Remembering
An Intimate God
Today I was laying on a huge rock, surrounded by the ocean, reading Perelandra, the second of the Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis. Ransom, the main character is visiting a new planet and he is describing the planet with such wonder and imagery. I put the book down and started thinking about Space. I was caught in awe of the planets and galaxies. I was so overwhelmed by how wonderful all that exists is. My mind could not think about it all without a creator. It feels to me, impossible. It just doesn’t make sense at all. Where did it all come from? There is no way the answer is science. There is too much creativity, there is too much heart to it all, there is so clearly purpose. All of it is too beautiful to point to nothing. I was looking at our galaxy in my mind and was taken into deeper astonishment. The earth was selected to have life on it. Life that can be sustained because of the way it rotates around the sun and carries resources that meet the needs for life. I looked out to the ocean and imagined the entire world under those waters. I then looked down the side of the rock and watched how the water rushed gracefully but with great force into all of the cracks of the little rocks below. I thought to myself, “that is truly beautiful.” I then thought to myself, “Wow. God made these rocks and this water to do that because He knew that I would find it beautiful.” What a comforting thought. What an intimate God. I then went through all of the things that I specifically find beautiful amidst nature. What an intimate God, that He would create all of these things so that souls could connect with them and adore them.
I glanced at my book. Not only did God create beautiful oceans, planets, animals, and stars. But minds that can take a tree and turn it into paper, bind it together, all to become an object that can be read and understood and connected to by the human mind, even deeper, the soul. And the words have been formed by a mind with the capacity to take concepts to new levels, all so others can be taken to new depths.
I then looked over at my sister reading on a rock nearby. A soul that I love and find shockingly beautiful. To think of the deep connection I have towards nature and then to look over at this very soul that has my heart, and the tons of others that I have intimate care for, I couldn’t help but cry. Cry out thanks to God and over the realization that God has placed everything exactly where it is for deep, deep purpose. So that He can be a reality. So that we can see how He is alive and living all around us desiring for our souls to be aligned. Crying out that we will see what all of this is pointing to.
I then look down at a crab who doesn’t worry about what he is going to eat. He doesn’t get anxious and stressed about when the sun is going to.. probably scorch him. He probably should get a little stressed, maybe go in the shade so his life can be a little longer.. but that isn’t the point. The crab is who he is. He uses his abilities for their purposes. He does exactly what he was made to do. I look at his complexities, the claws he has been given and the ability to move and jump. And then my eyes shift towards my own hands. They are incredible. The way skin encloses so perfectly all of our organs and bones, how it can be broken and cut but it will not tear too easily. I have the ability to run, jump, climb, and handstand without a scratch. How incredible. Oh, what would my life be like if I was like this crab doing exactly as I was made to do! How often have these hands in front of me been the tools to waste time. My hands are limbs connected to a heart that has worried days away. That is where this crab and I are different. I have a soul, a soul that actually very much so longs to be free like this crab but has many difficulties to battle before that freedom can be all I know.
These difficulties are sin. The very nature we are born into with but thankfully not the nature we have been created to have.
God, in His grace, in His bleeding, jealous love for us, lets us sit on rocks pondering the universe, realizing His thread of glory through it all. And as we realize it, we step away from our old nature and into the new, new life.
Find a place and bask in God’s great glory. It is displayed everywhere you look. Whether it is the tree you climb, the feet you walk on, the threads in your sweater, your mother, your sister, your dog. Everything has a purpose, everything points to the One. The One who longs to romance you, who created the seas with you in mind. The One who deeply knows you and therefore deeply loves you.
And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”Isaiah 6:3
Annie Hindin teaches Kindergarten at our school in Mexico, and this is her second year serving with GEM. She has the God-given gift of extending love and understanding to every person she encounters, which makes her quite the teacher! If you’d like to read more of Annie’s pieces, you can do so on her personal blog.
Oaxaca Teacher Strikes: The Simple Truth
Oh, Oaxaca…an amazing state, with amazing people…but also with so many problems. Oaxacans are known for their fighting spirit and passion. Some of Mexico’s greatest heroes have come from Oaxaca….most notable being the revered President Benito Juarez. Right now, the only news coming from this incredible place is about the militant teachers marching on the streets instead of teaching in their classrooms. Teachers are on strike in Oaxaca, Mexico….again.
It’s happened at some point every year, for the last 30 years. The radical teachers union, named CNTE, has mobilized itself this year in protest of educational reforms that were passed 3 years ago. It seems the teachers are most interested in having performance evaluations repealed. To pressure the government, the CNTE has set up dozens of blockades around the southern states, shutting down commercial traffic on major highways. As a result, businesses are losing money, tourism has essentially stopped, and everyone is running out of basic supplies. In Puerto Escondido, the local gas stations were closed for two weeks. The teachers have also taken over the main square, named the Zocalo, in Oaxaca City.
