Mexico- Part 1

So, for those anticipating this post and for those who were not and could care less, well this is for all of you =)

Mexico, mexico, mexico! It was great, beautiful, wonderful, extremely hot, very humid, challenging, hard, heartbreaking, life changing, eye opening, rewarding and so many other words that I can not think of right at this moment.

I do not think I will be able to accurately convey all that occurred during this one week because there is just way too much, but I will do my best to collaborate stories and pictures for you!















Just before we crossed the border!















This is the sanctuary at the compound we stayed at. "Casa de Esperanza" which means "House of Hope" in spanish.















Meagan and I Outside of the compund















Megan R., Allison, Me, Meagan and Ashley















Some of our team















Olga, Suni and I. They were two of the girls who worked at the compound and they cooked for us everyday, very sweet girls.

Some of the kids singing in the church- so cute


this little girl was absolutely precious!


Meagan, Allison and I with some of the girls after the service






Allison and I with more little girls- they were so lovable.


This was the team- minus a couple of people. We had a really great group, i loved everyone.




On Monday we woke up really early and left the compound at 6 am to head up to a town way up in the mountains called Tanculin. It was about a 6-7 hour drive up in the mountains. Chacko (the missionary we stayed with) is from india and he has an amazing testimony. He moved to the U.S. from India to pursue the american dream, start a business and make lots of money. Well, not too long after he had begun to do this he had a encounter with God that changed his life forever and God told him to go to mexico and take these mountains for Him. He obeyed God, sold his business and headed to mexico. He told God, "I'm not going to ask anyone for money, you told me to come here and so that's your problem". (Yeah, I'd call that faith). God has provided since the beginning. Well he built a compound in Victoria, MX which is where we stayed most of the time and he has planted a church there, a training center, dorms and everything. It is really nice. He has also begin to go up into the mountains to plant churches in places where there are none! It's amazing!


I had the opportunity to talk with Him a bit when we were up in the mountains at the place where he is establishing a ministry and he began to tell me the story of how it began up there in the village of Tanculin. God brought him there and told him to plant a ministry there and so he went to the village people and told them he wanted to buy land- they told him no repeatedly until he would not give up. He was very persistent and perseverant in asking. Finally the village people told him he could buy a piece of land and they offered him the worst possible piece of land, it was practically a hole off of the side of the mountain- something we would look at and say- "That's impossible". He agreed and took it!! Not only that but he had teams come in and fill the hole with land and now it's one of the nicest pieces of land in the village- he is building a sanctuary and dorms, there are beautiful banana trees, mango trees, and flowers and not only that but the people who denied him and laughed at him are coming there! I was practically in tears when he was telling me the story. He has such a great amount of faith and trust in God. It was encouraging and inspiring. Here some pictures of the camp now, it's called "Casa de Restauracion" which means "House of Restoration".





This is the view from on top of the building that is going to be the dorms. (Keep in mind- this used to be just a hole on the side of a mountain).



This is going to be the sanctuary and they are going to build dorms on the top. This is also where we slept while we were there (accompanied by lots of mosquitoes, gnats, spiders and even scorpions that we saw!!- pretty creepy)


This is the inside.



Shortly after we arrived we were divided into 2 groups to go out and invite children to a special service we did for them. Thus began our hiking journey through the mountains led by some adorable little kids we met along the way...

















It was absolutely heartbreaking to see the conditions these people lived in- they barely had homes. Most of the houses didn't have four walls or even a roof.




















I told you- we hiked up a mountain. These kids were taking us everywhere they had friends or where they knew kids lived- it was so sweet.














This little girl stayed right beside me the entire time and held my hand- it was precious.















These two little guys pretty much led the way while head locking one another at the same time...ha ha.

After we did our little hike and invited lots of kids we headed back down to the camp (Casa de Restauracion" to begin and this is what we found...















and they kept coming...





























Bowing their little heads to pray.



















I don't remember what she was telling me, but whatever it was completely captured my attention. She was a doll.




















These guys had a serious arm wrestling competition















There were so many kids




















Sweet Vicki













































Little Vicki and I















Meagan and I- very hot, sweaty and tired but having lots of fun with the kids :)















Okay, so that pretty much sums up the first like 3 days- there is so much more but I am going to conclude this blog for now. I will write a "Part 2" next. Hope you enjoyed it! It was amazing and there is still so much more to tell about and I've even left stuff out!