God's planned delay...

Hey all!
I type to you for Colorado Springs, CO. The reason for the delay (again...) is because they were closing interstates north of denver and we thought we would rather do that drive during the daylight hours so a ywam base in colorado springs put us up for free. I'm not going to lie to you....a number of us were pretty bummed out when we learned that we wouldn't be getting home when we thought, (the drive gets a little long...just wanna get it over with sometimes) but its amazing what God does through these things.

Because we stopped we got a beautiful meal for 2 bucks, free accomodations and got to meet some really cool people. It also gave us time to have devotions one more time as a group and we had a much needed sharing time and it was a time with MANY tears, praise, laughter, and prayer. Times to cherish. God definitely worked alot in our group in this time and i will be forever thankful to him for these times. It really drew us together as a group and reminded us how we were affected in Mexico and we kind of did a check on our attitudes as we drive as well, ha ha.

Anyways, we will be leaving early tomorrow, we plan to be outta here by 5AM and it looks like a good 16 hour drive, or more, kinda depends what site you look at so we will be arriving at Cornerstone quite late Sunday night.

I hope you all have a good sleep and know that we are in God's hands.

In his grip,
Andy

just about to leave...

hey!
so pretty much last night i fell asleep trying to post on the blog. but it was an awesome day. we worked on pablos church, had a 'carne asada' celebration last night with the congregation there. it was alot of fun. But right now were about to take off to albequerque for tonight...so i better get going...

Drew

Fireproof

Wow,
yet again, i can hardly remember to the morning due to all we did throughout the day. It started with a hike up the mountain that is close to brendas. As a group we hiked up there in about 20 minutes and had our group devotions on Gods creation. It was really good. After this we headed down the mountain and out to a new church in a village called Empalme that we actually worked at last year. It was cool to run into "pastor chris" randomly at a fast food resteraunt (chicken tacos, so good!) for lunch. We actually got alot done at this other church. Jobs included: cleaning out septic tank (thanks alicia and nicole), dumping dirt in church and packing it where new stage would be, repairing and painting pews, cleaning up garbage, making a new fence around property, and topping it all off with a prayer meeting at the end. This guy was a huge encouragement and blessing to us, and when as we left with them in heartfelt gratitude, it was easy to tell we were appreciated. After this we head to a more remote village in Empalme and set up in the middle of the villlage. First we split up into 6 groups (thats how many knew spanish, 6 people in total) and we, with an evangelist pastor we just met spread the word by knocking on peoples doors. We then gave out clothing and bibles and tracts which didn't take long, and then played with kids and got ready for the movie. We played the movie and afterward prayed for those who wanted to, it was quite powerful. The lord is at work! After this we went out for hot dogs and came home, it was an exhausting day but one we will never forget. With my eyelids heavy i better end this post. Please pray for Julia and Corina as they are a little sick...Julia is feeling better but Corina is having back issues. All in all we have been quite fortunate with our health. Thank you so much for your support and prayers! looking forward to seeing you all...

Andy

Ps there was april fools in mexico...

Gods little children

Buenos Dias, today was yet another full day. We had a some more time to take it a little more easy... This morning Myself (Andy) and Alex were greeted by a surprise song and card signed by everyone as we entered the main part where we meet in the mornings. it was prety funny, we even did it mexican style where everyone filed through and hugged us. After this we all as a group went deep sea fishing. It was really good. i think most people tryed it out and many caught fish. It was neat to see what you could pull up from 200 ft down. Those fish later on were fryed up in the kitchen on the boat and we had fish tacos in a nice calm bay. (this was a treat because on sea it was quite wavy and we had a few seasick people) In this bay some people decided to do some swimming, while others tanned, didn't get sick, or watched. It was a very fun morning to enjoy Gods creation. a little later in the afternoon we cleaned the vans and prepared for the evening and supper with the orphanage. It was SO fun, every person at our group played with some kid at some time. After a few hours of playing and supper we sang some songs with the kids and performed some dramas, it was a blast. We had a little longer group devos as tonights focus was 'the cross'. It was quite meaningful for some. And then here we are, latetonight on my birthday buy i don't kno wif theres any other way i would prefer to celebrete. As of now we are all healthy and of high spirits. Tomorrow we plan to help repair a church, soccer ministy, clothing distribution and showing 'fireproof' in a village (facing the giants is outdated... they'll have seen it) Were really looking forward to a good long hard day. we covet your prayers and pray for you guys!!!

signing off,

andy

After another beautiful morning of waking up at anywhere from 6 to 7, we headed out to Guaymas to start working on the church we helped fundraise for. With the hot sun and hard work, we had our designated water girl (Corina with a sore wrist), and three "moms" reminding everyone to put on sunscreen every couple of hours. With the dust from the dirt we were shoveling and wheeling around sticking to our sweat, we all had red tans that thankfully washed off later on in the shower. Unfortunately some didn't. A couple of burnt legs and hat tans later we headed off home thankful we could bless such an amazing church.
We had our first Canadian meal out here today, hamburgers and chips for supper. Doesn't compare to the real Mexican food we get out here though. Looking forward to more of Brenda's amazing food and heading out to an orphanage tomorrow. Dios le bendiga (God Bless) Alana

