Sunday, July 30, 2006 was Women's Day at Saint Samuel, COGIC. Evangelist Mother Annie Simon, Church mother fron Canton, Ohio got started at 12pm
7/29/06
Windmills on the windy hills..
You have new Picture Mail!
Originally uploaded by rmaxt.
As I was leaving the Bay Area, I drove West into the Valley toward Modesto. This was really impressive.
7/28/06
Sidewalk Sitar Player
After dinner one night, we walked down the streets of Mountainview, CA. There on the sidewalk was a man playing his Sitar for change. It was a surreal sound in the foothills of these hazy coastal mountains. The towns from San Francisco to San Jose seem to be a mixture of Houston's Garden Oaks, Heights, & Rice Village for about 50 miles... one small city after another, each with their own personality. Right in the middle of it all is East Palo Alto in the South Bay area. If you get a chance to go to Wikipedia you can get a dated overview/story of EPA.
EPA Quinceañera Practice
This small community is a divine mixture of people groups from Pacific Islanders to Latin America and points farther North, South, East and West.
7/25/06
East Palo Alto City Council - Public Hearings
"Greetings Honorable Mayor, Esteemed City Council, and residents of Palo !!! Sorry! As you can tell I am a new resident of East Palo Alto..." With that, 8 days after I arrive at the city, I make my first venture into the public arena of the Bay Area! I was really nervous, and with the 24" tall red numbers counting down the 120 seconds that I had to speak on the Parcel Tax issue, I thought it would be plenty of time to get my 5 little points across. I ended mid-sentence when the musical tones of the 'get off the microphone' alarm sounded. Mayor Ruben Abrica looked tired, since he had been in council since 7pm, and I got to the mic at around 10:30pm. Please pray for this issue which could bring some funding to non-profit youth service agencies in the Fellowship of Faith network for gang prevention activities. I definitely feel I am in the right spot to be able to contribute what we have learned in Houston/Harris County.
Liotti Pasta
Liotti (JetLi) cooks his own pasta... Italian food homemade! These are the kinda friends you wanna have & hang around with! I hope I pick up some of the culinary skills so I can give my wife a break now that the kids are getting older and i wouldn't have to cook for a tribe.
The BCM Design Process
Boys class studying the design process. They will build a boat of a sheet of foil to hold 100 pennies. There were several sinkings before we saw successful payloads of up to 140 pennies.
EPA Geese...
Not really sure about the story behind these Canadian geese that are in the field at the 49er's School every morning. Very interesting flock. Usually there's one who stands guard, head up, alert, watching for any danger in the area. Not sure what time they show up or leave, but I pass by between 8:45am-9am and they have been there every morning. I'd love to see them come in for a landing! We're inland some distance from the Pacific Coast (2 miles) and only 2 miles from the end of the Bay, at the bottom of the Peninsula.
Very interesting community! It's beginning to feel more like home, except for one thing... I don't have a home yet! I'm still waiting for an apartment to open up. I have been graciously hosted by the Founder of BCM up til now. Looks like an apt. next to my friend 'John' is gonna be available soon. Check me later. btw, dont make any comments, whatever you do... keep your comments to yourself... unless you wanna click the link below and leave something for the whole world to hear/read.
Very interesting community! It's beginning to feel more like home, except for one thing... I don't have a home yet! I'm still waiting for an apartment to open up. I have been graciously hosted by the Founder of BCM up til now. Looks like an apt. next to my friend 'John' is gonna be available soon. Check me later. btw, dont make any comments, whatever you do... keep your comments to yourself... unless you wanna click the link below and leave something for the whole world to hear/read.
7/24/06
SeaWolf Park
Big Mike & Tall Erik catchin the breeze in SeaWolf Park, and giving sand trout a reason to be Very Afraid!! The ones that got sent back should count their blessings, and get ready for another day's fishing.
It's good to be getting pix from home! Thanks to everyone who is lifting us up in prayer during this transition. C Ya on the 13th!
It's good to be getting pix from home! Thanks to everyone who is lifting us up in prayer during this transition. C Ya on the 13th!
7/22/06
Crowding the stage...
Enjoying the Austin Sound of Salvador, everyone was taking advantage of every piece of available shade, especially that closest to the stage!
SALVADOR! Even the sound check was LIVE!
