CHill on a Mission: July 2011

omehow, I got a small cut on my hand yesterday, and today in the office, I showed it to Viviana, and she asked if her Nina did it. For some reason, Erin gets blamed when Vivi falls down and says that her nina gave her a bump on her head or a scrape on her knee, so when Vivi asked me if nina did it, I said yes. She then left the first office and went to our office and scolded Erin for hitting me. Later on, after we came back from lunch, I showed Vivi again and said Nina hit me, she marched right up to Erin and told her multiple times to not hit her nino. She even wagged her finger at her once. It was hysterical. Later on, we tried to do it again and take a video of it. Vivi scolded Erin again, but the sound isn't great, so you might have to put headphones in or crank up your speakers. Have a great night.

...away from phones, internet, television, even running water (almost). Last week, Erin, Jeff, and I hitched a ride with Jim to Sicachique. We went to visit YLM's most remote mission site, Nueva Esperanza in Sicachique. Google maps does not even know where Sicachique is, but I am guessing it is southeast of Chihuahua city, a total drive of 10 to 11 hours from the mission's campus.

We left Sunday afternoon and stayed overnight in Chihuahua City, with Pastor Tovar, where we ate Carne Asada, and loaded up more supplies to take to the village. We left Monday morning for Sicachique, spent the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday there. The plan was to bring supplies, assess needs, and fix a couple things. Pastor Tovar wanted a door fixed, and a generator looked at (total time to fix both: 31 minutes). Thus we just relaxed and learned what we could about the town.

It was weird not having the luxuries we are used to, but at the same time, it was nice to have literally nothing to do except read and watch the animals.

For more information on Sicachique, check out the YLM website by clicking here. Enjoy the pics and make sure to watch the video at the end.

There were several forest fires on the way to the village

Our quarters, Erin and Jeff slept on the balcony, and I slept inside

The old fish hatchery which I hope to bring back

The school, which is the main focal point of the village

Corn is relied upon by the people for not only food, but also income. It is definitely not knee high by the fourth of July. Please pray for rain.

Moving a support beam to help strengthen a roof

The Palomino figured out how to get at the food, and the other animals came

Enjoying lunch

The brown one couldn't quite figure out how to get the food, so we sent Erin in to save the day.

Jim, Jeff, and Erin with a local lady, she had some cool woven stuff for sale, so we bought some.

Pastor Tovar said the kids don't get a lot of natural or processed sugar, so we brought some. Somehow this guy scored, notice he is pulling out more from his pockets.