Day 7: by Mich, Rusty and Peter

Hello to all the worried mammas of this youth group. I would like to start this blog by thanking the fathers who have told the women not to worry, and that Scott and Andy are usually quite safe. We are safe! Today was the FIRST day where we had a full and healthy group serving Jesus. Today was also the final full day we spent in this beautiful village in Mexico. Starting with an early morning to do our personal and team devos and eat breakfast before heading to Belen, Casa de Pan by 9am. There, we were greeted happily by 70 kids, 70 handshakes, and 70 warm smiles. Casa de Pan is a feeding ministry for children aging from about 3 to 14. We were able to show Jesus' love to these children by singing to them, Margarita read a story in Spanish to the kids, and we helped each child make their own salvation bracelets. Afterwards, our team was able to help the ministry leaders serve a Mexican breakfast to the children. TORTILLAS TORTILLAS TORTILLAS was a very common sentence used by us Canadians. (HINT: while reading "tortillas", please make sure to roll your r's into next week like the Mexicans do so it'll end up reading "TORRRRRRRRRRRRRTILLAS") 

The kids went home after breakfast, and our team had some free time till lunch arrived from the base. Brenda and her team provided us with a wonderful steak tacos and some homemade cookies. We were then put to work pouring a concrete pad, finishing up some painting on the roof, sealing a roof, and washing the ministries van. We put in 3 or so hours of work for this great cause, all while splashing each other with paint and enjoying laughs amongst our group. 

After getting back to the base, eating the last supper of our stay, we all gathered on the rooftop of the base and held a foot-washing session to encourage each other in our walks with Jesus. This was a great, empowering time for all of our team and we all would agree that we aren't just a youth group, but rather a family. 

Highlights: 

Rusty- Getting to do construction and concrete work was a highlight for me. During this time, God showed me that working with my hands and helping to physically build structures on Earth is definitely my spiritual gift and how God wants me to further His heavenly kingdom. 

Peter- Being able to see the smiling faces of the orphans and being able to translate between Spanish and English was my highlight. I also enjoyed working and seeing the whole group's desire to work. 

Michelle- The foot-washing session on the roof of the base was my favourite part of the day. It was such an uplifting time for all of us and the bonds between us became almost unbreakable during the three hours that we were up there. 

We will miss the hospitality and friendship of the staff at the base, as well as the openness and sense of acceptance from the Mexican people, but we are ready to tackle the long trip home. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and we continue to ask for prayer as we embark on our trip. 

March 29- Fishing/Food Hampers

Today we woke up and had our regular morning routine of personal devotions in the morning. We then had a quick breakfast and got on the bus to go to the coast where we boarded a boat to go fishing. We all got a chance to go deep sea fishing which was very cool; and we caught quite a few fish! We reeled in and the boat driver brought us to a cove where we saw wild dolphins and even got to swim with them, we got pretty close to them which was really awesome. We had some fish tacos on the boat, and then headed back to the base. When we got back to the base we packed up some food hampers (A bag filled with essential groceries). We packed the bus up and headed to northern Guaymas, where we met up with some pastors and members of the church which we attended on sunday. We split up into 4 separate groups (each group had a translator, and local mexican from the local church), and we walked through a village in Guaymas which has no church in it currently. This is an area of the city that the church in Fatima is praying to reach out to and plant another church. They are currently trying to plant the seeds of starting a church in this region and passing out these food hampers turned out to be a great tool to getting to know the people in the area and telling them about the local church and about Christ. This was an incredibly eye opening and impactful time. When we met back as a team, the groups reported of praying over sick people in bed, praying that God would supply the means for a family to try and replace their roof, praying for some Christians to be a witness in the commmunity , and praying for young families who were just struggling to find enough money to get food on the table. They were all very receptive and very thankful of the gifts of the food hampers. I think we were all quite surprised though, at how they were craving to be prayed for and appreciated being prayed for more than they food hamper. When we got back to the base we had supper and then had a guys night/girls night after the evening team debrief. We were thankful today that our sick people were all feeling better and everyone was back to participating in all the events. It was a great day!

Helping out local widow/Clothing Distribution

Today we started off the day with climbing the mountain just outside of the base here in San Carlos and doing our personal and group devotions up on the mountainside. Rusty wasn't feeling too hot since he had a flu bug so he wasn't able to join us on the hike and throughout the rest of the day. He was feeling better at the end of the day after spending most of the day recovering. After breakfast we split into two teams: one stayed at the base to clean and load up the bus for the upcoming events of the day and the other went to a local widow's house to help by cleaning up her yard. After a few hours of cleaning, we went back for lunch and then headed off to a tribal village to distribute clothes and do a quick child VBS. After bringing in kids, playing some games, and hearing a quick sermon from Andy, and testimony from Margarita, we got to witness a crowd of both children and adults give their lives over to God. We had the chance to pray for a group of people at the end of the day. On the way home we stopped at "Lapa lapa", where we all got to experience a Mexican hot dog. We got back to the base, and had team time as we do every evening.


