Taking the family to the beach is a major undertaking. We meant it to be just a simple trip with us and the family, 18 in all, and we thought that would be tight for a 2 hour ride. When we started loading up, however, everyone wanted to bring a friend. We managed to squeeze in the three of us plus the family, a few friends and Nixon, and then they begged us to please go pick up one more elderly lady. When we stopped to cram Mama Lupe in the backseat, the rest of her family with their beach bags squished into the already crowded truck bed. (24 in all)

 Since we’ve been here, we learned the people aprovechar (take advantage of) once in a lifetime opportunities and will maximize every square centimeter of vehicle space. Many of the people we took had never been to the beach in their whole life and could care less about being squished, or even sick. Several times we noticed people climbing over others to be able to stick their head out to relieve themselves of their last meal. It was nice for us to get away and enjoy our first day of relaxation while the family enjoyed their first day at the beach. The beach was beautiful and the water was refreshing.

The church in Platanar was trying to raise money to build a second church, and invited a guitar trio from Tuxtla Gutierrez to come for a benefit concert. This was our opportunity to invite Abby’s family to a church event. The concert was full of hymns and praises to God, and our guests thoroughly enjoyed their time there.

We had many surprises along the way. The family has been talking about building a new house, but we didn’t know exactly how serious they were until we came around the corner to see piles of palm fronds and bamboo.

On an already 95 degree day, the controlled burning of palm fronds made it even hotter.

Another surprise came at church one evening. The pastor was passing out baptismal certificates to the newly baptized members. We were happy to see Guillermina made the decision to follow Jesus. On the last trip we made in December, her daughter, Noemí passed away and we spent much time ministering to Guillermina and her family. After receiving her certificate, she was asked who she wanted to have to be her spiritual mentor. Guillermina talked of how our visits much it meant to her, and surprised us all that she asked us to be her spiritual mentors.

Finally, Rojelio’s mother, Rosa, told us that when she is feeling better, she wants to go to church. At first we thought she wanted to go back to her old church, but then she made it clear she wanted to come with us. She even started telling her friends that she was going to go to church with us. We never put any pressure on her, but she just naturally responded to our ministering to her physical needs as well as praying for her and with her.