Mexicali 08

Well it appears that I lied to you guys when I said I was going to update my blog. Though apparently now is a good time since I have just gotten back from a Mission trip to Mexicali Mexico.

To start off I would like to say thank you to my friends and family who prayed for me while I was down there and I would also like to give a shout out to everyone who went down, especially the Spartans, without whom we would be sleeping without tents.

On Friday March 14, 2008, 786 teenagers and adults left on the mission trip of a life time. 1 Drama team, 1 sports team, 6 Festival teams, 15 Construction teams building 14 houses, and 30 VBS teams. All going down there to help the needy people of Mexicali. Most of the people that went gave up there spring breaks or work in order to go down there.

The first two days were all traveling down to Mexicali. For those of you who have never driven down I-5 in California let me warn you. Bring something to do if you are going south towards Mexico or North towards Sacramento. It is the second most boring drive in the entire world. It is second only to driving the Nevada Salt Flats.

After getting down to Mexicali some of us had to wait for our luggage to come down on the box trucks. I personally had my suitcase but not my cot or my lawn car. When everyone had got there stuff and got situated in their tents (think the set of M*A*S*H without the comedy) we had dinner and chapel.

The theme of the week was Collide and the theme verse was Ephesians 4:16. So all this week the devotions and the chapels at night were about the body of Christ coming together and colliding.

The speaker of the week was a guy named Donny Burleson. He was amazing. Every night he had something that would keep your attention to the stage. The worship was exceptional. The worship team from the Sr. High services at my church were the ones that led worship.

The weather the first few nights was really miserable. You would think that down in Mexico it would be warm wouldn't you? Well the first few nights the wind was whipping through so much that it pierced every layer of clothing. During the day the weather was somewhat warm but not unbearable. The last few days it was getting somewhat hot, but it was livable.

The church my team went to was a poor church. Their building was just a concrete rectangle with a roof on it. The kids were so glad to see us though, and after everyday they would run after our car and try to get on.

The theme of the week was heroes of the bible. The first day we did Jesus walking on water, but lost the kids attention because we did it in English and then in Spanish. Also on the first day we had the Drama team come to our site. It was their first site and some things went wrong, but the plays they did were really good.

On the second day we did the story of Noah and we were able to keep the kids attention better cause we just had the translator say the story. We did a craft with the kids that involved making a ark full of animals. That day we had the Barnabas team come and give us a break and then we one of the festival teams come and set up a jump house and play with the kids.

On the third day we did another puppet show with the kids telling the story of Joshua. After we did the puppet show we did a game with the kids where they decorated a party hat to make it a trumpet then they walked around a wall of paper for each of the days and then tore the paper.

On the fourth day we reenacted David& Goliath. After that we had Festival come that day and play with the kids.

On Thursday it was the last day and we did a play on the story of Mary. After that the kids made medals to represent heroes. At lunch the people of the church put on a fiesta for us with food, a pinata, and an easter egg hunt. Thursday was the last day so most of the people were emotional throughout.

On Friday we had to load the luggage into big box trucks and help tear down the tents. Now let me tell you, those tents are heavy. After everything was loaded and the tents were torn down we were able to leave. We drove up to the University of Redlands to shower and for dinner their. We then stayed the night at a church that we had stayed at on the way down.

On Saturday we traveled from Redlands to Sacramento going up I-5. I must say that drive is one of the most boring drives in all of humanity. Nothing but hills and farmland. When we got back I was able to go home for a little bit and eat before I went to the easter service at my church. That service was the one where they officially welcomed the people who came back from Mexicali. It was a great service. Pastor Ray gave a great sermon, and the worship team did one of the best worship sets ever.

So there you have it my trip to Mexicali last week.

First Time!

Whoo hoo! My first time posting. I will try to update this regularly, but don't count on it. I will compose my first one on a actual topic tomorrow or Saturday.