Saturday

Today has been a really great day!

The team was split into girls and guys today as the boys went out to play soccer against the Mexican team.  Did they win? They definitely did not.  Much to our team's disappointment (especially Mike), the Mexicans are still undefeated...maybe Christmas?

Is this the look of defeat Cole?

Canada and Mexico!

While the boys played, the girls prepped for a lovely morning at Casa De Luz where we offered a health and nutrition class led by our RNs - Kate and Julia.  They gave the ladies of La Hermosa some fabulous information and included tips on healthy eating, including the four food groups into our meals and keeping active.  We followed the talk with tasting and demonstrating how to make a great breakfast cookie that is egg/flour/sugar free and tastes delicious!  One lady said she'll be making these cookies until her husband passes away!!

Julia sharing on the four food groups and nutrition

The ladies helping make the banana cookies

We also had the ladies help us make a healthy salad with an easy salad dressing.  Thanks to Krissi and Maddie, our demonstrators!  After demos, we headed into the other room to work up our appetites with a Zumba class.  The ladies were ALL smiles and so was I as we danced and sweat...who said working out can't be fun?

The response from the workshop was so positive from all the women that attended. They were eager to talk with Erin about continuing to meet and exercise and encourage one another.  It has been on Erin's heart to do a weekly fitness class - and so this was the kickoff!! Erin plans to continue getting together with the ladies every Saturday morning to encourage everyone in their health and wellness.  We were so thrilled to be a part of planting the seeds of health and care of our bodies into these women and as one woman responded to us, 'We are happier.'

Kate showing the ladies a serving size of rice

After our lunch, we headed to the mural wall to prep it.  We will be doing this art project with the kids on Monday and Tuesday afternoon.  We decided the paint needed to be peeled off and after a few hours of scraping, sanding and brushing, Mike came to the rescue with a power washer to get the paint off! It can be a lot of work to peel back the layers in our lives, but when their is a blank canvas, God can do whatever he wants with us and make something beautiful!!  And so it will be with this wall.  Looking forward to the final product!

The boys are over working on the team housing building as I type and I am happy to listen to the girls working on crafts for the kids this week and the hum of that power washer washing away the old paint.

Tonight, we will be able to relax a little bit more and tomorrow will be Church and team day as well as some prep for the rest of the week.

First 24 hours

It is hard to believe we have been in Mexico for only 24 hours!  We arrived safe and sound in Primo Tapia last night at about 10:30pm to a wonderful Mexican feast.  We met Christina, our host, and saw our beloved cook Rosa who happens to live right next door. 

After our late dinner, we went to work preparing our gifts for the kids at CDL.  Thanks to Rainbow Embroidery for their amazing help in embroidering each child’s name on a new beach towel.  What a special gift to give each child.  My prayer for each child in giving them their personalized towel was that they would know that Jesus knows their name.  He knows them personally and deeply and cares for every detail of their lives. 

After a late night, we were up early to the sounds of roosters and dogs in our new neighbourhood in the heart of Primo Tapia.  We got ready and headed to Casa De Luz to meet the children we’d be paired up with for the day.  We each were buddied up with one to three kids for our field trip to Las Canadas – a huge water park and camping resort.  The older children got to enjoy the pool, paddle boat rides and the toboggan waterslide and the little ones played at an amazing waterpark complete with spraying water and an assortment of slides. 

It was such a fun day…. A little chaotic at first as us white kids tried to care for Spanish speaking children…. But once we got to know our child(ren) and what they liked and wanted to do, we had a lot of fun with them.  I enjoyed watching my daughter, Abbi, interact with her partner Karol, who is also 5 years old.  Again proves that you don’t need to have the same language to have fun as they giggled and sang and played on the bus ride and splashed in the pool together. 

I thoroughly enjoyed

bonding with Karol as did the rest of the team with their children.  It was a great way to start our week here and gain their trust and build new relationships. 

Tomorrow will be another fun day as the guys head out to play soccer – it’s quite the match-up with lots of trash-talking…should be exciting to see how things turn out – will the Mexicans win again or will Canada prevail?

We will also be hosting a health and nutrition workshop for the CDL moms and La Hermosa families.  It will include some health talks from our nurses on the team, healthy food demos and Zumba/fitness class.  Then we’ll be off to prep for the rest of the week’s activities. 