The government has been in talks with the CNTE, but no progress has been made on the main sticking points. Sadly the protests have turned violent. Two weeks ago 8 protesters were killed and dozens of police and protesters were injured when the police tried to break up a blockade.
As the violence has started to make international news, we’ve been flooded with emails and calls. Are you safe? Do you have gas? Is it safe to travel there? Are the roads closed? All very good questions.
When you talk to people here, most diplomatically claim, “It’s a complex” issue.” In some ways, that’s true. It is complex. There is a lot of history, a lot of stories and lots of different components to the issue. But at the same time, it’s also very simple. At its core, the violence, closed schools and roads aren’t really about teacher tests or abuses by the government. It’s about sin. It’s about pride that pollutes our minds and hearts and convinces us we deserve better than what we got.
It is Satan, the great deceiver and liar, who wants this to be a complicated messy issue. But when the violence stops, the accusations and threats cease, and the teachers go home, what is left is the core simplicity of the issue. It will all be repeated…as it has every year for the last 30 years…if the rebel heart isn’t surrendered to Jesus.
From the outside, for those getting their info from news reports, it probably looks really dark here. Violence, unrest, danger, and darkness – but the truth is that the Son is still shining! The teacher protests and unrest have opened new doors for the gospel and God will use this to glorify Himself. GEM moved into Puerto Escondido and opened a school with the hope of serving the community and building bridges for the gospel. When we came here 3 years ago, the teachers were protesting. Our office was flooded with people, mostly non-Christians, who were desperate for their children to receive an education. Many of those kids have become a part of our school ministry and have heard the gospel taught each day in our classrooms. Now, 3 years later, we are again flooded by parents desperate for help. From the outside, it may look like sin and evil has won the day, but the reality is different. God is pulling people to our ministry and ultimately to himself, and he’s allowing the sin of others to be the driving force. No matter how out of control it may appear to be or how dark the situation, God is always in control and the gospel is always advancing!
Pray for our state and the people here who are impacted by the strikes. Pray that blind eyes will be opened to where the true rebellion occurs and that many will surrender their lives to Jesus. Pray also for GEM as we serve those around us and try to shine the love of Jesus in everything we do.
– Casey Herring, Founder of GEM
All In Mexican Time
“All in due time” is a phrase that I have never quite understood. My personality is one that has always leaned towards the Martha side of that famous Bible story. The one where she forgets that her relationship with Jesus and others is more important than the task. For me it has always been, after dinner, let’s get the dishes finished before enjoying dessert. After school, let’s get the homework finished so that the rest of the night is free. A teacher would talk about a project weeks in advance, and yes, I was that student who would start the assignment that night. Now this inner motivation has certainly been very useful throughout my life. It’s helped me accomplish 50 milers, a teaching license, and move a thousand miles away from home. But there is another side. A part of me that struggles to choose others instead of tasks. To place things of eternal value over things of this world. To best explain this newfound epiphany, I am going to tell a story. As my student Priscila says, “Miss Quigg, you have a story for everything!” So grab some tacos and take a moment to catch a glimpse of life in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
“Moving…Mexican style”
If anyone has ever moved houses, you know the task can seem daunting. The endless boxes and hours of packing and then unpacking is not for the faint of heart. Moving in Mexico is an even more… unsettling process. Mostly due to the fact that creatures are found under any pile that hasn’t been touched in a while. The “blue house girls” (3 of my fellow teachers) were excitedly moving to a new casa! And the day of labor had arrived. Like any good friend (who was bribed with a free smoothie) I offered to lend a hand (or two). The boxes were quickly packed, two trips to the new house, a quick run to the plastic store, burritos for lunch, a few tears as an old country song made us reminisce, and sweeping, dusting, and mopping the old house…all in less than 4 hours. Three Americans and one Canadian sure knew how to get the job done! We even had time to watch the boy’s soccer game that afternoon.
