Thoughts on Sinaloa

From the moment we thought about going to Sinaloa, we were bombarded with stories of other people. Some good. Some bad. Stories about the how the car broke down and stranded them for 24 hours. Stories about the heat! Stories about getting sick. Stories about the great people. Stories about the hard work!

No matter how you try to prepare, you just have to go to experience it.

Helio told us that over 600 people were praying for us through the churches that had promised to do so. I felt good about going into a trip with that knowledge.

At the start of our long journey, Erin and I were put in the back of a truck. I am not a big fan of riding in the back and there wasn't a lot of vision. (I used to be much more flexible, but now that I am really old, claustrophobia and the need for air is more of an issue) The seat was a fold-down bench. Not a lot of bounce. This added up over time.

But as we traveled, Erin and I made the best of it. We stopped at a lot of gas stations and I really enjoyed seeing Mexico as we drove through the Senora dessert.

Once we arrived, we were warmly greeted and we began to immerse ourselves in a new culture. Immediately, it looked very lush. There was a lot of agriculture and the houses were spread apart. Erin made the comment that it didn't look very poor. I agreed.

But as we settled in, there was a different type of poor. No running water. No insulation on the brick houses.

The poorness came from not much work. I discovered that the work that you might get is working in the fields for about 50 pesos per day. (about 4 US dollars) and about 60 pesos during the heat of the summer per day.

The land was cheap. The property next to the church where we were working was for sale for 4000 dollars. And this was a nice piece of land with mango trees and enough space to build a couple of houses and still have a back yard.

The trick was finding work.

I asked Pastor Gustavo how he chose to come to Sinaloa. About 8 or 9 years ago, they decided to be missionaries because they saw the benefits of doing this in the churches that visited them. They knew of a man who had become a Christian at the church in La Mision and had gone to Sinaloa to start a church. So they decided to go and help him out.

This is a region where there are no missionaries. They became the first ones.

Through their many trips down to Guasave, they came in contact with other pastors who were trying to start new churches. So they continue to build churches for the different communities. We stayed at one, worked on classrooms for another, held a church service at yet another church that our church has built through the years. We began to build another one as well.

One night, we held an outdoor church service/evangelistic rally.

I was struck by who was coming forward. Many older people were choosing to follow Jesus. I don't know why, but that struck me as strange. I am used to a culture where everyone knows the Gospel or has has someone tell them it or yell it at them.

What if this was the first time they had heard it clearly spoken to them? This was not an area where there was a church on every corner. We were building churches where there weren't any.

It was a joy to work with the people of our church. We had some guys from the rehab center in town with us. These are some of the most hard-working, toughest guys I have ever met. We heard the story of one guy who used to live in the US and was deported because of some dangerous activity and became a Christian and gave up his drugs one year ago. It was fun to work with them and then see them singing praise and dancing at night.

Lynette runs the orphanage in town with her husband. She brought 3 kids who were such great kids. We got to know Omar, Angela and Gladis much better because of this trip. They are all about 14.

On the drive home, we stopped for a few hours to let the drivers sleep. Erin and I left our car for a while and our seat was taken by someone to sleep. So we decided to stay awake. We spent the time with Omar and another girl, Berenice. We played game and swatted moths. Berenice told us her story and she cried as she revealed some painful things in her life. Erin and I were so honored to hear her story and a little impressed that we were able to communicate in such a real way in Spanish.

My birthday was phenomenal. I awoke early to the stupid rooster and everyone remembered it was my birthday. (birthdays are big deals here in Latin America) At the work site, Erik, who was going to be preaching in the evening service, asked me if I would help him by singing From the Inside Out (Desde Mi Interior). This is the song that they let me sing during church services. I recruited our friend Jarilyn and Erin to sing with me. It was fun to sing.

We left the work site a little early to prepare for the song and the kids, Berenice, Angela, Gladis, and Priscilla all surprised me with a dousing of water and consequently a water fight. A Mexican tradition. Erin was asked if I would like it. She said yes. I did.

That night, after the church service (the church sang me happy birthday), we went home. One tradition of the trip is that a man named Rosario (who I call Chapito), hosts a shrimp feast. So we had two courses of delicious shrimp. Chapito gave me a very nice John Deere hat from his work and they brought me a cake. A tradition in Mexican culture is to take a bite of the cake. They chant, MORDIDA, MOR DI DA! Then you take a bite of the cake. When you bite it, you usually get your head skmooshed into it. And that is what happened. (I learned that if you don't get your head skmooshed, they put it on your face anyways) Berenice was the one who got me. (I get that piece where my face was....mmmm)

As we sat and enjoyed the company, an older man and Chapito, sang some traditional Mexican songs that were the perfect end to a day in Mexico.

