Mexico Mission Trip Day 5 Wednesdays Word - Listen

Well since this last week Wednesday would have been my normal installment of my Wednesday's Word I figured I'd tie that in to what happened that day last week. Don't be confused today is actually Friday and not Wednesday but I'm just trying to get some things down while everything is still fresh in my mind. I can hardly believe it's already been a week since we left for the airport to begin our journey home. I'm ready to go back....just not next week since it looks like a hurricane is coming.

Today started off like all the others with the early morning musical car wake up but little did I know that today would not end up like any other day I've ever had.....and not just because I got to shower. We knew the roof projects and painting of pastor's house were completed so we were waiting for our next set of instructions when an impromptu ukulele lesson/concert broke out.

Vashty (pastor's wife) practicing a new instrument

We found out that some of the roofing crew was going to help work on a bathroom and replace a sink, some would help with VBS while others would help the painting crew paint the kitchen and the pastor's office there at the church. But 1st we had to move everything out of the office and this is when we discovered a bigger problem; there was mold along the ceiling and considering everything was made out of cinder block and cement this had to have been going on for some time. So I had them find us some bleach so we could at least clean it up before painting.

Not sure what got more paint...Joe or the ceiling

Then it was outside to try and find the source. I shimmied up the gate onto the 2 foot ledge that extended out over the sidewalk and this is where the source of the problem.  Even the sun had been on this area for hours and it didn't rain the night before there was standing water along the edge and holes in the wall where the water was going into the ceiling and where there was some electrical conduit ran down into the wall you could tell water was following it. I remember thinking how our city building inspector would be having a coronary with all the exposed rebar and exposed water pipes running every which way. Now the best solution would have been getting some cement to patch the holes and all of the mortar that was missing between the bricks but sometimes we have to use the tools we've already been supplied with.

My office for part of the day

So while I was gathering up small rocks up on the ledge I had them find me some larger ones down on the ground so I could attempt to fill in the holes and then use the thick paint sealer to cover them up and hoping it would stay in place with that bit of rock as something to stick to. Luckily it did with several coats but while it would dry in between I didn't have much else to do but think and I kept remembering the bible verse about building your house on a solid foundation and not sand and about Jesus being the cornerstone to build upon. But sadly I can't remember where I put my car keys 10 minutes let alone remember what chapters these came from. So I had all these ideas running through my head in conjunction with our work projects and those 2 verses and little did I know at the time but my "hearing" was being tested to see if I was listening.

Not much room to work but plenty of space to think

Getting this patched up went smoother than I expected and I kept ducking into the shade of the trees in the courtyard while paint was drying to watch the VBS stuff going on and the kids playing in the courtyard. This was a great vantage point because most people didn't know I was perched up on the ledge just enjoying watching them interact.

I think I'm done

Courtyard soccer

After coming down from my perch and attempting to wash all the paint of my hands & arms it was finally time for lunch. It did take days though to get all the paint out of my fingernails. Before it was time to check out the shops April one of the PPM leaders called a team leader meeting to let us know the plans for the rest of the day and the evening church service. This is where God decided to be funny and really see if I was really listening. April let us know the kids would be giving testimonies during the service and that they wanted a couple from each group. Then she said something about somebody giving the message and we all assumed she meant Burt but she was like no one of you all needs to do it so just figure it out. I got up and started to walk away but turned around and said I'd do it. Joe looked at me kinda funny and said are you sure man and i said yeah I've been working on it all morning up on that ledge. I couldn't believe what I'd just agreed to do; I really am not all that comfortable talking to people. I'm pretty much what you'd call an introvert and I just agreed to preach that night. I know it wasn't my idea to do this; it was God's plan and I knew I had to do it.

Luckily we still had some soccer to play to get my mind off of it. Today at the sports complex we got a real treat and we asked the team practicing if we could use 1/2 of the field and play a game with the kids and they said yes. So we went out on the artificial turf and had some fun.

That is a boxing arena in the background

I don't know if it was the black rubber pellets that made it so hot out there but it was toasty that afternoon so we retreated to the shade when the team was getting ready to scrimmage. There was basketball going on, people jump roping and some type of knock out game where everyone stands in a circle and you get people out by rolling the ball through their legs. It was a lot of fun watching everyone play.