Please pray for Christina, our Korean host, as she has been having knee problems and would really like to be able to participate in as much of our programs and events as possible.  We’re excited to walk with her and share our hearts and stories with her in ministry. 

3 Sleeps till Mexico!!

It is hard to believe that we have only three days to go!  Mike and I are scrambling to finish all the details and figuring out where we are going to put all these supplies!!  We are so excited for this trip.  We have a team of 21 - our family of 5 plus 16 young adults, evenly split between guys and girls.  Our team is Mike, Jocelyn, Caleb, Abbi, Sadie, Josh, Kate, Riley, Julia, Mitch, Madisen, Jeff, Trisha, Ryan, Jessica, Rod, Melanie, Tyler, Krissi, Karissa, and Cole. 

Please pray for us as many on the team are feeling tired already and we haven't left yet!  Most of the team are working right up until the day before we leave.  It's going to be a jam-packed trip and we can't wait to tell you all about it!

We also need prayer to get our supplies onto the plane for FREE or at least cheaper as we have many extra bags for supplies this year.  We could use your prayers for crossing the border into Mexico as well as Mexico has been pulling over people and charging duty on everything brought in from the USA.  We plan to pick up quite a bit of supplies and food in San Diego before we cross so we may be charged as well. 

God is good all the time and we are looking forward to joining with Him this next week!  Check us out here for daily updates on how things are going!!

Day 7 - Coming Home

Well, we are sitting in San Diego airport preparing to get onto our flight home.  It's been a wonderful week and the emotions are more than words can really describe.  This morning was another special one.  When we arrived at CDL, the children came out with a beautiful painting for each person on the team that said, 'Gracious.'  They all said to us in spanish, Thank you for making us smile!  We then started saying our goodbyes and that is when the tears started to roll.  We made such beautiful connections with both the children, staff and volunteers and though it has been a great week, the time had come to say goodbye.

There were lots of pictures and then the staff and children circled around us and held hands, then prayed God's blessing on us.  And how can I not cry when that happens?

And as we go, we leave a piece of our hearts behind in Mexico.  Our hearts are with Isabell and Ramone as they move into their newly renovated home; our hearts are with each child and volunteer at Casa De Luz that we have fallen in love with; Our hearts are with Francisco as he continues to choose his family despite hardship; our hearts are with the moms who have been impacted by Casa De Luz that we loved on at our ladies night; our hearts are with Toni and Erin and Bella and Lucas who work tirelessly day in and out; our hearts are with Pasotr Daniel and Aleyda who truly bring Jesus into the community.  We have become like family with so many people and for many of us this will not be goodby forever.

And so we return to the everyday; may God keep our hearts soft for His people.  

Day 6 - Such a good Day!!!

Today was an AWESOME DAY!  Bree, Makaaela, Abbi and I got to hang out at CDL this morning and learn how to make tortillas with Rosa, CDL's head cook.  It was sooooo fun and Pastor Daniel even got in on it and shared his techniques.  After the team got back from the reno house, we split into groups and headed out to give out food hampers.  There was a mix of blessing CDL volunteers, CDL moms and La Hermosa church members that were in need.  One of the hampers our team delivered was to Suzanna.  Suzanna is one of CDL kitchen volunteers and when we arrived she was in her new Freestyle clothes from the Saturday night ladies night.  She felt so blessed from all that we have done and told us that when we come it strengthens the people.  Such a wonderful lady!

We also delivered to Hermana Blanca and her family.  Blanca comes once a week and does hair for all the girls at CDL.  She gave us each a shell when we left and arrived later in the afternoon with a freshly baked carrot cake for the team that said 'Good Bless Canada' or in other words 'God bless Canada!'

 

The afternoon was filled with fun at the park - ropes course again, soccer playing and lots of interaction with the community.  Makaaela started talking with a woman in the playground and was able to pray for her for healing.  The woman was so blessed she ran after Makaaela to give her her phone number and told her if she ever needed anything to call!  

Special thanks to my big brother and sister for providing the funds for some new soccer balls for the kids at CDL!!

When the kids returned from the park, the girls were all set to perform their presentation complete with costumes and skirts.  They were so excited that they chose to stay back from the ropes course so they could practice and be ready.

This performance was definitely a HIGHlight!  They were all so filled with joy and excitement to share what they had learned.  To see the transformation in the kids was so amazing as well.  Our littlest ballerina, Camela, was not interested in joining in the first day.  She didn't want to dance or be a part but the second day she had a smile on her face and was happy to walk around with me.  But when we were showing our moves, she was actually doing her arm positions and pliets!!  Wow!

