In Mexico

Hi, I am in Mexico! Sorry I have not posted blogs more but I am not able to get on often and for very long and Dassi is keeping track of everything on her laptop and on the Mexico blog. It has been an amazing experience here in Mexico and I AM going to come back here again. Nicole said she could really use my education in midwifery when I get it and that I can come live here with her. But it will take me 4 years to get my certification so I guess just some short trip back and forth till then. It has been really awesome hearing all the stories of all the people in the church, we are so lucky to have both of our parents and to live in such an invironment as the village. Even though at the village it feels like we are becoming dead. Something Dassi and I have sworn we are going to change that no matter what it takes. We have realized at the village we need to be getting ready to spread the message not wait around for the opportunity comes to tell someone about it. I have never evangalized before and I do not know how but I am going to learn how and I am going to do it even if it is only in Selmer. I feel like I need to do something to further Gods kingdom and i don´t feel like I am doing a very good job while just sitting on a couch in the village and just hanging out trying to figure out a way to entertain myself, or just talking about the latest movies I or other people have watched. Coming to Mexico is an amazing opportunity that I have gotten to I guess open my eyes. So now I am going to do something. See everyone when I get home on Sunday.... if all goes as planned.

WOW

we are in mexico, we are unable to get on the internet very often so i can not post something every day. we got here yesterday at 10am. we were planning on getting the phone plan ect at the stay at the hotel but we ended up driving all the way through. i was literally in the car for 2 whole days! i do not know what we would do without Jason though. Driving through Mexico itself is life changing. Jason has amazing passing skills, I have never seen anyone drive like he does before. If you want more details about our adventures check out our blog that Dassi set up http://rcvmexicotrip.blogspot.com/. I am keeping notes for the next group of people who want to come down here. But i am telling you that who ever wants to come to Mexico can not be afraid of mud or not having a mirror. And be able to live very primitively. Out houses, showers and laundry rooms combined outside, and cold water. I recommend learning some spanish before coming because it would make your life a whole lot easier. keep praying for us as we are finding our way and do not be afraid to email us, though i do warn you not to expect an answer very fast. from only being here 1 day we already have stories. we will try to write them down that way we do not forget. love you guys

More Mexico Information

Here are a few more facts about the Mexico trip that is really neat. While we are there as you know we are painting a school house. The school house we are painting is a 5 room public school for all grades. By painting this school we are opening an opportunity to minister. Because in Mexico you don't do those kinds of things without getting paid etc. So we will get a really good experience in just doing that. Another thing we are doing down there is on December 31- January 1 there is a convention where people from all around will gather there and there will be evangelizing and cooking for 300-400 people! Jason asked my dad and Asher to have things to preach and share. I am sure we will each get our chance. That is still a weird thought to me, evangelizing and leading people to repent and come to Jesus isn't something I was taught to do. I was more taught to let my life minister to people and my belief show people who and what I believe in. So making a conscience decision to tell people about Jesus who haven't ever even heard of Him and telling them what He has done for them is different for all of us girls. But we are ready to learn and do new things. We are leaving in 2 days!!!!! We are definitely busy. Today I am doing all my laundry and attempting to make my room cleaner than it is at this moment, it's a working progress. Mrs. Gannah is getting the oil changed in her van. Since I work tomorrow I need to be ahead of myself with preparing for this trip. That is all for the moment. Thank you to everyone that has donated school supplies, money or time thinking about us and this trip. Thank you for all your prayers, we feel entirely supported already and we haven't even left yet. Thanks to all the ladies that have given us their wisdom and blessings at the ladies meeting. Thanks for all the prayers prayed by all the children in school. And thank you Mrs. Hashachar for doing everything you have done. Thank you.