All in all, I really enjoyed the trip. It was an amazing way to see Mexico, to serve, and to really do the work of the Lord. The side effects are very important as well. Erin and I really grew in our Spanish, we got to know people on a much more deeper level, and people got to know us. We truly feel that this trip is going to be significant to us as we continue to grow La Mision Ministries.

Thank you for supporting us and for all of your prayers.

Sinaloa, part 3

Monday November 9.

Went to a different church to build classrooms.

I (Chad) cut and bent rebar. Erin helped make cement for the bricks and wall foundations.

Had more shade at this work site.

Held an outdoor concert in the evening on a basketball court. Lots of music, dancing, and an invitation to know Jesus as your Savior. Several people accepted Christ. Including 5 older people.

Tuesday November 10.

Continued to work at this site for the remainder of the days.

Held a service for another church in the evening where we were working on the classrooms. I had technical difficulties with my bass and the service went on and on for 3 hours. I was not happy.

(more later...)

Sinaloa, part 2

November 7th. Sunday.

Church. We were staying in the back "yard" of the church of Pastor Ramon.

We set up for church there and our group performed a song, Aqui estoy yo, and I played bass. Our pastor, Gustavo, gave the sermon. At the end, they invited people to be baptized.

Two orphans from our church, Gladis and Angela, decided to be baptized.

Went to a river park. Had a baptism service and a picnic lunch.

Went back to our first work site and held another church service where we did the pinata the night before.

This church meets under a shelter with no walls. (which is why we were building them new one)

A man from another church became a Christian and wanted to repent of his sins to his wife and child. He cried and repented by getting on his knees. The people prayed for him and when I opened my eyes, his wife and daughter were hugging him in tears. Very powerful.

Kids on bikes stopped by and watched from the road.

Served dinner. Hot dogs and Kool-aid.

Went to someone's backyard for dinner.

Mission Sinaloa

Here are the events of our trip. We are going to be blogging a lot about this trip. We want to write it down so that we can look back on it and process through telling our story.

November 5th. 4:30am

Woke up.

People from the church came to the church to send us off.

Were on the road by around 6am.

Erin and I were in the back seat of a pick up truck with Helio. Three people up front. I don't know if I am going to survive.

Stopped at lots of gas stations. All of them are Pemex. Owned by the government. Saw a vikings hat. It was spelled VICKINGS. Didn't buy it. 100 pesos.

Had tamales at one of the stops.
Stopped and slept from midnight to 3am.

November 6th.

29 people, 4 vehicles, 28 hours in vehicle. And there we were in Sinaloa.

Arrived in Sinaloa at about 1pm. Stopped at a truck stop so we could all shower.

Got to the church at 2:30pm. Hot. Very hot.

Greeted by many people from the church.

Set up our tent. We were in church clothes. Shouldn't have been.

Went into town to see the sights.

Went to bed.

November 7th.
Woke up to a rooster at 5am that sounded like it was on my face. Everyone wanted to eat it for dinner.

Went to 1st work site.

A foundation was dug. But they kept changing their minds. Everytime someone came by, they told us a different way to do things. Many people their knew exactly what they were doing. Many had different ideas as to what WE were doing collectively.

Worked hard digging the foundation. Super hot. Not much shade. Stopped for lunch. A chicken feast in someone's backyard.

Returned to work and kept filling the holes with cement, rocks and rebar. Worked until the sun was past set.

Went to another site and had a pinata for the kids and invited them to church for the next night. (sunday)

Went home. Took a bucket shower. Snack and bed time.

(continued on next blog)

Prayers needed

For many years, the church here in La Mision has taken a group to serve a church in Sinaloa. Sinaloa is a state located in the west central part of the mainland of Mexico. (as shown in red in the map)

They pack up their cars and take the 20+ hour trip to serve a very poor part of their country. Erin and I really wanted to go on this trip, but we weren't sure if this was something that God wanted us to do.

