Have you ever wanted to go on a Missions Trip but didn't feel you had a talent to share? Or maybe wondered what you would do with your children while you were out of country? So have I. We have been so blessed to find this opportunity for the second time to go on a short, family-oriented trip just across the border from Yuma, Arizona in Mexico. Can you cook? Can you put up sheetrock? Are you able to sand or paint? Can you scrape paint? How about shovel out weeds or sweep a floor? All of these became ministry opportunities for someone or another on our team. Mostly what is needed are willing hands and a willing heart. Granted we did not take Caleb and Steven partially because they still have Ukrainian passports and I was uncertain how that would be at the border; secondly because they require quite a bit of supervision to keep them safe--especially with all the power tools around.
This year our team was pretty small: Pastor Tellez, his wife and their 3 teenage kids from a nearby church; Kevin and I and our 4 older kids; and "Grandpa"-an older gentleman from Pastor Tellez' congregation who has been on 20-some missions trips over the years, has lots of construction skills and is just in love with Jesus and people. We didn't get everything done that we had hoped but I hope that we were still a blessing. And I so enjoyed getting better acquainted with the other team members.
As last year we spent the first night at Boulder Station in Las Vegas. That is a long, long drive across miles and miles (did I mention MILES) of desert and sagebrush and lava and some pretty unique plantlife-- kind of like a flight across the ocean but without the anticipation of a new child at the end. :) I think it was around 11:30 pm when we finally pulled in. And our kids still wanted to go swimming. Unfortunately, the only pool was in the chilly outdoors with tree debris sunk on the bottom.
Our first meal in Mexico on Monday evening. It was yummy.
At the church in Morales. One of the projects we'd hoped to complete was to better support this power pole and power line but we ran out of time.
Here's the inside of the church. The drums and guitars got lots of exercise from the kids on this trip. At many, many hours of the day (or night) you could hear someone banging or strumming.
Here are my two weed/grass diggers, T above and J below. As you can see the surrounding area was very dry and dusty so whenever I couldn't figure out what to do, I would just sweep.
Here was my first main assignment--to scrape paint and stain and smeared silicone--off the inside and outside of this cube-shaped glass and the pie-shaped glass arcs on the two front doors. Believe it or not that seemingly simple task took me about 8 hours but wow! the glass sure looked shinier and the whole entrance more welcoming. Yep, scraping paint for Jesus! Actually I'd hoped to get the entire cross above this scraped as well but could only safely reach about the bottom 3 cubes. Bummer.
Kevin's main task was to install Sheetrock over the walls/ceiling of two cinder block rooms in the parsonage then to mud and tape the seams. (Another of his tasks was to install a new toilet) Some of the kids and I got in on sanding in this second room to prepare for painting that a brother from Mexico was going to complete after we had to leave.
In this first room the kids and I actually did the priming of the walls and ceiling and then Pastor Tellez and others did the painting.
Here's our team along with the pastor (the tiny little lady next to S.) and people of the congregation. La Pastora (as I liked to refer to her to myself) is such a precious woman of God and the mother of the Pastor Tellez who led our group.
Our son, B, is on the left in the green shorts; the other 5 of us are on the right. Pastor Tellez was taking the picture.
This is the very high-tech contraption that J had to sit in to have a pulmonary function test performed. He has been having some trouble with shortness of breath and wheezing when he runs. (He has just recently had allergy tests completed as well--where 46 different allergens were introduced in sets of pricks on his back.) If this test shows a reactive airway, then J will be diagnosed with asthma.
Palm Sunday J, Caleb and Steven got to participate in waving the palm branches during part of the worship service.
On Saturday April 3, here's what happened to the first egg I handed Caleb to color: he dropped it, cracked it and started peeling it!
Everyone got to color six eggs--however, J ended up trading one of his eggs for Caleb's peeled egg with the intent of eating it!
A smiling Steven and his group of pretty eggs
T tried out a new kit called Candy Apple (or something like that) where she painted each of her eggs with very bright and pretty (and sticky) paint.
