Well, its the last day of our fantastic mexico trip and were happy to go home but at the same time sad to be leaving.  This week has had an amazing affect on me and my walk with God.  A lot has happened this week and were trying to soak it all in. There has been some wonderful speakers telling us and helping us understanding more about our God and the BIble. We've heard some testimonies from a bunch of people. Each testimony was different in its own way, but in a lot of ways they were the same. Every one has built a house and it was really touching to see the look on those families faces as we were building and as we were finished.  We loved playing with all the families and the children at the orphanage.  Even though we had a lot of fun there were some times that was very emotional and very touching. All our hearts went out to those kids and it was amazing how they gave us so much food that they knew they couldnt afford just to feed us one meal so we can have a full stomach as we worked on a tiny little house. No matter how small the house was they were filled with joy when they saw it finished. We also noticed no matter how little they had they were so happy and just filled with joy that you would never expect they live so poorly. It made us realize that we need to appreciate what we really have because there are people that have almost nothing but still happy. So this week has been a roller coaster that is now coming to an end As we eat our last meal here at the Caravan and say our goodbyes to Mexico, we remember all the good times and the emotional times that we had on this life changing journey.
Sarah and Annie

 

Hi! This is Molly King, blogging on the last full day in beautiful Tijuana! To be honest, I'm still not quite sure how I feel this week has been yet. Haven't exactly had a spare moment to process. But it has definitely been fun, and it seems God is speaking to many of us in big ways. (Be praying for Jessie Rand, she'll be down here as a staff member for the summer! So excited for her!)

First, the light stuff. For me, this week has been full of laughs. Watching the staff prank kids on the work site (nailing junior highers to the wall, asking girls to find tools that don't exist...on Monday, Roman tried to convince me I would do better with a left-handed hammer.!), sharing awkward/hilarious convos with Timothy Holt & Trevor Ashley, playing Ninja on the newly-built roof, and "speed dating" with the team during chapel have all made this one of my favorite weeks ever. PS...the banana splits here are to die for, they include not only banana but apple, strawberry, and pear! Actually the food in general is ten times better than anything found in the States (except Mom's cooking of course..hi Mom!)

Now for the heavier stuff...I came to a rather depressing realization this week. I always thought I went on these short-term missions trips to serve others and to share Christ with them through my actions. Turns out, as much as these families appreciate their new 12x12 ft abode, this week is more for OUR benefit than theirs. The impact we as individuals on this trip make on the people of Tijuana has an extremely little impact on them in the grand scheme of things (unless we happen to lead them to Christ which is HIGHLY unlikely considering we have no personal relationship with them, much less a common language or culture). The purpose of this trip has been to open our eyes to the world's dire need of a Savior. We have learned that our ultimate purpose in this life is to bring glory to God by showing His love to others & by winning them for His kingdom. For me, realizing that I have such a singular purpose in life seems to have lifted a weight off my shoulders. Although I'm still not sure exactly what God's been trying to teach me this week, I know He has been realigning my life's focus from me to Him. Although I do have my own tentative plans for my life, I want my heart and mind to be completely open to whatever He might have in store for me, even if that means sharing the Gospel in some African jungle. Ok, I think I'm done. Everyone's going to get tacos at Old Poblanos and I don't want to get left behind.

Can't wait to see you all soon,

Molly

This is Katelyn Fick! So this week has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. I have been to the orphanage and built three houses. I started out my week by going to the orphanage and got to hang out with the kids there. While I was outside playing with the kids I noticed a little boy who was sitting inside by himself. When I asked an adult what was wrong with him, they told me that he has down syndrome. I went inside to just sit with him and before lunch was ready he stood up in his chair and wanting me to hold him. We walked around for awhile and he just loved being held and touched. Throughout the day many kids came in and out and said hi to him to make him feel loved. Of all three builds I worked on the one that touched me the most was yesterdays. The family was so gracious to have us and serve us. There was a mom, dad, and a young girl who was 11. Before we started I noticed that the girl was deaf so I used the little sign language I know to try and talk to her. She was so excited that someone was able to talk to her and she starting teaching me knew words so that we were able to talk more. Every chance she got, she was by my side helping with whatever task laid before her. After finishing the build, my group, the family, and I gathered in the house to pray for where they would be living. Luckily we have a girl from grace who is able to speak some Spanish and translate for us gringo's. The father of the house then began to thank us for the work we had done but was unable to go on because he could not stop the tears from pouring down his face. He was so glad that someone wanted to help him and his family. Before we left the sight he saw that I had my journal with me and asked to write in it so I let him! When he gave it back to me I read what he wrote and it said (not exactly word for word) "Today I can thank God for sending his people to help us. I now know that good people are out there who are willing to serve. Thanks be to God." When I read it in the car it brought tears to my eyes because of how much I have and still want more. Down here they have nothing but still have hope and know that everything will be okay in the end. Even though they might not know where there next meal is coming from they are still hopeful that God's people are out there.

