Mexico is enchanting! Simple as that. Everything, no matter what we are doing, is made better just because we are in Mexico. It is interesting how carefree I can feel here, and how easy going things are made without a watch, my agenda is subject to our hosts. As cheesy as it may sound, Mexico makes me happy. I am enthralled with the view you can get basically anywhere from high places. The buildings and architecture here is amazing! I don’t know what to say other than “WOW” here. I constantly need to remind myself to keep my mouth from hanging open in awe!

As much as I thought the language barrier was going to be a problem, it wasn’t. I was able to have rough communication with the kids at the VBS. They were so willing to do anything possible in order to try and make me understand the Spanish word they were telling me, the majority of their trying involved repeating the word over and over again. I was able to play with the kids and develop relationships despite the odds. The effort is 100% worth it. I have met so many bright, beautiful children who are more sharing and care more for others than I think I ever have been. It is almost sad to realize just how selfish I am when it comes to things I deem to be personal possessions. For them it is a lifestyle, for me, a learning curve. I am looking forward to the experiences I will continue to have here with all the things that we have still yet to do. I am excited beyond measure!

The journey I have experienced so far here has aided in my spiritual development very drastically! Feeling a comfort and openness to speak about things, which are vexing me in my spiritual walk, is a freedom I have seldom felt. Having prayer, worship, and talks about experiences has opened my eyes to the realities of what it means to share. I associate sharing with things that are physical, but there is so much about myself I can share that is far deeper than anything on the surface. I have always had reservations about sharing things, which I actually feel. Moby has been showing me that it is okay to go deeper and show people who I am underneath, which is again for me a learning curve. It would seem that God has sent me here not only to try to teach but more so to learn, I was not expecting this nor was I prepared; guess I need to learn how to learn fast. I feel closer to God by doing my best to serve others rather than being served. It is greater than great to finally understand why it is fulfilling to go out and help children, it is because GOD HAS TOLD US TO DO IT! I cannot feel this same fullness by sitting in a church service and listening to things that often I cannot relate to, God has pushed and pulled so long for me to understand this simplicity.

Hola! The environment and society structure here is completely different than at home in Canada. In Mexico, people could honestly live their entire lives without looking at a clock. For me that has been somewhat hard to adapt to as I am a “structure and routine” person.

Before leaving on this trip I was very anxious and unwilling to go because my fears were overwhelming me. But as I settled in Mexico, I have really felt God’s presence and his influence on my actions, and my relaxed and calm reactions to daily events could only be through God’s power.

The living environment here is tightly spaced and does not necessarily fit my living style, but God has really taken over all my anxieties and fears and made me comfortable with being uncomfortable. Gracias Señor.

I feel that I have learned a lot about me and my relationship with God and I can’t wait to use all that I have learned at home and my environment back in Canada. See you all soon and please pray for God’s blessing over the soccer camp next week.

Hello everyone!  For me, I’ve been loving every minute here.  It’s been great to come back to the loving people here in Huixquilucan and really spend some great time serving God and showing His love to our hosts and to the children here.  I’ve found that here is a place where distractions are less, and God’s voice and direction for what He wants for my life. 

We’ve just finished our VBS at Huixquilucan.  It was really amazing to connect with the kids, have fun, and lead some games with Joel and Ethan in my slowly improving Spanish.  We had the privilege from God to see so many kids hear the salvation message yesterday, and my hope and prayer is that God will continue to work in the lives of these children and their surrounding families and community long after we have left.  It was truly a blessing to see the smiles of all the children, to laugh and play with them, though four days ago I was just a stranger, with all of them wondering ‘is he really from Canada?’  I must have explained at least seven times that ‘soy de Canada, pero mis padres son de China’ (I’m from Canada but my parents are from China)!

My time here has really been every bit amazing, even more so than when I came with MOBY two years ago.  It’s been awesome to connect with my Mexican friends, this time in their own language, even if it’s just a little bit.  I’m so grateful for the love that we’ve been shown by the Becerras, our interpreters Edgar, as well as Juan & Amanda Luna, the people of Huixquilucan, and the people of the Monte Sion church in Santa Ursula.  It’s been amazing to see how global and powerful God’s love is through these people here.

It’s really hard to believe that the trip is halfway done. I feel like I could stay here for so much longer—the people here are amazingly welcoming and I have so much to learn from them and from the rest of the team.

We finished the VBS yesterday. It was a wonderful experience. I met so many children that I have come to love so much—I am still amazed at how deep a love can grow between people who have known each other for only four days! These children have really opened my eyes to how big and how loving God is.  I find it incomprehensibly amazing that God is intimately involved in each of these children’s lives, even though many of them do not know Him. I am in awe of His plan to bring them back to Him, and humbled that I could have played a role in that plan.

