Day 6
A taste of eternity. Today, in looking back on it, was an amazing day. It was definitely the best day we’ve had all week. We left the compound knowing it was going to be a long day for us, and were planning to be out an extra two hours or so. We arrived at our area today around 9:00 and we walked around the neighborhood and once again I was thankful for more improvement in my Spanish. And I also had no run-ins with dogs, but our other group wasn’t so lucky. One of our translators kept relating the story to everyone who would listen, telling us of how close she was to being bit by a BIG dog. It was very funny.
After going door-to-door we were able to cross the street and play with a group of boys and girls at a school. It was great to watch the kids. A group of them were playing Connect 4 and it was hysterical to hear the kids sing, “Connect 4!” whenever they would win a game. A few of us went and played jump rope with them, while others drew on the sidewalk with chalk. The kids were so much fun to be around and were great sources of entertainment. I jump-roped and played baseball with them, and my favorite thing was the game of keep away with the bouncy ball. They would throw me the ball and I’d dribble it, put it behind my back and do all sorts of silly things to keep them from getting it. It was a blast to just get to be goofy and enjoy ourselves with them.
When we finished playing at the school, we all came back and we got visors and different hats so that we could avoid getting sun-burnt on our faces. Somehow this led us to getting tattoos on our arms and taking lots of pictures of each other in an impromptu photo shoot. And I was given my nickname by Akeela: White Chocolate Thunder. Pretty awesome, right?
A rather large group came again today, and around 11:30 groups showed up and we started up the activities. I was washing feet and fixing up shoes, and then later I was the official photographer as I was every other day.
We had a late lunch, and made our way to a girl’s boarding school. There were about 20 girls living there, from age eight to about twenty. We arrived and played a few worship songs and sang for them, and then they sang and played songs for us; we sang in English, they sang in Spanish. They had an eight year old girl playing drums during this and later another young girl sat down and played Bach. I was amazed by the talent of the girls there. At one point during their worship set, one of the little girls stood up; her name was Perla. She looked around and invited her friends to stand with her but they only laughed at her. She stood alone, closed her eyes and worshipped. After a minute of standing alone, she raised her small hand in the air and just swayed and praised by herself. It was a little taste of heaven for me. And at the end of the service, a girl from their group prayed to close us. As she prayed, the rest of the girls prayed as well, all in Spanish. The girl leading had tears streaming from her voice and it was impossible to ignore the emotion and passion that was coming from her prayer. I never had realized how close heaven was before that moment. We were brothers and sisters in Christ even though we had language barriers, different colored skin, and different homes. Heaven on earth was a reality at that moment.
After the worship service, we all went outside and had face-painting, made paper flowers, and made other little crafts. I took pictures for a while and it was funny how shy a lot of them were in front of the camera. Olivia and I also gave each other war paint, and Perla got face paint with us later. So, I had on my visor (upside down gangster style), my flower that I had made through my visor, and I had war paint on. I was a hit with the girls after that. Ha-ha. They knew I looked so ridiculous that they didn’t mind pictures being taken of them so much. Joseph, the only other teenage guy on the trip, is a freshman. It was funny today because one girl thought he was cute and they took a picture together. That was all that he could talk about for the next two hours. We gave him a really hard time.
Tonight dinner was a casual affair as always. We had burgers and a short worship service after dinner and tonight Olivia, Graysen, and I finished the first season of Glee. It was a climactic season ender and I would now have to say that Glee is my new guilty pleasure. I am very excited to see the new season in April. I miss my family, and my friends at school. I have had a great week, but I’m looking forward to getting back to school and getting to rest some. God has been good this week, and as one of the men on the trip stated that, “the Bible promises God’s goodness, but today God was extra good.” Amen, Andy. Amen.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
First Light
Day 5
First Light. Today started from a different direction all-together. Not because I wasn’t the last one out of bed (because I still was), but because it was sunny and warm. The sunrise doesn’t happen here until about 7:30 every morning, and I usually finish breakfast around then. So today, I read my devotional for the day on top of a jungle gym on the playground here and took pictures of the new day. As I took pictures though, I saw something in the sunrise that I’d never seen before. As the sun rose over the horizon, for the first time I saw the two second change that takes place in the sky when the first rays of light hit the east side of my world. It transformed the hues of dark purple, light blue, and pink into a thin blue and red. It was an amazing thing for me to see, and made me appreciate this new day that I was beginning.
The mission work today began roughly. We walked our entire route of streets in the neighborhood and only three or four houses out of about 20 answered. It was very discouraging. The other routes that our groups had taken had very similar results. We were thinking we would have to pack up early, but then people began to show up in droves. We ended up having about 60 or 70 people today by the time we began the worship aspect of our mission. There were many young children, and I was also able to see Ulises again! Today was his birthday so I dug deep into my pockets and gave him two dollars as a birthday present. I helped out with the shoes once again and I find that I am becoming better at translating. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing though, because those I interpret for think I’m better than I am and then rattle something off and I consequently yell for help a split second later. But I am improving is the good thing. The messages at our missions have been going very well, and so far, 70 people (children and adults) have dedicated their lives to Christ. Glory to God!
As a small side note, before things really kicked off, Olivia, Flor, and myself played a little improv drama game and we also jumped on the trampoline at the house we were at for a few minutes afterwards, which was quite a treat for all of us kids.
