Mexico Mission Trip – Day 6

WOW, I am not sure where to begin with today’s events!! It was a huge day in so many ways! You gotta read this whole thing to hear ALL th news! Let’s see if I can recap for you….our team was strong this morning, had a yummy french toast breakfast with, what we all agreed, was some of the best whip cream we had had in a long time! We had our morning devotion time where Chase Sramek shared and challenged us. Joel shared a little bit about baptism as we had three people request to be baptized in the ocean while in Mexico! Then we were off for our day of serving Christ. The VBS site was still in need of more sand sifting, (they use the sand to make cement to build the building. So, Karleigh, Kristin, and Mackenzie D. proceeded to shovel dirt, throw it against a screen so the rocks fell on their side and the sand went through to the other side. Then they scooped up the sand and hauled it over to the building site. Zack, Shanon and Julie headed to the second floor to finish nailing the floor down. Anna and Aubrey were busy keeping a few of the early arrival kids, happy by spinning them around and playing soccer with them. Just before lunch we took a tour of the migrant workers camps/homes. It is just beyond description, but let me just say, that all those “60 Minute”, 20/20 investigative reporter shows that have done mini documentary/reports about the camps, don’t even begin to show the extent of the poverty and filthiness! It is just horrible. We came across a little girl who had been attacked by a cat and had scrapes and punctures all over her foot and ankle. It was already swollen and on its way to being severely infected. We took her to the hospital to get some good care! These kids don’t get baths, but rarely and they literally live in dirt, so infections are common. We had three babies, a 6 week old, (roughly), a 8 month old and 2 year old, all show up with out a parent and two of them were not well at all! Their 6-7 year old siblings brought them! We had a little girl who couldn’t walk because she had broken her hip. We had to carry her out of the car. We had about 70 kids today and we had a great time playing soccer, singing songs, sharing with them another Bible story, making a craft and having a snack. The kids just love to play and get so excited when they see our car pull up! We ended our VBS time by passing out a ‘hot wheel’ car to each boy and a beanie baby to each little girl! They were all so happy.

The construction crew had a tough day….mudding the sheet rock and roofing! It doesn’t get much worse than that! They had an amazing team though and they got it done! They also got all the outside trim on the house and the rest of the main painting completed….touch-up pain is all that is let. We found out that Jesus and Janet will be having his parents live with them too. SO, we have decided to make them two queen beds for the house. It is so hard to put in to words the energy and joy that beams on their faces when they take a moment to embrace the idea of this being their home!

When we arrived back to the compound, most of us held off on our showers, pretty stinky actually, but we were headed to the beach after dinner. What a beautiful night…warm, the water was warm and that was awesome. Everyone hit the water, with a few exceptions After our kitchen crew who had KP after dinner was able to make it to the beach to join the rest of the group, we were able to share together as not just three students wanted to get babptized…..we had 4 others make a decision to be baptized! So we had an amazing time out in the water about hip deep. First, Joel baptized Julie Olson and Alex Riggen. Then Bernd baptized Kelsey Domann and then Kelsey Domann was able to enjoy baptizing her sister, Mackenzie Domann. Then it was Shanon’s turn, she was beyond excited and emotional as she was able to baptized Tamra Schelot, Sam Roberts and yes, her very own daughter, Karleigh Vroman!! Yeah God in a mighty way!! Most of us spent another chunk of time just floating about, playing in the waves and just enjoying being together! Just before dark, we were able to finally get our bon-fire started. We gathered around it and sang some songs as well as shared some of the things that we had experienced so far on this trip? How had this trip impacted you and your life! We shared a bunch of Kudos and just really lifted each other up. We had our time of Yeah God’s. Then it was back to the compound to review the blog and share all of your comments.

An exciting day, filled with blessings for everyone!

Tomorrow is our final day on the work site and the VBS. Most of us are torn about which project we want to go to for the final day….all team members will end up at the construction site for the house dedication. We will be passing out the yellow t-shirts that many of you graciously sponsored for the children down here….thank you, thank you, thank you!!

It is 11:25pm and I am falling asleep at the computer….everyone else is zonked out already! Til tomorrow…….

More Construction Pics from Shanon!

More construction pics from Shanon

Mexico Mission Trip – Day 5

We started the day by singing to Svetlana as it is her birthday today!! 19 years old and just a sweetie!!! We love her spirit around the work site as she is willing to do anything and does anything well and with her whole heart!! We presented her with some candy, a bracelet and the cards her mom supplied me before we left West Linn….Kris, so on top of her parenting!!

