UNI!

Tuesday we got up and finally were able to formally meet our hosts!

We met Gabriel on Monday but Laura had to go to Mexico City for work. When we got up on Tuesday we ate breakfast together and finally got to talk to the people who were crazy enough to open up their house to 3 complete strangers for 3 days without ever meeting them. Wow, what an awesome couple. Super kind, giving, and hospitable. They give my mom a run for her money and that is saying something!

Jim, Tim, and I were talking about something interesting down here. You can know someone for 1 day and feel like you've known them your whole life. It's almost like time stands still and you can't think of the time when you didn't feel like family.

Eric and Andreas came over "conveniently" without eating breakfast yet.... hmmmm...

So the ominous clouds finally came rolling in. Even since before we left we feared a big rain and weren't sure if the weather would hold up for us. It is sort of hard to walk around campus meeting people when it is pouring. We had to keep our fingers crossed.

How would you like these guys pulling you over for a traffic ticket? ha ha. Actually, Eric said that these guys are gang busters. Anyway, there were 3 identical trucks lined up so someone was about to have a bad day.

Finally, we made it to the Uni.... short for the Public University. The cost to attend here (compared to the Tech at $6,000) per semester is $600. Probably a much more realistic slice of the population of Monterrey. Most of these students are from working class homes and many have to work to support themselves.

Here we are psyching ourselves up to head on out. Marge is super pumped!

Oscar (who I featured earlier, the son of the Sergio's right hand man Oscar Sr.), Jim, and Andreas (Youngest son of Sergio, the lead pastor). Each group of two Americans was paired with a translator. Unlike the Tech, in which almost everyone speaks good english, barely anyone here speaks english so a translator is crucial. I hung out with Oscar all day and Jim was paired up with Andreas... which was probably a God thing because sometimes Jim gets carried away.

It's not that Jim is trying to offend people... but he can get a little straight forward to say the least. I think its just that he cares so much about the people and helping them understand who God is, that it kills him to see anyone on the fence. A couple times Andreas (who is 16) had to pull Jim aside and say, "Jim (pronounced 'Jeem!", that was a little awkward when you told those people 'You must make a decision right now! Jesus said if you are ashamed of me then I will be ashamed of you!' You've got to slow down man! You are going to freak people out!"

This is Carla, Oscar's sister. She is pretty cool but she tried to pick a fight with me today. I'm pretty sure I would have lost so it is a good thing she didn't see me make all those funny faces at her behind her back.

Here is one of the many endless hallways at the Uni. There are a TON more people who go to this school than the tech. It's like wall to wall people everywhere you go.

Cut! Oscar! Your finger is in the way! Now we have to reshoot the commercial all over again! Okay, take 2 of "Remember when Coke came in a glass bottle" Rolling and... ACTION!"

You can tell that this place is hurting for money a little bit. Some of the classrooms seemed really old and wore down.

Why is Einstein on this wall with some skeleton dude? Yep! He sure is.

So their mascot is the Beavers. This guy is striking fear into everyone who passes.

And this guy told me he would never kiss and tell! I'm so ashamed!

This is Allan talking on his cell. He is another one of the missionaries and that cute kid a couple posts back is his first son! This guy's english is... uhhh... not so good to put it lightly but comedy breaks through any language barrier. About once a day Allan has us in stitches... and if his driving continues at the same pace... we probably will be literally in stitches at some point!

The morning at the Uni was pretty frustrating. Everyone seemed really busy and uninterested although Allan did pray with a couple guys who wanted to invited Jesus into their life for the first time. Despite this however, we were all feeling pretty drained.

Time to do what any good mission trip team does... pray in church!

Well... we are in Church('s chicken) and Jim is giving a SHORT blessing. Ha ha, I've already ate a week's worth of food! When I get home I'm seriously going to fast food detox!

When we headed back to the Uni it was totally different. I don't know if it was just that people weren't so rushed in the afternoon, if we just happened to talk to friendlier people, or lots of unnamed people were praying for us but the transformation was dramatic. Almost everyone we talked to was at least willing to hear us out and find out a little more about the new church.

This was a really cool couple we met at the school named Edith and Bernabe. They were really nice and told me I could feature them in the blog! They are both Catholic but willing to pursue God by whatever avenue He leads from. Hi guys, if you are reading this!

Whoops... was I supposed to open my eyes here? This is Ana Isabel who is also a student at the Uni. She was also really cool. She was really open about her faith and we gave her some info about the church. She also let me feature her in the blog and hopefully will stumble upon it with a friend who speaks English! Hi Ana!

Me and this guy are tight. Really, we go way back.

We are praying for the people we just got to talk to.

I'd like to say that Jim didn't fiddle with this massage chair for 30 seconds before he realized that it wasn't plugged in.... but that would just be untrue. Sorry man.

After the Uni we headed over to the mall for a quick coffee break.

And apparently Ronald Regan is cool here. Awesome. Zach Shepler once told me that he had a teacher who told him Ronald Regan invented crack to control African Americans... two things: 1. Wow. 2. Zach, I miss you man!

And yes... it did finally rain! Luckily though, it held off until we were already gone. A big shout out to the Big Man upstairs! Thank you!

They have a cable bridge like we do back in Toledo but the cables only come down on one side. The cement jets out to the side to offset the weight. Different but cool.

After dinner I got to go with Hooty as he talked to the teens and 20 somethings of the church. He talked about finishing strong in the Christian faith and how to use spiritual disciplines in order to follow straight after God for the rest of your life. They asked a lot of questions and really engaged in all he had to say. This is him praying for the group afterward.

Awesome.

Okay, Henry says it's time to say goodnight! Adios!

BONUS!!! But wait, there's more!

So as I'm working on this Jim grabs my camera and fires off a few pictures. Here is me in all my glory, pounding this blog out! Man I'm glamorous... especially the sexy white ankles I've developed from too much golf back home!

Here is Tim saying some Timisms. What is a Timism? It is a saying that goes something like this:

Lutherans? Sure. They are a spin off from the Catholic Church.
Use these rechargeable batteries. They last forever!
Oh look! Peter Piper’s Pizza. What if Peter Piper picked a pack of pepperoni pizzas?
So last year I sent letters to all the people I sent letters to…

I've realized that Jim has become the star of this Blog... and you know what... I'm okay with that. Who doesn't love this guy? Night!