Video/Picture Highlights from the trip!

Picture Review

Here are some random pictures of our trip. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so...

Wow, I'm tired!

As Mark mentioned below, some of us got in much later than expected. But thankfully, we made it!!!

I think all the kids had a wonderful trip and will have many great memories to remember. I also know that there are many, many teaching moments for our boys. It's always great to be able to take a trip like this together. It really helps us all keep things in perspective!

Our boys were so tired from the trip, I think they were asleep within 2 minutes of take-off on the first leg of our return flight.



They missed a nice view out their window! it looked like you could just walk on top!


Here's a picture of our "broken" plane. Kind of weird, since it's the same plane we flew from McAllen to Dallas/Fort Worth. I don't think it was broken then, and some of us just stayed on board for the next leg to BWI. I wonder if it being broken has anything to do with some of our kids going into the cockpit and getting the grand tour while waiting for the plane to be cleaned?




But, like I said, we made it back safely. And even remembered where we parked our vehicles. Everyone was tired riding the shuttle back to our vehicles.



Well, now to get a thru a few emails before I fall asleep here at my desk.

Thanx again for keeping us in your prayers and keep looking back as some of us reflect on the trip and post some more pictures.

We're Home!

Hi, everyone. This is Mark typing.

The last of the team made it home arriving at McBIC around 3:45 AM. The Selkirk's and Armstrong's made it earlier in the day. I don't have much info on how their trip went at this point, but we are glad they made it home safely.

The latter group of us had a smooth border crossing, checked-in at the airport, then drove to a restaurant supply store with Madelyn (the Director of the Children's Home) to pick up some heavy-duty bowls & plates for the Home. We then took her to lunch at a local buffet restaurant in McAllen and enjoyed a final conversation with her before she dropped us off at the airport.

Our flight from McAllen, TX to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) went smoothly. Upon arriving at DFW, however, they announced mechanical issues with the plane. The flight was delayed and they ended up switching us to another S80 plane. I think we departed around 10PM Central and arrived at BWI around 1:15 AM Eastern. After a quick visit to "los banos" (the bathrooms), we found that our luggage arrived very quickly at baggage claim. Perhaps this was because no other flights were arriving at that hour of the night!

My sense of time was a blur after that. The Truitts drove their van while following Roger Knepper driving his van with the Lebo's and Hopkins' in tow. Layne, Roger and I kept ourselves mostly awake with some interesting conversation. Layne and I learned a lot about how E-bay and Amazon works, as well as some interesting things about the camera and video camera accessory business. (Thank you, Roger!)

Ok, time for some zzzzzz's. From the sounds of it, Jer and Nate must be fast asleep already. By the time I got the luggage in around 4am, they had dissappeared upstairs... and it's actually quite. Praise God!

Again, thank you for your prayers and support going back many months all that way to present. We could not have done it without you all!

Blessings,
Mark

Closing Thoughts from Layne

It's now less than an hour until we leave the home and drive across the border to McAllen, where we fly out at 5:30 Central Time. There is so much to communicate that I won't even try. I walked in as Mark was concluding his blog post and I agree that if you really want to get a clear picture of our experience you need to experience it yourself. I especially encourage families with grade school or jr. high age children to participate in an upcoming missions trip. It has been great for Bronte to see another part of the world and to realize that the material blessings we take for granted aren't shared by many people in our world.

I'd like to pick up where I left off on Thursday evening (I believe it was Thursday). I asked you to pray specifically for our kids--they were experiencing physical and emotional fatigue and several were struggling significantly with breathing issues. PRAISE GOD, Friday and the following days were much better. Much of the asthma/allergy issues lessened and the kids seemed to do much better in the days since then. Thank you so much for praying.

This morning during our debriefing time following breakfast Tru (Pastor Dave) asked the kids and adults to highlight the things we've done during the past 5 days. It was significant to reflect on all we were able to accomplish and experience in a relatively short time. It was also a blessing to me to hear the director report that we were very "low maintenance." That meant a lot to us, becuase our desire was to be a blessing, not a burden to them. The director also mentioned that we were very flexible with schedules and "Mexican time." Again, it was encouraging to hear this because most of us are very time conscious, "do oriented" people, and it was challenging for us to keep our attitudes in a good place and focus on serving even when we thought we had better ways of doing things.

I hope you realize that even though you're not physically with us, you've been an integral part of our team. Thanks again for your prayers and financial support! I look forward to seeing many of you over the course of the next week and at church on Sunday.

