Some Final Remarks

I am sitting in a hotel room in Dallas on the layover before our last leg home. This will be the final entry to this blog.

Last night we got together for one last debrief. We went around the room and each person talked about how God had spoken to them during our time there. I listened and quickly realized how much this trip has had an impact on all of us in some way or another. Some spoke of wanting to return, some of how showing love to a little kid transcends all language barriers, and some spoke of how we have so much particularly in light of the poverty we saw around us. When my turn came, I shared how I love to see people using the gifts God gave them to further His kingdom and of how I had seen that so clearly in everyone through the trip, and how as their "papa" I was very proud of them and how my heart felt so good to see God honoured by what they had done.

So to the parents of the team members I pass this on to you. You can be justifiable proud of what your son or daughter did while in Hermosilla, they were truly amazing. They reached deep, worked together, always unified, always cheerfully, and always prayerfully. Well done!

For the 2013 Hermosilla team this is Papa Neil. Out.

Life's a Beach, We're Just Playin' in the Sand

Today was our long awaited beach day. All 15 of us piled into the van for a long and blistering hot ride to the beach. The scenery on the drive there was full of cacti and flat sandy desert. When we finally got there it was a mad dash for the water. Even though the salt water burned our eyes and tasted disgusting, nobody seemed to care. We were all having a good time! A few of us also went tubing and it was worth every peso. 

We went down the coast to get a bit of shopping done and as we passed the beautiful houses we talked about how we were all going to buy a house together and move down for the winter! We bought a few more souvenirs, and headed back to the beach. By then it was time to go. We piled back into the van for the long drive home a little sandier and hotter than we had arrived. 

Over this week we got to know the Mexican youth and built friendships with them. Since tonight is our last night here, the goodbyes are difficult but unavoidable. We will all miss them very much. Since tomorrow will be a very early morning, we are hoping to be done packing soon and getting to bed early. 

This trip has been an amazing experience, but I think it's safe to say that we're all ready to go home. We miss you all back in Canada and we'll see you soon!

Written by Inge and Nicole

2009 Hermosillo Day Care Center Fire

Hola,

This afternoon our group went to the site of a day care fire that took place in June 2009. On this tragic day, 49 children died. Corina (Shelli's Spanish name) told us about 18 children that were seriously injured and how the church is still connected with these families. She has had many opportunities to share the gospel and has led some to Christ.

Below is a link with more information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Hermosillo_daycare_center_fire

When I was standing there I felt extremely overwhelmed; my heart broke for those familes. Please pray for the survivors and the families of the ABC day care fire.

Gracias
Sophia

The Vesa View

Hola everybody, yes the spanish stops after hola, I know the essentials and I do not think you want to hear me screaming bano (bathroom). My much more talented sister could probably lay down a few sentences. Basically the only thing we have done is played soccer. Just kidding but sincerely we are still continuing to have lots of fun. We saw the government buildings and a cathedral. We also went to the mount for the virgin of guadalupe and learned about the lies that fester there. Seriously though there is something confusing about three virgins all similar and all the mother of jesus. Just to clarify her name was mary :) The girls got to experience some shopping while the boys tried to establish barriers about spending so they did not overdose on the trinkets. Mom for the record, I am leaving rae here and bringing back one of the beautiful mexican girls. As far as food goes it continues to be delicious. It was weird not having to do kids club today but nice to just grow as a group. See you all soon and I will now hand it over to the lesser vesa, I mean raeanne.

Hi family and fellow bloggers, since my very funny and creative brother covered most of the things we did today, i will avoid that subject. Sorry we didn't get to blog till now(two days before we leave) but don't be concerned we are perfectly okay, okay well maybe not perfect, have you seen jord's hair? Ahaha oh boy, don't worry it's growing back fast. THE FOOD IS AMAZING HERE, i'm sorry mommy but it really does hit the spot. The orphanage was amazing, i was speechless the whole time there was the cutest girl there, her name is barbra , but everyone called her "budda budda." JUST SO YOU KNOW, I am perfectly with being left here and exchange for a wife, cause let's get real there's probably no girl in Canada for jordan. I love the culture and the people here, and the boys obviously, so i am okay being left behind, just don't forget to write. Kid's club was alot of work and the language barrier was really hard at the beginning, but by the end I feel I reached out to a lot of kids, one time for kid's club, kristen, mac and i ( and some mexicans) went in a van with a bunch of balloons and went to the places called "cardboard box houses" it was soooo sad and heartbreaker, well everything i breaking my heart here, but that was the first that did. I will tell you more about it when i get home, tell bandit i love him, and i will see him soon.

