Thrive Youth - Chihuahua, Mexico

Day 13 - We are heading home!

2010-07-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's me again, Harris. All the students are packing and cleaning which is something I still have yet to do tonight. We will be leaving at 7am and I'm already feeling the tiredness. But, I must take this opportunity to praise God and the wonderful students that I've spent these two weeks with.

Let me give you the brief run-down of today first. We had our debrief meetings here at the ranch in the morning and then went into town for lunch and shopping. While we were out shopping we walked past a couple human statue men. We couldn't resist the opportunity for a photo opp so we convinced both Alyssa and Kaley to get pictures with them. Then we stopped at an ice-cream place called Super Coldys. J-Bass ordered half a gallon of ice-cream on accident. Something got lost in translation. :)

This evening the missionaries made us dinner and thanked us for coming. Monte challenged us to help with the great need of the gospel all around the world. Another missionary told us to make sure and tell you all stories and share about what God is doing here. So, all you family and readers of this blog make sure to ask lots of questions from us when we get back. We have lots to tell you about what God has done!!!

God is so good. He has kept us all safe and healthy enough. He has showed us his grace and love in new ways. We were able to experience new things and see new things. We talked about the new things we'd seen this morning and on the list were:
Being in a cloud on top of the Sierra Madre mountains. It passed right through us as we stood there.
A church of Tarahumara believers worshipping God.
An incredible waterfall.
More of God's love.

Well, on to the long part of this blog, which is really why I'm staying up till 1am to write, and I encourage you to keep reading. :) I have enjoyed each of these students along this journey and I'd like to take this time to express my pride and joy in them.

J-Bass is a steady and responsible worker and leader. He doesn't complain and he knows how to embrace cultural experiences. (except the outhouse) I'm also impressed with his desire to grow in Christ and think through everything so that he does it well. I'm blessed that he has been a leader for 2 years in our Student Ministry. He has also shown his great love for people in the two years on this trip through his committed efforts towards the water filter project last year and the backpack project this year. He always finishes what he starts.

Kaley can turn any moment into joy. She has an uncanny ability at being random just when you need it. :) I have enjoyed seeing her serve with humility and grace. She truly loves others and will sacrifice for their benefit. She brings dancing, laughing, and all sorts of goofiness to days when everyone else is tired or grumpy. (Red Bull often has something to do with this behavior)

Ann has got out us of many a pinch with her Spanish skilz and her ability to be calm in situations. She keeps from being negative and always tries to help. I admire her courage to still do this trip even with regular pain in her back. She has an incredible love and patience for the children at the brickyard. You can see the evidence of God at work in her heart as she loves others. She has more room in her suitcase on the way home this time.

Kate normally comes to mind when you need help in the kitchen, but she is so much more than that. I have seen her do every job with the same determination, humility, and joy. There is a tenderness to her heart and a compassion that she gives everyone. Her great strength is not in her kitchen prowess it's in relationships. Kate has become discontent with settling for less of God and that inspires me. She can also detect babies from a mile away, she has Babydar or something.

Caleb doesn't do anything halfway. He puts his heart into worship, work, playtime, and people. It shows in the way he never gives up. He was a huge help during the drywall projects because he has learned much from his dad. He found ways to be an encourager on this trip to many people including me. He will be a missionary someday.

Brett is changing every day as he seeks God more authentically than I've seen before. He couldn't wait to go on this trip and that enthusiasm for being here never wavered. He was constant in his thankfulness to be here and to be part of the work and the brickyard. He never argued or grumbled, he couldn't wait to work and embrace every part of this trip that God had for him. We also had some fun times in the car. Like, sleeping bag hands boxing, Alpaca farming, El Matador, and much more.

Angie has this thing where she can't help but talk about God and I love it. She has the most personally exciting way of sharing how much she loves God and what He's done in her life. She is also a very patient and submissive worker. She did everything I asked and always did it with kindness towards me. She only snapped once and even then we didn't think she was being mean. She has a gentle heart and is consistent with putting others before herself.

Zach is a beast, in a good way. He is such a hard worker. He is also able to grow facial hair now which is pretty cool. I'm so proud of him for the way he is quick to help. He really enjoyed the church with the Tarahumara and it excited me to see how much that meant to him. He loves his mom and his family more than anything and I love to see how he helps and protects his mother. He has great faith in what God can do and trust's him through anything. Like I said, he's a beast in a good way. :)

Kelso is not a meat eater but he is ticklish in one spot. Bless his heart he did this whole trip knowing that he might not eat as well as he does at home. He never complained about the food. Even the day he didn't feel good he couldn't wait to get back to work. He also did every job I asked him to do without question, even weeding for hours. I told him I would make him work hard and he passed with flying colors.

Johnny always seems to have energy. It was a blessing because there were many days when everyone else was to tired to talk, but Johnny kept talking. He also kept talking while we were trying to sleep in the car but we forgave him of that. :) He kept things fun when we needed it but worked very hard every day. God has given him wisdom and discernment. Someday he'll see more of how to use that for God's glory. He and I had a spaghetti noodle fight one day, and he helped me clean it up even though I was the one who started it.

Alyssa is Kaleys sister. That sounds like stating the literal but it is also stating how crazy they are together. She is also wonderful at bringing a smile to your face and energy to your day when you need it. I wish I had her ability to see so much life out of every moment and live it with such glee. She has a soft heart to God's word and a faith in God that sometimes goes un-noticed. She also slips and falls alot, always when I happen to not be watching though. Bummer...

Allie has a bad shoulder but a good heart. :) She has had one of the roughest trips out of all of us and she has still managed to keep her calm. I am very proud of her for finding the strength to not work. It took more strength for her to not work then to get out there and be busy. She struggled through sitting still because that is not her character or work ethic. She is an incredibly hard worker but God wanted her to be still this trip because of her shoulder injury. She took that time and grew closer to God. She responded by seeking God and I'm so proud of her for that.

Last but not least is my partner in crime, if you will, Dawn. There is no possible way that any of us would survive this trip without her. She has become the most dear friend to me and mother to all the kids. This doesn't just happen because she feeds us and does our laundry, this happens because she selflessly, sacrificially, humbly, and genuinely loves us. I see the light and love of God shine through her all day long. That is an incredible rarity but that is how much God has transformed her. She has become a true godly woman of character and faith. I can't say enough about how blessed we are to do this trip with her. All of you parents are blessed that she is the other adult here with your kids. With her around we will all get fed, bandaged up, clothed, and loved.

I know this was a long post, after all it took me till 1am to write this, but I can't pass up the opportunity to pour back words of love into the people that mean so much to me.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed and supported us through this journey. We will be home soon and can't wait to tell you all about it. Thank you as well to all the parents of these students. I'm so glad you let a young man like me be part of their lives let alone take them to a foreign country. This is my passion and greatest joy in life apart from my wife and son. If I can't be part of missions and connecting others to it I wouldn't be fulfilling why God created me.

Kimberly my love, thank you for your support and love through this trip. You are the most understanding and loving wife I could ever ask for. You are my joy and I can't wait to be back in your arms and with our son. I love you and James with the depth of a thousand oceans!

Another year is in the books, God did what He promised, we are coming home, and may God get all the glory.

Because He said go,
Josh Harris

Day 12 - Heyyooo, it's the Yates girls!

2010-07-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, we are terribly sorry this post is a day late. The Internet has been down a lot, and if it hasn't been down, it has been incredibly slow.

Alrighty! It's day 13 here in Chihuahua, Mexico and things are going great! We started off our morning with our last day of work. Due to rain, Kate and Alyssa couldn't paint the stage in the multipurpose building, but everyone kept on truckin' with the drywall, fixing insulation, and cleaning up the rest of the building by sweeping. As for me, Yates number 1, I got to help Mrs. Rigel in the kitchen a little bit and go to the grocery store for the last time. I made sure to pick up some donuts :P

After lunch, we all scrambled to put together a little surprise for the kids at the brickyard. You're never going to guess what it is.... Water balloons! That's right. Water balloons. Even though it was tough keeping the balloons from popping, and actually filling up enough, it was all worth it in the end. To see all their faces light up was amazing. And then to give the kids an opportunity to beat us up a little bit was even more fun. I, Kaley, was the lucky one who got the ice cooler full of water dumped on. It was insane in the membrane!

Okay, let's step back a couple 30 minutes and talk about the backpacks. After months of putting together 98 backpacks, the time finally came where we could give the kids their backpacks! From the moment we started carrying the duffel bags full of the backpacks the kids were excited and fully interested in what were giving them. We began by unpacking the duffels and then gave each of the kids their backpack. They were ecstatic. The professor of the school where most of the Brickyard kids attend was even there and he thanked us and stuff.

As soon as we got home from the Brickyard, it started raining! Instead of waiting for it to fully finish, we played a crazy soccer game with the awesome missionary families on a muddy field. We were slipping and falling like crazy, but all in all, the best team won. In other words, Kaley's team won. Haha. But Alyssa didn't fall, which was a major accomplishment, so it's all good.

For me, Alyssa, God has really been showing me how important He is in my life and how I need to put all I am into His hands. He will take care of me no matter what and that's all I need to live. As for me, Kaley, God showed me my real passion and love for people. This whole trip, God has given me so many opportunities to be there for my teammates, share with them, help them, and I can't wait to see where He leads me next.

Prayer Requests:
All of the missionaries we have met on this trip. The Finchs', Millers, Lloyds, Sanchez family, and Allison.
The Tarahumara believers.
Monte's rash. Poor fellah.
Safe travel and health.
and last but not least. ENERGY

Shout out time! Happy Birthday Emily! You're the big 14! Yay! We love you so so much! Hope your day was amazazing. Also to supermom, daddy dearest, and meggie moo! Love ya'll.

Kaley and Alyssa... to be continued... sometimes...

Day 10 - Chihuahua, Aye Aye Aye!!!!

2010-07-30T21:56:00.002-07:00

Hey guys, it's Ann.

So, I'm going to be writing about Wednesday. On Wednesday we got up early to work, mostly on drywall and weeding. Allie and I stayed in the kitchen-helping Mrs. Rigel- because my back and her shoulder were bothering us. After work, we didn't go to the Brickyard but instead had a great time playing basketball, pingpong, and catching up on sleep. After lunch on our day of rest, we packed up the backpacks that are going to the kids at the Brickyard on Friday. We were a little short on supplies but it turned out to be just fine because we were able to buy them in town.

For dinner we were joined by a missionary family(the Graingers) that came back from furlough and Monte and Gail. It was great getting to know them better and we all really enjoyed their company. After dinner we had another great night of kitchen worship where we all sang our hearts out and danced all while washing dishes. During that, another missionary family came by (the Lloyds) and showed us some of the stuff that the people of the tribe that they minister to make. We were even able to buy some of it and they gave us free granola!

After the kitchen worship and cleaning up we got together for our group devotions. That night it was about "Plant The Seed" and really what I realized is that you don't have to do something amazing to make something grow. God does it for us. See, even though we didn't get to go to the Brickyard that day the kids are still impacted and bonding with us. Either it's playing around or doing crafts and they are growing because through Christ we can do anything.

But, out of everything that I've been learning, ever since we did the orientation with "Uncle Howie", I've learned that time is what is needed for everything. We take that for granted in America. See, here in Mexico time doesn't matter. They go by family first here and everything else can be done either in a couple of hours or the next few weeks. It's very interesting because God doesn't go by time and we that are still living on this Earth have to learn how to use it wisely. Whether it's with our families, loved ones, work, school, etc.we sometimes have to let God be in control with our timing and learn from it because God knows what's best for us and he has us here on earth for a reason.

Prayer request:
-Montes face.
-Allies arm and my back.
-And prayer that tomorrow we are heading to town and just safety.

Also I just want to say as a now graduate, I appreciate everyone for supporting me on this trip and I'm missing all of you! Thank you for keeping the Thrive team in prayers and keep checking the blog! This trip is almost at an end but there is still time for all of us to open up, listen and see what God has in store for us.

-Ann

Day - 11? Corn on a stick and tarantulas...

2010-07-30T21:49:00.001-07:00

Have you ever held a tarantula?

This morning work was as usual except...

...during cookie break we found a tarantula and decided to take turns bonding with it. Several people braved this new challenge and let the tarantula crawl on their arms. Harris put it on his head.

Have you ever had corn on a stick?

So, today was our first day out on the town, a sort of nostalgic experience for me, considering my past explorations of Chihuahua City. We did some shopping and embraced a little bit of the Mexican culture. We toured the Governors Palace, and afterward, had the chance to try the previously mentioned 'corn on a stick,' though I was the only one to actually take on the challenge. I loved it. It was the existential equivalent of everything good in life. From there, we pushed on toward our next destination; dinner. We went to a place on the side of a busy street, specializing on Tortas, a delicious Mexican sandwich that I think we all unanimously enjoyed.

After all of our shopping and dining, Monte took us to a hill which was surrounded by the Chihuahua City skyline. It was an amazing sight that can't really be explained, only experienced.

We then headed back to the Ranch to have our nightly team meeting and discuss our morning devotions. The team discussed what each of us treasured in life. It
really put into perspective what is important in life, and what I frivolously enjoy, especially back in my home life. This is a big thing God has been teaching me about lately.

Overall, an awesome day. We're all excited to go back into town Saturday morning, before we head back home Sunday morning.

Prayer Requests:
-Ann's back and Allie's shoulder.
-The Finches
-The Grangers heading to the mountains tomorrow.
-Team unity
-The missionaries here at the Ranch.
-Safety for our trip into town tomorrow.

P.s, Happy Birthday Emily! (From Alyssa, Kaley and the rest of the Mexico team)

-Brett

We've caught up with stories and pictures finally...

2010-07-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just wanted to notify you that we finally got some pictures to upload. And, we have caught up blogging about the past couple days. So, scroll down and read the blogs since Saturday and check out the pictues that we were able to upload.

We love and miss you all! Keep praying for us!

Day 9 - My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY! :)

2010-07-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends and family!

For some reason that song has been stuck in my head all morning. =P Not hardly the worst thing that could be on repeat inside this head of mine.

I am so happy to share with you what God is doing in Chihuahua.

The noise level at breakfast time, has severely decreased the last two days. You can tell people are getting tired. Yesterday morning we woke up to a dark, wet, cold, ranch. Apparently, mountain weather followed us. We began our work day reluctantly, but we got things accomplished! A praise, we finished drywalling the room we have been working on for the last 1 1/2 weeks! Hopefully this next room won't take us quite as long due to our new found skills. Or maybe we already made all the mistakes two weeks can handle! ;) Besides drywalling, we continued weeding the devil plants as soon as the sky cleared. I'm not sure if anyone before me has covered the devil plants, but seriously, not a fun time. Monte calls them the devil weed because they have a nasty thorn that grows underneath the flower and has two extra big spikes that make it look like a devil.

Unfortunately, we got to lunch late and we finished with 30 minutes until the Brickyard. Scramble, scramble, scramble! (There never seems to be enough time.) At VBS yesterday the gospel was presented. What continues to surprise me when I watch these children and their mothers are their attention spans. Seriously, they sit there for an incredibly long time just listening. I know that if you have a room full of Americans you don't always see what I have seen day after day here. What an encouragement that must be for Allison while she teaches! So the gospel was presented yesterday and that concluded the VBS days. We played games, they had food from a different country, and the day went off without any problems. Except Ann's back. One of the children jumped on Ann's back yesterday and the car ride also did nothing to help her already hurting back. :/

Yesterday evening was fairly normal, except for KITCHEN WORSHIP! Woohoo! (now I have heard that many people like to read these blogs through to try to figure out who is writing them.. I'm sorry to all of you because now I am going to give myself away.) It's me, Kate! I heard many great things about kitchen worship from last year and I was excited to experience it for myself. This is how it went- after dinner, Caleb and I did music and everyone else sang, danced, and cleaned. Worshiping God is a beautiful thing, especially in the kitchen :) So many times this trip I have felt awkward singing because not everyone else feels comfortable singing in these types of settings. However, during kitchen worship, everyone let loose and enjoyed making some pretty noise! Finally! Now it just so happens that people also don't always feel comfortable sharing things at the nightly discussions either. Last night, I feel like the blanket of shyness was partially lifted. :) I love hearing things from my teammates, and last night was full of good conversation.