The finals

While we were at the park I started to ask who were the bible scholars because I needed to track down a couple of verses. And I found what I was looking for and so much more.
Matthew 7 24-27 was what I was originally looking for......

The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

But what I found next was not what I expected. I knew the Jesus is our cornerstone verse but the verses that surround it were extremely fitting considering we were strangers in a foreign land and it helped me tie my sermon together. Now I just had to get it on paper and not screw it up. 

Ephesians 2:17-22

¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Luckily I snagged one of Luke's notebooks before we left home so I found a quiet spot in the back of the church and began deciphering everything that had been running through my head that morning. Now granted the quiet here next to a busy street is a different quiet than what we're all used to but what happened next was extremely cool. I don't know who organized it (but I have a hunch) but kids and leaders from all three of the groups asked if they could pray for me. I'm assuming I must looked like I needed help and really must have been sweating but we all were; plus I still hadn't showered. 


My sermon came together quickly using our work projects as a basis. Here's the gist of it: I correlated how we had found the mold in the pastor's office and how we could have easily just painted over it and covered it up like we do with so many problems in our life and that if we don't take the time to fix the problem it will grow and spread and not only will we have the original problem we'd now have the new ones. Eventually the combined problems will destroy the house and our body is that house. Just like we sought out the problem and fixed it on the roof, even though we found new problems, we need to be deliberate in fixing the problems in our lives before they grown and begin affecting every moment of every day. It will begin affecting our relationships with others but more importantly our one with God. I urged them to not waste another moment regardless of how small you may think it is because all those little things are their own water leak and eventually they will combine into a big one. And to remember it's not just about you it's about everyone you come in contact with and that you need to go to Jesus and rebuild that trust, repair any broken relationships and most importantly to forgive others so you too can be forgiven. 


I figured I had enough time and I think people were starting to complain so I showered. I figured I'd be a little more comfortable not realizing you start sweating the moment you dry off. 

Well come time for the church service and we have some great worship songs played by Ryan on the keyboards and Stephen on the guitar. Then we were all amazed by everyone's testimonies. What was supposed to be 6 turned into 10. They were all very touching, personal and emotional. Many of the things I planned on touching on in my sermon were all brought up in one way or another by different youth; which was all the more confirming to me that this was His plan all along. But I did make a new rule before I started and that was if I'm going to speak in church I go first because everyone blows me away. I realized the best way to give a sermon is to do it when it needs translated because then you have time to gather your thoughts as it's being translated. But all in all it couldn't have went smoother even though I ended up remembering things I wanted to say when we were on one of our nightly trips to the little store on the corner. It was definitely a powerful and amazing day. 

I was truly blessed to have the chance to preach at Filadelfia

 


 

Mexico Mission Trip Day 4 Tuesday the work continues

Like clockwork our friend in the car came by blaring his music laden ad which was the cue for the crazy people...I mean runners in our group to go down to the soccer stadium to get their morning run in. I told them every day don't run for fun but I don't think they listened. I think we all slept better through the night and we didn't have any major rain while we slept so that may have been part of it. I know Cole slept better since I grabbed him a blow up pool mattress at Walmart but it was still strange waking up in a foreign land to strange sounds and smells knowing I'd have to choke down some warm instant coffee.

Today's routine was going to be much like the day before with breakfast, work projects and VBS, lunch and siesta time, our sports ministry time at the park being back in time for dinner and group time. In our walks up and down the streets faces are starting to look familiar and the people are acknowledging us as we walk by.

This sealer paint was some thick stuff

This morning the heat didn't seam nearly as oppressive but it was probably just because we started getting used to it but the bit of cloud cover didn't hurt either. One of the nice things about working on projects with other people is just the chance to get to talk and catch up or get to know someone. Because even though I've taught Sunday school with Dale and we've been in choir together for years I had never had the opportunity to share some of things with him that I did. We either worked too hard the day before or too efficiently this day because we completed our part of the roof early. Great thing about that was just getting to sit back and watch everyone involved with the kids and the VBS. We had guys doing just about anything to get the kids to laugh and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be doing them back home with their friends watching.

