Contra Dancing

I have had this idea strewing around in my head and my heart for about a week now and I wanted to share it with you guys.  It's the idea of contra dancing.

Let me begin by saying that I don't know the first thing about contra dancing.  So, naturally, what do I do when I don't know anything but want to know a lot?  Google it, of course.  So before I get into my idea, here's a general definition of the term:

"Contra dancing is social interaction, meeting people, and making new friends, set to music.
The rest is just details." (taken from http://www.sbcds.org/contradance).

After a little more research on the term I found that the only real way to understand contra dancing is to take part in it.  And apparently the main objective is just to have fun, rather than make the right steps or moves.  It's a place that welcomes beginners and fosters friendly encouragement, where people are more than happy to help you learn the basic steps.

Now I'm not quite sold on the whole 'looking like an idiot to music' thing, but I started to really think about the idea of contra dancing and I decided I wanted my life to look a whole lot like this dance.  Probably completely uncoordinated, but having a blast while doing it.  It looks like chaos from the outside, but completely inviting to a stranger.  It's all about the community.

And then I ran across a blog talking about how church should be like contra dancing, and it really struck me as true.  Church, I believe, is the Christian body of believers- not some building or just a Sunday ritual.  The body of Christ was intended to be a giant contra dance.  Here's my drift:

I want church, like the dance, to be populated by friendly, welcoming faces who are less worried about getting it right than they are about sincerely showing up and caring for one another.  People who are in joyful communion with each other in a place where each person has a specific purpose- either to teach, play music, or instruct, and all are an integral part of the entire body's success or failure.  I want to be in a community of believers who aren't afraid of looking like fools when they try something for the first time and where I feel welcomed and un-judged when I start to take part and may look like a fool to outsiders.

Here's my point: I want my life and my community to be a big dance.  Not some ballet with stringent rules and the constant strive for perfection, but contra- where I make the moves as I go- so long as I am intently listening to the one who instructs me: Christ.


Here are the words I borrowed from the previously mentioned blog by Pamela Dolan and I couldn't have stated my point any better:


"Because what I do know is this: when Jesus talks about the church as one flock with one shepherd, he is talking about community. He is telling us that church is not supposed to be a country club, where we only get together with like-minded people who share our values and our aesthetics.

Church is, or is striving to be, a community. It is a contra dance: it can look a little messy from the outside, maybe even be a little intimidating. But once you join in the dance, you’re in. Your part is necessary. People are depending on you. Whether you do things with great skill and grace, or whether you do them by clomping about and clapping eagerly and making a whole buncha noise, your gifts are welcome and irreplaceable.

People in a contra dance can create something of beauty and transcendence not because of their individual talents but because they have all chosen to listen to the same caller, the one who tells them what steps to do next. Our caller is the Good Shepherd, Jesus himself. He is the one whose voice leads us and guides us. He is the one who will not abandon us or lead us down the wrong path. He will guide us to green pastures and living waters. And I'm pretty sure he won't mind if we dance along the way."

So this week I might be that idiot dancing down the streets of Mexico, but rest assured it will be my own contra dance, and I'll be having a blast.

The past couple weeks

So, as I'm sure you all know, no mission work is possible without a little fun.  Naturally, because my team is full of 20-something year old kids, we decided to go to the zoo last week to celebrate an off day.  Now to be quiet honest, I did not know what to expect from a Mexican zoo but we quickly learned that you could feed the lions so we sprinted there as fast as our legs could run.

Just a little team photo with a giant lizard.  Pretty normal for the Mexican zoo apparently.

For those of you that don't know this face, it's one of sheer terror.  I have a phobia of snakes that I'm pretty sure originated when I was little and my grandmother put rubber ones in the drawer under the towels we used to dry dishes.  I would always find it, scream bloody murder and run out the door.  To the sound of her laughing hysterically.

So this was for you, Mamaw.

We topped off the weekend with a little softball with some Mexican friends.

This is JT and he's my little buddy.  He always saves me a seat by him and I HAVE to sit there in between innings.  He's a sweetheart, which isn't surprising since he has one of the greatest families in the world.  His parents are John and Natalie McLaughlin, AIA Staff and directors in Mexico and have been a huge part of my life here in Mexico.  They are my family down here and have three precious kids.  I don't think we would all make it down here had they not been a constant support for us.  They are moving back to the States in July and are going to be missed.  One of the greatest blessings I have had throughout this year has been this family, and my team and I thank God for them every single day.  

Last week the Mexico AIA team welcomed the BuxMont Torch Soccer Team from BuxMont, Philadelphia for a week long mission trip.  23 guys and girls gave up a week of their summer in order to come and pour into our ministry via a soccer tournament with three area colleges.  Some of the things I witnessed were absolutely from God and such an amazing blessing.  After it was all said and done, tons of doors were opened for AIA staff here in Mexico on these campuses, many spiritual conversations were had, and five college athletes gave their lives to Christ.  That's crazy when you consider that the team only spent 7 days down here!!!  We got to really get to know these kids and I have to say, they are some really special people.  What I learned from them I will forever be grateful for.  Here's some pictures to best describe the past few weeks...

The women's team on the UDLAP campus before our game.  We have been working extensively with this University and because of the team coming down as well as the tournament we were able to sponsor, huge doors with administration as well as individual players opened up.