Your partner in ministry,

Layne


PS We're scheduled to arrive at BWI at 12:03 tonight...or Tuesday morning, actually. We anticpate arriving back in Mechanicsburg around 3 AM. Please keep us in your prayers as we get a few hours of sleep and then try to resume our normal lives on Tuesday morning/afternoon.

It's Monday!

Hello, everyone!

Today is the last day for most of us. Two families departed yesterday evening (Selkirk's and Armstrong's) to make sure they could catch early flights this morning. The Selkirk's, for example, had to catch a 6am flight this morning. The border can take up to 2 hours to cross back into America, so it was best that they cross last night.

It started raining yesterday after the festivities, which were a big hit! The younger kids (and some of the older ones) had a great time mixing it up with our kids. A few minor injuries and everyone survived!

We all made a trip to el mercado (the market) in downtown Reynosa. We were led by half a dozen of the older kids from the Home. We ended up walking about 12 city blocks up to the market place. Actually, the first market we visited was closing around 5pm, so after a couple of quick purchases we decided to continue on another 6 blocks to a second market area. These market areas were like condensed indoor mazes with shops on both sides. We had limited time there, but just enough to pick up an small item for each child as a souvenier.

We returned to the home and were greeted with a cooler full of Mexican push-pops... Most of us thought they were very good. I had a coconut/pina-colada one and it was very refreshing after the long walk through the city.

Today we enjoyed pancakes and eggs (juevos!) and Mexican chocolate de calor (hot chocolate) for breakfast.

Then we met as a team to recap all that was accomplished this week. It was quite a list! As much as we were able to bless those here at the Home, the Reynosa BIC church and the people at the colonia, each of us was also very blessed to have experienced this together.

Thank you for your prayers leading up to this trip, during the week and now as we travel home. We are curious to feel what it will feel like to step into 20+ degree weather at BWI after getting up to as much as 93 degrees here!

Many, many pictures were taken and lots of video footage, too. As great as pictures and videos are ("a picture speaks a thousand words")--and there are some great pics and clips--they will only tell a partial story. We hope to compile them all together and get them organized and edited soon. Hopefully we can share them via the web in the coming week or two. We encourage you to check back here for more later.

If you want to get a real taste of what it is like... COME! Like most unique experiences, it is difficult to adequately describe the experience until you've been through it. If you come, you will be blessed as much (if not more) than those to whom you extend God's love. It really is better to give than receive.

Well, Layne is up next. Adios! Can't wait to be home again.

-Mark

It's Sunday!

This is Dave.....

Wow, what a week it's been. I'll be sure to post a lot of info later, but it's been a great week.

Today is the day of our special surprise. All of the offerings and tithes that the kids at McBIC give, go towards this Children's Home. one of the things we like to bless the children here with is a type of special dinner/treat. This year's special treat is.... Hamburgers and cheeseburgers from Burger King!! While that may seem like an average thing to you and I, these kids very rarely ever get to eat any food from a restaurant or fast food place. So this is an EXTRA special treat. And to top that off, we are also renting some inflatable games for today!

Today's plans - more of a relaxing day as we enjoy the Sabbath.

Breakfast around 9 (which means 9:45ish)
Church at 10:30
Lunch
Inflatables
Walk downtown
Two families are going to Texas because of early AM flights.s

Thanx again for keeping our group in your prayers.


Here are a few pix.

Some Kids Enjoying Balloons





Sorting Beans and Rice for the "colonia".



At the "colonia". One of my proudest moments this year - when Josiah took the hat off his head and gave it to this boy. A special moment for me. Ricardo, the maintenance man form the children's home was also touched by this moment. he said a child taught him something about Jesus that day.




Taking a break after distributing supplies at a "colonia".



Our dishwashers one evening.

Post from Jeremiah 2

Yo, it´s Jeremiah again. Like I keep saying, things can get interesing down here in Mexico. This message can prove it...

Today we went to Colonia to give some things to people. Colonia´s just a neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. We brang along beans, rice, and toys. I brought along a bunch of Hotwheels and Matchbox cars to give out. The people there looked pretty poor to me, and the kids looked pretty satisfied with one little toy car. I think this is a big opportunity to even cross the border and find yourself in an unfamiliar place. I really think that this can make a difference in a lot of people´s lives, including mine. And if other people come here too, the same thing would ocurr to them.