Hey everybody at home!!! I guess I can't honestly say that I miss you, because we're all really loving it here! :) I'm just going to mention a few of my highlights from the past few days, and I'm hoping that there will be many more in the coming days! One of them was definitely the church service from yesterday. These Mexicans are just so excited about God, and it's contagious! We all absolutely loved it, and the people are so open and friendly. The best is the praise and worship songs that we also know in English. It's awesome to each be worshiping in our own language the same awesome God!
The work today was hard--a lot of shoveling and spreading rocks and passing bricks, but it was worth it to know that we could be a blessing to this wonderful congregation. Just don't ask me tomorrow when I'll be feeling muscles I didn't know I had...
At church yesterday the pastor spoke on equal partners--how those who stay behind praying are just as important as those on the front lines. I just want to thank all of you for being our "equal partners" on this missions trip. It's so encouraging to know that people at home are standing behind us in prayer! Thank you so much, and please continue to remember us in the coming days. Love you lots!! Alicia

Hola senors, senoritas, and senoras. Today was really awsome, the whole group worked really hard. We shoveled dirt around the cement foundation for support and to fill in holes, we also loaded wheelbarrows full of dirt and rocks into the inside of the church foundation to level the ground. Once the piles we were takeing the dirt from were gone, we built a ramp for a big truck to come and and dump dirt inside the foundation of the chuch, but unluckily, the axel somehow broke while it was inside the church and had to be draged out by another truck, and we were unable to use the truck for the rest of that day, which slowed us down a little. But spirits were high and people kept working. The smaller trucks kept hauling in dirt. We played soccer with some Mexican kids for a little while while we waited for trucks to bring another load dirt. Near the end of the day the whole group got together to haul about two thousand bricks around the church. Once we were done, that concluded our work day. We came back to Brendas house, and had another amazing meal. The rest of the day, we realaxed and enjoyed eachother company, before turning into bed and geting ready for another early day. Thanks for all the support and prayers from all you people back at home. this trip would not be possible without you guys supporting us back at home. P.S. sorry for all the speeling errors. Hasta Leuago, see you all later. Alex, and Jesse

Sunday...

We started out our day by waking up at 7:00 am, and having group devotions with praise and worship songs, as well as some time in small groups discussing the scripture for the day. We had breakfast and then got the webcam conference set up as a lot of you saw us at Cornerstone. That was a really fun way to start off the day... Then we went to the 'english' church right here in San Carlos. This church Art & Brenda and Ryan regularly attend.
After church we headed down to the Oasis (Macapule) where we trekked around for a few hours. The oasis is just a beautiful, lush, green area in the middle of this desert we call San Carlos. It was a good time. It was fun to take pictures and challenge our bodies with all the obstacles. We had to use a lot of teamwork.
Lunch was a delicious meal of Enchiladas (YUM) and refried beans (we have them at just about every meal)! Brenda is a wonderful cook! Then we went to a nearby beach for a few hours where we suntanned, swam in the ocean, looked for seashells, and the boys played some football. Landon had a little encounter with a sea urchin...let's just say it left it's mark on his hands (..ouch).
So it sounds like we just hang out all day hey? Once we got back from the beach we headed over to Guaymas to attend an evening church service where we performed skits, shared testimonies (Nicole, Erik, and Julia were the brave ones tonight) and Andy shared some Scriptures and encouragement. We also brought out our Spanish praise and worship which some of you heard in Cornerstone last week. They seemed to like it so I guess we're saying the right words! One huge highlight was when the pastor asked if anyone was having a birthday soon...Andy and Alex's are both this week (March 31). They had to go up to the front while the entire congregation sang "Happy Birthday" (in Spanish..and English once) and filed by giving them a hug. It was hilarious, "very entertaining" (says Nicole). They were very surprised, but apparently that is a very common practice here in Mexico. We hung out at the church for a long time afterwards just talking with the locals. Fred is a HUGE help so we can actually have conversations with these people. There are also quite a few Mexicans that know English which made it easier.
Now we're just hanging out in the "palapa" (it's like a straw hut type thing...very pretty) at Brenda's. The team seems to be getting along great and everyone is having a great time. We love Mexico!
Tomorrow we will head back to the church in Guaymas to start building their new church (which you guys at Cornerstone helped fundraise for at the brunch). Time for bed! Enjoy the snow....

By Terri and Nicole....with the help of "Shorty" (a local Mexican who lives with Brenda...he's actually really tall)

Pase!

We are pleased to be writing you from San Carlos, MEXICO!!! We arrived here around 7:30 and it has been awesome (9:30 your time). We had a really good day of driving with very nice roads and the sleep in the hotel was very nice. We arrived at the Nogales, AZ border crossing sometime around 1:30 and ate and had a quick prayer meeting. And God answered our prayers and we made it past the Mexican border stop, as well as mile 21 (where there is a second customs stop) which both gave us green lights to keep going. We were so thankful for this. We had a small delay with a cop who pulled us over, but since we did not know spanish it didn't take long for him to tell us to keep going. So not too long ago we had our first Mexican meal called "chimmy changas" which in my description is deep fried wraps, with roast beef in the middle. It was a very nice change from fast food, and i think i speak for all of us when i say that... Anyhow, we are stoked to be here in Mexico, so excited, and its just such a nice place with such nice weather, and awesome hosts. We plan to wake up sometime around 7:30 tomorrow morning to do our morning routine and then head to church. In the afternoon we plan to take it easy the first day by hiking the oasis, going to the beach, and then leaving for an evening service at Pastor Pablos church. (the church we helped fundraise for at Cornerstone...) We are very excited but also tired from a long trip. infact, i'm pretty sure i'm the only one up right now...It is quarter to eleven and i will probably head to bed shortly.

Thank you so much for you prayers. You can be at ease that we are safe here in Mexico and excited to see what the Lord plans to do with us over this week.