Day 4 - Wednesday

Today our team finished the last major steps on our homes. Site 1 needed to complete the roof. And both sites had to lay down the tar paper and rolled singles.



A portion of the team loved being on the roof. The special view of the colonae and the chance to play with tar lured several team members up.



Of course, the fun could only last so long, and then started the "fun" job of removing tar from hands, arms, and faces.




During the morning we had another children's bible school with around 40 kids again in attendance. While it was taking place, several of our ladies put on a "mini-MOPS" morning for the moms who came with their kids. (MOPS stands for Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers)


Around 12 ladies were part of this special program. In this society, the women are the glue that holds the family together, and much of the hard labor around the homes is done by them. While they have this special role, they are not really appreciated or acknowledged. So having a morning of being pampered, having their kids taken care of by someone else, and doing something just for them was extremely appreciated.


You did not have to ask Kelsey twice to jump in to help with the babies and little ones!



During the morning, the ladies made a craft, and they were given prayer cards from some women back in Vermont. We took pictures of the ladies to make prayer cards for the women in Vermont to now pray for them. The morning also included a little pampering -- a new coat of nail polish.


The matriarch of site 1 went to the MOPS in the morning. When she came back, the most important thing for her appeared to be the cross craft she made. While this physically will be a reminder for her, I believe that the time she spent talking with our team will be a vivid memory. And she and our "matriarch" had some time to talk with each other as well!


At the end of the day, Stephanie mentioned that while she has been involved with MOPS for 12 years, today was the best MOPS experience she has ever had. PJ commented that, for her life, today ranked just below the days that she adopted her own daughters. It seems like both sets of ladies were touched by each other.

Day 4 - Wednesday - Continued

Day Two of our Winter Bible School (as our kids renamed it) was focused on how Jesus is our life. Our team of boys were ready to go (and the puppets were ready too!).



Our girls were pumped up as well! A couple of days of housing building is better than any fitness center.













Gabrielle did a great job as the mascot today - Rosa the Rabbit. Gabrielle has been invaluable with her grasp of the language... helping us through customs in the morning when a Mexican Border Crossing agent came onto our bus to find out what we were doing. The colonae kids have loved her as well -- some giving her the nickname "Chili."









The adults were ready to love on the colonae kids as well. Bill did a great job, coming up with an unplanned lesson using a mirror to tell the kids that the "person in the mirror is special and loved by God".


The kids were fascinated and full of giggles... why?


Well - have you ever seen Diana teach? She cannot speak Spanish - but you would not have been able to tell by the way the kids were laughing and following her lesson. Seeing Diana mimic a thunderstorm is something that should not be missed!


The songs, the stories, the face to face time were huge for the kids.


Simple things mean so much to these kids. A little boy was standing off to the side, frowning, and not involved. Shayne had a bottle of bubbles, went over to the boy and showed him how to blow bubbles. A few minutes later this picture was taken...






The end of the time involved a scene I wish we had been able to capture as a picture. The camp we are staying at in Texas has a large orange grove around it, and the camp is partially funded by selling these oranges. We bought several bags of oranges to give away to the kids. These oranges were almost grapefruit sized and bright orange in color. When the kids left the church after the WBS, they all ran down the streets holding their craft for the day and these oranges. You would have thought that they were made of gold, or very delicate like an egg the way the kids held them.

Tonight our discussions included how we take many things for granted at home. Fresh fruit for us is a given, or something easily purchased. But a single orange to these kids -- an amazing gift.

Our team has changed since the start of the trip. Everyone is much more relaxed. Many of our cares, our burdens seem to have disappeared. We are tired in the morning, tired in the afternoon, yet strangely energized when we are at the colonae. The shock of poverty is still real, but we are able to step past it faster each morning to interact with the families we meet. Our own kids are making friends with the kids on the street -- everyone knows who two colonae boys (Santiago and Guelliermo) are, and can tell you about conversations they shared and games they played together. The impromptu games of soccer are providing humor and fun each day.