Well, that´s all for today. And remember: Just coming here can make a huge difference in people´s lives. Ciao!

Update From Sherry

Today we went to a Colonial to hand out food and clothing to the people there. When we got there Ricardo pulled onto a fenced property and we all got out. He said - this was his property that he is paying for and asked us to pray over it and for the future house that will sit on it. He hopes to eventually build a church. It was neat to be able to join together in prayer for him and his family.

At the site there were some houses being built with cinder block, but a lot just built out of anything they could find. There was one swing set with 2 small swings on it - other than that we did not see any children playing anywhere. There was a small boy who was being carried by his mother out to his wheelchair. I later saw the mom take him for a walk on the dusty pot holed road in the scorching sun- when we went to give them some clothes and food I realized he was blind and probably had some other problems also. They were very grateful for the items, especially shoes. It was incredible to see this place and realize that people like Ricardo and his wife Olga are dreaming of building their home here. Compared to the orphanage and what they have here it is amazing to think that this could be their dream, but it is something that will belong to them and they will be on their own, they can not wait for the day. We were not able to give out all that we had brought because we had to walk from house to house and that took some time. We will leave the items here for another team to be able to give away.

When we came back - we had a good taco salad in the dining area - rice, hamburger, beans, lettuce and corn chips. The food has been really good - at least most of the adults think so - I thought I would be losing some pounds, but instead, may be doing the opposite, hopefully I am working it all off. Chris and Roger put another coat of paint on a room upstairs and I finished cleaning the new school room. Pastor Dave and the kids have been ballooning today.

I learned from the Director Madelyn that none of the kids have total sponsorship here which is $20 a month and each child needs 10 sponsors each. It was good to sit and talk to her about the Homes needs. She was very appreciative of this group and shared that she felt like our group was just a great fit for the Home and hoped that we would continue to come back and watch these kids grow up.

Well, bye for now, thanks for all your prayers, we have felt them beyond what you could know.

God Bless,
Sherry

Hi from Gabrielle

I am having a good time in Mexico playing soccer. Thank you for praying for me and my family. Today I went to the Colonial and we gave out rice and beans and clothes, shoes, and stuffed animals. I felt good giving out the stuff. I have met a lot of kids here, here are some of their names, Edna, Jasmine, Freda, Oscar, Mia, America, Juan, and Iris. The best thing so far is playing soccer and helping the children. I have helped the children by painting their room and moving their school. This lady named Madelyn is in charge of everyone in the Childrens Home.

See you when we get home.
Gabrielle

Update from Hailey

I went on 3 airplanes first, and then I went to a Hotel to stay. The next day I went to the Childrens Home and then I stayed there for 5 days. I liked to play soccer with the kids and I liked playing with the kids. Today I went to a Colonial I gave out beans and rice. I liked being there because other people dont have clothes and I gave them some, and I gave them shoes.

Hailey

A very busy Sabado (Saturday)

Buenos dias, everyone!

A quick update in the midst of lots of activity... First, Happy Valentine´s Day!

We are currently moving all of the school equipment and supplies into the second floor of the building we cleared and cleaned (cleaning courtesy of Sherry S.). To recap, this will free up space in the main building (3rd floor) for additional living space for children.

Last night, the three puppies somehow made it into the third floor room that had just been painted. Everything had been cleaned up, except for a paint pan... One of the puppies found it and made little paw prints around the third floor before they entered into the guys sleeping area at 6-something AM. =)

We also just finished preparing the gift boxes that many of you donated. Thank you so much! We plan to give them out to the children later today.

The vans are in the process of being packed up with rice, beans, clothing, toys as we prepare to go to the colonia. Dave and Diane, and others will also make some balloon animals, hats, etc. for the children there.

A five year old boy named Abraham just came up to me and gave me a self-drawn purple heart with his name in it. I returned the favor by drawing a red heart with a crayon on a separate piece of paper. Inside, I wrote: ¨Jesus te amo!¨ and ¨I will miss you!¨

Later tonight we plan to particpate in a service here at the home, though we are unsure of what they are looking for... a message, puppets, drama, songs, balloons?

