FROGLEGS

Now sitting in a web cafe somewhere in Mexico City. My buddy and I eventually found each other and he has given me the quickest tour ever of the center of the city. It think I got all the important stuff. I am such a terrible tourist… I see all the landmarks and think, “Yup, OK, saw that, lets move on.” I somehow feel that I am supposed to have some deep experience… That always seems to come when I am hanging out with friends, eating tacos and chilling.

Had a great opportunity the other night to speak into a friends’ life at the old taco stand. We were eating and I had been feeling like God wanted me to share some stuff with him. It was far out stuff, but I went ahead and shared it cause I couldn’t get it out of my head. He said it was all totally right on and that God had already been speaking almost the same thing to him. He was really encouraged because he hadn’t shared any of it with me… God just told me! Cool, eh?

Anyway, thus far I have managed not to get mugged, contract diarrea or anything else. Pretty good for a trip to mexico, eh? I did buy some fake Oakleys for a friend, a new fake Adidas watch for Heather and some other stuff. It’s been great!

Now I just need to find a way to get some rest…. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep a bit on the plane. I fly from Mexico City at 9pm tonight, arrive in Paris sometime the next day, switch there and then head to Madrid. I’ll stay overnight at a friends house and then go pick up Jim and Heather at the train station. We’ll head from there with a whole ‘nother gang to a big youth conference about 2 hours from Madrid. I’ll be sharing in a seminar along with others about 24-7 and how it can work in a local church. Also, we’ll be trying to sell 24-7 stuff at a stand, raise some money and get some monthly financial supporters to sign on with us.

Goodbye Mexico!!!! See you next year!!!! ¡Orale vatos y hasta la proxima!

Just arrived to Mexico City. A friend is coming to pick me up, but is running a little late, so I thought I would do a little entry.

The time here in Mexico has been incredibly productive. God really gave us a special ability towork thru a lot of things in a very short amount of time. We worked out a few ideas for raising money for 24-7, revised the vision statement of 24-7 to be more culturally relevant & acceptable and began a transition from having a stressed out Nat’l leader with a working group trying to help to a leadership team of equal responsibility but different functions. Don’t know if that made sense, but trust me- it is a monumental occasion as nothing like this exists in Mexico that we know of. And this is much to the detrement of many leaders all over the nation…

I hope to find some nice gifts today in the city and not get mugged… We’ll see how it goes.

Last night in Mexico!!!

The church services this wekend went alright aside from the fact that we were told that I wasn’t going to share in the services and then on the spur of the moment the pastor invited me up anyway to share about 24-7, I bumbled thru the first service and then did a lot better in the second.

Today I gave a leadership seminar to the youth of the church where 24-7 has its office, that went well I think. It is always VERY difficult to share in a group that you know nothing about. You don’t know what their needs are, what they have heard already, etc. Un poco rollo… But I think it went alright in the end.

I go to Mexico City tomorrow, have a massive 9 hour layover so will be heading into the city with a friend to see if I can get rid of the rest of my pesos. I have heard that Mexico City can be a little bit dangerous so pray for me if you think of it!

Well, a couple of days on and I am feeling a lot better. I actually sleep til about 7am now which is about 6 or 7 hours of sleep on average. I can also make it thru the middle of the day without going catatonic if I don’t get a nap.

I have never eaten as much in my life as I have here. Last night I ate a whole roll of sushi (japanese food in mexico… don’t ask) by myself. Then we went this morning to have shrimp tacos and I ate 3 tacos and a quesadilla. We just got in from lunch where I ate 2 helpings of chinese food. The other morning, Carlos’s mom made us homemade enchiladas… FOR BREAKFAST! These guys don’t know what a “lite” breakfast is.

Another interesting food note is that everyone is always asking me if I have eaten “tacos de buche”. I am not 100% sure what buche is. But it sounds really bad. It is something like pig stomach, intestine and large intestine. In tacos. Everyone is raving about it… but I think I will pass… Stand up to peer pressure!

The 24-7 meetings went really well. We got a ton done and 24-7 mexico is now positioned to move on to a new level of operation and support of prayer rooms in the nation.

I am speaking at a church on Sunday and then have a leadership seminar on Monday. I have absolutely no desire to do either, so please pray that God would fire me up to do it. I am prepared for both, but I would much rather build relationship and work thru more 24-7 issues with Carlos.

Ugh! jetlag is getting old. I only went to bed 6 or so hours ago and I am already awake. This is not right. It is a weird feeling to be dead tired and not be able to sleep. It’s a feeling akin to drinking 5 red bull’s, be dead tired and not be able to do anything about it!

Ooooooh! The jet lag is hitting hard now. It is almost 4am in Spain and I am feeling the time difference. Carlos and I just went out to get some Red Bull to see if that will help me make it until about 11 tonight. That is still 5 more hours! Seems like an eternity.