The families are far more receptive, as well. Our family at site 1 greets us all with hugs, handshakes, and their yard is open to us. While our time with the family at site 2 was limited today, they continue to venture out to us and the dad, Bulmaro, played his violin today for Jim, Heidi, Michael and Paul.

On the drive in this morning, someone commented on how strange it was that in the midst of the poverty and homes built out of cobbled supplies, that there would occasionally be a really nice home... perhaps even one that looked complete and finished. It made me think about how the towns might have looked in the time of the New Testament. I am sure that the majority of people were living in cobbled together homes, barely making enough money from hard work to feed their families. But every town would likely have had a few wealthy people in it... an government or Roman official, a tax collector, or some other person of status.

Jesus talked about how difficult it was for a rich man to make it to heaven because of how hardened their heart could be. He said that people who put their life's effort into attaining possessions would only find that they had lost their life and entrance to His Kingdom for eternity. This was a strange thought because it seemed by logic that those with money, success, and position in this life would have the same status in the next. Jesus' statement was radical... how could a poor man be closer to God? If this was true, why did God not favor the poor man in this life as well? Perhaps the poor man did something to offend God, or had to work hard to regain God's favor. And yet Jesus said the opposite was true.

We pray tomorrow to have the opportunity with the kids and families to share Jesus' love for them in a real way. I would believe that they see us and think we have it all together like the rich man in Jesus' story. While we may have material possessions they can only dream of, we are just as poor, dirty and opposed by our own sin. We have only been lifted out of spiritual poverty by Jesus' free gift of salvation. Tomorrow we hope to clearly explain this profound truth to our new friends. And we pray that they will accept not only the free gift of a new house, but more importantly, the free gift of salvation that comes in belief in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God's Blessings to you -
-MJ

Day 3 - Tuesday - The kids

Our second day in Reynosa started by taking most of the team to Pastor Valenti’s church to put on a 90 minute Children’s Bible School (CBS). Education is very important here, so the children attend school, some in the morning and some in the afternoon. We were not sure how many kids not in school would come to our CBS, but hoped for the best and prepared to start at 9:30 for whomever came. At first only 23 kids arrived, but more continued to come in (we even bused in a few from the colonea of site 2), and in the end 40 kids had a great time with us.
The morning included singing….



Dancing….



Mascot characters…



Crafts…



puppets…



and games. (Nice of Diana in the bright blue shirt to give these kids a head start!)



How many will come tomorrow? Not sure… we expect many more than today as the word gets out.

Day 3 - Tuesday - The work

After the CBS, the teams came back to both sites and continued to build. Yesterday the teams did a great job getting the floors and walls together, so today the word of the day was “Blue”.



Using brushes and rollers the team covered the walls with the brightest blue paint that I think Mission Discovery can find.



The families became involved in the step, jumping in beside us.



Brielle admitted that perhaps more paint was on her than she had put on the walls. Since many of us brought down a single pair of shoes, it will be easy to tell that we are a group when we fly back home at the end of the week.



The paint dried quickly in the 80+ degree sun and we moved on to raising the walls up.



In 15 minutes, the four walls were up and suddenly a new home was taking shape.



Over in site 1, they found that the floor was not completely supported. The oldest son (who had just come home from school), quickly jumped underneath to prop up the unsupported floor joist. Obviously the team was having way too much fun, and decided to take the opportunity to re-enact their favorite seen from the Wizard of Oz.




Site 2 pushed forwarded and put up the roof and trim on the house.




The new blue homes are easily seen compared to the older homes around them.



A nice photo op with the family in front of site 2, and the work sites for Tuesday were packed up.



Through customs, then a quick stop for 23 slush puppies (and a couple cups of coffee) at a gas station, and we went back to camp. Another great day completed in Mexico.