A couple of Sundays ago, we attended the planning meeting for the trip and saw all of the wonderful people that were going to serve, and we felt God telling us to go. Not only would this be a good chance to serve a poor community, but a tremendous opportunity to get to know the people of our community better, and for them to get to know us.

We will be leaving on November 5th and driving in a caravan down to Guasave, Sinaloa. (in the northwest of Sinaloa) We will work for 7 or 8 days doing hard labor and then putting on a church service for the community every night. We will sleep in tents and work really hard. We return on November 14th. (yep, my birthday will be spent in Sinaloa!!!!)

Even though I am fully convinced that this is the will of God, I am nervous. It is very unknown and not comfortable. I am also not the group leader, so I don't feel in control. (which sadly is what I am most nervous about) Please join us in prayer as we try to serve and be a blessing to the community of Sinaloa and our own as well. Pray that we would grow and experience God in a new and fresh way.

Washington Group

Nancy, the chair of our board

The group served breakfast to 100 kids at the dump in Tijuana

We squished the group in our car

The group went to town to buy furnishings for a new house

Eight years ago, Nancy Ekrem cornered me at church and said that she wanted to be a leader on the mission trip. It was my first at Lake Forest Park Church. Her son, Greg, was going on the trip and so I made sure that it was OK with him. And then said yes! That was the start of a beautiful friendship!

Our first trip was to La Mision. And we both fell in love with the community. Nancy has continued the relationship with La Mision through visits with her family for Easter, special events, and even sent Greg, her son, down here for weeks at a time during the summer to serve and eat.

That is why she is the chair of our board. She truly loves the people here and sees the need for us to partner with the church to serve the community.

This past weekend, she brought a small group of people to serve once again. They were such a blessing to us and the community. They helped to furnish a house, fed lunch to our congregation after church, served breakfast to children at the dump in Tijuana, and worked on the church.

We spent the nights talking about breathing new life into our faith and had a special time of communion.

This group is a reminder that you really need to come down here to experience what we are a part of. The community, the joy, the worship. You will fall in love with it.

Think about coming down to visit us. Whether you bring a group, or just want to come for a long weekend to get out of the winter, we would love to talk to you about it.

Adventure to Mexicali

Sign on the bus. Who is Anton?
A much nicer field. Turf.

Memo. After a tough loss, and an injury.

This is Yahir. He caught the touchdown pass.

The three hour bus ride didn't seem so long. We drove through a beautiful mountain pass, called La Rumarosa. Rocks were everywhere on the mountains and we could see across an entire dessert. It was breathtaking. But I was nervous. Once again, I didn't know what to expect. They told me it was going to be hot, and that the team was good. But that is all.
We got there, and it was hot. But not too hot. Mexicali is often over 100 degrees. But today it was only 95. So we warmed up in the shade and tried to stay cool.

We battled. The other team, the Lobos (which means wolves), scored first. But we fought back and scored our own TD with a 45 yard pass from Oliver to Yahir. We even drove again after an interception and missed a field goal before halftime. We went into the half tied at 6-6. That's when the injuries started happening. We lost our center, Memo....our giant, Julio....our fullback, Varela, and our stud running back, Jaime. All at once. We were scrounging to put people in place. We don't really have any depth at any position. We usually only have enough time at practice to teach the first stringers how to play. And sometimes those people don't even show up to games.

We ended up losing 18-6. Coach Tony called the principal to tell him and he was excited. He thought that we should have been blown out. This team won the championship last year (apparently) and the league officials came and told us that other teams were talking about us, saying that we were good. Tony was excited because last year they didn't score until the fourth game and they were losing by 40 or 50 points.

That felt good. I like to hear about progress. But I still don't like to lose. Last Monday, after our first game that we lost, I was mad. I was grumpy and told them how much I didn't like to lose and asked them how we were going to create a culture of winning. I don't know if that was what helped, but I do know that they practiced better and started to see that we could play a lot better.

This was the only game where we have to play in Mexicali. I am glad for this. I didn't return home until 11pm. Most of the games will be played in Tijuana or Tecate. I am excited about the game this Saturday...

New Home

Last March, a group came down from Seattle and we built a foundation for a house. This house would be for three families who migrated here from further south and work in the fields. They built a little house on the side, which is barely standing up.

This past week, a group visited the orphanage, and they had them continue our project and built a house on the foundation.

Here is a picture of the house and the temporary shelter on the left.

