The Thiessen Talk'O - January 2013 Update

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Safe Landings, Great Expectations

What a memory our 10 day drive has created! Anthony, Josiah & Dad drove the Toyota down to Mexico & put on over 6700 km! From the wonderful vistas of snow capped mountains in Alberta to the reds of the Bajas, the I-5 highway straight aways to the dangerous curves of the Baja with missing gaps knocked out of the guard rails, we enjoyed a long but blessed journey. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the complete trip! Thanks for your prayers.

We were able to stop & visit family & friends on the way. This was a great way to take a break from the driving, as well as to find a great place to sleep & visit. Thanks to each one for opening their homes to us! :) A highlight was catching up with my brother Mike, Tammy, Gabriella & Jessica, who live on Vancouver Island. We were able to have lunch & then went bowling. 

When we crossed the border in the US, we expected an interrogation, since Josiah was with me & Karlene wasn’t. All the guard wanted was our passports & asked a few simple questions. The Mexico border was similar, except they were interested in the contents of the vehicle. The lady wanted to open the back, I grimaced & told her she could but I hoped a whole bunch of things didn’t fall out. We had it packed tight. Josiah was a sardine in the back seat. She then asked if she could look in the side door instead. I said sure, so she poked around for a bit. She asked what was on the roof, which Josiah thought was funny. It was a hockey net in a box. He thought everyone should know what hockey is:) 

She waved us by & I thought that we would find a border post wanting our passports & who would issue us visas. But we got going & soon were in Tijuana,MX.

I was sure we needed visas, so we pulled over to ask at a store. The guard who helped told me we didn’t need visas for the Baja. Dad remembered driving 12 km 

before getting visas at another border crossing, so we went on.

After an hour of driving, we stopped to call a TEAM missionary who advised us that we needed our visas from the border, so we turned around. We were almost there when we got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident. It was dark. We were wondering where we would find the office.The GPS didn't help. At an intersection I talked to a police officer about our predicament & found that if we stayed on route, we would be in the USA in 5 minutes. He drew a map for us. We got to a certain point, but had to ask another police officer for directions. Lights flashing, he escorted us to the hidden office where we were issued our visas.  At this time it was 8:30 PM & we needed to find a hotel, as we didn't want to drive after dark. The GPS didn’t find one nearby, so we headed to Ensenada (1hr  away) as Tijuana didn’t feel like a safe place to stay. We had a good journey & knew people were praying for us, b/c we would not have received our visas if it 

hadn’t been for God placing us there at the time of the accident.

Another night I left my backpack outside the vehicle while grabbing suitcases & forgot all about it. 3 hours later we returned from supper to see a man holding my bag (with important documents in it!) He knew it was ours & had been looking for us! Praise God!

When we arrived in La Paz, we were able to find our Missions area leader without the GPS! We had a blessed time meeting TEAM missionaries that evening & getting acquainted. We are excited to work with them soon!

A ferry trip of 6 hours found us practicing Spanish with a boy that seemed to find Josiah interesting. I can see why our children can be helpful in connecting with others when we are in missions.

An 8 hour drive to Guadalajara the next day found us in the biggest city I’ve ever been in. The different ways the streets are designed is mind boggling, circle drives unlike I have ever seen. We managed to get through rush hour traffic & the GPS was definitely helpful this time. We rejoiced in being reunited with Karlene, Keyana & Mom, who had there own adventures in getting here. They had arrived one day earlier. Thanks for praying us through our journey!

Settling In, Learning Language 

Getting to our new house, the night we arrived to deliver suitcases, was nerve racking to say the least. As we followed the lead car, a light changed & we went through it so we wouldn’t get lost in this huge city.  A car was coming from the side, & we had to swerve to avoid it. In another street crossing, without lights, a bus was barreling toward us & we had to stop in the middle of the street, or we would have been a bumper sticker. We were very glad to get there safely!

Location, location, location...realtors say that it’s so important & we are blessed to be in a house that is located in a great neighborhood with little shops & restaurants, a frutaria & meat shop, 2 dance studios, a fitness gym & only a 5 minute walk from language school, a minute from a park with a variety of activities & a short distance from church!We moved in the day after Anthony arrived, doing some very quick cleaning & shopping for furniture. We only bought bare necessities as we don’t want to have to move a lot from Guad. to La Paz. We did have to buy a fridge as the house didn’t come with one. But it did come with some other things we needed, thanks in large part to the Johnson family who lived here before us & finished language school in December! The next day found us shopping for groceries, shelving, signing up for cell phone service & internet. The internet was hooked up 8 days later, just when they said it would be.  We weren’t sure what to expect. It’s a blessing to be ‘connected’ once again, as we depend on internet for communication and information. You don’t realize just how much until it is gone.

We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our fellow TEAM missionaries here in Guad. We have been blessed by their care, kindness & hospitality displayed in numerous ways - securing a house for us to live in, picking us up at the airport, letting us stay in one of their homes for the first 2 nights, taking us furniture shopping, helping us unpack, driving us around to get groceries, cell phone service & internet, providing meals for us & having us in their homes for fellowship, inviting us to their Sunday worship time & faithfully checking in to see how we’re doing. God’s love displayed through His people is a beautiful thing!

