Mexico 2010
Mexico Missions Trip 2010
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Last Day of building, Day 6…
We finished the house today! It was an amazing experience for not just the family but for each of us. What a blessing! It wasn’t just us who built this house, it was all of you who sent us here that helped build this house. We couldn’t have done it without you all! Nothing went wrong on the build until we went to check the electricity…it didn’t work. It took a few hours to get it right but we had fun while they fixed it. The youth played with all the little kids as we waited and had a ball! It was a joy to watch them all. Esther (the mother of the house) said thank you to everyone back home who helped make this home possible, she is so grateful and lost for words. Tonight at the base we had a session on injustices. The Mission Adventures staff did some dramas/reenactments of injustices such as, kidnapping, sex trafficing, abortion, homelessness, unsuitable water, and living conditions. It was really intense and at times seemed real. During the reenactments we were “kidnapped” with bags over our heads and yelling all around, we had to drink a gross water (a combination of vinegar, curry powder, steak seasoning, coconut flakes, ect.) We learned all about the injustices and heard shocking statistics. It had a great impact on all of us, we all knew these things were happening, but it became real to us to an extent tonight. I believe many of us gained a heart towards many of these injustices today. I pray that God will use these passions to help fight injustices in this world. God has been so faithful to us all, and we are blessed. We all learned that yet again today, and we got to pay it forward to the family. Tomorrow we will be running a church service in a small colonia, please pray for us, many students are sharing testimonies, we are doing new dramas and it will be an exciting but nervous time for a few students. We need God to work though us! Thank you again everyone for your partnership in this mission! God bless!
First day of building, Day 5…
This morning we were up and out the door immediately after breakfast. The day went really fast, once we got to the build site we got started right away. I have built a total of 6 houses now, and never has one come together so quickly and so smoothly! The family we are building for has a Mother (Esther), and three kids, the oldest daughter is 17, next daughter is 9, and the youngest son is 5 months. They were very eager to help with anything and everything. Tonight they will be spending their last night in their current “house” . This house is a bunch of plywood boards nailed together in a square with a tarp as a roof. We were privileged to have Josh and Giezi as our lead builders, and they are swift perfectionists. Tonight we had a session, Jean-Philip talked about prayer and split the youth into groups with leaders and they got to go to different destinations around Ensenada to pray for the city. From all I heard it was great experience. Again, I am excited to report that everyone is doing wonderful and God has been so faithful to us all! Please continue to pray and to call out to God on our behalf. Pray for safety, unity and growth in our team. We miss you all and thank you for all your support!! God bless!
Dust and Smiles, Day Four…
This morning we got to go to the Church we worked with yesterday. We put together a VBS program with the Bible story of the Fiery Furnace. We play soccer, games, sang songs, learned new songs, danced, did crafts, hung out and shared our lives with beautiful people. It was a blessing and I don’t think that I can describe how much fun we all had, it was hard to tell who was having more fun, us or the kids! I think thats a good sign! That afternoon we went to La Buffadora (the second biggest blow-hole in the world) It was pretty cool. We all got to do some shopping and experienced the fun of bartering. Most of us think we got some pretty good deals! (Mom’s you would be proud!) Tonight was also “Tacos Night Out”. We got to eat at a local Taco stand and WOW! It was amazing, at least for most of us! After supper it was back to the base. As a group we decided to learn some new dramas. And in a matter of three hours we pulled together three new skits! It was sweet! I cannot express how grateful I am to these youth. They are so willing, passionate, and excited about everything, they have been pouring their hearts out into this experience and I feel blessed to be a part of it all. I am confident that God will continue using their willingness, passion and excitement for the rest of this trip, and that it will make an eternal difference for someone. Tomorrow we begin building for out family. PRAY PRAY PRAY! We know that prayer makes a difference, and that your prayers are powerful! Thanks so much for all your support and love! Dios te bendiga!
Numero Tres Dia…
What a wonderful night of sleep! No Bed Bugs, Thank you Jesus! After a delicious breakfast, we began our morning session with Worship and speaking by Jon Ray. This session we talked about Philippians 3:7- 21. Talking about the difference between having Christ shine through you and looking like God when people see you. A difference between pride and humility. In the afternoon some of us had Dance/Drama practice and some of us got to hang out at the beach for awhile. It was a super fun time and we cannot wait to show you all our new Drama’s and Dances at Church once we return! After we all practice we got a wonderful and super fun opportunity to partner with a local Church in Colonia 89 and do a giant Kids Program. I am guessing there was over 150 children there. We had a big bounce house blown up, balloon animals, soccer, juice and water. We also got to share our dramas and dances, the kids, and even the adults, all thought it was so fun! What a blessed afternoon! After supper at the base we had an evening session. Proceeding some beautiful worship music was the Commitment Service. Each student got the chance to write a commitment statement to Christ. As soon as each student they walked down to the bomb-fire on the beach and could worship, talk to someone, or just relax on the beach. Instead of our usual team meeting that night we had small groups, (Harvest boys with Harvest boys and the Harvest girls with Harvest girls) We felt like God was saying to have a time of confession in these groups. God wanted to heal and unify our team even more. To make it more strong. He is preparing this group for great things ahead. It was beautiful. After everyone got all they needed to say off their chest we prayed for each person and affirmed, and encouraged them. It was a late, but beautiful night. God is up to something big with us, I am sure of it! Please continue to pray us! Thanks You and we love you all!
Day Number TWO…
Day two started a little earlier for all of us girls. We woke up around 2 am to infestation of Bed Bugs. Yes I said Bed Bugs, they are real contrary to popular believe. I know I always thought my Dad was just make up a monster for me to be afraid of when he said “Don’t let the Bed Bugs Bite.” So at 2 am we evacuated our old room and moved into our current location. I am proud to say the girls handled the whole situation just swimmingly, there was no complaining for frustration. It was awesome and such a blessing! In the morning we proceeded to bag up EVERYTHING that could possibly be washed and sent it off the the laundry-mat.he day started off with devotional time, learning and practicing new skits, dramas and dances, followed by a session with our speaker Jon Ray. Jon began talking about Philippians 2, and humility. Following our session we participated in a few team building activities at the beach and a sweet water war. (Us girls were sadly unable to take part in the water war because our clothes were at the laundry mat) Before our evening session started we had some EPIC worship, it was very powerful and you could sense God’s Spirit in that place. During our evening session, the youth had an opportunity of confession with God. They wrote their confessions on paper and placed them in a sack. Just after each student placed their paper in the sack, a Jesus actor came in and placed the sack on his neck. Immediately Roman solders stormed in and took Jesus away and hustled everyone outside. Once everyone was out of the building the Passion play began. A very intense and dramatic reenactment of the suffering our Savoir endured for each and everyone of us. After “Jesus” was taken off the cross and carried away we moved to the cross and worship our One True Savior. We had a little debrief before heading off to our rooms.
And So it begins…
The Youth arrived with smiles and excitement when I met them at the airport today. They all were hungry but looking forward to what was ahead. The drive down was filled with beautiful sites and new experiences. We arrived at the base around 7:30 Pacific Time and jumped right into introductions, worship, and meetings. We are all looking forward to meeting with God this week, and to see how he wants to use us. Our teams’ theme for the week is Philippians 2. Read along with us and continue praying for us as we serve God in wonderful Ensenada Mexico!