CROWDING THE STAGE!
While enjoying the Austin Sound of Salvador LIVE! everyone was taking advantage of every piece of available shade, especially that closest to the stage!
While enjoying the Austin Sound of Salvador LIVE! everyone was taking advantage of every piece of available shade, especially that closest to the stage!
Byron Cage Live
Byron Live! was enough to get these to get out and actually dance in the hot Northern California Sun! When I say 112 Degrees... I mean 112!!!!
p.s. Subsequent day registered 114 in the Oakland area, but today (7/26/06) the temps are.
p.s. Subsequent day registered 114 in the Oakland area, but today (7/26/06) the temps are.
UrbanFest 2006 Pony Rides & Fun Slides!
Urbanfest July 22, 2006 in Oakland, CA featured Byron Cage ' Texas' own... SALVADOR! live in concert.
110 & climbing!
I took pics @ 108, 109 ' 110 degrees. Let's see how much hotter it gers...
As we drove up to Oakland from the EPA area, the first comment came at 107 degrees, then everytime I took a picture to upload, by the time I got ready to upload, the temp had already climbed another degree! It went to 112degrees on the open road, and at the UrbanFest site 110 was registering. Nonetheless the crowd was present & active! The water-splash games/activities were popular!
As we drove up to Oakland from the EPA area, the first comment came at 107 degrees, then everytime I took a picture to upload, by the time I got ready to upload, the temp had already climbed another degree! It went to 112degrees on the open road, and at the UrbanFest site 110 was registering. Nonetheless the crowd was present & active! The water-splash games/activities were popular!
7/21/06
Boom... hello!
July 21, 2006, Friday 5:50pm local time
sitting in the front room of the Northern California Urban Development Corporation... and I heard a 'boom.' Not so small as a 'crack' of small caliber gunfire, but more throaty, big-caliber sound. As we step to the door, you can still smell gunpowder.
Welcome to East Palo Alto! At one time, a few years ago, it was the murder capital of the U.S. (i think even the world.. i'll check that stat). Today at noon in my drive through/get acquainted tour of the community we rolled up on about 6 police cars and bout 10 officers (uniform & plain clothes). The road was semi-blocked while they collected the 20 or so shell casings in the street... probably of larger caliber weapons.
I'm hoping I will find out tomorrow that this recent sound was a starter gun for a community foot-race. In any regard, praying for the Prince of Peace to rule in E.P.A. would be a good thing!
It seems that God is up to something here... and the devil is nervous!
7/20/06
Stanford I.V.
Stanford Inter-Varsity Post-Graduate students are a very diverse group. There were both Christians & pre-Christians present. "R." (name withheld) is a young man who is going back to China for the 3rd time. He teaches 'English ~and other things~' in an area just below Siberia. He said that the stereotype of COLD in NorthEastern Asia is not in error. In his time there, 4 students professed Jesus as Lord! That's considerable, since they are in an area of the world that is pretty resistant to the Gospel Message. The main evangelical efforts were to teach discipleship skills to the indigenous leaders. After he invited the I.V. students to consider being 'bitten by the bug of service' Andy stepped up to encourage these Post Grads to come and volunteer at BCM. Of the 30 or more, 10 signed up to come out! That was a home run presentation! I was invited to share, and it was a grand thing!
Stanford Inter-Varsity Post-Graduate Students
Pete is a volunteer at BCM. He introduced Andy Hartwell, Founder & Director of BCM, to the Stanford Students in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. They listen to Andy Hartwell as he presented the BCM vision
Red Rock Coffee
Exec Staff meeting @ Red Rock Coffee House owned by Highway Church in Mountainview, CA
NorCal Traffic Jam
My 1st NorCal traffic jam. I took my friend John (Jet Li) Liotti to the San Jose airport for his trip to LA. It took 20 minutes to get there. We'll see how long the return trip is.
P.S. The return took 30 minutes! It flowed well... but the next day I heard that a motorcycle accident tied up several lanes for a considerable time. It's legal to SPLIT lanes here (drive in between the cars) on motorcycles, but I have a feeling it is contributing to SPLIT HELMETS.
P.S. The return took 30 minutes! It flowed well... but the next day I heard that a motorcycle accident tied up several lanes for a considerable time. It's legal to SPLIT lanes here (drive in between the cars) on motorcycles, but I have a feeling it is contributing to SPLIT HELMETS.
