Last Day in Mexico

What an incredible day! We were able to bless so many people today, which was a huge blessing to us!

Some of the team started the day early by serving breakfast at the Tijuana breakfast program. This is often a highlight for many team members as we get to meet many children and families and work with a church that is located on the former dumps where the families live. This is often the only meal these people will receive and it humbles us to be able to serve them in this practical way.

Then we headed to La Hermosa, to be partnered with our translators. We broke into small teams that delivered food and gift hampers to 60 families in need. Many of the homes we visited asked us to pray for jobs for the husbands/fathers. The slow economy is really affecting the area in a significant way. We were invited into people’s homes and had the joy of praying for them. Some of the Moms were very emotional as they received their food, as they did not know where their next meal was coming from! One of the teams prayed for a woman to receive Jesus! She had been ill for a long time and had asked a witch doctor to come and “heal” her but she knew instantly that an evil spirit had entered her so when our team arrived she wanted to receive Jesus immediately! They were pretty excited to be able to pray with her. We prayed for provision and healing and salvation for many families. It is such a privilege to be able to bless people in the name of Jesus!

After that we drove up to Karla’s house, did a few touch ups and prepared to present Karla and her boys her new home! What an exciting and joyful time! When she saw her new pink (yes, pink!) house, tears filled her eyes instantly.

When Karla’s husband left her, she went into a very dark time of depression. Her children (ages 5 and 7) were often left on their own and roamed the streets, getting into trouble. Casa de Luz has been such a gift to her as she is able to go to work and know that her children are cared for and loved. She has seen an incredible change in them already. To receive the additional gift of a new home was overwhelming for her. It was so wonderful to be able to give her this fresh new start. When we asked Karla what colour house she wanted she chose pink (to the chagrin of some of our men ☺) but the women had such a fun time painting it pink. It looks like such a fun, joyful house – such a contrast from the dark time she had been in a while ago. And the fact that Karla gave her life to Jesus this week made it even more special!

The men built the boys some bunk beds and made Karla a bed as well. They had all been sleeping on the concrete floor before. The bunk beds were a huge hit! We also bought curtains and flowers and gave her a framed portrait of her family. It felt like home and she was so proud of it. Her Mom made us all tamales to thank us and to celebrate. One of the best house warming parties we will ever go to!

We are now home and would appreciate your prayers as we adjust to life back at home. Many of us still have colds and sore throats and we’re all pretty tired! We are excited to share our God - stories and experiences with you! We saw about twenty people come to Jesus this week and saw the fruit of many years of dreaming, planning and praying for Casa de Luz and our ministry in Mexicol It was such a rewarding trip! Our team will be sharing in church on January 8th and you are all invited to come out and hear about what God is doing in Mexico. Thanks for being a part of it!

Day Eight

Today was another busy day. We worked at Karla’s house, finishing up the plumbing, painting, electrical, etc. We were even able to make Karla’s sons some bunk beds and made Karla a new bed as well. We finished up the landscaping and things are almost complete for tomorrow when we get to hand her the keys to her new home. Some of the team went shopping for curtains and things for Karla’s home and finished assembling the food/gift hampers which we will hand out tomorrow.

We are all feeling pretty tired. The cold/flu is circulating through the group which makes it a little difficult when we are trying to do so much in a day. Please continue to pray for health and healing for us.

Tomorrow morning some of the team is leaving at 5 am to go serve families at the Tijuana breakfast program again. Then we head to Karla’s to clean up and get her house ready for tomorrow. We are also getting together in teams tomorrow afternoon to deliver sixty food and gift hampers to some very needy families in the village. We will pray for the families that we visit. Please pray for us and for the people we will be ministering too! We have seen God do some amazing things during these visits and we look forward to what He wants to do in us and through us tomorrow. Thank you!

Day Six and Seven

We had a wonderful day on Christmas! Some of our team prepared breakfast for the children and staff of Door of Faith Orphanage. Then we headed to one of our favourite restaurants for brunch and enjoyed some beach time before heading to Ensenada for shopping and sight seeing. We spent the evening around the campfire, sharing what God is speaking to us over this trip and talking about the highlights of our trip so far. It was a great day!

