Te Quiero Mexico!

So…I’ve done a few things since I’ve last posted. ;) Yes, it has been a while. Anyways, something pretty huge is that I went to Reynosa, Mexico over Thanksgiving. I went with 59 others from my church to build houses, pass out goodies, pray with and just generally love on the people in a certain colonia we have been ministering to. I really felt like God united us as a team and we worked so well together to minister to the different needs of the colonia. Here’s a short play by play of each day…

Wednesday

We commenced our large caravan from the church and stopped at one of the tens of DQ's along the way for a tasty meal before getting into Reynosa.

Arrived around 9pm and slip into our cozy bunks for the night

Thursday

We arrived in the colonia for the first time, broke up into groups and then went to introduce ourselves to different families while passing out blankets, milk and praying for them. We also informed them about the upcoming weekend activities.

Later I joined some women for the women's bible study. Lex introduced them to the Beth Moore study materials and we did a craft with them to encourage interaction between us all. I wish I knew more Spanish so I could have communicated with them more. :(

The men began work on the houses this day and continued tirelessly against wind, rain and the cold until they completed 3 houses by Sunday! They even stayed late on Sunday to finish up. I'm so thankful for their willingness to serve and sacrifice in this way.

In the evening we celebrated Thanksgiving with the local pastors families, those at the orphange and the school. Our feast consisted of all the holiday favorites: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole etc. It tasted so good after a long, cold day!

Friday

Friday morning I stayed back at the orphanage with Cindy to prepare for VBS in the afternoon. I felt guilty for staying indoors while most of the others were freezing out in the colonia, but I was still so thankful for God's gift of grace and the prep time was much needed.

The rest of the afternoon I helped lead VBS, went on a coffee/hot chocolate run (that was fun on a bumpy road) for the guys hard at work and played wiffle ball with the kids.


Saturday

Round 2 of VBS. This time is was a little chaotic because we had a ton of kids, but hopefully they all learned some great stuff and had fun.

In the afternoon we were just chillin' with some kids. I took out my "Historia de Jesus" and a girl came and read it to me on my lap. She was 9 and struggled to read the simple text but it was so awesome to see her persevere through the whole book and work so sincerely to pronounce each word correctly. I pray that she has others to practice reading to.

Marianne and I played a couple games of soccer with some teenage girls who gave us smack. They were just jealous of our skillz. ;)

In the evening families from all over the colonia joined us at the community bathroom for a BBQ to celebrate the well God has blessed them with. It truly is awesome that God has provided a community which previously had no prior running water with an abundant well of water 100% void of impurities! Many of the pastors were in complete disbelief and in awe of this wonderful blessing.


Sunday

We rose early in the morning for a prayer walk around the colonia. We got there on gringo time though and didn't see many peeps. Those of us already there decided to split up into small groups. Well....later while we were waiting for the others to return we looked up and saw this sea of people walking towards us, stretching out their hands towards the houses they walked passed, praying and singing aloud. It was an awesome sight! They stopped where we were and we all held hands in a large circle to sing hymns and prayer. It was so great to hold hands with brothers and sisters of another country and praise God together! Just a small picture of what Heaven will be like.

After more wiffle ball with the kids we said our goodbyes and headed for the border. I don't know if they knew we were leaving for good this time or not and how that made them feel. Hopefully we were able to provide them with at least a glimmer of light in their lives and love from our hearts. They sure loved on us! Their absolute love towards us was so incredible. I was surprised by love. I went expecting to give it and yet I feel like I received it so much more.

I returned safely from Mexico late Sunday night to a warm house, and a lit Christmas tree. Being able to feel warmth in my inner-being was a great feeling, not only the physical heat of my blessed shelter but also the warmth of the love from the people which stayed on my heart. God is definitely moving in this colonia and many are trusting Him more and more. I praise God for the opportunity to go and I praise God for the ways He is blessing His people of this colonia!


To see pictures from our adventure you can look here and here.