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THE BOWIIn alley-WMCM.
Aptio Tostal 3SO^eriaosHh. Sonata Mexico
Direct Dial trom USA.
l^94-H4Vt AMCSrcrrtL >e:4^I994fWe hadafine New Year in1993
and we hope you did, too.The year 1992 ended wrth ChristmasCarols
brought to the members'homes by our area youth group andthe
traditional American family turkey
dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas day.On the 31"' of
December our minister's wife,Cuca Arnaya. came for her birthday
gift; a setof 12 glasses for her new kitchen.
JANUARY
actually began onthe evening of .; A;;December 31 with
the now traditional ^watch-nite hymn 9singing by the
areacity/country churches. As Gerry's sinus andGeneva's arthritis
do not "take" well to the threeto four hours in a cold, unheated
churchbuilding, they crossed the street at about 11:30for the now
traditional midnight dinner with theirfriends, Alberto and Else
Rios and their family.Veva celebrated with her cousins and
friends,now traditional for her.
Weather-wise, January was weird:summer-like monsoon rainsl!
Later in themonth, Geneva developed sciatica which madeher almost
immobile, so we drove to Nogales tosee a chiropractor that some
American friendshad recommended.
FEBRUARY began with a familytragedy. Becky's sister-in-law's
husband, amining engineer, was shot and killed in front ofhis home
and his wife was also shot in thechest, but survived. It is
believed he wasmistaken for a drug kingpin who lived in anidentical
house on the same block Two of thethree gunmen, as well as the
driver of thegetaway car, were apprehended almostimmediately.
Reading about the drug mafia andhaving it strike in your own family
is not thesame thing!
But. on to more pleasant news: Our at-horrie daughter, Geneva
(Veva), had saved herseverance pay from a former school thenadded
to it month by month to purchase a newDodge "Shadow." It is a good
thing that shedoes live at home where she doesn't have topay any
rent, only helping with the food bill, forit takes one of her pay
checks to make thepayments (she makes about $600 dollars amonth by
teaching fourth grade at a bilingualschool in the mornings and at
the University ofSonora in the afternoons and evenings)!
MARCH came in not like a lamb butwith weather so hot that we had
theevaporative coolers on for two weeks straightWe usually turn
them on by about April 15. butthis year was different.
We were privileged to have Ed andDona Weckerly and a friend from
S.A.E., ElPaso, TX stay overnight on theirway south andagain on
their way home. They left us a box ofSpanish New Testaments and
promised to giveus some Spanish Christian videos which theylater
sent to us by way of the Arizona address.
APRIL provided a surprise for us in theform of more monsoon
rams. But In spite of therams, we enjoyed ourEaster lilies and
largewitd-river (pink) lilies ! 1in our front yard.
The
Churches held the |traditional "Seven
Words of Jesus" Wuservices duringEaster week and held a joint
sunrise service.
MAY had a very nice beginning: ourson. Bob, phoned from Idaho to
tell us that weare now great-grandparents. His middle
daughter, Colleen, had an eight (8) pound,seven (7) ounce girl,
Kelsea DeLaneon May2.Then, sad news.
On Mother's Day. Gerry's aunt Eve
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(Dutch) phoned to inform us that her son.Jonathan, had been
killed in a parachutingaccident in Arizona. Mexican Mother's
Day,May 10, the girls fixed dinner here and a friendcalled to wish
Geneva a happy Mother's Dayand told her the name of a medicine that
had
stopped his sciatica pain in less than a week.And, you know, It
worked on Geneva's pain,tool! Thank God!
But, not so good is the fact that therains knocked our phone out
of service alongwith the rest of the phones in the neighborhoodfor
the last fifteen days of the month.
JUNE; our friends, Scott and LindaEllington left for Atlanta for
two years so Scottcan^et his^Ph.D_io_Bible_
Becky and Qziel had little Oziel David'ssixth birthday party at
Becky's pre-school.Theme: Aladdin. A good time was had by
all,adults as well as children.
Summer is here! The temperaturehovers around a sweltering 100 to
110 F.New pads have been placed in the coolers andwe are relatively
comfortable in the house,except during the sticky, over-cast days
beforethe monsoon season when the water
evaporative type coolers can't bring the insidetemperature below
85 F. We had our roofrepaired just before the onset of the
nransoonrains.
JULY: Geneva and her sister from
Oklahoma. Eloise, save all year so they can flyto northern
Califomia for their Mother's birthday,July 16. Thiswas her 90*^1
The church folksheld a party in her honor in the Social Hall
withover 100 in attendance, including the youngersister, Mary, from
Montana. We phoned her inCalifomlato wisb her a happy birthday^n
the 10^ and to say 'happy birthda/ to her mom.
As usual, Gerry gets sick while Genevais away. He dehydrated
while waiting at thegarage for the brakes to be relined on the
van.After so many, many times, he knows what todo. He mixes his own
medicine: water, salt,sugar and potassium.
