mission update 1.6.2006 - we've arrived!

Praise God, we arrived safely in Mexico. We took a different route than our directions said. Praise God for guiding us on that route, for although we paid one extra toll, we only had two inspection points and passed through them with green lights - which meant, no inspections! The clothes and bibles have arrived safely, and so have we! Getting visas was easy, and the wait was short. Petra Wilke travelled with the Owen Family, who escorted us to our village, and she interpreted for us most of the way.

We left America at 6:30am and arrived in our village at 8:00pm. The drive was long and exhausting, and we slept well. The house creeped me out the first evening. The roof is covered with very thin aluminum sheet metal that flaps in the wind, and it sounds like something is clawing into the roof. Then there are the burrow (like a donkey) mother and her calf that live across the street from us and hee-haw in the morning. The roosters next door woke me up this morning.

The days are slow and uneventful. Things in Mexico, are (I am finding), slow in general. Business, people, talk, internet is all slow. It is a nice change. Today Josh went with Brandon Owen to do some shopping at the hardware store, while I unpacked the house.

The water comes about twice a day through a hose. It splits into two 50 gallon barrells. When the barrells fill, we let the rest of the water run into the yard. But if the hoses aren't in the barrells the next day when the water comes, we won't replenigh our water for the next day.

The walls in the house aren't all finished, but they are all concrete, and the house soaks up the heat in the day. For the cold nights of January and February, Josh has set up a make-shift wood stove made out of an old water heater. Here, the Mexicans call something that has been recycled and turned into something else "Mexicana." There are lots of things that are "Mexicana."

Josh is learning Spanish. Petra says I know more spanish than she originally credited me for. We went to church tonight in Toltecas and visited the believers there, and then when we returned to the village, we walked to Marianne Wilke's house for dinner. The dogs here are a trial for me. There are wild dogs everywhere, they aren't one breed, but many different breeds that have slowly become less domesticated and now roam wild. Everyone in Mexico carries sticks and stones with them, and throw them at the dogs when they run and attack. I had my first experience today. A nice man, Ramon, ran to my rescue and helped me ward off my attackers.

I want to send pictures out, but the internet is slow here. I'll need to send them in another email, another day. We are good, and ask prayer for Joshua and me as we are detoxing from caffeine, and have headaches right now. We are enjoying the company of the Owens and the Wilkes, and are settling into our home.

Blessings from the Webb Family. Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for us, the missionary families with us (the Wilkes and the Owens), and the people around us, through our desire to learn their language and through the love we show, they may see Christ. Pray that we learn the language well and quickly.