Mexico 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

I first of all want to praise God for all the wonderful things He did in my life while I was in Mexico. I also want to thank you for supporting me with prayer and funds. I know that my trip wouldn’t have even happened if it weren’t for you. I pray that God will bless your life like you have blessed mine. In Mexico we learned a phrase in Spanish, Gloria Dios! Which means glory to God! To me this phrase means that in everything we do we should give the glory to God, because He is the one who made it happen.

Each morning I spent time reflecting, praying, and reading. I sat on a ledge that overlooked most of Ensenada. To the left there was a small hill. On the hill there sat three electrical poles, but to me they were three crosses. They reminded me daily of God’s great love and the sacrifices he made for me. Each day had its own set of struggles but when I sat on that ledge every morning God prepared me for the day with peace and patience.

The first week we spent in Mexico we built a house for the family of Jose. He and his family knew a lot of English which made it a lot easier to communicate. He had two daughters and a son. His youngest was a girl named Linda, she was 11 years old and very funny. We spent a lot of time joking, talking, and laughing. Linda and I made friendship bracelets, and painted our nails together. Because there were 22 of us working on one small house, there wasn’t always a job to be done, so I was able to minister in a different way, by hanging out and loving on Linda.

On Sunday morning, we went to the small church right down the street from where we stayed. I went up front, and gave my testimony in Spanish. It was really amazing to be able to tell my story to people who speak a different language and for them to be able to understand me without a translator! I was really nervous because some of the words I said were tough to pronounce but God gave me the courage to go up and speak.

The second week we spent running a bible school for the kids in the village. It was very cool to see little kids learning a bible verse and being rewarded with a new pencil. I told the story of Jonah and the big fish to the kids, and taught them that they should obey God’s commands the first time around. Also that week in the afternoon some of the group spent time tiling the floor of the church. It took a long time to get it done and you had to work on your hands and knees but the result and the joy of the people when they saw that we had provided a floor for their church was way more than worth it!

“Three things will last forever- faith, hope and love- and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13. I think this verse really sums up my mission trip well. God showed me even more about faith this trip. He revealed to me a passion and a hope for things of the future, and gave me a deeper love for him.