Going out with a bang! Week 8 - ECC

Our last week was with the Evangelical Chinese Church from Seattle, Washington -- by far the best group all summer! They were prepared to do God's work, but not to the point of needing to be in control, and when things didn't go as planned, there were no complaints, only the initiative to make changes and move forward. The youth leader, Bob, was amazing with group -- who clearly respected him and listened to what he had to say. The youth were all hard-working, energetic, and easy to get along with. They included the staff, Nathan's family, and Brent in everything they did as if we'd all been friends for years! It was a grueling week, and everyone was worn out, but we did some awesome work for the Lord, and at the end of the week we were all still smiling.

Roger put me in charge this week, which was trying and a little bit nerve-wracking, but I enjoyed getting a fuller taste of the position nonetheless.

Brent came down for the beginning of the week, and we served together when we could (when I wasn't running around delegating and organizing and making sure things were getting done/going smoothly). It was a great opportunity for us to be on the mission field together, but it went by way too quickly and I was sad to see him go :-(


At the guesthouse, and then the bus ride down. There wasn't space in the vans for everyone, since the group consisted of 38 people, so Brent & I and Nathan and his family had to take a bus. It was a pleasureable ride, and the city of Monterrey was something new for me to see (and for Brent, as well :-) ).


The Chinese group loved the kids services. Despite the language barrier, they taught, played with, and loved on them like crazy.


Tavo the Clown & Brent in La Laja.... and the girls loving some stickers!!


Brother Lucio is the pastor of the church in La Laja, and his wife Ramona always cooks dinner for us, with the help of some of the other sisters.


Jump Rope was the name of the game this week!


We had a kids service in Arroyo in an area they call the "Colonia" or Colony. There were tons of kids! Here, we're teaching them songs (left) and Tavo's explaining the craft (right) -- a salvation bracelet.


Brenda and I supervise :-) Chocala! High-five!! It's international, apparently.

Outside the restaurant where we ate in Real de Catorce. (This is the one where the pirate is! :-) )

The Catholic Church in Real. Man, I can't even compare it to what I saw in Spain.

in Real.

What kid wouldn't wanna knock the legs off a giant Pooh?! haha The Chinese group brought TONS of gifts for the kids and passed them out after they finished annihilating Pooh.


We had a children's service on Saturday in Zaragoza. There were over 100 kids there!! We did the usual songs and skit and craft with them, then passed out goodies. These pictures are from when we first got there to play with them. (Top) soccer field with a heck of a view! (Bottom) playground area.

Roger's the man... rockin' the Fu!

Chinese group participating in teaching the songs to the kids

After the kids' service, we went farther down the road to return to El Salto, this time with the group. It was a beautiful day! Me, Jenna, Corey, Nate, his dad and nephew, and Jeremiah from the group went waterfall climbing. We followed this stream of falls for a couple hours! Slipping, jumping, getting pulled downstream - haha - it was tons of fun and we laughed at each other a lot :-)

I'm so like Kate from LOST... hahaha :-)


Another taste of what we climbed up and under.

Week 7 -- Another Indiana Group

After our week off, we started up again with a small group of 10 or so. It was an interesting group for lack of a better word, but I'll just hit the high points :-) And by that I mean I'll stay on a positive note...







We had a revival, so to speak, in the village of La Mesa. We were there for 3 nights having children's services (which are basically VBS), dinner cooked by the pastor(a), and then adult services. Naturally, we had to go around inviting and ministering to the people first.



This is Kerri Jo, from the group, and some of the staff. The lady who lived here invited us into her home and asked for us to pray for her and her husband before we left.




The pastor's daughter-in-law and I cutting up the food to cook for dinner.


Totally normal-sized door frame :-) I grew while I was in Mexico!!! Come on!!


The children were beautiful. We played lots of games with them.



The services were held outside the church building, so everyone in the streets could hear the good news being preached.




And the DMT students prepared a musical drama for the onlookers. Their black capes are representative of sin (that so easily ensnares us). They try to fight the protagonist back and keep her from reaching Jesus... but of course, they are without success. Jesus defeats sin and lifts up the hurting girl.




Mmm, I rolled out floor balls to make some tortillas!



This is the dinner we had that night... it's pretty typical: rice, cactus, cheese, beans, potatoes & eggs. Marcus and Vero are certainly enjoying it :-)


The highlight of my week!

The little boy on the right is one of two who accepted Christ after hearing the message being preached the second night. The joy on his face was evident as I watched him answer question after question about understanding sin, who Jesus is, and what it means to accept Him. Both boys got a new Bible the next day, and I also gave one to this little girl who told me she had become a Christian in October of last year and didn't own one.

My Week Off! and much hiking...

So we didn't have a group during "week 6" and I had a lot of time to read, catch up on some zzz's... and GO HIKING!!





I went once on my own behind the compound in Arroyo. It was beautiful and desert-y. The second time everyone went to a park called El Salto. It was tropical and beautiful. Chely and I got ourselves LOST (not really... you'll see the play on words as you follow along with our adventure...)


First I passed by some beautiful, green farmland. Then things got dryer. This was the only little house along the way.



I had to make a decision.



I left Arroyo behind me... And looked ahead...


Before I knew it, I had made it to the top of the first steep ascent and could look back on the spotted Joshua trees below.



When I returned, Danny was hard at work cleaning up in front of the compound. I arrived in time to beat the afternoon showers that visited us every day that week.

The church sits quietly waiting on us to come inside.

Every evening when the sun falls behind the mountains, it lights up the farthest clouds with what look like flames that spark up and then die away in glowing embers.

EL SALTO

The next week I climbed these with some group members, Jenna, Corey, Nate, and Nate's dad and nephew.

So Chely and I took off for a nice stroll.... when we reached the top of the first hill, I realized what an adventure it was about to be. The view -utterly breathtaking... the setting- like something from LOST!! You know how pumped I must've been, right? So I took off running in search of Jack... hahaha ok no, but I was definitely in awe of The Island-like qualities of this beautiful forest. So Chely and I decided to journey on...

Spanish moss is taking over!! And I'd like to see Dad grow some Elephant Ears like these!

The giant black tubing is NOT for water irrigation... it is an experiment set up who-knows-how-long ago by the DHARMA Initiative!

Chely bravely ventures through the cave that used to hold experimental BEARS... or killer SALMON!!!

We trek on... Chely in the lead... wearing Converse... hahaha Her hiking shoes put her at a slight disadvantage. That's why she picked up the walking stick. I'm not ashamed to say I had to help her over several slippery rocks (she's shorter than I am :) ). Let me also note that she started out in a denim skirt (so hardcore, I know) but fell maybe 5 mins into the journey and had to change it for some shorts that weren't covered in mud!

Two hours later we reached the Promised Land. At least we couldn't go any further without swimming. And that murky brown water was not beckoning, no matter how much I was sweating. So we turned around and tried to beat the rolling thunder back to the campsite... but it didn't happen....

Steven and Corey had already come looking for us since the clouds had begun to rumble, so we met them and shortly after we met the icy rain. Then the rain turned into hail and the four of us had to slide, stumble, and half-run back to the vans while getting pelted (and while the smoke monster chased us). We were soaked, frozen, tired, hungry (Chely and I hadn't had lunch yet) and in the best spirits!! I survived an episode of LOST. I felt like Kate. :-D