LOVE YOU GUYS SEE YOU SOON xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Beanbag toss at the carnival

Baseketball at the carnival

Group shot on the top of a mountain overlooking Hermosillo

Catholic Cathedral Downtown

Papa Neilo fills you in.

Pretty fun day today. We started off the day a little frantically as we were getting ready for the Kid's Camp fair. Each of the team was responsible for a fun booth (we knew this back in Stonewall) but we had to quickly get going and prepare for the onslaught. In the end we (and the kids) had loads of fun. Lots of water balloons and pistols, some basketball stuff, lots of other things. I appreciated working with Inge doing balloon animals.

After lunch we broke up into teams and with some Mexican youth as our guides went into downtown Hermosillo on a photo scavenger. All the clues were in Spanish and our guides weren't supposed to interpret, so there we were using out limited Spanish to ask our way around. Actually it was a great way to see the downtown. I realized as I walked around that there are no Sauna stores here for some reason. I may come back and open one up. I figure if you had one you could go in there and cool off once in a while. Yep it folks it's hot here, but you know the expression it's a "dry cold," well it is dry hot here and we are acclimatizing quite well. After the Scavenger Hunt we were driven to a lookout for a scenic view. There has been a few comments that this is "just like Winnipeg, but Mexican." I can't disagree.

Tonight we had a party/praise night with the Mexican youth. Great night again. Every day, every event the relationships with our hosts get closer and closer. 

Everyone is healthy and well. I am certain it is because of your prayers. Thanks everyone.

Eli's First Birthday

The youngest member of our team turned 1 today!!!  Here's a quick visual representation of Eli's day :)

Started out the day by wearing my birthday hat at breakfast (for 0.2 seconds)

My babysitter, Annelise

Chillin' with Nicole

The birthday boy

Pooh Pinata

I was scared of it and cried most of the time :(

Meghan M

Inge

I was very tired at the restaurant and did not want to wear my hat.  The team sang happy birthday to me in the restaurant.  It was a good day!

Tanner & Josh's Take

Over the last few days, our schedule has slowed down just enough to find time to hang out together and connect with the team.  Tonight we went out and had a good supper at an authentic Mexican taco restaurant.  On the way back we stopped at a Mexican convenient store (Oxxo) for snacks.  The temperature rose to close to +45 today and we filled sand bags for one of the missionaries, Lane's apartment that leaks when there are heavy rains.  Today was the last day of regular kids' club and though it ended late, it still went very well.  Please pray for us as we put on the carnival for the kids tomorrow morning.  I (Tanner) enjoyed hearing Mexican country music today while painting at the church which is close to a construction site.  In Josh's words: "I'm sleeping good, the food is good, I'm feeling good, the club was good...everything is GOOD!"  We are looking forward to going to the ocean on Monday.  We are also doing a scavenger hunt through the city on Saturday which we are looking forward to.  I (Tanner) would like my mom to know that I still have all my hair (unlike Jordan)!         Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Helping prepare the craft during club yesterday.

Filling basketballs with air along with Greg and Shelli's oldest son, Talson.

Hola niños!

Hello Kids!