Hello! This is Naomi Asplund and Melissa Reeves here from Mexico to talk about this incredible week :) Naomi: Yesterday my group and I went to the orphanage and I have never seen so much joy in children. I was so touched by their willingness to accept me and try to understand my limited Spanish. The kids at the orphanage called me " hermana" (sister) and it reminded me of how we are all brothers in sisters in Christ with overflowing love. I became attached to a little girl with the biggest smile and a boogery nose, and I felt as if she was my own child. These kids were so ready to be loved on and it broke my heart to see that there parents were not there to provide that for them. How awesome is God that He offers his love to all of his children, despite where we have been born because I could have been placed in the same situation as these kids.  It is shocking how a superpower such as the United States can be in arms reach of a place of poverty like Mexico. So many missions teams come down to give God glory and provide help, but it is no where near enough. God is revealing more and more of Himself to me every day and there is nothing else to do but want to share how awesome He is. By the way, the food here is seriously delicious! For example, the family we were building for today made us yummy chicken and afterwards we went out to get ice cream. I got a Maltiado...basically a milkshake, but better.

  Melissa: So today was probably the hottest day that we have been here. Even though normally it's a horrible feeling to work in the heat, me and naomi  decided that we absolutely positively cannot wait for cambodia even though it will be soo much hotter and way humid. woohooo! sooo excited! anyways, today this little boy about 4 years old walked by where we were working and im pretty sure he had the cutest laugh i have ever heard besides symphony's (my niece) laugh. It just reminded me that even though we are all so insignificant compared to the universe as a whole, god still created us each in a unique way. both of us: After working today, we went to get ice cream. we got some "milkshake on steroroids" drink. it was so yummy. but it was like a wonder ball or the hello kitty surprise bags because the flavors all looked so different than ours. oh by the way its called maltiados. but the flavors were hard to tell what they were and there was one with rasins in it. ohh and we had a super delicious lunch. the end :) by the way hi briana!

So yesterday i realized that life is kind of like cutting wood with a saw. When you're cutting the wood, you can see the surface of it and see that you are cutting a clean, strait line. That's like the way you see your life. But underneath the surface, the way you are cutting may not be strait, or even, or clean. It may be slanted or rough. Sometimes, you run into knots in the wood that are just so difficult to cut through. Sometimes, you want to just give up and hand the saw over to someone else. With patience and endurance, you can get through it. You may not always see the way God is working in your life, and you may come to hard points in your life, but eventually you break through and cut the wood all the way through.
-Melissa Reeves

Today was another beautiful day in Mexico and I had the opportunity to visit one of the orphanages. The kids were staying behind horse stables and not one of them was without a runny nose or huge smile. It was incredible to see how much joy these kids had despite their poverty and separation from their parents- while some of the kids were orphans, others were given up simply because the parents could not afford to feed or clothe them. I was playing with a few of the small girls and through my broken Spanish and their infinite patience we came to an understanding. For a small moment it felt as if they were not Mexican orphans and I was an American teen, but we were simply God's children, laughing and playing together. God is definitely at work down here and I am so excited to see how He changes lives. Love, Keriann Uno

          Hola Amigos! Today we built a house for a mother of four living in a cinder block home with one room, one bathroom and a tiny kitchen. It was pretty amazing to see how they lived together in such a small space, yet they were all so very happy. When we got to the site we were greeted warmly by the mother, her name was Maria and she told us that her home was our home and if we needed anything, she would be there to help. We got to work quickly,  beginning to assemble the house. The sun was shining on our backs as we nailed the walls into place, after a couple of hours, it was time for lunch. To our surprise, we each got four tostadas! Very delicious tostadas, made with so much love! She served us all sparingly, and it was one of the most satisfying lunches we have had yet!! Also, she gave us some yummy tamarindo juice which we all chugged up! After that we began to work on the final parts of the house. The whole family came out and watched us build, encouraging us with the friendliest of smiles. The two little children were playing around the site helping paint and bring joy! At the end of the day we got together and prayed for the house we were handing over to this family. It was pretty awesome to see how thankful they were for this small help we could give them! We will never forget the smiles on their faces, it was really refreshing. When we were leaving, Maria gave us beautiful flowers as a sort of a thank you gift and told us she would visit us soon! They were so pretty and we plan on keeping them in mint condition. Anyways, today really taught us something in the sense that we should be humble, and serve others as much as we can. Not only that, but to be grateful for what God has blessed us with and we should cherish every moment we have! Now we have to go back to go play some futbol and drink some coca cola on the street side!
       Love,
               Greta & Liz

 