Today half of the team worked at Karla's house, drywalling, mudding, painting the exterior, doing electrical, etc. We had some issues with theft but we were able to go to the guy's house and get our stuff back, which is good! The construction guys are happy with the progress we made today! Tomorrow is another busy construction day. We are looking forward to the day when Karla sees her completed house and we get to give her the keys to her new home.

The rest of the team worked at Casa de luz where we had 102 children spend the day! CDL was open to children of the community today as well as our regular CDL families. Erin and Tony gave the staff the day off so our team and La Hermosa youth group was in charge. They had two bouncy houses, face paint, pinatas, crafts, hamburgers and hotdogs, etc. They had a fantastic day!

We are back at CDL for dinner and then we will head to Door of Faith for campfire and games. I think a lot of us will be going to bed early tonight! We are all doing well but MANY of us our struggling with sore throats, headaches and flu like symptoms so we appreciate your prayers!

Day Five - Christmas Eve

Today was a busy but fun day! We went to the central park of Primo Tapia for a city-wide outreach event. We started the day off with a Canada vs. Mexico hockey game (which we won) and then switched to soccer (which we lost by a long shot!) There was face paint, balloons, crafts and bouncy houses for the children. The mechanical bull was a huge hit! We also served up lunch to about 250 people. A band from La Hermosa played and they were great. We had a fantastic dance party! Pastor Daniel shared how Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins and asked people if they would like to receive Jesus as their Saviour and approximately fifteen people came to Christ today! Again, the Canadian team had the privilege of praying with them. La Hermosa was so great at connecting with them, getting their contact information, and will follow up with them and get them into community in their church! We are so excited to see all these people give their lives to Jesus! It has been an amazing week and we are so happy to be a part of it!

This evening we are celebrating Christmas Eve with Carne Asada (our favorite Mexican meal) and are heading to the beach for fireworks! Then we'll spend the evening eating candy, playing games and hopefully having another dance party, although many of us are pretty tired after our busy day! Thanks again for praying for us! Tomorrow is Christmas Day and is our day off. We will be going out for brunch together, enjoying some beach time, touring Ensenada and enjoying dinner and a campfire back at Door of Faith Orphanage. Some of us will be waking up early to cook breakfast for the children and staff of Door of Faith Christmas morning. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Day four

Many of our team members started out the day at 4:30 am so that they could drive to Tijuana to prepare and serve breakfast for a few hundred men, women and children this morning. When we first started participating in the breakfast program a couple of years ago we fed less than one hundred people, mostly children, but because of the economic downfall many families have fallen on very difficult times and so the need is much greater than even a few years ago. Sometimes the program feeds up to six hundred people and it is often the only meal these people will eat that day.

The construction team continued to work on Karla's house and we have decided to hire some local men to do the installation, drywall and mudding so that the men on our team can participate in the city wide outreach event and enjoy our day off on Christmas Day!

The rest of the team assembled the food and gift hampers and in the evening we were all treated to a Christmas program put on by the children and staff of Casa de luz. They did a wonderful job of singing and telling the story of Jesus' birth. The kids and their parents really enjoyed themselves and it was such a privilege to share this special night with them. At the end of the evening Pastora Aleyda invited people to give their lives to Jesus and three of the moms from Casa de luz received Christ as their Saviour! We had the opportunity to pray for them. We know that they will be cared for, loved, and mentored by Toni and Erin and Daniel and Aleyda and La Hermosa church. One of the women who gave her life to Jesus was Karla, the Mom we are building the new house for. What an exciting night! We are so grateful that we get to partner with God in the amazing things He is doing in Mexico! Thanks for praying for us!

Day Three

The construction team made incredible progress! After the first day on the site they had torn down and cleaned up Karla's home and did most of the framing! They are back at the site today. Karla is so excited for her new home. She shared her story with some of us a Casa de Luz yesterday. It was encouraging to hear how Casa de Luz is changing the lives of Karla and her children.

