Two Weeks Ago Today

Posted by Pastor Terry

It is hard to imagine that two weeks ago today (right now even) we were preparing for landing and getting off the plane in Mexico City. What an amazing couple of weeks, and it will take a few days/weeks for all of us to fully unpack what we saw, learned, and are becoming because of what God did with us and through us.

Thank you for your prayers and support along this journey. They have meant more than words can express.

There is a song by the group MercyMe on their new album - The Generous Mr. Lovewell, that really speaks to what I think our team went through landing in Mexico City, and now back home in Edmonton. The lyrics are:

This Life – The Generous Mr. Lovewell – MercyMe

This is not my home 

(This is not my space) 

This is not my style 

(This is not my place)  

Can't get comfortable 

(Can’t get settled in) 

Simply don’t belong 

(Can’t get used to this)  

But I’m here right now 

(I can hear you say) 

Make the most of Me 

(This wont go to waste) 

If I’m out of my mind 

(Yeah its all for Christ) 

If I’m making sense

(Then get it right)  

Every moment is a chance 

To let your light break through  

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine 

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine  

I don’t have to stall 

(I don’t have to wait) 

Don’t have to bide my time 

(Till I make my escape) 

Cuz heavens in my heart 

(I wont settle for less) 

I will lift your name 

(By the life I live)  

Every moment is a chance 

To let your light break through  

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine 

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine  

It’s in my heart 

It’s in my soul 

I’ll live everyday 

Just to make you known  

Cuz this life

This life was meant to 

Meant to shine  

Hold your heads up high 

This is our moment to rise 

We were meant to shine 

Not just survive  

Hold your heads up high 

This is our moment to rise 

We were meant to shine 

Not just survive  

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine 

This life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to shine  

It’s in my heart 

It’s in my soul 

I’ll live everyday 

Just to make you known  

Cuz this life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to 

Meant to shine  

It’s in my heart 

It’s in my soul 

I’ll live everyday 

Just to make you known  

Cuz this life (oh oh oh oh) 

This life was meant to 

Meant to shine 

oh oh oh oh  

We were meant to shine!

I am so proud of each and every member of the team. They really did let their light shine on this trip. They allowed God to shine through them and to receive from God what they needed each and every day to make the most of the situations they were presented with. We also saw some very special people to each of us who showed us the love of Jesus in the way they lived their lives. Here are some pictures of those special people to us as a team. People we miss terribly.

Juan & Amanda Luna

Edgar & Noe

Edgar, Jaime, Juan - the 3 Amigos

Amanda sharing the Gospel

Noe - an amazing example of someone with a "servant heart"

Pastor Juan

Yolanda

Isaac & Vivis

Oscar & Luis

Jaime, Jose, Oscar, Jose's brother

Sara, Yvonne, Jose, Jaime

Kathrine, Lupita, Obed

Edgar

Sara

Guiereni

Our amazing cooks during construction!

Prayer Request: Please continue to pray for health and healing for the team as we adjust to being back in Canada. We all experienced some form of illness (team cold) while we were gone, and our bodies are trying to recover from all they have been through. Pray that we would be healthy and would not have any lingering effects of any illness.

Thank you again for your partnership in this grand adventure.

Blessings,

Pastor Terry

2 comments »

On the plane in PHX

Posted by Pastor Terry

Here we come. Last flight. See you soon.

Terry

Sent from my iPhone

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In Phoenix

Posted by Pastor Terry

We just landed in Phoenix. It's raining - which makes 13 straight days with rain! :-)

Sent from my iPhone

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On plane bound for PHX

Posted by Pastor Terry

Sent from my iPhone

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Thru customs w/ ready eyes

Posted by Pastor Terry

Waiting to board our flight in Mexico City.

Sent from my iPhone

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All checked in

Posted by Pastor Terry

All checked in and now the hard part.

Saying adios to loved ones!

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At MEX

Posted by Pastor Terry

We are all here and getting ready to check-in. The goodbyes r yet to come.