After we packed up, we all came back to the camp, ate, and then headed for the border to spend our relaxation time in Progresso, Mexico. We walked the three blocks that we were allowed to and shopped and saw many different things. I’ve never been asked to buy so many of the same things by so many different people. I bought some little things for my family and friends, and got a few little things for me as well. I enjoyed walking around, but it broke me down to see the beggars on the side of the small sidewalk, and for the people to lower their prices simply because I said maybe later. They were desperate to make the sale to each and every person they came in contact with there. Olivia was a sweetheart of a person today, but she was also a bulls-eye of a target for anyone in that market. She could not say no to any of the children. She probably bought about five bracelets from the little kids that were selling them. She had compassion on them. I have to agree that it was very moving to see the little kids working and trying to sell the bracelets so competitively. I was also once again reminded of how blessed we are in America. We are so wealthy, and we are so very spoiled because of it.
Another side note, I gave in and bought a coke today, which was amazing. 500 mL of cold coke in a glass bottle never tasted so good. I haven’t had a Coke in over 2 months so it was very nice, but Olivia sadly didn’t cave and continued on the road of “no carbonation.” Poor thing.
Tonight has been great so far. Burgers for dinner, a good time of worship and fellowship, and now before bed, an episode of Glee and a shower! It’s sad to say I might be more excited for the shower…but life is like that I suppose. I do have to say, I love you, Mom, Dad, and Daniel. And I’m really proud of my little brother for being in the talent show last night at GSHS. I wish I could’ve been there to support him. Praise God for the souls that have been saved this week!
Here is a picture of Ms. Laura. She was the oldest person on the trip at 72, and she had some kicking socks on today.
.JPG)
First Light. Today started from a different direction all-together. Not because I wasn’t the last one out of bed (because I still was), but because it was sunny and warm. The sunrise doesn’t happen here until about 7:30 every morning, and I usually finish breakfast around then. So today, I read my devotional for the day on top of a jungle gym on the playground here and took pictures of the new day. As I took pictures though, I saw something in the sunrise that I’d never seen before. As the sun rose over the horizon, for the first time I saw the two second change that takes place in the sky when the first rays of light hit the east side of my world. It transformed the hues of dark purple, light blue, and pink into a thin blue and red. It was an amazing thing for me to see, and made me appreciate this new day that I was beginning.
The mission work today began roughly. We walked our entire route of streets in the neighborhood and only three or four houses out of about 20 answered. It was very discouraging. The other routes that our groups had taken had very similar results. We were thinking we would have to pack up early, but then people began to show up in droves. We ended up having about 60 or 70 people today by the time we began the worship aspect of our mission. There were many young children, and I was also able to see Ulises again! Today was his birthday so I dug deep into my pockets and gave him two dollars as a birthday present. I helped out with the shoes once again and I find that I am becoming better at translating. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing though, because those I interpret for think I’m better than I am and then rattle something off and I consequently yell for help a split second later. But I am improving is the good thing. The messages at our missions have been going very well, and so far, 70 people (children and adults) have dedicated their lives to Christ. Glory to God!
As a small side note, before things really kicked off, Olivia, Flor, and myself played a little improv drama game and we also jumped on the trampoline at the house we were at for a few minutes afterwards, which was quite a treat for all of us kids.
After we packed up, we all came back to the camp, ate, and then headed for the border to spend our relaxation time in Progresso, Mexico. We walked the three blocks that we were allowed to and shopped and saw many different things. I’ve never been asked to buy so many of the same things by so many different people. I bought some little things for my family and friends, and got a few little things for me as well. I enjoyed walking around, but it broke me down to see the beggars on the side of the small sidewalk, and for the people to lower their prices simply because I said maybe later. They were desperate to make the sale to each and every person they came in contact with there. Olivia was a sweetheart of a person today, but she was also a bulls-eye of a target for anyone in that market. She could not say no to any of the children. She probably bought about five bracelets from the little kids that were selling them. She had compassion on them. I have to agree that it was very moving to see the little kids working and trying to sell the bracelets so competitively. I was also once again reminded of how blessed we are in America. We are so wealthy, and we are so very spoiled because of it.
Another side note, I gave in and bought a coke today, which was amazing. 500 mL of cold coke in a glass bottle never tasted so good. I haven’t had a Coke in over 2 months so it was very nice, but Olivia sadly didn’t cave and continued on the road of “no carbonation.” Poor thing.
Tonight has been great so far. Burgers for dinner, a good time of worship and fellowship, and now before bed, an episode of Glee and a shower! It’s sad to say I might be more excited for the shower…but life is like that I suppose. I do have to say, I love you, Mom, Dad, and Daniel. And I’m really proud of my little brother for being in the talent show last night at GSHS. I wish I could’ve been there to support him. Praise God for the souls that have been saved this week!
Here is a picture of Ms. Laura. She was the oldest person on the trip at 72, and she had some kicking socks on today.
.JPG)
Rain
Day 4
Rain. Today I woke up, expecting the 5:15 greeting, but instead it was thankfully closer to 6:15 today. I once again was given a good-natured kidding from all the men in the room because they knew I’d be the last one to get out of bed. One of them actually offered to bring my lunch bag to me in bed. I told him he was too kind. After showering, I became aware of the rain that was coming down outside. Not in a downpour, but just enough rain to be obnoxious. Breakfast was similar to the first day, and we ended by praying in a great circle, holding hands. I really only knew two people before this trip began and as we prayed, connected spiritually and physically, I grew closer to this group that had once been strangers.