 

VBS with the kids

One of the biggest hits though during VBS time was the little girls getting their fingernails painted and them in turn painting our kids fingernails...some of the guys did partake; I won't name names but there is plenty of photo evidence.

The little girls were very thorough in their painting 

We really didn't get much siestaing done today partially because all us guy's stuff had to be packed away to make room for VBS in the church but also because the girls overran our space and were being chatty. But being that I am a guy and an adult I got volunteered to make trips to the stores with others just to be on the safe side.

Today's trip to the sports park was a lot of fun because that night there was an actual game in the stadium so there were tents set up all round the block with things for sale. So with all the extra people around it meant a lot more kids came out to play. 3 little guys stuck out to me playing today....1 played on the other team and his name was Juan (on the left in the picture) and he was my nemesis. Kevin is holding the ball and Messi is on the right. We never knew his real name but he was wearing a Messi jersey and even his friends called him that. We had fun celebrating their goals in all sorts of wacky soccer ways.

one of my favorite pictures from the trip

Many years ago I ran across a blog post about Mission Balls. These are soccer balls with various scripture verses on them and come in various languages. Ever since then I've wanted to bring soccer balls on a mission trip. We left the bag of balls and a couple of pumps and several needles with the pastor so he could keep the balls inflated. Cole showed him how to change the needles and hopefully someday we'll bring him some more.

Mission balls are a great tool

After our afternoon of soccer and games came to a close we took the time to check out the various tents to see what goods they had for sale. If anyone would like a recording of Brave in 3D in Spanish with Chinese subtitles let me know I can hook you up. We finally had the chance to check out the soccer jersey store because we were there late enough.....some of the stores close during siesta time and don't reopen until the evening. On the way back to the church we stopped at the little convenience store and discovered the world's greatest pop....Lift. It is apple flavored and amazingly amazing.

Cole enjoying a Lift

As it turns out we couldn't trust anyone on the trip and you had to keep an eye on everyone and constantly be checking yourself for clothes pins. Why clothes pins you ask.....because if you got stuck with one of them and it was on your person at the start of the evening meeting then you got to treat everyone with a musical interlude of your choice. Now by the end of the trip some of the guys were purposely getting stuck with them so they could show off their repertoire of songs. This culminated into the trio of David, Austin and Jacob dropping a little Miley Cyrus Party in the USA on us; much to the chagrin of Cole. 

Lizzy assumed I was taking her picture but it was really of the clothes pin

We would end each night with group worship songs and we always seemed to want to do one more because it was so great. But tonight we ended on the roof with an Iowa team meeting, another song and a circle prayer with our friends from Michigan. Once we were done it was group hug time and I reminded the girls I still hadn't showered and wasn't planning to either until we made it to the ocean. It technically wasn't by choice anymore because the water situation was still sketchy at best. 

Evening view from the rooftop

Mexico Mission Trip Day 3 Monday...the work begins

Well it turns out we never had to set an alarm because there was a tiny little car with giant speakers on top playing some sort of music that I think was an ad for some local resort. And just in case you didn't wake up the 1st time he went by he made sure you did on the 3rd or 4th time. This was also the morning I learned that  you don't make instant coffee in your water bottle and shake it to mix it because it turns into foam....it all turns into foam. After that I found out where the cups were kept and then I'd just use my water bottle straw as a stirrer so I could chug my 3 cups of room temperature coffee every morning. This morning also brought us breakfast burritos.

We then broke off into 3 different groups; 1 to work on the roofs, another to paint the pastor's house and 1 to prepare for VBS with the local kids. I purposely avoided being in the same group as Cole so that way he could do some things on his own with not only others from our church but also the other 2 churches. He chose to help prepare VBS cards and go door to door to invite kids to come which I'm glad because that is not up my alley by any means. So I chose to work with Dale on the roof above the church itself sealing the seams of the step shaped roof while the other roof crew worked above the rooms where the girls were staying because they had leaked the night before when it rained.

roof clean up and sealing

I don't know if it was because we weren't used to the heat...even though it was cooler than at home but working on that roof felt like the hottest day ever. I had constant sweat and sunscreen dripping into my sunglasses and it looked like I'd peed my pants but at least I was chugging warm water to try and keep up. Above the church we had to scrape the down and rough up cement patches along the seams of the stair step shaped roof and clean it up so we could put down this super thick red paint type sealer. The one good thing about sweating so much while painting is that the paint never dries on you it just seems to spread and eventually you couldn't tell if you were tanning or covered in mix of sweaty deep red paint.