Now I get to share with you all what God has been teaching me thus far. Hold on to your hats, folks! My heart is in the process of the biggest transformation ever. Two years ago when I came on this trip, I got homesick, I worked hard so that I didn't have to invest in my teammates, and I was closed off to growing spiritually. I hardened my heart and the only things I learned and grew from were by God's grace, not because I was willing. However, the thing that struck me most about that trip was missions. After I came home in 2008 I set my sites on Bible College. Then two years passed and that goal seemed unreasonable and so many things happened. And at the beginning of this trip, I thought God's main goal for me was to relearn how to love people and be patient. I am so overjoyed to find that is not the only reason I was brought here this year! God is bringing me back to missions. I cannot tell you how full my heart is, I LOVE this place. I have never desired to live any place in the world besides Orlando, Florida, up to now. When I say I am content here, it really means a lot, especially because I am not just content. Pictures do this place no justice, you have to see it to believe it. We went to the mountains to stay with the Finches, and I cried listening to their story. I have never been so greatly impacted. I am hungry for more! It is so hard for me to process everything that God is teaching me in these packed two weeks. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be looking into Bible schools when I get home. For those of you I told I would be heading towards physical therapy: I HAVE NEW PLANS!

(if you are overwhelmed by reading this post, welcome to my head!)

One thing that has helped me sort through things and give me a sense of normalcy has been getting to talk with Mrs. Rigel. We spent an hour sitting in the kitchen last night after everyone else was in bed, just talking. :) I love you Mrs. Rigel!!!

Okay my friends, there is a peak at what our second Tuesday was like and a glimpse at my overloaded brain. ;)

Prayer requests:

-The Finches and the Caborachi believers and unbelievers.

-The missionaries here at Rancho Siloe.

-Monte's highly bothersome facial rash.

-Our team unity, safety, and health.

-Ann's back and Allie's shoulder. (they have both been banished to the kitchen)

-And a deeper love and hunger for God and his word for my team and me :)

-A long shout out to my wonderfully large family: Momma, Daddy, Shaez, Jeffro, Kristy Kay, Aaronious, Heath, Mikey, Timmy, Sari, Chicken (long for chick, and long for Bek), Small Fry (Caiden), and Chunkin (Addison)! I love you guys so much, I wish you were here! 'Leah and Kell, you both belong in my family as well and I miss you both! <3>

Day 8...yeah it was really great. :)

2010-07-27T10:40:00.003-07:00

Hey guys! It's me, Allie. I'm here to tell you about our day yesterday, which was Sunday. I'm sorry we weren't able to write yesterday, we came in really late and couldn't keep our eyes open. :P

So we began our day at 6:00 in the Finch's home getting ready to go and doing our devotions. We had breakfast at 7:00. When we were done we packed the van, said our goodbyes to our new friends and were gone by 8:00. We drove for 2 hours through the mountains, back and forth back and forth. I will tell you right now, I've never seen switch backs like this..and we have enough people who got carsick to prove it. :P

Our first stop was the waterfall. It had started to rain just before we got there, so Monte parked the van and we all hiked about a mile to the fall, and it wasn't easy. This high elevation thing makes everyone feel like we are extremely out of shape and we had a few people who were hurting (Ann, Alyssa and me. Ann's back. Alyssa was a little wobbley and her knees were giving out, but she's fine now. And I screwed up my shoulder.) When we finally made it to the waterfall, we were no longer tired, just amazed. I had never seen anything like it. It was HUGE. I had gone in jeans and sneakers not planning on getting wet, but I couldn't and wouldn't pass up this chance. Most everyone climbed the rocks to get closer. We got soaked just standing 30 feet away and some got even closer. We spent a while there just enjoying God's incredible creation. I didn't want to leave, I didn't think it could get any better. Well, I am a newbie as they say..and I was wrong.

We left and went to Veronica's (a place they come to eat at every year in Creel) it was quite yummy, but we didn't want to take long there. So we hopped back into the van and drove through more switch backs (my favorite :P) and got to the canyon. It's called Copper Canyon and it's begger than the Grand Canyon. Holy cow. It was incredible. It seemed so..fake to me. I have never seen anything like it and was astounded. God is truly awesome. I don't think that words or pictures could describe to you how beautiful it was. I've seen pictures before..but there is no comparison. We hiked all around looking and admiring the beauty. I could've spent hours there..but we had to leave with enough time to get out of the mountains before dark. So we began our hike back to the van and climbed in exhausted. We drove 5 or so hours back to the ranch and fell out of the van half asleep. Our day was incredible and totally worth it. I am so thankful we were able to make it to the mountains, it was an experience I will never forget.

God has been teaching me lots on this trip but probably one of the main things is learning to take a break or step back and trust that God has everything under control. He doesn't need me to get something done. So if I need a break I've learned to take one. God will get what He wants done with or without me. I do love helping and serving in anyway I can, but there are times when I need to stop. I don't always pay attention to that but God has made it clear to me now. Today I'm not working with everyone else because my shoulder is still caught and that's okay. I know that God is in control and my teammates are fully competent. ;) I guess that's all for now. Someone else will write tonight. I love you all!

Miss you Mom, Dad, Bek, Heath, Mikie, Kris, Aaron, Timmy, Sari, Shae, Jeff, Caiden and Fussin. :)I'm praying for you today Daddy!

For the team,
-Allie

Prayer Requests:
Ann's back. She is still hurting today, so pray for relief and rest.

My shoulder. I'm not sure what I did to it..but it's pretty killer. Pray that it won't keep me from working the rest of the trip or I will find jobs that I can do with one hand.

For our team to stick together. It's the second week and we are all tired. Pray that we will not get on each other's nerves too much and we will continue to grow closer together and to God.

For team health and energy.

Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation - Day 7

2010-07-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

Hello,

All the kids are busy and tired, so I thought I'd jump in and write one of the days this year. ;)

We had a busy weekend at the tribe but left yesterday and made it back to the Ranch safely late last night. I tried to update last night but actually fell asleep while doing it. haha. Never try and work on the computer in your bed. I woke up this morning next to the computer still laying on my bed.

So, I'll be back tracking a bit to share with you about our day on Sunday.

Sunday: We got to sleep in till 8 which was much needed. I woke up feeling great and was actually talkative and ready to go, but the rest of the bunch looked more groggy then ever. Who would have thought? The tribe church service wasn't till 3pm so we had time to work all morning. After we discussed our Devo from the previous day about forgiveness we went back down to work on the church building. Several people finished cleaning the walls to prep them for paint and others finished painting the window bars. Monte and a few people laid some concrete block for the entry way of their church building. The most manly job of the day though was digging and pick-axing through about 8 inches of solid hard clay to level off an area for them to lay down a stone patio. The area was about 275 square feet! It took several of us manly men all morning till about 1:30pm to level it out. Tony the missionary helped us and kept it fun.

At 3pm we went down to the church building and while the band was finishing practice all the Tarahumara were showing up. The women and men traditionally sit on different sides but we sorta mixed and mingled. It's custom to shake everyones hand the Tarahumara way when you enter a room. (They don't squeeze when they shake they just touch hands.) So we went around and shook about 30 hands before sitting down, I even went up to the front and shook the hands of the guys in the band. (Tony told us that people even walk right up to someone leading a meeting sometimes and shake their hand) By the time everyone showed up there were about 80 Tarahumra Indians there. Some were not believers but the majority actually were.

It's not a cultural thing for Tarahumara to gather unless they are going to drink beer. It's also not custom to sing, let alone in groups. The only time that their culture is not shy is usually when they get drunk. But we were witnesses to the great transforming and miraculous power of the H.S. that day. The Tarahumara were gathered as believers in Jesus Christ to worship God. They sang for almost 45 minutes and clapped their hands. To be there was incredible. We were right there with people who have been cast out because of their faith in Christ. People who have lost land or homes for the sake of their faith were now worshiping God by meeting together, praying, and even singing! Tony said this was something they couldn't even imagine 20 years ago. How incredible is our God!

The missionary Tony and a Tarahumara man both taught from God's word. Even though we didn't understand we could see the Tarahumara soaking in every word and paying attention. Even the babies and children were quiet! After the service we hung around a bit and took some pictures and played with some children. I think we all left that service on an incredible high of joy with what God was doing there.

That night after supper I had asked Tony and his wife, the missionaries who have been there since 1988 to share about their journey. It was an incredible story of God's faithfulness and power that brought them through almost 7 years of culture and language study before they actually started teaching. The Tarahumara are very shy and reserved people so it took them many years to even establish relationships of trust. The worked hard on just getting the people to believe that when they started teaching the bible it was going to be worth listening to. When they started teaching there were almost 100 people who came every day they taught. Out of that first teaching there were over 20 believers and it has just grown since. Every one of us were hooked on every word of the story of how God worked through them and another missionary family there to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people there. We'll have to tell you more about it when we get back. :)

We discussed our Devotion on rest and trusting God and then got some sleep. We have been learning alot this trip. I know God has been speaking to me to trust everything about this trip into his hands. I know I must let go of "my" schedule and ideas to allow God to work His schedule in our lives here. I want to trust that God will be who He said He is and be faithful to us here and to my family back at home. I love you Kimberly and James! (I miss them mucho!!!)

God is good.

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the missionary family, the Finch's, and the Tarahumara believers in Caborachi.
Please pray for Monte's rash to completely heal.
I'm going to try and talk to my wife and son tonight on Skype, please pray that it works! I am looking forward to it big time! :)
Pray for our team to keep focus and love each other. Pray that we don't give up or check out too soon. There is much left here to learn and do.

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.
Because He said go,
Josh Harris

Day 6 - From the Mountains!

2010-07-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Whoa, its chilly up here! Well, up here in the attic of the Finch's house! They are the missionaries we are staying with, in a tribe of Tarahumara Indians. Anyway, let me start at the beginning.

We left early this morning at 7:00am for Kaborachi. After a bit of a drive and a couple of pit stops, we turned onto a dirt road. It had begun to rain just a couple of minutes earlier, and it was getting worse. Finally we arrived at the missionaries house and introduced ourselves. When the rain began to let up, we went out to look at where we would be working. It is a church that needs a lot of work done on it. We each got jobs and set out to work. Some of the guys began shoveling trenches while the girls and Kelso sanded drywall. Caleb and I began working on a pile of stones that needed to be moved to another location. Later the rest of the guys helped us move the last of the pile. Then we set to work at digging another trench around the house. This was a more challenging task since we had roots to chop, and pipes to avoid. And yes, I did hit another pipe much to my dismay. I ended up having to dig around the pipe so we could get it fixed. Unfortunately we could not stop the water so, Monte saved the day with some sort of all purpose tape. Of course this whole time I was feeling terrible about hitting the pipe I didn't even know about. Thankfully Tony, the missionary we were working for, told us he was planning to put a connection to another pipe there anyway! Talk about a good mistake! : ) Lets hope it works out.

After supper we hung out around the house making sure we were as quiet as possible. Maybe I should explain, we needed to be quiet because the Tarahumara Indians are shy and don't make much noise. So we needed to do the same. We had our team meeting at the end of the day, this time we didn't discuss our devotion. Josh asked us for any good news we have seen in the past week. Then he opened up the Bible to Eph 2:11-22, and explained to us that when we go to church tomorrow we will see other Christians who may not speak our language, but we have the same Lord. And, that Jesus Christ has brought the Jews and the Gentiles together to serve one God and we worship the same God! I thought that was amazing!

I personally have been learning a lot on this trip. Especially about being loving in whatever I do. Whether it be when I'm working, or when I'm playing with kids. I'm nothing without love. Because all the work I do means nothing if it isn't an expression and outflow of my love for God and those around me. I am learning to put my heart, mind, body and soul into whatever I do. To set aside my pride and allow Gods love to make a difference in everything I do.

Prayer Requests:

Pray for Monte, he has a skin rash that is really bothering him and keeping him from good sleep.

Pray for the team to stay focused on God and love each other.

Pray for the team to stay healthy and strong for the work.

Pray for the team to get over tiredness, culture shock, and missing home so that we can enjoy what God has for us here.

-Zach Rigel

Vamanos! =) Day 5

2010-07-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Angie Kay here! (*blurb* Hi Megan! *blurb*) Hehe. Oh my goodness I have so much to talk about! I have been waiting forever to get my turn to write! OK so, First thing is first. Today we once again got up early, and after devos and breakfast, we got to work. =) We weeded for a while, which was allot of fun in the mud!(it rained all night) I was good and didn't throw mud though. Actually, around here, only 1/3 of it would be mud. Hehe. The rest would be rocks and bugs!

So we did that for an hour or so, and then got to work on the drywalling and painting. It was, again, really fun, but really hard. I had to go back and secure all the screws I screwed in yesterday 'cause they were all lamesauce and wrong. Hehe. Never said I was a tallented constructioneer. But on the other hand I learned how to measure with a tape measure. It doesn't sound so hard, but goodness, you get it open and you see all the numbers 'n stuff, and it is soooooo confusing. So we got the entire ceiling done *pause for cheering*. Shout out to Josh Harris for being the best ceiling drywall putter upper ever!!

So after we worked, we had another amazing lunch, (Mrs. Rigel is the bestest foodmaker ever.... except for you Mom! =) Hehe.), and we went to the brickyard. It was a blast!!! I hung out most of the time with little America and a couple other kids, but I also got to be part of a skit again( moment of sadness 'cause I didn't get to be an animal this time.) , and we did some really fun music! Today the craft was frizbee decoration, and that was great! The kids loved it, and afterwords we played with the kids in the rain. Best game time EVER!

So yah, we had lunch in the city, and btw, never try a cactus cortitas. It is like.... grossness. I didn't like it so much, I made a face! Seriously though. It is horrible. It has the consistency of overcooked greenbeans, and it is slimy, and the taste is... well I just wont get into that. Haha!

This trip has been soooo amazing so far. I have learned so much about God! Josh made some great devos for us, and I personally have LOVED them. You'd have to ask the others, but based on our discussions, they like it too. Today, we learned about being lights to the world 'n stuff like that. That was really cool to talk about with everyone else and see what they had to say. I had this verse in mind the entire time. Colossians 3:4. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."

I just love the idea of Christ being our lives! We have so much purpose now! The old life is dead and burried, and our new life IS CHRIST! I mean, how amazing is that! Every minute, everything we do now, is Christ, and with that comes the responsibility of knowing that everything we do is now a direct representation of Him. Anyway, that's just my personal take on it. =)

Anyway, as for tomorrow, we are going to a village in the mountains five hours away!!!!! I'm soooo excited! I am not sure if we have internet there, but it's gonna be a great experience. There will be an outhouse and everything! Talk about new experiences. =) Anyway, totally Psyched for that! We'll probably be back sometime around Monday or Tuesday, so if we don't write, expect to hear from us then!

Btw, Shoutout #2 for my sisters birthdays! Jillain and Nicole Holmgren! Eeek! It's so exciting! Bummer that I miss it, so you all make up for it for me Huh? =) And Nicole, expect an awesome present from Mexico!!!!!

OK, well that's about enough for now. =) Thanks for reading my huge post and please continue praying for us in these areas.

1: Josh's stiff neck, Kate and Ann's backs are hurting, and Ally's shoulder is also a bit painful.

2: Safety as always. =) Specially as we work in the mountains. HIGH in the mountains. =)

3:The team to work together and learn TONS about God!

4: Praise! Brett is doing TONS Better! Totally worked really hard and all that. Way to go God, and way to go Brett!

5:Pray for our ministry both to the Missionaries and to the Brickyard.

6: Pray for Josh and Mrs. Rigel. It can't be easy trying to keep this bunch under control. Hehe

Thanks for your prayers and God Bless!

