Monday

Monday July 16th

The First Dry Day

        Well today was our first day of no rain from morning until night. It was nice until you realize how hot the sun can be here. Not complaining though because were finally getting darker which is nice. Except for certain red heads.... Not mentioning names..... But we were able to start our day out with a nice time of devotions with just our group. It was a neat experience of going through James 3 and discussing it thoroughly. We had an amazing time of prayer and singing Amazing Grace as we heard the interns from the church singing in Spanish in the background. Just an amazing time we have together from morning until night time. After that we had the honor to teach the interns our "King of Hearts" drama. What a blessing and inspiration the workers are at the church. They are always starving for more ways to press God into everyone they come across lives. After we finish that and get a few minutes of soccer in we did some work projects around the church. I had the opportunity to work with Jonah, my dad, Alexis, and Daniel. All amazing guys and a blast to work with. We painted different parts of their play ground and had a great time to sit and discuss personal stories and create a great friendship with each other. Again those interns are so inspirational! They make us feel we've been here forever and we've all known them for life. RIght after we finished painting we had an amazing lunch like normal. I must say the food is amazing here. Everything is so fresh and not greasy. But the best thing about Mexico's schedule is the designated break during the day. You have to love those after noon naps in your nice cold bed. After our afternoon naps we went back to the church and cut up bread and made 202 sandwiches for our event I'll get too. But we had quite the assembly line of cutting bread, spreading mayo(blahhhhkkk), then ham, then lettuce, tomato, and onion. We then took all of the sandwiches loaded them into coolers and loaded those into the back of the truck. Oh and by the way, truck rides consist of cramming as many people into the back of it as we can and then driving in it and going 60 miles per hour down the expressway standing in the bed. You find out how normal that is around here though. Anyways, we drove to a poverty stricken neighborhood and split into groups. We split up with two boys two girls and walked up and down the streets telling people " Hello, we are having a program in the plaza. We are doing some dramas, music, testimonies, crafts, stories, and giving food to the kids. We would love it if you would come." And boy did they come. What a huge group. Asking people was quite the humbling experience. The people's houses are just absolutely unbelievable. You just ask yourself how could anyone live here?! The house's are pretty much all of the cardboard boxes they could find, with tarps, corn feed bags, and sadly you could see right through one wall of the house to the other side of it and possibly the same through their neighbor's house. The kids who ran around either had clothes that who knows when they got them or even the younger kids didn't have any. You would just look around and realize that we are ridiculously blessed by having such a huge wardrobe at home and just being able to have a house. These people don't live to be socially accepted, they live to survive and to provide "maybe" a meal here and there. But after our  experience of walking the streets we went back to the plaza and began our skits and testimonies. The testimonies and skits were amazing and I know we all felt blessed to have the chance to do these. Brad then told the story of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors. While the rest setup tables with the coolers of sandwiches on them. We then cut the sandwiches in half so we had 404 sandwiches. After the story we had everyone line up in a line and told everyone the sandwiches were for the kids only. So all the kids lined up in one line while the adults lined up in another. The adults received a bag of flour, oil, and other food supplies. We then handed everything out to the kids and adults. I have never been so humbled to see so much thanks and just hunger in a child's face as I did today. It was truly heartwrenching to see that look on a child's face but yet they still have a smile. Sadly during all of this a woman came from her house and was yelling at everyone for believing in Jesus and supporting such craziness. Very sad, but yet all of the people told us she was just crazy and know one listens to her. After all of the food was passed out we got a game of soccer in with the kids. But do you think a kid who has never played soccer before could jump into a game of soccer with a group of Mexican kids? Guess again, I quit because it was sad how horrible I looked. So I picked up trash with Carmello(intern), Lauren, and some others. We then went and made balloon animals for the kids. Which they find fascinating and are crazy for. You would never guess a balloon sword could make so many kids flock to  you. And then when you are finished making them and more kids come around, you literally have to run to the car or else you will be hurt by angry little kids wanting a balloon hat or flower. Don't worry everyone we are safe and no kids were hurt in the making of those animals. After leaving the last sword behind we load up and hit the roads again. The rides back are just amazing. Brad and I were the only ones to ride with some of the interns and it was amazing singing praise and worship standing and sitting while traveling 50 miles per hour down the expressway. We sang in english while others sang in spanish. After arriving back to the church and having a great meal. We get to crash and enjoy talking to our families back home. I feel we are all excited but tired at the same time. Be in prayer for our team and for a little extra energy tomorrow since we have a long day with no nap. God has blessed our times together and will continue to bless us. The seed has been germinated today from the sun and no rain. All is well mi comprondres. God bless. O and Brad just accidentally shoed a gecko into a room so if we hear screaming at 2am we will know why. Adios,
Jordan