Proclamation

It is really difficult to home school Daniel lately. Right now, for instance, Pancho is here. If you know Pancho, you know why Pancho makes concentration difficult. Yesterday I had to leave the house at 11 a.m. Why?

A 18-year old girl, Brisa (which means breeze) died of complications from liver failure. 18 years old. So sad. She was Iris’s niece. It seems that Iris knows or is related to half the population here. Brisa lived in Chalco, right across the highway. Due to construction of a big interchange, a trip that should have taken 10 minutes took us 40 minutes. Finally we arrived, all 12 of us in our van, Mayra and I plus 6 ladies from the church and Iris’s 4 kids.

We came into a patio area that had a blue tarp tied above to block the sun, a tarp that snapped and cracked with the stiff autumn wind. After a moment, we asked if we could sing some songs, and I returned to the van and got a guitar. We started with a song that is known universally here…Señor, tú me llamas. After that, another 5 or 6 Christian choruses. Then I preached from John 14, which has become the text I almost always use at funerals. There’s just so much there. Thomas and Phillip, Jesus´s words of truth…I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. The message is a man. Salvation comes in the person of Jesus. Eugene Peterson’s words came to mind. The purpose of a preacher in moments like that is to proclaim the gospel, clearly and without apology.

I finished out the day talking via Skype with my good friend Keith, and drinking coffee at El Portón with Samuel, planning a planning meeting we have tonight. As I was taking him home, however, we found ourselves distracted by a taco stand and…well, you know.