Sent from my iPhone

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Group 2 headed to airport

Posted by Pastor Terry

They are back from the first trip (60 minutes round trip - PTL) and the rest of us are now on our way to the airport.

Sent from my iPhone

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The time has come

Posted by Pastor Terry

The time has come for us to head home. We are headed out in two trips. The 1st has a few students & leaders & all our luggage. The 2nd (hopefully in 90 minutes) will be the rest of the team.

Pray for good traffic conditions please.

Sent from my iPhone

1 comments »

Coming Home

Posted by Pastor Terry

Hard to believe but in 24 hours we'll be on the last leg of our trip home. And I just had to say goodbye to Sara Becerra so I'm feeling pretty emotional.

It's been such an immensely full day and 12 days. The team finished the roof on that section of the building today before the rain started, praise the Lord!

The Roof on Tuesday afternoon

Wednesday morning pouring concrete

Moving cement the old fashioned way - 1 bucket at a time.

I wanted to write to you friends and families about some of the re-entry process and what it might be like for your family member coming home. This is not an exhaustive list, and not ever person will feel all of these things, but I thought it might help you to know.

- They will be incredibly tired. This has been the busiest of the 3 trips Terry has taken the team on. Some of that was due to knowing our hosts more and them wanting to give more to us by taking us places etc. And some of it was due to the combination of VBS and construction. Lots of sleep will probably be needed.

- Because of the busy nature of these days, students haven't had much time to think over or "distill" some of the things they have learned and experienced. This is probably the most important part of the trip, and it may come slowly. Having them talk over what they saw, experienced, did, felt, learned, going through pictures with you, describing things will be helpful to them. Encourage them to talk, journal, spend time thinking.

- The team has been immersed in Mexican culture 24/7 for 12 days straight. The only English they have heard is from their team members. Canada/Edmonton will feel strange to them. Re-entry into the culture they came from is often just as difficult as it was coming into this new culture. This will take a patient process, for some it will come easier, for some it might be more difficult.

- Saying goodbye to these people has been hard on the team. I wish we could have each one of you here with us so you could have a snapshot of the relationships and bonds they have built with the Nationals, and if you were here you'd have them too! These people love deeply, freely and completely generously. We have laughed so hard together, cried together and prayed together. Ask them about people they've met and let them tell you stories.

- Don't be surprised if you hear dis-satisfaction from the team for they way we live as Canadians. Please do not take this personally. They've seen a lot and it's changed their perspective. Each of them needs to find new ways to take their experience and learn from it and live it out in Edmonton. Things like how much we waste, how much we have. They've seen humble circumstances and have seen how amazing these people are and how they live despite what they "don't have". It's likely impacted them.

- They've developed a very rare yet precious closeness to the mission team. They "get" each other because of their shared experiences. It will be important that they continue this bond and spend time talking to each other and getting together over the next days and weeks. They will need each other.

- And another point fitting with this, we've lived in VERY close quarters for these 12 days. There were very few moments that the team wasn't sleeping right beside a team member, sitting on a lap or very close in a car (whoa man Traffic and driving is so different here!). We've shared supplies, food, blankets, snacks, etc. At first it was a bit hard, but now that's completely normal for them. So, they might be a little lonely without someone beside them all the time.

- Some of the kids have some anxiety about coming home. Not because they don't love you :) But purely because they've made some changes in their life, or want to, and God has taught them some things that they're wanting to live out at home, but don't know how. They might be nervous about it, afraid they'll fall back into old patterns. This could be something you might ask them about.

- Their clothes will be SO dirty, and because of the amount of rain over extended periods of time, and the lingering humidity some things won't have dried out, so laundry right away will be really good.

- They haven't had much time to read the blog while we were gone, so they might want to spend time reading at home.

- They can call us if they need us. We're in Edmonton for at least a week before we leave on vacation. We're available!

