July 20, 2008

Day number two is almost done and there was great evidence of God’s hand on our trip today.

We started out with a good night’s sleep before enjoying breakfast at the hotel. Brian introduced a bible devotional that will take place every morning. We headed out at 10:00am to exchange money and cross the border. This is a time intensive experience and today was a good example. We were totally prepared but one customs agent made for slow going. Everything went well but our trip to Saltillo was interesting to say the least.

Lunch was at Pollo (Poyo) Loco and the kids came out smacking their lips and licking their fingers. We ate “wood fire” grilled chicken with all the works. This restaurant is the Mexican equivalent in popularity to McDonalds.

More God sightings! One thing is evident; Mexico is concerned about our safety. Stops at the Federales (the Mexican “State Police”) checkpoints are normal but having the military search one of our vans opened the eyes of our kids. No problems! Five white vans driving in convoy are irresistible to the local policia and we were able to explain “three” times that we are a church group traveling to Saltillo. No problems! His hand was over us after a minor “fender bender” in Monterey where no one was hurt and we were on our way after a slight delay. Dale Lusk, director of Merge, was clearly God’s tool in helping make our passage as smooth as possible. God provides!!

Everyone was happy to see the Seminary and get out of the vans. Joy in the midst of a rainstorm and mud! I did not hear a single complaint, the kids and staff have been uplifting.

We were forced to eat another fantastic home style meal (featuring homemade tortillas) and relax/unwind. The rest of the night was spent going over tomorrow, and the remainder of the weeks schedule, and crashing around 11:00 p.m.

Tomorrow brings a busy day. We covet your prayers as the real work, all that we have prepared for, sharing Christ’s love with all we encounter, begins. The word Merge uses is relational. Pray that God puts someone in each of our way that we can share his love.

Merge has asked us to keep photography to a minimum during the first few days so that we don't come across as tourists. We will begin to add photos on tomorrows blogs if that is possible.