Another group is currently working to paint it and drywall the inside. It should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Progress takes time. But it sure feels good when it happens. Many times we would drive by the foundation and think of the hard work that Calvary Fellowship and the church put in to make this happen. Now we can see a house, built on that strong foundation.

The house is supposedly going to be home for three families and a total of 14 people. The weather is just starting to get cold, so I am glad that the timing of this happened when it did.

First Game for Cuervos Tomorrow!

As the wife to Coach Chad, I offer a slightly different perspective on what it means to serve the football team. Chad is gone for practice from 6pm to 11pm three nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and now has games on Saturdays or Sundays (usually taking up the whole day). While this a large time committment for him, I am proud that he has been so dedicated to the team and the guys. My role has changed as the season has progressed. Initially, I had to encourage him because he would be a little nervous to go to the beginning practices where he was the only coach. Now usually he is excited, but sometimes he just is tired so like last night I gave him a quick massage, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and he was on his way. When he walks in the door around 11pm, while tired, he is always energized and that is how I know he is being used by the Lord and serving with his heart. And I enjoy getting the debriefing, about how practice went: the frustrations, triumphs, joys, etc.

If you know Chad, you know one of his passions in life is football, and I am happy that he is using his knowledge about the game as well as his skills with youth. One of the best things to see about the progress of his coaching as well as the team is their excitement and energy. For a lot of the guys on the team, football is the reason they are staying in school and its a blessing, as well as a big responsibility, that the team has coaches like Chad, Helio, and Tony to look up to. The video above was from their first practice game against a team from Tecate "The Dragones". Tomorrow they play their first regulation game in Tijuana against "The Osos": (da Bears) And I will be there cheering on the sidelines! Go Cuervos!

Thursday Night Church

Pastor Gustavo, his wife Elizabeth, Erin and Chad

Tonight, the band consisted of Ernesto on bass, Pastor Gustavo on electric guitar, Lynette on the keys, Luis on drums. Elvira, Pastora Elizabeth and Benito sing, and I play acoustic guitar.

Every Thursday, our church gets together for worship and message from either Pastor Gustavo or a guest speaker. Worship was a little rough tonight. We tried a new song tonight and we had a difficult time getting the rhythm. The bass, played by Ernesto, was extra loud. I just learned that he has two extra woofers under the stage besides the one on the stage. It has a tendency to shake my feet while I play the guitar.
After the service, I spoke with Gonzalo and his family about his work and how he has a job for the next couple of weeks. I was glad to hear that. He has been unable to pay for his water bill and trying to find work to feed his wife and three kids. Just after this, I spoke with Elizabeth, or as she is called, the Pastora. She was telling me how worried she is about money and that she wanted us to pray for her. The church is currently housing 13 people. She feeds them everyday and it is getting to be quite a burden.
There is so much unemployment here. I get the sense that our town needs hope. A hope that is bigger than financial stability. I think of the early church in Acts that sold all of their land and lived together as a community. The hope that spills into all parts of our lives.
The question is, where is this going to come from? I believe that we (La Mision Ministries) are in the midst of working toward that goal of empowering someone in this community to be the voice of hope in this hard economic time.

Viva Mexico! Mexican Independence Day September 16th

El Grito: Mexican Independence Day

Circled around the bonfire during dinner

Playing a game , one of three that night

Circled in worship

Erin (being weird) with Gabriel, note that hat was the balloon that went into the fire...

Erin with Jarilyn (a volunteer at Door of Faith Orphanage)

Many of you may be asking yourselves, isn’t Mexican Independence Day have something to do with Cinco de Mayo? And I say no!



Tidbit of interesting information: the 5th of May is just a regional holiday celebrated by the State of Puebla commemorating a victorious battle that was unlikely to be won… (thank you Wikipedia) mostly though as an American you know about Cinco de Mayo and have never heard of the 16th of September as having any significance.



However, the 16th of September commemorates Mexico’s Independence from Spain.
We were invited to join in the celebration by our good friends from church. Miriam Galaviz, who I (Erin) work with at Siloe Community Clinic and her family, had the party at their house out in the courtyard. The party started at 9pm. Mostly the party was attended by people from Templo Elim church. We arrived and everyone was seated in a circle around a bonfire.