Mexico Trip update

Exactly a week today!!!! It looks like December 18th is going to be SO packed we (Gannah, Elena, and Dassi) have to buy the car insurance online, get a special plan on our cell phones for while we are in Mexico, we have to pack our stuff then pack the van, shop for food, and then go to the Christmas Program. And right after the last performance we're off.
This morning Nicole Fitzpatrick called me to ask if we might have room for Jason when we come down since he is coming to the states to sell a van and visit his mother, who would drive him here and then we would all drive to Mexico. Then we wouldn't have the problem of getting lost in Mexico. I'm telling you the driving directions just to get through Mexico were very confusing!
Here is an update for the Village in Mexico that Jason and Nicole just sent out yesterday:

December 10, 2009
Hello again, from Huixtla, Puebla; Mexico! It is hard to believe that another year is coming to a close. This has been a very busy and changing year for us as a family. Sed is 14 years old now, Jasmine is 8. It is a joy (and a lot of prayers and training!) to watch them grow and become the children they are. Nicole and I are honored to work together in this and many other areas. God is so faithful!
We are in our third month of living full time here on The Village. It has been a lot of hard work, but it is coming together! Right now there is a large pavilion where we hold services, prayer gatherings, campaigns, weddings....and so forth. There are 8 dorm rooms.... all occupied, a large kitchen (almost done!), 5 bathrooms, and 1 shower... with many more in the making. We have planted beans, sweet potatoes, chili peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and sugar cane, We also have a few chickens, 2 ducks, and of course a cat to keep the mice away and a dog to keep us alert! I was just given a young horse from Freedom Ministries ranch in Veracruz that is in the process of being broken. I hope to use him to go to services in order to free up the truck so we can send out more teams and cover more ground for Jesus at no extra cost. There are still so many unreached villages around us.
We feed 20-40 extra people most days. A number of the young boys that are with us daily do not have a father. Once of the fathers is serving a prison sentence, another was murdered. Nicole recently began having childrens church here every Saturday morning. The first week there were 8 children, and the following week there were 25! We hope for even more this week. She is having a blast teaching them the Bible and God's love. The kids love it! She also does art projects with them and makes homemade cookies and punch or hot chocolate. Many of the children coming have never heard on e verse from the Bible, and come from very chaotic and desperate home environments. Also, she began having a Bible study/prayer meeting for the women every Friday evening and that is going great, too. Thanks so much for keeping these in your prayers!
A few weeks ago one of our brother's here, Rene, learned that his 80 year old grandmother was extremely ill, suffering asthma and bronchitis, in her home village about 20 minutes away. We went to get her and Rene took her to the hospital. The doctor said that many years of cooking over an open fire in a small hut had taken a hard toll on her lungs. She was sent home because the hospital was over flowing. A doctor friend near us helped tend to her medical needs here. Every morning she would ask Marta (Rene's wife) to have us pray for her again. We continued to do so daily. She asked Jesus into her life and to forgive her of her sins. Three weeks later, she went to be with Him. We felt like a long battle had been won!
Thank you so much for helping us help these people. You have a huge part in what we are doing. We appreciate you so much!! Thank you for praying for the churches here in the mountains of Mexico!
In Mexico for Jesus,
Jason and Nicole Fitzpatrick
http://www.thevillageglobal.org/village.php

More about my Advenures of Life

I guess the biggest adventure I am about to embark on-other than a trip to Mexico- is the one that I am pursuing to become a CPM..... or in other words a certified Midwife. Only the education part will take me 4 years to complete or however long it will take me. It is a study at home program but I have to travel to Texas more than enough times to take a lot of tests and attend workshops. One of the things I really would like to do is find other studying students for this midwifery course in all the surrounding states and somehow get with them for study groups, travel to Texas in a caravan together etc. All of the other ladies that I know who have taken this course either had someone also studying or else had someone with them. At this moment there really isn't anyone fully dedicated to do the whole course that I know of. I am also looking into apprenticing to other midwives everywhere to further my experience and knowledge. Here in Rose Creek Village we have a birthing business (for lack of a better term) where we give birth at home to people in nearby towns who are wanting a natural birth. We have 2 certified Midwives, but technically 3. And a good amount of assistants and doulas. My friend Aubrey at the moment is studying to become a doula. Her heart is to reach out and help teenage mothers. I guess we are the next generation of Midwives/doulas/assistants. She started her course last year which she will finish when she is 18, while I have to wait until I am 18 and graduated. I am planning on starting my 4 year course in June of 2010.
My first experience and real impact on my decision of becoming a midwife was Kaiden Emmanuel Sanders birth March 2006. I've been to more births since then and even though I was either there to assist the assistant, watch children, or even to clean up and put away equipment every moment has been an amazing experience. And since then it has seemed like God has only breathed on it more and more. Everyone supports my decision and things are just falling into place that make the path to becoming a midwife more and more exciting for me. I've always wanted to do something with children and somehow being an impact in their first moments of life is definitely a good option. I can make an impression on them through memories passed through the parents that can influence them to either make a choice to have a home birth for their own children or at the hospital. And as in the past history of Rose Creek Village it can be used as a ministry. It is definitely a long and hard road but I am ready for it. Because the final goal is entirely worth it.