Family camp at Kino Bay had some fifty(50) plus in attendance.
The Lord blessed withsix (6) baptisms. Rejoice with us for
thevictories.
AUGUST. Gerry drove to the Phoenixarea to pick up Geneva, then
they took a mini-vacation to southern California. We
stoppedovernight with aunt Eve Bowlin in Palm Desert.Aunt Eve is
the one we told you about
previously who lost her son in a parachutingaccident.
We stayed several days with ourForwarding Agent. Jo Anne Hudson
and Familyin Poway, OA. They gave Geneva a new breadmachine which
has gotten a good workoutalmost every week! Thanks Bob and Jo
Anne.
Then, on to Buena Park for a few dayswith our long-time friends,
the Brade's.
Then, home-except for an overnightstay in Tucson when a heavy
rainstorm hit.
SEPTEMBER was a hot. sticky nnonthwith more (as if we needed
themi) monsoonrains.
Our foster daughter, Aida Ramirez and fier youngestdaughter
wereJiereJor a niece's
15*^ birthday. This is the all-important event ina young mexican
lady's life; her "coming out*party. Somewhat equivalent to the
"Sweet 16"in the U.S.A.
Jesus Amaya, our minister, and hisfamily came for supper a few
days before theirdaughter, Ruth, was married to a neighbor boy.
OCTOBER: Gerry, our eldest minister,Alejandro Julian and Jesus
Amaya met forconsultation on the new government regulationsof
National Registry as well as other areabusiness.
Geneva began a series of shots for herarthritis and we learned
that the home of
Gerry's cousin, Chad Bowlin, had escaped theLaguna Beach fires
by just two blocks!
NOVEMBER:
The big family news wasthe wedding of DebbieGurwell. Debbie is
one
of our granddaughterswhoulives in-New
Mexico. Now, thewedding just would nothave been "official" if
"Nana" and 'Tata:"
(Grandma and Grandpa) Bowlin had not beenpresent Well, with some
financial help from thefamily, we were able to go. it was an
unusualwedding with Debbie's two daughters. Amber,age 11, and
Jenny, age 9, taking an active partin the ceremony. The bride and
groom weresurrounded on the platform by both sets ofparents, the
groom's brothers and sister, theirwives and husbands and Debbie's
brother
Robert and his wife, also named Debbie. Wehad a whole row of
great-grandchildren to babysit during the ceremony The newly
wedsminister to the Church in Eunice, New Mexico.
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We slipped over into Oklahoma for aweek-end visit with Geneva's
sister. Eloise
fvioseley, and her family before the wedding.Also, we stopped to
visit with Bob and
Debbie Gurwell for a few days m El PasoTexas and Bob gave us the
grand tour of theproperty belonging to the group for wnom Bobworks.
Perhaps we should say, "OR Gurwetl.as he just earned his Ph.D. in
Atlanta. GA. andnow has plans of a computerized resource poolof
information on Spanish Christian literature forLatin America. God
bless you. Bob andDebbie.
Some of you may remember "Cata"(Kathy), Debbie's mother, who
traveled with usin the 1950's
DECEMBER: We sent ten (10) areayouth to the Pacific Area Youth
Conference inCuliacan, Sinaloa. 900 miles south and. for thesecond
consecutive year, they brought back theBible Bowl Trophy.
Congratulations!!!
After much (unusual) rain, Christmasdawned bright and fair and
we had ourtraditional dinner on Christmas day. Vevainvited her boy
friend. We thought that wemight have Kathy and her family here
onfurlough from Chile, but they have decided tostay a few months
longer and then return to thestates to get Aaron ready for
college.
On the 28". we drove 75 miles south tothe San Carlos (Guaymas)
RetirementCommunity to help our friends from NewMexico, Louis and
Lorene Gress, celebratetheir golden wedding anniversary. Ours
comesin 1995, the Lord willing.
Cuca Amaya, our minister's wife,received (from Geneva) a
used-but-still-goodzig-zag sewing machine. Geneva receivedfrom
friends a newer model Singer Zig-Zagsewing machine with a lot of
new "stuff"included. Concerning Cuca's machine Jesus(her husband)
said, "she's like a kid. She wouldhave slept with that machine if
there had beenroom in the bed!" All joking aside: Cuca is
ajewel!
We have given you a fair account ofthe past year with us here in
Western Mexico.We are happy in our work and we pray that youare
happy in yours. We would love to hear fromyou and yours....and
remember WE LOVEYOU!
Gerry and Geneva Bowlin
OUR FORWARDING AGENT;
Mrs. Jo Anne Hudson
Pomerado Christian Church
12708 Stone Canyon RoadPomerado, CA. 82064
We have asked Charles Gurwell to publish anddistribute our
newsletter. The Bowlin Alley Hisaddress is:
Charles Gurwell
622 West 15" Street
Portales, NM 88130
Please send any address corrections to him.
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