Off we go!
-Mark

Hello from Bronte

Hi. This is Bronte again. Today I, along with the Truitts, Armstrongs, and my dad, went to the Reynosa BIC Church, where we painted window guards and put legs on the pews. The church was in a very poor neighborhood. When we came, kids kept coming into the church. We gave them some little toys, (little balls, small plastic dolls, etc), but they kept wantig more and more. The kids didn´t speak English, so it was diffucult to communicate with them. Before we left, we prayed with the pastor and his nephew Edgar. It was weird to see such a small church there are about 80 adults and 70 kids in attendence.
A lot of the kids have been very tired... we do a lot of work, then get to bed late... hungry... the meals are on a very different schedule then we are used to... and some have been suffering from asthma/allergy related issues. Please be praying for us as we are in a new environment, and are experiencing many new things.
It´s been a lot of fun interacting with the kids at the Home. They all have very different personalities... some are full of energy, some are more relaxed, some are talkitive, others are quiet. It can be difficult to communicate with them because we don´t know a whole lot of Spanish, but they definatly know how to have fun. One of my favorite activities is playing soccer, because kids of all different levels of skill are playing together and having fun. We are learning a lot about the Mexican culture.
It´s great to know that so many people are praying for us. I can´t wait to share our experiences with family and friends back home.
Thanks for all your prayers,
Bronte

Hola from Layne

Today I had the privilege of going with a team of people to the Reynosa Brethren in Christ (BIC) Church. We accomplished a good bit...putting legs on all the pews in the church that were previously supported by stacks of cinder blocks and painting iron window guards on the outside of the church...but the best part for me was connecting with the pastor of the church and his nephew.

Francisco has been the pastor at Reynosa BIC for 9 years. The church has 80 adults and 70 children...very large for this town, and they´ve made a lot of physical improvements to the building over the past couple of years. The sanctuary is small by our standards... a room that holds approximately 20 or 24 pews, but they´ll be hosting the BIC Mexican General Conference in April with 400 people in attendance...they´ll definitely be packing them in like sardines.

It was great to talk with Francisco about his church, through the interpretation of his nephew Edgar, and to tell him a bit about McBIC. We also found that we both know a number of missionaries like Mike and Sherry Holland, Leroy and Judy Eberly, and Nate and Cathy Bert. One of my favorite parts of missions trips is connecting with the pastors. There are so many awesome men and women serving God as pastors in challenging situations all across our world. I´m always impressed by their radiant joy and faith and their generosity...in spite of the fact that they usually have very little materially themselves. As we left the church we gathered in a circle, held hands, and prayed a prayer of blessing over Francisco, Edgar...he´s waiting for his immigration papers to go through so he can return to Texas, and the church.

Our team is doing well. We´re accomplishing a lot of tasks here at the orphanage and building great relationships with the children. Tomorrow we plan to help move their classroom equipment from one building to another, and we´ll be visiting a colonia or two later in the morning or in the afternoon.

These days have been kind of tough on some of the kids...the heat, the work, uncomfortable travel, new sleeping quarters, etc. To my knowledge, we´ve been spared stomach problems, but a number of the kids have been struggling with fatigue and some asthma-allergy issues. We would welcome your prayers for health and strength for our kids.

It is such a blessing to know so many of you are faithfully praying for us! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again and to sharing with you about our trip.

Blessings,

Layne

Hi it´s Jordan again well I got a bit more to tell you. Last night I met two girl´s and they were fooling aroung so I went over to them and started to tickle them and they loved it. I had so much fun but soon we had to go to bed. Today we started and finished a few job´s. We are about to eat lunch pretty soon and it looks good to. I got a little messy with the paint today when we were paintingthe tree´s but it was fun well I that´s about all by see yah later.

Post from Jeremiah

Yo, this is Jeremiah from McBIC, and I´m in Reynosa, Mexico. A lot of things have surprised me here.

First of all, the Josiah and Bethany Children´s Home is HUGE!! I didn´t know that this place would be THAT big! It has four floors, a playground, and it has lots and lots of space to run around in!

Second, the sewage system confuses me a little bit. You can´t put toilet paper into the toilet for some reason. If you put some into the toilet, then flush it, lots of things could happen. The toilet will overflow, the entire water system will shut down, it´ll cost thousands of dollars to repair...you get the idea. Instead, you have to put the toilet paper into a trash can.

Third, they actually have some dogs! There are three Labrador retriever puppies, and one Golden retriever named Cowa. Cowa´s kinda on the lazy side. She´s so lazy, sometimes I think she´s dead! But Oreo´s my favorite. Oreo is among the puppy clan. He has a white stripe down his neck, and I think that stripe is why they named him Oreo.

