A Spanish blog I read called Vivir Mexico has recently started a great series called (in English), “That’s how we are: Mexicans.”
The idea is that they are going to explore Mexicans and their culture, talking each week about an aspect of Mexican culture (they say they will explore both the good and the bad).
This week’s topic was Mothers (El Culto de La Madre (Spanish link)). Here’s some of what they had to say:
El Culto de La Madre
Mothers and the word Mother is something that is reflected in every aspect of Mexico, from religion to culture; from moral values to politics.
You can see the difference between Mothers and Fathers just by looking at the difference between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day. Mothers’ Day is practically a national holiday while Fathers’ Day goes practically unnoticed.
Motherhood represents the protection, faith, and safety of always having somebody by your side regardless of what happens. Somebody will always be there to comfort you, attend to you, and will always be ready to forgive you and love you unconditionally.
To be a bad mother is the worst possible thing in Mexican society. Bad mothers are the villains of every story. This logic would also explain the controversy over the legalization of abortion, halting the possibility of being a mother.
In Mexico, you can steal, kill, kidnap, beat, and do whatever, but to abandon your children is to fall to the bottom.
The same thing applies to children. You can do anything else, but the child who abandons his mother deserves less than the devil himself, especially if the mother is elderly.
It is even said that the devil acts the way he does because he didn’t have a mother to advise him.
I look forward to this series. There are many things there that I had already noticed, but to hear it from a Mexican and to think about the implications have helped me understand the culture so I can better minister within the culture.
(Image by carf on flickr)
I was playing around with Photoshop and put our family in a green Volkswagen taxi. The “vochos” are a typical sight (without our family) in Mexico City.
Here’s the photo on Flickr.
Maybe I’m writing this post because it’s dinnertime and I’m hungry, or maybe just because I miss Mexican food.
Either way, I thought today I would share with you my top 10 Mexican Foods (in no particular order).
My Top 10 Mexican Foods
- Tacos al pastor – a typical taco you’ll find in taquerias everywhere in Mexico. It’s pork meat marinated and garnished with pineapple, onions, cilantro, and salsa.
- Enchiladas – Janell’s favorite Mexican food is enchiladas. She likes them with green salsa, and I like “Enchiladas Suizas”, which have cheese on them.
- Chilaquiles – mostly a breakfast food, it’s hardened tortillas with salsa, onions, and (sometimes) chicken.
- Pozole – A delicious soup with pork or chicken and hominy.
- Tortilla soup – tomato based soup with strips of tortillas.
- Alambre con queso – Janell’s favorite thing to order at the taco joint, alambre is a mixture of beef, pork, cheese, and peppers that is served on a tortilla.
- Arrachera – a delicious cut of beef grilled to perfection. Sometimes, they are selling this outside the grocery store where they’ll grill it up for you.
- Tres leche cake – Super moist and tasty cake with milk poured over it.
- Flan – Flan is flan. And it’s yummy.
- Tacos de pollo – “dorados” are delicious, hard fried tacos with chicken inside.
Hungry yet? I sure am. I post often about food. Here are some videos I’ve made about Mexican food:
The other day, Nathan and I were playing and he said, “I miss Mexico.” He loves being in Florida with his family, but there are times when he misses Mexico, too.
We’ve been in the US since early June, and we’re all missing some things.
Here are the things I’m missing about Mexico.
- Our home – there’s just something about having your own space. Nathan definitely misses his toys and his room in Mexico. I miss having my own space, too.
- Seminary students – I miss hanging out with my students and seeing them everyday. I also miss just working at the seminary. I’m sad that I’m missing orientation week next week. I want to meet the new students.
- The park in our neighborhood – we’ve got a great little park that is two streets away from our house. It’s like having our own park with a gigantic slide (picture), swings (video), and some green space to play in.
- The weather – Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always hot in Mexico City. In fact, the weather in Mexico City is much better than the weather in Florida. I miss the cooler air, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it.
- Our church – We go to PIB Satelite (First Baptist of Satelite), a large church that meets at the Seminary campus. I miss attending and also participating in the youth ministry there. I’m hoping we can be more involved there when we go back.
The good news is that we finally have a date to go back. We’ll be flying out of Miami on September 18.
I was reading Tim’s blog the other day, and he said that he had never done a missions trip with a missions organization.
I think Tim gives some valid points about not using a missions organization, and I also think there are some good points for using a missions organization to organize your mission trip.
I’ve had the chance to lead countless short term teams during our time in Mexico (and before), so here are my thoughts on the subject.
Advantages of Taking a Missions Trip with a Missions Organization
- Lasting ministry by partnering with someone who’s “on the ground.” I know you can do this on your own, if you have the right contacts, but missions organizations spend a lot of time developing relationships with the national ministries with whom you’ll be working, allowing your two week ministry to have a lasting impact with less work for you.
- Short term trip fits into a long term strategy. Two weeks in a foreign country will do more for your students than it will for the local ministry. But, we should expect our time on a mission trip to play a part in a longer-term strategy. That’s where a missions organization comes into play.
Our strategy with YMI is to allow short term teams (called Quest Teams) to model youth ministry so that the local churches will invite us to train youth workers for their churches.
- Safety from working with an organization that knows the territory. The missions organization can help take care of insurance and help alleviate other safety issues that you might not be aware of in the region where you are going.
- Administration hassles are handled by someone else, giving you more time to minister to your students. I’m usually the guy at the missions organization doing most of the ground work such as keeping track of finances, deciding where to get food, details about lodging, and many, many other details. The youth pastor definitely gets to give his opinion and input, but he doesn’t have to worry about that stuff because the missions organization takes care of it for him.
- Quality experiences for all involved. This can happen if you plan your own mission experience or if you go with an organization. The point is to be involved in missions and give students an experience with missions that will impact them for eternity.
We are open to having groups come work with us in Mexico. If you are interested in bringing a group to Mexico to work with us, contact us or YMI’s home office.
(image by: JPhilipson on Flickr)
