Oaxaca

Vagabonding now is different.

Much, much different.

Oaxaca is beautiful. The colonial feel of the cobblestone mixed with the brightly colored buildings and edgy street art on every other corner is something so very different. Our neighborhood is old, but seeing a revival of sorts. We have a lavanderia, a tortilleria, and, claro, a barbershop bar called Barberia Krampus. You read that correctly - a barbershop where he does haircuts and close shaves and you can have a cold beer. There are coffee shops, a wood-fire pizza restaurant, an organic grocery and cafe, and more. Our apartment is nice, furnished, and the perfect mixture of small enough that we can always see our mischief-making son but still have separate rooms. We are trying to live in this small corner of the world.

"And there are a new kind of nomads, not the people who are at home everywhere, but who are at home nowhere. I was one them." Robyn Davidson

Everything is an adjustment. We are acclimatizing, getting used to, transitioning. And it is so different this time around. This time I have to account for a husband, for a son, for a daughter. For nap times, for feeding, for snacks, for toys, for time outs, for bad behavior, for good behavior, for language school, for homework, for playtime, for sunscreen, for sunburn, for bug bites, for owies, for water, for bedtimes, for all of the things.

The weather is hot. The Spanish often goes over my head. The time zone change, the culture shift, the food differences, the apartment hunting, the street vendor browsing, the taxi driver conversations - these are all things that I know, that I love. But it is a different world when you have a family. If it were just Marko and I, there would have been changes, but they would have been minimal. But a family nomadic lifestyle is an entirely new world.

I am slower to absorb this culture shock than I have been to others.

It is hard to figure out how to best go about immersion when you have to tote around a little red headed girl who can't walk. It is hard to imagine browsing in a mercado when you have to worry about your two year old disappearing into the crowd. It is hard to keep track of snacks and of meal times and water bottles when it's not just your stomach that informs you of the need. It is hard to think about which papers and which toys you will need at the immigration office in order to best satisfy the government and your two year old. It is hard to wear your four month old daughter in 30 C heat.

It is much easier to prioritize in familiar place with familiar people and familiar things. But it is, for me, much less rewarding.

Yuriko, Cynthia, Juan, Delfino, Rosi, Jomas, Eduardo, Pedro, Rosa y Lola - this is the beginning of community. It takes time to build, it takes hard work. It is inconvenient, it is exhausting, it is frustrating. But it is worth it. And it is better to do with a family. They create opportunity, both to explore and to rest. They create a loving safe space to be yourself in. They provide moments of the utmost love, joy, frustration, anger, hope, laughter, strife, wonder. And I am so glad to be here with them.

I couldn't do it without them.

Autumn Activism

I am realizing more and more... it is not enough wish things were different.

So, what can be done? Because I often feel small and overwhelmed by the world and all of the things happening in it. I am just one person. You and I are just two people. But I also have Margaret Mead in the back of my mind..."Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Here's the deal - we live in a broken, fallen world. But we cannot expect anything to change if we are not willing to change. So... what to do?

And isn't it lovely?

1. Have an opinion - not just the opinion of your parents, friends, coworkers, etc. Have one of your own. Educate yourself by not only listening to others who share your opinions, but also those who disagree with you. Make sure you have an open mind and hear what others have to say.

2. Educate yourself - constantly. Read articles and blogs, listen to the news on the radio and television, try to branch out from your normal go-to places of information to seek out new concepts and ideas.

3. Share - if you find it informative, odds are someone else will too. And with the amount we are inundated by vanity based posts on social media? We can always use one more source of knowledge over one more selfie.

4. Object - don't just let things happen, be a part of change. If you see or hear something that shouldn't be happening whether it's bullying, slut shaming, racism, sexism, ableism, a wrong statistic, an ignorant comment - make sure you say something. Don't wait for someone else.

5. Give - your time, your talents, and your treasure; volunteer, donate, write articles, share companies that do good things, expose companies that do bad things. Go and see with your own eyes, support those already doing amazing work around the world and in your own backyard.

6. Use your purchasing power - for good. They say if you want to see what really matters to a person, just look at their bank account summary. And it's true. We put our money where our hearts lie, and our dollars move and shape our world so spend them on companies and ideas that move and shape well.

