f ^

THE BOWLIN' ALLEYNewsletter ol the Gerald D. Bowlin Family

-V/estem Mexico Christian Mission-

Ninter-Spring Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

S5&S

f New Year's tradition is to eat taniales with yourtamales'and thp T9 ed (and love ) the traditions of our adopted country; Eating. and the 12 grapes (representing the months of the old year) as the Wew Ypav.

rd- = ..-SS-S5 21 S'L=J2iFeb! 28 The ""^/s^siving the doll gives a party for the same g^oup oT^ S'teSaSffriendsTtraStionf Elsa g^e^hrf Vene;'Tn^"'' birthday- again Mexicanolder") made the fake sS grande" they call me-Veva thebicycle L= >! S. '

[2]

Hermosillo in a Irick yard, and could only go home to the village on v;eekends, sothey were happy to have a place to live in "tovm." And we are happy to have sucha lovely Christian couple living here to care for things when vje are away.

On July 16 we left for a working vacation, and to see our son, Dob, and family,Ue v7ondered all along the way if we vjere really suppose to have made the trip, Wehad trouble vri.th our old 1964 Ford Station v/agon everywhere we stopped. But theLord had someone waiting to do the repairs at every place people v/ho onlycharged for the partsI How v/e do thank Him for caring for our every need,

V/e were excited to be visiting vdth our son, Bob, vafe Berta, and grandaughters,Shannon, 6, and Colleen, 3, for the first time in several years. Now they tell usthere is another (boy?l?) on the way, scheduled to arrive in May, V/e also visitedwith our long time friends and supporters of the Mission at the Payette, IdahoChristian^church. Bob, 29, was a baby the first time we visited Payette, and now

Payette- a small world indeed, (VJe weredelighted to have Lowell and Emma Goffey of Payette visit us in the Fall, and havethem bring Lowell's brother, Norman, and vdfe, Pauline, from SunCity, Ariz. Comeagam, Coffeys,), '

V/e were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit vdth Bob and Marion Gibson,Kathy s in-laws, who took us around to see the sights around E3.mira, Oregon, andsome of the^Oregon Coast, and to ^/isit the church v.ioich suopcrts Dale and Kathy^ Elirope V7ith T.C.M, VJe also visited Norkenzie Cliristlan Church, another living-link, and made plans vath their Mission Committee to be carried out over the nextlew years.

On our way South v/e visited a nurse I worked v/ith before Gerry and I married- -her late husband v/as one of the ushers at our wedding- ~ July 20, 1945, Also acouple "kissin" cousins of Gerry's, my mother, sister and aunt, as v/ell as 4 auntsof Gerry's,

To^retrogress just a bit; on our trip North we visited with a high school friendri Oklahoma. It v;as fun to remii'iisce of the "good old days" (before 1940,that IS), and catch each other up on the news from "back home," The girls, Becky^d Veva, fell in love ivith Mavis and wanted to come hcme via her place. Maybe nexttrip North?

vie ^rived home to the heat, tho only 110-112^ F., not as bad as some Autusts wehave had in the past 20 years. Arrived Just in time to do the last minute finalschool repstrations. Prom the day we got home the new H.S. Veva attends sent mestencils to run for the entrance exams, and for the very next dayj Fortunately,for me, the Gestetner mechanic, sales-man, bill collector, etc., etc, who also hasT i ^ see a "bill collector!""Bien4n?^n" the paper and the key to the printing room and said,Bienvenido (VJelcome),"Here's your jobi"

School- -well, guess you couldn't call it that- -anyxvay, we hada Bible School the second week in October, in the evenings. My material didn'tcome for ^regular time, the first week in July, so we had to put it off untilwe returned from our speaking trip. It worked out so well in Oct. that I think I'll

+ i It was cool, calm and interesting to all, (VJho said it hadto be a Vacation" Bible School anja/ay????),He orgmized a rhythm band, v/hich was something else again? Had more IS" pairs

of broomsticks than anything else, some seedpods about the same length from therattles, aluminum foil chicken pie plates (2) with bea:is in them,

and other regular aluminum pie plates v/ith bells attached for tambourines. Guesswe should have had a drum, in _Wie hands of ^ adult to set the beat as 8? kids

l3-ttle hard to control, especially when they "played" "Onward Christian

[3]