It was a tremendous blessing to have Mom & Dad here to help us clean, unpack & settle in. We are very thankful that they were able to stay a few extra days. They also got to hang out with Josiah & Keyana while we ran errands around the city, something easier to do without children in tow! They also took care of them our first 2 mornings of language school which allowed for some extra Grandparent/Grandchild time :) It was hard to see them off on Jan. 17^th. It was a teary ride home. 

Now we are well into our language learning.  I’m getting a good review of what I had studied & Karlene is getting a good dose of meteor showers - everything is coming so fast it is hard for her to keep up. She is doing really well, but finding it overwhelming & frustrating at times. Class consists of grammar, verb conjugation, phonics/reading, vocabulary, translation & devotions. We have quizzes & assignments daily. Homework takes 1-3 hours each night. We were reminded by a friend to realize that language learning is ministry. The people we are connecting with are ministered to & touched when they see the effort & dedication put in to learn their language.

We have been blessed with Areli who is taking care of our children from 9-12:30 while we are in class. They love her, describing her as funny & awesome. She doesn’t speak much English, but enough to communicate with them. We are hoping she will use enough Spanish for it to rub off on Josiah & Keyana!

                                  The Gal's Trip & Our New Home

As the guys started their road-trip, the gals finished packing up our apartment & with the help of some wonderful friends, got the cleaning done in record time! Keyana & I(Karlene) moved in with Mom for a few days & a whirl wind of last minute to-do items, good-byes & late night packing commenced. We finally started off on Friday, Jan 4th, picked up my passport in Edmonton, said some goodbyes along the way & arrived in Calgary Saturday night. There we did some last minute shopping, packed luggage & said a few more goodbyes.

Tuesday morning found us frantically trying to down size b/c of an embargo Mexico has on the amount of luggage you can bring. No one told us this when booking our tickets. Thankfully, Ruby & Walter were able to come back to the airport to take the 2 suitcases we had to leave behind. (As of Jan. 15, the embargo has been lifted...go figure…) We managed to get through security & to our gate with only minutes to spare before boarding began. Besides a medical emergency on our flight & a security breech when we landed in Phoenix, the rest of our trip was rather uneventful :) & we arrived safely in Guadalajara at 5pm, were picked up by fellow TEAM missionaries, fed a delicious meal & given comfy beds to sleep in.  We had an amazing rest & were excited to be reunited with the guys on Wed. evening Jan. 9th!  We are now fairly settled in our ‘coral’ house :) & we continue to praise God for His provision & safety in getting us here. We miss home, family & friends but are thankful to be in the place that God has called us to. We continue to cling to the One whose mercies are new every morning, whose grace is sufficient & whose faithfulness is GREAT! Thank you for you prayers & support! Until our next Talk’O together - Adios & God Bless!

The Thiessens

Praying

pray that we will continue to experience God’s peace, direction & guidance as we learn Spanish, get used to our new home & balance lang. school with Homeschooling.

Pray for continued spiritual growth as God uses this time of transition to refine our faith & build our trust in Him.

Pray that Josiah & Keyana can make some friends, they are finding it a bit lonely right now & are missing home.

Pray for opportunities to witness to those in our community & for safety as we live in a very big city - 6-8 million 

Pray that we will be able to get our visas before our tourist visas expire.

praising

We Praise God for our safe travels!

we praise God For the home we have which is in a great location & close to the language school!

We praise God for those who are helping us out in Guadalajara! We have a wonderful support team here as well as back at home!

Giving

if you would like to partner with us financially - 

EMAIL: giving@teamcanada.org 

                                                      ONLINE: www.teamcanada.org

CALL TEAM Canada: 1-800-295-4160

OUR COUNTRY CODE IS 2400 AND PERSONAL ACCOUNT #110689.  

THANK-YOU FOR CONSIDERING THIS IMPORTANT ROLE.

Stay Connected

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Language Learning Experiences

Friday - A conference on palliative care is being held at the church we are attending. I attended this evening with as much a desire for exposure to Spanish as for a desire to learn about the topic. It was an ideal evening for this, as they had English speakers for part with a Spanish translator, and a USA Spanish speaker who was somewhat slower and clear. I was happy with how much I was able to understand from the translator as well as the speaker who spoke Spanish and didn’t need translation. I found out when visiting with this man that my understanding wasn’t as good as I had thought. Later I asked him a question, believing he had said he had been in Mexico for 20 some years. He informed me he had only been in Mexico a week, but had visited almost 14 years ago. I am not sure what I got mixed up. :)

A group from the USA was presenting. They used powerpoint to show the steps to salvation and challenged the congregation to consider death. It is difficult to help someone else going through the end of their life if we have not considered our own death. I need to reflect on this as well. I want to live in a way that everyday is lived for eternity. 

Saturday - Today, I spent almost 30 minutes butchering the Spanish language as I ventured into the park with our children to practice and do some homework. One assignment has us asking locals what common practices are in this culture. How do parents discipline their children, what is a wedding like and how are birthdays celebrated were the 3 questions. That went alright, though I was a bit uncomfortable with the first. Discipline can be a touchy subject, and the man didn’t give much detail on the answer. 