The fields and weather were perfect.  

Popo even held off from dumping ash on us.

The girls were precious!  Unfortunately, the were short three players so... 

They had to pick up me to play with them.  Guys, there's a reason I didn't play soccer... and it's because I'm terrible at it.  

But I had fun.  Kind of.  You know that kid that always gets picked last in gym class but you feel sorry for them and pick them.  That was me this week.  Definitely learned some lessons in humility.

This was the guys team.  There were some amazing testimonies given and I came to love each of them.   It was really cool to see how God had worked and was continuing to work in their lives.  The Mexican players they were competing against could also tell that they were different than other teams- that they really played soccer to glorify Christ, and not just to win games.

The team had a cool opportunity to go out into a high poverty neighborhood in Puebla and run a kid's soccer clinic for two days.  There were over 70 kids that showed up! It was really sweet to see the kids running around and playing soccer, learning skills but also just being loved on.  Our team recently studied the principle of being the hands and feet of Jesus- connecting compassionate works with a passionate proclamation of the Gospel.  I have seen that anytime a believer engages in good deeds in the name of Christ, the goal is always that people would see something of the glory of God and be stirred within to praise Him.  Our goal was that one person might look at the way we were serving the community and loving on kids and undeniably know that we were doing it because Jesus did it first.  I think God sent a powerful message to the city when he coordinated this clinic.  It was probably one of my favorite moments of the tour.

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On Sunday after church we took the team to see downtown Puebla.  They have some of the most gorgeous buildings.

Jessi and I about to throw down some food.

And a night of worship at Casa Verde capped off a perfect day.

Yost talking to some UDLAP soccer players who came to hang out with the team.

Early mornings were the norm, hence the coffee in hand.

This is the Casa Verde ministry we partnered with.  They were great and housed our teams.  This was where all our meetings were held and was a perfect location, right across the street from campus.

They also have a sweet wall-ball playing surface that we put into use pretty frequently.  We were known to have gotten a couple of games in before 7am when the teams had to be up.

Some of the girls from the States and from Mexico.

I have the best team in the world.  Abbey (far left) put together this whole tour and I am so proud of the way it turned out.  Marnie (center) is one of my best friends and a constant source of encouragement and refuge for me.  Shout out to Yost, Joe, John, Natalie, Luis, Mandi and Jessi for all the extreme hard work and generally being there for me to rely on at all hours of the day.

JT and I hanging out during lunch.

Just being an idiot.

This is Lucia,  JT's sister and another best friend of mine.

Natalie giving me some wisdom about life during lunch break.  I really love this girl (or gal as she says).  She is so strong in her faith and her servant heart but also one of the most compassionate people I've ever met.  Plus, she let me live with her family for about three weeks.  Thanks, Natalie for everything you have done.  It never goes unnoticed.  

Lucia, JT and I sitting on the fence watching a game.

Sweet girl.

After the tour left we decided to celebrate Memorial Day in the most American way possible, so we went and ate Texas barbecue and proceeded to go to a professional Mexican wrestling match.  Both were equally amazing.

The group with our serious faces on, waiting in line to get into wrestling.

We were really redneck with our seventh row seats.

And this is Jon Jon, my big brother.  This picture has nothing really at all to do with Mexico, but I just wanted to give him a shout out too.  He is a big hero of mine and I miss him a good bit.  I'm also super, super proud of him because I just think he's a cool guy.

So that's been my last two weeks.  Kind of hectic, but perfect in a lot of senses.  God is definitely at work in Puebla and I just want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers for this mission.  I pray for you everyday.

Love,
Katie

Back in Mexico

I finally made it back to Puebla.  The volcano here has been pretty active for the past week and making it impossible to fly into Puebla so I was delayed a little while.  It's actually pretty gorgeous to look at, crazy as it sounds.  He has since calmed down.

Marnie and Erica came to pick me up at the airport in Mexico City.  I love these girls.

Yesterday we decided to go rock climbing.  It was a blast but I'm pretty sure my forearms will never return to normalcy.  It was definitely something I didn't imagine doing.  How many people can say they've been rock climbing in Mexico?

My team- Yost, me, Marnie, and our summer intern, Mandi.  Mandi just got down here this week also.

Meet Joe.  He's great- he's interning this summer also with AIA baseball.

Yost getting ready for the climb.

I'm attempting to convince myself that I am, in fact, not scared of heights.

Taking a break with Yost.

I'm so ready to get back on the ground.

Joe was pretty exhausted trying to keep up with the girls.

 So in an early post I mentioned Julio.  He's a good friend of some staff here and was recently in prison, wrongly convicted.  He was released in January- which is super rare.  The judge had only given out like two or three innocent verdicts and the fact that Julio was finally released was a huge blessing.  God is doing cool things in Julio's life and his testimony gives me chills.  And minus the Yankees hat, he's actually a pretty cool guy :)

Julio. He's a cutie.

I think Yost was kinda tired.

In my head I was going, "Absolutely not. I'm not climbing that."

And so Marnie went first.

And then I went.

Then I came down.

Reunited and it feels so good. 

On the way home, in true Mexican style, we rode 8 deep in a Jetta.

 To finish off the day, we had... drumroll please... tacos.  Shocker.  This is our favorite spot.  Kind of a hole-in-the-wall.  Literally.