Thursday, March 1st, Day Eight:
Our last work day. Hard to believe time has flown so fast. So with it being our last big day to work we decided to get up early and give it our all. We left early with our work gloves and water bottles in hand and headed out to one of the church’s missions in Puenta Mita. The mission is very simple; currently all they have is a square plot of land with a fence around it and a few canopies they set up twice a week when they meet. Eventually they hope to build a simple permanent structure there to better serve the people. What they needed us to do was help with digging holes to start making that dream a reality.
So we dug holes. We dug holes like nobody’s business. The thing with digging holes in Mexico in the dry season is that it is not an easy process. The ground is hard, very hard. And not only is the ground hard, it is mixed with clay and gravel, at times making you feel like you are trying to dig into cement. So Ann and I teamed up as a dynamic duo and we went to work. We slaved away under that hot sun for several hours and by the time we left Ann and I were excessively proud of our two holes we had dug.
As we were driving home from our hole digging, John-Mark decided to surprise us with a special treat of showing us one of his favorite beaches. It was gorgeous. The sand was perfect, the water cool and refreshing, the landscape exquisite. You could see towering in the distance those strong Mexican mountains and at the side of the beach was a lovely cliff wall that the waves splashed against. While we only had enough time to dip our feet in, it was still a wonderful treat after working so hard all morning.
After a wonderful lunch and cleaning ourselves up, we now have a few hours to rest before JohnMark and Moorea take us to the hospital in Puerta Vallarta to hand out sandwiches and pray with the sick. It should be a good experience because it seems hospitals abroad are very different from what we understand hospitals to be in the states.
But before I sign off I’d love to tell you just a bit more abot our activities yesterday at the orphanage. We started the morning off with cleaning the dormitories and closets of the local orphanage while the children were away at school. The closets were overflowing with clothes so we sorted and organized them based on size and type. The orpahage has about 22 children that live there ranging in the ages from 2 to 12. What’s interesting is that a lot of them still have some relatives living (although their parents are deceased) but the relatives can’t afford to keep them or work so much they can’t care for them. So the children live in the orphanage and occasionally get to go stay with their relatives (like on the weekends and such). But because of this, these children likely will never be adopted either, because the relatives would have to give consent.
After our cleaning the children came home from school and we had the special treat of playing with them. It is amazing how giving your time can sometimes be the most precious gift you can give to someone in need. These children had plenty of clothes that had been donated; we knew since we had just cleaned out their closets! But this was one of the first times that they had someone give their time and just play with them.
I was hugged so many times, they aren’t afraid to show you how much you mean to them. The kids kept coming up and asking us to play with them. We pushed them on the swings, went on the slide, played soccer, rode bikes, jumped on the trampoline and took pictures. It must be obvious to them that I am a big softy because again they confiscated my camera and had a blast taking pictures with it. In fact, some of their pictures they took were even better than mine! As they were taking pictures, a little girl came up to me and wanted me to pick her up. At first I thought she wanted me to carry her around and play with her so I jostled her around and pretended like I was going to drop her, but she kept pretending like she was sleeping. I eventually realized that all she wanted was to be held. So I sat down and just held her for a good long while. Most children would have gotten bored with how long we sat there, but for an orphan living with so many other children, being held is probably a rare treat. I guess we forget the value of just touching someone and knowing that we are loved. It was honestly quite heart wrenching to sit there as she wrapped her little arms around my neck and just sat there. It was such a special moment.
It is moments like that, that make me realize the value of short term mission trips. Though we can’t change the world in just ten days, the gifts we gave to those children yesterday will last. But even more than that, this mission trip has challenged me to be the hands and feet of Jesus wherever I go. I shouldn’t just show Jesus to people when I am in another country, I should be digging holes for local missions, playing with orphans, helping the church wherever I am; shining the light of Christ and illuminating into the darkness. We all should be.
-Chelsea
3/1/12
Wednesday
Wed. Feb. 29
Beautiful day in Bucerias
Sunshine 75 degrees
9am... We took the van to the orphanage. We helped organize until the kids got out of school. Then we played and took pictures with them in the playground!
When we got back, we walked and got smoothies. I think Ann must have been bumped on her head, because she keeps paying for everything. ;)
5:30pm... Back to church to set up for Spanish church service.