Day 4 - Ding-Dong, Cominsidemyhouse!

2010-07-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yiggity yo! It's Caleb reppin' Rancho Siloe on the mic tonight in Club Chihuahua!

Whoa. What a ride so far. Where to start? Work this morning was pretty avarage. We are about half way done dry-walling an entire room (including the celiing). As you can imagine, it's tough work having to hold a 12 foot piece of dry wall over your head for an undetermined amount of time. Nonetheless, we push on. Johnny and Zach did get a chane of pace by getting to help with some concrete work. Inevitably, they are pretty whipped.

Brickyard today was good in that the kids are starting to warm up to us and be more out going. Before, they were a little shy compaired to other years. I was lucky enough to be a part of a little skit about Lazerus for lesson time. I played the rich man who dies and goes to hell. Yep. I'm pretty sure I nailed the part. After that, we had craft time. We made the Wordless Bracelets and it turned out pretty well. Every day twords the end of the time we're at Brickyard, we serve the kids food from a different ethnicity. Today, it was, "Comida de Brazil!" That's, "Food from Brazil" for all the unilingulal people. We also taught them a form of tag that we play in youth group every now and then. They young, "tots" didn't quite get it, but nevertheless it was fun.

When we got home, we immidiately got cracking. We were setting up for a nice American-In-Mexico party. It was Mrs. Rigel's birthday, and we were not about to take that lightly. I mean, turning 39 again is HUGE! Mrs. Rigel totally decked out the kitchen with many savory aromas that stimulated the brain in ways you wouldn't believe. After a wonderful dinner, Monte set up a rope and we started taking some swings at a Sponge Bob piniata. Who would want to go to a party without a piniata? Not me. That's for sure.

Well, God has been showing me a lot of things lately. Josh gave me a big roll in hanging dry wall. Never had I had so much responcibility for something so intricate. God has been showing me how to be patient and precise. This morning we had a devotion on submission. We read the passage in 1 Peter about how Jesus was humble even to death on the cross. Wow. That was a heavy load put on my sholders. But it is the good burden, you know? God has been tugging on my heart to be submissive.

Prayer Requests
Ann and Kate - They are struggling just a littleeeee bit with their back pains. Pray that God brings healing.
Brett - He woke up this morning with huge stomach pains and vomiting. Pray that God comforts him and brings quick healing.
Trip to the Tadajumada(sp) tribe - This is a huge opportunity for us as a group. We get to do some work for a local tribe. Pray for safty in travel.

Welp. That's it for me tonight. I pray that all is going well back home.

Love and miss you all,

Caleb (El Jefe) George

P.S. Happy Birthday Mrs. Rigel! Love you Mom#2!

Day 3- Brickyard!

2010-07-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

So today, Josh B, Kate, and Ann were up on scaffolding painting metal beams while the rest of the team put up drywall. It rained a little this morning! The weather was beautiful to work in! Everybody is working together well and getting a lot done.

Today was the first day at the brickyard and it was an amazing experience. We got to the Brickyard and met the kids, sang songs, had a lesson and made a craft that tied into the lesson. We prepared food for the kids and some of the parents of the Brickyard and tried our best to communicate with the kids.

It was incredible to see where these kids live and what little they have. Yet, they are all so happy and excited to be alive. I was wondering how these kids who have almost nothing and drink water that is filled with parasites could be so thankful. We have so much and we get all wrapped up in our everyday lives that we forget to be happy and thankful for everything God has given us. I realized that I get caught up in the task at hand and keep God out of the picture instead of having God as my main focus in everything I do. It is so easy for us to get side-tracked on worldly things that we lose focus of God and we are not able to love like God has called us to love. I am so thankful for everything God has been showing our whole team. And, I'm excited for what is to come.

Prayer requests:

-Ann and Kate's back that they will be strong and not have any problems.

-Pray that the team can get enough sleep to be able to keep working.

-Continue to pray for team unity.

-Pray for VBS at the Brickyard and that we can relate to the kids and overcome any language barriers.
-Johnny

Day 2: Kelso is awesome. Nuff said.

2010-07-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Heyyyooooo! Kelso here. (you have to read the whole post in a Strongbad accent!)

So on Sunday we had orientation at the KOA campground that we stayed at after we left on Saturday. We talked about safety and cultural stuff. After that we practiced the Spanish songs and crafts that we'll be doing with the kids at the Brickyard tomorrow. (which I'm super excited for!) It was a fun time.

Yesterdayyyyyyy... We got up really early so that we could drive like 5 hours to Miami. On the way a freakin' tire in the trailer blew! It sounded like a shotgun (crazy). That was really fun. After that we stopped at Burger King. I like Burger King.

Todayyyyyyyy... We had to wake up super early again to eat breakfast and start our first day of work. The work was surprisingly fun. We pulled these weird weeds, did cement work, and put up dry-wall. Crazy right? Yes.

Okay. That's all I got for my post. Have fun back in the U.S.of.A.!

Peace out girl scouts:)

The invincible, extra curricular, pretty much always sometimes just the best around town... Kelso:)

Please pray for these super important things:

Our first day of VBS at the Brickyard tomorrow.

Energy, Health, Unity, and strength for the team!

and that no one gets injured.

Hello from Mexico!!!!

2010-07-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hola!

We are safely here in Chihuahua City Mexico at the NTM Rancho Siloe. We arrived very late last night. I apologize that we are just now getting this update up. Our flight was late into Chihuahua City airport last night. Monte was driving from the US back down yesterday and he got held up at the border by the officials. So, we didn't leave the airport till almost 10:30pm. Then we arrived at the ranch and tried till 11:30pm, which is 1:30am Florida time, to connect to the internet but gave up and went to bed. We were exhausted but very glad to be here!

Everyone is healthy and excited. We start work this morning and will have an easy afternoon. I'll let someone else update later tonight and tell you more.

Just wanted to let you all know that we made it safe and sound. :)

We love and miss you all.

Josh Harris

It's time to go!!

2010-07-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I wanted to share with all of you that we are leaving today! I can't believe it's that time already. Let me fill you in on a few details...

The concert went great! The bands were awesome and we had a nice size crowd. We were able to make $470 towards the trip.

Everyone handed in their change jugs and the team spent about 4 hours counting and rolling the coins. We made another $740 from that! Praise God!

So...now it's time to leave. We will be spending tonight and tomorrow night at the KOA at Pioneers. This is were we do our pre-trip orientation. This year Howard Lisech will be our guest speaker. We'll get a chance to talk about the trip, some safety stuff, cross-cultural stuff, biblical stuff, and lots of other good stuff to prepare us for what this trip has in store.

Then, we drive to Miami Monday morning to catch our flights to Chihuahua City, Mexico!

We'll be keeping this blog up everyday from now on. Make sure you tune in each day of the trip to hear from us. A different student will be writing each day from their perspective. :)

Please be praying:
- We still need another van to get us to Miami! Pray for safe travel as well.
- That orientation will open our eyes and hearts with God's word and wisdom and we will be prepared for what God has in store.
- For health
- For the team to grow closer, get to know each other, and form united bonds to work well together.

Thanks!
Josh Harris

Benefit Show for Mexico!!

2010-06-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hey,

July 9th will be our last team fundraiser. This one is always a lot of fun though. We will have 4 great local bands playing at our church to help raise money for the trip. Check out the information poster below and also go to our event page on facebook and invite all your friends! This is an all ages show so bring everyone you know out for a great time and a great cause!!

Thanks,

Josh Harris and the team

Write us letters!

2010-06-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hello,
One great way for you to be involved in this trip is to encourage those of us going. And, one really neat way to do that is to write us letters!

Because mail takes too long to get to where we will be we started a system years ago where people write the letters now and turn them in before we go. You can write to anyone on the team and as many letters as you like. Don't forget to put who the letter is to on the envelope of course. Then, bring your letters in to me by July 15th.

We take them with us so each day we can hand some mail out. We even setup a "mailbox". We tend to spread the letters out anyway but you can write a specific day you want someone to receive it on the envelope.

This is an exciting and wonderful way for our team to be encouraged so please spread the word and gather some mail for us!

Thanks,
Josh Harris

A look at the Trip schedule...

2010-06-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a brief look at the trip Itinerary:

-Orientation July 17 and 18 at KOA on Narcoossee.
-Travel July 19th from Miami airport to Chihuahua City airport.
-Work at the Ranch and the Brickyard from July 20-29.
-Weekend to rest and be a tourist July 25
-Debrief and see the sites July 30 and 31
-Travel home from Chihuahua City airport to Miami airport August 1.

-Josh

Team set, tickets bought...

2010-06-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

Howdy,

I wanted to update everyone on a few exciting things. We have a final list of who is going to Mexico this year on the team and we were also able to buy plane tickets!

The team this year is:
Caleb George, Zach Rigel, Brett Ware, Johnny Bastian, Kelso Smullin, Angie Holmgren, Ann Rivera, Kate Walter, Ally Walter, Allyssa Yates with college students Josh Bastian and Kaley Yates. Myself and Dawn Rigel will be the adults rounding out the numbers. All total there will be 14 of us going this year.

We ask that you be praying for this team! Pray for unity, health, safety, effectiveness, energy, and joy!

We have already purchased our Airplane tickets. They were almost $300 more than last year and we have to fly out of Miami, but we are still glad we got them. Be praying for safe travel and for God to provide enough money for us to eat now. :)

It's almost here...

Josh Harris

Another year begans....

2010-04-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well, another year of Missions work for NTM and the children of Chihuahua, Mexico is already underway. We will be traveling once again this summer at the end of July to Chihuahua City, Mexico to work with NTM and the children of the Brickyard.

So, let me catch you up to speed with our activities. :)

We had 16 students sign up interested in being part of our team this year. We have reduced our numbers that we will be taking though so only 10 will get to go. We will also be taking 2 college leaders as usual. I will be going but my wife Kim will stay home with our son again this year.

We have been busy fundraising. We have held 2 out of our 4 fundraisers so far. We held our annual Chili-Cook-Off in March and collected $900. We also did our annual Yard Sale and got creative by adding a Car Wash to it. Over two days we collected $1,983! God is providing once again and proving that He is right behind us!

We will be hosting our annual Benefit Concert on June 12th. Mark that date on your calendars so you can hear some great bands and support the cause!

Be praying for several students who still need passports.
Be praying for the violence in Mexico to cease for the sake of those that live there, the Missionaries, and for our trip.
Be praying for the salvation of the children of the Brickyard.
Be praying for the final formation of the team.

-Josh Harris

New Mexico 09 video released!

2009-10-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, enjoy all the countless hours of video footage edited down into a trip montage of the great moments!
Enjoy,
Josh Harris

Mexico Missions 09 @ Yahoo! Video

Umm... oh yeah! We made it back. :)

2009-08-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hey,
I suppose it sounds kinda silly now, a month later, to inform everyone that we made it back safely. I hope you haven't been worried we got stuck in the Bermuda Triangle or kidnapped!

Everything on the way home went well. We arrived back in Orlando to a large banner and group of cheering and adoring fans, or families I suppose. They were laying in wait for us at the airport right when we came to baggage claim. It surprised us all, in a good way of course. :)

God did sooooo much! I have received word from the missionaries about how much they miss us already! (they were glad we left though because they got to eat our left over ice-cream hehe)

The Lord really blessed us financially this year and at the end of the trip I had plenty of cash left over. We were able to spread out and donate over $1000.00 dollars to the many missionary families we spent time with. Every year I find as cheap as possible ways for us to do this trip. This year Dawn Rigel, our cook and buyer, was able to feed our entire group for 11 days for around $800! Incredible!

Another God provided, guided, and empowered trip! We had a team follow up meeting last week and it was neat to see how they had each become better friends, how what they learned in Mexico is applying to their life here, and how God has given some of them new direction!

Below are a couple pictures and a video slideshow I wanted to share with you. Thanks for all your support and prayers through this whole journey with us. I can't wait till next year. ;)
- Josh Harris

Mexico Slideshow 09 @ Yahoo! Video

We're leaving on a jet plane....

2009-08-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

We're back from the mountains. What an amazing time. God's glory is definitely revealed in the scenery of Copper Canyon!
Everyone is still in one piece and coming home in pretty good shape. You've heard of our bumps, scrapes, and bruises along the way but God has truly kept us safe! I'll try and fill you in on the past couple days...

Friday morning we got an early start and left for the Sierra Madres around 8:30am. There is a neat German Mennonite store we always stop at along the way to buy Vanilla and snacks. (Their vanilla is really good) We got to a town called Creel to reserve our hotel around 1pm. This year the hotel was remodeling so they put us up in some rooms just a few blocks down main street. We entered through a non-descript door next to a shop and walked up three flights of stairs. Along a long plain hallway were our rooms where we stayed. All they had were rooms with double beds! It was kinda wierd, but it worked.

After getting checked in we went farther up the mountain to an area called Copper Canyon. It's a breathtaking canyon much like the Grand Canyon except greener. :) I've been to the Grand Canyon and I'd have to say Copper Canyon is more beautiful. There are some big rocks to climb and trails that take you by Tarahumara Indians that live in the caves. We were enjoying our hike and occasional souvenir shopping when our hair started to stand up straight. A storm was rolling in and the electricity from the nearby lightning was making the hair stand up. So, we got off the mountain! It was ok though, we still got some good climbing and picture taking in.

The hotel we stayed at serves dinner. It was an interesting meal and a few ate it. (Camacho loved it) Then we headed back to our rooms and sat in the hall for a team meeting and prayer time. Some students went out to visit the town and shop. Then a few of us played a rousing game of Apples to Apples. I won! Hehe. It made me happy to see how well I actually knew the students. :)

We left early again this morning and headed for more mountains and rocks! There are an abundance here. There is another place where the Tarahumara Indians live and it is sort of like a reservation, so you pay a bit to go in. We visited a few caves where people live and then had a blast rock climbing. We found a good rock to all sit down and share our experiences from the trip. We talked about the hard parts, the easy parts, the parts that we'll take home with us and what God taught us. It was an encouraging time to hear from each other and praise God for what he did. The weather was perfectly chilly and comfortable. God has given us some graciously cool weather the past 3 days. It's been in the 70's and low 80's with a cool breeze. We don't want to come home to icky hot Florida!!

After some lunch at Veronica's, a delicious Mexican restaurant, we finished our shopping and headed back to the Ranch. The missionaries got together with us tonight for a send-off and thank-yous. They gave us some token gifts and talked about reaching the world with the Gospel. We are so thankful for their hospitality and love towards us on this trip. They have been a blessing to us as much as we've helped them.

We had our final team meeting and worship and the kids were so ancy. They were easily distracted and couldn't wait to go dye their hair and play "bottle cap dodgeball". Oh well, I suppose you have to have some crazy fun now and then! They are also very tired and can't wait to come home and hug all of you!

It's bed time now, I'm here trying to fill you in on the details but don't take my word for it, ask each of them when they get back. Ask what God revealed to them. Ask for their crazy stories. Ask what was hard. Ask them what they will do next, and then listen. And, if you really listen and watch their face you might began to feel as though you were here with us. That is why we write this blog, it's to include you in God's amazing and gracious redemptive work in and through each of our lives as we live out our relationship with God here in Mexico.

I'm very proud of each of the students. I do love and even like them, sometimes. :)No, I wouldn't do this trip every year if I didn't believe in and love each of these students. I want them to see how big God is and his passionate love for all nations. I want them to stop thinking of church, missions, and God as an event but as a continuous love relationship lived out in every detail of life. I long for them to find the creative and unique purpose for each of their lives above the adequate lifestyle of home. I hope that they take each element, lesson, and revelation from this trip and let it change the way they live.

In a later post I'd like to take some time to compliment each of them. For now I'll tell you that non of them let me down. They all worked hard, loved authentically, and embraced God's direction.

We'll see you tomorrow.

Love,
Josh Harris

What a great day!

2009-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Well hey there!
Today has been so wonderful in so many ways. The first reason is that it's my little sister Emily's 13th birthday! Woohoo! I'm so excited, in some ways, to have yet another teenager in the house. Haha. I love you Emily!