School bi].i 1f^iTigg-^were--TxtlCixxially-^^ with allthe Pomp and Ceremonjr-auch an-occasion merits, plus a noon meal for the dimitarieswho came from Mexico City to say a few fancy words and pull the curtain to revealthe n^e of the school (I made the curtain and Gerry ,installed the hardv/arel). VJe.

f-T.A, served them a cold plate of l/l a club sandwich, 2 canapesJ- ^ bread in each), l/2 a boiled egg with French dressing on'it, a hot fishstick, a 2"x2"_square of pineapple-carrot jello salad, and a mound of chicken salad

in the center of the plate. It was attractive and apparently deUcious; becauseevery bite on every plate was eatenj Our school principal said it was the only mealserved on time, vdth dispach and worth eating in all the eight or so High Schools

^ Northern Sonora that same week! The principals,and vice-principals ofall Federal High schools in the State were invited to attend.ALL the dedications!

Ue were justifiably proud.

c November Gerry took part in the Faith Promise Rally at theScottsdale, ARizona Christian Church and also spoke at the Glendale, Ariz. Church.He is keeping the Golonia Olivares (l/estside) church under control until we- canobtain a national minister, and of course he has the all important job of counselingwhen, and wher^needed. He have remarked that Jesus Amaya, the minister at the LaMesavillage, IS getting a Post-graduate course in practical ministeries and Bible, as when he is here, sometimes for a couple weeks at a time doing masonary work for us,he ^d Gerry sit up till all hours of the night,, or. morning, discussing the problems

and the Bible. Gerry^s health is improving, but he still has the effects01 colitis, and irritable colon that he has after his various bouts v^ith tropicalMexican amoebic dysentery, a very strong strain.

Among the higmghts of November in Sonora was our oldest daughter, Kathy and herhusband. Dale Gibson, being here from the 15th until the 23rd. Two years is a longnnSf mu "kids," and we hadn*t .seen them since their wedding, Den.' 2?,scheduled to fly back to Austria on their wedding'anniversary.

While Kathy and Dale were here we had Becky^s 15th-birthday "fiesta." She wanteda special chinch -service, and since Veva did not have one, Becky invited her to sharewith her. The girls were just beautiful in their long white dresses, trimmed in-blue and v;hite stripes,^as .they-marched dom the aisle of the church sanctuary.Nine year old Linda Acuna.,- Ofelia*s daughter, and ten year .old Jose Moreno, Rosalva's

childhood, presented the girls to .Kathy and Dale, representingadulthood, v/ho v/ere waiting for them in front of the platform. .Then Jesus Amaya ofLaMesa-asked,the_girls to reaffirm their faith in the Lord.Jesus Christ; to promiseto live a Christian life; to choose a Christian young man: to marry; and shoiad theybe blessed with children, to ,raise them in- the' fear and-admonition of the Lord. Itv;as a very impressive service, as many commented. Afterwards we served cake andp^ch in the annex to about I50 persons. This was on a Saturday ni^t, and of the150 or so.present at-this service, possibly 100 of them had seldom if ever been in^ Evangelical church building! Nearly all of our neighbors attended, and expressedtheir pleasure^in the^ ser-vice. Even'the photographer, also a neighbor, said it hadmuch more meaning to it than the Catholic 15th birthday Mass. Gerry was especially'proud as- he .designed and vjrote the. service, there b^ing none 'previously,.