Day 3 - Tuesday - The Real Work

Relationships. Mission trips are really about the relationships. Yes, we minister to people with physical needs. Yes, we have the blessing of experiencing new things. Yes, we have fun and a chance to play with kids. But the relationships are really the work we are about this week. It is building relationships with the families we are serving. Hopefully in these relationships, we can reflect the grace, love and joy that we have gained from our relationship with Christ. And then we can help these families and kids build a new relationship with Jesus.


Today was a great day. It was great to see the houses come quickly together, but even more amazing to see the relationships we started yesterday break out today. At site 1, the family was overjoyed to see us come back. The grandmother of the family was delighted to see the girls and ladies on the team, and tried talking with them throughout the day. Kids came from all over (partially because of the CBS earlier in the day), but they wanted to jump in and help.



At site 2, the family’s only son came home from the hospital. The father, who yesterday helped hammer but was very serious and quite, initiated conversation with us. While I no very little Spanish, and Bulmaro (the father) knows little English, we talked and laughed a little. Bulmaro jumped in with a paint brush and borrowed a hammer when needed. We wrote his name of the hammer and gave it to him… it did not leave his hands the rest of the time. The family’s pain is still very real, as the 14 year old son would not talk to us. For him, it was the first time seeing the site since the fire.



While the tasks on the homes changed, the kids went out in the streets to play. We have purchased 4 soccer balls at night at a Walmart close to the camp we are staying at. They have been invaluable in helping form quick relationships when language is a barrier.


The day ended with an impromptu game of catch behind the bus with Alex, Taylor and some boys from the area.


Not sure what tomorrow will bring. We are hoping to finish the houses tomorrow so that we can spend Thursday all in CBS in the morning and with the families in the afternoon. Pray for us to have another great day - and even more communication and relationship building with the families. God only knows what conversations we may have tomorrow.

God's Blessings --
-MJ

Day 2 - We start

Anticipation was high this morning as we left Texas and crossed the border into Mexico. Every one's spirits were high, and we were all covered in SPF 375 or higher.

The quality of the roads changed immediately upon crossing the Rio Grande. But the main roads were smooth compared to what greeted us as we turned into the colonea (small suburb towns). Old tires are everywhere.


Families own the land that they are living on, but the cost is high - around $4000 US. This price means that the families have spent basically all their savings and have sold most of their possessions to obtain the land. So while they are land owners, they have no funds left for their houses, so they use whatever the can find or afford over time to create a home.


The people are very friendly, and we find ourselves waving to kids and adults as we drive by.


We parked the bus and walked a short distance to the local church, pastored by a great couple - Valenti and Grace. These are very godly people who left a career in banking and finance to come live in the colonea and minister to this very poor community.


The teams then divided up to go to two work sites. The first is 50 yards away from the church. This site is owned by a delightful and joyful family who enjoyed showing off their youngest son's spider man shirt. The mother of this family accepted Christ as her personal savior last week.

Day 2 continued

Our second home site is a little distance way in another colonea (maybe 2 miles as a crow flies… but 15 minutes by bus as the roads continued to degrade). This was site was not the original plan for our team, but God opened a different opportunity. Our second family includes the mother and father, along with six children. The family’s old home was a small building attached to an old shuttle bus. In these conditions, people cook using one burner stoves fueled by propane. Last week, the home of this family was destroyed in a propane explosion. The explosion destroyed the building, the bus, and killed the youngest child – a two year old girl. Two of the other children are still in the hospital, and the explosion has left visible wounds on at least one of the other children.



The family was not around when we first arrived. Either they or friends had cleared the site for us, rolled the bus away, and neatly stacked the debris to the side. We started building the home, and they arrived a little later. Their pain is very real – the loss of their child, the loss of all of their possessions and home, and the uncertainty of the health of two children in the hospital. The raw emotions of this loss were clearly seen on the faces of the children and parents when they arrived on the site. Pastor Valenti talked with the family for awhile, and we prayed for the family in English. Please pray for the family for healing, comfort in their mourning, and for them to understand the love that God has for them – even when these events do not make any sense.



