Trip to Juarez

We set off around 7:30 AM from Magdalena on Thursday, August 12th. This view is looking down from a lookout just before the Chihuahua state border.  You can see the fence between Sonora and New Mexico, USA

The white line is the fence.

We arrived there right around noon.

Here is the pass.

And the welcome to Chihuahua sign.

As we neared Juarez, the landscape flattened out. We even drove through an agricultural area between Janos and Ascension and saw a few lakes.

Friday morning at ten, Miguel had his medical exam. It took three hours. They drew blood and gave him a couple shots besides other examination.

This is the building where he did the majority of the exam. The building on the left is where they gave him an eye exam.

We arrived at an airbnb Thursday night, but it wasn't what we were expecting. The kitchen area was shared with other guests, so we talked with our host and moved into another airbnb on Saturday morning. This one was much more spacious and private.

And it was still in the same area of Juarez just about 5 min. from the Consulate. There was also a supermarket, office supply store, pizza place, and pharmacy within walking distance.

Friday night it rained all night, so there was a lot of flooded areas.

This is in the neighborhood of our second Airbnb.

Just outside the neighborhood there was this flooded intersection. Some cars stalled and got stuck in the water it was so deep. You can just see a minivan behind the black truck that is stuck in the water.

Saturday we settled in and relaxed. Sunday we watched church online and then went to the Juarez Central Park.

It was all free and they had a giraffe, an ostrich, lots of ducks and geese, and some turtles in the lake. Kind of random!

They had a botanical garden and we saw this little squirrel animal. Some people were giving it radishes.

There were lots of sidewalks, benches, picnic tables, and playground equipment.

And even an outdoor auditorium. From the auditorium, we could just barely see a horse race track across the road and could hear the gun shot starting the race. While we were at the auditorium, a group of young people showed up and were practicing break dancing (flips, spinning around on their heads/backs, etc.) It was interesting!

Monday we spent the day relaxing as well and I had a number of phone calls with my mentor and my brother, etc.

Tuesday, Miguel had his interview at noon. I was not allowed in and waited for a couple hours until he came out. They had given him this blue paper and asked him to come back at 7 AM Wednesday morning.

We were kind of confused, but messaged our lawyer and he did some research and found out that they started doing the interviews in two sessions since February. We were relieved to find out that it was normal. We had been expecting to get the approval that afternoon, but would have to wait until Wednesday. 

I had a work meeting over video call and then in the evening we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for supper.  It was supposed to be our celebration dinner, but yeah, it was delicious anyway.

I had honey bbq and mild buffalo.

We started cleaning up our airbnb. We had been debating whether or not to pay for another night since we didn't know how long the 2nd interview session would take, but we figured we would be done in time to drive home. Wednesday morning I dropped Miguel off at the consulate at 6:30 AM, drove back to the airbnb and packed up and cleaned. I turned in our keys and arrived back at the Consulate around 8:15 AM. At 9 AM, Miguel came out with his approval slip. SO EXCITING!

Now we will wait a week or so until his passport gets mailed to Nogales, MX with a packet of information. Then we will cross and give them the packet at the border. Once they receive the packet, they will start the process of making and mailing his permanent residency card. After two years since we mailed the I-130 form (original petition) and one year since we were documentary approved (just waiting for the interview), it is so exciting to know that he is approved! (Take a peak at my featured post to read my update from August last year about Miguel's immigration process.)

We called family and left Juarez around 9:30 AM.

The mountains above Juarez.

We made it back to the lookout in Sonora around 1 PM

The scenery throughout the whole trip was beautiful and we were thankful to eat some tacos for dinner in Imuris and arrive back in Magdalena around 5 PM.

Thank you all for your prayers and we will hope to see some of you the end of this year in ILLINOIS!

Praise the Lord!

Expo Esperanza 2021

 

Balto participated in the dog obstacle course with C.

Miguel and I made burritos, cinnamon rolls, and "fresh waters" (lemonade and Jamaica) and sold them at the food stand.