Fourth, soccer galore! Yikes! They play it so much, sometimes I think they´re addicted to it!! The older ones are really good at it. There´s this one guy named Jorge who plays it a lot. By the way he plays soccer, you´d think he´s better than Ronoldinho! But we´ll see about that.

Fifth, the FOOD!!! I LOVE it!! Down here in Mexico, I´m going BALLISTIC!!!!! They make awesome food! For breakfast, they have donuts, cinnamon rolls, and strawberry yogurt with bananas and other fruits inside! For lunch, they have pasta, soup, and apple cider. For dinner, they have tacos, french toast, and fijitas.

Finally, I made some new friends. There´s one guy named Oscar, and he plays the drums, just like I do! Then, I already mentioned Jorgé. Like I mentioned earlier, he´s really good at soccer. And then there´s José. He´s very hyper! And then Carlos. He has some birth defects, but he still a cool guy.

Boy, are my fingers tired of typing all this! I think I pretty much summed it all up. Ciao!

Friday 2/13

Post by Sherry -
What an incredible experience. Yesterday a team of us were able to go to the BIC Church in Reynosa, we were overwhelmed by just being in the area. The roads getting there were dirt roads full of lots of pot holes. The church is one small room right now. They are in the process of building a dining area, kitchen and bathrooms (right now they have an outhouse - yuk!!!) - and will eventually build up and make a Sunday School Room and apartments for the needy. (Wow - to see those we see in need still desiring to help those they see in need). We were able to start putting the pews which were donated back together - the pews were sitting on cinder blocks when we got there and we were putting the legs back on. We also painted the rails on the outdoor windows. The children from the community started coming around and Trenton started giving out Matchbox cars to the boys - we thought there were just a few boys - but once the cars were given out - the word spread and we had a lot of boys at the church steps - we finally ran out of cars and had to say - no more. None of the kids spoke English so it was a challenge to find out about there lives. We were able to communicate with the broken Spanish that we did know to find out a bit of one of the families. A mom - living with 4 children - with no father - their 16 year old son is a mechanic who brings in a bit of money for the family. The kids are not in school because they can't afford it. It was really sad. We also gave out a few Spanish books that we brought to the girls and then had many girls around. We attempted singing a song we had been practicing in Spanish and the kids joined in and were doing the motions with us. We were exhausted by the end of the day - but the memories that are being formed and the lives that are being touched is absolutely incredible. It's so neat to experience this as a family.

Post from Jordan!

Hi this is Jordan from the Mcbic church missions trip. Well the past few days we have been playing soccer alot and stuff and I made some new friends. Like Edna Horhay and a few others and lots of the food is good. cowa (there dog) had puppys and there really cute ones named Oreo and the rest don't have names right now because the are goingto give them away. The tempature is really nice right now to. Most of us slept good last night other than pastor Dave snores alot. Today some of the group went down to the Reynosa Bic church and they just got back a few minutes ago. I do wish some of my friends from last time would still be here so I could show my friends from church. The bed I sleep in is the top bunk and it's nice I would like to live here. Well that's all for now see you later Jordan.

Post from Bronte!

We've been busy cleaning out a building that will soon become the school. We had to sort A LOT of clothes! All of the kids have been playing soccer whenever we can. Some of the older kids from the orphanage are really good! It's been interesting to hear people speaking Spanish all the time. They talk way to fast for me to understand more than "How are you," and "What is your name?" Anyway, we've been having fun. The worst part of the trip is that we don't eat lunch until around 2:00, and dinner until 7:00!

Take 2...

I just finished typing out a lovely update and , it disappeared! Bummer.

Let's try this again.

All of the children here are precious. Each has a unique story and many have gone through extremely difficult situations. Some are here because their parent(s) could not find a way to put food on the table even once a day. We have been loving them as best we can with smiles, play, laughs, broken and limited Spanish, and practical acts of service.

One of these practical projects is converting a small two-story building from storage into space suitable for use as classrooms. Actually, Madelyn's vision is to convert the two second floor rooms into classrooms and the two bottom floors into a cafe on one side and a souvenier shop on the other. This will hopefully bring in some revenue to support the Home.

We are almost done with this work, which involved sorting through many bags of clothing and organizing one of the downstairs rooms. For now, the goal is to make it presentable for the children's first day of school in the new space... Monday!

Another related project is to clear out a storage shed that looks more like a short-order vendor shack (metal roll-down window/door covering and all). This will be converted into a vending stand the older children can run.

