A miracle of the Holy Spirit

May 30, 2022

During our team’s culture and language learning days, we often shared patterns we were seeing in the worldview of the people. In one such conversation, we began to chat about the custom among the Nahuatl of holding grudges. The slightest offense can lead to hard feelings that in turn compels one person to refuse to […]

In memory of my Grandpa

November 10, 2018

My grandfather, Robert Manes, passed away several months ago. Last week my family had his memorial. There are times that missionary life means missing out on important events, and this was one of those times. But I know that my grandfather loved the Nahuatl people and fully supported my ministry here. I wanted to share […]

Quiz Time!

January 3, 2015

Hi, Everyone! It’s time to test your knowledge of the Nahuatl. Feel free to use information found on this blog or what you remember from past updates or informational meetings. The quiz will close Sunday the 10th. All entries with correct answers will be put into a drawing for a prize from Mexico: a bottle […]

The Rest of the Story

August 2, 2014

A year ago this month our team was hoping to finish drilling a well in our village. We had high hopes for supplying clean drinking water for the Nahuatl that didn’t pan out how we had hoped. The drill bit broke off and couldn’t be repaired. It was decided that a bigger rig would be needed and […]

Afraid of the Dark

March 3, 2014

Leo has had a hard week. Or more like a series of hard weeks. She hasn’t been sleeping well since December, when her teen-aged daughter Teresa started feeling like she couldn’t breathe at night. Leo would rub Teresa’s chest and stay up with her, as the daughter was terrified that she was dying. She said she […]

The One About Tubes

August 13, 2013

A few days ago some little boys came to our house to borrow a movie. “We want the one about tubes,” they told Rachel. Rachel, needless to say, was a bit confused. She asked the boys what the tubes were like, what people were doing with the tubes, and other pertinent questions, but the boys […]

The Night Before Christmas (in the Tribe)

December 19, 2012

‘Tis the night before Christmas and all through Las Moras, The donkeys are braying some out-of-tune chorus. One strand of low-energy lights is aglow, And we hope that it won’t run our batteries too low. A cute little pine tree’s propped up on one shelf And our coworkers just forced us all to watch Elf. […]

The Perfect Woman

September 29, 2012

My language helper told me that some of the younger generation in this village is not learning to speak Nahuatl. She said, “Around here, what we say is that you guys…your group of white people…you have beaten them. Your mom doesn’t speak Nahuatl and your dad doesn’t speak Nahuatl, but you guys do!” I laughed […]

Medical Prayer Request

April 19, 2011

For the last few weeks our team has been out of the tribe, getting medical help for Dan. He had several nasty viruses, almost died because of an allergic reaction to penicillin, and now is having chest pains. A trip to the doctor yesterday confirmed that he has pericarditis, or inflamation of the outer part […]