7/19/06
7/18/06
The BCM Mission Statement
"Dedicated to equipping youth to grow spiritually, gain life skills and develop as leaders."
Nuff said!
Nuff said!
CalTrain blues!
The slow train back from 10-1 loss to Milwaukee tonight just put a little lemon juice on that paper cut. It was Clear the Air Day so everyone rode free, which meant that it was standing room only. On top of that, the construction on the route, and a 'local' train in front of us kept us at about 5 miles per hour, so it was a real long ride back. [Going into town was cool though! Gotta take the good with the bad sometimes.]
7/17/06
Jason Schmidt on the mound
Giants vs Milwaukee... Schmidt vs Zach ?Jackson?. I'm not a big stat person, but the people in the area we sat were all over that stuff. They commented on each player's history, trajectory & then some! There's some pretty dedicated fans in that right field wing.
Double Decker CalTrain
Double-decker train ride to the SFGiants game in AT&T PARK on SF Bay. My 2nd nite in the Bay Area. Nice ride from Menlo Park up into San Francisco. I love riding trains. Wish they had more of this in the Houston area.
The West Coast Desktop!
A new landing spot in Eas Palo Alto - bayshore.org Of course they have a PC on the desk, but i can still plug in the Black MacBook to keep my sense of normalcy!!!
San Jose Mountains
View from the meeting room @ BCM. Sitting in the upstairs conference room I was looking into the mountains just on the other side of San Jose. Beautiful weather. Nice & hot now, but last night was about 60 degrees. No A/C, just open the windows & put a fan to move the air and get a warm blanket! How do you like that in the middle of July?!
An Open Letter to all my friends...
For those faithful (and intermittent) bloggers...
I just want to use this opportunity to communicate to the Blog-o-Sphere my upcoming move from H-Town! This can be a good thing, be happy with me :) it's hard enough as it is.
On July 17, 2006 I will be transitioning from Houston
to begin working in the San Francisco Area with
Bayshore Christian Ministries (BCM) in East Palo Alto,
CA. Some of you have been listening to me shuffle my
feet for a few years, waiting for God's Direction in
these decisions. I will keep the Yahoo address, and
Houston cell # for at least the next year, but I will
keep you informed by posting info and address changes on
my online profiles when I settle in on the job.
Part of my joy will be to recruit college-age interns
around the country to be part of the BCM team during
the year. We always need more interns to be able to serve
the growing numbers of these children and preserve our staff/student
ratio and be effective (There is currently a waiting list of children who want to participate and cannot until we get more volunteers). At the same time these visiting interns will grow in their life and ministry experience. Please feel free to look at the website @ http://bayshore.org to see more information about this ministry. If you are interested in talking about this, or have more questions, please feel free to contact me as we take this next step in serving YOUth.
I apologize if some of you will receive this info on
several lists, since we may be cooperating members in several different groups. Have a wonderful summer! I'll keep you posted
Giga-Bendiciones,
Max http://rmaxt.blogspot.com
Vox/Fax: 347-710-1132
7/16/06
America West - to San Jose via Phoenix
Do u know the way to San Jose? Well, if the whole story is told, there are a few that truly do not! I landed and needed to check in for the last leg of the flight from Phoenix. After a pilgramage all over Phoenix' HUGE terminal complex, I arrived at my gate just after the cabin door was closed... that means wait for next flight... 3 hours! Still here in lobby waiting for 6:30 check in for 7:30 flight. That makes it rough on my friends in San Jose who committed to pick me up at the airport. Not a good way to start this assignment.
Unless we become as little children...
Get this video and more at MySpace
It would be great to gather a few comments about this video & topic. Express what you really feel...
7/15/06
Dottie R.I.P.
Another Torres pet is laid to rest under 'the' tree. Dottie was only 8 weeks young. Sweet doggie
7/14/06
"Pro Bono No Mo!" -Dion
Dion Jordan trains on how to 'Break Into the Speaking Business'. The DVULI Speakers Bureau in Houston sponsors this 3 day training conference.
Congrats! Joel Max
Joey's finally celebrating his graduation party! Thanks to all who made thi$ day $pecial.
congrats son!
congrats son!
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