As a group we were worried we wouldn’t be able to set up for our evangelism ministry with the kids and their families today. God worked it out in the end though, and provided a carport for us to set up underneath. We drove the 25 minutes or so (and made two stops along the way in an attempt to find ponchos) and made it to our destination. We started the day off the same way as Monday. We walked around and passed out fliers and spoke to some of the families. There were nowhere near as many dogs today though. Thank goodness. (If I didn’t put this for yesterday, there were probably at least 2 dogs to every house that we visited and they walked the streets in large numbers.) My Spanish also improved today. I learned that by asking them if they spoke English first, and then informing them that I only spoke a small amount of Spanish, they were much more forgiving of my errors (they wouldn’t laugh at me either).
At one house we visited, we met a dog that barked her lungs out at us, but then the family came out and from inside the fenced area we invited them to our “mission.” The 5 kids came with us, and the dog came along as an escort, and was more than happy to trot alongside us silently. It was funny how the tables flipped so quickly. In this group of kids was a little boy named Martin. He was a hoot.
Today because of the rain, we didn’t have to wash feet, but we were still handing out shoes, toys, health packs, coloring books, purses, and everything else under the sun. The kids were so happy. I remember one little girl asking: “Is this free?! Do we have to pay for this?! This is free too?!” She was so excited and it was amazing to see the smile on her face grow larger and larger. One of the little boys we saw had a huge jean jacket on and a flannel shirt on underneath it..JPG)
There were several children walking around in the cold, wet weather with no shoes on their feet. .JPG)
I wish I could’ve helped somehow. We ran out of small shoes, and had nothing to give them.
At one point during the day, several others and I went into the house we had setup at to use the bathroom. The floor was covered in dirt, it was very shaky, the front door was a screen door with no screen, and the carpet was a floor mat for children. I once again, have realized how blessed I am, and have seen a level of poverty that doesn’t compare with areas twenty miles further south across the border.
As the day ended, I worked with the crafts table, translating what little I was able to and handing out shoe boxes. I was also the “trash man” according to Martin. I was picking up trash in the area that we were working, and he labeled me as the trash man, and he also helped me out a lot. Today, Martin also accepted Christ and I am so excited for the day that I’ll be able to see him again, whether on this side, or on eternity’s side.
There also was a young girl getting her face painted who was adorable and I believe she knew it. She had stunning eyes, and she was a ham for the camera..JPG)
And there were a few kids that I would show pictures of them, and they would smile, or blush, or giggle and run off. They were very innocent and not anything like the kids I’ve seen in other areas of the U.S. Finally, here is the thing that made my day. There was a young girl, who was about 8 or 9 years old and who was shivering ridiculously. .JPG)
Olivia and I kept asking her to take my extra jacket that I had. I finally left and told Olivia to ask her, because she would never take my jacket from me since I was a boy. I turned around after walking around about 30 seconds later and she had my jacket on and the shivering was subsiding. I was so happy that she took it. It made my day. .JPG)
The night was rather uneventful. I played basketball with a few of the people from our trip and relaxed in the sun once it had come out from behind the clouds. Later on in the night we made a Dairy Queen trip that took much longer than expected, and when we got back we were all so tired that we went to bed. Before going to sleep though, I was able to take a recording of all the men snoring in our dorm. Life is good. God is better.
-Matthew 25:35-40
-“‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
Rain. Today I woke up, expecting the 5:15 greeting, but instead it was thankfully closer to 6:15 today. I once again was given a good-natured kidding from all the men in the room because they knew I’d be the last one to get out of bed. One of them actually offered to bring my lunch bag to me in bed. I told him he was too kind. After showering, I became aware of the rain that was coming down outside. Not in a downpour, but just enough rain to be obnoxious. Breakfast was similar to the first day, and we ended by praying in a great circle, holding hands. I really only knew two people before this trip began and as we prayed, connected spiritually and physically, I grew closer to this group that had once been strangers.
As a group we were worried we wouldn’t be able to set up for our evangelism ministry with the kids and their families today. God worked it out in the end though, and provided a carport for us to set up underneath. We drove the 25 minutes or so (and made two stops along the way in an attempt to find ponchos) and made it to our destination. We started the day off the same way as Monday. We walked around and passed out fliers and spoke to some of the families. There were nowhere near as many dogs today though. Thank goodness. (If I didn’t put this for yesterday, there were probably at least 2 dogs to every house that we visited and they walked the streets in large numbers.) My Spanish also improved today. I learned that by asking them if they spoke English first, and then informing them that I only spoke a small amount of Spanish, they were much more forgiving of my errors (they wouldn’t laugh at me either).
At one house we visited, we met a dog that barked her lungs out at us, but then the family came out and from inside the fenced area we invited them to our “mission.” The 5 kids came with us, and the dog came along as an escort, and was more than happy to trot alongside us silently. It was funny how the tables flipped so quickly. In this group of kids was a little boy named Martin. He was a hoot.
Today because of the rain, we didn’t have to wash feet, but we were still handing out shoes, toys, health packs, coloring books, purses, and everything else under the sun. The kids were so happy. I remember one little girl asking: “Is this free?! Do we have to pay for this?! This is free too?!” She was so excited and it was amazing to see the smile on her face grow larger and larger. One of the little boys we saw had a huge jean jacket on and a flannel shirt on underneath it.
