Mexico Mission: Day 9, Saturday April 18th

Wow, slept in, two days in a row. Our flight is at 4pm so we took our time getting ready, packing, and cleaning the vans. My van was rather clean; however Joel’s van was beginning to smell. I guess his crew didn’t shower as frequently and I heard that they had a few more accidents with their food and beverages.

We had one pit stop on the way to the airport and that was at the Crystal Cathedral. I have seen this place on TV and from a distance on previous trips to Anaheim but never up close until today. This is one amazing structure.

The cathedral contains the fifth largest pipe organ in the world and is located in four different areas with in the sanctuary. The entire structure is enclosed in crystal and has sections of the walls that can open to the outside. You really have to see this structure to appreciate it.

Well, it’s off to the airport. Our last few hours together as a group. Once again I have been completely impressed by the leadership that these youth have demonstrated. Their devotion as Christians in carrying out Gods work is truly an inspiration. Not only have they touched the lives of many children this past week they have also been touched and encouraged by those that they have served. For the youth of this group, I am sure that God is smiling and very proud of the work you have done this week and may you take all that you have experienced and use it to continue to impact all others you come into contact with. Joel and Amy have guided and coached you through out the week. They are great Christian leaders that you should be proud to be associated with. I look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Mexico Mission: Day 8, Friday April 17th

Today was our day at Disneyland. For some reason I agreed to start the day with a ride on Splash Mountain (obviously a momentary lapse of reasoning) followed by breakfast in the sun trying to dry out. We hit all the great rides through out the day and were treated to a great dinner by Joel and Amy, two amazing young leaders. A great day was had by all as the tired ones turned in at 10pm and the die-hards closed the park at midnight. Yeah, I was a tired one this year.

Mexico Mission: Day 7, Thursday April 16th

Our last morning in San Felipe, we served breakfast to the community again. The numbers were similar again with most of the kids hanging around to say good bye. Many of the church members showed up this morning to see us off. It was certainly a pleaseure to work beside our brothers and sisters this past week. There were a few tears shed as we appreciated all that they had given us.
This is the GANG. All of the kids that the youth had worked with this past week. A great group of happy kids. All of them are great football players. They enjoyed the games and smoe of them also helped out in cleaning up from breakfast. It sure was hard saying good bye. At one time I had let a some of the kids use my camera to take a few pictures. They loved it. These kids love having their picture taken.

Our drive to Anaheim was rather quite. The lucky ones were able to catch up on some sleep however some of us had to wait. I enjoyed a soak in the hot tub and then turned in for the evening.

Mexico Mission: Day 6, Wednesday April 15th

I was up before dawn again and enjoyed another hot shower. The main purpose of getting up early was to capture the sunrise. This photo isn't the greatest, only becasue I forgot to change the settings on my camera from the day before.
I drove into town and parked at the beachfront. Much to my surprise the beach had a number of people sleeping in tents, tents that we didn’t see the previous afternoon. As I walked to the water I came across a lady sleeping in blankets with her son, no tent, just sleeping on the sand. I have no idea if these people are homeless but it certainly made me wonder how great the need in San Felipe is. The church we are working with (La Gran Comision) is certainly trying to do their part. The heart is there however the funds are limited. As with most projects it takes a number of people and all kinds of resources to ensure success. I consider myself very fortunate these past two years in lending a helping hand.

Mexico Mission: Day 5, Tuesday April 14th

Woohoo!! I was up first and had a hot shower!. Had to get up at 4:45am but it was worth it. I sat in the dark before sunrise, making a few notes this morning. It was nice and quiet for about 45 minutes and then the dead started rising. Tomorrow morning I am going to use the video camera to capture the morning action. You should see some of the rats nests that the girls wake up with (sorry no pics, I wanted to survive this trip). Marin, you win by far.

Breakfast was another success. Many families came out to enjoy eggs and chorizo sausage in a tortilla.

The afternoon was spent at the beach front where the youth were challenged with stretching their comfort zone. They had an opportunity to perform their dramas in public and were successful at attracting a crowd.
As much as they were challenged with the public performances they were very encouraged by the fact that they were successful in attracting some attention and able to spread the word of God through their performances. In particular one local gentleman and his family were touched and provided each of the youth with handshakes and hugs.

Mexico Misison: Day 4, Monday April 13th

OMG! I swear the dogs and roosters were having a party last night. They just wouldn’t shut up. I am beginning to think these Mexican roosters don’t know what a sunrise is. I decided to get up early to have a hot shower just in time to see Julie, my wife, get into the shower faster than ever. Her shower is closest to the hot water so she gets all the hot water. So much for getting up early,. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Today we served breakfast to 53 kids, 22 adults. Who knows what numbers we’ll have tomorrow? The more the merrier! We also had a little time to drive around the neighborhood today and can certainly see where families are falling on hard times. Each day at breakfast we have seen new families who join us.

Monday afternoon was our tourist day. We had a few hours to walk the streets and visit the local vendors. Everything is so cheap even the youth didn’t bother to barter. In some cases the youth said the vendor bartered themselves down to make a sale. Everyone was quite pleased with their afternoon of shopping.

