On Saturday we returned from our mission trip to Tijuana, and I am still very tired from the trip. It was an awesome, amazing, tiring, draining, uplifiting…you get the idea. Words are not enough to express what God did in Mexico. He gave us a glimpse into what Heaven might be like, and we fully experienced what it means to be the body of Christ. With my first trip from two years ago being my only reference point, the people on this trip bonded extremely quickly. While waiting at the Amor HQ to get our guide to Mejico, we started to get to know each other, and the conversation flowed like we had known each other for a while. We got past the initial questions (the most common ones I got were: "Are you fluent in Spanish?"; "where were you born?"; "can you slow down when you talk?"; and finally – "are you THE snorer?" Yes, my snoring has become legendary. I drove off my two tent mates and I had the hotel all to myself our first night in San Diego) and started to bond.
I do admit that there wasn’t much intermingling at the camp at first. There were clear groupings of Traders Point, Colonial Point, and the First Congregational Church of Hebron nestled throughout the camp. But as the night wore on and we had our Saturday night campfire, Jake did a good job of forci….ahem, getting…people to talk to strangers. It was awesome.
Sunday brought the first day of work and we worked our tails off. I made it a point to not go down like I did two years ago…and it didn’t work out quite that way. My back acted up and I was sidelined for a while. Mike even scolded me for trying to do things I shouldn’t have been trying to do. In my stubborness I would have tried to do things that would have made it worse, and thankfully the voice of reason (or was it intimidation) rang loud and clear. Still, we got a lot done.
That night I was the speaker for our Campfire Talks, and I was nervous. I had the general idea of what I wanted to say, and had ran through my main points a couple of times, but right before I spoke, my talk was still a work in progress. Still when I stood to talk, I felt a calmness wash over me and the words came. I won’t lie and tell you I remember what I said, how I spoke, or that it was good. I don’t know (and far too critical of myself to say that last part). I was just the mouthpiece. I was told by several people that it was good, some that said that it felt that I spoke directly to them, and no one said I went too fast. I’ll admit to this – I felt good afterwards.
The next few days were more of the same. We finished our three homes on Wednesday and then helped out a fourth family by putting on the second coat of stucco of their unfinished home. We then went to a church in Tijuana led by Pastor Adolfo in order to help dedicate a soccer field. We took the scenic route there and the quick route back).
On Thursday we packed up camp and headed back to San Diego. It took us like 45 minutes to get all the vans across the border (a record of some sort) and I wasn’t even picked up this year. I think the passport helped. We hung out at a park for while before checking in to our hotel, and then we took some of the vans to get cleaned. I took the scenic route for that trip as well. Friday I went and hung out at the mall with Kevin, and then had dinner with the Barkers, Jordan, the Gilchrists and several of the students. That night was our last worship as a group before heading our separate ways.
There is more to come on the trip. If you have any questions about the trip, please leave a comment and I’ll try to answer them.
