Day 3 and Bucerias is still as hot and sunny as ever! Our team
started out the morning with a surprisingly American breakfast of
granola and yogurt...Yet it still tastes better when in Mexico!
Shortly afterwards the team split into two separate groups to host our
VBS classes for the children. One group drove to Santa Fe and the
other one drove to San Vicente. Dan and Ann always seemed to be in
charge of transportation so i suppose the situation that some of us
ended up in can be blamed on them ;) Okay, so i was fortunate enough
to be riding in a five passenger vehicle with five passengers. In the
fifteen passenger van, however, there was a whopping TWENTY TWO
PEOPLE. They started out with a comfortable amount of people, but
apparently had picked some others up along the way.
Once in Santa Fe (My VBS location) we started setting up tents and
tarps and began preparations for the skit we were to perform. We
served a fairly large lunch to all of the Mexicans that were in
attendance at VBS. Shortly afterwards we performed our skit, which was
a smashing hit! The craft that we had for the kids coincided with the
tale of Jonah. We had little googly-eyes that were meant to be stuck
on the paper whales, that in reality, ended up on childrens'
foreheads, workers' sunglasses, and even a dog. Before the end of VBS
we all played an intense game of soccer, which ended with both
Elizabeth making a fantastic goal, and Felipe face-planting....yeah.
He actually did that three times today, and he has the scrapes and
cuts to prove it.
After the VBS classes we all met back at the church for youth group.
We attended the Junior high youth class first, also known as Eklektos.
There, Justin and I (and the demons) performed our skit, which was
followed by one of Dan's messages. Before the Senior high class there
was some cleaning that needed to be done...which was quite the
experience for some of us. For instance, Elizabeth learned how to mop
(correctly and incorrectly) And i learned how to drive (and crash) the
mop cart, and Michelle was there to be sure that it was all caught on
camera. Fortunately Carmelo was there to help us all out...
The Senior high class,also known as Anormal was a force to be
reckoned with. All the songs were in Spanish so we didn't understand
any of the words, but at the same time you could feel that the Lord's
presence was strong in the room. At the end of the message, again by
Dan, everyone began worshipping in their own ways and Freddy, one of
the interns, began calling people down to the front so that people
could pray for them. I was one of the people called down and was
caught completely by surprise. Some of the people put their hands on
me and began to pray for me. These people didn't even know me yet they
all seemed to care so much. At that point i heard God speaking to me,
pulling me closer to these people. I feel that God wants me to be a
part of full time missions. This is the first time I've ever heard
this calling and its a lot to take in. It scares me to think about
dropping all of the plans that i already have to follow a path totally
different and unfamiliar.
Anyway, dinner was fantastic. It consisted of three different types
of burritos, salad, and hot sauce! Every meal has been absolutely
fantastic so far and we have high expectations for the ones to come!
PS: Hannah has developed a highly sophisticated game that is "required
fun" for the team, involving only a clothes line clip and ninja
skills. The goal of the game is to get the clip attached to another
team member in some way, shape, or form without them knowing. Once the
clip is discovered it must be transmitted to another victim >:)
*CURSEOFTHECLIP*
~From Lauren <3 span="">
6/15/13
Day 2 Our Work Begins!
We started the day off early. We walked the few blocks together to La
Fuente, for breakfast that the church had prepared for us.
Zac, one of the interns, went over our schedule for the week. He
answered questions, gave suggestions and prepared us for what we will
see and encounter while here.
It was already HOT and humid on our way to our first mission to La
Fuente SanVincente. This mission is a place where children go during
the day while their parents work, or for some when parents are not
around much. We set up tables, a tent, chairs, and prepared the food
to be served. During this time, Lauren and I, had the responsibility
to make the mango juice. As we are making the juice, the plastic top
fell in! (There was no harm inflicted upon the children in the making
of the juice) We had the opportunity to play with the kids, Carlos and
Antonio, loved to pass the football, and we had the chance to hold
baby Mona.
I talked with Daniella, the Pastors wife, she was explaining that the
children were at risk of many things. Some wind up in prostitution
thats why it is so important to find a safe place for them to feel
protected. This mission is that place in this neighborhood. It was 90
degrees plus today, yet their smiles made it worth it.
In the afternoon we went to Punta Mita, to a church that has no roof.
We cleaned debris out of the court yard where the future church will
be built. While moving concrete blocks, I inadvertently encountered a
giant lizard, that some may say made me scream like a girl! But...I
say no. Even though there were scorpions, crabs, giant lizards, and
tons of garbage, we all came together as one team and cleaned it all.