7. If we are thinking, we are winning. Flobots basically sums up all things. If you are challenging what you know, if you are asking questions, if you are looking at the world around you instead of just your own life - you are winning. You are creating a world in which people must have answers for their actions and reasons for their doings. You are creating change.

We have the power to create change or we allow change to happen through our passivity. Remaining ignorant is no longer an excuse in an age where information and answers are just a click away.

In case you need some inspiration... here are some things I am semi-obsessed with right now:

This Pinterest Page

http://www.pinterest.com/hippiejuggler/social-issues-activism/

'Cause it's awesome.

This Book

http://areyouoverrated.com/

Because our generation needs to be challenged.

The Enlightened Shopper

 

http://www.enlightenedshopper.com/

An online store that posts about products that do good in the world.

FEED Projects

http://www.feedprojects.com/

Feeding kids for a full year - and you get a trendy bag.

The Noonday Collection

 

http://www.noondaycollection.com/

Providing employment and education for women and children through the creation of cool products that you would love to have in your closet.

This Blog

http://www.babyadamsjourney.com/

All the time.

And this.

So get out there and do something.
Me too. ;)

Evangelism

I have been a little spiritually and emotionally spent.

Maybe more than a little. Maybe a lot.

We were recently turned down by a local church for support. They feel as though we don't have a strong enough emphasis on evangelism. And because they have decided not to support us as a church, they don't feel it's appropriate for us to share with their congregation. I am a little discouraged by this. We are still in talks with several others churches, one we will visit this month, another in June, and we will be attending our conference's annual meeting in May. So it isn't as if the world is over - but I'm still feeling a little put out. The truth is, for more fundamentalist churches, we probably don't have a strong enough emphasis on classic evangelism.

I believe in holistic ministry. I believe that living out my convictions, loving people, caring for people - those are the ways I spread the gospel. I definitely believe in sharing my beliefs, but there is a time and a place and I am so not a door-to-door type of person. I am awkward. For the love of the land, I am awkward. It takes people a solid two or three tries to get me in a conversation where I am coherent! I do much better working alongside people, having conversations as they come, asking hard questions where they make sense, and keeping things light and sarcastic when life calls for it.

I will give you a for instance. For instance, I had a dear friend call me at 5:30am several weeks ago because she needed to go to Urgent Care. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and then physically got on my knees and prayed for her situation. We ended up at Urgent Care several hours later when it opened (8:00am, thank the dear Lord) and I simply sat there and made bad jokes and sarcastic comments. I am nothing if not a killer comedian, especially within hospital walls. At 5:30am? My friend needed prayer and words of the Spirit, but in the hospital? She needed to be distracted.

Now, I'm not saying I am the best at reading all of these scenarios, I am definitely not. I am mostly saying that evangelism doesn't always have to look like asking people if they know Jesus. Sometimes it looks like being sarcastic in an Emergency room, other times it looks like lending a neighbor a drill or a cup of sugar, and sometimes it does look like asking someone if they know Jesus (tiny sweet baby or pierced and risen King).

Mark and I are less classical evangelism and more "love your neighbor as yourself." This does not necessarily mean that we are right and the church that told us "no" was unjust - I think there is a time and place for both. It just means we weren't a right fit for that church, which, if I am being honest? Isn't that surprising. Just disappointing.

It is also hard because what we will be doing in Oaxaca is hard to pin down. I can riddle off the ministries happening there in great detail - but what we will be doing specifically? It will depend on what people need. If people need support to outlying rural churches? That's what we'll do. If people need us to tag along with Semillas de Salud and the health ministry they do all over the region? That's what we'll do. If people need us to be volunteers with the youth group? That is what we will do. It's a little nonspecific, but hopefully very helpful to the people and missionaries in Oaxaca, as well as to us and our hopes to learn about being long-term missionaries.

So, that's that.

I don't feel like I am ending on a very upbeat note, but that's kind of where I am at right now. Somewhere in the middle of trying very hard to stay positive and wanting to hide in my closet until Summer. But it's nice outside today, so I will get back to it.

Cheers, guys, thanks for all the encouragement.