Greetings from Mexico City,
This is a follow up letter to my Feb. 9th blog post on the happenings in Mexico City and the church plant in Tlalpan, Mexico especially for the congregation La Casita in Searcy, AR and the congregation in Swift Current, Canada that so generously helped my wife and I with monetary contributions last year. It serves as an update to what has been transpiring here in the naval of the ancient Aztec Empire.
We had the retreat in Michoacan, Mexico in March as was planned. It was a stupendous success with a little over 30 people in total. It was a great time of fellowship (tamales, hotdogs, smores- the works!) and a wonderful way to deepen the intimacy of the group as a whole. We had a dynamic lesson on the concept of holiness (focusing on inner integrity- the pure heart; as well as actions- clean hands). Benjy and Jorge also led us in a highly interactive group discussion on finding our individual dreams, passions, and gifts. This was very insightful for the whole group and served as a springboard for finding our corporal gift and passion as a church in order to serve in the context of the community. Right now we are in the process of discerning a social ministry. The group wants to begin using their gifts, as a church to touch and transform some sector of the community. The extent of the exact nature of the ministry and specialized population has yet to be determined. Though the dialogue is extremely rich and I forsee a lot of service to the Kingdom and Creation being produced from the type of conversation that has been taking place among the group recently. Needless to say it is very exciting.
Since the last post I have concluded my course on The Exodus, Oppression, and the Problem of Holiness and we have begun a series on the Gospel of Luke- a joint teaching venture by all that are willing to participate. As well, we are addressing the issue of the formation of the canon one Sunday per month. This especially addresses the new members that aren’t so acquainted with the Bible and its tradition as the others that have been with the plant for a longer time. I am continuing my study of the prophets for didactic and pastoral purposes with Jorge- though recently it has been more sporadic since Holy week (Easter) as vacation, more work for him, and then finally the swine flu scare has made meeting more difficult.
Yes, the swine flu. Lately, we’ve been under attack from the (A)H1N1 influenza virus (aka swine flu). The city has been shutdown since April 30th and was masked with fright (no pun intended). It just began to open some of its government offices and venues today, though work for me will not begin again until Monday the 11th. This has put a damper on us as a group, since we have been banned from meeting for the past 2 weeks. Thankfully we can report that no family members or members of the church have been affected by this health threat. It appears that the Mexican government reacted with adequate response and precision.
As far as the members: We have a couple Nancy & Cesar that will be getting married June 12th. Hayley & Ivan’s pregnancy (baby boy!) is coming along just fine. And we found out that Carolyn Brednich is now an expecting mother! This has been a truly exciting time for us as a church. And to top it all off, in the midst of an earthquake (5.7, 40 sec. duration- no damage) and the flu scare, we now have back in our midst James and his family. Which we are all extremely happy to welcome them back home.
This brings me to the announcement of change of plans concerning my wife and I. As was stated in the previous post, due to the economic crisis, work was next to non-existent from December to Feburary- for me as a teacher and my wife as a therapist. My wife and I are so very grateful to the contributions made by both of your congregations. It was truly a life-saver: it kept me from leaving my wife and working in California and allowed me to work with the church in a fuller capacity. Yet again, we have received a hard blow economically. Most of my students took a 2 week vacation for Easter to get away from it all and I have lost another 2 weeks of work due to the most recent health crisis here in the city. So, that’s the loss of another month’s income. My wife will be completing here Master’s program in June and her thesis shortly thereafter and with her completion of the program we will see the end of her scholarship and grant. All of these factors coupled with the peso’s devaluation of nearly 50% next to the dollar have lead us to the decision of me starting my Master’s of Divinity program in Boston a semester earlier than planned, in January of 2010. However, in order to have to live on and make the big move in January, I will be taking a job in California in September 2009, after 2 years of working in Mexico City.
This past year of congregating and working with the church plant in Tlalpan has been an uncomparable experience with much reward for both my wife and I. We cannot express enough our gratitude for helping us in our time of need, and allowing us to stay here at our home and work and commune with those that we have grown to love.
Again we thank you and we ask God to abundantly bless you wherever you are.
-Marvin Lance Wiser
P.S. Congratulations Josie and Aaron Allen on the birth of their beautiful baby boy Noah and their upcoming move to New York City! All are celebrating in Mexico!
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“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.” - 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NRSV)
~mlw