We ended the evening by going to homes of those in need of prayer. It
was a great experience to hear their stories and pray over them. God
is so good. He is everywhere you look down here, many people have so
little but their faith in our Lord was so incredible. I feel so
blessed to be a witness to this.
Adios from Brent and Hannah!
We started the day off early. We walked the few blocks together to La
Fuente, for breakfast that the church had prepared for us.
Zac, one of the interns, went over our schedule for the week. He
answered questions, gave suggestions and prepared us for what we will
see and encounter while here.
It was already HOT and humid on our way to our first mission to La
Fuente SanVincente. This mission is a place where children go during
the day while their parents work, or for some when parents are not
around much. We set up tables, a tent, chairs, and prepared the food
to be served. During this time, Lauren and I, had the responsibility
to make the mango juice. As we are making the juice, the plastic top
fell in! (There was no harm inflicted upon the children in the making
of the juice) We had the opportunity to play with the kids, Carlos and
Antonio, loved to pass the football, and we had the chance to hold
baby Mona.
I talked with Daniella, the Pastors wife, she was explaining that the
children were at risk of many things. Some wind up in prostitution
thats why it is so important to find a safe place for them to feel
protected. This mission is that place in this neighborhood. It was 90
degrees plus today, yet their smiles made it worth it.
In the afternoon we went to Punta Mita, to a church that has no roof.
We cleaned debris out of the court yard where the future church will
be built. While moving concrete blocks, I inadvertently encountered a
giant lizard, that some may say made me scream like a girl! But...I
say no. Even though there were scorpions, crabs, giant lizards, and
tons of garbage, we all came together as one team and cleaned it all.
We ended the evening by going to homes of those in need of prayer. It
was a great experience to hear their stories and pray over them. God
is so good. He is everywhere you look down here, many people have so
little but their faith in our Lord was so incredible. I feel so
blessed to be a witness to this.
Adios from Brent and Hannah!
6/13/13
Day 1 (Thursday, Travel Day)
Well we made it friends!!! Deb, Michele, Stephanie, Lauren, Hannah,
Phyliss, Tami, Gary, Brent, Felipe, Justin, Elizabeth, Ann and Dan are
the voyagers of this years Mexico trip.
We started this morning meeting at Colonial Woods at 3am and headed
off to the airport. We made all our flights and it was good thing
Pastor Phil wasn't there to mess that all up for us, we have heard how
he is on flights. Haha!!! NO "Or So" events on this trip so far!!!!
We finally made it to Puerto Vallarta at 3:30pm, 4:30 are time and La
Fuente church had a group of guys there, Carmelo, Zac and Antonio to
be exact, to meet us and take us to the church. After a quick tour of
the church they took us to get settled into our hotel. Oh yeah did we
forget to tell you that when we touched down it was 90 degrees with
75% humidity...a little different than Michigan. We learned very
quickly that air conditioning is a gift from God straight from heaven,
and we look forward to enjoying it every evening.
After we got settled in we headed back to the church and enjoyed a
great meal of homemade Tacos, with 4 different kind of meats to choose
from...of course we all had to try them all!!! After dinner we worked
on our drama for a bit and then headed back to the hotel to rest after
a long, but great, day of travel.
Stay tuned for tomorrows tale of our great adventures!!!
Dan and Ann
2/13/13
Wednesday morning
I am just getting ready to start the next day of leadship training here in Nairobi. Today we will be discussing the qualities of Servanthood, Self-Discipline and Generosity as a leader. Please pray for these women as they are being elevated to positions of leadership, that they will grasp the qualities that will make them effective, Godly leaders here in Africa. This is a new arena for women in Africa. They have not been seen as equals and are now seeing opportunities open up to them that were not possible a few years ago. Our prayer is that as they are given authority they will be prepared to handle it and make the most of the opportunities.
As for other things going on over here...we went out last night for the first time since moving downtown. Nairobi is not super safe at night on the streets so we have mostly been sticking to our hotel....and we have been busy preparing for the next days teaching anyway, but last night we went out. It was fun, but man I cannot believe how many people are out in the streets all the time. There is never a quiet moment in this city. And I mean never!
Well I need I go, my students are coming.
