The FYM team has been here in Matamoros for one month now! They have been getting adjusted to life in Mexico and have been leaning a lot from the Lord. Listen to what they have to say:
There has been a lot of rain this week, so the streets in our colonia are pretty much flooded. Somehow the people here still manage to get around. We walk down the street struggling to stay clean and on our feet in rain boots, while the locals walk around in high heels or white tennis shoes without a problem. It’s crazy!
I’m still in the process of adjusting to everything – life here, my “new language”, and my new family/friends. The people and the culture are amazing. In its own way, Matamoros is so beautiful. It doesn’t look like New York and there aren’t any tall buildings, but to me it feels good. I feel at home here – the same way I’ve always felt in Latin America. Even though I’m still getting used to actually living here, I feel like I fit in. I love Spanish and I love the way of life. I’m looking forward to building relationships with people from church and in this area.
But it is really difficult, too. For the first time in my life, I don’t know anyone (well, now I do, but when we started I didn’t know anyone). In a way I’m struggling because I want to know and be known intimately. I hate superficial relationships. I want to be free to be real and to be open and honest. I feel like that is starting to happen, but I’m not totally there yet. I’m looking forward to that point, though. Our team is amazing and there are so many great people here, but in so many ways I am longing to understand and to be understood. – Abbey
If there is anything I do not like down here its the mud and the mosquitos! Seriously its like they are mutant (probably because they are born out of the mud and only God knows what’s in that) and it doesn’t matter how much repellent I put on they still bite me!! Seriously they sneak up on you and you don’t know if you’ve been bitten until it’s too late! Them little suckers have to die!
Okay now that the rant is over… this week has been a really good one. I’ve been learning a lot about faith and have been building up my faith. So cool to read the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Samuel, Saul, Elijah, Elisha and others! It’s so cool! I’ve also been learning to let God love me. It’s been very hard and I’ve never done it before… in fact I really don’t know how to let God love me but I’m trying! – Jeanne
As we spend more and more time in the city, I begin to like it and the people double that. Faces become familiar and soon, just like home, you meet friends who become family and hear stories that both touch and break your heart. Despite any living conditions that are unfamiliar and sometimes awkward and uncomfortable, you begin to feel and see beyond those things; as they fade away more and more, the best things come forward. You begin to accept the mud mainly because it’s inevitable…but not quite the mosquitoes. The 12 people who were strangers are now 12 of some of the neatest people you have met and all have something different to bring to the table. All different with our King in common. – Jessica