Okay okay, on to our day.
We woke up to rain lightly hitting our rooftops and huge blasts of wind. It was great, though it seemed to make everyone a little more sleepy than normal. The rain and wind continued throughout the rest of our last workday and kept us all nice and cool, which was wonderful.
The workload, for some, was much less. Aleah, Ann and I got to clean up some of the empty apartments to help prepare for some families who are moving in, but poor Ann ended up going in early because of her back. Hannah, Cari and Kelly finished up with the trenches and pipes then headed to the soccer field to finish up with putting the lines down for the big game. And the guys mostly finished up filling the walls with cement. So it was all around a nice and easy last workday.

After work, we headed to lunch. We ended up eating an hour late because we had to help clean up a lot today, and Matt, Daniel and Josh Bastian went off to fix some of the holes in the road and nobody told them it was lunch time. So we waited, and waited, until finally somebody went and got them. Oops. Anyways, after lunch, a few of the guys used all of the strength to put the water filter in the back of Monte's van. That thing had to be so heavy. A few more of us then piled in to the van and we were off to our last trip to the brickyard. The whole ride there, Matt was trying his hardest to keep that filter from moving, and he did a great job. When we got there, not many of the were out, but that was okay, I was more excited about seeing the way the women reacted to the filter. After explaining everything to Allison about how the whole water filter operated, she started translating to one of the mothers who was in the church building, which is where we put the filter. She was so full of curiosity and she looked so excited. It was one of the coolest things and it made me so happy. After playing with the kids that were at the church, we said our last goodbyes and gave our final hugs.

As soon as we got back from the brickyard, it was straight to the soccer field for the event of the century. Well not really, but we'll go with it. This time, instead of just falling in to teams, we lined up and Aleah and a girl named Hannah(not from our team) picked teams. I just knew I was going to be last, but thankfully Harris made it to where Bastian was the last one picked and I was only second to last. How great is that? The game was intense. I don't think I have run that much in a long time, or even played that much soccer in a long time. The people Monte called over to play with us were crazy. The score ended up being 5 to 4, my team won. Haha. I didn't make any goals, but I think that if we had played just a little bit longer, I definitely would've made a goal.

Then it was dinner time. We had some very nice guests. They were the Amayas and they were old friends. After dinner, they joined us for our meeting time. Mr. Amaya gave us a little testimony. He is such a neat and happy guy who loves the Lord. Tonight we talked about planting seeds, which brings me to one of the many things God has shown me on this trip. We didn't just come on this trip to help the missionaries build things and help Allison with VBS, we came on this trip to harvest and water God's word in the kids at the brickyard. It amazes me so much that God chose to use us in such a great way.

Tomorrow we head off to the mountains for debriefing and I am so excited! Though I don't want this trip to end, I have been waiting to go to the mountains this whole trip.

Prayer requests.
- continued prayer for Ann's back as well as Monte's.
- safe travels for us as we head to the mountains in the morning.
- safety all around.
- the kids at the brickyard that they continue to learn about the Lord.
- for Allison, that she has wisdom as she continues to teach the families at the brickyard about the Lord.

Well, I should be off to bed. We have a four hour drive, but if Monte is driving, it might be a lot shorter. Haha.
Goodnight everyone!
Kaley

p.s. - I love you mommy, daddy, Alyssa, Emily, Megan, and everyone else! (:

Day Twelve!!!!!!! <3

2009-07-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends!

It's day ten here in Mexico and we're all doing great! (minus all the people recovering and such, but they're doing pretty well too. heh)

Today it all started with an egg/potato/ham casserole. Yes that was the beginning.
Next we went out to see what helpful jobs we could do for Monty. Mine was digging a ditch around a pipe. It's being refitted for the new and improved drain system in the building we (the girlies) are staying in. That was, well, hard. But I will say that the mud we were digging in made thee best mud balls I have eva seen. :D Unfortunately, when not wet,the dirt was kinda like uh, rock. The benefits are that the job is closer to being done and we are more familiar with the earth out side our back door. ;)

While me, Cari, and Hannah were working on that, other jobs were in the works. Foundation preparation, welding, and odd jobs like re-chalking the lines on the soccer field, kept the rest of the team hopp'n.

After break I was able to help The magician in the kitchen prepare lunch and dinner for the day. A welcome break from the work in the sun.

After work we set off to our last day at the brick yard. This was a very busy day since it was the last day of VBS as well. All of us came and got to work. We played with the kids, preformed a skit and passed out food. Today was the day the gospel was presented. I don't know exactly when because I couldn't follow the Spanish very well, but I did see some earnestly listening faces on some of the mothers that were present. It was a difficult time for the team to say good bye to our new little friends. Tomorrow a few of us will be able to go back and drop off the long anticipated water filters. I was able to enjoy game time with a little girl named Lupe. We had a great game of making a certain sound effect at the same time. As I carried her we would walk from friend to friend mine and hers and show them our "song" .

As far as my personal encounter with God goes on this trip, I have been enjoying His creativity that surrounds me all day long. Mountains, people and the Mexican culture in general just shout how versatile God's handy work is and I am just loving the refreshing differences there are between this place and my home country.

It's very late friends so I'm going to bed.

with love from the team,
Kelly Irene
Please continue to pray for complete healing for all of our sick and injured team mates
and you can add Aleah to the list. (She scraped up her arm)
Also for safety on our last day of work tomorrow.

PS Glenna I love you and happy birthday!!! You're a doll. ;)

Week two already????

2009-07-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!
Wow, where do I begin? The first week has already gone? This trip has been an amazing experience so far.
Well I guess I'll start with this morning. I woke up aboslutely exhuasted, so I prayed to God and asked Him to give me the stamina I needed to get through todays work. Instead God gave me a fairly laid back work day. Hannah, Kelly, and I loaded PVC pipes, steel railings, and cement blocks into the back of Monte's trailer and unloaded them in various places. After that job was complete I was given the task of throwing medium size rocks into wet cement, what for I really don't have a clue, but it was an important job!... I think :D. While I did this, the rest of the team finished the foundation we had been working on since day 2!

Josh Harris, Josh Bastian, Kaley, and Jacob stayed back while the rest of us headed for the Brickyard. Playing with the kids there is a real blessing. They don't care that you don't speak their language they just want to play. Its a wonderful thing to be apart of their lives and possibly lead them to Christ. Allison (the lady running the VBS at the Brickyard) had some of us preform part of a skit for the kids. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, tomorrow they'll get the end of the skit along with the Gospel message (so pray that goes over well).

At diner we had some missionaries, the Carillo's, give us their testimony's. They were telling us about a tribe, BG, they are minestering to. Right now they are trying to earn some money to go back to BG, and some partners to help along with the ministry trying to be given to the people.

One of the best parts of the day was worship. We had to quickly clean up after diner so we could have our devo time. So we had to wash dishes while we praised God, which gave this amazing atmosphere, everyone was so happy (especially Aleah) and no one saw washing dishes as a chore, but as a great way to show our love for God. It may seem weird that washing dishes made worship a lot more special but, for me anyway, I felt closer to God.

This trip is going by so fast, but I am so thankful for every moment that I have here, even when I have to shovel gravel into buckets, a positively grueling job. I am also SO greatful for the friendships I have been able to establish with my teammates.

~~Pray request~~
For Ann that she'll take it easy so her back will heal enough so she can enjoy the rest of trip.
Monte's back also.
For saftey and health, that no one else on the team will be injured or get sick.
And for those of us who are homesick, that we'll all just enjoy the rest of the time we have here.

~Cari-Moriah.
P.S.
I love you Mom, Dad, Shaan, Val, Erin, Bill, Kyle, Jeremy, Brett, Jordan, and Elise!!!!!

Giving up.... for the sake of Christ

2009-07-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

So today we finally got back to work =) So much fun! Steven and I got the chance to do some mowing? Yeah, everyone else i guess just worked on the building, filling blocks with cement, welding, etc.

After working for the morning, I got a chance to take a small nap =) It helped considering i have to stay up later writing this, lol. Either way, it was really nice. Around one o'clock we left to go back to the brickyard! We helped out with VBS again. We had a great time playing with all the kids! I always enjoy going and just spending time with them, whether its just sitting with a kid on your lap, or singing songs you barely understand!

We got back around six-ish? We had an amazing super! Thank you Mrs. Rigel =)

I also got the chance to help Monte out with finding a drainage pipe! We have been having some trouble with the water draining, and the laundry room has been flooded a ton! But we finally found the right pipe and opened it up. I didn't get to help find the problem, but I'm sure it would have been fun :P

We also did a devo time, like every night! Which was really good, again.

As I think of the different things the Lord has been teaching me on this trip, a few things really stick out. First, how I really need to give up myself! To come to the point where I completely trust God. Its amazing how much the Lord has helped me in this, but at the same time, I have such a long way to go.

The second thing I have been thinking about, is just how the Lord can really use anything He wants to teach us something. Whether its good or bad, He can use anything to help us grow closer to God. Recently I have heard of some things happening back at home that are hard for some of my friends. It's so important that I trust God though. As I said, its hard, but its so important.

That's about all that's going on with me! Thanks for listening!

Davidc

Prayer requests:

-Trusting God!

-Sleep =)

We ARE His Sheep!!!

2009-07-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hola!!

Well , I don't even know where to begin. All I know is that this week has gone by SO FAST!! I still can't believe it!! God has been so good to us these past days. Today we went to the Brickyard & went to church. The puppets & the songs where such a thrill to the children with their eyes just wide, laughing, helping us out with the motions. It was great! I got to translate to some of our group, while the others where in children school.

The sermon was really good, He was talking about John 10:14-18. How we as followers of Christ are His sheep, God knows us by names & that there is only one me; there are many Ann's but there are NONE like me. That just blew me away to think that there are so many people in this world & God LOVES US & WANTS US.

Also after we got done with church we got lunch, (at Carls Jr. hehe), & then went back to shopping (We went to a pottery shop as well)-Josh (Papa Bear) thinks I own the Chihuahua markets ..haha. I like knowing I can talk to the people of Mexico but sometimes it's hard because most of every Hispanic culture has different dialects & we may say things different, but I made it through the day making bargains.

I love it here!! I've learned SO MUCH from God & we're not even done. The water filters are going great; I never get tired of washing dirt because I know that this will help the village. Going back to the Brickyard; today I was with Jasmin one of the girls from the Brickyard & she looks at me & sits near me to play with my hair-She asked in Spanish if my hair was like that naturally. I said "Yes" & she said "It's really pretty." I told her it might look pretty but she was prettier. I love playing with the children. All of the children love it when Caleb, Kelly, myself & many others just throw them in the air or spin them around. There's this one girl that would not let go of me so I just let her stay with me until she wants to let go. God has been good today & He will always be good for us.

Our devotions today was "EVEN JESUS TOOK NAPS" it was how Jesus told His disciples to take the boat out into the sea & a BIG storm & wind blew in & the disciples where scared. The disciples where scared so they rushed to Jesus when he was napping & said to Him "Teacher we are going to sink!!" Jesus got up & hushed the storm.

Well one of the questions that REALLY IMPACTED ME was: Is their something right now that keeps you from rest? Rest as in physically, spiritually, emotionally. I've dealt with so much in the past & each day I STILL deal with my past. I told the group that I don't want to go home because I don't want to deal with the people that would drag me down or the memories that flash back to me that could cause me to give into my flesh. I've only been here with the group for about 7 days & God has impacted my life into letting go of what used to be & that great things are coming & the challenges WILL come but I have to trust in God. I need to get rest & let God deal with what's going on in my mind & to not think that I am alone & that I have to deal with it by myself. God will be with me & our group as we face the last week here in Mexico but as a team we can do anything through Christ.

These kids, this team, this mission, we came with a purpose, we all have gifts & everyone is special!! I'm glad that I'm on this trip; I'm glad that the changes are coming. It'll be hard but it's worth being with God at the end. I hope you enjoyed this.

I love you mom, dad, D.J!!

I miss you all; especially Button Megan & Karis Day!!

Prayers:

~For my back & Monte's back. (I'm doing better but it acts up now & then)

~For Zack-He's not feeling well.

~For Kaley-She didn't feel well also & this morning she ended up with a fever.

~For this last week that we are here. That God reveals himself more to us & that we live with forgiveness & Humility & show many that we are His light.

Ann Iris Rivera

P.S. This is Josh H. I want everybody to know how great God is even in technology. I'm up at 11pm at night trying to get these pictures on. I tried 4 or 5 times and it didn't work. I was frustrated but I decided to just pray and trust God that if he wanted you to see pictures he'd work a technological miracle. As you can see... He did. :) Praise God.

It's The Weekend!

2009-07-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Whoa, today has been an exciting day! Today didn't start as planned, but we are on God's mission trip, he isn't on ours. We were suppose to go to the orphanage, but at this time of year the children go and stay with families. God had a reason for us to stay, the water filters! So we started working on the filters. God has really set up a plan for those filters. What once started out as a dream, has now become reality, through God. Its crazy how things are working out. After we did that for a couple of hours we were ready to go to the city. So we all piled into the van and drove to the city! The first place we went to was a bank, we all exchanged our money for Mexican money. We then drove to a random house and went in. In the house we all went to a back room , and there was a jewelery shop! It was full of silver and stuff. It was really strange because it was in a house. After spending a while in the house/shop we left to the market place. At the maket place people try to speak to you and you don't know what they are saying. Everything costs less, and Mexican music makes you want to dance. Pretty much you can get anything cheaper then the price it says. People on the team bought things like rings, shoes, rabit feet, braclets, head bans and such. After looking at spanish buildings and table shops we went out to eat. We drove to some place that had mexican food. I had a steak while other people had tacos and quasdillas. Over all the day was really fun. Read some more tomorrow to see what we are doing next. Thank you. Bye!

Pray requestes and praises:
Chico is doing better.
Please pray for Monty and Ann's back.

Jacob Baker

Brickyard Dog-Piles

2009-07-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hola from Chihuahua! This is your best friend Caleb!

Wow, what a week! Hard work is our team slogan now. This expiriance has been amazing so far to me, God hasrichly blessed me with our accomplishments...

So today started off as the usual morning schedual, but our devotions threw us a curve ball, in my eyes. Josh had us read a passage about forgivness, and challenged us to go out, and forgive someone who has wronged you. This challenge was a interesting one because we had to basically wait for someone to wrong us, so that we could dish outforgivness. This is especially hard when you are working and living with such an influential and edifying team. Allin all, it all worked out, and Josh told us that no matter what, when you are eternally forgiven, you must live inforgivness.

As the day progressed, everything was going as normal, but there was a little scare twords the end of the day.Chico was working hard, as usual, when from up above, a falling 8 pound C-Clamp came down and hit him in the back of the head from 10 feet up. This did not feel good, and there were a couple of quotes from Chico stateing, "I just feel a little dizzy." Of corse, this was not a very happy time for the team, or Chico. A standard check-up from Mrs. Rigel came back negitive for major injuries. Nevertheless, Chico is up, and around. He is still in pain though, so keep him in your prayers...

After a delicious lunch from the Magicion in the Kitchen herself (Mrs. Rigel), we got ready for the Brickyard.My first day at the Brickyard was a very uneasy day, that is, until I made a couple friends, so coming back today was very exciting. These kids kept coming to me and asking me to throw them up in the air, or spin them around. This is a very tireing prossess, but I end up forcing myself to keep playing like a 5 year old anyway. It is SO AMAZING that even though I only speak a little bit of spanish, they can understand me, and vise-versa. Apperantly, the kids have made it a tradition to find me, surround me, and tickle me until I fall over, and dog-pile me into the dirt. All I can do is laugh and roll around and try to ward off the kids, but I have not been succesful in my tryings ;). Everytime we leave, I'll admit, I get a little choked up when I have to leave. I know I will see them again soon, but theres nothing that will remove the sad feeling I get when I leave those kids.