God is so powerful! Mexico has been an experience that i will never forget. Even looking outside the truck window, you learn how people interact in this culture. I came with open eyes, ears, and hands and all of those empty spaces were filled. So far i came in contact with two families. One family had 5 people living in a one room home. I've always been told that i was blessed but now i know and feel it. For the first family, we laid a slab of cement in their backyard. Now i know what hard work looks like! God gave me strength to get through the first day for sure! Without His hand under me, i would've failed miserably! Today i came in contact with a family that had  virtually no space for their size. We built the house in their backyard and boy were they happy! But the interesting about today wasn't the family, but it was a local boy who came to help. His name was Ruben. He knew his way with a hammer. coming in contact with him made me realize how helpful and thankful the people of Mexico are. This blog may seem like gibberish or like a fifth grader wrote this, but inside i feel like that is the only way i can explain my experience so far. I hope the Holy Spirit continues to do work in us and in the people we come in contact with.
In His Holy name,
Joshua Suaverdez

So yesterday was, in a word, humbling. The guys and I in our group were chosen as the cementing team and it was dang tiring work. But that is besides the point. So while we were cementing this families backyard in order for them to extend their tiny house, it started raining. And we had to put a stop to our work in order for there to be even hope for the cement to dry. While this was happening we ate lunch that the mom of this family provided.

The family consisted of a single mom with five kids living in a house just a little bigger than my own bedroom. Crazy. And yet while it was raining she still let us into her house while eating lunch to get out of the rain. The generosity of this lady was incredible! Even though we were helping her out she did not need to let us into her house while it was raining and get her home all muddy with our boots. It was such a humbling experience to see a family that had less than almost everyone I know back in Santa Clarita. Obviously I was kind of expecting to see this but to actually be in the house of a family like this was just humbling. And being humbled by the almighty hand of God is the best way to be humbled.
Because of His love,
Raber Sutton

So today i spent my day at an orphanage where God gave me a glimpse of these kids who even through the worst and what small amount they gave, can still smile and laugh and enjoy the life God has for them. i was heartbroken (in a good way) to see this and to realize that life for me is not as bad as i think it can be sometimes. God was telling me "Be grateful for what you have, but do not worry for what you think you don't have" i am going to keep these words in my mind and in my heart as i go through this week helping the people who have faith in God. So far it has been amazing and it is going to change my view on a lot of things, and it is going to change the will in my heart to do more for those who have less.

              -Colton Shires

it was our first day here in mexico, and we got to build a house for a very pore family here. it was really fun building the house and it was cool cause the children of the family wanted to help so they helped out and we played with them. it was such a great moment seeing the smiles i their faces when the house was done, and i felt great. but the best part about the day i think was that i realized that i have been so blessed by the lord and i often forget how good i have it, and this family had it so bad and had nothing and it was a great lesson for me in selflessness and it was so humbling being a servant for them, it was such an amazing experience and i will never forget it.

Jeremy Shada

Well, we are here!  It is so crazy being here again this year.  The staff is great and you would be so proud of the students.  They just jumped in and began where we left off this last year.  After loading the trucks, we sent our 16 vehicles out. 

 We did get to start the day with Eddie Passmore, contemporary of Mike Gaston, our Missions Pastor.  Eddie shares he and Mike used to go to Jamaica and Mike got the cool side of the island and Eddie took the other.  Eddie had us pray for several unreached people groups.  The students prayed God would send people to these groups.  Occurred to all of us, we are here as the answer to needy people praying for help.  Great feeling to know God is using us to meet the needs of those who pray to him.

One group went to the orphanage where the majority of kids are there because they have parents who cannot afford them, so they live there.  We help to interact with them and feed them their lunch which our mission funds help.  We will be sending different groups there each day we are here. 

Four groups went to build the houses Caravan is so famous for.  Once you are here, you can spot them all around town.  Kids built the houses and several had the paint washed off by the rain...big rain.  We are sending six groups out tomorrow to build houses.  They are using hammers and hand saws...building them by hand on site.  After they get back, they reload the trucks and have them ready for the AM.

Of all the mission trips I have been on, a group of High School guys worked one of the hardest days physically I have seen kids do.  We mixed 25 bags of concrete to lay a foundation.  45-55 shovels of rock and sand, 10 gallons of water, and 50 pounds of concrete mix.  Put that all together, load the wheelbarrows, up the hill aroud the house, over two ramps to the resting place.  Wow that was fun!

Everyone ate the meals the families provided on site today.  Great stories of fantastic food.  Yeah, some of those picky eaters ate everything.  See, God STILL does miracles, huh!?

One prayer concern.  Eddie reports the average price of boards has gone up by $4 US for each board from $8 to $12 because of the recent earthquakes, specifically in Haiti.  Please pray for him as they go tomorrow to the US to secure about 30K in lumber to assure a price lock for the near future.  Remember, this is what they do here, build houses out of lumber.

Thanks for the time.

RJ

Headed to Mexico in a few weeks . . .