Day 9: March 29, 2008

Our Return & Reflections
I took over the late shift of driving from 12am-5am. I had candy and pop to keep me awake. Jason stayed up and talked with me too. I slept after that and we had a late breakfast at Hardee’s. This greasy food didn’t sit well with my stomach. We played 20 questions with Angela and Jason being asked. It was a great chance to get to know each other. Then I drove to Des Moines and we had lunch at Subway.

We talked about what we had learned on this trip. Here are some things I learned:
• The El Paso teams’ stories had a huge impact on me. It was a testament of their faith. It was a great sacrifice to make the move. They believed in the power of their prayers. They packed up and trusted God for everything. God had put this desire to plant this church on their heart. They followed that desire. I know it was a struggle but they followed it.

• I want to follow their example in my life. I must think daily, “What would God want me to do in this situation.” Jesus never said that this life would be easy. The things of this world must be put aside if we are truly living in the spirit. Would I be able to make a sacrifice like the Rio members did?

• It was great to see our group in action. We were unified, flexible and sacrificial through out the week. I think that this made a big impact.

We got back around 6pm. John and I returned the van to the airport. I got home and I was pretty tired. I knew that the trip went extremely fast. It felt like I had just left. We were able to accomplish a lot during our stay. I just hope that we can reflect on what we’ve learned and share our experiences with others. It was a great trip that I will never forget.

Day 8: March 28, 2008

Our Last Day in El Paso
We had Tom and his family over for breakfast. Mike and Amber made eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. It was a great meal. We had some worship time and then Tim had a sermonette. He shared some verses from 2 Timothy 4 and urged us to pour out our heart now and when we get back. Tom told us that we are their favorite mission team so far. This was very encouraging to hear. We had a lot of flyers to hang that day, plus we had to say our goodbyes.

John and I took Jason and Chris to do some more mudding. John and I flyered together. We ended up jogging that day to try to finish. We didn’t get quite done before lunch though. Our team met the Nelson family at Las Fuentes for our last meal. It was a lot of fun being with the kids. Keziah sat next to me and we played hang man and drew pictures. Keziah said a great prayer before our meal. She prayed for our trip home. I played with Jireh for a little bit after the meal. I’m really going to miss him and the rest of the family.


From right on far side of table: Pastor Steve, Jaza and his wife Kathleen. This is during our last meal at Las Fuentes.

After the meal Angela and I talked to some guys at Las Fuentes about our trip. We talked about Christ. I couldn’t really understand what they were saying though. We gave them a flyer hoping they might come to the Rio. We left and realized all the vehicles had left. We were stranded. I called John and he came and picked us up. We went to the Texas store. It was a fun store with everything Texas-themed. I got a few souvenirs. We took a group picture out back and then took one with the kids. We had to say our goodbyes. It was tough but I had feeling we will see them again.


Our group with the Nelson kids.

We had a few hundred flyers left. Jason and I found an apartment complex and polished off our stack pretty quickly. Then we headed to the mission house. We picked up the house and got packed. We left town around 6:30pm. As we left the area the sun set over the mountains. We quietly pondered our time in El Paso as the sun burned over the mountains. We left the mountains behind and a little piece of our hearts in El Paso. I know we will return though.

We stopped at Sonic on the way home. It didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. (I’m sorry Tami.)

Day 7: March 27, 2008

Carnival in the Park
We got up around 8am and ate breakfast. We worshiped and then Mike shared his testimony. John prepared us for the day by saying that this was going to be an intense day. We had a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time. We did it all though. We did it with a strong spirit of unity. Chris and I went to the Nelsons to do some mudding in their bunkroom. Sarah, Kelsey, Misti, Amber and John worked on planning the carnival. Tim headed to Tom’s to work on his kitchen. Mike, Jason, Angela and Tami flyered in the morning.


The carnival at the park.

