GWnsYM - Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak

GWnsYM - Whit's End (Focus on the Family)

After getting in some math and English with the boys, we enjoyed a stop at Focus on the Family today.  Mainly, we poked around Whit's End and the Soda Shoppe for lunch.  The pizza was better and bigger than expected.  I'm still full.  Dayton enjoyed a couple of times taking the 3 story slide down.  It was hot today and the slide being a tube-type that runs outside back to inside got so hot that they closed it.  Fortunately, he got to go down twice before it was closed.  Dayton also enjoyed the puppet theater.  Beth enjoyed the FOTF bookstore.  (*shock & surprise*)  I'm not sure what Cameron enjoyed but pizza and a root beer float generally meet most of his requirements for a good time.

We're having a great time here with our ministry partners and old college friend.  Tomorrow, it's a stop at Toys R Us (so we can find some games for the coming family retreat week) and then a bucket of KFC to take to the Garden of the Gods National Park for a picnic and some hiking.  Hope we get some good pics.  It is said to be a beautiful place.

GWnsYM - Colorado Springs

Good news!  We have an Internet connection in Colorado Springs.

Just wanted to mention we had a great drive today.  Beautiful scenery.


Tonight with our hosts I overheard this conversation:



Darin: "So Cameron, what time do you normally go to bed?"


Cameron: "When Dad gets grumpy."


You know...there are some things you don't necessarily want people to know about your family life.  That might be one of them, but I guess there's not much I can do about it now.  :-)

Apparently, the deer are so big here they need their own weigh station.

New Mexico was beautiful in both directions.

GWnsYM - A Posting Pause

We hit the road here this morning as we depart from Albuquerque and move on to Colorado Springs to visit with ministry partners there.  I'm not sure that they have Internet and if not, I know we won't have Internet at the retreat home near Crested Butte.  So, there is a chance we won't be able to post again until about 9/4 or 9/5 when we're staying in places with Internet coverage.  Hopefully, we'll find some free Wi-Fi somewhere in between but just in case, no need to worry about us.  With your prayers we'll be just fine!  Thanks for praying! 

We're looking forward to our visits in Colorado Springs.  We plan to take the kids to see Whit's End (at Focus on the Family) and there are some places we hope to explore.  I'll post photos when possible.

Hasta luego...

GWnsYM - White Sands National Monument

After a late-night, tearful goodbye to our family in El Paso (the little girls cried all the way home last night for their 20 minute ride), we left and and headed north.  We decided to take a slight detour to drive through White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.  It was well worth the drive with incredible scenery and the white, gypsum sand dunes were impressive.  It was also impressive that the monument lies within the White Sands Missile Range.  We were very grateful to have successfully dodged the many missiles that appeared out of nowhere and landed just behind or beside us.  Not really, but they do normally close the monument and main highway across the range whenever there's an active test.  Apparently, there were tests the past two days, but the closures only lasted about an hour.

Not far from the sands was a lovely pistachio farm.  We stopped at their little store just because, and we ended up with a small bag of nuts and some more good photos.  The pistachio monument is the largest pistachio in the world according to the owners of the farm and store.  I guess they would know.  I paid $2.50 for an 8 oz bag of pistachios which seems outrageous, since after all, they DO grow on trees, you know.

FWIW: Since leaving our home about 10 days ago, we've driven about 1,950 miles.  Also, I believe the entire state budget for New Mexico is dependent upon traffic speeding tickets.  Thankfully, I revert back to my grandpa style of driving while in the USA and navigated more speed traps than I've ever seen in my life with no need for anxiety.  Unfortunately, I got the bright idea of using the "snow" setting for all but one of my White Sands photos.  This tinted all those photos yellow, so even with some enhancement, they don't look as good as they should have.  Bummer.

Dayton doesn't appear in the White Sands photos b/c he fell into a deep sleep in the car.  We left it running for the A/C to keep him cool.  Apparently, he awoke to find himself in a running car, no one in it but him, and surrounded by nothing but whiteness.  He didn't freak out, but I think I would have!  "Hello...welcome to heaven"...well...maybe for cats.