Mexico Trip Details

Here are some more details for the Mexico trip:

We are leaving the 18th of December and getting home January 3rd (hopefully).

We are driving 18 hours to Brownsville Texas and getting a hotel room for one night then the next morning before the sun rises we are going to be at the border. Jason advised us not to drive at night which we are trying to avoid. Everything depends on the border and if we get a 'green light' or not. So pray that we get a 'green light' that way we don't have to sit at customs for over 5 hours! It is a 13 hour drive through Mexico. The whole drive is along the gulf the entire time. Awesome or what?!

While we are there we will be helping with the village not quite sure what we will be doing but some of the things on our agenda are: painting a neighboring school house, going to some pyramids, and one of the days we are there we are going to have a fun day for all the kids. Wish us luck because there is over 100! We are thinking more towards the lines of a ceili/runaround/games/rowdiness. Not really all that energy but it is sort of inevitable seeing how many children there are who probably don't speak English.We are collecting school supplies from around the village for the children there. We are also bringing large amounts of candy to give to them.

We are staying in a concrete block room that was a kitchen that they are fixing it to where we can stay there. My idea is like camping during the winter, or something like that. One of the things that she said was that with the laundry situation it is a contraption somehow operated by a bike that you use to agitate the laundry. Hopefully while we are there we can get a lot of pictures while we are there so I'll give you a visual.

I can't wait! I'm going to have so much fun just in the van with Dassi and Elena. We will be cooped up for 2 days so who knows what craziness and fun we are going to have. This whole thing is a huge adventure. I've never been to another country, and never been so long away from home.

I'll keep you updated...... Samantha Jane

Just the Beginning

Hi, this is just the beginning of hopefully many installments on my adventures of life and perhaps others. Why I wanted to make a blog about the adventures of life because they are the best ones....the only ones actually.
One of the ones that I am about to have as of December 2009 is a trip to Mexico on a missions trip. I am going with a group of 6 people sort of like a pioneer trip to the Village Jason and Nichole Fitzpatrick are building in Tenango de Las Flores. It is still in the beginning stages. From my understanding- which isn't very extensive at the moment- it is somewhere in between two mountains out in the boonies. I'm guessing that it is a group of Mexicans coming together as a community under the leadership/guidance of Jason and Nichole. They have been missionaries there for a while.
Anyway.... it is a 2 day drive through Mississippi then Louisiana and then through Texas and finally crossing the border in Brownsville Texas. We are planning on leaving after a Christmas Program the school children here in Rose Creek Village (explanation in a later post). Which we are hoping to leave before 12 am. The date we are leaving is the 18th of December. One thing we have learned with doing something big like this is that you have to give a few things up. For us we are missing a really awesome Christmas that the young people here in Rose Creek are putting together, New Years, and Mrs. Gannah's birthday (on of the people going on the trip) and my 18th birthday. The people also going on this trip to Mexico is Asher (Gannah's husband), my dad Saraph, Dassi (my best friend), and Elena.
I know for myself I am so excited!! Going to another country for 2 weeks to help and serve is an amazing opportunity. What I am extremely surprised by is that personally the devil hasn't tried to shut me down. Maybe it is only time before something challenges me. Every time one of God's children take a step to further the kingdom or take a step closer to God, the adversary tries in every way to come in and weaken your attempts or to shut you down. I think I am ready though and hopefully I can roll with the punches and keep my focus in the right direction....God and everything that He is.
Just for a taste of what this blog in the future will have is:
-what Rose Creek Village is
-my belief
-and more of my adventures and others adventures

I hope you will keep reading .........
Samantha Jane