are a nerd like I am and what to know more about laserquest you can check them out on the wiki.

If you need more information, email me, call me, or you can even write me a letter babe (ok really bad song reference) or whatever you like best.

Camping / Paintball Event

Update 06/02/08:
I think we are going to be holding this event on August 1st and 2nd. Start planning to make this date available. I will try to get a few people together to begin planning and booking everything. Keep chekcing for more info.

Previous Posts 05/16/08:
I have gotten responses from about half the individuals on possible dates. It looks like we are looking at July 25 & 26th, or August 1st & 2nd. There is still a lot of planning to do, so keep checking for updates.

Internet Radio

It is time for me to vent a bit. I love music. OK that might be pushing it. I like certain types of music. Country definitely isn't one of them. But that is a story for another day. I am continually frustrated by the RIAA and others in continually trying to revamp and add additional wording to laws and regulations.

One of the more recent conflicts is between AOL and Soundexchange. I would have never dreamt I would fall on the side of AOL for anything. However, here I stand in support of AOL.

Let me back up a little, as most of you know a few years ago. They have sued thousands of people for "illegally" downloading music. Since then, they have gone after internet radio stations and over the air radio stations.

Now in this specific case AOL is actually complaining about the rates. Now again, I have not love lost for AOL but they have had one of the best online radio services on the net. Until recently they were partnered up with XM. They now have an agreement with CBS and are preparing to offer some additional services like song skipping. You can find out more about thier radio program and new items coming via their website at music.aol.com

Now back to my frustration. In a blog from AOL posted on 4/30/08, AOL spoke about thier contract with XM Radio:

"Today the partnership between AOL Radio and XM Satellite Radio ended. As you may or may not be aware, XM’s business is focused on having consumers pay for their channels and AOL's business has changed from subscription based to advertising supported, so we are no longer able to offer XM’s channels. In addition, the record labels have dramatically increased the music royalty rates paid for
Internet Radio. This action by the record labels left us no choice but to look
for an alternative way to stay in the internet radio business. These new rates
have impacted the entire internet radio industry, not just AOL. SoundExchange is the organization that is responsible for the increased fees and we have tried over and over to work with them to adjust the rates to a fair level to no avail.
If you would like to voice your support of lowering these fees to protect the future of Internet Radio, please feel free to email John Simson, SoundExchange Executive Director at info@soundexchange.com or call him at (202) 640-5890.
...
The AOL Radio staff is very passionate about what we do and we work very hard to give you the best radio experience possible. We understand that change is hard and but we must adapt to the changing times in order to keep AOL Radio available for our listeners...."

Now I do think they are whining just a bit. However, like I said earlier, they are amongst the best internet radio provider on the net.

Now here is a little jab back from Soundexchange:

"Even as the music industry undergoes dramatic shifts as a business, these facts remain constant: it takes enormous dedication, creativity, perseverance, hard work and investment to produce music for all to enjoy.
We are a group made up of musical recording artists (ranging from not-so-well-known independents to Grammy recipients), individuals who work in the recording industry, friends and families of recording artists and fans of a wide variety of music. While we are an otherwise diverse group, we are united in our desire to see that recording artists are fairly compensated for the music they create.
Music fans today enjoy sound recordings in ways that were not available even a scant two years ago, and the technologies will continue to rapidly evolve. Those recording artists and content owners deserve fair compensation regardless of the technology that delivers the music – whether it’s via Internet radio, satellite radio or over-the-air radio.
Internet Radio: The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) recently established new rates that would result in a royalty fee of 65 cents per every 40 hours of our music streamed per listener (40 hours is the average amount of time an Internet user listens per month).
Satellite Radio: Proceedings are underway before the CRB to determine fair royalty rates to be paid by satellite radio.
Over-the-air Radio: The U.S. is the only country in the industrialized world that does not mandate payments to recording artists and content owners for music played over-the-air. We strongly believe this unfair exception in copyright law needs to be addressed by Congress.
There is resistance to the idea of fair compensation for those who create the music. That resistance comes from Internet, satellite and over-the-air operators. They claim to want to pay something, but not fair value. We think this is a fundamental issue of fairness. After all, these businesses are built almost entirely around the playing of music, and the creators of that music should be fairly compensated.
The idea that major corporations and their supporters in Congress continually try to drive down the value of the music these corporations use to build their businesses offends the creators of music.
..."

Don't get me wrong. I do believe the artists should be compensated for thier work. But going after "Over-the-air Radio" because we are the "only country inthe industrialized world that does not mandate payments"? Unbelievable. Once upon a time, not that long ago, it was over the air radio that made or broke new artists. Much like spandex, it is a privelage not a right. Heck people didn't know who you were unless your song made it on air.

Now instead of saying play my song please, the industry (and some artists) now want to be payed if thier song is chosen to air. Unfortunately the same is happening with internet radio. In my opinion it has gotten too far out of hand.

Out for now, but i'll post more on the issue later.