Hello to all! We got here just fine the other day and had a most wonderful
van ride for the five hours that it lasted. When we arrived at the church,
the minister took us out to dinner where we had beef burritos and were
serenaded by a mariachi band. Fifteen dollars for four songs. They were good
songs though, our favorite being La Bamba. The boys stayed the night in the
church while all the girls were taken into a guest house of a member from the
church. It was air conditioned, thank goodness, but the poor boys only had a
swamp cooler which one of them broke earlier today. Today we woke up and were
treated to a delightful meal of cereal, fresh fruit, mexican pastries and
scramble eggs. It was really good. We then broke the group into two and some
worked here at the church. Here, we painted the walls of the kitchen. There
they painted the outside of a Sunday school room and prepared the inside for
painting. We then all met back here for our lunch which was chicken, mexican
rice, and beans along with a rice drink. It as well was very good. The girls
then headed back to their house and showered while the boys stayed here and
showered. We all got a good rest and made it through the first day of the
heat. It's about 110 or over. It's too hot to tell. Heat exhaustion was big.
We are now going to prepare for the evening activities but we hope that you
all are enjoying your week back at home and we'll see you on Monday!
Hasta Luego!
P.S. Hello family back at home!
We're working so hard we forget to send back our pictures. Here are impressions from Stephanie Babcock and Mark Carnes:
The host family that the girls are staying with is wonderful. They are incredibly gracious hostesses and all around great people. Today we enjoyed trying to break the language barrier by all standing around in la cocina (the kitchen) and trying to have a conversation without the help of our translator. We had a lot of fun sharing pictures from home and also enjoyed looking at the family pictures in the house. Staying with the host family has enhanced the entire experience of this mission trip. As much fun as we're all having, we are looking forward to coming home and seeing our real families as well as our church family.
The guys are having a hot, I mean, great time staying in the sanctuary, and are really enjoying the work being done for the wonderful community of San Luis. Today most of the team went to the other church to paint the outside of the sanctuary, they are almost done!! Joel, Erica and I stayed here and sanded the ceiling in the dining room so it can be painted at another time. The dust from the sanding was the bad part, it got everywhere, and I do mean name somewhere or something in the room and yes there was dust on/in it! Tomorrow we are waking up and leaving by 5am so we can finish painting the sanctuary and then we are off to the beach and the back for another church service.
We've been to busy to send updates, so here are a few days worth of words to go with the pictures. I'm working on a Spanish-speaking computer, so please excuse odd punctuation.
We have had a very busy Thursday and Friday. Thursday we worked hard in the 110 or more heat. We have painted the inside and outside of another church, finished and painted the new kitchen here while Dave Laurvick built two large rolling cabinets. We've learned that Siestas are not a joke and very necessary for survival.
Thursday evening we participated in worship here. Pastor Niceforo preached to us, a quiet congregation compared with the locals. The congregation was made up of several men who stay at a rehabilitation center for Migrant workers trying to assimilate back into Mexico. Many are addicted to drugs and-or alcohol.
Friday evenings worship at the VanaVas Methodist Church was very lively with many children, a praise band and our own youth singing and telling a few of their faith stories. Dottie was asked to preach, as she is referred to here as "pastora". The youth had a great time teasing her about preaching. SHe found that preaching with an interpreter is difficult.
Today was super busy. We finished our work, then went to two parks to serve meals to the homeless. We served 90 sandwiches and 10 gallons of juice to men and women who just walked up. This ministry was started by a Methodist man, now Pastor Niceforos church does it every Saturday on a once per month rotation.
Later we visited the market and did some traditional shopping, Mexico style. Unfortunately most of the shops were closed already. We did learn to make deals.
There is so much to tell and we're out of time now. We can't wait to come home to cool weather, anything below 100, our families, our showers and beds and St. Luke's.
We leave Mexico Sunday afternoon and will arrive at hotel in Tucson late Sun. evening. We{ll try to call or send more emails then.
Love and Blessings, the SLY Mexico Mission Team