Our good friend Yolanda and her husband Jose just celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary this past Sunday, and Chad and I were invited but decided not to go… When I approached Yolanda at the party, she crossed her arms at me and turned her head away and said that she waited for me but I never came, and she was sad. I felt bad, but luckily after the festivities of the evening, laughter, fellowship, and maybe as a result of my homemade chocolate chip cookies I won her over and we parted good friends.

We started with a few worship songs led by Pastor Gustavo. I felt so comfortable there, worshiping God in Spanish. I surprised myself a little, as I knew most of the songs by heart, which just made joining in the worship that much more meaningful. After worship ended, a few people shared some things they were grateful to God for or that God was teaching them.
After worship ended we gave El Grito, (woo-hoo!) the cry of Independence…which signifies a reenactment of how a leader of the Independence movement rang the bell of his church to call everyone to join in the war for independence against Spain…the war lasted 10 years.

Then we shared a meal together, Chad almost ate pig skin…luckily he asked our friend Helio what it was. We played a few games and had lots of laughter. One of my favorite games is a countdown game, where if you are left without a partner at the end you have to dance around as an electrified chicken. It’s hilarious.
We stayed until 1am, staying together to commemorate the start of the day of Independence (kind of like New Year’s Eve) and we threw a woven balloon hat (like a balloon animal) into the fire which gave off a series of celebratory pops.

Happy Independence Mexico!

Well, we didn't win. We didn't score. My first offensive coordinator gig (if you don't count the pee-wee league I coached at in Northfield during college at St. Olaf).

We didn't allow a touchdown in the first half but we lost 20-0. Their size and stamina just wore us down.

As I look at it, the game did what we wanted it to do. It was a wakeup call and we were outplayed in the second half. We now can see more what we have to work on.

On another note....after the game, the regional assistant director of the football league met with us coaches and said that they were going to buy us away jerseys and some extra equipment. The league believes that if they work with schools, they are able to help motivates young men to have disciplines and stay away from the drug realm.

I was so excited about that. Here I was in Mexico, looking to raise leaders to serve and follow Christ, and I find myself coaching football, because I love it.

Continue to pray for us as we try to win, but also try to motivate these young men.

(ps, I was invited to go drinking with the team after....which seems weird, but the ones that invited me can legally drink.)

(pss I said no)

First game tomorrow

This is me with head coach, Tony, and Helio

Erin and I haven't blogged in a while. We just got back from seeing our friend Sean Whiting get married in California. It was a great wedding, but we were glad to get back home.

It feels more and more like home down here.

It's Friday night. I just got home from practice. I just found out that the head coach, Tony, is not going to be there tomorrow because he couldn't get away from work.

Helio (pronounce el-lee-oh) is a friend of mine. He lives here at the church. I have known since my first trip down here. He asked if he could come with me to practice a month ago and won over coach Tony with his knowledge of the game. Now, he is coming to every practice.

As a result, we are the only two coaches that will be there tomorrrow and I am very grateful that Helio will be there!

Football is not the most important thing that I am doing down here in Mexico. But tonight, I really had a sense of peace about how right it is that I am in the place that I am.

Not long ago, I came to practice and just spent some time playing in the dirt. Now I am a coach. I have earned the respect of all but 3, maybe 4, players. Tomorrow we get to see what we have, and what we don't.

I will write more about our first game, but I just wanted to capture the feeling of peace and courage that I have about coaching football in Mexico...

Life in Mexico for us

We stopped by the house of Gonzalo and his fam


Here I am wearing Adrian as a sombrero

This is Erin with Griselda (picture taken by Efren)

Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, it hit me that we were in Mexico. We had just finished watching a TV show on DVD and had to blare the sound because the "circus," which is right next door, performs every night and cranks their music from 8 to 11:30pm. We weren't able to do the dishes because the water was turned off, and flushing means going outside and getting a bucket full of water from a barrel (it's back on this morning). So, after brushing my teeth with a glass of drinking water, Erin looked for bugs to kill (only one big one last night and a little mosquito), and then we went to sleep with the dogs barking both near and far.

I don't bring this up to complain. Just the opposite. I love it. I love everything about it. Plus, we know so many people who are in much worse circumstances. We just went over to Gonzalo's and his family on Sunday afternoon. The kids were just taking a bath and getting ready for the start of school. It was going to be the first day of kinder for the twins. Gonzalo told us that he had been working for someone for the past three weeks but they hadn't paid him until just now. Because of this, they had to skip church to go and buy the uniforms for the kids, and they couldn't afford to pay the water bill, which was shut off.

