Wednesday in Mexico

¡Hola amigos! ¿Qué onda? We had another great day in Mexico. For breakfast we had sausage and Caribbean French Toast. It had raisins, coconut, and maybe something else. We put syrup on it. It was sweet and really good. Of course there was fresh fruit - mango and banana. 

After breakfast we went to the Vallarta Mission. It is in a building that has been used somewhat as a nightclub for parties. The church was renting it two days a week. God just recently opened it up for them to be able to rent it full time, so now they can do things such as paint and build. Colonial Woods is actually funding this project. 

At Vallarta, Pastor Ann, Pastor Dan, Gary and Brent worked on framing walls for classrooms and started drywalling them. We will paint them tomorrow. The rest of us went to pray at people's homes. We all left in the same van but frequently separated into two groups to be able to reach more people. The first few homes we visited were of people who were somehow associated with the church. Later, we went to homes of people we did not know at all. We introduced ourselves and told them we would like to give them a care package, talk to them about God, and pray for them if they wanted us to. It's amazing to see what God is doing here. We actually got to walk up to random people's houses and they invited us in to pray for them. Everywhere we went they did their best to offer us chairs and be hospitable. 

After praying for people we continued our long day of work at the Vallarta church. We did tasks such as:  painting, scraping, sweeping, dry walling, cleaning, and setting up and putting away chairs and tables. At 6:00 it was time to get ready for the evening service. Of course we were all covered with dirt, paint and sweat, so we needed to clean up. When we asked where to clean up, the locals told us to go take a 'Mexican shower' - a hose on the front sidewalk. Between the hose and a lot of wet wipes we were able to make ourselves look somewhat presentable. A change of clothes and a little water will go a long way.

We all got to attend the worship portion of the service and participate in singing the Spanish-language songs, which was fun. Next, our drama team members presented the drama. After Brent and Hannah started the drama, a nearby rooster crowed at the perfect inopportune moment. Despite the many interyptions of the rooster, the drama was well received. 

Ann preached the service in the main room where just two short hours before we had painted pillars. Meanwhile, one of our VBS teams taught a children's class in one of the brand new classrooms that was built today. The VBS went very well. The kids were engaged and enjoyed Tammy's storytelling. 

After church we helped the congregation clean up and then ate dinner right there at the Vallarta church. They made us some delicious ham and cheese quesadillas with beans, salsa, jalapeños, and salad on the side that all could go in the quesadilla. They even made us some tasty chocolate cake for dessert!

After dinner we took the 45 minute drive back to Bucerias. Pastor Dan drove one of the vans back, just as he had driven it there. He did a great job. We didn't hit our heads on the ceiling once!

Back at the hotel we had a brief team meeting and headed to bed after a long but great day.

Stephanie and Felipe