Parker- I had the chance to witness a woman come to join the family of God after the whole VBS/sermon/clothing distribution schpeel. This REALLY moved me... to the point of tears. I found great joy in the fact that this woman is able to join her creator in heaven after our life on earth. It reminded me that even though we have struggles on earth, they will all be taken away once we enter the realms of heaven. This really touched me and was definitely a God sighting.

Marius- This week was the BEST spring break i have ever had. yes there was sickness and sourness but other then that it was amazing. my highlight is seeing people coming to Christ and helping build and helping the orphans. but the  biggest highlight of my week is meeting new people. i met a guy named Roberto. we became really close friends. the language was no problem i tried my best even if i couldn't speak spanish and people laughed with me because of it; i still had the best time of my life.

Xander- Today was a pretty amazing and emotional day for our whole team. During team time, we went around the circle and shared one highlight of our day, and also something that we felt God wanted us to change or to get rid of. There were a good amount of tears on peoples cheeks, and a whole lot of realization. I really enjoyed this because we really bonded as a team, and their were a lot of struggles shared which helps to get all the stress off our chests. It hit us right in the "feels".

 Group shot at the beach

 Harmsy buried in the sand

 Passing out waters/tracts

Are they eating the paint?

March 28, 2017- Helping the Community

Hello,

    Today we went to two different churches to extend a helping hand in a project or two at them. At one church we painted and moved some concrete (This was Juan Carlos' home church-one of our translors). In the other church we painted the sanctuary (this was the church that we attended on Sunday morning), it was a big job which took us a good part of the day; we were also granted the opportunity to play with some of the children there (who for the most part where orphans). Afterwards we went and did the 'Water Distribution'. This is where we gave free water to passerby traffic on speed bumps (topes), we also handed out tracts about the Bible and New Testaments. We also went to the beach and brought home beautiful memories and seashells. When we got back to our mission base we did some shopping; a Mexican friend of Brenda's came and set up her shop right in our base so we could shop in the evening here, and also support a friend of the ministry. Many panchos were purchased ;)

Brianna: Today one of the things that really showed God's presence was during the afternoon when we handed out water. My group handed out water first, which went over okay, but many cars passed at the gift. After we ran out of water, my leader Juan Carlos gave us bibles to hand out saying, "now this is everlasting water". We all hoped that the people would take at least a few, but instead the bibles went faster than the water, almost everyone who passed took a bible and we had many ask for bibles once they ran out. You'd think that people would take water before a bible, but God proves His power in so many incredible ways, keeping us on our toes and showing us He is Almighty.

Adam A.K.A. La: Today was a day filled with lots of joy. No matter where I was there were smiling people and it was amazing. It rubbed off on me for sure, and I had a great day.

Branson A.K.A. Missouri: Today was another warm beautiful day, lots of fun burying Wyatt Harms in the sand, painting the entire inside of this one church and distributing water on Scott's Team. God really made an impact on everyone today, he had created many eye opening moments as well as showing us how to truly embrace Christ.    

pics

 I snapped a pic of this drummer. He was in the front row of the audience helping keep us all in beat for the mornings worship service. His Dad was the drummer on stage. Got a feeling he's following in his dads footsteps

Just one pic of the evening where we had 5 other local youth groups from the area join us at our base. here we are playing the "human knot" game. Seemed to be a hit with the Mexicans.

Day 2- Sunday!!

Our first full day in Mexico gave us a lot of insight on Mexican culture. We woke in the morning and went to a church called Citidad de Refugio. The worship was so energetic and lively, and it was encouraging to hear many songs we know in english sung in Spanish. Michelle Krahn, Peter Klassen and Parker Friesen shared their testimonies with the congregation and our group shared cardboard testimonies. Each person chose a few words, or a phrase that showed what our life was like without Jesus, and on the other side read what life became with Christ. Then Pastor Andy preached the message. The members were so friendly, and you can see their passion for Jesus as they praise and pray to God. Our translator Rebecca did a fantastic job, keeping up with us and explaining when we didn't understand.

After lunch, we had some free time so we decided to go to the beach for a quick swim (45 minutes, the beach is literally a 3 minute drive away). We're taking advantage of the warm weather while we're here.

Our afternoon/evening consisted of the youth breaking into groups to practice the "Sin Chair" skit, a dance, as well as fixing up and hoeing the yard across from the base which is used as a soccer field. After about an hour, other youth groups from Mexico showed up and both Mexican and Canadian identities were put aside for the night as all were united with a common faith, hope, and loving desire for the Lord. 

It began with everyone relaxing around tables and conversing or even doing bottle flips for some of the young ones! Then came of a couple of icebreaker games that introduced everyone with each other as we all came to a comfortable and friendly level including "The Human Knot","Bottle Flipping Contest", and "Electricity". Once the games were all done, Liam and Xander Klassen had their turn as they performed a dance routine and had a short improv battle with another one of the Mexicans. The Sin Chair was the skit that followed up turning out to be a great success with some laughs. After was a reenactment of the cardboard testimonies and Pastor Andy having a brief but valuable message before returning to fellowship, some nachos, and some went to play soccer across the road before a final picture of the groups and goodbyes.