.JPG)
There were several children walking around in the cold, wet weather with no shoes on their feet. .JPG)
I wish I could’ve helped somehow. We ran out of small shoes, and had nothing to give them. At one point during the day, several others and I went into the house we had setup at to use the bathroom. The floor was covered in dirt, it was very shaky, the front door was a screen door with no screen, and the carpet was a floor mat for children. I once again, have realized how blessed I am, and have seen a level of poverty that doesn’t compare with areas twenty miles further south across the border.
As the day ended, I worked with the crafts table, translating what little I was able to and handing out shoe boxes. I was also the “trash man” according to Martin. I was picking up trash in the area that we were working, and he labeled me as the trash man, and he also helped me out a lot. Today, Martin also accepted Christ and I am so excited for the day that I’ll be able to see him again, whether on this side, or on eternity’s side.
There also was a young girl getting her face painted who was adorable and I believe she knew it. She had stunning eyes, and she was a ham for the camera.
.JPG)
And there were a few kids that I would show pictures of them, and they would smile, or blush, or giggle and run off. They were very innocent and not anything like the kids I’ve seen in other areas of the U.S. Finally, here is the thing that made my day. There was a young girl, who was about 8 or 9 years old and who was shivering ridiculously. .JPG)
Olivia and I kept asking her to take my extra jacket that I had. I finally left and told Olivia to ask her, because she would never take my jacket from me since I was a boy. I turned around after walking around about 30 seconds later and she had my jacket on and the shivering was subsiding. I was so happy that she took it. It made my day. .JPG)
The night was rather uneventful. I played basketball with a few of the people from our trip and relaxed in the sun once it had come out from behind the clouds. Later on in the night we made a Dairy Queen trip that took much longer than expected, and when we got back we were all so tired that we went to bed. Before going to sleep though, I was able to take a recording of all the men snoring in our dorm. Life is good. God is better.
-Matthew 25:35-40
-“‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
Wake-up call
Day 3
Monday. Ha-ha. That’s about how my day started. Breakfast was scheduled for 7:00 AM and we were planning on leaving the compound around 8:00 AM. I figured setting my alarm for 6:45 would be relatively reasonably for waking up and getting ready on time. I was awoken by movements the next morning and I figured it was probably 6:30 and that the rest of the guys in the room were getting ready a bit earlier than I was planning on. I looked at my cell phone. 5:18 AM was smiling up at me from my phone. Can I tell you I was not smiling back? I asked the men if they knew what time it was or not. They all laughed at me (I later found out that they were all putting bets on whether or not I would actually get out of bed while they were at breakfast.) I suppose that is the difference in a 19 year old college kid and men who are mostly retired or who soon would be retired.
After a quick breakfast we all packed up and headed to a small “suburb” that was about twenty minutes away from our housing. The houses there were very small if they were houses, and there were many small trailers. We got there around 8:30 and we all took fliers around and passed them out to the different houses around the neighborhood and during this I attempted to speak Spanish several times, thinking before today that I was becoming more proficient in my speaking. I was sorely mistaken.
My conversations were hilarious to behold. I think one of my conversations didn’t have one single complete thought in it. Imagine it, a guy comes to your door speaking a language you don’t understand and attempts to ask you if you understand his language, and upon telling him no, he rattles off a few of the words he does know that has to do with whatever he is inviting you to. Words like, shoes, clothes, and toys. Talk about embarrassed after a major brain fart. I felt sorry for those who were with me. They didn’t speak Spanish, but I think listening to me must’ve have given them a desire similar to putting a racehorse out of its misery. As the day went on, my Spanish improved; I believe this was due mainly to the fact that I was talking with five and six year olds. I washed feet with a newfound friend, Erin Nichols, and several others from our group. I washed feet of old women and young boys and girls with a washcloth and dried their feet after, and we then gave out pairs of shoes until we had no more. It was an awesome experience for me. These boys and girls were so shy and they really were grateful for anything that we could offer to them.
To be honest, I was really worried about being grossed out by people’s feet, but in the end, I was only able to smile as I scrubbed my brothers’ and sisters’ feet. I was able to ask the kids what sports they liked, ask them if the cold water and washcloth tickled their feet, and see if they liked the shoes we could offer them. I was blessed as I saw the humility of children as they accepted and liked whatever was offered them whether it was tacky or not. I saw through the language barrier today as sometimes they would simply smile or laugh, and I saw how universal that was for the first time today. I never thought I’d how selfish and blessed I am from visiting a place that was within the U.S. borders. And I know that the situations and conditions I saw were not even bad compared to other areas of the world. Throughout the day I took pictures of the different things that were going on around our block of the street. One thing I didn't get to capture by my camera was how many dogs there were in this neighborhood. There must've been 3 dogs to every person living here. And not just little dogs, the big dogs you see on the news saying that they attacked and killed someone. The visits for those houses with the big dogs began with a short time of prayer. Other than the dogs though, there were many toddlers and young children there who were simply adorable. I have seen pictures from mission trips that friends have been on and the pictures of children that they have is always showing a cute child or baby, and I have looked at these pictures in the past and have only thought about how good of a picture it is, or how cute the kid is. After one day, I feel like I will look at these pictures differently, knowing that I interacted with these people, that I was a part of their lives and that they were a part of mine as well.