Walked to a restaurant for a wonderful Mexican meal. After dinner we headed back home for our vespers service (group devotions).
It was nice to get a break from painting, moving things and the heavy work. Our muscles are stiff and sore. We have two more working days but God will give us energy so the team will do well. It is a small part, but makes a difference.
Matthew 25:21, "The Master answered, 'You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.'"
Thank you for all your support. It makes a difference.
God be with you,
Gary and your Colonial Woods Mission Team
Beautiful day in Bucerias
Sunshine 75 degrees
9am... We took the van to the orphanage. We helped organize until the kids got out of school. Then we played and took pictures with them in the playground!
When we got back, we walked and got smoothies. I think Ann must have been bumped on her head, because she keeps paying for everything. ;)
5:30pm... Back to church to set up for Spanish church service.
Walked to a restaurant for a wonderful Mexican meal. After dinner we headed back home for our vespers service (group devotions).
It was nice to get a break from painting, moving things and the heavy work. Our muscles are stiff and sore. We have two more working days but God will give us energy so the team will do well. It is a small part, but makes a difference.
Matthew 25:21, "The Master answered, 'You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.'"
Thank you for all your support. It makes a difference.
God be with you,
Gary and your Colonial Woods Mission Team
2/29/12
Tuesday
3:30pm The rooster were crowing again last night! In fact I hear them right now! J
This morning Gary, Val and I (Bev) walked 2 miles to the café to get coffee (café) and bread (pan). After breakfast we all headed over to the church for our last day of painting. It’s been hard work but fun working together and getting to the staff of La Fuente. Two wonderful couples who volunteer at the church fixed us a “gringo” lunch of sandwiches and potato and broccoli salads. More good food!
We had a few hours off so… some of us walked back to downtown Bucerias to visit some new and very precious friends from Alaska. Russ and Charlene attend La Fuente and live here during the winter months. We have been very blessed to have met some amazing brothers and sisters in Christ!
5:15pm Pete and Celina are going with Ann and Val to San Vicente mission. Chelsea, Gary and I are on our way to San Ignacio.
We have adopted the big, friendly dog that lives downstairs. This morning we met her owner and found out that her name is Azul (we’ve been calling her Rosa). She (the dog) greets us every day as we come and go.
10pm Back from the mission! We began setting up chairs, tables and a sound system. There approximately 35 people there, lots of kids. Before worship we all began taking pictures of the children, they loved looking at the pictures of themselves. J After worship Chelsea and I went upstairs with the children where AJ taught the older kids and Moorea the younger. The lesson was about God parting the Red Sea as the Israelites were fleeing from Egypt. Then the older kids had a work sheet and the younger a coloring page. After that we took the kids to the park where we played and laughed. At one point one of the little girls confiscated Chelsea’s camera and took pictures of all her friends. The town of San Ignacio has only about 300 people. In many of the families both parents work and the children are left to raise themselves. They warmed up to us and we had a great time playing with them.
And now it’s time for bed. Good night all!
Bev
2/28/12
Monday
Monday, Day 5- Valerie
Another busy day in paradise. Once again we walked over to la Fuente after breakfast and once there began to paint. There is much to do and so we work very hard. Mima and Maya (Maya’s mom and Pastor Keith’s wife) prepared for us a great sopa de frijoles with all the trimmings. So it was a 9-4 day of work, it looks so good and I’m so thankful to show our love for Christ and His people through this effort. A friend has prepared encouragement cards for me to read each day and one I read today reminds me to “Relax! It’s all in God’s hands” with Psalm 3:5 to say “I like down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.” And that is so true! Even though we were all exhausted we trekked into the centro area to eat tonight. We had a great time relaxing, eating and lots of laughter. John-mark and Moorea met us in town so they could share with us their favorite churro stand. Omigosh! Never had one before and I’ll just say I’m hooked. You’ll have to take a minute and ask one of our team for details. Now we are back at our hacienda, preparing to “lie down and sleep” in order to “wake again” and see again how our great God sustains us in these exciting days.