Yesterday, we gave the salvation message at the VBS. It was so powerful to see so many children come up to the cross and accept Jesus. Please pray that God would continue to work in those children’s lives and that His love would be very clear to them in the days to come—that He would solidify what we tried to teach them at the VBS, and that He would claim them as His own. Also, please pray that He would have His way in the results of the VBS, and that He would be extend it and the Church’s influence far into the community.

Today is a bit of a rest day for us. I have gone through some spiritual ups and downs so far in the trip, and I am hoping and praying that God would give me the strength that I need to continue on. Please pray that God would have His way in me on this trip, and that I would be able to completely surrender to His plan and design for me. Before leaving Edmonton, I had really desired and felt that God wanted to make a major change in me during the trip. Please pray that He would do that—and that I would not try to stop Him, but would be able to trust in His plan and in His love.

Next week, we are going to be doing construction work and running a soccer camp. Please pray that God would have His way in these activities, and that He would equip us all with what we need to serve Him in the coming days. Many of us have been, or are getting sick (But I’m getting better—yay! =D), so please also pray for healing and for energy for us all. But most of all, please pray that God would teach us to rely on Him in our weakness, and that His Holy Spirit would just come and saturate us and the mission, so that we would be able to do His work and would develop into the kind of team and people that He wants us to be.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! I love you all so much and I can’t wait to see you again! 

This week has been amazing. Seeing all the kids everyday and seeing their smiles is awesome. The first few days were hard because you didn’t know what to do or who these kids are but as the week went on you got to know them even though you couldn’t understand what they were saying. The thing I enjoyed the most was singing with them in the morning and at the end. Watching them do the actions and learning the songs was so cool because you got to see their smile just grow as they got the songs. It was so hard to say goodbye to the kids on Thursday. You get so used to  seeing them everyday and I cried when I had to say bye. I got a letter from one girl and once I translated it into English I really saw that I had an impact on that girl. It was amazing that I changed someone’s life.

The first few days here were hard for me, in adjusting to the language and culture here. I still am. I started to feel sick on Monday with a sore throat and a runny nose. I thought it was just being at a new place but I noticed that other members of the team were feeling the same way. We think it has to do with the altitude and being over a mile higher here then in Edmonton. I am now starting to feel better as the week went because we are getting used to the altitude. The weird thing here is the weather. Cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon and rainy in the evening. Its crazy to see. It is so beautiful here, we are surrounded by mountains and hills with lush green trees and it’s so cool to wake up every morning and see it.

I can’t say enough how much of a blessing it has been to be able to be back here! I have thought and talked so much about my previous trips that it’s a little hard to believe that I have the privilege to be on another one!

The VBS that I was a part of completely exceeded my expectations. One thing that we had discussed during our training and planning meetings was the difference in between hoping and expecting. For this Vacation Bible School we were HOPING for a lot of kids, but expecting about 25. And, there were about 25 kids … in the 11-13 year-old group that I was able to lead with Drew and Alex, out of about 130! My past experiences in serving with kids have mostly been with the around kindergarten-age group, so to be able to be with the older kids was an interesting but awesome change. With this age group, they had more of an understanding that my Spanish was limited, (as oppose to the younger ones who will just ramble on and on, whether you understood or not) so they slowed down a bit, and I was able to have some conversations with them (and hopefully improve on my Spanish!). There was a group of about 8 girls I connected with during the past 4 short days. I don’t feel like I really did a whole lot; I played with them during games, sat and chatted with them during lunch, complemented them on their crafts and attempted to learn their hand clapping games. However, the love and affection they showed me, with the hugs, smiles and notes they gave me at the end, just blew me away. I remember one time in particular where a bunch of them were around me, hugging and pulling me so tightly that I thought we were all going to fall over, and wondering what on earth I had ever done to deserve it. In that moment, with the warmth of their hugs and the sound of their giggles, all I could think was that this was a form of God’s love being showed to me.

Hello Edmonton! The past few days have been amazing. Hope all is well and your have heard some stuff about what we have already done.  I’m doing well, I have a little bit of a stuffed nose but other than that I’m amazing. The food here is so good and I’m very glad to have all of this fresh fruit to eat! It’s been awesome meeting so many people, but very challenging because I don’t know much Spanish. Thankfully we have a few people on the team that are really good at Spanish and can help out us who know very little. VBS was an amazing experience and it was so much fun to be around such cute kids. It was weird though because they have a very touchy-feely culture but getting a million hugs a day is actually really awesome. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and I can just feel God working through me to share his love with these kids. I have learned a lot about their culture and how they are so willing to give up their own beds, or make us meals, or drive us places. I have also learned that you don’t always need your words to change a kids life but an action can say a million things. We are entering a week of more serving and your prayer could go towards us knowing that God can still work through us in the up coming week.