Now fast forward a few weeks. I was asked to go and help a Mexican family complete the same process of moving. The first load was delivered and then we returned to the house. I watched in bewilderment (although I tried not to show it) as everyone sat down and one of the women went to go buy some drinks (Coke of course!). Talking and laughing ensued, taking pictures of the men wearing a funny hat, all while Grandpa fell asleep in the rocker. Before moving to Mexico I was encouraged to view everything with the idea that it is just different, not weird or strange…just different. But this. Resting while there was much work to be done. This was…new. Everyone eventually got moving again and a second load was unpacked. While at the house I heard a familiar voice calling, “Quigg!” I looked over and one of the girls from the soccer team lived right next door. We talked and while she was telling me about her hurt ankle I began to forget about the task, forget about the loads left to complete, and just enjoy. Enjoy conversation. Enjoy talking with a person who became more important than what I was doing. And then the day didn’t seem so different after all. We went to pick up a stove and I enjoyed eating watermelon and holding a baby. We went to get some drinks, and I enjoyed sitting in the shade and trying to understand a 4-year-old’s Spanish. While sitting in the truck, driving back and forth, I began to understand Mary a little bit more. That people and their stories are more important than how fast it takes to complete a task. That I guess God was right after all (imagine that) when he told Martha it was more important to just listen. So, I just want to encourage you. Slow down. Look someone in the eyes and truly care about their story. And understand that it will all work out. All in Mexican time.
Sarah Quigg graduated from Liberty University in 2015 with a B.S. in Special Education. She loves running and growing closer to God while exploring His creation! We are so happy to have her on the team, teaching 5th grade.
The Month of May: Hotter Than Africa
My siblings and I always joked on the hottest summer days that it felt “hotter than Africa” outside. Africa was the hottest place we could think of and what place on earth could possibly hotter than Africa? Well, after 3 years of living in Puerto Escondido, I have determined that the month of May in Mexico is indeed, hotter than Africa.
Everyone knows that Mexico is a hot place. It is a tourist destination to millions every year and is known for its beautiful beaches, consistently sunny weather and giant cruise port cities. I grew up in hot and humid North Carolina. The heat was no stranger to me before moving here. However, I had never in my life experienced Mexican heat outside of the vacation bubble, where the breeze off the ocean is strong, the pool is close by and your room is air conditioned.
The dictionary defines heat in a couple of different ways: (1) the state of a body perceived as having or generating a relatively high degree of warmth; (2) the condition or quality of being hot; and (3) the degree of hotness, temperature. I am not sure which definition I agree with or if any of them define the type of heat I am currently drowning in as I write this.
Most of the year is bearable when it comes to the hot and humid weather. The nights cool off which lead to cooler mornings and sometimes there is a nice breeze to help you forget about how hot you are. The month of May brings a heat that is so fierce that it consumes you. All 365 days of the year here carry almost the exact same weather. I love a good change of seasons. There is no better feeling than those first cool fall days in October or flowers blooming in April with the promise of warmer weather. Puerto only permits one type of weather: 90 degrees and sunny. Everyday. All year. In December. Sometimes, in the middle of the night.
The month of May is dreaded by many as it approaches and hated by all once it is here. The air is heavier than ever has we wait for that first rain to fall to kick off a few months of rainy afternoons that give a much-needed break from the heat. The sun hits your skin and makes you feel like you’re living in an oven. Your sweat beads down your forehead, soaks any clothing that is remotely touching your skin and cascades down your legs like a waterfall.
There is not air conditioning to retreat to, the waves are typically huge this time of year, which limits your access to the water, and life goes on as usual. We have eaten out more than ever to avoid cooking over the stove and I have taken more showers than I thought humanly possible. I have been caught with my head stuck in the freezer more times than I would like to admit. My poor students sweat through their uniforms while solving multiplication problems at 9:00am and if you don’t have more than one fan pointed directly at you then you need to buy another fan. Also, who knew adults could get heat rash! I thought that heat rash was only for little kids until I moved here and it started showing up all over my body around this time of year.
I am fairly positive there is no cure for the physical pain and discomfort the month of May brings upon us here in Puerto. So, until the rain comes you will find me in front of a fan, with my head in the freezer, showering at 3am and praying those clouds will make an appearance over the mountain tops to drop the rain we have patiently been waiting for since it left us last October.
Sarah Hindin is from Charlotte, NC, where her wonderful family still resides. This is Sarah’s 3rd year serving with GEM in Puerto Escondido. She is an organizational wizard and her students love her more than anything! If you’d like to sponsor Sarah financially or via prayer, you can find her contact info here.
My Favorite Moments at El Manantial
August of 2015 began my journey in Mexico. It was only the second time I had traveled out of the country. The first time was just one month earlier when I went to Canada for missionary training. The idea of moving to another country was a little scary, but I had no doubt that God was calling me to serve with Global Education Ministries. I have been blessed by the experiences where God has shown His work in the school and in my life.
One of my favorite moments was a conversation I had with a parent of one of my students. After our Christmas play, the mom of the student (who portrayed Gabriel) came up to me and said that she was very thankful that her son had the opportunity to be in the play. She said that it was good for him. He is one of my students who knows a good amount about the Bible but doesn’t understand how real it is and how God can change his life. This is why it was a big deal for him to play the angel who shared with Mary and Joseph about the coming of Jesus.
