Visit to Pastor Omar and Cristina's house on April 8

Murray and Cindy and Mary Jane and myself (Darrel) went for a ride on our rented scooters and decided to go to Empalme. We went to Pastor Omar's house and they were at home. We stayed for about 45 minutes and had a wonderful time seeing them content and happy in their new home. Cristina has put up flower shelves in the trees between there house and the education wing, Pastor Omar was building a work bench, and the lumber for the washroom roof was brought there. One of the families brought them some chicks (stored in the cardboard box seen in above picture). It's great to see how happy and grateful they are. Cristina brought out a photo album and with Murray and Cindy's knowledge of Spanish, we were able to communicate quite well.

Additional Photos by Wes

Here is a link for a portion of the photos taken by Wes.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/darrelwiebe/SanCarlos2010PhotosByWes

Going Home

As we (Murray & Cindy, Darrel & Mary Jane) sit here and there is no noise, or commotion, we realize that yes, it is Saturday morning and and the rest of the team is on the way home. They left here at 9:00 am after breakfast, hugs and some tears as people realized that it is back to home, work and colder weather. We pray for safety for the remainder of the trip home, and that God will remain up front with the team members, and that people at home will see a change in each one of us. There have been many great friendships built within the team, all with a common goal to work for God. Pray that they will be lasting friendships, and that we will continue to support each other in Christ.

Thursday Blog

Good afternoon everyone. Thursday again was a beautiful day hot sun, clear sky and the warmth of all the people we come in contact with. No matter where you go everyone is saying hola and Dios te bendiga (hello and God bless you). In the morning a team of ladies stayed back and continued to sew the curtains which they finished just before supper, another team continued to finish the kitchen cupboards, and another team went to the house to finish the painting, tiling, plumbing, cleaning, finishing the floor in the education wing, and just getting it finished. The rest of the team came a bit later for lunch and to get ready to have the last children's club. The excitement of the children when they see everyone is overwhelming. To see the joy in their eyes reminds us of what a wonderful God we have, no matter what language you speak you can love one another. Yet the sadness of bullies and class distinctions exists as everywhere.

For the evening supper our ladies put on a Mennonite meal of Kielke and Schmauntfat (Homemade noodles and cream gravy) for everyone at our home base. After a sharing time that we call "pows and wows" (as we do every night) some of the people went to bed, and others went downtown to San Carlos to experience the activities of Holy Week.

The Video shows Ike playing with Jonathan, one of the local kids. It also shows a good view of the kitchen cabinets that we built from scratch starting last Saturday afternoon.

Why We came

Last night was the most interesting movie night I've been to in a long time. There were crowds of people sitting on benches and standing around the edges of our "theatre". The air was full of anticipation, and then the movie started. A few minutes into "Fireproof" children were running everywhere. Shadows were crossing the screen and games were being played on both sides and directly behind the people watching. Despite all the distractions, if you looked at the faces of the people actually watching the movie it was clear they were focused on the story being told.

Hoping for a better view, a few kids took turns sitting on my shoulders, but even then, the option of play as opposed to watching a film, won out. Trying to explain different games to to me they took my hand and led me to the road. I watched exciting games of duck-duck-goose, tag and others happening around me. I sat down beside a post and literally in seconds I was surrounded by kids. They were sitting on my lap, pulling on my hands, sharing my sunglasses, and asking me questions I couldn't understand. The most precious thing about hanging out out last night was realizing that these kids understood that there was something special about us. It wasn't our white skin or my inability to speak spanish, but instead it was that our priority, more than building a house, was them! Jesus sent us to love them, and they were all to happy to give that love back.

Terry Fehr

Today we reached the middle of the week - its hard to believe that we only have 2 more full days in Mexico! Today was another day of finishing things on the house (painting doors, door frames, tiling in the bathroom and kitchen). We also worked on cementing the floor of the education wing - it looks like a welcoming, usable space and Pastor Omar told me yesterday that it will be much warmer now during the cold months. Other highlights were painting nails, playing tic-tac-toe and enjoying some amazing hot dogs with everything on them at Lapa Lapa!

We ended off the day with showing the movie "Fireproof" in Spanish. We had many people come out for this and most of the families also received food hampers that we had prepared in the afternoon. Most exciting of all was a number of people prayed to become Christ-followers and came forward for bibles. We ran out so hope to bring some more with us tomorrow.

posted by Lavonne

Quick post for Wednesday

Today the majority of the team went to Empalme this morning. The cabinet builders (Pete, Darrel, Bill, Carolann, and Val) stayed back to finish the upper cabinets and do the staining and varnishing.

We are about to leave for Empalme where we will join the rest of the group for supper. After supper we will be showing the movie "Fireproof" after which we will distribute food hampers which were assembled earlier in the day. We expect we will return home at about 11:30 (Pacific time).

