On a friend’s recommendation I watched Born Into Brothels last night. This documentary is about the children of prostitutes living in Calcutta’s red light district. Not something you want to rent for family movie night.
The film had some dramatic and shocking scenes in it but what struck me the most is that they probably could have made a nearly identical movie in Tijuana’s own Zona Roja[...]
So how should we treat a pagan or tax collector? The Living Bible Paraphrased says, “the church should excommunicate him.” I think this is the general sentiment I grew up with—the idea that, if a member is in sin and refuses to turn from it after the prescribed steps are followed, he or she should be thrown from the church. However, [...]
This morning I went to a junkyard just over the border in search of a taillight (it was not my fault!). The young man escorting me around the oil-soaked gravel lot asked me the usual questions about how I learned Spanish, etc. It came around that my wife is Mexican. “We got the best [women],” [...]
Three Saturdays a month I work in the mornings. We have meetings in various outback locations with children in the sponsorship program. The meetings are mandatory. Unless the child (or parent) has a good excuse, absences are frowned upon. In reality, however, a 50 percent turnout is not too bad — but that’s for a [...]
Last night in my seminary class we studied the Beatitudes. What a great passage to dissect with classmates of another culture. Reason being is obvious: other cultures can be difficult to understand.
Matthew 5 is clearly difficult to comprehend. Of course we should be humble, thankful, gracious, tactful, patient, etc. But in Jesus’ Sermon on the [...]
Almost every short-term mission tripper to Mexico has brought up the topic of illegal immigration. I generally avoid it like Mexican tap water. Gosh, what is a guy supposed to say?
First, let’s breeze through the talking points…and really all of the NPR stories that anyone with a working brain and beating heart can agree upon.
Everyone [...]
It’s great to see gratitude in the form of payback.
Our church in Tijuana received a huge boost from help by Canadian Mennonites. Only six men came down from the prairies, but the boys knew how to swing a hammer. Work they did in spite of language confusion as commands and jokes were thrown [...]
Two hours ago I met a middle-aged señora for the first time. Raquel asked up front, “So, are you married?” “No, I’m single, but I have a wonderful girlfriend”, I replied quite content. “Oye, what do you mean girlfriend?”, she scoffed. “A dating relationship does not exist in the Bible”, she [...]