We are all here in the city of Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacán, for the opening rally. The city is amazingly clean and filled with beautiful old architecture, including large cathedrals and an old, tall stone aqueduct running through the downtown area. The city is bustling with people doing all sorts of activities.
We stayed last night in the Hotel Las Americas. This morning, we went from there to one of the churches in Morelia that is participating, something Divino Baptist, and there we had breakfast. The opening rally was to be held there at 3pm.
Local IMB missionary assured us this area is pretty safe. Said that teens had came recently from the U.S. and stayed out till 2am.
Before lunch, 5 of us, including Paul, Sergio and I, decided to take a walk from the church into the city before the opening rally that was to happen there at 3pm.
We met a guy named Adam at a major plaza. He was from England originally, and we found him as he was sitting on a bench playing guitar and singing in English. After videoing him I gave him a small tip and we started talking to him. He asked where we were all from and what we were doing. He mentioned he is Jewish and stated that people didn't like the Jews, particularly in Europe. I sat down on the bench with him as we were talking. I asked him since he was a Jew if he believed in the Messiah. Turns out he was unsure about anything, and he had a lot to say. Although he seemed disturbed or troubled in some way, and possibly ill, he also seemed very intellectual. He claimed to have read the gospels and he demonstrated knowledge of them. He believed there is truth in the Bible, but said he had found things that he felt didn't add up, like Jesus saying you had to hate your mother and your father. We tried to address his concern, we shared our faith with him. He said he wanted to trust in Jesus but he needed to do some more searching first so that his decision came from the right place, a genuine faith. Sergio led him in a prayer. We are not sure where his heart is now. However he came back and had a meal with us at the church before leaving for a concert he was playing in. While there he conversed with a leading lady at the church about coming to church and also helping this week as a translator. They even exchanged contact info. Turns out he lives very near the church though we met him quite far from it.
Met the pastor of the church that Paul and I are going to work with in the city of Pátzcuaro, about 40 minute drive from Morelia. We went with Pastor Dávid after the rally to Pátzcuaro. This town is amazing. Turns out that it is a tourist location, and it is absolutely filled with rich beauty and culture. Paul and I were very blessed to be sent here. The pastor showed us around the town. Out hotel, his church, and the 3 plazas where all the activity is are all within walking distance downtown. It is like being in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, but with even more culture.
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