After the Brickyard, we decided that we'd go into town for dinner. This was a crazyyy time, because Monte took us to a place in a mall area that makes Gorditas. Gorditas are like round tortillas that are cut open, and stuff put inside. This was a first for me, especially because I had a cactus Gordita. I really honestly couldn't tell if I liked it, but it was a great adventure to explore new flavors of the world.

God has been teaching me so much on this trip. But the one huge noteable thing this is the power of prayer. We had a devotion a couple days ago tited "Stop and Pray." This was very encouraging to me because everytime Ihave prayed, I feel like God is listening, and acting. I mean, look where we are now, no flight problems, a few minor injuries (But we immidiatly prayed for, and got better really quick). The next thing God has been teaching me, is my reliance on Him. There have been some times on this trip where I just turned all of my problems over to Him, and He has taken care of them in the best way possible.

Prayer Requests:
Chico - That his head would stop hurting, and that he would be restored to full heath as quickly as possible.
Ann - Due to a prexisting car accident, her back has not been cooperating with her, pray that healing will come to her.
Safty - That God would continue to keep us safe while working, and when we go into town tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for your prayers! I hope this has been a good blog to read...
Stay classy Orlando...
-Caleb

P.S. I love you Mom and Dad

Cement Lungs...

2009-07-23T19:40:00.001-07:00

...That’s what I have. Probably cement lungs by now. For the past three days I have been shoveling, and accidently inhaling cement like nobody's business. I'm very much a fan of my job...Cement is a cool thing.

I did however get a fantastic mask today so that I wouldn't inhale anymore cement powder. I'm a fan of that mask too.

Well yes, cement work. That's what a significant portion of the first half of our day consisted of. There was a bunch of us on cement detail, a group building small "kangaroo cages" *which are really crazy looking keep-the-cement-from-cracking contraptions*, and some people, namely Josh, welding.

Today there was also a bet. Chico bet Monte that we could get a certain amount of work done by lunch time, and Chico said that if we get it all done, Monte has to make us smoothies. Monte agreed. We finished it. We're getting smoothies tonight. I'm pumped.

And guess what ELSE we did? Guess where we got to go?? Guess what was the highlight of my week, month, and possibly year? We got to go to the brickyard! All the kids I had to leave behind last year, I got to see again! It was incredible. It's still surreal. I got to see so many of those precious little children I wasn't sure I'd ever see again.

*Jessie, Hannah gave your letter to Jasmine. Her reaction was the most precious thing I've ever seen. Nothing in the world was more important or more precious to her than that letter. Oh yes. And I got to hold America and Angelita all afternoon(:*

Ok, back to what we DID at the brickyard...We went to help Allison, the missionary who works with the people at the brickyard with a VBS she was putting on. We did crafts, sang songs, had snack, played, watched skits, learned Bible verses...It was really neat to see. These kids really are interested to hear about the Bible, as are their mothers. They really do listen, and care about what’s being said. It's awesome to see them all taking in God's word like that. Everything ran smoothly. It was a really cool, and different experience from last year.

When I asked what else happened today, Daniel said to tell you all that a bunch of the guys unloaded over Eleven TONS of cement today. That’s an impressive number. Whoa.

Last night, Josh B. Daniel, and Chico found a tarantula. That was pretty cool.

What I'm learning about even more this year is the vastness of God's kingdom. His plans and visions for His world expand SO much farther than we could ever comprehend. Its really incredible to see how great and how far his love reaches. It amazes me more every day.

And now, my memory is failing me-as far as the recollection of any interesting happenings go... It’s been a long week. And my mind is going…Haha. Enjoy the pictures. We’ll check back with you soon!
For the team
-Aleah

Things to pray for are..

-Continued safety and health for the team (Praise! Jacob is back 100%)
-That the VBS at the brickyard would be effective, and reach a lot of hearts.
-That we would be a light where ever we go.
-Praise! We got the right bucket size for the water filtration project.

2009-07-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

Hello!

Today we woke up early in the morning to do devotions, eat breakfast and work. We were greeted with a beautiful sunrise, and a cool breeze. Everyone was ready to work on time so we set to the task of making cement and pouring it into the trenches which were dug before we got here. It was a grueling job and it involved people who had to scoop dirt into buckets and then others would dump the buckets of dirt into the cement mixer. While another guy dumped cement mix into the mixer. Then from there we had guys who would position the wheelbarrow under the mixer, and get a load of cement. From there we dumped it into the trench which was a foundation for the gymnasium the missionaries are building.

Aleah saved Monte's life! While Aleah and Monte were cleaning up cement mix, they had an encounter with a rattlesnake! Monte ran off, came back with a shovel and sliced off its head, Aleah ended up keeping the rattle. No one was hurt, thankfully.

Some of the team went to look for river sand for the water filtration project. Unfortunately they did not find any, and ended up using the sand we had on the ranch. Then Kelly, Chico, Josh H., Hannah, Ann, Aleah, and I with supervision from J Bass cleaned the dirt which would go into the water filters. We cleaned the dirt by stirring the dirt in a bucket with water, then draining it out and repeating the process over again for hourse until Bastion decided it was clean enough.

This afternoon we were invited to play soccer again and this time we had the MK's and their Dad's V.S. the Mexico team. We had a lot of fun!

Then at our team meeting this evening, we celebrated my Moms Birthday! I made a card and had everyone sign it, then we at cookies, and cake.

I have been learning a lot in the few days days we have been here, I think one of the greatest things I learned on this trip so far is that I need to submit myself to authority even if I don't have respect for that person, because it is an opportunity to show love to that person.

Please pray for:

Jacob Baker as he got dehydrated, the praise though is that after we prayed he was doing way better.

VBS Tomorrow at the brickyard from 3:30-5:30pm that it would go well, and the kids would get to learn alot.

That while we work that nobody will get hurt and that we will have enough strength to get through the work with joy and stay hydrated.

-Zach Rigel

Today I made a new friend...

2009-07-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody, this is El Chico!

Today I made a new friend! It's a horse. I was taking a walk and I decided to pet the horse. The missionary kid and I climbed the fence and pet the horse. Unfortunately it was short lived. The horse tried to munch me.

I'll get back to the important stuff. :)

We woke up at 6am, had some guy prayer time, and were excited to get to work. The day began with work that included block work, weeding, welding, cement mixing, and gravel sifting. I was fortunate enough to learn a new skill today. My buddy Josh taught me how to weld! That might come in handy later this week, cause we have a lot of welding to do. Yeah!

During the morning a couple missionary guys came out to the Ranch to learn how to build the water filters. Josh Bastian started showing them how. They washed all the sand and gravel they needed for one. They had to leave early so we will try and finish it up on Friday. We learned that there are actually a lot of missionaries and Mexicans that work with NTM that want to learn how to do this project for their tribal works. This is exciting because the reach of this project may go farther then beyond the brickyard to many areas!

We had some lunch and then even had time for an afternoon nap. While everyone else was napping that's when Michael, the missionary kid, and I went on our walk and found the horse.

I learned to focus my work not on doing it for the missionaries, or even for the team but for God.

Here are some things you can pray for:

-Keep praying for the success and now the reach of the water project.

-Pray for the health and wisdom of each team member.

-Pray for the VBS to go well at the brickyard, it starts on Thursday.

Praise God for this wonderful team and this opportunity to worship God with our lives here!

El Chico Always Wins!!

Chihuahua!

2009-07-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

With a kerplunk we touched down at the Aeropuerto de Chihuahua. A hour later we were safe and sound at Rancho Siloe. For me, a returning student, the dorms, the kitchen, the work projects finished during past trips, even the showers brought back vibrant memories. We are finally here, albeit a little tired, incredibly excited about lies ahead. Work starts at 7am tomorrow morning.

Let me back up a bit...two days ago I flew out to Grand Rapids, Michigan to learn how to build a water purifier patented by Aqua Clara. Located in Holland, Michigan, Aqua Clara is a small operation that has planted purifiers all over the world. This small group of people at Aqua Clara love Jesus and it is evident in the way they care for and love the one billion plus people who lack access to clean water. During the training session staff members discussed the global water problem and how best to fix it. After the information session in the morning we built a purifier from scratch, giving us hands-on experience building the simple, yet effective bio-sand purifiers.

After a flight back to Orlando, I joined the team at the KOA campground for our orientation. We spent Sunday learning everything from the biblical reasons for missions to cross-cultural integration. Our team split up and practiced our puppet, song, and craft ministries that we'll do at the brickyard this week and next. The rest of the day we relaxed, ate some Papa John's and watched a storm brew over the lake adjacent to the KOA.

Some praises....

We made it through customs without a problem. None of the medicine for the Brickyard or water purifier supplies were confiscated

Monday morning the rain held just long enough for us to pack all of our stuff into the vans. Special thanks to Mr. Rigel and Mr. Walter for waking up early to help us get to the airport.

Some prayer requests....
That the water purification project can continue to move forward. More specifically, that all the supplies can be delivered soon.
VBS at the Brickyard.
Team unity.
Continued good health for all members.

Thanks for reading and praying, we as a team are really appreciative of all the amazing support.

Josh Bastian

Up, up and away!

2009-07-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

We're leaving today! I'm in my office as the chaos of parents and students arrives with luggage and smiles. It's a good day. :)
We will be at the KOA here in Orlando for two days of orientation. We fly out Monday morning from Orlando on American Airlines at 8:15am.
We'll hit the ground working on Tuesday morning.

Please be praying for us:
- For team unity.
- For health.
- For favor amongst all we work with and the government.
- For the love of God to shine through us in powerful ways.
- For stamina, and energy to work hard.
- For focus and maturity from each student to pay attention and be wise! :)

We will be having a different student post each day of the trip to share what happens. You will get to hear their perspective and take on things. We'll put a few pictures up as we get them too. Please check back each day to hear our adventures and know how to pray for us!

For the team,
Josh Harris

Water Purification Project update...

2009-06-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Each year we go to Mexico we spend 4-6 days at an area called "The Brickyard" This area is where very low income families setup shacks and make bricks to earn some money. Some of the families stay for a long time, some only till they get the money they need. The living conditions of this several square mile area with over 250 people living there are devastating. Lack of electricity, education, accessible health care, and clean water concern us every year.

Fortunately, a local Mexican church and some missionaries with NTM have made connections and established a ministry there in the area. They provide bible teaching and evangelism as well as tangible ways to meet the physical needs. We have enjoyed partnering with them the past few years in a projects such as; building and installing screen doors and windows to several homes to keep bugs out, building community outhouses, and providing basic medical supplies. We will be taking medical supplies again this year to donate, but we'll tell you more about that in another post. :)

After our experience last year several of us on the team became considered about the very unsanitary water conditions. After much discussion and prayer we decided to follow God's leading on installing water filtration systems. We want to install several systems this year while we are there but we also want to train the local church and the people of the brickyard how to make them. It's like teaching them how to fish instead of just giving them fish. After research we settled on partnering with an organization called Aqua Clara. They have developed a way to use local supplies to build an effective W.H.O. approved water filtration system. Before we go, we'll send someone from our team to be trained by this organization on how to make them. Then, when we get to Chihuahua we will purchase the local supplies needed and begin making and training for these systems.

We are very excited about this tangible way to spread the love of Christ and the compassion of the gospel. We long to see the overall health of the children rise so that they will live long enough to hear the gospel, believe, and live for him!

To see more of how the water filtration systems work visit Aqua Clara's website.

If you would like to help fund or promote this project please contact us.

We encourage you to also check out our Facebook Cause page for our work in Mexico.

Sincerely,
Josh Harris for the team

Exciting new developments!

2009-06-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Sorry it has been awhile since our last trip update. Much has happened since!

First off, we had a Benefit Auction Fundraiser two weeks ago and it went really well! We had lots of items to sell and yummy lunch for everyone. We were able to raise right at $2000.00! God is amazing and so are the people who pitched in to make this Fundraiser a success.

Second, our team has changed once again, but for the last time. :) The people going are as follows: Myself and Dawn Rigel are the adults, Josh Bastian and Hannah Rigel are our college leaders and then the H.S. Students are: Jacob Baker, Daniel McCutchen, Zach Rigel, Stephen Gable, David Cammacho, Matt Langford, Caleb George, Ann Rivera, Kaley Yates, Kelly Welsh, Aleah Schweizer, and Cari Ware. We'll try and get a group pic this Sunday to post for you.

Third, we have raised enough money so far to purchase airline tickets. I just bought them this week! God was good as I was able to get us all on the same plane, sitting next to each other, and with good dates too, all for around $550 a person. We will be flying straight into Chihuahua City and avoiding the border this year. So that price was great! To get those cheap flights we did shift our days one day forward. So, mark your calendars our trip dates are now July 18-August 2.

I'm so excited about how God has provided and led the way for us to return to the ministry we started years ago in Mexico. We only need about $4000.00 more to reach our comfortable financial goal. Please be praying for us to reach this goal so we can eat while we are there. haha :)

Pray for:
- Health of all the team members.
- Passports and finances to come in.
- Unity amongst the team.
- That God would be glorified and we would honor him no matter what happens!

For the team:
Josh Harris

Benefit Show for Mexico!!

2009-04-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hey,

We wanted to let you know about two things...

One is that we are having a Benefit show coming up this Friday to raise support for our Mexico trip and a special project.

Second, is to tell you about our special project this year. It is to take water filter kits to the Brickyard. The water there is filthy and unsanitary. We have researched a few companies and organizations that make kits and do this. However, if you have some ideas or suggestions please let us know! We will also be taking some basic medical supplies like last year that are hard to get in Chihuahua.

Prayer Requests:

-Be praying that this 'swine flu' will pass quickly and will not affect our trip this summer.

-Continue to pray for the violence to cease as well.

-Be praying for the effectiveness of each students support letters and self-work projects to raise adequate funds.

- Josh Harris and the team

Check these out...

2009-04-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Thought I would share a few links that will help add to your prayer and support.

http://www.mmol.org/Lucht - Allison is the missionary we work hand-in-hand with in the brickyard. She is our main contact and a wonderful committed servant to the people we have come to love. She lives there year-round and pours God's love and gospel into their lives however she can. Go check out her page and pray for her.

http://www.ntm.org/mexico/ - This is the organization we work with while there. Check out all the works they are involved in for the country of Mexico. Our specific connection is to do work projects that assist their Training center for Spanish missionaries in Chihuahua City. Pray for NTM and its missionaries!

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/255802/56032149?m=6d54c0aa - If you have Facebook you can join us on our new Cause page for our ministry with the children in Chihuahua! We are just beginning to develop and utilize the possibilities with this resource. The web is where it is at these days, so we are on it!

I'll update you with more links as I get them. For now, check these out and be praying!
Thanks,
Josh Harris

The Lord is brining in the money!

2009-03-26T09:14:00.001-07:00

Howdy,
We are excited to announce that at our first big fundraiser of the year we raised
$1,176.05! All of this will go straight into our team fund to help each person get to the individual goal for the trip of $1,050.
This fundraiser was our annual Chili-Cook-Off where about 150 people showed up and had their fill of 26 different Chili's. Families and even students made and entered their own Chili recipe into a contest. Congratulations to Samantha Gann, David Stephens and Kathy Baker for winning their categories! Thank you to all who helped, entered Chili, and to our judges!

Well, on to our next big fundraiser... our annual Yard Sale! It will be held at the Welsh home on April 10 and 11 from 8am-3pm both days. WE NEED STUFF TO SELL! If you can rummage around the house and garage and gather up items to donate give us a call. It's easier to raise money when we have lots of good stuff to sell. :)
You can bring it to church or straight to the Welsh's home from now until April 8. Call me or Joanna Welsh before you bring it in though.
Then, tell everybody to come and shop on the Yard Sale days! And, be praying that God will wow us once again with amazing financial provision through our efforts.
Thanks,
Josh Harris

Violence in Mexico

2009-03-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hello,

As some of you may know there has been a rise in the violence in Mexico lately. We are concerned not just for our trip but for the people and missionaries that live there.
-Please be praying for the safety of the missioaries.
-Please pray for the salvation and transformed lives of those causing this violence.
-Please pray that God will keep a window open for us this summer to go and further his truth, love, and gospel!