While walking around the main area of San Felipe it is not hard to notice that this place has some history. As well, local municipal income is rather low and it would appear that federal income is not very significant. The local infrastructure needs a lot of work. The main highway leading into town is new. Local streets are falling apart and in the community where we are working the streets are made of sand. Clean and safe drinking water is either delivered to your home by local vendors or you have to pick up your own water. Despite the local economy and in all I have seen so far I have only come across one pan handler. As warm as it was today this lady was bundled up. I walked past her once waving her off. On my way back to the van I snapped a few pics and slipped her 50 pesos. I pray that it helps. The people of San Felipe are a proud and friendly bunch and willing to do anything for you. I picked up some supplies for the next days breakfast and as I finished the check-out this little feller of about 6 years pulled my cart to the van. He was as cute as can be, carried on a conversation (I had no idea what he said), and pulled all my groceries out of the cart as well as each flat of eggs. He started to leave, I stopped him and slipped him a 10 peso coin. I was impressed that the little guy didn’t even ask. I’ll have to get a picture with him tomorrow.

Mexico Mission: Day 3, Sunday April 12th

Easter Sunday. Crawled out of the tent at 6am and enjoyed taking it easy. We had clear skies last night which allowed the morning sun to warm my face. How did I know we had clear skies? Just ask the local loose dog that woke me and Robin up at 3:30 am as it was ripping through our garbage. I managed to chase it away only to have it back a half hour later. I fumbled for my head lamp and on my second trip out of the tent I had to go find a second bag, re-bag the garbage and place it in the boy’s bathroom. I fell back to sleep wondering why God didn’t answer my fist prayer “Please keep the dogs away”. The answer I got back was… “why didn’t you re-bag it the first time”.

Today had a few great highlights. First we had a fantastic church service. There is nothing like worshiping God with a congregation singing in a different language. Although I knew the english version of the songs it was difficult to sing in english because you get caught up in the Spanish. After church we were able to experience an authentic flavour of Mexico. The local youth leaders came to our trailer and made us fish tacos. OMG (oh my gosh)!!! Home made salsa, hot sauce, guacamole and fresh limes. Mmmmm! The fish served is battered and fried in a shallow pan of oil. Oh! the best falvoured batter I have ever had. Oh yeah, they use shark. A few of the youth met the challenge and had at least one. I stopped at five only because we were headed off to play soccer with the local youth. Soccer was a great time, just about threw up a lung, but it was fun.

Basketball Memory (by Jalisse Clark)
There has been so many good times to tell, but besides the interesting fish tacos we consumed and the re-enacted bible stories one of my favorite memories was playing basketball. We gathered in the middle of San Felipe where initially not a lot of youth and kids showed up at first. After a half hour or so there were LOADS!!. It was incredible to see us and the San Felipe people playing sports together because it didn’t require much language, rather more interaction. I remember switching to basketball half way through (more my forte) and although I played with mainly Mexicans, and not understanding their language, we all still bonded and worked together as a team. I had some tough competition (haha!) out of all the basketball games we ever played, playing that day till it was pitch black was the best games I ever played. There are millions of memories with the beautiful children but those memories could take a century to tell. Playing sports with all ages is a memory I never want to forget. So much fun!!!
Another great day!

Mexico Mission: Day 2, Saturday April 11th

Today was our turn to take over the cooking. Pancakes were on the menu this morning. Dave and I were rockn’ and rolln’, 14 pancakes at one time . I don’t know what our numbers were for this day but every pancake was eaten.

The main activity for the day was in the evening with the church’s youth group. Everyone was thrown together as an introduction. A few of the youth do know how to speak english which caught me by surprise. I was all ready to “Hola” and “Buenos Dias” them and I get a “Hello”. Now what do I do with that!? Uhh “Hello”, english can be so boring sometimes. Following the intro the Canadians performed a few dramas. They did a great job!. Funny as all heck.

Mexico Mission: Day 1, Friday April 10th

Something doesn’t seem right. We were up before sunrise. Last year the roosters were waking us up at the crack of dawn and this time we beat them. Changing between two time zones has confused us and we later found we were back on Alberta time. We were all just a little disappointed in loosing out on an hour worth of sleep!!

The morning breakfast started with a change of plans. The local ladies cooked breakfast for the kids and our group served breakfast to 28 kids and 15 adults. Oh well, an easy start. Following breakfast, the youth conducted their VBS (Vacation Bible School) session with kids coming from all over to play and learn about God. As for the group we forgot it was Good Friday with all the activity. As we relaxed at our trailer in the afternoon we heard a bunch of commotion out on the street. It was the local Catholic community conducting a walk demonstrating the travels of Jesus as he carried the cross. It was at that point that we remembered the significance of the day.
For the most part it was a sunny day but cold. Even the Mexican’s were wearing jeans and fleece, so we didn’t feel out of place at all. In the evening it clouded over and was breezy which lead to rain as we were getting ready for bed. As I settled in my sleeping bag I thought for a moment, “when was the last time I slept in a tent while it was raining?” I really couldn’t remember and didn’t have the energy to think past that point.

Mexico Mission 2009

Visit this blog from April 10th thru 18th. Once again youth groups from Calgary Full Gospel and High River Full Gospel Churches will be traveling to San Felipe Mexico. This year the group will be serving breakfast to local children in the mornings and conducting two Vacation Bible School (VBS) sessions each day. Also, the group is planning to help build a concrete slab which will one day be the permanent location for a food kitchen to serve the community.

The intent is to update this blog on a daily basis with one photograph depicting the impact of the day. Your comments are more than welcome.

All photographs copyright Perry A. Klimchuk unless otherwise indicated.