As for other things going on over here...we went out last night for the first time since moving downtown. Nairobi is not super safe at night on the streets so we have mostly been sticking to our hotel....and we have been busy preparing for the next days teaching anyway, but last night we went out. It was fun, but man I cannot believe how many people are out in the streets all the time. There is never a quiet moment in this city. And I mean never!
Well I need I go, my students are coming.
2/10/13
It's Already Saturday
We have been busy since I last wrote? We have continued to hear more regional reports of what is taking place in the major regions of Africa. It has been incredibly encouraging and inspiring to hear all that God is doing around the continent of Africa.
We have had a chance to spend time with leaders from here in Kenya as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Senegal, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia. We have also had the chance to go to the baby orphan zoo to see young animals that have been rescued after losing their parents.
One night we took all of the IAP leaders out to a place called Carnivore for dinner. We had a great time watching them have fun. We were given the chance to eat crocodile, camel, ostrich and a ton of other meats that, in my opinion, should not be eaten. Camel is just too tough to chew! It was a fun experience and I did try everything.
I want to share one story with you that came out of Ethiopia. Two weeks ago one of the leaders was working with some people who were sharing the gospel at a very large event. While the speaker was up beginning to speak something happened and the man was filled with the Spirit and he started speaking in a language they didn't understand. He spoke for quite awhile this way. When he was done a group of Arabs came up to speak with him and started asking him questions about the Lord. He told them he was sorry, but that he didn't speak Arabic. They said, what do you mean, you have been speaking to us about Jesus for the last hour in our language. I just thought that was a story worth sharing.
Just now be of the pastors came to speak with me and he just had a phone call that his father passed away. Please pray for Eugene as he tries to arrange to fly home early and as the eldest son to pay for the medical and funeral expenses.
We have had a chance to spend time with leaders from here in Kenya as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Senegal, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia. We have also had the chance to go to the baby orphan zoo to see young animals that have been rescued after losing their parents.
One night we took all of the IAP leaders out to a place called Carnivore for dinner. We had a great time watching them have fun. We were given the chance to eat crocodile, camel, ostrich and a ton of other meats that, in my opinion, should not be eaten. Camel is just too tough to chew! It was a fun experience and I did try everything.
I want to share one story with you that came out of Ethiopia. Two weeks ago one of the leaders was working with some people who were sharing the gospel at a very large event. While the speaker was up beginning to speak something happened and the man was filled with the Spirit and he started speaking in a language they didn't understand. He spoke for quite awhile this way. When he was done a group of Arabs came up to speak with him and started asking him questions about the Lord. He told them he was sorry, but that he didn't speak Arabic. They said, what do you mean, you have been speaking to us about Jesus for the last hour in our language. I just thought that was a story worth sharing.
Just now be of the pastors came to speak with me and he just had a phone call that his father passed away. Please pray for Eugene as he tries to arrange to fly home early and as the eldest son to pay for the medical and funeral expenses.
2/6/13
The Beginning of Kenya journey
Day One: The traveling
Those who were at church on Sunday and heard Pastor Phil say that traveling with me always has problems....I am happy to report that we made it here without any chaos. It took about 24 hours of sitting, waiting and sitting, but we arrived here at about 11pm on Tuesday night without any real hold ups or crazy things.
Day One of the International Africa Partners annual meeting
The westerners all met together this morning to pray and talk about our role in the meetings this week. The goal is for the African pastors to take full leadership which means we need to stay in the background and mostly listen. That should be interesting for a bunch of pastors who mostly talk to just listen.
We have just finished hearing the reports from each of the African regional directors and this is a snippet from my journal from that experience.
Journal Notes for Africa trip 2013
Quote from a young pastor who oversees the West Africa region "To be very clear...to be a Chrisitian in Northern Nigeria you have no future. You have to be willing to give up everything here to get the One who is everything.
Very humbling to be here to help train any of these people.
So I think this is going to be an awesome adventure as I get to spending time hearing all that God is doing through the lives of these leaders.
Stay tuned...
So I think this is going to be an awesome adventure as I get to spending time hearing all that God is doing through the lives of these leaders.
Stay tuned...
1/30/13
Hey everybody! Just wanted to let you know that I am soon off to Africa . Pastor Phil and I will be heading to the International Africa Partners yearly conference in Nairobi, Kenya to be a part of the conference and then the following week to teach classes for the national pastor's as well as the women leaders in the churches. It should be a great time and I will try and update this each day to let you know what is happening during our time away. We will also be traveling with Jim Keller, our Michigan regional director. We would appreciate your prayers while we are away.
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