Our view of the arena

It was exciting to have many children and other family members from CVV (our school on-site) participate in the barrel racing and the music competitions. 

I was especially proud of my piano students who participated and both won! This lovely little lady who played Amazing Grace beautifully and another lovely young lady (below in white) who impressed me with her dedication, learning and playing Canon in D.

Sunday after Expo, we had a meal for all of CVE and I didn't have any helpers. Thankfully, these two girls were available to help and did a great job, making brownies, cutting watermelon and washing dishes. We whipped up a supper of haystacks for 40 people in just a few hours!

The Monday after Expo Miguel and I took Marce to the airport in Hermosillo. After dropping her off, we went out to eat and had some delicious ribeye steak tacos.

It's been raining and raining and raining here. Wednesday last week, the water nearly came into the kitchen and then on Friday it flooded the back storage. I wasn't here to see the mess, but thankfully some others cleaned it up. 

Permanent Residency Interview in Sight!

Miguel and I were ecstatic to hear that his permanent residency interview is scheduled for August 17th. It's been two years since we sent the initial petition and a full year since we were approved in documentation. The interview is the final step in the process and the finish line is in sight! It seems rather surreal. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel to Cuidad Juarez (8 hours east in the state of Chihuahua, MX) for the interview. Please pray for a safe, anxiety-free trip and that we would have all the required documents in the correct formats, etc. With the interview taking place this month, the expectation is that Miguel will be able to travel to the US by October.

The final leg of our journey took about six months longer than normal due to COVID. Interestingly, last Thursday I emailed our lawyer (after six months of no communication) and asked if he had heard anything. He responded that he had heard that in June 2021 they were finally interviewing those who were approved in March 2020, so I gave a sigh and prepared to wait several more months. The very next afternoon we got the date! 

We will be traveling to Cuidad Juarez on August 12th. A medical exam is required at least two days before the interview, so Miguel will go to that on Friday. We will stay the weekend and have the interview on Tuesday. Of course there are a lot of nerves and stress. We were expecting to have a few months between scheduling and the actual date, so with only a couple weeks to prepare, we have been busy printing, checking documents, planning other appointments that need to be done ahead of time, etc. 

Thank you for your prayers for our peace of mind!

Along with the flurry of prep for our interview, we are also preparing for Expo Esperanza this weekend (August 6th-7th). Miguel is planning to sell some food items at a food stand, so we are making plans for that. 

So far we have made a number of burritos and cooked up some meat for tacos. Salsas, lemonade, Jamaica, and cinnamon rolls are on the to-do list for Thursday.

Last week I had my final sewing class. This sweet girl made a patchwork pillow.

I'm also excited to hear a couple of my piano students play and of course, see all of the other projects and watch the horse and dog events.

We also squeezed in a fire drill last week.

In other news... I will be taking a position as kitchen supervisor beginning this month and we are hiring a new assistant for the kitchen (as our previous kitchen assistant retired). Although we have done a lot. of planning in preparation for this transition, it still brings another layer of excitement, stress, and uncertainty. But I am hopeful for a good transition, communication, and the opportunity to grow in my leadership skills. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and grace. And also that I can learn to face conflict with appropriate confrontation when needed (one of my weak areas).

Some of you may have heard about the violence in this area. 

 A couple weeks ago on Wednesday morning, shooting broke out within hearing distance of the CVE property. It has continued off and on for the past two weeks in various locations around Magdalena. We don't know all the specifics, but different gangs are fighting with each other. Usually this takes place on the outskirts of town and is more common in the evening or early morning. We also had a week of violence a year or so ago when COVID first started, so this isn't new. However, this was the first time that the shooting was so close to CVE property on various occasions. More soldiers and national guard have been called in to the area. About a year ago, CVE established a communication system with protocol, so that whenever shooting is reported, everyone stays put, reports their location, gates are closed and locked, etc. Thankfully, in the last week there has been only one incident, so hopefully things will be improving.