The sweetest moment I’ve had with a student was during our VBS week. We had a church from Oregon come down and share Jesus with our students through crafts, memory verses, Bible stories and new worship songs. After the gospel message was shared with the fifth and sixth graders, the fifth-grade teacher and I stayed around to talk with any students who had questions. One of my girls asked me how we can know God is real. I was able to share with her how God directs each of our lives. I specifically shared with her how God 
brought me to Puerto to teach her. I was grateful that I could openly share with her about God’s desire to be a part of her life.
Our weekly chapel time has also been a part of some precious moments for me. After lunch on Fridays, we have the unique opportunity to worship God by singing, combined with hand motions for each song. What makes that time so precious is that I can stand alongside my sixth graders and the fifth graders and do the hand motions together. I love to see the pure joy in each kid’s face that you don’t often have the opportunity to see in class.
Being a first-year teacher in a foreign country has been challenging, but each of those memories I mentioned has made me so grateful that God chose to bring me to Puerto Escondido and the Manantial School. Conversations with parents, sharing gospel truths with students, and singing praises to God with young people are all reasons why my first year living and working in Puerto has been truly special. I hope you are encouraged by hearing how God has been working in my life through our school in Mexico!
Tracy Frohlich graduated from Erskine College, in South Carolina with a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2013. She loves worshiping God through music and is excited about what the Lord will teach her through this unique opportunity in Puerto Escondido!
Labor and Delivery in Mexico
Rewind a bit to February 2014. Joy and excitement filled our hearts as we saw the pregnancy test turn positive for baby number three. Our minds immediately also began spinning. Oh wow. This is real. Our baby is going to be born in Mexico. MEXICO. Can we do this? What will it be like? Will it be anything like North Carolina?
As we started thinking and processing what was ahead, the first thing we did was start praying. We had heard so many horror stories from people about crazy things they had experienced during labor in Mexico, so we knew this journey needed to begin and continue on our knees.
We prayed specifically for certain desires that we had about labor and delivery. We asked Him to take away any fears and replace them with peace, and we also prayed for constant reassurance that He is the bringer of life and He does it in His perfect way, no matter where we are living.
Fast forward 9 months. November 6, 2014. Three days after my due date. My mom had been in Puerto already for a few days helping us. My dad had flown in that night. We had just finished eating dinner together, chatting about our plans for the next day, and my parents had gone home to the house they were staying at. Two hours later, I was in labor.
The sequence of events that transpired in the next 10 hours couldn’t have looked any more different than my experience giving birth in North Carolina. Nothing was the same. Down to every detail.
Casey (my hubby) and I pile in our truck for a quick 7-minute bumpy Mexican ride from our house to the ‘hospital.’ We arrive and the ‘hospital’ door is locked (what?), so we have to bang and yell until the guard appears and opens the gate. A lady takes us back to a private room (just for the record, I’m 9 months pregnant, huge, and in LABOR) and she asks what I’m here for and starts checking my throat. My throat?! At this point, I’m starting to panic a little bit. Wait, can I really have a baby in this place? What were we thinking?
She then figures it out (thank you!), and leads us upstairs to a big open room with lots of beds. No one else was there, only me and Casey. She gives me a gown and tells me that this room is where I’ll labor. A young doctor shows up that was on call (not the one who will deliver) and starts talking casually to us, telling us to relax as much as possible.
They never hook me up to any machines. No contraction monitors. I’m timing my own contractions on my iPhone. My iPhone tells me they’re 3 minutes apart. The doctor takes a quick break, and I hear my husband start laughing as he sees the doctor sitting in the corner snacking on tacos and a coke. Only in Mexico.
I am fully dilated and ready to push. The doctor on call and Casey help me walk to a private room about 20 steps away where I will deliver. I almost cry tears of joy when I spot the small air conditioning unit in the corner of the room. Thank you, Jesus! And on cue, our real doctor walks in, as calmly as ever, and says, “Ok, es tiempo para el bebe.” And 3 pushes later, our sweet Adelyn (Adelina) Grace was born.
Everything following the birth was different as well. My recovery room had no AC, so it is about 90 degrees. They tell me I can’t open any windows because sweet baby Addie will freeze to death. Remember, I had just given birth. I tell my husband, “Open a window now!” They bring me a hospital meal – enchiladas verdes with rice and beans. They rush to get me out of the hospital as soon as possible so they can have another free room. We were only there a total of 10 hours from start to finish.
Everything was different. Nothing was the same.
