Mexico, Rio Chico Trip Blog

North Edmonton Alliance Church

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Updates...

There have been several days that we have had to get to fellowship with each other and our new Mexican friends. Manuel is in charge of the construction and putting the windows and doors in. David is his right hand man and he speaks English very well and even shared his testimony with Cyrus. It has been a joy to have several children around especially Cesar who comes to eat meals with us and always has a fantastic smile on his face. Young men like David, Gilberto and Alex like to practice their English and it is always fun to chat with them. Brenda and her mom Nora and Sandra have been cooking for us and doing too god of a job I am afraid :) We got to have Pastor Tomas talk to us and share how his ministry began, which was a pleasure and a highlight for most of the team. As our time here in Mexico is coming to a close all to soon, it is causing us to reflect on what we have come to love about this place. Some love the nature and the beauty of God's creation all around, others are making connections with the people and how genuine and loving they are, still others are taken with the tranquility (except for the rooster and various other animals) of the area and how it is easier to focus on hearing and sensing God here than back at home with all of the commotion of our daily lives.
Today a game of soccer started between the kids and the team. It was a joy to watch as they bonded over goals won or lost and the fact that they were having a great time playing the game together.
Tomorrow we will hike to the cross again to have team devotions in the morning and get a group photo at the top. After that we will come down and begin our last day of work here before we pack up and leave for Juarez on Saturday. It will be sad to leave all of this behind, but we can rest in knowing that we will see our new friends again, if not here in Mexico then for sure in heaven.
Please continue to pray that these last few days we will have safety and protection travelling all the way back home.
I will try to post another update tomorrow after work and possibly in Juarez if the Internet connection works.

Painting trim on Tuesday


Pictures from Tuesday, post to follow


More pictures

Just a couple more pictures. It will only let me post two per blog post so here are a couple.


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Monday's events










Today we got our first chance to really dig in and get going on making a practical contribution to this ministry. Our day involved putting in windows, chiseling wood so the windows would fit, caulking, painting, painting and more painting. After a long hard day of work the team decided to climb to the top of the hill across the street where the cross stands over this valley to remind all of those who pass by that this is a special place. After supper we had a chance to again look into the Word of God. We focused on Matthew 19:22 where the rich young ruler walks away sad because he could not give up his possessions to follow Christ and the and another passage in stark contrast to that was 1 John 1:3-4 where John is saying that he is declaring the things that he has seen and heard so that others may fellowship with him and have joy! What a great time of discussion we had and were encouraged again by Phil to take the time to think about the reasons why God has us here and the mighty things that he will do with us because of this experience.

no pictures yet but an update!!!

Our journey started off early in the morning, but despite the lack of sleep everyone was in good spirits and eager to begin. Our travels were relativly seamless aside from having to wait on the tarmack a couple of times for a plane to move as we were early and they had not departed yet. We collected our things and stepped out into the heat of El Paso to wait for our ride to come. A few short minutes and we saw Sergio pulling up in the van to take us to the Alliance Bible College here in Juarez. We unloaded our things and found our accomidations that we would call home for the next two nights before heading to Rio Chico on Monday. We were fed to overflowing by the generous and wonderful staff here at the college. After playing cards and writing in their journals we all hit the beds early.
Sunday started with breakfast at 8:00 and then team devotions right after. We then had Alex drive us to the boarder where we got our passports stamped and then headed back to the city and went to the Wall mart to pick up a few necessities that were forgotten or like the heavy blankets that were intended to be purchased here and left behind for whoever needs it. After that was done we went to the market and did our tourist shopping. There were a couple of people that did not like the bartering aspect but had a fun time anyway. After we had our time in the market Alex took us back to the school and we had a late lunch at about 2:00, then some free time to nap or do whatever before church. We were a little late getting to church but once we were there we were ushered into one of the front rows. Pastor Tomas preached on the importance of saving souls and how all else means nothing compared to this. We also all greatly enjoyed the worship and the girls that waved banners as well. Even in another language wecould appreciate the sound of worship to our Heavenly Father. We aslo had the privilage of sharing in the lord's supper with our friends and that was a special honour to share this special occasion with our extended family of believers. After church was finished we got to go out for dinner with the pastoral staff we had tacos and rice and several different kinds of salsa, Yumm! Then we headed back to the school for sleep.
Monday started off with breakfast at 8:30. Packing up our stuff and getting our bags down on the landing by 9:30 to pack into the van and leave by 10:00. We drove for most of the day stopping in a small town to have lunch. The whole road crew of the town, who happened to be eating their lunch as well, sat in the park and stared at us as we ate. However after one more potty break and several stops to pick up important car parts along the way, we finally got here about 5, I think. We unloaded the van and then got settled in our rooms. We had dinner about 6. Then we had team devotions about facing the mountains in our lives. Joshua 4:12 was the verse and then someone mentioned Joshua 1:9 that we focused on for a while as well. Then we split up into girl and boy groups to pray. It was a great time of sharing and caring for one another.
The team was anxious to get started working and were ready by Tuesday morning. We found out that our work assignment was going to be installing some windowsin the appartments and painting the out side of the main house. It has been a large task but the team has been doing a spectacular job! I am excited to see what happens when we exceed their expectations and finish things ahead of schedule!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The thrill of a new adventure

There are all kinds of last minute preparations to take care of and emotions are probably running high as the team spends their last couple days at home before this journey begins.

We will be going to Mexico as a team of eight young adults from the North Edmonton Alliance Church and myself, Sherri, as the Hungry for Life team leader.

While in Mexico for nine days we will be encountering many different things. We will join in Pastor Tomas' church service on Sunday. Monday we will drive out to Rio Chico and begin the work on the apartments that serve as housing for the indigenous people that he and his ministry team are trying to help. We will stay there for most of our time and be of service anywhere that they need us. On the 8th we will return to Juarez for one evening before beginning our journey home again.

I will endeavor to keep you all informed of what is going on through this blog as we are away. Please pray for the team as this will be their firs trip to this area and so everything will be new and different. Pray that our bodies adapt well to the weather and as always pray for good health and safety on the work site. As well, pray that God will keep our hearts and minds open to the things that he wants us to learn while we are there.

It will be an amazing trip and I am excited to see all the amazing things that God has in store for us.