From leaving ACC at nine on Saturday morning to sitting on top of a mountain staring at the beautiful landscape around us, we have quite an interesting tale in between.
After we were all packed and ready to go, 18 willing participants in this travel across three countries piled into three vans and got ready to face whatever was in store for us. The first hour and a half on our prairie roads was pretty much a blur. Between the excitement, the fatigue and the fast food pumped into our bodies, everything just kind of ran together. By the time we got to the border, this trip seemed to be getting a little more plausible and real. We had really taken this plunge into the unknown and left everything up to God. According to some of the girls, we had a "cute" customs officer... so maybe that's why most of the excitement was coming from them.
Pulling through the U.S. was a very slow drive. Though we were able to drive faster than we can in Manitoba, the scenery was uncannily similar. Lots of rocks and trees and dirt and water. Finally seeing the "Welcome to Minneapolis" sign was quite the blessing and reason for praise. We made it to the church and the pastor was waiting for us. We all ran in exhausted and "called" our beds... and were taught our first lesson about patience. Instead of the boys who "called" their beds (myself included), the ones that didn't got the comfy couches. We all got to sleep around ten thirty.
Morning came early in the boys room due to my alarm going off an hour early. Three o'clock. As soon as we woke up, we knew with all of our hearts that "today is going to be a long day". We packed up our beds, brushed our teeth and piled back into the vans at four thirty for our seven o'clock flight out of Minnesota.
We got on our flight and the second our heads touched the velour, we were out cold for at least a couple of hours. The three hour flight was smooth and we arrived at LAX at about 9:00 AM local time. Kent and Jen ran off and grabbed our rental vans... and took much longer than they had told us. About an hour and a half later, we finally got into our new homes for the next few hours. So we drove, and drove, and drove and then that glorious sign graced our presence. "Welcome To Mexico"!!!
The border crossing didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked but, none the less, we got through. There were no security issues or anything, just with the numbers that we had made the tourist Visas go slower than they usual would.
The drive to Agua Viva was kind of sketchy and a little scary. Apparently Winnipeg drivers don't have the craziest drivers in the world! Agua Viva is on a hill in quite a rural area and the drive to it is kind windy and rather high up! And the semis aren't a big fan of staying on their side of the road!
We arrived at Agua Viva and we were all happy to be on solid, non-life threatening ground. Some were so happy they even kissed the ground (Kent). Tired and hungry, we somehow stumbled into the dining hall to sit down to a feast of Quesadillas, beans and Guacamole. Finally satisfied, we left and began setting up our beds in our cabins. This was promptly interrupted by the direction that we were to go to the fire pit to enjoy a good ol' fashion camp fire! Yay! Here we sang some songs, got to know the staff and the others that were staying here and even heard a few rules about the campsite.
When this was over, we quickly prepared and reviewed our dvbs schedule and then bedtime had finally fallen upon us! After having been up for 22 hours, we were all ready to pass out in our bunks... and we did just that. Except, some of us guys were rudely kept up by the dynamic duo, also known as the Schaefer boys and their snoring!
This morning was bitter sweet as many of us were still extremely tired from our travels. However after another lovely meal which included beans, of course, we packed the vans and headed out to try our luck on the curvy highway and our first ministry site.
Our time with the beautiful children at the daily vacation Bible school was amazing and inspiring! Today we talked about how God is like a Shepherd and the kids stuck to us like glue. We are thrilled to connect with the children over the next three days. Then our group divided into two and we said Adios for the afternoon.
One group had lunch by the ocean and took a quick dip before heading out to play soccer with kids, sharing testimonies, and presenting a Gospel message. The other group had lunch at a park in Ensenada and also had delightful ice cream at a local store. This group then spent the rest of the afternoon preparing the foundation of Pastor Garcia's house, which included a visit with the Pastor and his daughter. Many of us were moved to see this man of God faithfully continuing to serve despite his struggle with Parkinson's disease.
Tonight we debriefed on the top of the mountain that houses a giant cross that overlooks Agua Viva and the beautiful mountain ranges. We all shared our highlights of the day and spent time in thankful prayer.
We hope you enjoyed this lengthy report. We will try to post some photos in the next few hours! Thanks for your love and prayers. Please continue to pray!
Justin