Christine

5 comments »

From Erin

Posted by Pastor Terry

My View from The Sidelines:

So as I write to you now, I’m sitting on a bench in the church with my left foot elevated and a bottle of extra-strength Advil beside me, so I hope this makes sense. Pastor Terry has asked me to tell you about the past few days that our team has been through.

Monday July 26 : Monday was the beginning of our construction ministry at Monte Sion. Our tasks on Monday consisted of cleaning out some of the upper rooms in the back of the church, cutting rebar and hauling bags of cement. A pulley system was put in place that would prove to be a very useful tool over the next few days. On Monday it helped us get all of the rebar onto the roof which was then tied together by a group of dedicated, hard workers who continued on through many blisters and cuts. Tons of wood had to be sorted through to decide which pieces were still usable, and which pieces should be taken down to the dump. Dave stepped on a nail while sorting through the wood, which led to some blood and pain, and for him to go for his tetanus shot the next day.

The weather on Monday was undeniably God’s perfect timing. It was overcast for most of the morning, but by lunch time, the skies opened and it poured. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to do anymore work because of the rain, but by the time lunch was done, the rain stopped and so we were able to continue on for several hours. As we got closer to the end, God decided to show us when it was time to stop by

For me it was great to finally be able to give back in a tangible way to these people who have blessed our team so much over the past few days. It was so cool to be able to see the progress we were making and the help we were able to offer to these people.

Personally, Monday started out pretty bad. I woke up with a wicked sore throat and very quickly totally lost my voice. God silenced me for a reason though, and I’m so grateful that he did. God taught me so much in that day, and I’m praying that the lessons I’ve learned will stick with me as I re-enter life back home.

Tuesday July 27 : Yesterday was a very productive day for the team and for the people of Monte Sion. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It was the weather we’d all been waiting for since we left Edmonton. It was sunny and warm, and it was fantastic to be able to feel the warmth of the sun as we worked. Yesterday we moved a large pile of sand, another pile of rocks and several bags of cement from the ground to the roof using the two pulleys that we’d set up. A crew was up on the roof unloading those supplies while others continued to tie together the pieces of rebar in preparation for laying the cement down. Jesse was also very busy all day working on the electrical aspects of the construction. To be completely honest, I have no idea what that entails, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

At about 5, we played a Veggie Tales video for some of the community families. It was a great way to share a little of the gospel with these people, and also to promote the presence of this church in their community. It was a fantastic day all around, fully of service to our Lord, team building and growing, and overall, lots of memorable moments.

We got home at about 8 last night, and started our team meeting while we waited for supper to come. We started talking about the things that we have gained and learned during this trip and what we want to take back home with us. I think for several of us, it hit us really hard that we’d be leaving for home in less than 36 hours. I know for me, I remember counting down the hours until we left for Mexico, and it’s surreal to think how quickly these 11 days have gone by. After we talked, and worshiped a little bit, we ate some pizza and then were instructed to head to bed a quickly as possible because they were anticipating a very early start to today.

Wake up call was at 4:50 AM today, so that we’d be able to leave for the church by 5, and hopefully start on work before it rained.

Those are the past two days as I remember them. Seeing as I missed typing out a blog post last week when most of the group did, so I will just do a quick personal note too.

This trip has been… I don’t even know what words would best describe the past 11 days. Challenging, amazing, wonderful, incredible are just a few words that could begin to describe this trip. Culture shock definitely hit me during the first few days here which was very challenging to me, but as I started to grow accustomed to the way things are done here, I started to settle in more. It’s difficult to put what God has done in me and through me on this trip into words.

1 comments »

Pouring cement

Posted by Pastor Terry

Today is the day. We were here @ 6am to get ready for this.

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Up on the Roof

Posted by Pastor Terry

Hi Everyone,

Well, I your authoress have now contracted this team cold that has been going around. Very honestly I'm feeling pretty sick and depleted. But I just wanted to write a few things about today.

Dave is doing better. Lupita has a friend who works in a close-by clinic where they took him to get his Tetanus shot this morning, and just to be on the safe side he saw a Doctor too, and got some antibiotics. I am amazed that in both times we've had to go to see Doctors here in Mexico they haven't charged us. His foot is still quite sore so we've put him on "partial duty".

