The first of many

Here I sit at 10:30 at night when I really should be in bed. But my blog is completely empty and I must change that.

I returned from Mexico yesterday morning around 7 am, so I am adjusting to life back at home. But only for a short few weeks. I will fly out on February 25th for Peru. But I'm getting ahead of myself already. Let me tell you some more about Mexico...

We flew to San Diego on December 31st. Celebrated New Years twice, on the plane and once we arrived at the church in Chula Vista. Friday morning we drove across the border and arrived at La Casa orphanage around 11 am. Being back at La Casa really felt like being at home. Well ok, not exactly like home, but I feel comfortable and the kids and workers have become a part of my family. It was so great to see the kids again. This is my third time visiting La Casa so I've gotten to know a lot of the kids pretty well.

Mexico Outreach this year was a bit different than previous years. We had two teams of 10, one would stay at La Casa all day and the other (my team) travelled to a church called Monte Sinai in the Colony of Tres de Octubre which was about 20 minutes away from the orphanage depending on traffic. The pastor of the church is Enrique Romero. What an amazing man he is. He has such a passion for the Lord and for this church, especially the children. On Monday the first thing we did when we arrived after having breakfast at La Casa was walk through the streets near the church inviting kids to come to VBS. Enrique had flyers made up and everything. And he was definitely not ashamed of what we were doing. He would literally yell "buenos diaaaaaaaaaaaas!" at every house until someone came out to talk to him. It was so great. We were also greeted by many many dogs. So many. It was absolutely insane how many dogs; big ones, small ones, scary ones, sick ones, black ones, spotted ones and cute ones. I met a girl named Noami and I saw that she had a cute little puppy. She let me hold it. Its name was Bonbon and it was about the size of a large coffee mug. We went out with Enrique and did recruiting almost every day before VBS. Each morning we had around 35 kids attend the VBS. The kids liked singing and doing crafts the most. We also played games and did a bible lesson. One thing that Enrique really wanted was for us to incorporate some of the Mexican members of the church into our VBS plans. He really has a passion for reaching children and wanted us to help equip the congregation to be able to minister to children. So that was pretty cool. Here are some pictures from VBS


two brothers with their bracelets


Marcos tying a salvation bracelet on one of the kids


This little girl was very sweet. And I can't stop thinking about her. She kept on asking when we were going to give the kids toys. And I told her over and over again that we didn't have toys to give away. Each time she looked at me with disappointment and told me that her mother said to go to the church for VBS because the Americans would give her toys. That just broke my heart.

After VBS was over, the ladies of the church would make us lunch. And let me tell you, it was always delicious! Tamales, chicken, fruit and so much more. mmmmm. Then we would start on our work project. We painted the sanctuary building inside and out, and the other church building outside. We also built two small walls to make two small sunday school classrooms and painted them as well. So I am now an expert painter. Well not really. There was a man from the church named Agustin who was really in charge of all the painting. He is such a great guy and I miss him a LOT. He was always smiling and loved to talk. He knew some english so it was fun to get to know him. He is also a very good musician so we enjoyed some of his guitar playing. His wife and two children are still living in Chiapas, which is the southern most state in Mexico. Agustin is in Tijuana because he is trying to get into the US for work. He has worked in South Carolina for a contractor doing construction and handy work. Which is where he learned English and painting. He hopes to go back to South Carolina in April.

Here is a picture of the view from the church:


And crafts on the last day:


Team Picture with Agustin (to the left in the green t-shirt)


Wow...I'm really on a roll here. I'll stop with the pictures for now. I've put them all up on Facebook, so check 'em out. Working at the church was just such a wonderful experience. The thing that struck me the most was the joy that the people had. And the only possible joy that could come out of such devastating poverty is from the Lord, and it was really inspiring to realize that.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

The people that I met in Mexico have very little, but are experiencing this "life to the full" that comes through Jesus Christ.

My first day back, I dropped my Mom off at work at our church and ran into the handyman who is an older gentleman from the church. He saw me, it took a moment to register who I was, then he asked (with a cheesy attempt at saying Mexico with a Spanish accent) "How was Mexico?" I replied "Warm and wonderful". Then his response left me speechless: "You call that wonderful? Those people are terrible!" I didn't even know what to say, so I just stared at him, then feeling the uneasiness he said "Well maybe you found some of the good ones". To which I replied "I sure did". I left it at that, went into the bathroom and cried. It just hurt so much that he would say something like that. The people that I met were kind, generous, compassionate, caring, faithful, loving and smart. These are the Mexicans that I have fallen in love with.

I'll leave you with a quote that I found that accurately describes how I am feeling and how I've been feeling ever since I returned from my first trip to Russia:
"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of knowing and loving people in more than one place." Miriam Adeney