As I worked at our small VBS clinic later in the day, I met a kid named Ulises. He was nine years old, and he became furious with me for trying to take pictures of him while he was receiving a haircut. He tried to hit me on the head with a full bottle of Suave shampoo, but fortunately I was given enough forewarning to avoid getting hit. Later on, he let someone else take his picture, I gave him a hard time, but we pounded fists afterwards and therefore were friends. So he made a deal with me that if he made the ball on a string, into the cup that I would owe him a dollar. I had one dollar, so I agreed. He, after about 25 minutes, finally made the ball into the cup and so, I gave him a dollar before he left and made him take a picture with me. Ulises was just a funny guy.
Tonight we watched another episode of Glee. I am telling you, it was more awkward than Michael Scott doing the worst thing you can think of on “The Office.” But we are all still hooked. Olivia sang “Lead Me to the Cross” for a special music during our worship service, and we ate spaghetti for dinner with brownies and ice cream for dessert! After worship, I attempted to throw the frisbee with some people in the compound, but there really isn’t an area here that is grassy so the sound of my frisbee scraping the concrete every other throw made me cringe on the inside. So here I am in the building that we eat dinner now, writing this entry, talking to friends about how great our God is, and relaxing after a long day. It’s probably about time for me to start preparing for tomorrow’s long day that is in store for us. God bless.
-Matthew 9:37
-The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray that the God of the harvest would send forth laborers.
-Isaiah 6:8
-“Here I am; send me.”
Monday. Ha-ha. That’s about how my day started. Breakfast was scheduled for 7:00 AM and we were planning on leaving the compound around 8:00 AM. I figured setting my alarm for 6:45 would be relatively reasonably for waking up and getting ready on time. I was awoken by movements the next morning and I figured it was probably 6:30 and that the rest of the guys in the room were getting ready a bit earlier than I was planning on. I looked at my cell phone. 5:18 AM was smiling up at me from my phone. Can I tell you I was not smiling back? I asked the men if they knew what time it was or not. They all laughed at me (I later found out that they were all putting bets on whether or not I would actually get out of bed while they were at breakfast.) I suppose that is the difference in a 19 year old college kid and men who are mostly retired or who soon would be retired.
After a quick breakfast we all packed up and headed to a small “suburb” that was about twenty minutes away from our housing. The houses there were very small if they were houses, and there were many small trailers. We got there around 8:30 and we all took fliers around and passed them out to the different houses around the neighborhood and during this I attempted to speak Spanish several times, thinking before today that I was becoming more proficient in my speaking. I was sorely mistaken.
My conversations were hilarious to behold. I think one of my conversations didn’t have one single complete thought in it. Imagine it, a guy comes to your door speaking a language you don’t understand and attempts to ask you if you understand his language, and upon telling him no, he rattles off a few of the words he does know that has to do with whatever he is inviting you to. Words like, shoes, clothes, and toys. Talk about embarrassed after a major brain fart. I felt sorry for those who were with me. They didn’t speak Spanish, but I think listening to me must’ve have given them a desire similar to putting a racehorse out of its misery. As the day went on, my Spanish improved; I believe this was due mainly to the fact that I was talking with five and six year olds. I washed feet with a newfound friend, Erin Nichols, and several others from our group. I washed feet of old women and young boys and girls with a washcloth and dried their feet after, and we then gave out pairs of shoes until we had no more. It was an awesome experience for me. These boys and girls were so shy and they really were grateful for anything that we could offer to them.
To be honest, I was really worried about being grossed out by people’s feet, but in the end, I was only able to smile as I scrubbed my brothers’ and sisters’ feet. I was able to ask the kids what sports they liked, ask them if the cold water and washcloth tickled their feet, and see if they liked the shoes we could offer them. I was blessed as I saw the humility of children as they accepted and liked whatever was offered them whether it was tacky or not. I saw through the language barrier today as sometimes they would simply smile or laugh, and I saw how universal that was for the first time today. I never thought I’d how selfish and blessed I am from visiting a place that was within the U.S. borders. And I know that the situations and conditions I saw were not even bad compared to other areas of the world. Throughout the day I took pictures of the different things that were going on around our block of the street. One thing I didn't get to capture by my camera was how many dogs there were in this neighborhood. There must've been 3 dogs to every person living here. And not just little dogs, the big dogs you see on the news saying that they attacked and killed someone. The visits for those houses with the big dogs began with a short time of prayer. Other than the dogs though, there were many toddlers and young children there who were simply adorable. I have seen pictures from mission trips that friends have been on and the pictures of children that they have is always showing a cute child or baby, and I have looked at these pictures in the past and have only thought about how good of a picture it is, or how cute the kid is. After one day, I feel like I will look at these pictures differently, knowing that I interacted with these people, that I was a part of their lives and that they were a part of mine as well.
As I worked at our small VBS clinic later in the day, I met a kid named Ulises. He was nine years old, and he became furious with me for trying to take pictures of him while he was receiving a haircut. He tried to hit me on the head with a full bottle of Suave shampoo, but fortunately I was given enough forewarning to avoid getting hit. Later on, he let someone else take his picture, I gave him a hard time, but we pounded fists afterwards and therefore were friends. So he made a deal with me that if he made the ball on a string, into the cup that I would owe him a dollar. I had one dollar, so I agreed. He, after about 25 minutes, finally made the ball into the cup and so, I gave him a dollar before he left and made him take a picture with me. Ulises was just a funny guy.
