The last two months Jamie and I have been traveling though out the Country of Mexico. We started in Tijuana, then Mazatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Cancun and Merida. We saw places in Mexico that were beautiful- Mountains, Oceans, forests, deserts, rain, a lot of sun and extreme heat! We were traveling with a group of 20 people, 5 of them were kids under the age of 8. The dynamics of our team ended up being the most challenging issue we faced on our trip. We were living in tight quarters most of the time, sometimes it was hard to find time for yourself.. I remember one trip where all twenty of us piled into one van. It was so HOT!

A good portion of our trip was spent doing physical labor. Built a horse arena and excavated the area, built a horse pen, replaced a sewage line, poured a concrete sidewalk, painted an entire building, cleaned a park where we weeded, swept streets, painted a mural and playground equipment. We did all of that in the first 12 days of our trip. It was hot, humid and long hours but man we had a blast!

In Oaxaca the pace changed a bit. We still did physical work but also did a lot more ministry and programs for kids. In Oaxaca people speak Mixteco not Spanish. There is no written language for Mixteco. The people are very poor, superstitious and many had never seen a white person before. It is a hard place to minister. God is working there and we were able to work with some missionaries who have lived there for several years and the Mixteco people are starting to be more open. Others are working on creating an alphabet and translating the bible into Mixteco! Some of the things we saw in Oaxaca were had to see. Oaxaca is the least educated state in Mexico. Poverty and corruption is normal.  We came face to face with the cartel and taught bible classes to kids who worked in poppy fields and called themselves drug dealers. The missionaries we worked with in Oaxaca taught us a lot. The sacrifice they make everyday and the high risk lifestyle they choose to live is something that will challenge our future ministry. They are helping meet physical needs as well as spiritual needs in Oaxaca.

We spent two days in Mexico City with the YWAM base there. We mostly relaxed and did some sight seeing. It was super cool hanging out with the YWAM staff in Mexico City and seeing what God is doing through them and their base. We spent our last two weeks in Cancun. We stayed at a YWAM base that was very small, only two people on staff and a 3 bedroom house was the base. It needed a lot of work. Adam and I put in some long hours troubleshooting. We fixed leaky pipes, clogged pipes, added water lines for a washer, hung ceiling fans, fixed some minor electrical issues, fixed several leaks in the roof, put in a new toilet and a couple sinks. Not to mention built scaffolding for the mural. Jamie put in long hours painting all three murals. She had some help at times but she worked hard and long on all 3 murals. We were able to connect with a few churches in and around Cancun (Merida) and preached and worked with them. It was an encouragement to us and to them.

Also, want to apologize for not updating our blog during the trip. We had some technical issues, the laptop we took with us wouldn’t let us access our administration website. We’re back online now! And we’ll be posting another blog in a few days about what we will be doing now that the training phase is done. Thank you all for your support and prayers. We have so many stories we would love to share with you. Please be in touch with us! God Bless