Erin and I love this family, but we don't really know what to do. We want to help, but we don't have money enough to pay for their bills, and we don't know what God wants us to do. We also know many other families who are in this situation. Is it right for us to help this family just because we are closer to them and not others?

The only conclusion that we came to is that entering into their situation with compassion and sympathy is doing something. We know that we will continue to give what we can to them, and they will likely continue to make us food as well. But our problems seem so small compared to theirs. And yet, they have incredible joy that is beyond their circumstances. We continue to pray for them and to have God do what God does...

That is what I am learning. Life is made up of so much more than what we have and what is comfortable. There is a certain richness to living life here, a richness that I am learning about more and more...

A new direction

Here I (chad) sit.
I just finished my cup of coffee. The breeze is coming in through the window, smelling like fresh air or burning garbage. Erin is at the clinic downstairs. I am currently soaking pinto beans. Its my first time trying to make them.
I just read through the first half of the book of Acts. I am trying to imagine what it would be like to be there. Everything is new. Jesus just left. The disciples, while Jesus was with them, were always confused, close to faith, but not quite there. Peter walked on water, but then sank when he doubted. And now he was asked to lead the Church.
So they get together. They pray like crazy. They put all of their belongings together. And they start to proclaim boldly what they had seen, and what the Holy Spirit was doing.
So I started thinking. We are down here in La Mision. I would say that I don't know why. Erin and I just heard the voice of God tell us to go, and so we went. Now we are here. We both believe that we are here to spread the message and Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we don't know how. We also believe that we can only do a little, but if we raise up leaders to spread the Gospel, the message could continue to spread further and further.
On my way to football practice, I heard a podcast sermon by Francis Chan. He talked about his dream of a church that consisted of only co-workers. The Church is made up of a lot of people asking for something or trying to be "fed." But we should be more interested in joining as a team to accomplish our common mission. This not only creates a bond between us, but it also enables us to be more effective.
So I started thinking, what if I would assemble a team of people down here who get together and pray like crazy, and listen to the Holy Spirit, and RESPOND...?

I started thinking about the people I know that I would like to invite and I started getting excited. What if we joined together as a team of coworkers and began to boldly respond to the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus left, they didn't have a plan. They didn't have many traditions. They couldn't ask Jesus to explain his parables directly. Instead, they prayed. They responded. They healed. They got arrested. They got killed. They lived fully in the midst of the Holy Spirit and they did things that were new.
It is time for us to begin to build our team of followers. A team that is led by the Holy Spirit. Humbly responding. Working together to encourage, uplift, and seek the newness of what God plans to do in La Mision.

When the Circus comes to town, you gotta go.

On Saturday, a couple of trucks pulled into our neighborhood, right next to our church compound. On Sunday evening, they blared out of their speakers that they were ready, and would be putting on their show at 8:45pm (which of course, means at least 9:15pm in Mexico). So Erin and I asked the Pachecos if we should go, and they said they didn't know but we should tell them how it is.

So we walked over to it. Some guys had parked their horses in front and most other people walked. We payed our $4 and got our 5 pesos in return and we sat. We saw some kids we knew from the church and didn't know too many other people.

Soon the show started. It consisted of a guy who was funny and attempted slapstick comedy and the hypnotist, a young boy and a young girl.

All in all, we were not too happy. The one guy was funny and the people seemed to laugh, but the young kids were not funny and the little girl did a dance that just seemed wrong. The hypnotist finally came on and no one was willing to volunteer. They ended with a crossdressing dance/lip sync and we then were able to leave. No lions, no bearded ladies, no trapeze acts=no good. I am glad we went, but not for the entertainment value, just for the experience of seeing how people try to make a living moving town to town.

This week...