Then on Sunday afternoon vje had:an informal reception, an "open house" for Kathy.friends and ours to -visit and get acquainted or reacquainted,

as their -time here, and in the States, v/as so limited'she couldn't go "visit every- one in their homes. We enjoyed' seeing many of her "and our friends, both fromschool, the hospital vzhere she v7orked, the old and new neighborhoods vjhere we havelived, and the chiirch folks. On Monday we ivent to Kino Bay on the $ulf, about 70miles away, and on Tuesday at the International Airport we said "Hasta la -vista"(Until V7e see you again) and "Dies les bendiga" (God bless, you) as they left forPhoenix, California,, and then Oregon for Christmas, and then'back to their post in '

[4]

.Vienna, Austria, VJe are happy for them for they are happy in the Lord's work andwe th^ God d^ly for the fine Christian husband He prepared for Kathy, and pray

tL husbands the Lord has for them.caused it^^s Ihltl ? problems in Mexico: Devaluation of the peso hascaused It s share of concern, as well as the land distribution among the landlessleam fr both Sonora and other States in Mexico. But from what we canmucrmorrdisturbtarto' ^.P^bl^ity in the U.S. news media has been

? occasionaly murder of /American tourists in Mexico, but thev arewho^i^t r compared with the hundreds of thousands of toListspletelv safr^onth6\i^h ' tourists (even American ones) always com-L tS strfetrofthe^fn^^ campgrounds of the U.S.???? (Not to mentionbeen ann^it 3 advice is the same as it has alwaysDeen, and pretty well coincides vdth that of the Mexican Tourism nen+ . Riiirs; sns'nS."" 'fvr "Sirjsrsi/ss: and donA ?ravefafniPhfrThfT sloi^moving vehicles on the highways,on the hiBh= + naght. (The later more to avoid accidents due to trucks parkedon the highways at night lathout lights than for fear of robberv ) The DeSt nfTourism plans to have 30 to 35 more service trucks ("GreL /ngSs") like US /utoin 197r' YL thThT f trolling the highways in'our are^ Ilonewater iiri V. ^ resturants for good food and purifiedwater, and please remember you are a guest in another country - -you're not buvin?

dollars I (The './ally Byam one-hundred-el event.h Airs?re^avan to Mexico is scheduled to come through our city early in 1977.)The Mexican church in general has gone forward this year. The LaHesa'villarebuilding now has a cement floor, steel-frame windows wLrglasftfrepLIe ihf

'sL S the^SsneV^ baptistry is finished and has been used. Our faithfulon in the Gospel , Jesus amaya ministers there and is working hard to supporthis family and do the Lord's work too. Jesus had his 29th birthday the 6th of Dec

ZrTse tL: S^d^nSht tofor a minister - Jesus has

+'>v letter to all the ministers and missionaries in Mexico, The care-""r s^out Ahours av/ay, tho some money is still neededreimburse him for the construction of the parsonare,

in^^S attendance averag-^g 25. The elders continue to do the preaching with occasional assistance fromThplmN "ill shake them up a bit this next year.The Villa de Seps (Southside) congregation is building - - slowly getting the

llrTLt lZZ ministerrwL^Suefto his wrought iron, steel fabrication business, reports that

S that from 40 to 60 and the reason the building is going so slowly^conpA^l continuing building program inLTfrririTthrrr." r -tive'cLgr^gation

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TZO^S^OZTJV'xTO9oqd:eAViiq.5'OH0VS6

^^q-UsSyStrrpjreMjo^I9SOOJ9>iOTS^UUOQ

:oisSuxasjjoIIVpuos+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

i3ioaaamvasa^snaLHonvaqnv'HmoaYAaMOqhvinaao

nOiCssaiqpoo'saaqsTspxresaaqqcaqltbotxshqaaiupu3snassoq.amooqonuiAj.qaos*aAoxSirpvasspHptrepsxaqo

spaaupaqq.Xipunooa-(aSappjcaqsnoTSpxajapaqq.)uopIoqpi^Ouuaqpaaqq.oaqopssajoad^yXpuopua^sopxoqpaooqo%pajappsuoouaAaajreuopxXT^$9oqpJO-^X^oajiaqM^tipunooaupauaqaouanpjupj:paqppuasuappspuqooreoqMasoqp

aojA'Qddf(uaopjauiY)uSpaaojpua(uaopxan)pauoppauqpoq'oopxanupajaqsjaqjcoHXI^iaSpnppaaj3aqppaamoppajadajdunluaqpqopaoqpaapaAaqpoupua

pspjcqojCoqopxrepdaooaXIT^suaqpopaqp*soA9JpaqpSuppuppqspppJOMaqpJOpoooqp^oj'sassapox^^opssajojtd",juaaxpppiujaddnaqpSuouiassauppA