Except God. God was faithful. God was there. God showed up. Just like He did with our previous 2 babies. God answered every prayer we prayed. From letting us have a safe and healthy delivery, to our doctor respecting our natural wishes, to having someone on call who spoke perfect English. Every request whispered, big and small, He answered.
Every time we reflect back on this experience of having our first little Mexicana, we wouldn’t change a thing. We were given many funny stories to share and a new experience like no other. Our sweet, healthy, baby girl. God’s perfect faithfulness and goodness put on display for all to see.
Megan Herring founded Global Education Ministries along with her husband, Casey, in 2011. She has lived in Puerto Escondido for almost 3 years now since the foundation of GEM’s first school, “Manantial.” Meg loves cookies, adventures on the beach and being Momma for her 3 precious kiddos!
Tamales
I turned 30 the other day, and a fellow teacher at school, a Mexican, gave me two tamales since it was my birthday. They were savory, salty, substantial, succulent and very Mexican. And they got me to thinking about tamales.
So this is what a tamal (pronounced: /tah/ /mahl/) is. It is about a handful of wet corn meal mixture called “masa” (/mah/ /sah/). As best I can tell it’s mashed out into a thick patty and then the filling of the tamal is layed on. They can be filled with beans, cheese, chicken, pork, iguana, vegetables or any combination of these things or other delicacies. Then the masa is folded over the filling and the whole thing is wrapped tightly in a banana leaf. This is one tamal. A bunch of these are “tamales” (/tah/ /mah/ /less/). They can also sometimes before the leaf is wrapped on be covered in salsa or mole. Mole is like a really dark, rich, thick, spicy, sweet, salty, gravy type sauce. So there are mole tamales and verde tamales. The verde tamales are covered inside and out with green salsa. They can be so hot and spicy that your nose runs the second it hits your tongue and your eyeballs melt. Or they can be so mild that you could eat 100 of them.
Eating a tamal is very messy. At least, for me it is. You have to lay it down, unwrap the leaf and consume the wet, whimsical and saucy food item. You can use your fingers or a fork. I use a fork. You leave the tamal laying in the leaf while you eat it. When I eat this treat I have sauce on my fingers, elbows, face, nose and hair. Don’t ask me how. I always set out to be as clean as possible but by the second bite, I am ruined so I just abandon caution and devour. For a Mexican, eating a tamal is not messy. A Mexican person will eat a tamal and you will never know that they have done so from looking at them. They deftly unwrap it, efficiently eat it, and quickly dispatch the remaining banana leaf.
Mexican women make tamales in their houses and sell them in a word-of-mouth unofficial, casual small business venture. They sell them on street corners out of big basins covered in a towel. They are sold at counters in the markets where people sit on stools and eat them. Other señoras carry them in buckets in their hand or in tubs on their head and walk around neighborhoods calling, “¡Tamales! ¡Verde, de mole, de chepil!”.
But tamales are not just common. They are also special. And this, to me, is the most intriguing characteristic of the tamal. It is both normal and extraordinary. Mundane and celebratory. Boring and exciting. Purchased on a corner and ingested instantly while you wait for a bus that is about to take you to Oaxaca city. Ordered in quantities of hundreds two weeks in advance and presented to relatives in a backyard on Christmas Eve. They are prepared and served and gifted in mass when babies are born, at funerals, at Christmas, on birthdays, and at weddings. Hence, I was given tamales on my birthday. And they were very good.
Tamales are a lot like Mexico. On the surface, they are very simple, not special, unremarkable, easy to understand. But these visible qualities are only a curtain behind which the true nature and essence of the thing is hidden. At a glance, it is just this weird thing people eat in a few minutes when they have a break from working. But through your friends you find out that they are revered as something to be hoped for and anxiously awaited once a year. They are just tamales. It is just Mexico, the country that borders the United States to the South. Illegal immigrants. Cartels. Violence. Donkeys. Roosters. Sombreros. Belt buckles. Moustaches. Music with lots of brass. Tacos. But pull back the curtain and behold a Grand Canyon of complexity. People that would rather die themselves than see a child in discomfort. True believers in Jesus with earnestness to their faith distinct from many Americans. Daily practices that are unintelligible to Americans but have a perfectly sound, valid and vital purpose in the lives of Mexicans. Behaviors that have their origins in cultures older than the United States.
I like tamales.
-Faircloth
Jason Faircloth currently teaches 2nd grade at the Manantial School in Puerto Escondido. Jason and his wife, Kate, and son, Abraham, have lived in Puerto Escondido for almost 3 years now serving with Global Education Ministries. You will typically find Jason with a coke and bag of Frito’s in hand.