In November, there are two holidays. Obviously for us, one is Thanksgiving. But here in Mexico, they also have a holiday. Mexican Revolution Day is an official government holiday, celebrated annually in Mexico on November 20, marking the start of what became the Mexican Revolution. The city of Motul recognized it with their school parades on November 16 and 17th. Every school marched in this parade. On Thursday, the 3 grades of kindergarten marched early that morning. On Friday night it was every grade from elementary through high school and including some universities. We, as a church, had planned to do an outreach during this event. We set up a tent in the city square with tables and chairs along with Caleb’s bubble machine.
The Sunday prior to this event, all of the volunteers met after service to learn and practice their skills. We had a group that would be face painting and a group that would be making animal balloons. Besides Natalie and Caleb, there was only 2 other people that knew how to make any kind of animal balloon. So, Caleb taught a class that day to show them how to make 3 basic animal balloons. Later that week he and Natalie had a second training for anyone interested in how to make more.
We started setting up at 3:30pm because the streets would soon be closing due to the parade that would start at 6pm. Kids started coming around 5pm to our tent and then the line never stopped! We made animal balloons and painted faces until 9pm! Every kid that came to our tent was given an invitation to church and a gospel message in the form of a booklet or tract. We made about 500 animal balloons that night. It was a great opportunity to serve the community, meet new people and share the love of Jesus. We are thankful to the city for allowing us to be there that night.
Caleb had his first MMA tournament. We drove early in the morning to meet his sensei at a University in Merida where the competition would take place in their gymnasium. Caleb was a bit nervous, but he did good for his first time. He is really enjoying his classes and in December he will take his first exam to be able to earn his first belt. We are proud of him!
In Noah’s 11th grade of school this year, for one of his electives, he is taking guitar lessons. Every school day he has a lesson with Natalie. Right now, it is still only the beginning and like anything that is new, it’s a lot of work and commitment until you can start having some fun with it. Even though it is a school thing, we hope and pray that he sticks with it and enjoys learning how to play an instrument.