B and T took a time-out to open their Easter box from Grandma R and found these cute treats inside.
S tried the tie-dye eggs, the Candy Apple painting and even the one where you were supposed to squirt splotches of color on the egg. She spends a lot of time decorating her eggs and they show it. Below shows them a little closer up.
Above are J's eggs: he, too, tried all 3 kits but kept with a blue theme. Below is J showing off his eggs and his new Lego fire-truck that he purchased with chore money.
Bis the fastest egg color-er in the world. He just dropped one egg into each of the six colors, pulled them out, and he was done. Too funny. Below he is showing some of the Bionicle guys.
***Here is our family before church on Easter Sunday. I am so proud of them. Kevin, Caleb, Steven, me (Joy) in the back; S, T, J and B in the front.***
This shows the "Happy Birthday Aunt Ida" banner that B and I made.
For several weeks now we've been doing our own home Bible study on Wednesday evenings which has consisted of playing some kind of game together as a family, doing a Bible study, and often memorizing a Bible verse. On this particular night we had our own "minute to win it" games. In the top picture Kevin is proving he can stack 3 golf balls. In the bottom, James has a pair of pantyhose on top of his head with a soft ball stuffed in the foot of one leg--and he's trying to swing the ball to knock over the water bottles. The Bible study for the night was "A minute to pray it"
Caleb, Steven and Poppy (Joy's dad) all dressed up for Sunday School. Caleb and Steven LOVE to wear their vests and ties.
Here Steven was playing 'night-night' in the laundry basket. He has such a lovely smile but sometimes it is very hard to capture it on camera.
Here are Steven and Caleb who were innocently eating apples at the dining room table until one of their dish-washing sisters put a handful of bubbles on their heads. (How in the world did I get this different print color and underline?)
Caleb and Steven are still very much enjoying their Woody and Buzz costumes from Halloween AND playing with Woody and Buzz T-O-Y's, uh 'action figures', uh 'child's playthings'--you know the story :)
As last year we spent the first night at Boulder Station in Las Vegas. That is a long, long drive across miles and miles (did I mention MILES) of desert and sagebrush and lava and some pretty unique plantlife-- kind of like a flight across the ocean but without the anticipation of a new child at the end. :) I think it was around 11:30 pm when we finally pulled in. And our kids still wanted to go swimming. Unfortunately, the only pool was in the chilly outdoors with tree debris sunk on the bottom.
Our first meal in Mexico on Monday evening. It was yummy.
At the church in Morales. One of the projects we'd hoped to complete was to better support this power pole and power line but we ran out of time.
Here's the inside of the church. The drums and guitars got lots of exercise from the kids on this trip. At many, many hours of the day (or night) you could hear someone banging or strumming.
Here are my two weed/grass diggers, T above and J below. As you can see the surrounding area was very dry and dusty so whenever I couldn't figure out what to do, I would just sweep.
Here was my first main assignment--to scrape paint and stain and smeared silicone--off the inside and outside of this cube-shaped glass and the pie-shaped glass arcs on the two front doors. Believe it or not that seemingly simple task took me about 8 hours but wow! the glass sure looked shinier and the whole entrance more welcoming. Yep, scraping paint for Jesus! Actually I'd hoped to get the entire cross above this scraped as well but could only safely reach about the bottom 3 cubes. Bummer.
Kevin's main task was to install Sheetrock over the walls/ceiling of two cinder block rooms in the parsonage then to mud and tape the seams. (Another of his tasks was to install a new toilet) Some of the kids and I got in on sanding in this second room to prepare for painting that a brother from Mexico was going to complete after we had to leave.
In this first room the kids and I actually did the priming of the walls and ceiling and then Pastor Tellez and others did the painting.
Here's our team along with the pastor (the tiny little lady next to S.) and people of the congregation. La Pastora (as I liked to refer to her to myself) is such a precious woman of God and the mother of the Pastor Tellez who led our group.
Our son, B, is on the left in the green shorts; the other 5 of us are on the right. Pastor Tellez was taking the picture.