The violence can be very discouraging. As we are slowly dropping COVID precautions, we find free travel still restricted because of safety issues. Church was canceled a couple times, events were canceled and rescheduled. Over the past year, we have missed visiting the ranches and climbing the beautiful mountains in the area. Please join us in praying for safety, for peace in this community, for the families, men, and women involved in the gangs, and those closely affected by the violence. Many of them may have grown up into these gangs and know no other life. Please pray that they would see beyond their current situation, desire something different, and find a way out. Many young men and women face the temptation to become involved. Pray that they can find community, relationships, and hope through the Christian church and not the gangs. Please pray that corruption will be brought to light and that the people in this community would look to Jesus for satisfaction and hope. Please pray that we can know how to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and be a light during this time. And praise God that he has kept us safe!

Below are the words to a song I've been writing over the past year as I've processed the brokenness I see all around me. I pray that it can bless you and help you to feel God's presence beside you as you face the brokenness in your life.

Never Look Away

by Laura Aviña 

Children wailing in the sand

Wars ravaging the lands

Addictions destroying a man

How could this, How could this be the plan?

Death knocking at our doors

Hatred scattered on our shores

Sin simmering in our hearts

I just don’t, I just don’t want a part.

Let me place the blame.

Show me who to hate.

Oh God, let me break,

        Be the one to take.

I can look away,

Just ignore the pain,

But I see you, I see you, and hear you say.

"I never look away.

I am here to stay.

I took the blame.

They chose Me to hate.

I let myself break

And I bore the shame.

Now I stay, now I stay. I never look away."

Suffering is everywhere I turn.

I wonder when we will ever learn.

Pain is more known than happiness.

I cannot bear, cannot bear this brokenness.

You hold each tear from every eye.

You count the injustices and lies.

You know the trauma in each heart.

And yet you, and yet You want a part.

Some of us learn to blame.

Some embrace the hate.

Some let themselves break

A victim’s life to take.

Some just look away,

Choose to ignore the pain,

But I see you, I see you and I hear you Say

"I am here to heal.

I know what you feel. 

Let me be the One

To whom You always run.

Justice will be mine.

I will draw the line.

Stand up straight, lift your face and just look to me."

Our God, He is the Healer.

Our God, He is the Judge. 

Our God, He is the Savior of this world, our God.

He holds a bottle in his hand

Filled with the tears of all the land.

Someday he’ll crush it in his fist.

It will rain, it will rain true justice.

Lift up your hands and broken hearts

Even when hope is torn apart.

We can watch beside our Lord

Through the pain, til the day he wields the sword.

We choose not to blame.

We choose not to hate.

We choose not break.

We choose not to take.

We won’t look away.

We can’t ignore pain.

We will pray, we will stay, and listen to Him say.

"I never look away.

I am here to stay.

I see and I hear

All you feel and fear.

Stand strong in the fight.

Face it with my might.

I will be, I will be everything you need."

Proclaim and Serve Conference 2021

 So I actually don't have any pictures from the Proclaim and Serve Conference, but I really enjoyed it. 

Nicole and I drove up to Tucson the Tuesday evening before the conference, stayed over night at the Wulfs and flew out the next morning. It was a long day. We arrived at the airport around 5 AM. Our original flight through Dallas was canceled, so we chose what seemed like the next best option, a flight through Los Angeles and Chicago. Our first flight to LA was smooth. Then leaving LA we were delayed for maintenance. Just as we were certain we wouldn't make our connection in Chicago, that flight was delayed as well because they were waiting for the plane to arrive. So we not only arrived in time, but ended up waiting about 3 hours until 10 PM to take off from Chicago. We arrived in Peoria around 11 PM and my mom and Megan picked me up from the airport. This was one of my first trips in a long time that I stayed at my mom's the whole trip, although I guess it was only 6 nights! It was nice. 

Thursday morning I headed to my sister's to see my nephew!

And helped take his 8 month photos.

Here he is. So precious.

Carson overload...

I really enjoyed my day with Em and Carson. In the afternoon, we headed to mom's house. Carson actually spent the weekend with Grammy, Pops, Aunt Laura, Aunt Megan, and Uncle Tim because Em and Mitch went on a bike ride trip.