Tonight we watched another episode of Glee. I am telling you, it was more awkward than Michael Scott doing the worst thing you can think of on “The Office.” But we are all still hooked. Olivia sang “Lead Me to the Cross” for a special music during our worship service, and we ate spaghetti for dinner with brownies and ice cream for dessert! After worship, I attempted to throw the frisbee with some people in the compound, but there really isn’t an area here that is grassy so the sound of my frisbee scraping the concrete every other throw made me cringe on the inside. So here I am in the building that we eat dinner now, writing this entry, talking to friends about how great our God is, and relaxing after a long day. It’s probably about time for me to start preparing for tomorrow’s long day that is in store for us. God bless.
-Matthew 9:37
-The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray that the God of the harvest would send forth laborers.
-Isaiah 6:8
-“Here I am; send me.”
Mexico, or Texas?
Days 1 & 2
So, instead of what many typical college students will be doing for spring break, I am going on a mission trip to Mexico. I left school on Friday around 1:00 PM and drove the 4 hours to Columbia, MS to meet the team I am currently with at the American-Mexican border. Before reaching Columbia, I only knew two people who were going to be travelling with the group and I can’t be more honest when I say I didn’t know them that well either. Since I’ve been with the group, I’ve gotten to know several of the people that are near my age, and a few of those that aren’t. I’ll go over those people later though. When I got to Columbia, I had to meet up with the family I was staying with for the night at a tennis match, and because a good friend I’d met several years ago was in town and at the match, I hastily jumped out of the car. I chatted with Nathan Burkett (the friend), and Graysen Miller for a few minutes, when Nathan and I decided to throw the frisbee. Upon reaching my car to get the frisbee out, I realized I’d locked my keys in the car. So not only are my keys locked in the car, 4 hours away from the spare set, but more importantly, Nathan and I can’t throw the frisbee. Thank God (literally) that the tennis courts were right next to the fire department, who gladly unlocked my car for me, saving me the money I’d have spent on a locksmith, and also giving us a way of getting to the frisbee. Asides from that, the night was rather uneventful. I stayed with Graysen Miller and her family, along with Olivia Broome. We had a good dinner and then later that night we played piano and watched some lousy movie and Monsters, Inc.
Saturday (I am considering Friday and Saturday as one, to fill you in on why there will eventually be three days under this post), began early and we hit the road around 8:00 AM. Riding on the bus was great. The three of us got the back seat and we all slept for about the first 3 or 4 hours. It was rest that we all needed and enjoyed. A sonic lunch in Cajun country made for an interesting stop, and shortly after lunch Olivia introduced Graysen and I to the T.V. series, Glee. We were instantly hooked.
We watched two episodes on the bus on my laptop and watched another few that night at the hotel. My roommate at the hotel, Gary, may have been too much of a partier for me. I must add that sarcasm doesn’t flow well through a text on a webpage. Gary is at least three times older than I am, and he is a great guy. (As I type this he is sitting at a table helping some of the younger girls make crafts for the kids we’ll be visiting tomorrow.) He is a retired social worker and now works on the side as a professional snorer.
Sunday began just as early as Saturday had, and we hit the road again bright and early. We were making record time, but it just was not meant to be…after about 3.5 hours of riding, the bus had a problem. The fan belt snapped, so we made a group stop in Corpus Christi for about an hour or two while we waited for the bus to be repaired. However, in this sad event, we children of the trip were able to charge my laptop and watch more of Glee. We knocked out a good 4 episodes on Sunday, and I must’ve eaten more junk food at that Shell station than I’ve ever eaten. I suppose that’s the tragedy of boredom and a broken bus. We made it to the compound that we’re staying at in Palmview, TX around 3:00 PM and it was fantastic to be able to get off the bus. We had an orientation, dinner, a short worship service, and a Wal-Mart run. I mean, what is a mission trip without a Wal-Mart run?! We had an interesting time walking around and just being goofy like teenagers always are in a Wal-Mart. After the trip, we watched our episode of Glee for the day. We decided to ration the episodes to one a day since we only had 5 more left and 5 more days of the mission trip. We finished the episode around 11:30 PM and we all headed to bed. When I walked into my bunk house full of sleeping men, it was like there had been an unannounced snoring contest. Everyone and their mother in that bunk house was snoring. I was tempted to record them but I’m sure I will later on in the week. It had been a long two days (technically three days, but who’s counting?) filled with naps, Glee, and a long, long bus ride. But they had been good days.
We made it to Proud Land.
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-Revelation 22:20
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
So, instead of what many typical college students will be doing for spring break, I am going on a mission trip to Mexico. I left school on Friday around 1:00 PM and drove the 4 hours to Columbia, MS to meet the team I am currently with at the American-Mexican border. Before reaching Columbia, I only knew two people who were going to be travelling with the group and I can’t be more honest when I say I didn’t know them that well either. Since I’ve been with the group, I’ve gotten to know several of the people that are near my age, and a few of those that aren’t. I’ll go over those people later though. When I got to Columbia, I had to meet up with the family I was staying with for the night at a tennis match, and because a good friend I’d met several years ago was in town and at the match, I hastily jumped out of the car. I chatted with Nathan Burkett (the friend), and Graysen Miller for a few minutes, when Nathan and I decided to throw the frisbee. Upon reaching my car to get the frisbee out, I realized I’d locked my keys in the car. So not only are my keys locked in the car, 4 hours away from the spare set, but more importantly, Nathan and I can’t throw the frisbee. Thank God (literally) that the tennis courts were right next to the fire department, who gladly unlocked my car for me, saving me the money I’d have spent on a locksmith, and also giving us a way of getting to the frisbee. Asides from that, the night was rather uneventful. I stayed with Graysen Miller and her family, along with Olivia Broome. We had a good dinner and then later that night we played piano and watched some lousy movie and Monsters, Inc.