Sunday:
Church was nice. A pastor from Canada gave the sermon.
After church, Erin and I joined the Pachecos and many others to watch the US play Mexico in soccer. Elizabeth bet me dinner that Mexico would win. I took her bet. I wanted her to win so we could make her and Gustavo dinner, but I honestly thought she had no chance.
Our whole starting team didn't make the trip. I still thought we would win. But they beat us. They beat us good. 5-0. In football, that is like losing 92-0. There was joy in Mexico. We didn't share that joy. It was fun to be a part of that. They really do like that Erin and I like to watch and play soccer. They like that we root for our team. They REALLY like it when we root for our team and when their team beats our team. Elizabeth said that we can make anything for her, except spaghetti.
Monday:
I was coerced (Erin wants me to say joyfully offered my services to other children of the Lord) into helping to go to the US to pick up some medical equipment for the clinic. On our way up to California, we went through the border. Brendan has something called a Sentri Pass. It is awesome. Instead of an hour at the border, it only took him 8 minutes. You can buy this pass and it saves you time as long as you don't even dare to bring anyone or anything across the border. (one person lost the pass because they brought one avocado) As a result, I jumped out of the van and walked through the pedestrian line. They randomly stopped me and searched my person. I was thoroughly searched. No cavity checks, but let's just say that guy owes me dinner.
We proceeded to Oceanside and back twice, collecting beds and counters and bookshelves. I missed football practice, so I decided to go on Tuesday.
Tuesday:
Erin had clinic in the morning. 9am-1pm. After that, she made a house call with Sarah and her friend Allan to help a guy with an infection. And went out to lunch.
I went to football practice. When I got there, the coach, Tony, suggested we head to Tijuana to play football with his flag football team. I agreed.
Since there was only seven players there that night, we loaded Tony's car and mine, and headed to Tijuana. We stuffed Julio (the gentle giant) into my front seat.
We practiced football under the semi-lit field and did some drills. The guys on Tony's team helped out lineman and our quarterback and then we played some flag football. Our quarterback, Oliver, is starting to get better. It will be exciting to see him develop.
We played until 10pm and then headed back to Rosarito. I asked the guys if they wanted some tacos and they showed me a great place. It was fun to buy them all some food and a bottle of coke or sprite. They seemed grateful. I know I was.
I didn't get home until 11:15pm. Erin was a little worried, but not too much. I was praying that she wouldn't be, since I had no way to communicate to her.
Wednesday:
Today, I got a haircut. Gabriel and I went to get our hairs cut. Since Gabriel bought mine last time, I decided to repay the favor. 90 pesos bought us both a nice new dew. (about 7 bucks)
Then Erin and I went to the daycare center for children's church. Since many of their kids were at a camp in Rosarito, there were only 7 kids. There was also a group there that was going to run the service. So we decided to head back home.
At about 3:15pm, Erin and I had our first Spanish lesson. We asked Sofy if she would spend some time each day speaking Spanish with us. So she joined us for 45 minutes and we conversed about stuff, as she corrected our Spanish. We are excited to be able to expedite our learning process.
Thursday:
Tomorrow we are going to the US for a wedding. My friend, Nick Shupper, is getting married in Malibu. His family allowed me to live in their backhouse during seminary for $100 a month. I am looking forward to catching up with them during this exciting time for them.
Suggested reading:
By the way, I am reading Irresistible Revolution. It is very inspiring.

Jacumé

This past Sunday I (Erin) went to Jacumé, a small town on the outskirts of Tecate. I went with Sarah Mayer, the physician assistant who treats patients in La Mision through Siloe Clinic, a no-cost medical clinic: ( http://www.siloeclinic.org/ ). I volunteer at the clinic Tuesdays and Thursdays. We also went with her friend and colleague Allan Bedashi, who is a physician assistant and interested in missionary medicine. We left early Sunday morning and drove to the Tecate border and met up with a group of six students who have formed a non-profit organization called Students without Borders ( http://www.studentswithoutborders.us/ )

Bobby was our contact and the leader of the group. He created the non-profit and is a student at Cal State Fullerton. I think from the group, Bobby was the only one really interested in practicing medicine in the future, which made it interesting as none of the other students had any medical experience. However, two of the students helped translate and everyone else had been taught to take vitals or asked questions about medications in order do their job.

Picture from convenience store at the Tecate Border

Once we had met, Bobby led us about 30 minutes outside of Tecate and turned onto a dirt road. Even though in La Mision we have dirt roads, we are close to the highway, but in contrast, when we turned onto this dirt road in Jacumé there was no sign of life in any direction. This town was very small and very remote. As we drove into the center of town there were many abandoned buildings and farms along the way. Everything was very spread out, in contrast to the close proximity of houses in La Mision. Jacume is also Ejido land, meaning it is owned communally and has been owned by generations of the people who now live on it. Their land can’t be sold but only handed down to family. We followed the road for quite a while until we came upon a few houses and what looked like a school.