This work is coming along, too. Layne, Roger and his sons pulled nails/screws, spackled, etc. and will then paint it something pleasing. Some painting of the school rooms will also be done.

The othe team (Truitts, Selkirks, Armostrongs) are still at the Reynosa BIC Church. We're curious to hear how that is going! They plan to return their tomorrow, too.

Some of you (Mom's) may be wondering about safety and how our kids are doing. In short, they are doing very well! Aside from an old soccer ball and Nate's nerf football, there really are no toys here. They do have a playground... covered mostly in hard dirt and some pebbles. Layne and I were wondering if we might be able to get into contact with a tire company in the US to see if there is a way to donate the rubber scraps used to make rubber mulch (much safer than the hard, packed dirt... and better for those here with asthma or allergies).

Speaking of dust... I cracked ribs about 5 days ago (long story) and would appreciate prayer. It's been very sore the last 48 hours and sneezing really hurts. :-)

On the safety front, Madelyn described the neighborhood for us last night. "Not too bad. You can jog in pairs over here on the hill. When you see the great big field, though, don't go there. You might not come back with your watch."

Actually, we feel quite safe within the Home's grounds. Double gates and a thick wall surround us, with chain-link fence above that. She said we can go out as long as we take 2 or 3 of the older children from the home with us. Everyone around here apparantly knows the kids here and they are all respected. In other words, no one will bother us if they are with us.

For now, we've all been content to stay within the Home's grounds. However, Madelyn recommended a great taco place about 2 blocks from here and I'm feeling adventurous. :-) I may ask Oscar and Jesus to join us since I've started to build some rapport with them through our common interest in music.

Well, back to work. Spackling, painting and lots of other stuff to do.

Blessings to you all and thank you for your continued prayers.
-M

There is work to be done!

There are many opportunities for us to tackle some practical projects here at the home: replace a boiler (hot water heater), paint, sort through and organize clothes and other miscellaneous items left behind by other visiting groups, clean, repair parts of the playground, etc.

We also have a part of our team going to the Reynosa BIC Church to paint and do some rebar/beam work (unclear exactly what that will entail at this time). That group will likely be there most of the day and return again tomorrow.

Speaking of church, they held a service last night at the home. WOW. I was immediately drawn in by the music. I did not recognize the first couple of songs, but they clearly resonated with my spirit as everyone lifted the hearts and hands in praise and adoration. Then, they started into a familiar chord progression and Sherry and I exchanged knowing looks as they started into "Revelation Song" by Kari Jobe. It was an amazing thing to sing together with our Mexican brothers and sistes. "Santos, santos, santos... (Holy, holy, holy)" Powerful.

For the musicians following this blog, they had a full band... drums, bass (both were youth from the home, I think), acoustic and electric guitar, keys, a lead vocal and a couple of BGVs. Very beautiful, and the room sounded absolutely huge even though it was rather small. And it was loud, something Sherry approved of... "I could sing at the top of my lungs and no one could here me!" (She said that was a good thing.) :-)

The schedule here is interesting. The meals are as follows:
7AM Breakfast
2PM Lunch (the big meal of the day... more like dinner)
8PM (+/- an hour?) Dinner (a light meal)

The children have varying school schedules. Some go as early as 6:30AM. Others go in the afternoon. Others (high school) go in last afternoon and return as late as 9:30 or 10 PM. Some go to school in the day and then to a skill/trade school at night.

A good example of this is Oscar. He is the son of Aurora, one of the house parents. He goes to regular school in the day and then to auto mechanic class in the evening (not every evening, though). He is also the drummer for the church's worship team and is pretty good despite only playing for a little more than a year.

For the soccer fans among us, many of the children here have incredible foot skills. Both our children and a number from the home have been playing "futbol" almost constantly since we arrived. It's been a good way for them to develop some rapport. Chris Selkirk has jumped into the fray regularly and has earned the respect of the locals already. He exchanged a hand slap of mutual respect with their best player. This same high shooler also dished out a "Good job" to Nate Hopkins after one round, as well.

Buenos Dias!

Despite the best of intentions, no update to the blog took place last night. Madelyn was gracious to let us use the home's computer this morning and now the updates should be more frequent.

So, we made it across the border without issue yesterday afternoon. The home is only a couple of minutes from the border, which was guarded heavily on the Mexican side by both Mexican police and armed forces (military). Yes, automatic weapons and even a small tank that looked like a suped up humvee.