Saturday (I am considering Friday and Saturday as one, to fill you in on why there will eventually be three days under this post), began early and we hit the road around 8:00 AM. Riding on the bus was great. The three of us got the back seat and we all slept for about the first 3 or 4 hours. It was rest that we all needed and enjoyed. A sonic lunch in Cajun country made for an interesting stop, and shortly after lunch Olivia introduced Graysen and I to the T.V. series, Glee. We were instantly hooked.
We watched two episodes on the bus on my laptop and watched another few that night at the hotel. My roommate at the hotel, Gary, may have been too much of a partier for me. I must add that sarcasm doesn’t flow well through a text on a webpage. Gary is at least three times older than I am, and he is a great guy. (As I type this he is sitting at a table helping some of the younger girls make crafts for the kids we’ll be visiting tomorrow.) He is a retired social worker and now works on the side as a professional snorer.
Sunday began just as early as Saturday had, and we hit the road again bright and early. We were making record time, but it just was not meant to be…after about 3.5 hours of riding, the bus had a problem. The fan belt snapped, so we made a group stop in Corpus Christi for about an hour or two while we waited for the bus to be repaired. However, in this sad event, we children of the trip were able to charge my laptop and watch more of Glee. We knocked out a good 4 episodes on Sunday, and I must’ve eaten more junk food at that Shell station than I’ve ever eaten. I suppose that’s the tragedy of boredom and a broken bus. We made it to the compound that we’re staying at in Palmview, TX around 3:00 PM and it was fantastic to be able to get off the bus. We had an orientation, dinner, a short worship service, and a Wal-Mart run. I mean, what is a mission trip without a Wal-Mart run?! We had an interesting time walking around and just being goofy like teenagers always are in a Wal-Mart. After the trip, we watched our episode of Glee for the day. We decided to ration the episodes to one a day since we only had 5 more left and 5 more days of the mission trip. We finished the episode around 11:30 PM and we all headed to bed. When I walked into my bunk house full of sleeping men, it was like there had been an unannounced snoring contest. Everyone and their mother in that bunk house was snoring. I was tempted to record them but I’m sure I will later on in the week. It had been a long two days (technically three days, but who’s counting?) filled with naps, Glee, and a long, long bus ride. But they had been good days.
We made it to Proud Land.
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-Revelation 22:20
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Ferrousity
This past weekend I had the privilege to travel to Atlanta with our traveling frisbee team and play in the Freaknik tournament. I hesitate to say "privilege" because of how sore and sunburned I and all my teammates are. It was a great weekend for Samford frisbee and we had more wins at this tournament than the club team has in the last three years. Being straight with the facts first, we went 7-1 this past weekend, and only lost to the team who ended up winning the championship. But due to the setup of the brackets we ended up getting third place officially even though we beat the second place team soundly. I had a lot of fun playing, and got a lot of experience from playing with all of the older players. I have a lot of respect for the older guys on our team. Stephen Rhea and Justin Warden are two great guys who are strong in their faith and who have a LOT of patience for teaching frisbee. They are also both sick at frisbee. One day I hope to play as well as they do and lead as they do.
All seriousness aside, we had an extremely fun weekend. We had eight orders from one vehicle at Wendy's, had a meal of chili with everyone after day one, and we were all sunburnt to a crisp and sore as anything. It was a terrible yet, amazing feeling knowing that we as a team were all physically dead, but that we had won all four of our games that day. Both mornings we awoke to Sam Douglas's alarm going off about six times as he hit the snooze time after time. We spent the last night watching Dumb and Dumber and looked at pics from the weekend. And a common misconception that Gordon Lee has been telling people is that I ruined his "greatest." A "greatest" is an occurance in frisbee in which a player jumps out of bounds to save the frisbee and throws it back in to another player and completes the pass. In our case, Gordon dove and was a foot off the ground when he heaved the frisbee back in bounds. It was only about a 6 foot throw and it was spinning in about 100 different directions. I dove and had the frisbee for a split second, but then I dropped it. People from both sidelines groaned, mainly because it would've been an epic play if we'd completed it, but it was pretty epic anyways. There was never a shortage of pump up music in our cars, and there was never a shortage of loud voices singing along with it. It was a fantastic weekend all around and I look forward to our next tournament and I'm glad to know all the guys on our team better than I did before now.
God blessed us this weekend. We had a blast and we all were safe from injury for the entire weekend. Our team motto (I guess you could call it that) is, "Have Fun, Play Hard, All for God's Glory." And I think that's what we did this weekend.