The VBS crew 

Lunch time and siesta seemed like the greatest thing ever because even though we only worked on our projects for a few hours it seemed like the entire day. 

siesta time

The afternoons at the sports complex became some of my favorite memories. I had asked our soccer club if they had any old balls that we could take with us and they gave us a few and Cole found a bunch of our old ones to go with them so we had a large bag full of balls by the time I got them re-inflated. Each day we'd take basketballs, soccer balls, colors, jump ropes, fingernail polish and water with us to the soccer field. Luckily one of the basketball courts was shaded so most everyone spent their time there. But some of us braved the sun and played some street soccer on one of the basketball courts. We did lose the ball over the fence and on a roof a few times but we always got it back some how. 

the all important selecting of the teams 

We quickly learned all the names of the kids which wasn't easy because we were still trying to learn every one's name from the Michigan and Florida groups but we also caught on to a few important soccer terms in Spanish so we could all communicate. But the best communication was the smiles on the each and everyone of the kid's faces. Some of you may know but in case not I am a youth soccer coach not only for the introductory courses through our city's park and rec department for 3-5 year olds in the winter and summer but also for our soccer club where I coach 2 different teams and at last count I think I've coached 43 different teams over the years between spring, fall and tournaments so this was a dream come true. I hadn't told anyone but I'd always wanted to bring soccer balls on a mission trip and distribute them to the kids. 

We found out the sun and humidity are brutal and that these little kids are good. One of the guys said the highlight of his day was finally beating one of these kids after that kid had schooled him 5 or 6 times. This was coming from someone who had played soccer for 13 years and the kid he was talking about was probably 8 or 9. Futbol is just a way of life here. While we were playing each day there was a minor league soccer team that was practicing on the turf field next to us and a lot of the kids were just there to watch them. Several didn't have shoes so they'd have to take quick breaks in the shade of the wall to cool their feet down because the cement was so hot. Eventually I had to call "No Mas" but not until after I had scored on a header and nearly killed myself running around with kids 1/2 my age. After that it was off to make sweat angels in the shaded basketball court and just watch all the games going on and the interactions between our group and the kids. I could have stayed here all day but sadly we had to leave but as a bonus we went further down our road to an ice cream shop (that we would frequent quite a bit) and had some of the best home made ice cream ever.

Tonight much to our surprise we had pizza and cold pop (soda for you non-Iowans) for supper. I seriously had to cut myself off it was so good. I kept going back to ones I've never tried or seen before and the cold pop became a great treat. We would actually buy the little store on the corner out of Coke in glass bottles and Powerade.

Pizza from your favorite pizzeria....the box doesn't lie

In the evening we spent time in the courtyard getting to know each other a little better and sharing our God sightings and experiences of the day. Afterwards we had some free time so a few ventured out to investigate the various food vendors but a few of us joined Burton & April (PPM staffers) and went to experience the cultural phenomenon known as Wal-mart. This was a pretty crazy time. To start you had to go down into the parking garage under the store in order to take the people/cart mover up into the store. The odd thing about the conveyor type belt was that the wheels on the carts were metal and the conveyor belt was magnetized so it just pulled the cart uphill for you. We learned Burt will do anything to make someone laugh and that campismo is a funny word when said in odd ways. But I also found out I can't pick the right checkout line regardless of what country I'm in. All the lines were ridiculously long (they don't open another register when people are standing in line) but we chose the one that the lady was buying 20 of everything and paying every so often with gift cards. If I was working I would have let her keep the hangers it was painful to watch. We even changed lines once but still went back to it.

So we had some funny stories to share when we got back to the church while we set up our sleeping quarters. The rain came earlier in the night than the night before so many of the guys took showers in the brief rain despite it being past lights out (they did get in a wee bit of trouble). They did this because the girls were using all the water and leaving us with none.....that's my story and I'm sticking too it. But to this point I had still avoided showering and I was planning on waiting to bathe until the ocean on Thursday. But it was time to attempt to sleep again despite everything going on around us.