Mike picked me up around noon and we loaded chairs and tables for the carnival. We got there just in time at 1pm. They set up 8 different stations where the kids could play games. The kids got a sticker for every station they went to. Then once the kids had a full card of stickers they got a goodie bag. We also had kites, sno cones, snacks, drinks and noise balloons. The turnout was good. We had about 45-50 kids show up through out the day.


This is Isaac and I at the Chubby Bunny station.

I was at the Chubby Bunny station with Isaac. It’s a game where you have to say Chubby Bunny while you have a marshmallow in your mouth. Then you add one more until you spit them out or can’t say it anymore. Isaac and I had some good conversations. He shared with me how to find a Godly woman. It was very good advice. Angela sent a little girl over to bombard me with water balloons. I got Angela back though. John and I poured a whole cooler of water on her. It was awesome.

Then we went back to the Nelsons. I cleaned our van out and then played some 4-square with the kids. They love this game. We had some burritos for dinner. Then we had some worship time around the fire pit. Some people shared and we had some prayer too. These are the moments I will cherish. It was very intimate and I felt that the Spirit was strong among us.

We then had some Mexican desserts—tres leche, flan and a lime dessert. We headed back to the mission house after that. Sarah, Misti, Jason and I headed to the store for some food for breakfast. I was a bit sad. This was our last night in El Paso. It was a fun day and we accomplished a lot. We worked together selflessly through out the day to make the carnival happen.

Day 6: March 26, 2008

Juarez
We had breakfast around 7:30 and then Angela shared her testimony. She has a great story. I think it really helps us grow closer as we share our testimonies. We learn how much God has done for each one of us. We sang a few songs and then headed to the Nelsons. Our goal was to head to Juarez, Mexico by 9am. The Missouri team went with us. About 14 of us packed into the Nelson’s van. I got to know the Missouri team a little better. They had high school and college kids on their team. They had a few older leaders with them as well. Tim and John (from Missouri) shared their testimony.

We got through the border pretty easily. I don’t think they even checked our passports. It took about a half hour to get there. The orphanage was right off the main highway. It’s called Casa Hogar Bethel. A couple kids came to meet us. They weren’t a lot of kids there that day. Some of the kids had gone to see friends and family for Spring Break. We went to the gym to watch them play soccer. It was a dusty indoor court but the kids loved it. We set up a 4-square area for them.


This is Raul flying his paper airplane.

I headed to the cafeteria. The kids were coloring and drawing there. The first kid I connected with was Raul. I made him a paper airplane. He thought was pretty cool. I assembled a kite that we brought and then Raul helped me fly it. It kept getting tangled and we had a tough time getting it to fly. It we still had fun though. I tried again a little later with a boy named Abraham. It broke somehow and flew away to a field. We found it in a nearby field and then headed back. I was really struggling to communicate in Spanish. It was a little frustrating. I communicated with gestures.


This is Abraham flying a kite.

We ate lunch then I helped John, Jason, Tom, Steve and Mike mop the soccer court. It looked a lot better when we had finished. Then the kids ate lunch. After lunch the Missouri team did a puppet show. They shareda story about Jesus with them. It was all in Spanish. The kids really loved it. They sang some fun songs at the end.


The puppet show put on by the Missouri team.

Then it came time for us to leave. We gave the kids some hugs and some toys. It was hard to leave, but I had a feeling I might be back. I knew the kids were in good hands there. It was pretty clean and they had some great teachers there. We headed back to the U.S. I don’t think they checked our passports this time either. If they did they did really quickly.

We then went swimming at the Nelsons. It was a lot warmer this time. We played Marco Polo with the kids. It was a lot of fun. Mike and Jason made chili for dinner and root beer floats. We then headed to a park to play ultimate frisbee and soccer. The El Paso and Missouri teams met us there. It was a perfect night to play. We had a good time.

We had a little meeting at the Nelsons afterwards. We talked about our plan for Thursday. We had a lot we still wanted to do. We wanted to make the most of our time there. Half of the team went to sing Karaoke that night. Angela has a goal to sing Karaoke in all 50 states. She marked 2 more states off her list—New Mexico and Texas. I headed back to the mission house. I was pretty tired. Chris had a chance to pray with the 80-year-old neighbor woman. She was having some health problems and Chris offered to pray with her. He was gone for a long time. We got a little worried about him. John went to check on him and he was fine. He got a tour of the house and prayed with the lady.