We had a beautiful sunny day! Our first full-day of sun since the beginning of the trip. It was perfect for doing construction. The rain did come back though, but not until we were back at the Becerra's home.

Today was a day where we hauled up 3 yards of sand, 3 yards of rocks, and 36 50KG bags of cement mix (we have 24 more to go) up on the roof for laying concrete hopefully tomorrow. The team and Nationals and leaders rigged up 2 pulley systems to the top of the church and then worked together to fill buckets or haul up the bags to then arrange them on the roof where they will be needed. This is heavy heavy work, using lots of muscles! Terry loved every minute of it! And got to show that he's still strong as an ox. (LOL!). They call him Chief in his red hard hat. :)

Jesse was a huge blessing these past few days. He commented earlier in the trip that from his perspective he hadn't quite found his place yet where he could serve most effectively on the trip. Well, Jesse is an electrical engineer and Pastor Jaime had him develop a plan for the electricity in the new area and write/draw it all down and convey it to Edgar and the rest of the nationals. They either today or tomorrow will/or have run conduit, pulled wires etc to prepare for electricity. How cool is that? Such a beautiful thing of God to allow Jesse to come and do something he knows how to do that would make such a difference for them.

We laid a second layer of re-bar and many students did all the tying down of each section. The Nationals showed them the proper way to do it and were really pleased with the work. It was neat for Drew as he is interested in architecture and got to see things from another perspective here. He worked so hard today! Actually all our students did. I'm so very proud of them.

Tonight at 5 pm, we invited families in the community to come to the church for a Spanish version of a Veggie Tales video that we had brought along. It was fun, the team purchased snacks and juice for the families too. Most of them have never heard of Veggie Tales.

Truly our team got filthy today! And I know they will be very tired, we bought take out pizza for them tonight and gave them their favourite chocolate bars from home for dessert that we had brought along (thank you Evelyn!).

Tomorrow is going to be a very early morning (5am departure from the house), the Nationals want us to get as much as possible done as it is our last day here before we leave on Thursday afternoon. Please pray for the kids. I know their energy is down and it's the last big push before we go. We've really made a big difference here in this project.

Please pray for Erin and I, and it looks like Ethan as well. We're the ones currently in the beginning stages (I call them the yucky stages) of this cold. It's the sneezing, coughing, stuffed up, achy stage. Erin took a break and rested this afternoon, and I really did not do much today either. I'm in that "I don't want to feel crabby but do feel crabby stage right now! So frustrating!)

Pray for the students ....the re-entry is on their minds and we're trying to prepare them a little for it. It's a big challenge to sort though all they've learned and experienced, and then try and determine what has changed it them, and what they want to live out as they come back. And it's going to be hard for them to articulate it all to all of you.

Pray for Edgar, our friend here in Mexico City. Today while working he pulled something in his arm and it is causing him some pain and a lack of mobility.

Praise for safety, outside of Dave's injury and some minor cuts and scrapes no one has been injured. Please pray for continued safety for the team.

Alright friends, time for me to take my medicine and go to sleep.

Love to all of you!

Christine

1 comments »

Construction

Posted by Pastor Terry

Hi from a team that has been very busy today. We did construction work at Monte Sion till late this evening. The church is adding on a second story to the church which will add an additional 6 rooms upstairs. If you're building in Mexico - you're building UP, there's no where else to go! In fact if you look around at almost any building in Mexico City you will see re-bar sticking up through the top level of the concrete. This is so if they add to the current building any time in the future, they can tie the levels together with the re-bar.

Monte Sion only builds as they have money, resources and supplies. So this is something we can really help with as a team.

So today we did a number of things. Terry went with Pastor Juan and Pastor Jaime to purchase supplies and order supplies for our work for the rest of the week. Another group arranged a pulley system to pull re-bar up to the 2nd floor, cut re-bar and cut wire ties to tie the re-bar together.