Isaiah 40:30
All seriousness aside, we had an extremely fun weekend. We had eight orders from one vehicle at Wendy's, had a meal of chili with everyone after day one, and we were all sunburnt to a crisp and sore as anything. It was a terrible yet, amazing feeling knowing that we as a team were all physically dead, but that we had won all four of our games that day. Both mornings we awoke to Sam Douglas's alarm going off about six times as he hit the snooze time after time. We spent the last night watching Dumb and Dumber and looked at pics from the weekend. And a common misconception that Gordon Lee has been telling people is that I ruined his "greatest." A "greatest" is an occurance in frisbee in which a player jumps out of bounds to save the frisbee and throws it back in to another player and completes the pass. In our case, Gordon dove and was a foot off the ground when he heaved the frisbee back in bounds. It was only about a 6 foot throw and it was spinning in about 100 different directions. I dove and had the frisbee for a split second, but then I dropped it. People from both sidelines groaned, mainly because it would've been an epic play if we'd completed it, but it was pretty epic anyways. There was never a shortage of pump up music in our cars, and there was never a shortage of loud voices singing along with it. It was a fantastic weekend all around and I look forward to our next tournament and I'm glad to know all the guys on our team better than I did before now.
God blessed us this weekend. We had a blast and we all were safe from injury for the entire weekend. Our team motto (I guess you could call it that) is, "Have Fun, Play Hard, All for God's Glory." And I think that's what we did this weekend.
Isaiah 40:30
Monday, March 1, 2010
Life as we know it.
It has been quite an eventful weekend here at Samford. It has been a very good one at that. Step Sing is over, the tests come up, the essays are due and the all-nighters are everywhere. I was proud of myself having successfully finished my essay before sunset the day before it was due. HUGE marker in my study life.
But after school, this was the first Step Sing-free weekend since the beginning of school, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I spent Friday with Justin Warden, just chilling and watching Apolo Ohno dominate the skating arena and jumping everywhere. And Saturday was filled with lots of great fun. I went and saw "The Complete History of America: Abriged" with some of the guys and then went rollerblading at Skates 280, where "it's cool and shady." Well, a slogan like that makes me want to come back SO badly. We had a great time though, and cruised through Wal-Mart. Sunday. It was a great day. I went to church, David Platt presented the best sermon on Leviticus I've ever heard. I got to see my old friends, Craig Stilley and Molly Barksdale, which was awesome. And that afternoon. Oh dear. I played 5 hours of frisbee on Sunday. Great for fun, not so great for the legs. We had club practice seeing as we have a tournament this coming weekend in Atlanta. I'm extremely excited. I really have a lot of respect for the leaders on our club team, Ferrousity. Justin Warden and Stephen Rhea are two awesome guys that I really look up to and I'm glad to know them as my frisbee captains and to have them as my friends. We also had intramural frisbee games Sunday night. Scoober-Doo started out with an upset over Fire and Brimstone. We played a great game and really just worked well as a team. It was a nailbiter and was a great game to leave with a win. I also played with the Fellows team, and we had a lot of fun as well. We lost by one in that game, but I got to meet several new people and have fun with my friends as we goofed around and shouted the team cry. Overall, it was a great weekend, and I look forward to making more memories with my friends here at Samford, and I can't wait for next weekends tourney.
And to catch up on tonight, I got my finalization letters from Kanakuk today, and I'm really excited about that. Only two weeks until I leave for Mexico with the Mississippi group, and I'm hoping that God works as we travel over there. And finally, I lead a Bible study group via Skype tonight and I swear, the halls have never been more crazy! People were yelling and screaming, poking their heads in my door, and to be honest I've never been more popular! It was very interesting, but it was a good experience and I'm praying that the advice I gave to those seniors will stick with them the way I wish advice had stuck to me.
Anyways, that's it for tonight, I've rambled enough.
Tim
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest.
But after school, this was the first Step Sing-free weekend since the beginning of school, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I spent Friday with Justin Warden, just chilling and watching Apolo Ohno dominate the skating arena and jumping everywhere. And Saturday was filled with lots of great fun. I went and saw "The Complete History of America: Abriged" with some of the guys and then went rollerblading at Skates 280, where "it's cool and shady." Well, a slogan like that makes me want to come back SO badly. We had a great time though, and cruised through Wal-Mart. Sunday. It was a great day. I went to church, David Platt presented the best sermon on Leviticus I've ever heard. I got to see my old friends, Craig Stilley and Molly Barksdale, which was awesome. And that afternoon. Oh dear. I played 5 hours of frisbee on Sunday. Great for fun, not so great for the legs. We had club practice seeing as we have a tournament this coming weekend in Atlanta. I'm extremely excited. I really have a lot of respect for the leaders on our club team, Ferrousity. Justin Warden and Stephen Rhea are two awesome guys that I really look up to and I'm glad to know them as my frisbee captains and to have them as my friends. We also had intramural frisbee games Sunday night. Scoober-Doo started out with an upset over Fire and Brimstone. We played a great game and really just worked well as a team. It was a nailbiter and was a great game to leave with a win. I also played with the Fellows team, and we had a lot of fun as well. We lost by one in that game, but I got to meet several new people and have fun with my friends as we goofed around and shouted the team cry. Overall, it was a great weekend, and I look forward to making more memories with my friends here at Samford, and I can't wait for next weekends tourney.
And to catch up on tonight, I got my finalization letters from Kanakuk today, and I'm really excited about that. Only two weeks until I leave for Mexico with the Mississippi group, and I'm hoping that God works as we travel over there. And finally, I lead a Bible study group via Skype tonight and I swear, the halls have never been more crazy! People were yelling and screaming, poking their heads in my door, and to be honest I've never been more popular! It was very interesting, but it was a good experience and I'm praying that the advice I gave to those seniors will stick with them the way I wish advice had stuck to me.
Anyways, that's it for tonight, I've rambled enough.
Tim
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest.
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