For the love of Bi-Cultural Marriages

Although marriages to another ethnicity are becoming quite the popular thing nowadays, in some circumstances it's not easy peasy. Being always honest and frank, I would love to share with you a little about the ins and outs of this whole sha-bang and the things you may not know.

Since coming to Mexico in 2007, there is always a requirement to have a visa in this country. Crusade helped me stay legal before. I had to get a birth certificate apostilled. (Can't explain it fully but it's like a super notary) Then arriving in Mexico, I had that paperwork translated with my immigration lawyer and then we proceeded with the documentation. The cost is huge...mostly because I use a lawyer so I don't mess up. It costs about $500 a year. When we got married, we had to translate my birth certificate again...appartantly the office needed an "approved translator" for that one. We had to do a bunch more paperwork, pay about $300 and we were set. My visa had to be switched over so that I would be a dependent on Gabo. We had to prove his income (almost impossible with him being a freelance musician), submit his birth certificate, official ID card, etc and pay $600.

This does not include the massive process of getting Gabo his resident visa in the states.

The bottom line is this. We love each other...a lot. Marriage has it's ups and downs. Bi-cultural marriage throws a whole different learning curve in the mix. Adding a little bit of stress as you wait for immigration offices to decide if you are legal plus thousands of dollars.

Our hope and prayer is that we both can naturalize in the opposite country in the next 2 years. Meaning both taking civics tests, Gabo mastering English and finding witnesses of Gabo's life here to prove he is a Mexican. We don't know what the Lord has for us. We always want to be above reproach in our paperwork and the way we handle these things.

We also are constantly confronted with immigration related topics in the US. Neither one of us are experts in that...we live in Mexico. We look for ways to constantly honor God with our responses and encourage others to do the same. We are learning a lot.

Hope you can learn something from us as well. Let me know if you have any questions.

Valentines Day Event

Often, I find myself not sharing all the cool things that happen in ministry in my prayer letter because I run out of room. One of the things that lately I have been trying is hosting women's events. I want to help give the girls an opportunity to invite their friends that may not believe in Jesus yet or friends that are just not connected to the body of Christ.

So we did an event on Love. One of my friends, Mariana, took the pics. They turned out great. I wanted to share them with you. 

The most important part...the desserts!

The spread of appetizers.

The little fondue pot.

Some of the girls.

I like these activities because it feels like girls are coming and bringing their friends. 

I think one of the hardest things in ministry is evaluating if what I am doing is successful. The most important thing is lives changed. And slowly God is doing that. I want to provide a place for that to happen. 

That is what I hope.

One month in Mexico

We arrived back in Mexico on January 13, 2012. It's been a crazy ride since. One of them being that our brand new Lenovo had some problems...namely the mother board crashed. Now, I think I will be accepting that I am one of those people that will have perpetual computer problems. My friend Ada always has a problem with her cell phone and Angie with Visa paperwork. This is my cross to bear.

Regardless, there are numerous hard things going on in my life. Pray for my heart and that I will stick myself close to Jesus.

More to come shortly.

Emily