Mexico 2010

This is our group of 34 people. The mime team: Conrad, Nathan, Ross, Rose, Lauren, Amber, and Chris. Worship leaders: Job and Joey. Translators: Carly, Ellen, and Mary Kate. Construction crew: Phil, Ryan, Ron, Nancy, Jenny, Richard, and Kent. Vbs Crew: Jason, Jerry, Carol, Paul, Lisa, Denise, Tim, Seth, Cathy, Corey(driver), and me. Pastors: Darrell and Dave. Team Utah Leaders: Rich and Wendy. Team Colorado leader: Harold.

This trip was super duper amazing. I think it's the best one yet! At least for me. I won't describe every day in depth, just give you the highlights of my trip. But that might turn into a lot, so I hope you like to read!
First of all, in May we had 7 people signed up to go including my parents and me. Now you can't do much down in Mexico with just seven people. My mom was extremely stressed out about it, thinking that we wouldn't even do any VBS's at all. But then God answered our prayers three weeks before the trip. 18 people from Canon City, Colorado signed up to go, including a fluent translator! We were totally blown away and amazed. Their church consists of about 1200 people(or so I was told) and they had quite a bit more money than we did. :) So they took on buying the snacks for VBS, the shampoos, conditioners, etc for the jail, the tracts and Bibles, and so much more. We so appreciate all that they did. We could not have done it without them!

My parents and I left Thursday morning(two days before the rest of the group). This was the most confusing part ever! We drove all day and arrived in Tucson that night. The next morning we drove to Rio Rico and stopped at Kay and Victor's house to pick up some stuff and visit with them. Then we drove across the border to San Lazaro, dropped off all of our stuff at the dorm, drove back to and through the border(my dad got to drive across but we had to walk. at least it wasn't a busy saturday!). For the rest of the day we shopped for tons and tons of food. Then we drove across the border once again, stopped at Rafa's, then drove to the dorm and spent the night. The next morning(Saturday) we spent cleaning the dormitory and organizing all the food we had bought the day before in preparation for the 17 people coming to stay! Then we headed back through the border and to Tucson to shop at Costco for like 4 hours. That was extremely difficult. I was loading stuff into our van from our four carts in the sweltering heat, completely tired and sweaty and dirty, and these red ants kept biting my feet, and I had just hit my head, and I was just like, "Am I really serving God in this way?" Cuz I really did not want to be there at that moment. But I realized that yes, I was. Without my help(not trying to sound prideful), it would have taken my mom a lot longer to find all the stuff she needed in that fast of time. So see, I really can serve God wherever I am! Anyway, after we had finished there we headed to the hotel finally. :) That night we picked up Kate at the airport(very exciting; I hadn't seen her for a month cuz she was in Costa Rica) and met all the Canon City people during our meeting. Despite all the confusion of people, food, vans, hotels, crossing the border 4 times, stores, etc. it went pretty smoothly. My mom and dad and I were very thankful that the confusion was over that night. The week ahead didn't seem as confusing, but pretty well planned with lots of people helping.

So now the real Mexico journey begins! Sunday morning we had another meeting-a prayer meeting. Then we loaded up the vans; my dad took the mime group plus Kate, the translator, and Job across the border to Colosio. He then came back. By the time he came back the San Lazaro group was loaded up and eating at Carl's Jr. See, this year we only had three vans( which held 30 people) going across the border. We had 33 people plus a week's worth of food and VBS supplies and construction supplies. This is why my Dad made two trips. I don't know how we fit everything in! We arrived in San Lazaro at abou 4:30 pm. As soon as all the stuff was taken out of the vans, the construction crew started working right away on all of the bunk beds. They were so amazing. Nancy, Jason, Joey, Carly, Jenny, Jerry and I set out to pass out 100 fliers. We handed out about 60 I'd say before it started raining. We were wimps compared to the construction crew. They continued to work in the pouring rain.

Monday morning a few of us drove to Santa Cruz to pass out fliers-here we passed out all 100 and Carly, our translator, was able to meet an older woman who lived in the town. She told Carly and Joey how the town was filled with drugs and only 4 Christians lived there; she was a Christian, however. She said she wasn't able to trust anyone. It was really cool that Carly was able to talk her to though. That's why we're there, to build relationships with people. She offered her house to us whenever we need it. It was super cool! That afternoon we had our first VBS in San Lazaro. The craft went really well-rainsticks and tambourines. As soon as Carly started teaching with the flannel graph rain started pouring! We were at la concha(the basketball court) which has a metal roof, so the rain really made a lot of noise. We sent them home early cuz there wasn't any point in us trying to teach when they couldn't hear. Then the fun began! My dad had taken the keys to the van back to the dorm and no one wanted to run back in the pouring rain to get them. So Hosue and I ran back as fast as we could, told my dad to bring the keys, then we ran back just for the fun of it. He and Phil were wimps though. They drove in the van to the court to let Phil out to drive the other van back. It's like a five minute walk. What babies. :) Phil drove back, but most of the VBS team walked back in the rain. We were walking past a humongous puddle and Phil decides to drive through it super fast-twice- to get us wet. Nasty, dirty, muddy water. It was so fun though! Then Jerry splashed me with the nasty water and I dumped my bottle of water on him. Water fights in Mexico are the best. So are the monsoons!!