John and I had a good talk. We both reflected on what we’ve learned so far. I shared the main things I’ve learned:
• I’ve learned so much from the love and spirit of the Nelsons. I want to follow their example of serving others.
• God has used our gifts on this trip.
• God works in different ways, especially on mission trips. We may not see immediate fruit from this trip, but I believe there will be fruit. God will work in El Paso and in the Rio church. I really do believe that.

I thought about what I can do when I get back. What ways can I minister to and love my brothers and sisters in Christ? What ways can I bring others to the Rock? What can I do to be a better witness? How can I keep this fire burning bright?

Day 5: March 25, 2008

This is our team in front of the mission house.

Taco Tuesday

We all had breakfast together at the mission house. Then we sang some songs and shared some verses. That day we set out to flyer again. But this time we decided not to knock on doors. We had a lot of ground to cover. Our goal was to hang 10,000 of the door hangers during the week. We had approximately 1,000 done after the first day. I had one good conversation with a woman. She already knew of the Rio and it’s location. She said she might come on Sunday.

We had lunch at the Nelsons. It was a good meeting point for us since it was close to where we were flyering. It was good to see the kids again. The Nelson kids do lots of chores without complaining a bit. The family is an example of good, solid Christian parenting in action.

After lunch we passed out the flyers for the carnival. We had about 300 of those to pass out. We went to just the neighborhood near the park where the carnival was taking place. We knocked on doors and people seemed pretty interested. We finished that in a couple hours then headed back to the mission house to rest for a little bit.

Then we went to the Nelsons. We decided to fix dinner there. I played some basketball and then some 4-square with the kids. The ladies fixed tacos and it was really good. We played some more 4-square and then all of the teams met up around the fire. The Missouri team and El Paso team all came over. The El Paso team wanted to share how they came to El Paso. They shared how God had brought them there to help plant the Rio church. I was amazed by the stories. A lot of people left good jobs, friends and family in Colorado to come to El Paso. When they made the move they trusted God for everything.


This is the mission teams gathered around the fire at the Nelsons.

The El Paso team followed what God had put on their heart and not the way of the world. Tom shared Acts 1:8 again. He said that verse is part of the vision of the Great Commission Church (GCC) movement. We are directed to bring the Gospel to the world. GCC has planted churches from its beginning and still is today. Tom asked “How much are you willing to give up?” He said, “Will you get comfortable and live the world’s way or will you keep this vision alive?”

Kathleen Nelson shared how the church plant was (and is) a huge witness for her children. They gave up a lot and they get to see the church plant in action. I thought about how much I am willing to give up. I know that a church plant is part of the plan for the Rock. Our House Church model is preparation for that. Would I give up and leave a great job, my friends and family? I would like to hope so. It’s not easy, but if it’s what God wants me for me I hope I would make the move.

After that we went to Cold Stone to get some ice cream. The sacrifices of the Rio team gave us all a lot to think about. After that we headed to Walmart to buy some toys for the kids at the orphanage. It was fun until we went to the self check-out. The scanner wouldn’t scan certain items. It took forever and we were all pretty exhausted.

Day 4: March 24, 2008

Here are 6 of the Nelson kids from left to right: Jireh, Malia, Keziah, Silas, Hope and little Jaza.

We Begin Flyering
We went to the Nelson’s and had eggs. We had a good time of sharing and prayer. Then we came up with a plan for the week. Tim laid out our main objectives for the week:
1. Serve the people of Rio Church.
2. Share the Gospel.
3. Sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron.
This was great to hear and I reminded myself of these things through out the week.

We then broke up into two groups and we had maps of the neighborhoods we needed to flyer. We put door hangers on people’s doors promoting their grand opening. The hangers are for a series called “The Family Secret.” Sarah and I were teamed up and we knocked on doors together. There were probably 1 in 4 houses that had someone home. The response was mostly pretty good. The majority of the people said they already belong to a Catholic church.

