Day 11

Hello everyone!

Things ended nicely by the end of last week, we finished up the house with the Bethany group and it ended up looking great! Sorry for the lack of pictures but I never took my camera out to the work site. Ill try to take some progression pictures on one of the next houses. The group left on Friday (after having an awesome time of worship on Thursday night)  and it was sad to see them go. I felt like I was just starting to build some friendships but now they are gone, and we are preparing for the arrival of the next group. The Bethany group were all hard workers with good hearts and they will be missed.  Our crew had to spend a few extra days working this weekend to prepare for the TWO houses that the group will be building this week. Today was our day off, which was nice. Ash's poor foot is still in the healing process and she is wearing a boot and using crutches but she is going to be able to start helping out in the kitchen around meal times and also will be preparing food bags for the needy people in the community this week.

Today was a great day because we were finally able to see some of our favorite people the Marquez family! We were able to spend a lot of time with them last year and have kept in touch over email over this past year and were so excited to be reunited with them this morning! We went to the church that Pedro and Marina Marquez started and pastor. Although we weren't able to understand much of the sermon, it was such a blessing for us to be able to worship along side our brothers and sisters in Christ. The family is incredibly inspiring and their faith is so strong. This church is very small and located in an area of great poverty, so although the people tithe faithfully the amount is very little, therefore pastor Pedro doesn't receive any pay  and the family frequently struggles to get by, their sole income relies on whether or not Pastor Pedro can sell the cheesecakes he makes (Clearly since this is an area of need I am taking responsibility to buy as many cheesecakes as needed to help support the family, I mean its for a good cause, hehe). This family relies day by day on the Lord for support and wait on Him to provide for their family and all the while sing praises to His name. Ash and I are so encouraged by their love for our Father and each other. They welcomed us with open arms and giant smiles, what blessings they are to us!

Ash and I with the Marquez family - Our family in Mexico

Team two arrived tonight, it is a youth group and a college group from New Hope Church in Portland. There are 33 of them, which is a lot of people to have staying here but such a blessing because they raised enough money to build two houses (originally only planned on one house as I mentioned in the last post) so we will be finishing two houses this week! We can't believe its already been 11 days since we moved here to Vicente Guerrero, we are loving every minute of it. Everyday is a reminder of how blessed we are to live in the United States, things like the ability to flush toilet paper down the toilets, drink and brush you teeth with the water from the sink, paved side walks and roads, access to quality health care and the list goes on. Ash and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to serve our Savior and His people here in Mexico and to be able to do it together :)  

Sunday is laundry day - I have a feeling we'll be thankful for dryers by the end of the summer

Day 6

Hola!
The days are just flying by! A group finally showed up Sunday afternoon after driving all the way down from Portland, Oregon. We have been working hard on the house the past couple days and pretty much only have the roof left to do. The people have been really great and I've really enjoyed getting to know them. Tonight we went out to a men's rehab and recovery center with the group and it was a very moving time for me. First, it was so touching to hear the voices of all these men who have had drug and alcohol addictions lifted in worship. Even though it was in Spanish, we could hear the emotion and love for the Lord. Also, I have a feeling my spiritual life and relationship with God is going to grow deeply just through the different teams that come down. Hearing the testimonies from a few of the guys from the team and a few side conversations I have had, have really got me thinking and brought my focus back to God. It is also just so inspiring to see the faith and trust in God of the men who run the recovery center. They don't receive government support or any other support from ministries/churches. They have to rely solely on random donations or extras from Welcome Home. Ash and I decided we are going to help support them by supplying rice and beans (this is what they said their greatest need is) and if any of you want to help in this, just let us know :)

On a side note, the team was out at a migrant camp last night, a place Welcome Home does outreach at weekly. The group ended up praying with a young woman whose one prayer request was that she would be able to have a real home. She is a single mom with three young kids and is currently living in a "shack" (if you can even call it that) with plastic wrap as walls and a dirt floor. This would be an ideal candidate for a house built by Welcome Home, but the problem is that they already had the families and homes chosen and planned out for this coming year. Here comes the cool part... About half an hour later, after we came back home, Jackie (her and her husband Steve run Welcome Home) checked her email and saw that the team that is coming next week had raised double the amount of money that had been expected and we're now going to be able to build a home for the woman and her children! Hows that for answered prayer :) God is so good!

Days 1, 2 & 3

We have only been here a few days, but it feels like so much has happened...

For starters, on day 1 Ash was loaded onto a stretcher and taken by ambulance to three different hospitals before finally returning home. But don't worry, it was just a twisted ankle with some internal bruising. The people here were just being extremely helpful and wanted to make sure Ash was taken care of. The paramedic who came with the ambulance was a friend and insisted on coming to pick her up despite Ash's constant argument that it wasn't a big deal and that she was fine. The entire ordeal including drive time, x-rays, 3 hospitals, and doctor visits only lasted about 3 hours and cost $30. I couldn't help snapping a few pics...  :)

Ash getting taken out to the ambulance on a stretcher

Thumbs Up! 

 I was put to work right away and on day 1 put in more of an honest days labor than I have in a long time. The morning started out with shoveling gravel, mixing concrete, and pouring a slab for the floor of a home, while I spent the afternoon using a pick and shovel to dig through hard dirt for a foundation of a new home. On day two I learned how to lay block and we were able to get the four corners of the first house all set and ready for the team to come. I am very sore but it is a good feeling and the other guys are a pleasure to work with. They have an amazing work ethic and I know I will learn a ton from them. Today there is a lull in the work and we have a day to relax before the first team comes tomorrow.

I have again been taken aback by the living situations of the majority of the people in this area. The only real way to understand is to come and see for yourself. It is an amazing feeling to be building a home that you know will completely change a family's life. All the sweat and aching muscles are definitely worth it. With all the poverty surrounding us, I feel like were are living like kings at the Welcome Home base. The accommodations are very nice and they stand out even more given the surrounding area. Here is a quick tour of our new summer home :)

WE MADE IT!

After leaving our homes in SLO, our next stop was with the wonderful Jen and Gabe a little north of LA. Here we accomplished some very important tasks such as eating some Stonefire, watching Jack Bauer defeat terrorists in 24, and having homemade pizzookie, among other things... Jen and Gabe were so kind as to drive us on down to San Diego where we spent about 7 hours racing cheetahs (true story!), challenging bears (only sort of true), and having all sorts of other adventures at the San Diego Zoo. That leads us to today where we finally met up with Jackie and Steve (the leaders of Welcome Home) and after saying our goodbyes to Jen and Gabe, we continued on our journey south. The border crossing went very smoothly and we barely noticed it go by and before long we were getting frozen yogurt from Costco in Ensenada. After a few more hours of twisty highway and bumpy dirt roads we finally arrived at the Welcome Home campus in Vicente Guerrero, Baja California, Mexico! We thank you all so much for all of your travel prayers, things couldnt have gone more smoothly (except for maybe some of the potholes on the roads). I would have included pictures and more details, but I havent been able to get the wireless to work on my laptop yet and have had to write this on my kindle :) We love you all so much  and ask for your continued prayers. We are excited to be going right to work tomorrow! God Bless!

So it begins...

Quit our jobs - check

Move out of our homes - check

Say goodbye to our beloved SLO - check

All set for an adventure

and so excited to serve God and his people in Mexico!!

So this is what all our worldly possessions look like when put in a box...

Storage unit packed up and we are ready to go

And so it begins...