I then decided to try and help Keyana out with making friends. She started playing with a girl, and kept coming to me for things to say in Spanish. She then asked if we could invite the girl over to play. I introduced myself to the mother and grandmother. I didn’t beat around the bush, but told her that our daughter has been struggling with making friends and wanted to get together with Melanie. I found out soon that they lived 10 minutes away, and attend the church we attend. The lady was very patient with my Spanish, as I even was fumbling through the dictionary for several words. Overall it was fine, invited the family over for lunch after church, and got their phone number. Keyana was very excited. 

Now we are hoping that Josiah can also have this kind of experience! He is more bold to go to others and ask their name to try and break the ice than he was, and the people seem to love his dark skin. I have received many comments about how guapo (handsome) he is as well as requests to touch his hair. Keyana also has been called muñeca (doll) by more than one lady. Her blond hair stands out and seems popular!

Another experience practicing Spanish was in a skate park where a man offered a boys bike for Josiah and Keyana to use. Josiah did, very timidly as the park had bigger slopes than he was used to. I talked to the man and found out he was a police officer spending time with a boy that needed a positive father figure. He liked Josiah’s hair and skin too, and asked to touch his hair.


We have been blessed with very positive reactions to us foreigners. We pray that we will be able to use the interest and kindness to be a light, but need to learn much more language to be able to share the Good News. We are working hard and praying for the growth of this skill. Join us! We appreciate it!

~Anthony

What a memory our 10 day drive has created. Anthony, Josiah, and Dad drove the Toyota down the west side of North America, over 6700 km! From the wonderful vistas of snow capped mountains in Alberta to the reds of the Bajas, the I-5 highway straight aways to the dangerous curves of the Baja with missing gaps knocked out of the guardrails everywhere, we enjoyed a long but blessed journey. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the complete trip! Thanks for your prayers.

We were able to stop and visit family and friends on the way. This was a great way to take a break from the driving, as well as to find a great place to sleep and visit. Thanks to them for opening their homes to us! :)

A high-light was catching up with my brother Mike, Tammy, Gabriella and Jessica, who live on Vancouver Island. We were able to have lunch and then went bowling for an afternoon of fun.

When we crossed the border in the US, we expected an interrogation, especially since Josiah was with me and Karlene wasn’t. All the guard wanted was our passports and asked a few simple questions. The Mexico border was similar, except they were only interested in what was in the vehicle. The lady wanted to open the back of the vehicle, I grimaced and told her she could but I hoped a whole bunch of things didn’t fall out. She then asked if she could look in the side door instead. I said sure, so she poked around for a bit. She asked what was on the roof, which Josiah thought was funny. It was a hockey net boxed up. He thought everyone should know what hockey is:) 

She waved us through, and I thought that we would find a border post wanting our passports and issue visas. But we got going and soon were in Tijuana, Mexico. 

I was sure we needed visas, so we pulled over to ask at a convenience store. The guard who helped told me we didn’t need visas for the Baja. Dad remembered driving 12 km before getting visas at another border crossing, so we went on. After an hour of driving, we stopped to call a team missionary, Martin Gonzalez, who advised us that we needed our visas from the border, so we turned around. 

We were almost there when we got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident. It was dark. We were wondering where we would find the office.The GPS didn't help. At an intersection I talked to a police officer about our predicament, and found that if we stayed on route, we would be in the USA in 5 minutes. He drew a map for us. We got to a certain point, but had to ask another police officer for directions. He was kind enough to provide an escort to the office, which if he hadn’t, I don’t think we could have found, and doubt the lady in the office would have helped us. At this time it was almost 8:30 PM, so we needed to find a hotel, as we didn't want to drive after dark. The GPS didn’t find a hotel nearby, so we decided to head for Ensanada, a 1 hr drive away. Tijuana didn’t feel the safest place to stay anyways. We had a safe journey and were certain people were praying for us, for we would not have received our visas if it hadn’t been for God placing us there at the time of the accident. 

A place we stopped for a night had an angel watching over us once again. I left my backpack outside the vehicle while grabbing suitcases, and forgot all about it. 3 hours later when we returned from supper and exploring a little, a man had my bag (with important documents in it!!) They knew it was ours. God bless them!

When we arrived in La Paz, we were able to find our Missions area leader without the GPS! We had a blessed time meeting TEAM missionaries that evening and getting acquainted. We are excited to work with them soon!

A ferry trip of 6 hours was filled with practicing Spanish with a boy that seemed to find Josiah interesting. I can see why our children can be so helpful in connecting with others when we are in missions.

An 8 hour drive to Guadalajara the next day found us in the biggest city I could imagine. The different ways the streets are designed were mind boggling, circle drives unlike I have ever seen. We managed to get through the rush hour traffic and the GPS was definitely helpful this time. We rejoiced in being reunited with Karlene, Keyana and Mom, who had there own adventures in getting there. They had arrived one day earlier.  Again, thanks for praying us through our journey!