Gotta run, more tomorrow

Post from MJ

Good Morning from sunny, warm Mexico. What a joy to wake up to a hot sunny clear day each morning. Watching people enjoy the beauty of God. To my grandchildren I have missed you very much this week. I miss Kellan phoning to ask me how I am doing, Cody's high fives (ask Grandpa about the salamander and frog on the wall), Crispin's great hugs and energy, Caleb's snuggles, Emmalyn and Ailey grandma's sweethearts always, Seth there is lots of foffee (c0ffee) here and a couple of little boys your age who have energy like you. To my children thank you for the encouragement to step out and listen to God say go.

This has been an amazing place, God has given me peace and strength to step out of my comfort zone and go places I needed to go. Tuesday morning during a break from shoveling gravel Helen and I went on a walk with a purpose. We prayed as we walked to a home known for dealing drugs. We left a few Spanish four spiritual law booklets on the doorstep as we were been observed from a near by building. We pray that a little spark has been planted into someone's heart.

Sara's observations

This morning, I was ready to pack up and go home. I felt useless (I had no specific job assigned to me) I felt homesick (daughter and grandkids are at my house and I'm missing them) Then God reminded me that He brought me here for a purpose and He expected me to be AVAILABLE & FLEXIBLE. I confessed my negative emotions and asked God to help me TRUST Him. I continued my day with the Knowledge that God would use me where he saw fit. My day went well - I got to work at a job that was familiar to me.

Coming to a hot climate to work has been challenging to me and my body. But praise God, He is helping me adjust.

We know that where there is a good work for the Lord, the enemy will try to throw in his wrenches! We will NOT allow him to do that.

This video was from our first day of kids club. The kids were so full of energy and they had a great time singing praise songs with us. The number of kids jumped from about 40 to about 60 today. What a joy it has been to meet these wonderful kids, and to share fun and the good news.

The house for Pastor Omar is progressing at great speed. The painting is almost done, the kitchen lower cabinets are installed, the countertop will be tiled tomorrow, the education wing was painted and a door and shutters were built and installed in the education wing, two truck loads of gravel were manually redistributed and raked smooth, and the waterline was excavated by pick axe and shovel to allow for water hookup.

Posted by Cindy.

Tuesday morning bright and early. Another wonderful day. We are having a great time working hard at painting and now making cupboards and staining them.

Before we left Bill had concerns leaving the livestock on the farm in the care of someone else. After

phoning home the other day he found out there were some complications with calving. Things were taken care of because the support and advice of Dennis who is in our Care Group.

It is great to know we have the support of the church at home.

Bill and Carol Ann Braun

Impact of a House

Speaking with Pastor Omar, I realize that the construction of one home has made a tremendous impact on an entire community. Their heart felt appreciation for what a Canadian community has been able to lend his been a huge blessing to us. I've learned that the impact of the home is an opportunity for Christ to be received by an entire community. Christ is good, as seen by the locals because it is of Christ that good people have made it possible for their to be this home. No government has ever provided the goodness that Christians are bringing, so the people are receptive and gracious to receive the love that Christ and his people bring. It has become a far larger opportunity than I had ever realized. Souls are being won over to Christ. Pastor Omar would have us give all the glory to God. As humble a man that he is, I see him as the catalyst that breathed opportunity to Empalme and its people. The children here are like sponges for love and attention. They live in a slum and are tickled beyond measure to have someone play soccer with them. They will chant your name, bang on your van insisting you stay and play with them. They love to have their picture taken as well, as one of many images taken portrayed here represents their acceptance of us. Posted by Wes

The Next youtube video

Here is a sample of Pastor Terry preaching on Sunday evening at the church in Empalme.

The video does not complete right to the end, we will try to fix it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSIqe38izP4

More posts to follow.....

Rest and Rejoicing

Despite having only worked one day, we enjoyed a day of rest today - after a great breakfast of bacon and eggs (eating outside again:)); we split up into 3 groups and spent varying amounts of time hiking, shopping and enjoying the beach. It was another amazing day weather-wise and in experiencing new things and spending time together. We all met back together for a lunch near the water in San Carlos -enjoying some excellent shrimp and the live music - La Bamba will never be the same!

Then off to Pastor Omar's church in Empalme for the Sunday service - its hard to put into words our time in Empalme both yesterday and today - so much to take in and process. Pastor Omar (whose house we are working on) and his wife, Cristina have been so welcoming to us and tonight this was expanded by a warm welcome by their church (this is definitely an understatement)! A few of us shared either our testimony or a summary of our experience in Mexico so far with the help of an interpreter and then Pastor Terry had a great message on our calling as believers. We loved the passionate singing and were asked to do a few songs in English - we left in our 3 white vans, with the kids calling after us to bring soccer balls tomorrow! They are excited for our first day of kids programming (as are we)! Thanks for all your support and prayers (and especially for the call, Terry and Julia!!)