This is Kristen and Meghan here! Today is our sixth day of Mission: Mexico.
We have been very busy and haven't had much down time at all! Between planning and helping with VBS, visiting a children's home, painting, devotionals, worship times, eating, and sleeping (more so for Kristen), we haven't had much time to cool down! It's extremely hot, and we are all sweating up a storm. Today it is going to up to 39 degrees, feeling like 45 degrees. The heat is not anything we're used to, but we're all holding up and haven't sun burned yet (even Meghan). Everyone is still healthy (again, even Meghan, minus the headaches) which is good!
It's been a great trip so far, filled with God's love and grace. God has shown all of us through this trip the need world wide and made us realize the need close to home. It's been a great experience and we are all very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this team. God has proved to be extremely apparent through our journey to Hermosillo. He has kept us all alive and well and full of energy to last us throughout our long days. Although there is a huge language barrier between us Canadians and the Mexican kids, we have been able (with God) to connect with them and build relationships with them.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We are really feeling the love from back home. We can't wait  to tell all of you our stories when we return! Thanks again, and Dios le bendiga! (God bless you)

Love from: Meghan and Kristen :) <3

P.S. HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ELI!!!!!!!! :D

Buenos Dias!!

Hola fellow Canadians :)
We have had an amazing and action filled week so far! We have experienced the hot sun, cockroaches, geckos, mice and amazing thunderstorms.
Yesterday we had the privilege of visiting the orphanage/children's home which was an amazing experience. Seeing the kids full of love and acceptance of us was lots of fun.  There were 20 kids in total and all very cute!!!  Now heading off to paint.
Gracias for all your prayers and support;
Love: Bethany & Meghan W  :)

Visual Update by Karen

Like father, like son!

Josh playing with some of the kids at the orphanage.

Raeanne, Meghan W, and Inge enjoying a quick ice cream break while sorting clothes at the orphanage.

While sorting garbage bags full of donated clothes at the orphanage, Nicole and Meghan M came across these treasures :)

Jordan, Meghan M and Mac doing their best "Supermarket Sweep" impressions at Soriana (large store similar to Superstore) while shopping for food and supplies for the orphanage.

Enjoying breakfast this morning.

Some of our fearless leaders enjoy Mexican hotdogs!

Bethany and Meghan W experience their first Mexican (Hermosillo in particular) hotdogs at a hotdog stand owned by members of Arbol de Vida (the church we are working with).

Andrew, Shelli & Tanner leading the "Ugly, Ugly, Monster" song (Josh is the ugliest monster in the back :))

Some of our youth with the Mexican youth after prayer meeting tonight.

Opening games at the kids' club.

"Papa Neilo" doing his daily clowning routine!

Working Hard

As promised yesterday, this entry will give more details as to what our team has been up to in the last one and a half days.  After successfully landing in Hermosillo and making it through customs without any worries on Monday, June 8, we soon got settled at the church.  Our lodgings are comfortable and wonderfully air conditioned, so the team is sleeping well.

Yesterday, June 9, was extremely full.  During the morning we had our team orientation with the workers down here.  There was also a team training exercise that led to our first (very minor) wounds with a few scrapes and cuts.  Don't worry, everyone is fine.  The meals have also been amazing, as the volunteers from the church are taking great care of the group.  We look forward to every meal time!  Well, at least I do, and in this instance, I'm sure I'm not alone.  Yesterday afternoon was full of trying to get ready for the first day of the kids club at the church.  There was a ton of preparation to do, from putting up posters and balloons to learning skits and puppetry to setting up craft stations.  When the dust settled, it was time for the kids to arrive and the fun to begin.  The club ran from 4 - 6:30, and it was great to see the kids come out.  It soon became apparent that the language barrier is always a factor, and it can be discouraging when getting to know some of the little ones.  One of the most encouraging things to see was how passionately the Mexican youth jump into the kids club.  Many of their youth and young adults are helping run the club, and it is lots of fun to partner up with such willing servants.  Hopefully as the week goes on our team will be able to break down some more of those language and comfort barriers and be able to build solid relationships with the kids and the youth.  After the club time, our plan was to go to a Mexican hotdog stand; but it started pouring rain!  This almost never happens in Hermosillo, but we experienced quite the storm.  Rain was coming into the church building from lots of different areas, so our team helped grab towels and keep everything dry.  In the end, we were able to go to a hot dog stand run by a parent of a youth from the church, and they had covered space available to sit and eat.  These hot dogs were amazing, and it was one of our teams first cultural experiences that remind us we are indeed in Mexico!  After a short time of worship, we all went to bed.