Each year our trip works under New Tribes Mission. We travel with them, work for them, and follow their guidance during our trip. Thus, I have confidence and peace in the experience and leadership of NTM to make decisious for us on safety. They will tell us if it is too dangerous to go down there and work with them this summer. As long as they believe it is safe for us to come work with them I trust we will be fine.

So we continue to prepare and plan for this trip. There is still 5 months of time for God to work and the violence to decrease. We plan on going unless we hear a no from our leadership at NTM.

Please keep praying,
-Josh for the Team

Mexico Team is coming together!

2009-03-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Introducing the team! :)
Our Team is almost put together, we are just waiting on a female college leader. Our H.S. students going, for now, this year are: Zach R., Brett W., Stephen G., Jake B., Daniel M., Caleb G., Aleah S., Kelly W., Cari W., Kate W., Kaley Y., Ann R., and Kelso S.. Myself, Mrs, Rigel and Josh B. will be going as well as leaders.

We are excited about what God wants to do in each of our lives through this experience!

Please be praying for these students and for all of us to have wisdom and energy to fulfill our roles in the team. Each student will be working to earn $330 of the trip cost on their own apart from our group fundraisers. They will also be sending out letters to families and friends to let them know of the trip soon.

- Josh for the Team

Change for Chihuahua! - How you can get involved!

2009-02-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Our first team meeting is this Sunday, but we have already begun efforts to raise support money necessary for the missions work we will be doing in Mexico this summer.
We have launched a fundraiser campaign called "Change for Chihuahua" that is about collecting loose change in a jug to be donated when it is filled up. Every cent helps us reach our goal to travel to Mexico this summer and minister to the missionaries and the impoverished children of the Brick Yard and the orphanage.
We need your help - together we can make a difference! You may not be able to go with us, but your support through prayer and fundraising is just as much a part of reaching the children of Chihuahua as the ministry of those who go. Below is a picture of the 1 gallon jugs that we are using as collecting containers. You can pick one up from us at Circle Community Church or begin collecting change on your own. When your container is filled up just bring it in to:
Circle Community Church - 2200 Pembrook Dr., Orlando, Fl. 32810.
- Josh Harris - Student Pastor

A look back at last year, and time to plan for this year!

2009-01-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

Howdy!
Well, it has been a long time since we have updated here on the blog, but as the plans for this years trip began to formulate I thought it was time to get back on here.
We are beginning to form a team of students and leaders for this year's trip back to Chihuahua, Mexico. Our dates have moved father back in the summer, this year, to July 17 - August 1. We are planning to step up our medical and tangible ministry efforts to the people of the brickyard, as well as continue work for NTM. We are excited for what God has in store again this year!

We ask that you would pray with us for a few things:
- For the violence in Mexico to cease and for God's protection for the innocent.
- For the right students to form this year's team.
- For us to have the determination, energy and commitment to raise the neccesary funds and prepare for this trip effectively.

I thought it would be fun for you to look back at last year's trip with this video we put together. Soak in with us the love, provision, and presence of God from last year, and get excited about what lies ahead for this year!

- Josh Harris
Student Pastor

New! Mexico Video 2008 - the best in pictures...

2008-07-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Back in the USA....

2008-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Howdy,
We wanted to update everyone. We did succesfully make it home from Chihuahua, Mexico. The trip was tremendous for our individual spiritual journeys, we even got some work done too.
Since we have been home we have heard from both Allyson who was our Missionary contact at the brickyard and Monte who was our work leader at the NTM Ranch.

Brickyard Update - The group after us was able to get half done on another brick latreen. They people of the brickyard are finishing the cement floors and will start the walls soon. Allyson was very pleased with our ministry with the children and our work on the latreens. She was also happy to receive the dozens of reading glasses and the medical supplies. She said they have already become useful, she is handing them out already.

Ranch Update - We missed it. The week after we left a baby rattler and a scorpion both showed up, we are sad we missed it! The radiator on the car broke as well, they were able to get it fixed but keep praying for the van to hold up for the other work groups as well.

We thank all of you for your prayers while we were there in Mexico. God answered them all and did a marvelous work in and through our lives! Please keep praying for the missionaries and the New Tribes missionary training at the ranch. Please pray for the children of the brickyard too.
With a show of hands every member on the team indicated they would go back if they had the chance. God is working. God is faithful. We can't wait to see what He has in store for us and for the ministry in Mexico!
We have tons of great pictures and videos! Check out pictures of the trip on our website: www.thriveyouth.org
Videos will be up soon so keep checking back.

-Josh Harris

Day 13 - We'll be home for Christmas...last thoughts

2008-06-13T21:10:00.001-07:00

You can count on that. Actually we'll be home before then. :) We leave tomorow morning at 7am to make our way by van back to El Paso to catch our flight. We should arrive tomorow into Tampa by 10pm and home in Orlando by 12:30am where we will meet parents and friends back at the church. So... onto the details of our last day here in Mexico....

I woke up early this morning and went outside our hotel in Creel, up in the mountains, to sit in the town square. The church bells were ringing as people gathered for morning mass but I stayed outside and had my own time with God and his word.

After breakfast we decided to visit a Tarahumara village, that is like a reservation of sorts, where people can visit. It was strange thinking that we payed a fee to visit where they actually live and work and then just walk around looking at thier houses and watching them do their daily routine. To some, these people may be just an amusing tourist attraction, but to us we felt the burden that these people needed the gospel of Christ not tourist dollars. Most of us shortly got distracted by the amazing rocks to climb and spent about an hour climbing and enjoying the view. We had planned to have our debrief meeting back in town but it was so peaceful and beautiful there that we had our meeting on the side of a hill amongst the rocks and caves. It was an amazing place to talk about what God had done on the trip and what he was doing in our lives. Then we spent some time in prayer and headed off to shop.

There are tons of little shops in Creel where you can buy souveniors. We split up into a couple groups to shop. After about 20 minutes of browsing we see David and Brett come down the street on a four-wheeler! I must explain that last year we heard about renting four-wheelers but it didn't work out. Well, this year David got his wish granted. He was loving every minute of it and was able to give several people rides (with helmets of course).

We wanted to say good-bye to Mexico with something meaningful and appropriate, something to really make a difference and show the people how much we appreciated them, so we gathered at a local restuarant and ate tons of Mexican food! Well, I ate tons of Mexican food. I ordered Chiken Enchiladas with beans, a bean and cheese burrito, and a side of rice and beans. It was delicious and fattening all at the same time. After lunch we took the long 4 and a 1/2 hour trip back down to the ranch. Some slept, some complained about the heat, some spilled Vanilla all over the van floor, and some got psych profiling done by Sarah. Something about the ladder and the cup symbolize your dependence on liquid.... I don't know, I guess I didn't really pay attention.

Monte and the missionaries here said farewell to us tonight with a gift and some dessert. They gave us Coca-cola bottles with little sombreros on top! We spent group time by sharing things we appreciated about each other over the trip. It was neat to hear bout all the things we find encouraging in each other. It was an uplifting way to be reminded how neat this group truly is.

I am once again privileged and honored to lead and work alongside such God-loving, energetic, respectful, and passionate students. My heart has lept with joy each day to see them serve God and each other no matter how they felt or what the situation. I am grateful for all their hardwork at the Ranch, their love for the children of the brickyard and orphanage, and their openess to what God is teaching them in their lives. I know this might be kindof long but I wanted to publicaly let you all know what I appreciate about each of them. You can skip this part or rejoice alongside of me in the tremendous character and depth of each of these wonderful guys and girls. I will write their name and a few words of appreciation.

Zach - I am grateful for his work ethic and patience during jobs. I appreciate his willingness to immediately play with and love on the kids of the brickyard. He did a great job on playing the spanish songs to the children and he looked out for the girls in our group constantly.

David - I am thankful for his courage to lead and lead by example, always seeking God's best and what was right. He worked hard at the Ranch and loved the kids with self-abandon at the brick-yard. He always had a good attitude and encouraging words to say.

Tyler - What a strong and steady worker even at 8am. I didn't think he would make it that early in the morning, but he proved me wrong. He never complained, always adapting to the difficulties of each day. He was my constant trusted work partner and non-morning-person friend.

Josh B. - I appreciate how he handled so many situations that were outside of his comfort zone with a courage to trust God and go with it. He was nervous but willing to try new things. He did a great job with puppets. He was patient with the kids who squirted him with bad water and got him sick.

Snyder - Right! You have to say that in a British accent because Snyder kept us all laughing with his humor and lightheartedness. I appreciate how he maintained such a gentle and humble attitude throughout the trip. He did whatever was asked of him. I am thankful that he used his skill and talents with photography to capture all of us when I know he also wanted to be on the other side of the camera. He gave up precious times with some of the children at the brickyard so he could capture those moments for us and for you.

Brett - I am grateful for Brett and his teachability. I was always asking him to go get this, or go do that, or clean that up and he kept at it. He helped keep things interesting and crazy for the guys and he had a lot of courage to down hot sauce the rest of us wouldn't touch.

Hannah - Encouraging, gentle, compassionate are a few words to describe her. She embraced a leadership role amongst the girls as we asked her to, and she did such a humble and loving job. I am grateful for her patient, and hard work no matter what the job. She did a fantastic job arranging the puppet team.

Megan - I appreciate the way 'Megan's joy comes out her ears.' (Aleah's quote) She is a steady calm amidst the storm, approaching each situation with a love for others and a desire to serve God with a humble heart. She is an amazing soccer defender as well.

Sarah - I am thankful for her faith in the Lord. She will pray about anything and encourage us all to do the same. I appreciate how she prays expectantly. She was always caring and interested in each of us throughout the trip. She could also woop Webster in a game of scrabble!

Jessie - I appreciate her passionate love for God, His character and His creation. She was a great reminder, as she and Tali took care of Churchill, of the joy God takes in all of His creation. I appreciate her love for God's word and her exuberant joy of the small things like sunflowers and rose bushes. Her love for God and appreciation of all he has done for us is contagious.

Tali - I appreciate her as well for the sacrificial love of Churchill and the encouragement it brought to us. I am thankful for her honesty and sharp mind for such a young age. I love how she loves God's word and truth and isn't afraid to make it known. She is also a great encourager and a somewhat decent beard-trimmer.

Kate - I am thankful for her vulnerability in her spiritual journey, her quite and steady servants heart, and her moments of pure youthful giddiness. She was a great encourager to all the guys by writing many letters and she washed my dishes many times when I insisted she didn't have to.

Kenzie - I am so thankful for her bright smile in the morning. She always got us going with her energy and joy. I appreciate her patience as well with the kids at the brickyard when they were soaking her with water. She loved on those kids so much I know they will never forget it. I am thankful for her heart and lifestyle of missions.

Aleah - I am thankful for her ability to put up with my sillyness. She has a great sense of humor, a way with words, and serious muscles. I appreciate how she would pick up pretty much anything no matter how heavy and go for it. She kept a gentle-spirit and a heart of unity when we needed it. I am thankful for how she opened up her heart to the children of the brickyard and let them in. They will never forget her smile, her laughter and her broken spanish.

Kimberly and her Mom - I am extremely thankful for all the meals, laundry, and shopping you did for us. We would have starved without you ladies. I appreciate how you even gave us surprises like cookies and brownies with ice-cream. Thanks for having plenty of air-borne and leading all the girls as godly woman examples.

I love each and every one of these guys and girls dearly and would do it all over again. I am encouraged and challenged by each of thier lives, thier testimonies and thier friendship.
Thanks guys, I can't wait to see what else God has in store for us next!

For the rest of you, we can't wait to see you at home and tell you all about what God has done!

-Josh Harris

Day 12 - For the beauty of the earth...

2008-06-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ah, we have made it back from the mountains! I am here to update you on what we did yesterday. I know it's a little late but we didn't have a connection up there so here I am back at the ranch with an update. We left early yesterday morning and started the trek up the Creel in the Sierrra Madres. We arrived around lunch time and ate our packed lunches while Monte and Josh got our hotel rooms. We were hoping we could take a train ride up to Copper Canyon but the train came and went before we even knew it! So, we took plan B and Monte drove us up the curvy roads like last year! We knew we had a chance to catch the train back down the mountain but it was still a bit of a long shot. We did a little bit of shopping and then went on a hike up to a peak of the canyon. Words can not describe how beautiful it was! Monte showed us some houses that were IN the canyon which explains why the Tarahumara people are so hard to reach! They can climb rocks and run like no other people in the world! There is so much to say in such little time so I'll have to tell you more later!
After the brief hike we headed back down to see if we could catch the train. We waited, and waited, and the boys started to get hungry. Monte encouraged us to buy some empanadas (I think that is what they were... hmmm, I can't remember!) from one of the ladies (who is a believer!). My only reservation was that she was cooking on a barrel that had been turned upside down! Hmm. Well, no one has been too seriously sick yet so why not? Just about everyone had one and we're all still alive and no one is sick! Ah, I should tell you that Monte will only take us to places that he knows is safe (even the questionable looking ones). While we were eating our snacks, the train came and we all got on and had a beautiful ride back down into Creel. Some of us even took naps! The evidence of God in his creation was so powerful to me! It broke my heart that the majority of those people living in the Canyon don't know that it is God who made it.
We had dinner and debrief at the hotel and headed off to bed to get ready for the next day. That's about all that happened on Friday. Most of the REALLY exciting stuff happened today. :) We are all looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! Thank you to all of you who have written letters and posted comments for us to read. It's so encouraging and it helps us feel like you are here with us. We can't wait to get back and share how God has worked! Here are a few prayer requests and praises:
Praise- The van had A/C and no one got TOO car sick. :) Monte said he knew he had to drive nicely for us "flatlanders."
-We enjoyed so much to ride the train! It was the first time for the majority (I think 9).
- Josh B. arrived safely at home (as far as we know! I haven't had a chance to check the blog or emails)
-We had a safe drive to and from the mountains
Requests
_We have one more night! Pray that we will stay focused to the end
-For safe travels and health.
-For our time with the missionaries as we say goodbye.

We love you all and miss you but we'll see you soon! Ah... I am in a hurry to post this because dinner started 10 minutes ago and I wasn't there! I apologize for the mistakes! :)
-Kim

Day 11 - Dios es Fiel

2008-06-11T20:57:00.001-07:00

Why is it that the birds greet every one of God's sunrises with song, yet we frequently prefer to remain asleep and miss it all? My answer to this question for the majority of our trip was that sleeping an extra twenty minutes would put me in a better mood for the day. I was wrong. These past two mornings I have awakened early to watch the sky burst with color over mountains, and it has reminded me of a wonderful truth. One of the themes of this trip is "Dios es Fiel," or "God is Faithful." Watching the faithful sun illuminate the sky again this morning, just as it has for thousands years, was a great reminder of God’s faithfulness to his people.

Today was our last day of work here at the ranch. Since Monte was in town getting the air conditioning fixed for our trip to the mountains tomorrow (yay!), we weren’t able to do cement work on the multi-purpose building. Instead, we all split up and did a number of odd jobs. Some did death-defying scaffolding work. Some attempted to finish a porch. Some did various other odd jobs. The rest of us whitewashed buildings. Eh. Hannah and I whitewashed last year, and we were reluctant to do it again. The unquenchable dry hands, the blinding sun reflecting off of the white walls, and the apparent endlessness of the task reawakened dread in our hearts, but we did our job with little to no complaining. Tali and Jessie, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the novelty of the task immensely.

At three we left for our final visit to the brickyard. My team finished the foundation of a brick latrine. I’m still not sure how this whole contraption is going to look in the end. I’m curious. Maybe next year I’ll be able to see the finished product.

We finished training another team of missionaries from Illinois that is going to continue our work after we leave. If you can spare a prayer, send it in their direction.