In the evening I had supper with Philip at a Chinese restaurant and we went for a walk in a park nearby. So good to connect!

Friday morning, the Leman's came for a visit which was super special. I felt so honored that they made the effort to visit me while I was in the U.S. It was amazing to see Tadeo and I'm excited that he is starting his therapy sessions in Bluffton, IN where they live. 

Carson hanging out with Grammy. 

Friday afternoon I enjoyed a picnic supper and great conversation with my mentor Bonnie by the waterfall in my mom's pasture.

Saturday, I spent at the conference.

It was encouraging to see lots of people I know and hadn't seen in years. It was encouraging to see so many people enthusiastic about missions and growing in their understanding of the gospel, culture, and what it means live out God's mission on this earth. Friday evening, I enjoyed participating in the COPE experience, a simulation where you are assigned a profile and have to live out a month as a low-income person, paying your bills and facing the obstacles that come up. I enjoyed the talks and the break-out seasons. I went to two about sharing the gospel, one about the dairy in Haiti, and one about culture in Japan. All of them were really interesting.

Sunday I went to church in Peoria and then drove to Forrest with Mom and Gary and Tim for a family reunion. I enjoyed seeing and talking with a lot more people that I hadn't seen in years. There were a number of old yearbooks and an old, German pulpit Bible which I found very interesting. In one of the yearbooks, I found my grandpa in the 2nd or 3rd grade I believe. If you know him, see if you can find him in the second row, "Nicky Ricketts." 

Monday morning I spent some quality time with Tim, going on a treasure hunt and creating a story, using a bunch of random characters, places, and things that we wrote on slips of paper and chose randomly. It was quite interesting as Tom Swift, Captain Flint, Nancy and Peggy Blackstone, and Bob the Builder traveled to Mars to build a McDonald's, taking along an assortment of strange objects.

Monday evening I went with Justin to eat supper with Matt and Anni. It was the first I'd seen them, since they also went on the bike trip over the weekend. Anni made some delicious baked salmon along with asparagus and ice-cream. Delicious!

I returned home on Tuesday to a very green Mexico!

Thankfully our return flight went well. Instead of waiting for hours in airports and on planes, we were sprinting to catch our flight in Dallas! It's been a good first week back. Summer is sailing along. Balto is training with Cristal on the obstacle course in the picture and Expo Esperanza 2021 is on the horizon!

This Saturday, the volunteers are organizing the 2021 Color Run. It's going to be a 3 K. Stay tuned!

P.S. It's been awhile since I left a poem here. Here's one from my first summer at CVE in 2014.

I Have a Dream

Dedicated to Shelby Payne

I have a dream; through misty skies

The splendid picture meets my eyes

And in my heart the joys arise

When dreams come true.

I have a dream; a gold-paved street

A gate of pearls where you I’ll meet

And with you walk to Jesus feet,

A dream come true.

I have a dream to see your face,

Your eyes that shine like stars in space,

Features alive with happiness

Of dreams come true.

I have a dream that on that day

We’ll link our arms and laugh and sway

Dancing to know that here we’ll stay

Where dreams come true.

Carpentry and Sewing projects

Our dedicated kitchen helper, Amalia, retired on the end of last month and on June 29th we had a party for her. Denver Slagel and I made her this wood planter. He made the box and I did the staining and engraving. Too bad I don't have a picture of the finished product.

Here is the cake from the party!

I also started some sewing with this sweet girl. I plan to teach a sewing class later this month, but she was leaving on vacation during that time, so we found time to do it the last week of June.

We laid out the design.

And sewed it together. It took three 30-60 min. sessions to get to this point. Then I passed it off to Kate Ramsier (summer volunteer) to finish it with her. It's going to be a small patchwork pillow.

On Monday the 28th, I helped Adam Kaeb do a scavenger hunt with the kids. We got sprinkled on! Exciting!

Tuesday we had our first big rain and it's been raining ever since! An answer to prayer.

Yesterday, I whipped up some Jamaica right before lunch. And decided this looked rather picturesque. 