Another group took time to clean out the scrap lumber out of the unfinished 2nd floor rooms. Un-useable wood was sorted out, and then the classrooms upstairs were cleaned out and all the water that's been collecting from the rain was swept out, then the good lumber was carried back into the classrooms.

Once supplies arrived another group pulled up the re-bar and began laying the re-bar to create the first layer for the roof.

And some others worked on cleaning out one of the balconies in the sanctuary, sorting through materials and getting anything ready to be transported to the dump. We also were able to sort through some of our ministry materials left from VBS and leave anything we could here for the Monte Sion church's Sunday School.

The students and leaders worked really hard today. I was so very proud of them. I think they were so happy to be doing something tangible for people who have given so much to us. Even today one of the ladies who was baptized yesterday, took the bus (45 minutes one way) to the church today to make us lunch. Though we did get her to agree to let us pay for the supplies, she and Amanda and Sara and Lupita made us the food.

Tomorrow we will continue to work on laying a second layer of re-bar to get ready for laying cement for the roof on Wednesday. All the supplies will be carried up to the roof tomorrow (concrete mix etc). This will be very heavy and strenuous work.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for Dave. He stepped on a nail today that did go into his foot. Thank the Lord Sara Beccera was there with us, as she is a nurse and she was able to clean and dress the wound and he'll be getting a Tetanus shot tomorrow morning. So, it's limited what he can do for a bit, which he doesn't like. :)

Please pray for continued safety for the team as we keep doing our construction project. Pastor Jaime was greatly encouraged to see so much be accomplished in one day. Pray that we will do good work and be careful.

Please pray for students as they are beautifully dealing with some of the issues in their own life and God is really speaking to them. Pray that they will step forward with Him in faith into new territory. I and many other leaders have had some great conversations with kids in recent days. I'm so very encouraged in seeing this and being a part of it!

Christine

3 comments »

Like the Early Church

Posted by Pastor Terry

Buenos Noches Everyone!

It is very late so I know this post will need to be shorter, but also that these will be days that you'll need to ask your family member/friend about as they've been so full with really important and great events/happenings.

Yesterday was our day off, and we headed out on a bus we rented to go to the Pyramids. Teotiquican (that spelling may be wrong) is a Unesco World Heritage site. There are several pyramids there but the two main ones are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. These were built but the Aztecs in 100 - 650 AD. They are really amazing. We were able to climb the Pyramid of the Sun. It is so much higher than expected and the climb didn't take long but was harder than I expected too. But Oh the VIEW! From the top of the pyramid you can see a 360 degree view of the area of Mexico City. So impressive. It was raining again (now we realize what the rainy season looks like). We were also able to tour the shops on the site, and then Edgar took us to an area where they manufacture natural materials into piece of art to sell, plus a silver shop. Mexico is known for it's silver as you may already know. He also showed us fascinating things about the Agava plant (what we would know on a much smaller scale in Canada as the Aloe Vera plant). These plants are massive and can give you so many useful materials from the plant.

Later the bus took us to Yvonne and Jose's home for supper and a Mexican birthday party. Yvonne was one of the translators on the 1st trip to Mexico for the team 4 years ago. It was an absolute delight to be in their home. We had a special party soup called Posolae (that's just phonetic spelling there). Wow it was fantastic. Highlights of the night, seeing Hayley drink Coca-cola, Charades with Jesse, Singing songs (the Mexican and Canadian versions of Happy Birthday, and a Mexican goodbye song). These are truly hospitable people.

I have seen many conversations between the team take on some really fantastic spiritual discussions about God, about faith, about what the Bible says. It's such a rich environment. It feels so much like what I believe the early church must have felt like. They are learning from each other and asking questions and wanting to grow deeper. I love seeing that kind of hunger.

Today was church, and we worshipped in English and Spanish, Pastor Juan preached, we prayed over some in the congregation and some of our team that have been sick, Terry was privelaged to baptize 5 people from teenage years to grandma ages, and we shared a wonderful meal together again.

