Message from Mexico

Hi everybody,

I'm writing to update you on what's been happening over here, and to tell you about something that happened today that we hope you can pray about, because it's shaken us up a bit.

Everything around here's been going fine, really. We've been carrying on with the same projects as before and they've been steadily improving; we've been getting more and more confident. My feelings now are just an extension of what they were before; now we only have three weeks left.

Now for the story; and first of all, I don't want anyone to start worrying reading this, because we're all absolutely fine, save for a couple of grazes (although only really God knows how). Today we drove up to the top of the hill that Lomas is on to get fertile earth for the gardening project that they're starting in the community centre. I found it remarkable, because there is a point, an easily drawable line, where civilisation just stops, and the rest is just woodland. But we went pretty much without incident to get the earth (besides the inevitable bumps and bruises you get in the back of a truck driving up a path like that - after all, the road's not particularly tended to in such remote parts) and it seemed like we were about to arrive back safely with the earth when, without warning, the brakes stopped working.

Of course, the whole area is one big hill, and there's pretty much nowhere to go but down, so that's where we went. We must have travelled about 100 metres, before we hit a pile of earth a bit less than two metres high, flew through the air, and were only stopped by a metal fence. The driver of the car said we were going at about 70 kilometres an hour when we hit the pile of earth.

Given all this, I'm pretty sure that God was watching over us to keep us safe. The fact that we've all survived, with barely a scratch, leaves me speechless, especially when you consider all the bad things that could have happened. For instance;

1. The fact that on the corner of the road there was a pile of earth really helped to slow us down. If that wasn't there we would have kept going and kept gaining speed until we hit something harder.
2. The fact that wht we eventually hit was a wire metal fence helped to slow us down more gradually than, say, if we'd hit the walls of the houses behind it.
3. If we'd carried on down the road, immediately after the crash site there was a sharp turn. We would very likely have turned over.
4. The fact that the back of the truck was full of earth gave a soft landing. When I saw that we were going to crash, I threw myself down into a lying position from standing previously. I could easily have hurt myself doing this. Actually lying on a pile of earth post-accident proved to be quite comfortable.

There is more. But I don't want to scare you. We are all quite shaken, but also convinced that God was watching over us the whole time. There were seven of us. The fact that the most any of us got was a graze seems too much of a coincidence to me.

Please pray for us. As I say, we are quite shaken; please pray that we can carry on our job and not let this affect us; that we'd not be too distracted; and that the ridiculously teensy graze I have on my shins (ironically, I haven't the faintest idea what caused it) would heal.

God bless,

Andrew