Here is an interesting tidbit about the border: There is a zone between the US and Mexico that is neither country's land. It is considered an "International Zone" owned by no country. It's about 100 -200 yards wide.

Anyway, we made our way through the winding streets of Reynosa and to the Children's Home. We walked around and surveyed the grounds and building to get everyone oriented first and unpacked soon after. The main building is four stories tall and contains offices and a "church" area on the first floor. Directly across from the offices is an eating area where we are enjoying our meals together.

We are all sleeping on the third floor: one room for all the guys and one room for all the ladies.

A number of the adult leaders here at the home (not us) have gone through some trying times recently. Madelyn, the American-born Director, was in the hosptial over the weekend with an athsmatic (sp?) flare up. Aurora broke her ankle a few weeks ago and is still on crutches. Another went to the hospital with what they think was the onset of pneumonia.

Thankfully, all of the children at the home are healthy. All of us are, too.

Please pray for the health and strengthening of the Josiah and Bethany adult leaders. They are definitely stretched thin right now. In that regard, the timing of our visit is very good.

More to come...

Almost there...

It's Wednesday morning and we've had breakfast at the hotel, packed up, met for about an hour as a team to share and pray before wiating for the call from Madelyn, the Director of Josiah and Bethany Children's Home. She will call us when she reaches the border (maybe 11 AM Central?) and then we'll essentially be on our way!

During our time together this morning, Dave shared from Mark 4 about the parable of the sower. The act of scattering seeds is such a simple thing and the return can be enormous. We are here to humbly and obediently scatter the seeds of God's Word and love to those at the home and others in Reynosa. We are so excited to embrace every moment here as servants who are ready and attentive to the needs of others around us.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I'm sure we will post more later in the day or evening when things settle down. We'll also see if we can have someone from each family post throughout the trip.

More to come!

Day Numero Uno

Well, it's Day 1 - Tuesday that is - February 10th, and for many of us, our journey began EARLY (like, waking up at 4am) in the morning. Needless to say, we are all tired. Well, some of the kids still seem to have energy.

Some of us flew out of BWI. Here's where we parked - in case you are interested :)



We arrived in PLENTY of time - they unknowingly bumped our flight back a good 40 minutes. Here are a bunch of the kids lined up with their techie devices.



All of us arrived safely in McAllen - YEAH!!! The kids traveled great! And we all got to eat some really expensive airport food. You know the "5 dollar foot-long" commercials for SUBWAY? Well, that's not the case at the airport!!



We were able to eat a BIG dinner together at a buffet place near our hotel. Someone said it was our "last meal" before heading to Mexico tomorrow (although, we do have breakfast at the hotel tomorrow). and speaking of hotels, this one's a nice one. Some of us have already taken advantage of the indoor/outdoor pool.

I just got back into the room from buying supplies at Big Lots & K-Mart. We bought some pillows, food, and some sports equipment. The children's home dropped off a van for our use and we were able to load it right into the van already.

Speaking of the van - it's a classic. It's probably a late 80's or early 90's chevy van. I think it the same one that I drove on our last trip down here. At least this time, the seatbelt worked!! But man, it needs some TLC. I think I'll be in prayer to see if this is one of the projects we can help with while we are down here - although, none of us are mechanics.

Tomorrow, we get picked up at 10am. I'm not sure if that's 10am according to my watch or 10am Mexican time. This is probably one of the hardest adjustments for someone like me (I like to be EARLY). I always grow in this are when we are down here.

The rest of the day tomorrow is for settling in, getting a handle on what areas we can help out with at the children's home, communicating with the Reynosa BIC Church, and possibly getting some supplies.

Well, I'm tired, so I'm off to bed.

Dave
(by the way, Beth hasn't proofed my PA dutch writing (she's helping get our boys ready for bed), so please forgive any of these mistakes :) - she would appreciate the discalimer)

We leave tomorrow!

Well, we leave tomorrow. Most of us should be arriving in southern Texas before dinner time on Tuesday. I know my family is starting to get excited about our trip!!

This will be the third time down to the children's home for my family and each time, it is a little different. I think it's primarily different because as the boys are getting a little older, their perspective and view of the world is changing.

One of the blessings of our family going to the same children's home is the relationships. We are looking forward to connecting with some of the children/youth we have met on previous trips. Here is a picture of my youngest son swinging with one of the children whom we grew close to on the past visits.