It was so strange for me to say goodbye to the kids at the brickyard. I’ve seen them so frequently during these past 2 weeks that I have a difficult time believing that I won’t be seeing them again for at least a year. I know it will sink in soon, and that makes me sad. Our team has been praying for the salvation of the people at the brickyard. It would be great if you would do the same. Here are some names to add to your list: Jasmine, America, Sergio, Diana, Anna, Katarina, Esmerelda, Louis, Victoria, Shoshita, Lupe, Mary-Elena, Juana, Susanna, Fabio, Angelita, Linda, and Marta.

When we returned to the ranch we had a crazy-awesome guys against girls water fight. Classic. The boys did not fight fairly. They stole our water balloons and ambushed us with giant buckets of water. The cold wind blowing through Rancho Siloe chilled us to the bone, but the fight had to continue. Soon it got messy…really messy. It became a mud fight – my first mud fight ever! I’m convinced that I’ll be finding small rocks, sticks, hay, and grass in my hair periodically during the next few weeks. A good time was had by all ☺.

God has definitely been faithful to our team during this trip. Injuries have been minimal; no one has had to take a day off for any health-related issues. Our unity has remained strong as we have worked through difficulties together. Monte is well, and the air conditioning was fixed.

We thank you all very much for your prayers. Keep them up! We’re not out of Mexico yet!

I love you guys! God bless you!

Sarah

Day 10 – Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It’s Off to Work We Go....

2008-06-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it is late and we don’t know how to spell “heigh ho.” Is that how it’s spelled? Feel free to give us your opinions. : ) Anyway….

As usual, the alarm clock went off this morning, and as usual, none of us felt like placing our feet on the cold tiles. Hannah and Sarah were the first ones up, because they wanted to see the breathtaking Mexican sunrise! As we all arrived at the kitchen for breakfast, we learned that Churchill was fighting for his life, and many of us were a bit distracted during our devo time.

So after a quick prayer for Churchill, we gathered our supplies and started up the concrete mixer. We completed the porch that we had begun on Friday! We worked so hard that we got it done by 10:30! Jessie and Tali filled buckets with cement, and Snyder filled buckets with water and took pictures. Megan, Sarah, and Hannah filled buckets with gravel. Then Josh, Zach, and Brett dumped all the buckets into the mixer and emptied it into wheelbarrows, which were manned by Tyler, David, and Bastian. They wheeled the concrete over to the porch where Kate, Kenzy, Aleah, Gary, and Monte leveled and smoothed it.

As soon as we had cleaned up from the cement, we took a break. It was at this time that Tali and Jessie found that Churchill had passed away. So then we had a small burial for him.

After break we split up into smaller groups and began working on some odd jobs that kept us busy until lunchtime. Some of us whitewashed, others welded, and made more cement forms.

Today was laundry day, and we were exciting to get clean clothing after wearing out current clothes for five days straight with no showers. Just kidding!! But seriously, Kim and Mrs. H have kept us well supplied with clean clothes and wonderful food. This morning, after they finished the laundry, they had to go into town with Gail to get our visas!

This was the seventh intense day of work here in the blazing Mexico heat. We are all exhausted by midday and then feel the need for a siesta. However, today, we only had an hour of rest before we had to depart for the Brickyard. So, no rest for the weary. : )

Today we got to teach a team of kids from Illinois how to build the outhouses, so they can continue working on them after we leave. We split up into three groups: two were working on outhouses and the remaining team members played with the kids. Jasmine and her family got all dressed up for us to take pictures of them just like they did last year.

We are all getting worn out, but we are enjoying our time here at the ranch and are looking forward to relaxing in the Sierra Madres. But first we have another day of work! : )

Prayer Requests:

- Continued unity
- Unconditional love for each other and for the people that we come into contact with
- That the air conditioning in the van will get fixed before we have the three-hour drive to the mountains
- Safety as we finish up our work projects and then as we travel to the mountains on Thursday
- Energy to complete our last day of work here at the ranch
- PRAISE – Monte is back to “one-hundred percent”

We love you all! Thanks for praying for us!!!!
Also, thank you for all of your sweet comments regarding Churchill!

Love, Hannah and Megan

A Joy Given, A Life Taken

2008-06-10T18:08:00.001-07:00

Today has been a rough day for our team, especially for Jessie and me. When Jessie got Churchill out of his basket to feed him this morning, he was completely limp. Coming to me in the kitchen, she set him in my hands as she prepared his breakfast. At first we thought it had just been too long since he had eaten (we didn't wake up in the night to feed him), but it quickly became obvious that something was very wrong: his whole body shook as he gasped for breath. With tears in our eyes, we watched him fight for his life. Although it was only 6:30 in the morning, we decided to take our dear bunny to Fito's (one of the Mexican students here) house, to see if he would know what to do. Knocking on his screen door, we waited impatiently for him to come to us. Finally he came outside, took the sweet bunny in his hands, and began to massage him. Hours seem to pass as he rubbed Churchill's body, and attempted to resucitate him by squirting air into his mouth through the eye dropper. But it was to no avail. Eventually we left Fito and wandered forlornly back to the kitchen, holding our dying rabbit in our hands.

A long morning passed. Of course there was work to be done, and Jessie and I attempted to rouse ourselves from our sorrow in order to be as helpful as possible. Every time I ran from my work to check on my precious Churchill, I found that he grew progressively worse. Finally, at 10:15 this morning, I watched as Winston Aslan Churchill drew his last breath. Tears dripped down my cheeks and soaked his fur as I drew his lifeless form to my heart. Bursting into tears, Jessie came to me, taking Churchill into her own hands. The boys got a shovel, and we trudged to a circle of stones we had found in the brush a few days prior. As our dear little friend was lain in the ground, Jessie and I held each other, encircled by our comforting friends, sobbing and sobbing.

It may be silly, but I had come to love that little bundle of fur over the past eight days. He was at every meal, every meeting. I woke up in the middle of the night to feed him, I postponed my meals (though I was often extremely hungry) to give him his, I checked on him every chance I got, I played with him every evening. Somehow that little creature was a part of our team. And now he's gone. It still hasn't really settled into my heart. I keep thinking it's time to feed him. I keep wanting to go get him out and play with him. I keep hoping that it's all been a dream, and he's really still there, hopping about his basket.

But I know he is not. My sweet, adorable, lively bunny has been taken from me. And yet, God is good. I know that He has His hand in this situation. I know that it happened for a reason, a purpose. No matter the pain that still pulls at my heart, my God is a loving God, and I thank Him for at least giving us this rabbit, who gave us so very much joy.

Thank you for enduring my rambling, if you actually made it through this post, that is. Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers--we desperately need them!!

Sorrowfully,
Tali Rose

Day 9 according to eSnyder.

2008-06-09T20:23:00.001-07:00

Don't put copper wire in cement toilet seats.
Don't get between Josh Bastian and his three daily showers.
Don't feed the bunny Airborne.

We got up and ate the breakfast. I fixed a cement toilet with the all-purpose contruction adhesive. I carried around an old toilet seat all day. We played volleyball and ate the spaghetti. Today was the day.

--

Okay, seriously.

I love Mexico and the people.

God is teaching me to be intentional about every moment of every day. God has placed me in each situation for a reason, so I want to be aware of what is going on at all times. There are no accidents with God. I want to seek after the face of God no matter the cost.

I do not seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Knowledge is merely a side benefit of understanding and worshipping my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Prayer requests:

Monte has to take the van in to the shop Wednesday morning. Pray for a quick fix.
Praise: Josh Bastian is feeling better.
Pray for unity, strength to finish the work week, and focus on why we are here.

-Snyder

P.S. And now it is time for Spanish songs with Snyder:

"Yo tengo un amigo que eSnyder, eSnyder, eSnyder,
Yo tengo un amigo que eSnyder;
Su nombre es eSnyder."

...Did everyone have fun singing?!

A Sunday To Remember (A Formal Affair)

2008-06-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a day unlike any other, for this was the first full Sunday we’ve been here in Mexico. This day was chock full of adventures and new experiences. We were able to sleep in an extra 2 hours this morning, a privilege that was welcomed enthusiastically. At 9:15, we departed for the brickyards to attend the community church service. The plan was to attend the morning service then head to the city for lunch. Little did we know, God had something totally different in store for us.

The brickyard service was a unique and intriguing experience. After a time of worship, the puppet team performed a short skit and song. The native children, even the adults, seemed to enjoy and appreciate it. We were also asked by the pastor to do an impromptu song for the congregation. Prior to the beginning of the sermon, the children were excused to attend children’s church, and some of the girls from our group went with them.

After the service we said our goodbyes and packed into the van. That was where our plans ended and God’s began. When Gail turned the key, the engine didn’t start. Immediately, we assumed the battery was dead, but after several attempts to jumpstart the engine, we realized that was not the case. After further examination, we realized the problem was much more complicated, too complicated, in fact, to explain right now. The question was no longer, “Will we still be able to go to town?” but “How will we get back to the ranch?”

The girls were the first to be taken back to the ranch. One of the missionaries had her car at the brickyards, so all 11 of our girls (including Kim and her mom) stuffed themselves in for the short (thankfully) ride back to the ranch. All the while we boys waited at the brickyard for Monte to arrive with a fresh pair of eyes, tools and another vehicle. In a long, arduous process, we towed the van back to the ranch with Monte’s SUV. In the process we were able to use the ramp we constructed earlier in the week, once again us boys put our muscles together and pushed the van onto Monte’s porch.

After a much appreciated lunch we had a few hours of siesta. Around 5 o’clock we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Amias (a missionary family) had arrived and by 5:30 it was time for a soccer game. After the game we sat down for a delicious supper on the front porch of one of the buildings, and watched the storm clouds start to form around us. Later after supper we began our evening group meeting and prayer time. We ended the night with ice cream and another welcomed rainstorm.

Love,
David and Zach

Please Pray!

2008-06-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

As of right now, our van is not functioning. After our wonderful church service at the brickyard (more on that later!) we all piled in the van as we normally do - except this time the van wouldn't start. Thankfully, Allison (the brickyard missionary) was still there with her 5 passenger SUV. The boys tried to use it to jump our van, but the van just wouldn't start. As I write, the boys are still at the brickyard (with Josh and Monty) trying to fix it. We girls all piled in Allison's SUV and got to know one another much better ;)

So, PLEASE PRAY that the van gets fixed very soon! Pray that the problem will be minor, and that all the boys will get back to the ranch soon. This is our only form of mass transportation, and we're scheduled to drive to the mountains later this week. We covet your prayers.

Thank you!

Have a wonderful Lord's day!

-Jessie, for the team

Images for the Heart

2008-06-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

When I was around 12 years old my Dad gave everyone in my family black notebooks in which to write our life goals, dreams, ambitions, etc. I hadn't seen my book around for quite a while and just recently it reappeared in my room. When I turned to the back page of this little notebook, I saw a list of goals I had written for my life. There are somewhere between 60-75 things on my list, and in the middle of the page were the words "Work at an orphanage in Mexico".

As of today, I have officially crossed that off of my list!

Our day here in Mexico began with an extra hour of sleep, which was a HUGE blessing for the whole team! We then headed off to breakfast and continued on to our morning devotions. When our devotion time had ended, we all piled into the van and began the day's journey! We were finally on our way to the orphanage!

Immeaditely upon our arrival some of the ladies from our group began preparng breakfast for the kids, while the rest of us kept them entertained (with games such as scare the new visitors with a ball that is a lot heavier then it looks...and games of that sort :). When breakfast was ready all of the kids filed into the main room and took their seats. The next thing they did was so neat for all of us to see. They prayed. All of these kids spoke to God, thanking him for us, the breakfast, and the day. It was so amazing to listen to, not necessarliy understand, but listen to. Breakfast was indeed a huge hit! :)
After breakfast came the singing and the puppet skits we had prepared. The smiles on the kids face's were priceless! So many precious little voices were joined with our voices in song, and created a sound like no other! So many kids came up to the front to sing with us, and left few standing in the audience. Next came the puppets. It's funny to watch the kids' different reactions to these strange new toys. One little girl wasn't especially fond of the puppets, so we watched from afar.
When we were all done singing and puppeteering (sure, that's a word! :) we played outside some more. Games such as soccer, basketball, tag, and jump on Zach's back were all very popular.
My hightlight of the day came when I had a relatiavely normal conversation with a child at the orphanage...in spanish (what else? :) All of a sudden words and verbs and verb forms just began coming back to me and I was actually able to talk to these kids and understand them. It was so exciting! :) Our time at the orphanage had finally come to a close. This life changing experience is one never to be forgotten by any of us.

After we left the orphanage we exchanged our money, and headed to our Mexican-Itallian cuisine for lunch. Then came the town! Our first stop was a musuem of sorts, followed by a visit to a local souvenier shop. We spent a while in there and then set out to explore the rest of the sights, sounds, and smells that Mexico had to offer! And of course, what would a trip tp Mexico be like without a visit to a local pottery shop??

Our long day had come to a close. Almost.

We have been praying ALL week that there would be a rainstorm (mind you, it hasn't rained very much here since January). Our prayers were answered tonight the minute I sat down to write this! Of course I had to leave the blog for a little while. :) We could all see the black coulds closing in over us during the evening meeting and the sunset. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Well I have written a lottt now :) and we all are headed to church at the brickyard tomorrow morning...So goodnight friends and family! We love you all!

-Aleah_for the team. :)

Some things to pray for are:
-Healing for Josh B. and Monte (the missionary we are working with here) They haven't been feeling well. :(
-Energy for the team
- Safety
-Unity
-That the air conditioning in the van we are using would be fixed soon
-That no one else would get sick
and that we would continue to be a light whereever we go!

p.s. please excuse typos. It's gettin' real late. :) :)

Day Five in Mexico

2008-06-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

its been really great being out here in Mexico. I really have been missing you and all the things you do for me that I have had to do myself now. I hope that you don't miss me too badly... oh, well, I guess I should write to more than just my own mother. :)

It being day five, we are all really tired and could use your prayers to keep us energized. We poured half the cement for the porch/carport we have been working on; that was a crazy time of throwing buckets, moving rocks, and getting dirty. At 3pm we went to the brickyard for Bible club. We did our songs and puppet perfomances for the kids, and they seemed to enjoy singing along and laughing at us. Most of us spent time reading spanish books to the kids as well. Some of the team tried and failed, but that's ok because the kids got a kick out of it.
After the brickyard we went back to tthe ranch to pick up our favorite van driver, who proceeded to take us into town and find the local hubbub (the Mexican Chihuahua Mall). We had our first taste of local food, which was ultimately accepted by the group, even though it had some cactus involved. They were called gorditas. Although we were all pretty full, most of us went to get a little taste of home at McDonalds. (By the way, Jessie was wearing her seatbelt, which we thought you might like to know...that is, if your name is Mrs. M. :)

It's pretty late as I am writting this, so I am going to keep it short. We will put pictures up tomorrow.

Goodbye and goodnight.

-Tyler

P.S. Sorry if this doesn't make sense; we really are tired.
And I really do miss you Mom. Thanks for the letters.

Day Four in Mexico

2008-06-06T05:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I didn't post this last night; I was just having too much fun laughing, chatting, praying, and singing with our girls. :)

The highlights of the day - for me, at least - were laundry, lunch, and the brickyard.

Yesterday was laundry day! Instead of helping with work around the ranch, Tali and I got to assist Kim and Mrs. H in the laundry duties. Let me tell you, Tali and I didn't mind trading heavy wheelbarrows, and large shovelfuls of dirt for baskets of clean laundry and buckets of clothespins! :D

For lunch, we feasted on good ol' mac n cheese and hot dogs! Mmmmm! I've been unable to come to a conclusive decision, but I believe this meal just might pass up our grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch.
We have been so blessed with the most delicious meals!

