Mexico...

It has taken me ages to find time to get on & write about the last few weeks, but here I am finally. Mexico was so great. I met a lot of new Midtown people I didn't know & became better friends with the ones I did. I learned a few new words in Spanish- now I know like 5. ha. But most of all I loved on the people of Rancho Viejo & helped spread hope in an otherwise potentially dark place.

The flights were smooth, the food was great (no I never got sick, but like 10 or 12 people did-yikes), the kids were amazing, & Jesus was everywhere. We were split into 2 groups that went to different sites all week to work. My site had the unique opportunity to help plant a church- pretty cool. One woman who wasn't even a Christian offered her home up for a Bible Study once a week and several residents of Cancun gave their lives to Christ over the week, too, which was amazing.

We went to Ecbalam -a Mayan Village- and hung out with some awesome kids and from there made our way to the Mayan ruins. Those mugs used to play a basketball type game with human heads. They were pretty hardcore apparently. We all became hardcore, too, when we climbed all 99 stairs- steep, large, scary stairs. Check it...

look how steep that is!!!!!! dang.

Then we went to the cenote- pretty much a giant swimming hole with the water that runs underground in the Yucatan area. I did the rope swing & believe it or not, jumped off the small cliff. Even though it was dinky, my hands still shook & it took me a good few minutes to do it. If you know me well you know I HATE free falling & jumping off stuff, etc., so I was way proud of myself. Go me.
(this picture is actually of my friend, Lacy)


We went to 2 awesome churches & had emotional experiences during the worship. Man, so cool. We also went to a market & did some shopping. Dustin's dad (Pa) had met a Mexican gentleman last year who was working in the market and had gotten the chance to talk to him about Jesus & take his picture. The guy didn't make any big decisions, but Pa told him he'd put the man's picture on his desk & pray for him everyday. This time around Pa brought the picture back & asked around in the market if anyone knew the man & someone did. Pa was taken to his stand & showed him the picture & the guy remembered him from the year before. Long story short, after Pa talked to him, the guy prayed to receive Christ. It was amazing.

At our sites we did a lot of VBS type stuff with the children of the villages. We also did "house to house blessings." This pretty much consisted of going from house to house and asking if the residents needed any specific help with anything whether it be construction related for their homes or supplies (clothes, shoes, food) or prayer. My team got to pray with one family for some healing- it was awesome.





So all week I'd been listening to what Alfonso (our leader in Cancun) was saying about "even though you can't speak Spanish, you can share through your face, your actions, your body language, etc." I tried my best to do that, but was still wishing I could speak the language so I could talk to some of the families more. I wouldn't say I ever got discouraged, but I wanted to be able to say more than hola & gracias. Alfonso was also talking about not just being bold in Mexico, but taking it home & sharing with/loving people that can, in fact, speak English. And not ignoring that feeling you get when you know you're supposed to talk to someone- how it's so easy to walk on by & think- I don't have time or someone else will. I had been praying about that some before we left.

So in the Cancun airport, I'm sitting at Johnny Rockets with Erica S., Beck, & Kathryn eating, laughing, singing doo wop songs, whatever, and I look over and see this woman looking totally distraught a few seats down. My first instinct was to say "Aww, poor lady, she must be having a bad day" and turn back around & finish eating, but I felt the urgency to walk over & talk to her, so I did. She immediately started crying pretty hard & told me she'd been on vacation in Cancun for 2 days & had gotten a call that her mother had had an aneurysm & her & her husband were flying home almost a week early. She was terribly upset about her mother so I asked if I could pray for her- right there on the spot and she said she'd like that. I put my hands on the 2 of them & prayed for the mother, the couple, God's love in their lives- I don't even remember what else, but it was awesome. She hugged me, cried some more, & thanked me again. When they left I told her I'd be praying for them. It was seriously the most awesome thing.

Mexico was the best & I definitely want to go back next year!!