The rest of the team worked at Casa de Luz, and joined them in their Christmas party, complete with songs, crafts, gifts and stockings. It was a fun day! The food hamper team went shopping in Tijuana and purchased food for 60 food hampers which we will hand out to families in need later in the week.

We went to church at La Hermosa last night. It was a wonderful time of worship and community. Three of our men received a dancing lesson which was a lot of fun. We had the privilege of praying for our brothers and sisters at La Hermosa as well. It was a lovely time together! We ended the night with a campfire.
Prayer requests: Zeke is still sick. His fever is finally gone today but please continue to pray for healing for him! The construction team is behind schedule (hard to believe after all they have accomplished in two days) so pray for energy and strength for them and the construction budget is higher than we thought so we are praying for finances for that! God is good!

Day One and Two

We have arrived safely in Primo Tapia, Mexico (sans the Krugers who arrive on Thursday). The sun is shining and it is very warm. It's great! We met up with our team at the San Diego Airport and were picked up by Toni and Erin. It was so wonderful to see them again!

We crossed the Mexican border with relative ease. One of the guards wanted to look through several pieces of luggage and questioned Toni a bit but it wasn't bad at all. We drove to Primo Tapia for a quick tour of Casa de Luz (which looks amazing) and to meet up with dear friends.
We headed to Door of Faith Orphanage, where we are based, set up camp, enjoyed an amazing Mexican dinner, had a campfire and headed to bed early - we were all pretty tired!

Today, Wednesday, the women headed to Casa de Luz where we put together Christmas gifts, new clothing and stockings for the Casa de Luz Children. We have the privilege of handing them out tomorrow. We also played with the children and will be doing a craft this afternoon. We will head over to Door of Faith Orphanage later to hold babies and love on the kids!
The men spent the day at Karla's home doing demolition and clean up. We are so excited to give her a new home this week.

Thanks for your prayers. Zeke is doing a little better but is still pretty sick so please pray for him. Some of the members are feeling coughs and colds coming on but so far we are all doing very well!

The day before we leave...

It's the evening before we leave! The good news is that MOST of the money has come in to complete all the projects. We serve a faithful and generous God and know the rest of the money will come in as needed! Thanks for praying! The bad news is that some of our team members are sick with colds, infections, viruses, etc. Please pray for them! Zeke Nicholson has had a fever for three days and we are praying for complete healing for him tonight! Unfortunately, we also "lost" one of our team members due to passport/visa issues. Jamie won't be able to join us and we will miss him! We know that God is in control and we are looking forward to loving and serving the people of Primo Tapia this Christmas! Thank you for your prayers and support!

An update on Karla

Check out Casa de Luz's blog to find out more about Karla and one of the projects our team will be working on during our trip.

Mexico Christmas Mission 2011

We have a team of 35 people heading to Primo Tapia, Mexico from December 20-29, 2011 to serve at Casa de Luz Children's Centre and Door of Faith Orphanage, deliver food and gift hampers to 75 needy families, prepare and serve breakfast for families living on the former dumps of Tijuana and participate in a city-wide outreach event. We will also be renovating/rebuilding a home for Karla, one of the single Moms at CDL and will be constructing a new playground for Casa de Luz. We are excited for all God has for us as we serve and love the people of Primo Tapia and work alongside our friends at La Hermosa Church. Please pray for our team! We will be updating the blog as often as possible to keep you up to date with what is going on! We are missing the Kruger kids, the Nicholson family and Josh Peters and Micah Peters in our photo but we'll get pictures of them at some point!

Our team consists of:

Jamie Adkins
Jessica Apperloo
Curtis Barnhart
Reanna Cameron
Laura and Katie Eeg
Mike Holten
Rachel Koenig
Danny & Danielle Konrad
Adam & Sylvia, Josiah, Emma and Micah Kruger
Lance McHenry
Josh & Natalie Nicholson, Selah, Zeke, Jude and Zion
Ron & Marilyn Peters, Joshua, Matthew, Micah, and Makaela
Mike & Kelsey Schmidt
Gary & Lisa Stephens, Sarah and Mark
Danny Wall

Thank you for supporting and praying for us!