H1N1
¡Hola / Hello!
Greetings from Mexico. We have been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late.
Swine flu
If you were wondering how we were affected by the swine flu epidemic, the answer is we weren't at all. In fact, we have never heard of anyone even knowing anyone who was affected. So other than schools being closed down for a week and all public events cancelled or postponed, life has been very normal for us. There are several rumours going around about the government allowing the situation to be exaggerated for political reasons, but we will never really know what happened.So we continue on with life.
The rains
The wet season has started, which means lots of muggy nights and stinking hot days, until the rain comes. Then it's lots of water everywhere (carrying all the rubbish to the beaches), and more mugginess! The rains also bring more visiting surfers. Many stay for a few months to surf the big waves, so we would like to make good connections with them during their stay.
Surf contest & beach bins
The national surf contest, which was meant to take place in May, has been postponed to July, due to the influenza virus. We have been given the green light by organisers to take care of beach clean ups.
Mike has been busy locating large trash bins to place on the beach, as well as designing identification labels for each bin.
We would like to say a huge thanks to all those who contributed towards buying the trash bins.
We have received enough to purchase all the needed bins, as well as pay for the signs to label them.
Visitors
We have enjoyed having three short-term teams of volunteers in recent weeks. They have been able to help out around the community in practical ways and have seen firsthand what day-to-day life is like here in Puerto Escondido. There are more teams planned for coming months, which we look forward to.
Surfers Bibles
Mike has most recently been busy assembling small Surfers Bibles to hand out to surfers. We came across these small Bibles through some friends from the US.
The Bible is smaller than a credit card, and it has ten pages with surfing pictures and Bible verses. The verses chosen talk about God being in control of the ocean and waves, of Him being mightier than the thunder of the great waters, that through Him our righteousness can be like the waves of the sea, and that we can only obtain righteousness through Jesus Christ.
We are still also hoping to have the official Christian Surfers bibles in Spanish in the next few months.
Family
As a family we are doing well. The children continue to grow and develop well. Olivia is now 7 months old, Joel 2 1/2 and Priscila just celebrated her 4th birthday with a Princess party.
Mike heads down to the beach most days to surf and talk with the surfers. We are pleased with the good contacts and rapport that has been developed since arriving in 2007.
Bible study Vanessa is still involved in playgroup every Tuesday and takes part in the ladies Bible Study everyMonday.
We also continue to be involved in the weekly surfers Bible study every Thursday night. We are excited to have around 30 people attending each week.
Housing
The owner of our current home would like to renovate it with the view of renting it out to tourists, which means we need to look for alternative accommodation. We have some months to consider what to do, so it is not urgent for us to move just yet. This is a huge prayer point for us though, as it would be very difficult to find a house to rent that has the space we need at a reasonable price.
One option would be to build our own home on the land we bought, but we would need to find the finances to make it possible.
Praise Points:
* 10cmFor health, and quick healing for Vanessa when she had mastitis earlier in April.
* For the opportunity to serve at the national surfing contest.
* The provision of finances to purchase trash bins for the beach.
* For God's continued provision for everything we have needed, physical, emotional and spiritual (and protection from big fat scorpions).
Prayer Points:
* For unity and protection of our team, as we work together to reach the surfers.
* For opportunities to share with surfers in the upcoming contest.
* That the small surfers Bibles can be an effective way to spread the good news.
* For wisdom in deciding our future accommodation, and the faith to rest in God's provision.
* For more older children in playgroup. We have lots of babies, we need a few more 2 or 3 year olds. Poor Joel gets a bit bored for lack of playmates!
* Mike & others from here will head to a Christian Surfers regional conference in El Salvador in mid-July.
Thanks again for all your prayers, support and interest.
We appreciate you!
Adios from Mike, Vanessa, Priscila, Joel & Olivia
P.S. Vanessa celebrated her 29th birthday last week, Mike turns 35 in June and we will celebrate our 7th year of marriage.
web: allbutt.net | email: mv@allbutt.net | skype: mvallbutt |
tel: +52-1-954-582-4038
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