Jamaica Recipe

Pour a quantity of Jamaica leaves in a saucepan/pot (the more leaves, the more jamaica!). Let it come to a boil. Strain the juice out and add LOTS of sugar. LOTS! Rinse the leaves and strain again. Add more water and ice. 

Of the typical "waters" around here, lemonade, horchata, etc, jamaica is definitely the easiest to make.

Right now, I'm sitting at the Tucson airport with Nicole Knobloch, getting ready to fly to Illinois for the Proclaim and Serve conference this Saturday. Our 7:00 AM flight through Dallas, TX got cancelled, so now we got a 7:30 AM flight through LA and Chicago arriving around 8:15 PM in Peoria versus three in the afternoon.

Appreciate your prayers for my trip! I'm especially excited, Lord willing, to spend time with my nephew and siblings, visit with my mentor Bonnie Dotterer, see the Leman family including Tadeo, and attend a family reunion, all in addition to the conference. I fly back to Arizona next Tuesday.

Transitioning into Summer

 

On May 28th, I had my final Nurture Group session with the girls. It was so fun to spend that time with them each Friday and I will miss it!

One of the CVE girls is my employee as she takes the kitchen slop to the pigs a few times each week. She was really struggling for a few weeks, but I'm thankful that after a "crisis," she decided that she did want to continue with the job and has had a great attitude and has been fulfilling her responsibilities. At this time, I have three CVE girls working under me. It is a good opportunity for them to learn job skills, how to be responsible, and follow through. It has also been a real learning experience for me as I learn to be the boss/leader, train them, call them out when they aren't following through, etc.

I'm exciting to be sewing Expo projects with Kate Ramsier (summer volunteer) and three CVE kids this summer. We are planning to make small quilts or quilted pillows, so one day last week, Kate and I went through all the fabric scraps and tried to come up with nice combinations. 

The rest of the summer volunteers arrive this Thursday and I have been planning menus and other kitchen items for the summer. Also, our kitchen helper, Amalia, is retiring a week from today, so I will be more hands-on in the kitchen this summer. It is a time of transition! Please pray with us that we can find and hire another local staff member to help in the CVE kitchen alongside Bertha, our cook. We have been putting a lot of thought into what would be the best arrangement for the kitchen and appreciate your prayers!

Finding Old Friends

A couple weeks ago, I was telling my coworker about my classmates from the fifth grade in San Ignacio. I had briefly thought before about looking for them on Facebook, but never had. So right there during my lunch break, I decided to start looking and quickly found all of the girls in the photo above plus several more even though I only knew their first names! 

A few weeks before that, I had seen a young lady at a store that I thought looked like Fabiola (the girl directly to my left in the photo above). I found out that it was her! So fun to reconnect a bit. So many of them are married and have children. How the time flies!

We took all the remaining frozen bananas from the freezer at CVE and Amalia made some delicious chocolate chip banana bread! Yum!

I happened to have a lot of tomatoes in the fridge on Tuesday and decided to make some roasted tomato salsa. I like using foil because then I don't have to scrape all that roasted juice off the pans!

The Friday after Miguel's family left, I must have been missing the action at my house because I invited this cutie over for a spontaneous playdate. It was a Friday afternoon and I was returning to CVE in an hour for a dinner, so why not? We had a blast playing with pick up sticks and singing into the fan. We'll have to do it again sometime!

Yesterday after Wednesday night church, Denver was showing Mani and José old videos of them goofing off. I had to capture the moment. I think their stair step ages impressed me, thirties, twenties, teens, preteen, and toddler. So thankful for the men who choose to invest in the lives of these boys and for the boys who choose to come to church and be a part of our lives. Please keep praying for them!

On Sunday, Juantan gave a sermon on masculinity according to the Bible. In a community with so many absent fathers and plenty of opportunity for young men to get involved in gangs and the drug trade, men of God are a treasure. I get really passionate about this! Please join me in praying that God will raise up men in this community that will be servants, leaders, protectors, seekers of wisdom, and who will glorify him! And that they can connect and be the iron that sharpens iron for one another.

God bless!