Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Visiting Monte Maria in Mexico City

From May 8 to 13 my wife and I went along with our pastor on a trip to the Monte Maria Church in Mexico City, Mexico. Our pastor was teaching in a school of ministry being held during that time period. My wife and I went along to help build relationships there between our two churches, to serve as prayer companions, and as it turned out to help with child care. Below are some photos from our time there.


This photo is from the early worship service held on Sunday mornings. This service is for members only. In order to enter the building, the members have to hand in a computer card. This first service is a teaching and dicipling service. Following this service an outdoor evangelistic and healing service is held. The building for the members only service holds around 3,000 people; the outdoor worship area has benches for many more people.


On the left in this picture of a picture is Pastor Arelio who was the founder of this church. He was a Catholic priest until the Catholic church kicked him out for his evangelistic activities. The person on the right is Pastor Roberto who was chosen to fill Pastor Arelio's spot when he passed on. This particular photo was taken during an outdoor evangelistic meeting in Mexico City. Notice how the hands in the photo form the symbol of the cross.


We were down there over Mother's Day. And in honor of all mothers, the Monte Maria Church gave all mothers free ice cream after the worship service. This was part of the line-up for the ice cream. The women dressed in red and white uniforms served as ushers in the church.


As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I assisted with children's activities. In this photo, we were out on the playground and I was catching the little children as they came down the slide. It was fun!


We made one overnight trip into the mountains three hours northeast of Mexico City. They were holding evangelistic tent meetings there. This photo was taken during a prayer time. During prayer times both the speaker and the attenders pray at the same time.


This is a view in Mexico City near the church's guest house where we stayed while we were down there.


Here are some beautiful flowers from an early morning hike in Mexico City. In a later post I may show some more flowers from down there.


Here is a view of some mountains from when we traveled outside of Mexico City.

You can see more photos from this trip on the web page of Perkiomenville Mennonite Church.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Barnegat Bay Lighthouse and Wild Fowl

The same day that my wife and I visited Island Beach State Park in New Jersey, we also visited Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on Long Beach Island in New Jersey near evening. The first three photos are different views of the lighthouse. And this lighthouse is tall! The next three photos are bird pictures; the two of the white bird are best viewed in the larger size. Sometime we want to go back and spend more time there. But that day it was too windy and cold and we were getting hungry. :)


Across the inlet is Island Beach State Park
where we were earlier in the day.






Saturday, May 03, 2008

Island Beach State Park, Part 2

Sights along the Trail at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey








My wonderful wife :)

Island Beach State Park, NJ, Part 1

Saturday a week ago, my wife and I took a day trip to the New Jersey shore. One of the stops we made was Island Beach State Park located near the town of Seaside Park, New Jersey. Most of the photos below are landscape views of the area. In another post, some of the plant life will be shown closer up. It was a cold windy mostly cloudy day yet good for walking as long as one did not stay on the shore line too long.


Fishermen - Brrr!!!



The shore line and a seagull



Sand dunes



Lunch in the car



A view from the bay side, no. 1



A view from the bay side, no. 2