Tuesday morning we traveled to Santa Cruz for the worst VBS I've ever seen in my life. The kids were rude, ungrateful, loud, bratty....One kid was the ringleader of the town. All the kids obviously looked up to him, and he kept starting fights with all the kids. My mom and her friend Carol prayed over the group as Carly was teaching. I didn't think it would make a difference. Then she told one really loud kid that if he didn't stop he would have to go home. He stopped and listened the best out of the entire group! The prayers did make a difference! As soon as we got in the van to leave, we prayed over the entire city and all the kids. During devotions that night, we prayed for the same thing. During devotions the next morning we did the same. And when we got to Santa Cruz the next morning we prayed again before we even got out of the van. I kept wondering, "Will there even be a difference?" I asked God to show me something miraculous so that I could know that prayer really does work. I know it works, but I lack faith in it-or I did. Because after what happened to those kids, I have so much more faith in prayer! It was like a night and day change. The kids helped us unload the van; they thanked us; they smiled at us; they cooperated. When we told them we were coming back the next day, they cheered. I couldn't believe it. God truly amazed me that day, and I will never forget it.
Another cool thing was this: Every other year I've gone down, there have been teenage girls with me. This year the only teenagers in San Lazaro(until Wednesday) were Joey and I. So this year I didn't have to be shy with the girls in San Lazaro and Santa Cruz. I didn't have another girl to compete with. So I was able to play tag( or ronya as they call it) with them at every VBS and in our free time. It was so much fun! It doesn't sound like much, but every other year I would be shy and jealous that the other girls got to play with them, hold their hands, hug them... It was just super duper fun!

Wednesday afternoon after a great VBS in Santa Cruz, the Colosio team( 16 people) arrived at about 3PM at the dormitory. Of course I got my guard up and tried to look cool.....I hate that about myself. But I got out of my comfort zone thankfully. I introduced myself to all of them and talked to them, not even thinking about it. It was amazing; God was really encouraging me to be bold. I even talked to guys without feeling awkward! Yay! And I did most of this without thinking about doing it. If I had thought about doing it before hand, I bet I wouldn't have done it!
By Thursday morning, all the bunk beds were made-28 in three days! The construction crew worked so hard all day long, barely taking any breaks at all. Because they were made, most of the construction crew was able to go to Cuitaca with us for a first VBS. It was really fun. We stayed for quite a while doing crafts, teaching, songs( another bold moment for me. I got up in front of all the kids and led them in "Dios no esta muerto" or "God's not dead". Yep. Me. Shy little Abi. I did have a bit of help, but even singing in front of people was courageous for me!), games(water balloons!), and the drama team presented their drama. Later in the day we headed back to Santa Cruz for our last VBS. It wasn't really a normal VBS, just playing with the kids. The drama team did their mime for the kids too. I got to play ronya with the girls one last time. I also was able to give New Testaments to four of the pre-teen girls I had hung out with a lot. I showed them and underlined my favorite verse for them, and Carly tranlslated to them that I would be praying for them( and I have been!).

Thursday night the pastor's conference began. I think three years ago the churches that we help in Mexico changed to the Vineyard denomination. Therefore, every year they have a celebration. This year our trip happened at the same time their celebration began. That wasn't the best decision ever. :) We had our 33 people plus two from the Salida, Colorado Vineyard, needing a place to sleep. There were about 10 adults and 15 children from Sinaloa(the state below Sonora) plus about 10 other adults and children from Hermosillo, Colosio, and Nogales. So about 50 Mexican pastors came down. My mom thought at first that we would have to fit them all into the dorm. I think there are about 35 beds in the dorm. And we had 75 people total. That scared us for a while. Many of them stayed in other houses in San Lazaro. There were three or four rooms taken up by Mexican people in the dorm; the rest by American women. All the American guys slept in the church, tents, and vans. So it worked out well, thank God! Anway. That night we had worship and a sermon from Darrell Evans(my pastor). It was great. I cried during pretty much the whole service. I guess I'll explain why: Every year I went down since I was about seven I would play with two girls named Lowda and Luz Amalia(forgive my spelling). Over the years as they became teenagers, they kind of stopped talking to me. I don't know why. Either out of shyness or they "were too cool for me". And I was too shy to talk to them first. This year I found out that Lowda is married and pregnant. She's sixteen. Luz Amalia is also married. To a twenty one year old. She's fifteen and pregnant. It seriously broke my heart. I couldn't stop thinking about them during the service. It's not fair. Just because their culture is to get married young, doesn't mean they should have had too. Just because the guys down there don't care about the girls, and the girls give in to the sexual temptation, didn't mean it had to happen to them. But it did. And it makes me so angry. And so sad. All I can do is pray for a change. And I know that if it is in God's will to change that, he will. Maybe even through me, but I don't know.

