“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” ~ Billy Joel
Be careful what you wish for—and to whom you mention that wish.
Sometime last year some musicians in our group said “Wouldn’t it be cool to do a Christian music concert in Cozumel?” It was mentioned to Pastor Mariela of the Vida Abudante church and voilà, allí es, there it was. Of course it wasn’t as simple as all that. A lot of work went into making it a reality, but it’s a perfect example of how things work here: someone has an idea, no one has resources, but somehow through cooperation and creative thinking, a solution is found.
Larry, Gary, Jay and Julie of Friends of Cozumel formed a music group they called Amigos de Cristo while Pastor Mariela helped connect them with a local drummer and guitar players. She also recruited other local Christian bands, vocalists, dancers and dramaturgical groups for the concert held the evening of Feb. 4.
About 200 people attended the free contemporary Christian music concert at Parque del la Concha on Feb. 4.
Larry, Gary, Julie and Jay traveled from Iowa and Nebraska to practice together a few times, but they didn’t meet their rhythm section until a practice here in Cozumel just before the concert.
“My Spanish just isn’t very good, but we all understood each other—mas o menos (more or less),” said Gary. “They’re great local musicians, so once we got going, language just didn’t matter.”
The sky was overcast the day of the concert with threatening black clouds in sight just before the time to start. I got a text from a friend in Cancun who reported that it was raining gatos and perros (cats and dogs) just a few miles from where we were. But there was no backup plan in place, so we hoped Pastor Mariela had spoken to her boss about holding off the rain.
The concert was a great success. About 200 people came to the picturesque venue of the neighborhood plaza. Amigos de Cristo got a warm welcome and did a great job with their songs in both English and Spanish. Near the end of the concert, members of the other groups joined them on stage for a finale piece, “How Great is Our God,” in Spanish. The crowd was on their feet, singing and clapping along.
Amigos de Cristo included Julie, Gary, Larry, Jay as well as local musicians Karina, Alex and Antonio.
“That was a special moment for me because we were all sharing the same message,” said Larry. “Music really is universal.”
Everyone loved the music. And once the crowd had gone home and the equipment was packed away, it began to rain—gatos and perros.
The concert included dance and drama as well as bands and vocalists.
“Music is God’s best gift to man; the only art of heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to heaven” ~ Walter Savage Lander
Leave us your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.–Phyllis
Women of 
We work with many single parent families supporting several children on the minimum wage of ~$7USD per day as well as extended families who may have only one person employed supporting 8-12 children and adults. 
Allow me to introduce you to an effective way to share your compassion with a family living in Cozumel. They are called despensas, a simple box of food put together by the MEGA store you can order from the Customer Service desk and they will prepare it within a day. Each despensa or box is packed with basic food to support a family of 4 for a week. The store packs the supplies with an itemized list ready for you to pick up for only $20 USD. 
Picture this: Big smiles and excited chatter while dozens of kids stood in an orderly line in extreme heat and humidity. What were they waiting for? Ice-cream, perhaps? No, they waited for notebooks, pens and pencils, protractors and the other things that would make it possible to attend school.
(photo left) Volunteer LaFonda traveled from Texas with friends to spend her August vacation helping out. As she helped clean children’s feet so they could try on donated shoes, she said “It’s such a blessing to be part of this. I don’t know who’s happier–the kids or me.”
FOC helped 125 children this year with a goal of 150 for next year. Volunteers have done a great job of gathering some of the needed supplies during back-to-school sales in the U.S., but we’re still seeking donations of backpacks, children’s and young adult’s athletic shoes, scientific calculators, and Spanish/English dictionaries. They’re simple things but they have the power to bring huge smiles–and send a child to school. ~~ Phyllis
Gracias to the Stolle family from Plano, TX who combined community service with their family vacation in July. Lyndall Stolle, an Advanced Placement English Teacher, contacted Friends of Cozumel to identify donation and volunteer needs. The entire family, including dad Mark, supported the effort by gathering items and being donation “sherpas”. Lyndall and the girls, Catherine and Caroline, volunteered a couple of hours one morning to preassemble paper packets for 125 backpacks. Afterwards they briefly visited a school property being renovated during summer break . . . what an eye opener to learn about local schools and some of the challenges teachers, administrators and families here face. 
X
X
Last February, when Byron and I were in Cozumel, we watched as David Dean, the Chaplain at Texoma Chapel, presented Eloisa, the director of NUAFA a beautiful leather-bound Bible. As Eloisa held the Bible she shared that she is beginning to have trouble seeing small print. We have had multiple requests for large print Bibles from others having trouble seeing. I began to process this and thought, another one of those things we take for granted is that when we begin to have trouble reading, we go to the local stores and purchase a cheap pair of reading glasses. The wheels were now turning in my head and I remembered that I could purchase reading glasses at Dollar Tree for only $1. Now, I have to be honest, I was thinking glasses were cheaper than the large print Bibles, not even taking into consideration that if you can’t read your Bible, you can’t read anything. As soon as I got home, I began picking up a few extra pairs of glasses each time I was in Dollar Tree. Karen took some glasses to Eloisa and she was SO thankful. By the time I boarded the plane for Cozumel in July, I had accumulated about 40 pair of glasses. Little did I know what an impact these glasses would make on lives of those I met.
When we distributed school backpacks at Vida Abundante, we put out the reading glasses and invited children and mothers to take a pair if they needed them. One young lady who would be a high school student, worked diligently trying to find the right glasses that would help her read her books. There were lots of smiles on lots of faces as they found the right magnification. The best part was still to come though. 
One dollar can totally change the life of someone. I’m afraid that I am guilty of taking my possessions for granted as I am also guilty of not appreciating all that God has done for me. By American standards I am just a middle class citizen, but by the standards in Mexico, I am very well to do. What if I had been born in Cozumel to a family out in the jungle? What would my life be like? Would I even have the opportunity to know who Jesus is? Would I get to go to school? Would anyone even care if I didn’t have enough to eat? Would someone spend $1 to bring me some glasses so I could read?
Life’s journey is not to arrive at the gate safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting “Lord! WHAT A RIDE!”
Miraflores is a “planned development” that began a couple of years ago that contains a couple of different models families can purchase. 
The school year begins in late August and stretches through the first week in July due to extended school breaks throughout the year. For example, students only attended school for half of April because the last two weeks were spring break around Easter holiday. Schools were in session about half of the month of May due to the local Cedral festival and other holidays. 
I would like to think of it on a larger order. The fact is that we are all spending a limited amount of time on earth and one day we will leave it behind. When we look back, what kind of legacy will we leave behind? Did we truly make a difference in other peoples’ lives? Can we recall times when we stopped to help someone in need? Did we use our resources (time, money, skills, etc.) to help others or only to benefit ourselves? Every day, we are presented with opportunities to help others less fortunate than ourselves. The key is taking a moment to help others. It may be as simple as giving someone a friendly word of encouragement when they’re down, an offer to take a friend somewhere if they don’t have transportation, sharing some food, offering to help with a project when you have the skills. Are you making a difference, or “Just Passing Through”?