We are safely at Roca Blanca. Our thanks go to God and all of you who sent us on our way with warm wishes and prayers. We took a new route via Roanoke, Birmingham, and Houston through the States.  A huge benefit of this was to meet more of Bertha’s family: two sisters in Roanoke, VA, l brother in Birmingham, AL, and a nephew in Houston. We also visited with another of her sisters in Monterrey, Mx. We then traveled on to Puebla to stay with Dan, whom we had picked up in San Antonio. He brought his American car back to the states to sell, and needed a ride back to Puebla. We enjoyed visiting with him and his wife, Dr. Angelica and son Jacob. We were thrilled to see the progress in their ministry center just since we visited last March.

Besides the family contact, the other overriding consideration was the weather. It seemed as if we were riding a tidal wave of cold and snow as we rushed southward. From church on Sunday we had snow and snowy roads until Rte. 17 joins Rte. 15. We had snow and freezing weather through PA. There was snow on the ground into southern VA. We drove through flurries in Tennessee. In Birmingham it was still 15 degrees, but the snow on the ground was gone. Not until we were about 100 miles from the Gulf, near New Orleans, did it climb above freezing. Houston was below freezing when we arose to leave Wednesday morning. It was chilly in Monterrey, MX, and the day after we left there and ascended past Saltillo to the central plateau, the road was closed due to snow and freezing temperatures. Others behind us destined for Roca Blanca were unable to get through, but hopefully will arrive in a day or two. A friend called from Kansas Thursday night and said truly frigid conditions are coming upon you up north, so we will believe and pray for your safe travel and warm homes. But as we write this, a coolish breeze (maybe 78) is coming off the ocean and we have overcast skies. But finally, the sandals and shorts are out.

Crossing the border is always an adventure, and this year was no different. Our preparation was a bit different in that we have obtained our FM3 visas, which legitimizes the work we do down here. We had also obtained a letter from the President of the village where Roca Blanca is located; he invited us down to do medical work and to bring in the necessary supplies and medicines-not a fully proper importation document, but better than nothing. We packed all the medicines into 3 very large suitcases as instructed by him. We had an inventory list of both supplies and medicines. As we approached the customs booths, we prayed for a green light, but instead the red light appeared and we were pulled over for further inspection. They took more than a cursory look and asked a lot of questions about where we were going and what we would be doing. They looked at the papers and we had to unload about half the truck. Ultimately, we ended up having to pay duty on the supplies (accepting our list and prices), but they allowed all the medications a free pass (after we reminded them of the regulation that each person was allowed to bring in a suitcase full of medicine). The final bill of $90.00 seemed like a gift. Once across the border, we were stopped by federal police within half an hour. It all seemed like an inauspicious beginning to our travel in Mexico.

Today we are continuing to unpack and organize. Tomorrow we go out on a 3 day outreach to the mountains. From our perspective our prayer needs are: 1) Good health and rest for us after our travel. 2) Safety in travel for the several parties coming and going this weekend, including our medical outreach. 3) Preparation of all our hearts and minds to perceive every bit of goodness in His will as we seek to be obedient to His calling.