My favorite part of the visit was the museum at Bethel. It covers the history of the work in Mexico and has many displays and photos. We learned that up until 1989 there were some restrictions on our brothers and sisters here. While they were able to work and preach, there was no legal recognition of Jehovah's Witnesses as an organization so they operated as a civic and educational society. Among other things this meant that the Bible could not be used in the ministry, nor could songs and prayers be offered at the meetings. When I asked a sister how she felt after the restrictions were lifted she was almost speechless. Her eyes widened and watered up a bit as she recalled what a joy it was to sing in the Kingdom Hall. I can only imagine the joy of the friends to experience a complete freedom to worship.
We also got to do a little site seeing, visiting Mexico City and the archaeological site at Teotihuacan. I probably won't be going to Egypt anytime soon so seeing the pyramids there was the next best thing. If you ever get the chance to come to Mexico definitely go see them.
Lastly, but not least, we got to meet an incredible family while we were there as well. We were hosted by the Ramirez and Gonzalez families who are lifelong friends of a pioneer sister in our congregation. The family has a long history in the truth, as Brother Ramirez' great-great grandfather was first contacted in 1938. At present there are over 200 members of the family in the truth and 28 of them serve in some form of full time service. These warm and hospitable friends made us feel like part of the family and we will cherish the memories of the time spent with them.
Below are some pictures from our trip:
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| some of the indigenous languages here in Mexico |
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| The Palacio De Belles Artes, it was in last year's calendar ( I think?) |
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| we walked up and up and up... |
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| " You mean they didn't have wifi back then? " |
Yay! A new post! As I got to the end of the post with the picture of your daughter, I couldn't help but think: "How cool? To have your parents say 'let's live more simple lives and leave and go serve in a different country.'" Amazing. So proud of you three, and happy for you also. You are truly living the best life one could live in this system. Please keep us updated!
ReplyDeleteThank you again for sharing your wonderful, encouraging experiences brother Jonathan!
Agapé,
Tiera C. (Richmond, VA)
Hello Tiera, you're right it's been a while since I've posted; been traveling and such but we are back in Mexico now so more posts will follow.
DeleteThanks for the kind comments. One of the joys of a Need-Greater life is that we are able to share the experience as a family. To be honest Danielle is a big part of our being here, without her support this wouldn't be possible. We hope that these experiences lay a foundation for her to build upon in the future.
I will have more posts and photos from our trip up later this week :-)
Wow, we used to live so close to Mexico and even have family living there but I never knew about the restrictions they had to deal with. How wonderful it is that they now have more freedom!
ReplyDeleteThis was new to me as well but it's nice to know that the friends here endured under those circumstances.
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