Finally, the resting, blogging, and unpacking begins!
...Or so I hope.
And now, the blog I've been extremely excited to post about... MEXICO!!!
Here goes nothing..
I went into the week of Mexico expecting to grow closer to the Lord, help a church, and hoping to remember most of my high school Spanish. I was nervous, and besides for those few things, I had no idea what to expect. My friends who had gone before told me stories about past experiences, but nothing really prepared me for what was to come. I was extremely eager to get the week started, and now I can say that feeling is an understatement of what I should have felt..
The minute we crossed the border into Mexico, I had one of those "we're not in Kansas anymore" moments. The lifestyle there is so much different than our American way, and that was obvious from the get go; graffiti absolutely everywhere, dogs, and trash. Coming from America where we have so much, whether we like to believe it or not, the houses just didn't look livable.
Because we didn't get into camp until after dark, Sunday morning was the first time I actually saw the campsite. It was beautiful! Yes, we were in tents, and there were no showers (this was actually the first year with running toilets), but I almost felt spoiled at that campsite. We were in the hills (which is probably about as high past sea level as we are here in Fresno), and you could see the fog on it's way out. Such a wonderful thing to see.
We did a lot of fun things during the week, including La Bufadora, almost-daily trips to the taco stand, and Calimax every morning to get unbelievably delicious tortillas and avocados. But ultimately, we weren't there for vacation. I mean, at times it felt like a vacation just because of how much fun the people, kids, and worship songs were, but we were there for God. We were there to spread his love to the children from our church in Mexico, and, you know, I think we made Him proud.
There were a ton of things that I learned/experienced on this trip, but because I don't want to bore you with the longest blog post known to mankind, I'm just going to focus on the ones that impacted me the most..
First, the lack of technology. I thought, for sure, that I was going to go crazy without the use of the internet, my computer, or my phone. I amazed myself by the fact that I didn't even WANT to use any of those things. I could have used my phone, but I didn't. It stayed on airplane mode all week (except on Father's Day when I called my dad, and on the last day when I called my mom to let her know I was still alive. Ha). It was almost liberating to know that if I had no technology, I'd be okay. I was surrounded by people and so focused on the mission that Chandler (my phone) wasn't even a thought in my mind.
I also still think about the kids, and Lupita and Enrique (the pastors) ALL the time. They were all so wonderful and I could truly see Jesus in the ways they acted. They honestly don't have many materialistic things, but that doesn't stop them. The kids would just light up when we came around. I had a really hard time with the language barrier, but they still found ways to open up to me and make me feel like they truly cared for all of us. Lupita and Enrique were so grateful for us being there, but I think by the end, we were all grateful for them. It was so incredibly hard to leave them on Thursday. We grew so attached, and learned so so so so much from them that it just felt impossible to leave them.
What I feel was most important from the trip, is my growth with God. I'm honestly choking up as I write this because the trip did so many things for my relationship with Him! There was only one moment in the entire week where I didn't feel him, and that was because of my own problem I was having where I was focusing on something I shouldn't have been. He was just so present during the week. I mean, we went to Mexico without an interpreter, prayed for one, and within an hour we were given the most amazing interpreter, and friend, David. That's just so amazing!
We had chapel twice a day, with long, but very moving messages, and we just always made sure to keep our focus on God. One morning we got to go anywhere on the property that we wanted and we were given a scripture to read. I took advantage of the 'anywhere' and found a giant rock with a beautiful view. I wish I could find my notebook right now because I'd love to share what I read about, but I just can't.
A few of the night chapels were so moving they brought me to tears. We had a candlelight service, and on the last night we nailed our burdens to the cross. I think that was the final step in me letting go of my past, and I will never forget that night. Harley and I did ours together, and after hearing her talk about how similar we felt about our past, I couldn't have been luckier than to partner up with her. We had trouble getting ours in there, so it caused a little laughter, but it was a very serious, and like I continue to say, moving moment.
All in all, I was extremely blessed to have been able to go on that missions trip. I plan on going to many more, and even hope to go to some other mission trips to other parts of the world. I was surrounded by the greatest group of people, all of whom were already my friends, or became my friends.
I think that we were all at our most vulnerable state that week, and the fact that it didn't hurt any friendships, in fact it made them stronger, is saying something about our small group of 16.
I'm so happy I got to be a part of their learning experience.
The last night we all talked about the trip, and just said any thoughts that came to our mind. I won't get into detail, but one person said that they get on the 'Mexico Jesus high' and come back home, something happens, and they lose that excitement. They wanted all of us to hold them accountable when we got back, but I think that could be said about us all. We all need to hold each other accountable, because if we stay on that Mexico Jesus high, shoot, we can do anything. It's just the best feeling, and I don't want to lose it.
So that's my trip. It was so liberating and I can't wait until next year. I pray for those kids as often as possible, and it's my goal to keep them on the right track.
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