OK, Friends…we are tired today….another long day in the heat for this mission team. But we served God well as we put the wiring in the house, the roof on and the sheet rock up. Roy had Spencer up on the tops of the walls, nailing rafters in place for the roof. After getting his day started, as usual, with his French-press coffee (see photo), Bernd had Aaron doing the same on the other side. Aaron forewarned us all that he is short on the construction/handy with tools kinds of skills, but he was amazing today….God does great things when we get out of his way and our own way and let Him use us in ways we would never imagine. The ladies finished the painting before we took on the sheet rock! And let us just say, sheet rock is one tough task! The girls rocked it on the ceilings…On ladders, with their heads cranked around to reach the nails to secure the ceiling sheet rock! Sam, Sveta, Chase, Kristin, Krislyn, Mackenzie D. and Julie all put walls in rooms and helped to make the house start to feel like a home! Alex was again our cutter and did a phenomenal job! He is also really great at cutting out windows, doors and electrical outlets!

Julie, Mackenzie D., and Krislyn created a race track for the boys to play with their cars. They were so happy and they spent a big chunk of time just pushing the cars around the track. The littlest boy also liked to put the puppy on the bridge (see photo), and get him to sit Karleigh once again led the charge on the vbs/crafts/playing with the kids….she was stuck in the back of an old clunky van, playing TROUBLE with the kids for at least 1 1/2 hours. How many times can you push that silly button to make the dice pop???? Christie joined her to help add some excitement to the game! (see photo).

At VBS, they worked first and did the VBS in the afternoon. They started by moving rocks, sifting sand and hammering nails. Zack, aka “The Machine”, can’t get enough of VBS and the kids. He plans to spend the whole week there. We have been switching students around so they all get a chance to be at VBS and the house site, but not Zack, he is all about those kids and the projects to help make the building suitable for a church! After they did some work in the morning, they drove around and picked up kids, about 60 of them today. They played games, sang songs, did crafts and shared the Parable of the Lost Sheep. The memory verse was Luke 19:10. Connections started to really happen today with many of the students and the Hispanic kids. It was fun to hear our students share the things they see, the impact it has on them and the response the children have to them and what is being shared.

When we all arrived back at the compound, there was an amazing authentic Mexican dinner for us….the local Taco Stand owner set up his kitchen in the courtyard of the compound and made Tacos for everyone….most of us had at least two, but many had 3-4 because they were so darn good! As I speak of tonight’s food, I should mention that the food has been unbelievable good this year! Fettuccine Alfredo and garlic bread, Pancakes, sausage and eggs, with an unlimited supply, so Tanner has not be short on food at all! The lunches leave a lot to be desired, but the dinners and breakfast are tasty! Tonights chapel time included a mini concert from a local Hispanic group that was really great! Also, a time of sharing from a local Pastor. It was all very uplifting! Then we headed upstairs to have our team time where Anna and Amanda shared. Again, for uplifting and a great reminder of what we are doing here in Mexico! “Kudo’s” were shared all around! SO many great and wonderful things happening, Joel tried to remind us that we only got to share one Kudo’s, but he is a newbie, so what does he know…..you can share multiple “kudos”, there are no real rules around them! SO we managed to share many, many, many. The team over all is just working so hard and being so supportive of each other and Karleigh has yet to complain on the job site which she, of course, got a “kudo’s” for!

Updates….Kristin has made a turn for the better and spent the day at the work site, Sveta’s finger is healing just fine, but her butt is a little sore form the shot, (no worries mom and dad, nothing serious and all was just precautionary)! A little band aid and some neosporin and she was back on the site hammering nails like a pro! Sam has stayed nasal passage clear…breathing easily….Yeah God! Our bunk house is all quite, after two warnings from the camp coordinator…..so I am going to sign-off til tomorrow! We got some new photos up and will try for some more in the morning!! Thanks for reading and for commenting and for praying for us! We very thankful and happy to heare from you all!

Building Photos! (Sam’s Camera)

Building Site Pics (Sam's Camera)

Building Photos (Bernd’s Camera)

Day 4 and 5 Building Photos (Bernd's Camera)

VBS Photos!

Mexico Day 4 – VBS Pics!

Mexico Mission Trip Day 4

Hey Everyone….so sorry about all the mis-spellings…I haven’t had my glasses while posting these!