GWnsYM - Hotel Security

A Day of Firsts

Our sweet little niece, Maria, had a big day today.  She entered her first ever day of school (Pre-Kinder) AND in the evening, quite unexpectedly lost her very first tooth!  What a big day for a little girl!  How cool is it that God had us make plans to be here for just these few days and such a big day like today ended up being one of those few days?!?

and not to be left out, Lluvia, showed off her purse.  I told her that Maria gets to go to school with her backpack, but you get to go shopping with your purse!  She liked that idea!  (I'm not sure she ever got to go shopping but she enjoyed her time with her uncle and aunt while Maria was away for school.)

GWnsYM - Ciudad Juarez

Cameron and I (Alan) joined my brother-in-law and his family for a brief trip across the border into the northern Mexico city of Ciudad Juarez.  Beth and Dayton stayed behind as there just wasn't room for everyone to go and Beth really needed some rest and Dayton was a willing volunteer to stay behind to help us all fit into the truck.

Ciudad Juarez is right across the narrow Rio Grande River along the New Mexico, Texas, Mexico border.  The metropolitan part of the city is right across from El Paso, Texas.  It is one of the most violent cities (per capita) in the world.  The first three months of 2010 averaged 38 murders per day.  The rate has fallen some since those bloody days.  This past weekend the local news reported 17 murders on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.  On Saturday, a section of downtown street (a street we drove on both Saturday and Sunday) was closed in El Paso because of a shootout on the Juarez side of the river.  Bullets were falling on the El Paso side during this gun battle so a section of the street in the U.S. was closed due to safety concerns.  One stray bullet apparently found its way through a glass door and into a wooden door frame in a building belonging to the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP).

With that as a context, we drove to a more rural international crossing and basically approached the rural edge of Juarez from the south.  We saw nothing alarming and the trip went well.  We enjoyed a couple hours of sitting with the believers that Ken & Esme are ministering to and prayed with them.  They are quite poor and have very little.  They raise pigs to sell, chickens for eggs, and have very few other options for making any income.  I don't feel it is wise to share any photos with them in it or to mention them by name.  The violence in Juarez comes in many forms and circulating a photo of them on the Internet could inadvertently make them a target in any number of ways.  That might be a slight risk but it is best not to take that risk for them.

We heard a loud pop while we were chatting with them and Esme asked, "What was that?"  One of our hosts said, "A gunshot."  We hoped it wasn't anything to be concerned about.  The trip was "routine" and there were no issues.  We praised God for the safe experience and the opportunity to encourage the believers by our visit and prayer with them.  It was definitely a highlight for us to be able to see this ministry in a very challenging part of Mexico.

GWnsYM - El Paso

Bottom photo is of Beth and her brother and his wife and youngest and another missionary couple (Evangelical Free Church) working across the border as well.  These friends are running a "helps" ministry.  One of their outreach efforts has involved helping women develop micro-businesses in order to help them survive.  Many women in Mexico wind up with children but the men have left them to survive on their own.  This ministry is helping women find ways to learn and develop skills that can help them survive.  Beth bought over $40 worth of handicrafts to help support their efforts.  It's a good work and it has resulted in several women receiving Christ.

Above that photo are a couple of images from the Anglican church up the hill from Beth's brother.  He is the part-time youth pastor at this church.  It's quite a stretch but seems to be a church that has come a long way toward reforming its doctrine with Scripture.  It was a very interesting experience to attend their Sunday service with them today.  I can't say I agreed with everything, but many elements of the service were only different to my experience and preferences, rather than in error.  Nonetheless, there was a refreshing emphasis on Scripture within the service which I was able to appreciate.

The photo below the lizard is of a mountain that has a cross at its peak.  That spot is very near the border of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico.

Tomorrow, we plan to take a late afternoon into the evening trip over to Juarez for a visit to see the area where Beth's brother and sister-in-law have been ministering for several years now.  If possible, we will also visit the ministry of the couple in the bottom photo.  Pray for our safety as we travel into what the Mexicans and Americans have been known to call, the "City of Death."  This city has what may be the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere and is one of the most violent cities on earth.  The murder rate for the first three months of 2010 was almost 40 per day in a city of about 1.5 million people.  Nonetheless, it is probably a bit of an overstatement to say that it is overly dangerous for those who are careful and travel in certain areas at certain times. 

One thing is for sure, this is a city, like all others in Mexico, that desperately needs the Good News of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about new creations in Christ.  We're privileged to visit this very difficult mission field should our plans for tomorrow work out.  Pray with us that we'll be able to observe the Lord's work there tomorrow and for our safety and a smooth round-trip.  It should only take a few hours.

Sobrinas - Our Precious Little Nieces