Makaaela taught the older girls an awesome hip hop piece which they shared first.  Such a thrill for them and they did so well!

The older girls then changed into their ballet outfits and shared their new moves.  They showed off their pliets and arm positions, tendues, and sautes and danced across the floor in groups of two.  

What a blessing to be able to leave all these costumes from Jazz-ma-tazz plus Abbi and Sadie's old body suits and skirts and some scarves for the children to continue to dance in.  

 The evening brought more emotion as we finished the house reno and dedicated it to the Lord.  Pictured here is Isabell and Ramone and their parents.  There were tears and laughter as we shared and prayed and were able to really see the impact that our project would have on this family.  Isabell and Ramone were both very grateful and we were overwhelmed by goodness of God.  She said God was fulfilling all of her dreams!

 Here is the team proudly standing with Isabell and her family in front of their new home!

So what can I say but, 'Wow God!'  You are so good Jesus.  This day was above and beyond what I could ask and imagine and I am humbled and blessed again to be serving my God in this beautiful place.  Tomorrow we pack up and head home...the time has flown by and I am already looking forward to coming back again.  Please pray for grace and peace for my kids and safe travels as we return.  

Francisco and Theresa

I didn't get a chance to blog about our moments with Francisco yesterday so thought I'd do a quick one right now.  Francisco is the only dad in the program and has quite the story.  Theresa and Lionel are his kids and he actually found his daughter abandoned on the side of the road and took her in.  The mother is in jail and he took time to find his son who was left with a friend and brought him to live with him as well.  He is a father that, though he struggles with many things, has chosen to fight for his kids.  We blessed the moms at Casa De Luz and we wanted to bless him as well.  We brought him Freestyle clothes, shoes, and a bag of toiletry items as well.  

Today, his daughter danced in our final presentation.  She is the kind of girl that isn't naturally feminine.    She doesn't have a high self-esteem and today was a beautiful day.  Today she danced.  Today she was a given a pretty skirt and took the moves she learned and shared it.  As the kids and teachers and team cheered for her and the other, she was choking up.  

I went up to her after and told her how proud I was of her and how well she did.  The next time I saw her she came running with open arms to give me a big hug.  There is something powerful about showing a little girl that they are beautiful, valuable and feminine.  She received it!  Such a beautiful moment today.  

Day 5 - Hamper Shopping, Painting, and Camps!

What a day!  Madisen, Bree, Toni and I set out in the morning to purchase food and supplies for 20 needy families in Primo Tapia.  We made it back just in time to catch the second set of dance classes and the chaos of crafts.... Bree was dubbed our Craftmaster and the team was out of sorts with her not there.

While we were out shopping, the rest of the team was at the reno house painting, painting and.... painting.  Amazing transformations were taking place as colors filled the walls.  I'm so excited to get in there tomorrow and hang a few pictures of the family on the wall.  We will be dedicating the home tomorrow evening.

The evening was spent playing with Bella and Lucas while we gave Toni and Erin a well-deserved break and sent them out for dinner.  We also split into teams to sort and package the food hampers and finish some more painting and hang doors in the reno house.

Of course the evening was topped off with some delicious ice cream at the local ice cream parlour.  When Toni and Erin came to pick up the kids, we had a great time hearing some stories of the the kids at Casa De Luz and their backgrounds.

 Highlights for the day - Carl and Jon set up a ropes course at the local park and the kids had a blast out there and lots of neighbourhood kids joined in to try it out.

Seeing the change in Isabell and Ramone's home take place when color was added!

And giving Fransisco his care package.  Fransisco has been making such big changes and is the only father in the program so because we were blessing the moms, we wanted to bless him to.  We gave him a bunch of new clothes, a pair of shoes and a bag of Freestyle clothes.  He eyes were welling up as we shared how we wanted to bless him as a father that is fighting for his kids.  Really cool time!

Here's a few more pics from the day...

 The kids helped unload the hamper supplies into the Casa De Luz.

Dance class, teaching Jetes - leaps across the floor.  Once I put my binder down for them to jump over, they got it!

Last full day tomorrow.  Pray for us.  We need our rest as it will be another full day of giving out hampers, finishing the house and one last camp time with the kids at Casa De Luz.