Today was a big day! The VBS Team drove around the area where the Migrant Work Camps are and were a bit shocked and overwhelmed at the conditions. It is below any level of poverty you could possibly imagine! They found multiple kids as young as 1 and 2 in the sheet metal huts, with not a parent in sight!!! Pretty scary actually! But the kids come all excited and ready to play and hear what we have to say. Unfortunately, they don’t even speak spanish so the translation issue was tough, but kids speak a universal language of “Play with me”, “love me”, that all can understand! There were roughly 60 kids at the VBS today which was a wonderful treat!

After VBS, the team worked on some miscellaneous projects around the church area. Zack Sramek was a machine that worked his butt off all day long! His reward was he got to drive the Pastors truck around the area…he was pretty psyched!

The house-building team arrived at the site and were met by Jesus and Janet! It was way cool to have them there. Shanon was in charge of the painting crew and they rocked all day! Roy had the cutting crew of Alex and Tanner and they were crazy good with precision cutting that earned them huge praises from the forman, Jose! He said they were the best cutting crew he has ever had and he had built about 50 houses. The framing went amazing, with Amanda, Kendra, Joel, Shane, Bernd, Chase and Roy hammering like crazy and raising walls! By lunch we had the framing done and the walls painted and ready to attach. After lunch, some kids from the area arrived and we encouraged them over to the work site so we could play with them. Karleigh jumped quickly to entertain them with a Stomp Rocket game! Then it was coloring and crafts. The girls finished painting and spent some great time with the kids!

We wrapped up our day on the VBS location and the house site and arrived back to the compound at about 5:00pm. Showers all around and dinner at 6:00pm. After dinner, we had some free time where students hung out together, playing cards, volleyball, and lots of laughter was heard from our bunk house! Group chapel time at 7:30pm, where we saw some video footage from all the work sites and VBS being done this week! God is visible in a mighty way down here with 5 houses being built, two VBS programs, a women’s ministry and a sports camp! We finished off the evening with our group devotional time where Christe and Kalie shared about forgiveness!

Of course we had our “Kudo’s” and “Yeah God” moments and we ended the evening reading all the comments on our blog to the group!! Thanks for checking out our sharing and pictures and especially for your comments. An extra special thank you to a special someone who is faithfully writing to his Tiga that he misses so much!!!

Tomorrow is another big day for many reasons, one of which….it is Svetlana’s birthday!!! Hope you enjoy the new pictures we finally got posted. The computers run slow down here, so it takes a bit of time to upload! But we got some great photos to share from today and we will get them loaded as soon as possible.

Day 3 Pictures!

Mexico Mission Trip DAY 3 PHOTOS!!

Mission Trip to Mexico – Day 3

Ok, so we are a little late posting day 3…sorry folks! It was a long day! We were up ande out of the hotel a little later today, 8:00am. We headed for the beach for our church service. We talked about Living Inside Out, Galatians 5:22-23. We gave each student a paper with a challenge to list ways they can demonstrate each of the Fruits of the Spirit on this trip. We spread out across the beach, which wasw so beautiful and peaceful. Everyone found a spot to spend some quiet time with God. It was pretty cool. A “Yeah God” moment happened as three men standing on the boardwalk, observed our team of students, spread out and sit down facing the ocean, bowing their heads and praying! They asked what the heck was going on? We again were able to share our mission!!! Back in the vehicles and across the border we went, smooth sailing!!!! Yeah God! We made our way through Tijuana to Ensenada where we stopped to eat an authentic Mexican lunch of fish tacos, etc. and shop! Most of the girls got their hair braided and enjoyed the experience of being pan-handled. Lots of lessons being learned!! Another Yeah God moment occured while the girls and Shanon were having lunch and we observed a very intoxicated man roll off a bench and split his head open on the sidewalk. A coupl eof American young men passed by and were clearly in Mexico on a “Street Mission Trip”. Kelsey, Tamra and Shanon join ed them to pray over this man and shine some light in to his otherwise dark world!! After an afternoon of shopping, we continued on down the road and arrived at our compund at about 4:45pm. The other 125 people, who are also hear on a mission, arrived about the same time! It was alittle crazy at first, but we got unloaded and were able to meet the couple we are building the house for! Janet and Jesus! They are a very cool couple who have been praying for a house for 3 years! What an inspiring story they shared with us and their excitement was contagious! We can’t wait to get started on their new home! As far as the VBS, we will be presenting it to the Migrant Worker Camp kids….those kids that aren’t working in the field! Should be about 50 kids on our first day! We will also be building some benches for the church and doing some painting and sanding! Should be an awesome day of serving Chirst…

Pictures from Day 1

Mission Trip to Mexico – Day 1