Friday we had our last VBS in Cuitaca. The kids spent most of the morning coloring the t shirts that Phil, Richard, Corey, and Jerry had made in Utah. They all said, "Jesus me ama" or "Jesus loves me". They were so cute! Friday afternoon during a service for the pastor's conference, our team made dinner for 75 people! It was so much fun! Tiring and hot, but very fun. After the service and dinner and clean up, we headed to la concha for a last drama presentation. At first, nobody watched. Everybody was super loud. But as the drama progressed people noticed. Cars stopped and watched. People cried. Afterwards Rafa gave the salvation message. I thought it was hopeless because everyone started turning away and not listening. But two teenage boys, who had disrupted a couple of our VBS's, accepted Jesus as their Savior. It was simply amazing. I was able to give them New Testaments and tell them that I would be praying for them. I loved it.

Saturday morning we left for the border. We spent a couple of hours at the market, met at Mcdonalds, then traveled to Rio Rico to pick up the Colorado group's van. But it started pouring rain. Like a monsoon; it was so cool! But we couldn't really unpack the vans or anything. I was already pretty wet from the rain leaking through the window onto me. So Kate and I decided to get out and wash off our group's van which was extremely muddy. So not being able to see much and with one rag, we scrubbed at the van. Then Ross, Nathan, and Jerry joined us. We had a blast getting soaked. Finally, the rain let up and we were able to unpack the van so that my dad and Phil could take it back to Tony's house. Then we traveled to our Tucson motel, had dinner and our debriefing meeting. A bunch of us swam for a couple of hours then proceeded to pull an all nighter with our great friends from Colorado. I only made it to 1:30. A couple stayed up the whole night since the Colorado group left at 4:30am. The Utah group left at 7 and arrived home at about 10.

Once again, this was sincerely an amazing trip. God really helped free me from my fear of kids, guys, crowds, hugs, new people, etc. I really felt a new boldness creep into me without even knowing it. I did things out of faith. It has really strengthened me. The only thing he did not take the fear away from was: bugs. I will always be afraid of them. Yuck. I am also completely changed in having faith in prayer, as I mentioned already. And God gave me some really amazing friends that I hope I will have for a while. If you made it this far, you're pretty cool! I didn't mean to write this much, but when I start writing about what interests me, I can't stop! Obviously. Maybe this blog will help you to realize how much you want to come down to Mexico. :) I hope so! It's seriously wonderful down there. And you should totally come.
Well thanks for reading! Until next year(or October)!

This is my second "best friend", Nathan.

The kids coloring shirts.

My best friend, Jerry. :)

My seester, Mary Kate and I all dressed up for the pastor's conference

A little girl with whom I played tag.

It rains so much in July. It's their monsoon season. Most people don't like it, but I love it. I love getting stopped in the roads because there is a huge puddle of water. I love having water fights in the rain. I love the rainbows.

Yep. We sure do make the best faces ever. Jerry, Conrad, Kate, Ross, Nathan, and me.

Jesus helped with the painting in the dorm a lot. He was super cute!

Hosue and me. He's my best buddy down there. And nothing more! :)

Carly and the women she was able to talk to in Santa Cruz.

All the rest of my photos are on facebook. Here is the link if you want to look at them! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063852&id=1559100036&l=b2fdc4028f

A Revelation

Yeah, I know that sounds very Christianese, but I don't know what else to call it. Let me explain:

For a while now, I have been struggling with serving God right here and right now. I keep saying, "If I just lived somewhere else, I'd be able to serve God better." But God keeps telling me that I can serve him right here in Stockton. Somehow. Someway. God has placed me where I am for a reason.
Last night I read Romans 5:2-5, and verses 3 and 4 really stood out to me. They say, "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." A couple of nights ago, Kate and I were talking about how hard it has been growing up in Stockton. But she explained that if she hadn't lived here, she wouldn't have achieved the character she has today. Character. Pretty sure she said that exact word. And I understand that completely. If I hadn't grown up here in the loneliness without friends, I definitely would not have the relationship with God that I now have. I've been able to focus on him so much out here without the distractions of friends and events. Though it's extremely hard, I really am glad I grew up in the middle of nowhere. :) I have character because I have persevered by living out here.
When I got home from Mexico, I did not want to be here. I wanted to go back. I was even thinking of going to college next February instead of next August because I did not want to be in this place. Not that I hate Stockton or anything, but I just feel so useless out here. After a week of go-go-go, serving God every single day actively, it was just a pain to come back here with nothing to do. So I was talking a little bit about that with my friend Nathan last night. And he told me to read the Romans passage. Which I did, and God confirmed for the third time that I'm here for a reason. Now that I have the character(although I don't think God is done working on my character, at least I hope not!), I have hope for the future. Hope that I will always have a purpose wherever I go and in whatever I do. That really gives me great hope. And it excites me! I serve an amazing and wonderful God, and I know that full well!