We pulled up next to a small building that was the community center for the town. The clinic is only open once a month, so for the rest of the time the community uses it to hold parties or meetings. Students without Borders used one room as a storage room for medicine and supplies. The other room was where patients were seen by doctors. And the main common room served as the waiting room as well as triage station where students took vitals on the patients.

View of town from Community Center

Jacumé is out in the desert, so as I got out of the car to unload the medical supplies we had brought, I realized it was at least 100 degrees, hot…and I felt really glad I had bought a second bottle of water when we stopped at the convenience store at the Tecate border crossing. Out in this remote part of the desert, during the summer, the town only gets water two hours in the morning and two hours at night. Before Students without Borders started bringing doctors every month, the government would send someone to see patients every three months, and only allowed 5 patients to be seen, so medical care was definitely a need for this town of about 500 people.
We started seeing patients around noon and didn’t stop until 3pm. During that three hours of clinic I did urinalysis on several patients, an ear irrigation (lots of wax build up came out!), and just helped where help was needed. Sarah and Allan took the time to explain or show me some of the more interesting cases they had. And Sarah had brought her 4 month old daughter Noemi along so I also got to hold her some of the time while Sarah saw patients. We were busy the entire time, so even though it was hot, the time passed quickly, there was always something to do. And I think we ended up seeing around 30-40 patients in those 3 hours. We packed up a little after 3, took a picture of the group in front of the building and drove home. The students were driving back to the US and we were headed back to La Mision. I was grateful I was able to help out at this clinic and get to experience a new part of Mexico.

Picture of us infront of the community building with Students without Borders (Erin in green, Sarah holding Noemi, and Allan to her right)

Prayer Requests July 20-26

This week please pray for:

-Wisdom regarding details, leaders, regularity of youth group

-Initial phase of writing a grant to raise money for potential internet café

-Strength for Chad as he is recovering from being sick

Siloe Clinic: Sarah Mayer's colleague, Allan Bedashi, also a physician assistant, will be seeing patients with Sarah this week, please pray that God would bless their work and their patients. For more information about Siloe Clinic visit: http://www.siloeclinic.org/

This past Sunday, July 19 Erin, Allan and Sarah, went to Jacumé, a small town, 15 minutes outside of Tecate to provide medical care with the non-profit group:
Students Without Borders (http://www.studentswithoutborders.us/ ), who also brought a group of about 6 students to volunteer their services for the day. It was a great experience, even though it was over 100 degrees, we were able to provide care to over 30 people. I will write a little more about this experience later.

Allan and Sarah seeing patients at the clinic in Jacumé, Sunday July 19.

Attack!

Yesterday, I was helping my friend, Brendan, put up some plaques and credentials on the wall of the clinic. We needed a drill bit for the concrete, so I went over to the drill bit station here at the church for my drill.

There are two guard dogs here at the church. They stay hooked on their chains most of the time. Brava (which means fierce) is a little Doberman, is a young dog. She likes to bark at random times in the day, and most of the night. She will bark if there is a horse in the area (which is often) and whenever another dog is barking (which is almost always). I am pretty sure she gets quiet when questionable people come around. Ironic.

The other dog, Mogley, is a big Rottweiler. He weighs close to a hundred pounds, maybe more, and is old. His teeth don't work so good, and when he barks, it is more of a howl. He has been a good guard dog.

When I went in to get the concrete bit, I stopped and pet Brava. I don't do this very often, but I like to when I am able to wash my hands soon after. I even taught her how to sit. Even though she just sits and then rolls onto her back.

This particular petting, made Mogley extra jealous. He hasn't been pet in a while. So I proceded on, and Mogley, seeing that I was out of chain range, took a full head of steam and plowed right through the chain's power (which broke) and launched at my legs.

I hate to admit it, but I screamed a little; the kind of scream that would have been louder if I hadn't lost my breath.

Luckily, Mogley didn't kill me. I was too close to react and so Mogley only ended up taking out one of my legs and then going to get Brava. I stepped on the chain and he came back and calmed down quickly. I managed to fake the confidence to pretend like Mogley was a good boy and that he just wanted to be pet, not to eat me. It worked.

I managed to tie him up again after giving him a lot of badly needed attention. It took me another five minutes to regain my optimum heart rate.

As I went down to go to take pictures of the dogs (just now), I found out that Mogley bit another guy today. I saw his pants completely ripped and he was limping. I guess his teeth do work. Yikes!!!!!