Today has also had a full schedule, but that will be a constant theme throughout our time here.  We just finished lunch after visiting an orphanage just outside of the city in the morning.  Our team members did a great job of spending time with these kids that live in a less fortunate area.  At one mention of soccer (or football, here), and half the boys were running around outside.  I had a hard time keeping up with the kids in the heat, which is definitely substantial today.  Some members of the team went and picked up some donated clothes and bought Rubbermaid containers to hold them in.  We sorted the clothes at the orphanage, and they will be greatly appreciated.  The orphanage is in the middle of expanding their building, and some of the boys were able to pitch in with a few odd jobs.  Mostly, we were there to love the kids, and our team did that in spades.  Plus, we bought some ice cream, which made everyone happy on a warm, humid day.  Lunch was again fantastic, and we are now about to start our prep for another evening of kids club.

As I stated before, there should be some pictures of these activities on the blog soon.  Keep coming back for more good stuff!

We Made It!

Sorry for the late post, but today was extremely full. Our team landed safely and on time in Hermosillo yesterday. Since then, we have had our team orientation and prepared quickly for the first day of kids club, which started this afternoon. Everything still feels 2 hours different, so a far more detailed update will have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers, they are appreciated.

Tired

Energy level = low.  It strikes me as slightly ironic that only 24 hours into this trip travel has already managed to claim much of our team's energy, even before we reach Mexico!  Right now, we are sitting in DFW International Airport waiting to board the final plane in order to reach our destination of Hermosillo, Mexico.  When this blog is updated tomorrow, it will be from Mexico!  This morning we had to leave the hotel at 4:30 AM in order to make our 7 AM flight out of Calgary on time.  Suffice it to say, we are not used to getting up at 4:30 AM.  Despite the overall fatigue, our trip so far has gone off without a hitch.  No crazy moments, no lost luggage, and no missed flights.  Please continue to pray that these blessings would be with us to the end.

This leg of the journey has led to a few firsts for team members.  Both Tanner and Meghan W. flew for the first time, and neither is worse for wear!  Meghan calls it, "So good," while Tanner quips, "Very, very exhilarating and pretty awesome."  It is also most of our team's first time in Texas, though we are just in the airport right now.  Interestingly enough, we are flying out of the 3 cities I have lived in; Winnipeg, Calgary and Dallas.  Eli has been a trooper throughout, putting up less of a fuss than I have so far.

We are eager to see what Hermosillo is like tonight, and meet the missionaries and other church members.  Please pray as we prepare to cross through Mexican customs in a few hours, that our traveling mercies would continue on.  

Dios le bendiga! (God bless you)

Mission: Mexico Team

Take Off

The day is finally here!  After many preparations and a long wait, our anticipated trip to Mexico is about to kick-off.  It was wonderful to be commissioned by our home church this morning, and worship together with them.  Now is the time to worry about remembering to bring everything we need, and make sure none of the luggage is overweight.  As usual with this sort of trip, we will probably forget something, only there is no turning around this time.

All of these little details and preemptive worries show all of us that we need to completely depend on God during this trip.  We will be pulled well out of our comfort zone, with the travel and with the weather and culture difference of our destination.  Planning is all well and good, but when push comes to shove, we can't rely on ourselves; God is control.  Thank goodness that he is!  In our weakness, He is strong, and able to accomplish much.

So as the focus shifts from planning to action, our focus should shift even more firmly to God.  He is the reason we are going, and He is the one able to do all things.  No matter what may face our team on this grand adventure, God not only has our backs, but he is blazing our trail.

Welcome to the blog for Mission: Mexico 2013!  This is the spot where you will be able to keep up to date on the status of our team of fifteen and a half team members.  Not only that, but we will also be able to post some pictures, and tell stories of what is currently happening during the trip.  This blog will become a very important source for those interested in the trip because our team will be enjoying internet and phone silence during the expedition.  Come here for all of your updates!

As we enter the final two weeks leading up to the trip, please continue to pray for the last minute details and preparations that need to take place.  The team members are becoming more and more excited as the date of departure draws near, with good reason.  Hopefully, a cultural experience like this will be a life changing event.