We say that if you can minister in Mexico City, you can minister anywhere. Three of the things I think are big challenges to youth ministry in Mexico City are space, transportation, and time.
Because of the way things are built here, there is little space. Churches don’t have a lot of room. There are no “church parking lots” where you could go out and play games. There are no fields that are on church property. If you are lucky, you get to share a room with some other classes for your youth meetings. Maybe, you can have your youth meetings in the church sanctuary. You will more than likely never have your own space for youth.
Transportation is the second challenge. If you want to go on a trip, you must rent transportation, which is not always cheap. Even for a little short trip to the mall or something, everyone will have to go in the public transportation (not always safe with younger teens). If parents or youth workers are fortunate enough to have a car, it’s a two door Chevy that barely holds 4 people.
Time is the third challenge, and it may be the biggest of the three mentioned here. Because of the traffic, many people leave for work at 6 AM and get home at 9 PM. There is little time for ministry to them. If a pastor or youth pastor is going to make visits, it will take him all day to visit a few people. If we try to have midweek services, few can make it. Students who are studying in the university have little time, either, because of their schedules. Even middle school and high school students could be in classes until 7 at night.
So, pray for these three big challenges to ministry in Mexico. Pray that we will be able to figure out ways around them so that youth workers can better minister to the young people of this enormous city.
So, I went with Paco to the soccer game last night between Mexico and the Congo. It was a great experience. We left at 5 pm so we could get there and get our general admission seats (about $15). We got to Estadio Azteca around 7 pm because there was a ton of traffic due to the fact that they closed down one of the main roads in Mexico City for a huge protest.
When we arrived, we parked and went in to the stadium, where there was a ton of activity. We painted our faces with red, white, and green, and we went to look for our seats. We got some decent seats in the upper deck (general admission, remember), and we were ready for the game. After our two hour wait, the game started, and the only way I can describe it (even before the game) is as a whole bunch of constant noise. Mexico won, 2-1, and when we left, we could barely hear anything. The stadium was rocking and everyone went home happy, except for the Congo team. I’ll post a video later so you can hear the crowd.
Of course, even though there was little traffic on the road we would usually take home, it took us a long time to get home bacause they had closed it for repairs. So, we had to go a different way, and at 11:30 pm, there was tons of traffic. Ahhh…Mexico City.
I’m getting ready to see “El Tri,” Mexico’s national soccer team play against the Republic of Congo in Estadio Azteca. It’s the last game for the team before the world cup. Ooooh, so exciting.
Today we went downtown with the group. We rode the tour bus, went to the zocalo, ate tacos, went shopping, got stuck in traffic, walked a lot, and had a great time with the group from the church. I’m tired. We got home really late. There was lots of time for the group sto build relationships with each other, though.
This ad is for a “new remodeling pant” they are selling in Mexico. I had to pick up a flyer when I saw it and put it up here for all to enjoy. Here goes the translation (working from the left part down and starting again on the right):
Dare to lift them!! (in the red part)
Lift. Firm. Remold. (at bottom)
Banner (right side): Transform yourself instantly.
- Mold and turn your thighs.
- To reduce and elevate this area, making it very sexy.
- Control and reduce the lower belly.
- Enhance and firm the glutes while controlling and molding the hips.
Since yesterday was exams and the weekends are busy with people, we decided to take the day off today and head off to the Mexico City zoo downtown in Chapultepec Park (Click for pictures). It was really fun, and Nathan had a great time looking at all the animals. They have pretty much every animal you can think of. They also have McDonald’s dessert stands. I had never seen that before, but they have them at the zoo.
There’s a cool art exhibit going on here, too, called the cow parade. There are a bunch of fiberglass cows that they have put up all over the city, especially downtown (Click for more pictures). They have been sponsored by different companies and designed by different artists. I was hoping to get to see it, and today after the zoo, we got to see a bunch of them.
We also ate lunch at Hard Rock cafe, which I like a lot, but never get the opportunity to eat there because it’s downtown. So, it was a good day with animals, art, and good food. Of course, the best part of the whole day was getting to spend time with Janell and Nathan.
Check out the “Vaca of Independence” and the “Paris Hilton Cow.”