Dio te bendigo, su amigos. Valeria
Another busy day in paradise. Once again we walked over to la Fuente after breakfast and once there began to paint. There is much to do and so we work very hard. Mima and Maya (Maya’s mom and Pastor Keith’s wife) prepared for us a great sopa de frijoles with all the trimmings. So it was a 9-4 day of work, it looks so good and I’m so thankful to show our love for Christ and His people through this effort. A friend has prepared encouragement cards for me to read each day and one I read today reminds me to “Relax! It’s all in God’s hands” with Psalm 3:5 to say “I like down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.” And that is so true! Even though we were all exhausted we trekked into the centro area to eat tonight. We had a great time relaxing, eating and lots of laughter. John-mark and Moorea met us in town so they could share with us their favorite churro stand. Omigosh! Never had one before and I’ll just say I’m hooked. You’ll have to take a minute and ask one of our team for details. Now we are back at our hacienda, preparing to “lie down and sleep” in order to “wake again” and see again how our great God sustains us in these exciting days.
Dio te bendigo, su amigos. Valeria
2/27/12
Sunday in Mexico
Sunday, Februrary 26th, Day Four:
Sunday. Today was a day of rest off from work, but a day still packed with activity. We arose early and went to the church and helped set up for service. We transported their sound equipment out to the covered area where they hold service. That is the one thing about a church plant that would be hard to me is having to completely set up and tear down for service. It makes me really appreciate having everything in its place at CW.
The service was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed worshipping with the people there. They have a certain warmness; they didn’t seem like strangers at all. Overall the service was very similar to ours in the states other than one thing; the greeting time. At CW there is the standard: greet three people in front of you and three people behind and then sit down and it lasts maybe two minutes. Here in Mexico it is quite different; they walk all over the place saying hello and greeting friends and they actually get into conversations with each other and it lasted about ten minutes or so!
After church we helped tear down and then decided to walk around in downtown Bucerias to find someplace fun to eat with Pete and Selena. Selena led us to a very authentic Mexican experience at a tostada stand. Tables and chairs are set up in the street and they make the tostadas right there in front of you. One thing I did not anticipate was so much seafood. In my mind I always thought of Mexican food being strictly quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, nachos and so on and using either pork, chicken, steak or hamburger. Now through this trip I have learned that Mexican towns on the coast like this one love their seafood.
We had a very relaxing afternoon strolling around amongst souvenir stands and through various parts of town. We all got homemade Mexican ice cream and sat in the warm sun enjoying it. Poor Ann’s ice cream melted the quickest for whatever reason, but it definitely was amusing watching her race to eat it before it disappeared onto the pavement. My favorite part of the day was actually just our walk home because we got to walk on the beach at the water’s edge and enjoy the beauty of the Mexican coast.
La Fuente ministers to both English and Spanish speakers. The morning service was in English so in the evening we went back and partook in the Spanish service as well. To be honest, I enjoyed the Spanish service far more. There is something special about how the Spanish speakers worship. They aren’t afraid to express themselves or show how they are feeling. They just lay themselves out there for God and the world to see. I think if we as Americans could afford to be a bit more like them in our worship we’d be the better for it. While at the evening service there was a group of children sitting in the front row that caught my eye. On the end there was a beautiful little girl in a red dress that had the sweetest smile. I started to take her picture from where I was and she caught me in the act and smiled even bigger. I motioned for her to hold her pose and took another picture and gave her a thumbs up. She gave me a thumbs up back. Then she told her friend next to her that I was taking pictures and her friend and she posed again for me. This time I just came over closer and took several pictures of the children in the row and showed them to them and they loved it! It was so fun having a time of simple human connection with these children despite the language barrier. We later learned that these children are all orphans from the local orphanage which we are hoping to visit later this week. Hopefully I can find my new friends once we visit. As we left church tonight I was walking past my friend in the little red dress and she stopped in front of me, smiled and blew me a kiss. So precious.
One of the things I love most about this mission trip experience is that we are continuously working with the same group of people and so are building relationships with them. Each day we work with them I get to know them better and I love the prospect of getting to partner with their ministry more in the future. God is doing exciting things here among this church and it is such an honor to get to briefly be a part of it.