The construction of both homes went well today. Task one was the floor, and using comment blocks as foundations, we leveled the blocks and created 2x6 sub floors.



Everyone swung a hammer and jumped in to help. Some folks were experienced enough to sink the nails efficiently. Some others on the team gained some valuable on the job training. Taylor worked at her nails... holding the hammer close to the head and tapping away with gusto! 100+ taps later the nail was in!



By the end of the day, both sites had completed the floor and framed out the walls. Some of the moments we enjoyed the most today included working along side the families. Both families eagerly jumped in to help. Our site 2 dad worked along side me and Jim sheathing the walls. We were were sweating and red in the face, he worked silently in a zipped up fleece jacket. Communication was difficult... but not just from the language barrier. The fresh loss of his daughter was heavy upon him. I am sure that we welcomed the chance to be doing tangible something for his family today.



After lunch, the teams walked through the coloneas handing out invitations to the children's Bible school tomorrow in the church. The people were very receptive to the invites. Back home, if you were to walk door to door and give out invitations to a Bible school, few would welcome the opportunity. Yet here, families seemed genuinely interested. Tomorrow is our first morning with the Bible school. We do not know how many kids will come. Pray for us to have enough supplies and space for the kids!

More tomorrow... what adventure does God have planned for us? We are not sure - but we will enjoy the ride.

God's Blessings-
-MJ

Our Team

Team photo upon arriving at our camp. 24 folks - 13 adults and 11 teens/kids.

Thanks to all of you who helped us get to Mexico!

And it begins! (Finally!)

We have been so blessed even getting ready to go -- so our excitement today has been fantastic! Many of us made comments today about being ready and waiting for such a long time, that it feels so great to be actually flying today.

Our trip started with a great blessing (a bigger bus than we expected to take us to Boston), and a challenge (4 degree weather, and little heat on the bus). We all huddled together for warmth - some of the families using younger members for warmth!

It was an early start - the bus left the parking lot at 4AM. Everyone caught sleep when they could.



Otherwise, we made it on time and smooth sailing with the airplanes and transportation. How nice it was to arrive in 75 degree weather in Mission, Texas.

We had a nice time as a team tonight, worshipping and spending some time thinking about the word Yes... how God has said Yes to us, Yes to come on this trip, Yes to prepare us, Yes to allow us to be part of His work. And how can we say Yes back this week - to each other, to the families we will be with, with the kids, and with God.

Tomorrow we will start on two homes and get acclimatized to our surroundings. It will be an awesome day! Talk to you tomorrow night. God's Blessings -

-MJ

T minus 30 hours

Our team is packed, trained and ready to go! We are so excited about what God has in store for us.

Our team has changed a little in the past two days, as Melodee, Jesse and Molly will not be able to join us due to some unexpected circumstances. Our prayers are with them!

We have been able to find three new members to take there place. Andrea, Brielle and Tonya are joining us! For these three, this is an amazing leap of faith to join the trip with very little notice. I'm a grateful that they are able to jump in!

As we get all take care of the final arrangements before we leave, I would like to personally thank Melodee and Todd for their efforts in planning and leading the effort to make this trip a reality. Todd and I started the conversation about this trip 18 months ago, and Melodee joined in 15 months back. For different reasons, neither of them are able to make the trip. Yet both are selfless in their joy that our team is going. It has been a great privilege of mine to work with these two awesome individuals. Thank you!

Well, have to go finish packing. Our next update will be upon our arrival in Texas!

2 Weeks to go!

We are down to our last two weeks before we travel. We have been greatly blessed by the outpouring of support as we prepare for this adventure. Many of our financial needs have been met, and our request for tools for the trip has been graciously taken care of!

Our Spanish is improving... still not fluent but hopefully enough to communicate basic greetings! We have pre-recorded puppet shows in Spanish using a few of our talented, Spanish speaking teens on our team.

We have been told that the camp we are staying at will have internet capability, so watch during the week of Feb 25 to Mar 3 for updates. We will post pictures and stories.

Thanks again for your support!