YouTube video Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=parFM0dVvUo

After a loooong day of travels and the first work day.

Well, we have been in San Carlos for about 28 hours now.

Friday morning we got to the airport at about 5 AM with our flights leaving at about 6:15. With one stopover, we made it to Tucson, AZ at about 11:15 Tucson time (1:15 pm Central).

After about an hour wait for the vans that we rented, we made our way to the Golden Corral buffet for lunch where we met up with Ryan Thiessen and his parents Gerald and Tina and his sister Jodi.

After a great meal, we began the 6 hour van ride to San Carlos. We definitely felt God's protection during our travels. We encountered no problems with the border crossing.

When we got to the Mission, we served a fantastic supper after which we found our spots for the night and hit the sack.

Saturday morning began with breakfast at 7:30, and then headed out to Empalme to experience the church building and Pastor Omar's house, and the neighborhood they are part of. It was an incredible eye-opener seeing the conditions that the people there live in.

While Ryan Thiessen was on his way to Empalme on his motorcycle, he had the misfortune of losing control around a curve in the highway and wiped out on the median between the lanes. He was thrown from the motorcycle and landed on the median and his bike landed up being hit by a car travelling in the opposite direction. Ryan landed up with a number of scrapes and bruises and some possible cracked ribs. God protected him from a potentially fatal situation. Praise God for His Protection. Ryan is back at home but very sore. Please pray for his recovery.

We were able to begin with the seal coat on the interior walls and ceiling of Pastor Omar's house. The kitchen cabinet construction was also begun.

We attended the San Carlos Community Church Saturday night service this evening. This is an English speaking church. For more info on the church please visit http://sancarloscommunitychurch.com/.

We plan to go Pastor Omar's church Sunday evening to be part of their service.

Jay Penner and Wes Ens have put together a short video that you will be posted on Youtube. We will update the blog with the address when it's available.

It's getting late and we will update again....

Darrel

Well, we all made it safely to Fargo, ND. We are up in time tomorrow morning to leave the hotel for the airport at 4:30 AM. When we land in Tucson, AZ at around lunch time, Ryan Thiessen from the Mission will meet us and guide our group to San Carlos.

More tomorrow....

Cindy, Katelyn, Michele, Wayne, Wes, Bert, Jason, Jay, Gina, Val, Pete W, Darrel, Bill

Candace, Sara, Kathy, Adrienne, Lavonne, MaryJane, Russ, Murray, CarolAnn,

Pete G, Ike, Mike, Helen, Terry, Daniel, and Garry

We're into the final preparation phase. On Sunday evening we met as a group for our last Canadian "fiesta" before we leave. We shared our faith stories with the others in the group and we went through the final logistics of tickets and lists.

We have our commissioning this Sunday March 21st at both services so if you are interested in being a part of that, please come to either the 9:30 or 11:00 service. We'll be the ones in the grey WMBC tshirts that say "Share your life. Live your faith." That is what we are asking for you to pray for us at this time. Pray that God will help us to share our lives and live our faith!

The kids club will require many of us to prepare ahead of time. There are craft packages to prepare, scripts to learn, and supplies to purchase and organize. As Candace and Gina work to organize the club program please pray that they will be wise in their decisions, and help all of the rest of the team to be supportive, and readily involved. Time is short.

If you'd like to see the work that has been going on already in Empalme at the house of Pastor Omar, check the link below.

Ted and Marge Dyck have been working with Koenes ministries in San Carlos since January of this year. Koenes ministries runs the mission where we will be staying, and they also have been helping us with organizing our trip, as well as orchestrating the building of Pastor Omar's house which WMBC raised the money to complete.

If you would like to follow the progress of the building of the house, you can check Ted's picasaweb photo site by going to : http://picasaweb.google.com/ted.tmd/Mexico2010. Ted has been regularly sending photos of the house and of some of the other projects that Ted and Marge have been involved in.

Next meeting Tuesday February 23rd

We have been meeting regularly already to prepare ourselves for going out and serving the people of San Carlos and Empalme, Mexico. For our next meeting, we will be working on writing our testimonies. Please pray for us that we would be willing to share openly and in a way that Christ's message of love might come through in our life stories.

Art working on the walls of Pastor Omar's Home

Preparations

The tickets are purchased, the hotels reserved, the vans are organized and we are well into our preparation for the mission trip.

We leave on Thursday, March 25th for Fargo, then fly at 6am on Friday for Tucson and then drive down to San Carlos.

There is so much to do before we leave, and so much preparation that still needs to be made so please start praying already.