She is no longer there, but we are looking forward to catching up with other friends and twisting some more balloons.



We are also looking forward to helping out the Reynosa BIC Church again this year. One our last trip, we were able to assist them by helping to paint the outside of their church. This year, we plan to assist them on Thursday and Friday.



Thanx again for keeping us in your prayers!!

Dave

Wow - 3 days away

Wow, it's tough to believe that in 3 days time, we will be arriving in southern Texas in preparation for our trip to Mexico! Ww, it's coming fast!!!

Here are a few prayer concerns and a VERY TENTATIVE outline of our schedule.



Mexico Family Missions Team
February 10-16, 2009


Prayer List

- Safety in our travels - we have one family traveling on stand-by.

- That our bodies are able to handle the changes in our diets while eating different foods.

- That we would be a blessing to the children’s home and to the Reynosa BIC Church, by providing for their needs and not worried about our needs.

- That we would be able to communicate God’s love despite our lack of spanish.

- That our families would be impacted by the wonders of God’s creation as we experience seeing people who live differently than we do.

- That our families would grow closer together as we serve together.




Tentative Schedule

February 10 - Tuesday

- Travel Day, leaving PA and heading to southern Texas


February 11 - Wednesday

- Traveling to the Children’s Home

- Communicating about what projects we can help with at the children's home and the Reynosa BIC Church


February 12 - Thursday

- Helping to get the new school ready at the children’s home


- Starting work project at the Reynosa BIC Church

February 13 - Friday

- Helping to get the new school ready at the children’s home

- Starting work project at the Reynosa BIC Church


February 14 - Saturday

- Relocating the Big stuff (chalkboards) at the children’s home as they switch their school location this weekend.

- Visiting the Colonia’s and distributing supplies

- Providing a special meal for the children’s home


February 15 - Sunday

- Church day and interacting with the kids in the home

- Providing a special “American” meal at the children’s home


February 16 - Monday
- Wrapping things up in Mexico and traveling back home

February 17 - Tuesday

- Some of our team won’t be arriving in their homes until 2 or 3am

- Ask for blessings upon those going back to work and/or school this day

Oh No !! The Weather!

Oh No, I'm not sure if we'll be able to handle the weather on our trip!

It looks like it'll actually be in the 80's on at least two of our days in Mexico! How will we ever manage?




But for those of you scoffing at our "suffering", I also want you to know that the weather looks like it'll drop in the 50's at night!

Can't believe we'll be there in less than a week!

Dave

8 Days To Go

Well, 8 Days to go till our trip!

Thank-you to EVERYONE who contributed towards the shoebox gifts to the children at the Children's Home. It was fun having the team pack up so many wonderful and colorful boxes. Everyone was so generous! Thank-you so much!!


Here's a photo of our team. See that hole in the middle back row - that's for Chris, who was absent. We may try to "photoshop" him in later :)


Thank you for praying.
~2009 Team

Wow - 11 Days and Counting

Wow, it's tough to believe that we leave in 11 days!! It's coming up FAST!!

Valentine Gift Boxes are due on Sunday!! I'm excited to see all of the shoeboxes coming in! Our game plan is to pack them into larger boxes on Sunday afternoon to get the ready to ship out on Monday so they can be there when we arrive. In case anyone has forgotten, here is the flyer we handed out.





I just heard from my friend Rich @ International Bible Society and it looks like he was able to get us some things that we can distribute to the kids and living in the Colonias without running water or electricity. He was able to get us some spanish literature, a whole bunch of little fabric teddy bears and a few blankets. Awesome stuff Rich!!!


This Sunday is our teams final meeting. Please continue to lift us up in your prayers! Thanx!

Thank-You

It's tough to believe our trip is fast approaching! Our trip is from Feb.10-16. That only a few short weeks away!

Thank-You to the many. many of you who have offered to support us.....

... to support us in your prayers
... to support us financially
... to support us by providing supplies for our trip
... to support us by helping us to prepare
... to support us by giving our kids the homework they'll miss in school (ok, maybe the kids aren't too thankful for this one)

There are many people we want to thank. So to all of you, we say THANK-YOU!

Parent's Night Out - take 2

The kids had so much fun during our first Parent's Night Out, we're doing another one. It's coming this Friday evening. It's sure to be a fun night!!

one month away!!

Wow, it's tough to believe that our Mexico Missions Trip is only one month away! WOW - tough to believe!!

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we are making the final preparations!