P.S. While this didn't happen on Sunday, there was a little adventure Saturday night that I'm sure you all would like to hear about. After a delicious dinner, Ann and I went to the church to hang out and catch up on our facebook and emails. As we sat there updating our internet lives Ann jokingly said to me, "We better make sure we don't leave too late, we wouldn't want to get locked in the church". I laughed and responded, "Yeah, that would be ironic". We sat there joking each other, I was giving her a hard time about the bugs she kept felt bumping into her face but that we could never see, she was telling me updates from people on facebook. It actually has provided nice time for Ann and I to bond. But as we finally went to leave the church, we were locked in. The fences all around the building had barbed wire and we didn't have any way of contacting anyone outside of the building. I was ready to try to climb the fence and face the wire but Ann wasn't too keen on that idea. It was just bizarre because as we were sitting in the main room earlier, the youth group was meeting, and all at once a group of teenagers came running in, took about ten mops and brooms and ran off. We assumed we were safe to stay there until the brooms and such were returned but clearly this was not the case. Finally, we found that we could push on the entrance of the gate just enough to squeeze me through, but we still needed to free Ann. I ran back to our house and alerted our teammates of Ann's entrapement. They thought I was joking. I wasn't. We then ran and found John-Mark (our church contact who lived nearby) of the situation and begged for poor Ann to be released. After laughing, and wondering how she had locked herself in, he graciously gave us the key to her freedom. Now Ann continues to claim that it is my fault we were locked in, but don't you believe that for a second, for if she hadn’t been teasing me via facebook, none of this would have ever happened, and that would have been a shame indeed. :)
Sunday. Today was a day of rest off from work, but a day still packed with activity. We arose early and went to the church and helped set up for service. We transported their sound equipment out to the covered area where they hold service. That is the one thing about a church plant that would be hard to me is having to completely set up and tear down for service. It makes me really appreciate having everything in its place at CW.
The service was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed worshipping with the people there. They have a certain warmness; they didn’t seem like strangers at all. Overall the service was very similar to ours in the states other than one thing; the greeting time. At CW there is the standard: greet three people in front of you and three people behind and then sit down and it lasts maybe two minutes. Here in Mexico it is quite different; they walk all over the place saying hello and greeting friends and they actually get into conversations with each other and it lasted about ten minutes or so!
After church we helped tear down and then decided to walk around in downtown Bucerias to find someplace fun to eat with Pete and Selena. Selena led us to a very authentic Mexican experience at a tostada stand. Tables and chairs are set up in the street and they make the tostadas right there in front of you. One thing I did not anticipate was so much seafood. In my mind I always thought of Mexican food being strictly quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, nachos and so on and using either pork, chicken, steak or hamburger. Now through this trip I have learned that Mexican towns on the coast like this one love their seafood.
We had a very relaxing afternoon strolling around amongst souvenir stands and through various parts of town. We all got homemade Mexican ice cream and sat in the warm sun enjoying it. Poor Ann’s ice cream melted the quickest for whatever reason, but it definitely was amusing watching her race to eat it before it disappeared onto the pavement. My favorite part of the day was actually just our walk home because we got to walk on the beach at the water’s edge and enjoy the beauty of the Mexican coast.
La Fuente ministers to both English and Spanish speakers. The morning service was in English so in the evening we went back and partook in the Spanish service as well. To be honest, I enjoyed the Spanish service far more. There is something special about how the Spanish speakers worship. They aren’t afraid to express themselves or show how they are feeling. They just lay themselves out there for God and the world to see. I think if we as Americans could afford to be a bit more like them in our worship we’d be the better for it. While at the evening service there was a group of children sitting in the front row that caught my eye. On the end there was a beautiful little girl in a red dress that had the sweetest smile. I started to take her picture from where I was and she caught me in the act and smiled even bigger. I motioned for her to hold her pose and took another picture and gave her a thumbs up. She gave me a thumbs up back. Then she told her friend next to her that I was taking pictures and her friend and she posed again for me. This time I just came over closer and took several pictures of the children in the row and showed them to them and they loved it! It was so fun having a time of simple human connection with these children despite the language barrier. We later learned that these children are all orphans from the local orphanage which we are hoping to visit later this week. Hopefully I can find my new friends once we visit. As we left church tonight I was walking past my friend in the little red dress and she stopped in front of me, smiled and blew me a kiss. So precious.