Later in the afternoon we went to Xochimilko (again phonetic not proper spelling) to go to the Hanging Gardens, they are canal boat rides where you are pushed along the canal by a driver with a 12 foot stick who propells you down the canal, there are mariachi singers/ bands, people selling you flowers or snacks down the way in smaller boats, and it's really fun. There also was a market there where some of the team bought some thing.

Then we went to Terry's very favourite place in the world to eat. Amanda Luna and Sara Beccera's cousin owns a taco restaurant and we had supper there with some of the Mexicans. What a fun time. Alex broke the record with 12 tacos, Terry 10 and many of the other team had many too. They really are outstanding!

Alright it's super late. Tomorrow we hope to do some construction/clean up at the church. We are unsure about the Soccer camp. If it continues to rain it may not work, but we trust God to show us what to do in it's place.

Blessings!

Christine

1 comments »

From Hayley

Posted by Pastor Terry

¡¡¡Gracias a Dios, Él está en Mexico!!! God is really showing up here. I am so thankful to be here with the team. It has been incredible worshipping together with the Nationals and finding that we worship the same God… and sometimes with the same tunes too! The children were a smash. It was so incredible seeing them learn about God and many of them gave individual cards to their leaders after thanking them for teaching them about God. One of my favourite points was replacing the black bracelet representing sin with a colourful bracelet representing eternal life on a little girl and asking her, “¿Sabes que Dios te ama tanto, no?” (You know that God loves you so much, right?) and her solemn “Si” in reply. It was really cool. I got the sense that some of them really got it. Pray that the work will continue as they have been invited back for Sunday school this Sunday. We will be at the other church, but we pray that the children will go to the Sunday school and then from there the church can start activities for the parents too.

As much as the VBS has been awesome, I really feel that I am here more to get to participate in the health and growth of our students, and that has been beyond incredible. God is breaking down walls and doing a lot of rebuilding in our evening discussion and prayer times. I am BLOWN AWAY by the hearts to go deeper with the Lord, just as we have prayed and how he is honouring both your prayers for us, and their open hearts. “If from there you seek the Lord, your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 … and that is what’s happening here. Pray that it continue when we come home and also that we may not lose heart in rebuilding at home that closeness of community that we have here. We’ve had a taste now of how awesome Acts 2:45 can be. Love you and miss you! Especially my Brown bread sandwiches!

-Hayley

1 comments »

From Dave

Posted by Pastor Terry

Hey everyone back at home. It has definitely been an awesome journey so far, and it has been a huge blessing to be able to be here with the team. I’m so looking forward to whatever God has in store for us for the rest of the week. It’s so cool for me to see the work that God has been doing through the team and I’ve never been so proud of these students.

0 comments »

From Tim

Posted by Pastor Terry

Hey everyone! This week has been absolutely crazy and I was not expecting this love and care from the people, and most of all my emotional response towards the people here. The VBS that we started in Huixquilucan was a lot of things to me, and every day I was able to clearly see God at work. Over the past few days, it’s been a wild ride with God and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that. When we started the VBS on Monday, I already felt closer to God and I saw God in many of the things we did, but I still wasn’t sure if the children understood the message we were trying to get across (possibly because of the language barrier). Throughout the week, I started to understand more and more of how the children felt. On the 4^th and final day of our camp, we tied black strings to the children’s wrists to represent their sin and told them about Jesus’ sacrifice and many children made a decision that day to accept God’s love as a truth. I felt overwhelmed by God when the children came to put their ‘sin’ on the cross, as I knew that I had completed a major part of my mission here.

So far it’s been an overwhelming but exciting journey, and I’m interested to see how God will work in us throughout this next week doing construction and a soccer camp at Monte Sion. Although we’ve already finished part of our purpose here, we still need to realize that we can’t lose sight of God yet. Overall, I still can’t wait to spread God’s love and be his hands here in Mexico. I miss you all and I can’t wait to share my experiences here with you!