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.