Brianna: One of the things that really hit me today was how even though we don't speak the same language, music and worship unit people no matter how different they are. In church, we were able to sing songs and praise God in our own ways together, it was so amazing to hear worship songs we know in church, this allowed us to connect with everyone in the room. We all had the same desire, to worship the Lord with songs of praise and that's what we were able to do. The church the was lively! In the evening after most of the youth groups left, a few of the kids stayed behind. We sat around in a circle and made music together, clapped and cheering while people danced and sang. Without directly speaking to each other, we were able to spend time together, having fun and letting the music speak for us. It was really cool to experience that connection between everyone, like there was really no language barrier between us. I'm so excited to see what else God has in store for the rest of the week, he's already working through us and in us in so many ways.

Liam: Having being put on the spot and asked to perform and do a dance at the end of the night was a hard time for me. I wasn't exactly up for it and felt somewhat stressed to get it all together for the youth night but after the church service and all the amazing experiences, I was feeling a lot more optimistic and had a better attitude. I prayed and did my absolute best to let God be in control and that it would be alright no matter what. Eventually the time came and it went fluid and extremely well until another person came up and wanted to show me up. I was definitely "caught in the headlights" and not gonna lie he probably beat me, but that didn't matter. Giving God the glory helped me to get through and gave me the amazing strength needed to enjoy the dance. It's amazing what trust can do, especially with an amazing loving almighty God that we have to hold us up when tough things come our way and are unexpected.

- Liam Klassen and Brianna Friesen

San Carlos, Mexico

hey all!

Don't have a ton of time for a post but I figured I needed to update all at home that we arrived at the base safe and sound! We had a really good day of driving today and arrived at Casa de Esperanza at around 9pm local time here. (We are two hours behind you guys at home). We had some quesadillas and taco soup, and the kids were all very impressed at how nice the base is. We have a very busy day tomorrow as Brenda has areanged for us to do the Sunday morning service at a church and the local youth group is coming to the base tomorrow and we are hanging out with them. It sounds like Brenda has much planned for us this week and I am very excited to be a helping hand and minister the love of Jesus to all we meet. Thank you all for your prayers while we were driving. We definitely felt your prayers and I know me and Milt were amazed how we didn't really struggle with fatigue at all even though it was a very long drive! I will be getting a lot of the students to do the blogging this week so you get updates from the students perspective but I will try to post a few pictures each day of what we're up to! Goodnight  for today!

Andy

Albuquerque!!! Finally

So I posted a couple of hours but just figured I would update that we are safe at the Ramada Inn in Albuquerque. We were all excited to see some showers! Were going to bed early as we have a 5:15 AM wake up call tomorrow in hopes to get to San Carlos close to supper time. Here are a few pics:

 Here Parker after a night with little sleep... Looks like he's got lots of energy. I was impressed with the energy on the bus after the night.

 Didn't seem to matter how far south we went... Couldn't get rid of the snow. This pic was taken in New Mexico about an hour from Santa Fe. We did eventually get rid of the snow, but had quite a detour dodging the big storm that covered most of the state of Colorado, which had many closed roads.

A group shot of the crew as we were on the last leg to Albuquerque. Smiling as we finally saw the sun shine and got through the big storm. (The drivers are breathing a sigh of relief, lol)

Day of adventure

Hello all!!
We have had a pretty eventful first 24 hrs but we are happy to report we are within an hour or so of Albuquerque. At the first gas station I (Andy) clipped a cars bumper pulling out of the fuel pump station, then a few hours later we ran into a winter weather advisory and found a whole bunch of closed roads. So we've had our share of adventures already!!!  With some wise navigating from Scott we were able to take some back highways and made it all the way, mostly dodging the storm. Got to say going on a few trips to Mexico with youth group in the past it is a big blessing to have the bus. So much more comfortable and we are able to sleep and all be in the same vehicle. Thank you all for your prayers, and ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish the journey to Mexico tomorrow.

Highlight from Wyatt harms- Wyatt says he loves seeing the mountains and is very impressed he saw snow in New Mexico (I guess he missed it?!?!)

Highlight from Marius K- Marius says his highlight is everything and especially chilling with friends on the bus. He is not impressed with the amount of sleep he currently has under his belt though. Marius also rode a dinosaur at a gas station he's pretty pumped about.

Wyatt Deroo's highlight- wyatts highlight was when I hit the car (especially seeing me in the cop car) most of the guys in the back of the bus agree that was a big highlight.

Parker F highlight- sleeping.

We are all very much looking forward to getting to Mexico and settling into the ministry opportunities we have there. Please keep our travel across the border in your prayers tomorrow.

-Andy N

Getting Ready....

Hello faithful blog followers,

If you are reading this you are following the blog of the Cornerstone Youth 2017 Missions Trip to San Carlos, Mexico. We are leaving in a couple days and are doing our last minute preperations. Please keep a few things in mind when you remember us in your prayers:
-Smooth border crossings
-Health and Safety in Travel
-Group Unity
-For the whole group to see God in a new way on this trip and to be changed!

We are very excited for this trip, and will be keeping you updated daily, or every other day, on what we do each day with some highlights and pictures.