We also took our second trip to the brickyard yesterday. Some of the team helped build the foundation for an outhouse, and some of us played with kids again. Bet you can't guess what I did? ;) Yes, I got to see Jasmine again! I can't express how exhuberant my heart is being with this precious girl who has constantly pervaded my thoughts over the past year! When I went to play with her yesterday, she brought out a few photos. (For those of you who don't know, last year we printed out a handful of pictures of our experiences at the brickyard and left them with Jasmine's family.) Jasmine held out a tattered photo to me. As I looked closely, I saw that it was a picture taken of the two of us last year. She showed it to me with the biggest smile on her face! I couldn't hide mine either! I'm always reminded of her, because of all the trip pictures hanging in my room. It is so neat to know that she, too, has kept pictures of our team from last year. How cool that she remembers us - not only our faces, but our love. I'm so thrilled because today is Bible club at the brickyard! I can't wait to go back, and this time to sing songs and perform puppet shows.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Don't stop! ;) You guys are our support network, and your prayers mean more than anything!
Here are a few specific ways you can lift us before the Throne:
1. For renewed team unity, especially that we continue to pray together as a group and seek the Lord's wisdom in all situations
2. For Bible club today, that we would remember our cues and lyrics, and that it would be more than just a fun performance
3. For work today. Rumor has it we're back to cement work, so pray for special endurance. (By the way, my cememt burns are almost gone!)
4. For our team mascot, Churchill. He's growing fast! Pray that he will be big and strong enough to support himself by the time we leave.
5. ALSO, please pray that we get rain sometime while we are here! A rainstorm would be positively wonderful!

-Jess

Here are some pictures of our day....

Day Three In Mexico!

2008-06-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a crazy couple of days we have had so far! I can't believe its only day three!

We have covered the story of the baby bunny, right? Well last night, a few of the most dedicated bunny sitters decided to take shifts waking up every few hours to feed baby Churchill. I, however, was most definitely not willing to sacrifice my precious sleep for a small bunny. (Yes, you may call me cruel) So I took my mattress out into the main room and had an incredible night's rest. Today followed a similar pattern as the previous days: Breakfast at 6:30, devotions at 7:00, work from 7:30 to 1, lunch at 1:30ish. (Wahoo!)

Monte, (our task master), was feeling quite sickly today, and was unable to work with us, but we continued on! The boys were set on a leveling job preparing for another driveway/cement job. They looked like they had it pretty hard, always hitting the same amount of ground with the pickaxes and sledgehammers. Though frequently when we looked over they were missing...I have no idea where they went during those times. The beginning of the day we had a few girls back on our previous leveling job, and the rest of the girls plus Farrell, finding and moving rocks to where the boys were preparing the driveway for cement. Phew! It was a lot of work. I personally prefer cement work. More taxing on the body, but much more entertaining and busy! There were two exciting things that happened today, the girls got stuck in a small sand storm, and the boys got stuck in a bigger one! It was quite the thrill of the day. I don't think it is reasonable for any place to be so windy; it's just not safe. It was like a tiny hurricane all day! (Minus everything that makes it a hurricane except for the wind) So the girls got their leveling job finished, with minor exceptions where we needed Monte's help, and the boys (I think) completed their task as well! Tomorrow we will begin the hectic cementing once again! Yahoo! =D

After lunch we had a relaxed day. Most of the group spent a large amount of time in the common room over in the girl’s dorm rooms. We all spent a large amount of time preparing the puppet skits, and some time practicing songs. By the time we were done, it was time for dinner!

We had a fantastic surprise for the rest of the evening in the form of a dinner guest! His name was Fito (sp?), and he is a Mexican missionary who just finished his four years here at Rancho Siloe. What an incredible time we had with him! He came to eat dinner with us (delicious tacos courtesy again of Kim and Mrs. H!), and share about his experiences. Sitting around the dinner table he shared with us about his life prior to NTM (through a translator). It was so interesting to hear about his life! Then he stopped his story short and told us that he would continue his story after the scheduled game of soccer. At first my thoughts were..."hmm, soccer after dinner, I think not." But my attitude quickly changed and I joined in on the game. =) The soccer game in my opinion was one of the best parts of the day! Nothing beats a great competitive game of soccer when you think you're ready for bed =) Turns out, I save up EXTRA energy just for such occasions! =D

My other favorite part of the day was after the soccer game when Fito continued his story. This time, however, he was encouraging us with our work and our relationship with God. It was incredible getting a new perspective on things. You know, I finally realized tonight listening to him speak to us, that God uses trips like this to spice up our relationship with Him. He didn't leave me out in the dessert for no good reason.. In fact, it just so happens to be for the best reason! How can I argue with God's plans for me, right? So yes, the evening with Fito was incredible =)

Did I happen to mention that the Brickyard was incredible??? No, I suppose I didn't. Well, once again I saw God's perfect plan for me! About 30 minutes prior to leaving for the Brickyard, I got my turn on the computer, yahoo! Right? Yes, it was very nice; I found that I had many emails from my dear ones at home.. But reading them made me miss everything much more. So, I decided to sob. And I did so through the reading and responding of every email until it was time to go to the Brickyard... I got in the van with my puffy red eyes slightly less than thrilled about getting in a van with everyone when I would probably start crying again. To my surprise though, I didn't cry any more! Once we got to the Brickyard, my homesickness left me and I was able to focus on where I was at the time. Wow! What an experience! How did God know exactly what I needed to help me through my hardest time? Well, He did, and it worked. =) I can now read my emails from home with anticipation and excitement, but no tears. I am perfectly content with being where God has me for the time He has me here. Thank you all for the prayers, they worked!

Also, to fill you in on the other prayer requests:

The few people that were pelted with water during the water fights are not sick! =)
I am content where I am but do so appreciate your prayers.
We all were able to work in harmony today and accomplished wonderful things.
And no body died! yayayayayayayay!

A few new prayer requests:
That...
-good health would continue to circulate around the ranch.
-we would continue to work and socialize in harmony.
-we would be productive and energetic for our work ahead.
-Monte would feel better for our long day of cementing tomorrow.
-we would shine Christ's love to the children at the Brickyard.
-Fito would be blessed while doing God's work in Mexico.

That's all I can think of for now, but we so appreciate all the prayer and love you continue to pour on us!

We love you all!

-Kate <3 (for the team =) )

Day 2 in Mexico

2008-06-03T20:56:00.001-07:00

Dearest friends and family,

Sorry we didn't post yesterday; we've been having trouble with the internet. [This post was actually written on Tuesday, but we again had trouble posting.]

Today was an absolutely wonderful day. After waking up very early, eating breakfast as a group, and doing devotions, we gathered outside to begin work--cement! Unlike yesterday, today all of us got to work together, building a ramp up to one of the sidewalks. The process contained a multitude of jobs, and all of us were kept continuously busy, shoveling gravel, filling water buckets, scooping cement powder, running back and forth with cement-filled wheelbarrows, and finally creating a beautiful ramp. When the job was done, and the cement was beginning to dry, Jessie carved Thrive Youth '08 into its edge. A job well done--what satisfaction we all felt!

During the course of the morning, Gary (one of the missionaries) found an itty-bitty baby jack rabbit, whose mother had died. All of us (especially the girls, I must admit) were extremely thrilled to have a new member added to our team, and took him to our hearts immediately. As she cuddled him in her hands, Jessie named him Winston Churchill. We found some powdered milk in the kitchen and have been feeding him every couple hours ever since. In fact, we have brought the little dear in his little box to our room, and are assigning shifts to feed him during the night. How dearly I already love the sweet bunny!

After work, we of course ate lunch and took our siesta. When all of those necessary evils (haha) had been taken care of, we again gathered together, this time to head to the Brick Yard. The Brick Yard is an extremely impoverished area where many families live and make bricks for their income. As we drove up through the dust and gravel, I was overcome by the abundance of blessings God has showered upon us in America. Compared to our big houses, green lawns, and sparkling pools, these people have nothing. Trash clung to the brush. There were piles of junk everywhere. Glass and scraps of metal littered the ground. And yet, the people are beautiful. The children embraced us and loved us in a way I have never before experienced. They know no favoritism, no judgement. They saw us only as their playmates, and so they played with us with a rigor that was exhausting and yet envigorating.

Visiting the Brick Yard was especially neat for the people who had gone last year. One of the little girls, Jasmine, actually remembered the team, especially jumping through rain puddles with Sarah and Jessie. We will tell more about the children on a later post.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. Here's to hoping they actually show up!!

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.
A few prayer requests are...

-Healing of Kate and Jessie's colds, Sarah's insect bites, Tali and Jessie's cement burns
-That Kate would feel especially loved, as she is feeling particularly homesick
-Energy! It's late tonight, and the workday begins early again tomorrow
-That Josh, Kenzy, and David would not get sick; in the midst of a water fight with kids at the brickyard, they got unclean water in their mouths.
-For Josh, Kim, and Mrs. H. (Kim's mom), as they continue to lead us
-For our new baby, Churchill, and those of us waking up to feed him.
-Also that we would have an effective ministry that is centered on glorifiying God

Thanks for all your prayers!

-Tali

Day 1 in Mexico...

2008-06-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

We all got here very safely last night around 9:00p.m. For those of you wondering, our entire team made it. We were able to all fit in two vans and travel down together without any interference. We did not encounter any difficulties; in fact, both vans got a green light to travel over the border. It was a significant answer to prayer!

The alarm went off at 6:00 a.m this morning and we all shot right up ready and excited to get to work. Breakfast was at 6:30, and work started at 7:30, but FIRST we got our tour of the ranch! We girls worked on leveling part of the ground in the multi-purpose building, so that we can pour the concrete later on this week. As for the guys, they worked on preparing the ground to build a concrete ramp. We all worked hard in the sun and were blessed with a wonderful breeze. After work we were famished! Kim and her marvelous mother made us lunch, and for the rest of this day we have been catching up on our rest and devotions. God made this place so incredibly beautiful! We are all bonding in Christ! This is only the beggining and God has so much more in store! James 1:2 states " Counting it all joy " in everything we do we need to count it all joy in Jesus Christ!

-Kenzy

P.S. Our internet is too slow to post pictures! We've been trying to, but it just won't upload. :(

We Made It!

2008-06-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

After a full day of travel, we have safely arrived at the ranch!
Thank you all for praying! God has (yes, again!) been faithful!

More to come later.
I'd say it's time for bed.
We start work early in the morning, so you can be praying for stamina for everyone.

We love you all!

-Jessie for the team

Safety Concerns

2008-06-01T03:28:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I am writing here at 6am in Davenport before we leave to update the families of the students and those praying for us concerning safety. I have been in contact with our NTM co-ordinator and have discussed the recent violence on the border. There has been violence against the border officials near Juarez. NTM has not only advised their missionaries that it is not safe, they have advised us to avoid it as well. We will be crossing the border in New Mexico instead.
For similar safetly concerns no one will be traveling by bus. We will send the majority down tonight by van with Monte and then my wife and two others down the next day along with another missionary and their vehicle.
We are keeping up to speed on the safety issues and will not take unecessary risks. Monte, who is our trip co-ordinator on that end, will advise us even when we arrive. Please be assured that we won't do anything that the organization of NTM wouldn't do. And we have to get permission from them to even enter Mexico and work. We have their knowledge and wisdom as a base supporting us.
**
Please be praying for the violence to stop for the people involved and so that we can continue this trip.
Pray for our safety and for confidence in the Lord.
Pray for those back home who are worrying and nervous to put their hope in the Lord.

I will keep you updated through here as often as I can. Thank you once again families for your support and allowing your students to be part of this. We are doing our best to take care of them and to be wise.

Josh Harris

The Brickyard

2008-05-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! Thanks for visiting our blog.
I want to share with you a little bit about a place in Chihuahua called “the brickyard.” It is a home and workplace for many impoverished families who seek to support themselves by making bricks. They live in small shacks with dirt floors (you can see the shacks on the horizon in the photo below) and have next to nothing. My first trip to the brickyard last year was incredibly eye opening. I had never before seen such poverty. The children wore filthy clothes, most of which did not fit or were extremely tattered, drank unsanitary water, and lived with all their siblings and parents in one-room homes the size of an average American living room.
Although we could not communicate with words, it took only a short time to become their friends. They were easily entertained by our games of hide-and-seek, frisbee, and wheelbarrow racing. To the children, a camera was a foreign novelty! They often asked us to take their pictures and loved seeing themselves on our small digital screens!
In addition to relational ministry last year, we were able to make screen doors and windows for some of the families. This year, we hope to expand our ministry to even greater lengths by building outhouses and providing eyeglasses and basic medical supplies to those who are in need. We will also be helping with a literacy and Bible club for the kids.
Another thing we are excited about this year is the opportunity to attend the local church at the brickyard! Allison, a missionary with New Tribes, has been ministering to the families at the brickyard for some time. She has seen several Mexicans come to Christ, and there is a small congregation - mostly consisting of women and children - that meets on Sunday mornings on site at the brickyard. We are all thrilled and privileged to be invited to worship with them!
Would you please pray for us, specifically concerning our ministry at the brickyard? Please pray that God would give us opportunities to tangibly show the love of Christ and that we would be obedient to extend that same love that has been so lavishly bestowed upon us.
Only three more days!

Signed,
Jessie

Last Year's Trip - Video

2008-05-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

Here is a look at last year's trip...

How You Can Pray For Us

2008-05-27T09:45:00.001-07:00

Please pray...
--That our team would be devoted to prayer
--There would be team unity
--That everyone that still needs money for the trip, will get it on time
--That we would come back changed with a deeper love for God
--For all the little details, like there won't be car trouble, we will all get seats on the same plane, everyone will be safe while working with the tools and equipment, and no one would get real sick
--That we would have open hearts and eyes to see God do big things
--That God would prepare our hearts as the days left before the trip get shorter
--That we will be an encouragement to everyone we come in contact with
--That God would be glorified in all we say and do

*Praise*
Everyone has their passports!

-Megan Schwoch

Construction Work With NTM

2008-05-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

One dimension of the work we do in Mexico is working for NTM. New Tribes Mission attempts to spread the gospel to people groups who have not heard the message in their own languages. One part of this work is in Rancho Siloe, a unique and exciting facility several miles outside of Chihuahua City, Mexico. "The Ranch" is a missionary training facility for Spanish-speaking people from Central and South America. Students who train there will help to carry the gospel to remote people groups in their own parts of the world.

During summer breaks, the missionary/teachers at El Rancho host groups who want to be part of the missionary endeavor. Our youth group is one such group. We will be working hard to do construction and manual labor needed at this facility each morning. This year we will be doing cement work, framing, and possibly roofing on the new multi-purpose building or staff housing.
We are so thankful for the opportunity to support the work of the Gospel that is going on in Mexico. We would appreciate your prayer support as we are there. We want to follow God in whatever ways we can.

-Matt Snyder

Benefit Concert Offering

2008-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

We took up a special offering at our recent benefit concert and were able to raise over $100 to go toward medical supplies for the brickyard.

We will buy supplies to take with us and put in the hands of New Tribes missionary, Allison and the local church. Then they can give out medication as the families of the brick yard may need it.

We are excited about being able to minister to the physical needs of these people we met last year.

-Josh

Why Are We Blogging?

2008-05-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

In 2007 we set out for Chihuahua, Mexico with the goal to spread the love of Christ. During our two weeks there, God began to reveal his heart for the nations to us. It is that heart for the nations that we long to know more intimately. We want to see the renown of His name spread across the earth. We want to see people freed from bondage and brought into His marvelous light.

On June 1st, we will again embark on a journey to Mexico. This year, we have a fresh passion to approach the systemic issues that have been overlooked. How can we address the physical situation with compassion? What can we do to bring healing to the physical as well as the spiritual diseases? We want to love in a way that brings change; we want to give medical and educational support for the impoverished families.
We are reminded of the ministry approach of Jesus. He met people where they were at. None were the same after an encounter with Christ. He left each person changed in some way.

We will be working with local missionaries and churches to maximize our effectiveness. Combined with their experience and connections, we will have a much more poignant and deeper impact.

We set up this blog so that you can pray, partner, and journey with us!

(Keep checking back as we post stories, pictures, and videos.)

We hope you, too, begin to catch a glimpse God's heartbeat for the nations.

-Josh Harris
Student Pastor