Visiting Old Friends

My flight home is booked for the 27^th of this month. That leaves me a little more than three full weeks in Huatulco.  I will be continuing regular activities until the twentieth and spending the last week with friends as much as possible. I really need to make sure I get to the beach at least one more time. I am excited to be coming home, but I am already missing things here. I have gotten really comfortable with the culture. I am not looking forward to a couple of weeks of culture shock when I return.

Ramon, his wife Margarita & their Daughter

Tlaxiaco Preparing for Market
 in the Early Morning Mist

I had the opportunity to visit Tlaxiaco (Tlac-i-áko) this week. It was a long journey of eleven hours by bus along winding, bumpy roads. It was well worth it though as I was able to visit some friends we had made when we were there about six years ago. I was welcomed with excitement and treated like royalty. It was great catching up and seeing how their families had grown and prospered. I also was able to go up to San Pedro Yucunama. It is a small a village we had worked in. I took a cab up, but had to walk the 9 kilometers out. It was a tough walk with a lot of steep up and down and little shade. Overall, the visit brought back many good memories. A part of my heart is still buried in that part of Mexico. Another part will be left in Huatulco.

Andres & his Goats

In Mexico, they use a lot of 15 passenger vans called Urvans. The seats are small and people are really crammed in. I had a good seat on the leg to Oaxaca City, but I was stuck in the smallest seat in the back on the leg to Huatulco. The seat afforded less than zero legroom and I was smashed between two other people. Added to that were the unbelievably curvy roads with constant topes (speed bumps) and construction. It was seven hours of indescribable torture. Today I stayed home to re-hydrate and recuperate.

Atop the Church in Yucunama
Built in the Year 1575

 One other great part of the trip was that I was able to share with many people the Gospel through the telling of the story of my own conversion. At one point, my friend Andres started telling it for me when he introduced me as his cousin. When Ramon was helping his 13-year-old daughter remember me, he used the incident of how we had prayed for her once when she was sick and she had been instantly healed.

Tlaxiaco

Church in Teposcolula

Yucunama

The trip was a blessing in many ways. I was able to see that we had made a positive impact on the lives of people there. It helps to ease the pain of leaving Huatulco to know that we have also affected the lives of many people here. It is a reminder that, no matter where we are, we are having an influence on those whose lives we touch. We must always be mindful of that. Are they better off or less so for having crossed paths with us? We must be intentional about making it positive. We never know when God will use even a fleeting contact to change the course of someone’s life.