Atlanta

We have arrived in Atlanta.  See you soon!

Last full day

The kids are very sad at the thought of leaving tomorrow.  Some have done some interesting bargaining with me to "accidentally" leave them here (sorry parents).

We began the day helping set up the church for Sunday morning and then headed to las palmas for some futbol (our kids are pros by now). Las palmas is a neighborhood camino is trying to plant a church in.  

We then went to a church members house for a party and goodbyes.  Many tears shed.   Tomorrow we will attend church and then off to the airport.  See y'all tomorrow night.  

Ben stretching (I think)

Playing Soccer in the Mountains

Friday afternoon we visited a center for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics in a very poor area.north of Jesus Maria.  I (Tim) had expected that this would be a very sad visit, but it was actually quite the opposite.

There were about 5-7 young men living at the facility and their lives had been changed by God.  They were very happy and talked with us and explained what went on at the center.  The center was started by another Evangelical church in the area, one that has planted six sister churches.  The center is self'-supporting - and they truly live day by day.  During the day they have Bible studies and counseling.  They also exercise and sell chocolates and used clothing on the street to support the center.

The church has different volunteers who come each day and teach the Bible and work with the kids.  Yesterday, a man named Victor was there.  He told he had been in jail 3 times for narcotics trafficking and possibly (if Tina and I understood him correctly) for human trafficking.  His third time in prison, he became a Christian and his life changed dramatically.  He now works with his church and helps out at the center.

After eating a lunch of hot dogs and chips, we went to a grassy area over by the pyramids/ruins, where we had visited our first or second day here.  We played soccer with the kids from the center.  I actually scored my first goal (a miracle in itself)!  We played for nearly 90 minutes and had a great time.  The kids at the center were filled with life and it was hard to believe that they were recovering addicts.  There were many smiles and much laughter.

After soccer we took some pictures and walked back to the center.  A person from church had given us money for the trip to use to help in any situation in which we saw a need.  We used part of the money to purchase a huge bag of rice and huge bag of black beans for them, which probably would provide meals for a couple of weeks.

It was a great day.  VBS had gone well too, with almost 120 kids in attendance for the last day.

In the evening we ate Pazoli and the students socialized with the Mexican kids for quite a while.

Today (Saturday) we plan to clean the church, and then we have a soccer outreach in a different area where the missionaries are trying to begin a new church plant.

Thursday

The cameras are really coming out now as many kids want their pictures taken with our students.  I'm sure there are many that would put a kid in their suitcase home if they could.  They are already sad at the thought of saying goodbye tomorrow.

Here's a bunch of pictures of us working at the church today after VBS.  

English class

Playing bingo with locals who wish to learn Spanish.  

Vbs day 3

Group had a great day again today.  The kids from the vbs have begun to open up and connect with the group.  We had about 115 kids today and praying for more.

Devo time

Vbs

Vbs day 2

Day 2 went great today at vbs.  The students are getting more comfortable interacting despite the language barrier.   We then spent the rest of the day working on and painting the new church building.   

Tomorrow, we are looking forward to vbs day 3 and English classes with the people of ixtapaluca.  

The girls turn

http://vimeo.com/101985461

Painting

Just got back to Tina's after painting about 1/2 of the church ceiling, the pillars and second choosing the walls.  As you may well imagine, there was plenty of paint on the students as well.  Tomorrow we hope to finish the ceiling and also begin building some storage cabinets...students doing well...

Pyramid and vbs pics

VBS Day One

Head a good first day at VBS.  The VBS is cowboy themed, so there were lots of hats and plaid shirts.  The good ness is that we had between 58 and 65 kids the first day (we were expecting about 30).  The kids did great, and there was a lot of new experiences.  This afternoon, we're going to the church to paint and construct some storage units.
More later....

Hi mom!

Just had to say hi to mom

http://vimeo.com/101888490

Sunday afternoon

Ate at Tina's.  Big excitement of the day was Tina's dog. It got into some chocolate and got sick about 6 or 7 times. 
After lunch we went to some pyramids outside of Ixtapaluca.  We had a sharing time and discussed the kids impressions so far.  Tomorrow we'll start VBS, and well spend the late afternoon/evening painting at the church, and building a storage unit.  All is well, kids in good spirits....

Sunday morning

Well we just got back from the church service this morning.  Kids aren't used to eating lunch around 2pm, so they are pretty hungry.  Looking forward to team training/devos and were going to visit a pyramid later

Day 1

What a tiring day.  We arrived in Mexico City and were greeted by Tina and the pastor of the church.  Tina took us into downtown after cramming all 14 of us into the metro and into a space made for one.  Ha!  We are all feeling well, but very tired.  Attending church in the morning and planning a slow day to get ready for vbs.  See you tomorrow!

Atlanta!

We have landed and waiting to get off the plane

Dinner

What do you have for dinner the night before traveling to Mexico for a week?  #burritos #chipotle

Weather

Here is the 7 day forecast for ixtapaluca.  Looks like it will be cool and rainy.

Team Blog

This is a test blog post for our trip to Mexico this Saturday.  You will be able to follow the team here as we serve in Ixtapaluca next week.