We went to Cici’s pizza buffet for lunch. We got back to work quickly, knowing we had a lot of ground to cover. After lunch we still paired up, but we each had one side of the street. I’m afraid that my attitude changed as I got tired. I wasn’t quite as excited as I was at the beginning. A college-age girl gave a couple of us some water. We really connected with her and she said she was looking for a church with younger people. It was our best response of the day. We quit around 4:30.

We really wanted to bless the Nelsons so they made a list for us. In the evening we worked on different projects around the house. Jason, Chris and Tim worked on a bunkroom out back. They put sheet rock up and began mudding. I worked on a flyer for a carnival we wanted to put on Thursday. Steve’s son Jireh helped me with this project. He is 4 and so he helped me pick what images to include on the flyer. He wanted to show everyone what we did after we finished. He is proud of it. It was pretty funny. After that I helped John and Mike take down some barbed wire that was on the fence.


This is the Mission House where we stayed.

Then we headed to the Mission House, which was near downtown. It was perfect for us. It’s a two-story house with 4 bedrooms, a kitchen and lots of cool places to have quiet time. There were bunk beds in the bedrooms. That night Kelsey and Amber made spaghetti, bread and salad for dinner. We got to share our God stories as we ate. Tami and Amber had a great connection with a woman who had just lost her baby. She was interested in coming to the Rio church.

We really started to bond as a group that night. We are very united and willing to serve. I knew that what we were doing will bear fruit, maybe not immediately but it will. I knew God had a purpose for each of us on this trip. It was very encouraging to watch our group serve through out the day. I was glad to be able to use some of my skills in creating the flyer. Many people were rising up and using their God-given gifts. It was nice to see everyone in action through out the day.

Day 3: March 23, 2008

The is the Rio Church setup at the school.

Easter Sunday
We got up around 7:15 and headed to the Nelson’s house for breakfast at 8. I was excited to experience their church service. It’s in the cafeteria at the Hornedo Middle School. It’s a new school and a nice set-up. They did a good mix of worship songs. Some of them were in Spanish and some were in English.

Pastor Steve shared a personal story to start his sermon. It was a very emotional beginning. The message was that Jesus conquered death. Because Jesus did this we can all spend eternity with our loved ones. Steve shared the path to salvation: Our death is not empty when we accept Christ into our lives. He is our hope. Christ took away the written law and therefore took away our sins. Steve shared some verses: 1Corinthians 15:55 and Colossians 2:13.

After the service we all helped tear down and put the room back to how it was. It was good to mingle and get to know the Missouri team a little better. We then went back to Steve’s house for a barbecue. It was a perfect day–70 degrees and sunny. After that we had some 5 on 5 basketball games. There was a Minnesota, Missouri and El Paso team. We also taught the kids how to play 4-square.


This is the trampoline at the Nelson's house.

I had a good conversation with Isaac from the Missouri team. He shared with Jason, Misti and I how he met his wife. Isaac shared his testimony with us. He looked to the bible for guidance on finding a wife. He looked to the story of Isaac finding a wife for his son Jacob. He said he was looking for a good Christian woman who was working and serving the Lord.

After that some of the guys went swimming. I jumped in first. It felt like it was 40 degrees. It really took my breath away. I was pretty surprised how cold it was. I got out after a little while and got some hot cocoa. It took awhile for me to warm up. Then we went to Las Fuentes, a Mexican restaurant. It was really good and pretty cheap.


This is the view from the lookout.

Then we went to the lookout on the mountain. You could see for miles and miles–it was beautiful up there. You could see the lights of El Paso and Mexico below. It was really cold and windy up there. We found a spot that was somewhat sheltered and sang some songs. Then we prayed for a little bit. We headed out and stayed at the church families’ houses for one more night. Tomorrow we will sleep at the Mission House. I was excited for the opportunity to all be together in one house.