Mexico

Wow! Mexico was great. There's so many stories to tell and I learned so much. I'll try and highlight as much as possible here and show lots of pictures. First of all here's a brief summary of the trip:

We left on March 9th from Capernwray. There were 14 of us in a 15 passenger van with a trailer. We drove about 10 hours a day for three days, staying in churches in Eugene, Oregon and Tracy, California (south of Sacramento). We arrived in Mexico with no problems although we had snow every day of the drive. There was even snow in the mountain around San Diego! Sunday, the day after we arrived we went to a big church in Tijuana. It was a old boxing arena that seats about 3000 people and the church has over 17,000 member that meet in different places! That afternoon we went to one of the orphanages we would be working at and just played with the kids. Monday and Tuesday we can back to the same orphanage (called City of Angels) and did some construction projects. We built a stair case to a second story that had been added on to one of the buildings, did some drywalling and tiling and helped out wherever we could. If we didn't have jobs to do we would just spend time with the kids. Wednesday and Thursday we went to a different orphanage and built a roof over a new bathroom and moved a LOT of dirt to clear a spot for a new dining room to be built.

On Friday we spent the morning in Rosarito (just SW of Tijuana) on the ocean and did the tourist thing. In the afternoon we drove through the mountains about 3 hours inland to a place about an hour south of Mexicali. We stayed at a place called the campground, out in the country. Saturday we did work projects at the place where we were staying. In the evening the guys on the team drove into Mexicali for a men's meeting at a church there. It was a very Charismatic meeting. I've never seen a preacher bounce around the stage before! It was definitely an experience. Sunday our team split up and went to a couple different churches. The missionaries we were staying with pastor three different churches, all about half and hour away from where they live at the campground. I had the chance to preach that morning, through a translator. A new experience for me and one of my highlights from the trip. I shared about faith, just a lot of things that God has been teaching me lately.

Monday through Wednesday we did work projects in the mornings, at one of the churches. I got to help dig three outhouse holes, probably the most fun job of the whole trip. We would clean up in the afternoons and prepare for the church meetings each evening. For the service we would do some songs and drama and then do a program for the kids during the preaching. We probably had close to 40 kids, that we couldn't communicate with very well. Only one member of our team speaks Spanish.

On Thursday "morning" we got up at 3:30 and started driving. We got into LA about 10:00 and went to Huntington Beach for a couple hours. After that we drove down Sunset Blvd. and Hollywood Blvd. Leaving LA we got onto the highway and I looked beside me and there were five guys from the school here that had been on a road trip in California and were headed back to the school too. Pretty crazy! We had supper with them. After a couple more days of driving we made it back home safe and nicely tanned.

Okay, on to the highlights...

During the 1st week we met up with Fernando. He was a student here at Capernwray a couple years ago. He's from Mexico and is going to school in Tijuana. He would work with us in the mornings and then go to school from 4 to 10 at night, do homework til about 1 in the morning and then meet us again at 7:30. It was really encouraging for me to see him doing so well, so eager to be involved and growing in the Lord. It was a big reminder of how worthwhile everything that goes on here at the school is and that it has longterm effects.

The orphanages were so great. It was so tough to leave those kids, even after only a couple days with them. I wish I could have brought a few home with me. They were so joyful and accepting. They were all over us the minute we showed up. It was really humbling for me to be able to be a part of the work there. This trip was not a case of us going down to help the poor people in Mexico. It felt like we were working alongside them and helping out, more just to be there and observe, than for the projects themselves. The people that work at these orphanages are there 365 days a year, no vacations, no breaks and with barely enough money to make it from day to day. Living on faith. They provide not just a shelter, but a home for these kids, where they are loved and taught about Christ. It was a priveledge and a blessing to be there. The whole trip was like that, but I especially felt it at the orphanages.

Through the whole process of preparation for the trip and on the trip I really saw how God takes care of details. Being in that position of responsibility I knew too well of all the things that could possibly go wrong. The only way that the trip could have gone as smooth as it did is by God's grace. I learned to walk in faith rather than worry about the details all the time. I feel a lot different now than when I left. A different perspective and focus. Maybe that's to be expected after a trip like this, but it seems much deeper than that. Maybe it will fade over time, but I hope it doesn't. It's not just a feeling of, oh we have so much and they have so little. I can't put it all into words and I don't know where it leads. It's more of a sense that there's so much more to life, we get caught up in the routine of our society. Somehow, playing with a child that means nothing to the world made me see beyond all that. I want my life to be that way. To have the same sense of joy and purpose that I did there.