XauosaadjnojCxi^poadsaoopxoHa^caq/jcpspuptujnopua.snjtoji^audopanuppuoo(aSapsuPOO^spaaaqpaiuopaAOjd,,aqpupxipqssawauppOH

jq)pspoqo3upjCaqopnoqauopspoapaup:^au]jjopnd.'uaAoppjoj-iaqpiCuauia>ipx'paqopirpxao"iQ"^sqp;40u>iopXITI-Siappaspnq'sapxp^jsqpJOjpaspua*snjojpasog

aapaxurcqupoCsdaqjadiCauipua^pa^Copopdpqsujapupspqsaq'opaaquinH^aaqpoaqspH"XSppdsoqpuaopuxpoiiaoisaqpqppiaoapds>iaqpajsxqupuo^jcaoopsuapdpuadxqs

-uuapupspqpaqsxupjpsnCpaq^opsaaigpauiauospa*uospsappos,opuppao*z*oaasppppadaqsnoxpoajupjopapppaq'saapjospppauxpsapup-oupsaSsnopuaAspquoj/ljuao

papaaupoqMpua'pappdsoqapaspAjadnsj^qpa;gluoqAuoj'suppoHjq'pposuaa^COaiCpuosanaq*92^oquiaoaquoqoappapuaaqajopapp^aaujjCvqjunspuappa3up

-paaup*xxawsajopoopuoxsspHaqppnq^uopoopiCppiirejuppwogaqpuaaqsaqjCpuopouoqM'opuppaoamxpsauipspuq^)pa^jopoopaospa^puapujuaqpouapxreuopoog

j^Xpuiagunopsopa/irjCppauosaadsnuojapoupasAj.qaauopapua9^,61sqjaxtiaaqpsaAOuduoxpdaoxaaqpssanS-aaujiCpnp

njqpaiuaoa3a>ioadauopnqppyn'ouoaanpaA-apasagJOjpoq-PJPO-psssuapuaOu-aSaqoadaqp>iuampuaaopjjQpsogaqppa9/^62'oqluaogsuiopsnoaojqsaaaujjCpnpauaiCaqj'spaasasnppppsuaoaq'Supudspuauapuxwspqpuappaqaq

opsosxuiojdpua'sapqapaSaAupjjoj^adop3upuux3aqsppoaCoudpaasuapua3aqpulpno-Suaq,,appjOAajspp^tpooqosq3pqpooquoqqSpauaqpspspqp

^^aurtpaqpppaapdoadSunoiCqppf-iaAppaspasnoqaqpjCuaupuooaqpuouoj'paaps-auiOHuppMogppoaqppunoaapaaps,pxpaqpaappaqppaSpjuoppng'pppndiCaqpsa

tiXaojsnpsnC,,josaAppupaqpupauixppeaxjaqpuojsaApasiuaqpopmowpag3uxAaqSupjCoCuaaua'(qpaqazppg)iC^toagpua(aAauao)aAaA*suapq3napunQ

pasjaApunluaasqpno^Cj?unpuaoqposJOmapqojcdaqp,'auppdposppamoquaxpspuqounouapunaqpoupua3upqpm-\ospqopoppapuan

aqpappoappsnCaq*si!oquaoxxawJOji^ppapoadsasmaasppa3auxapJaounuaqons*ApspaqpaqpMoupua*puamuupOAuaMauaoppsnCpaopppojaa^C2I^oppuaq

S|Pi'paxpaaqpomspquapjampqaojpauaooqMpunaspqopqoaqooppapuaMaqpap-xoap*pdopaoppapjppaqommoqw*oqouag(opuppaSopmapqoudaqpspg'H.:tsaic

psupg)'jaavCpsapuaqupspaqssasmapqoidouqpx^Asxooqosaajsueupopapqasawaqg'Lppaquaqpapaaupua(puaaq)ppaMxi^q'spouspaaqpaspauoq/AuaqpourpuauS

uaH'xaaXspqpauouog*sapa3oHup-g'Hupsp^suaaiCaaoqp.uojpaqa/AmoqM*auaxsH

[5]