One of the things I love most about this mission trip experience is that we are continuously working with the same group of people and so are building relationships with them. Each day we work with them I get to know them better and I love the prospect of getting to partner with their ministry more in the future. God is doing exciting things here among this church and it is such an honor to get to briefly be a part of it.
P.S. While this didn't happen on Sunday, there was a little adventure Saturday night that I'm sure you all would like to hear about. After a delicious dinner, Ann and I went to the church to hang out and catch up on our facebook and emails. As we sat there updating our internet lives Ann jokingly said to me, "We better make sure we don't leave too late, we wouldn't want to get locked in the church". I laughed and responded, "Yeah, that would be ironic". We sat there joking each other, I was giving her a hard time about the bugs she kept felt bumping into her face but that we could never see, she was telling me updates from people on facebook. It actually has provided nice time for Ann and I to bond. But as we finally went to leave the church, we were locked in. The fences all around the building had barbed wire and we didn't have any way of contacting anyone outside of the building. I was ready to try to climb the fence and face the wire but Ann wasn't too keen on that idea. It was just bizarre because as we were sitting in the main room earlier, the youth group was meeting, and all at once a group of teenagers came running in, took about ten mops and brooms and ran off. We assumed we were safe to stay there until the brooms and such were returned but clearly this was not the case. Finally, we found that we could push on the entrance of the gate just enough to squeeze me through, but we still needed to free Ann. I ran back to our house and alerted our teammates of Ann's entrapement. They thought I was joking. I wasn't. We then ran and found John-Mark (our church contact who lived nearby) of the situation and begged for poor Ann to be released. After laughing, and wondering how she had locked herself in, he graciously gave us the key to her freedom. Now Ann continues to claim that it is my fault we were locked in, but don't you believe that for a second, for if she hadn’t been teasing me via facebook, none of this would have ever happened, and that would have been a shame indeed. :)
2/26/12
Saturday Update
Saturday, February 25th
Sunshine, 78 degrees
At 7:30am we walk over to the church for a ride.
Ann and Val went to teach the adults at San Ignacio.
Chelsea, Bev and I (Gary) went to Punta de Mita. We are to help in a church service for about 40 elementary age kids. Chelsea has a 30 minute program about Zachaeus that we will do as part of the service.
Back to the church at 12:30pm for lunch and back to paint. After dinner we have our vespers (team meeting). Just got done when we heard weird sound outside, look out somebody shooting off fireworks; they were wonderful.
The people are very friendly. They take good care of us and serve awesome Mexican food!
We go to bed knowing God is with us and giving us his energy to do the work. (Matthew 20:28) The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.
Thank you for all your support.
God be with you,
Gary from your Colonial Woods Mission Team
Sunshine, 78 degrees
At 7:30am we walk over to the church for a ride.
Ann and Val went to teach the adults at San Ignacio.
Chelsea, Bev and I (Gary) went to Punta de Mita. We are to help in a church service for about 40 elementary age kids. Chelsea has a 30 minute program about Zachaeus that we will do as part of the service.
Back to the church at 12:30pm for lunch and back to paint. After dinner we have our vespers (team meeting). Just got done when we heard weird sound outside, look out somebody shooting off fireworks; they were wonderful.
The people are very friendly. They take good care of us and serve awesome Mexican food!
We go to bed knowing God is with us and giving us his energy to do the work. (Matthew 20:28) The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.
Thank you for all your support.
God be with you,
Gary from your Colonial Woods Mission Team
2/25/12
Friday in Mexico
James 1:1 says “Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds…” even when the roosters crow all night! It seems our condo is situated between two rooster farms and they like to sing (?) at night. Funny! We began our day exchanging money, grocery shopping then painting at the church with John-Mark and his wife Moorea. They are showing us around and answering our questions.
After cleaning up we walked down to the “Gringo” part of town for dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Tired, we returned to our apartment, kinda freaking out in the dark, for our team meeting. It was a full productive day and we all feel blessed to be here.
Thank you for praying for us!
-Bev
After cleaning up we walked down to the “Gringo” part of town for dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Tired, we returned to our apartment, kinda freaking out in the dark, for our team meeting. It was a full productive day and we all feel blessed to be here.
Thank you for praying for us!
-Bev
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)