My Week In Mexico

So I am at Best Western in Mississippi, right on the border of Louisiana. We were going to spend a day in New Orleans but Caleb, Driver, Ashley H., and I all got sick so now we are going to go another time. Also, I didn’t have access to the Internet in Mexico, which is why I didn’t blog.

My week in Mexico was every bit as powerful and fun as I thought it was going to be. First off, the night before we left, we decided that we were going to leave at 5 in the morning. I got really excited and asked Driver if we could leave at 3 instead. We talked to the girls and we all decided that we could have a little bit of sleep but still get there, so it was a plan. Unfortunately, Caleb was not okay with that idea, so he said, jokingly, that we should just leave at midnight that same night. I called the girls and talked to Driver and we decided that we could probably never do anything like this ever again, so we left at midnight! We drove until 6 and took a two-hour power nap and continued our way to the border of Louisiana. We stopped at Gulfport, Mississippi for an hour at the Gulf of Mexico. It was really nice. We then spent the night at a National Park on the border of Louisiana and Texas in tents. We woke up and continued to Brownsville, Texas and crossed the border to Matamoras, Mexico at 8pm. We met the John, Matt, Chad, and Jason that night, the guys who are in Mexico. We got along right away and really enjoyed each other.

                                

    This is us at midnight, leaving for Mexico                                                          Us at the Gulf of Mexico

                

                    Us on a pier                                                                       Caleb, Driver, and I at waffle house                

Our days consisted of breakfast, an hour of worship, an hour of debriefing (what the day is going to look like and talking about the day before), and then an hour of class, we were learning about spiritual warfare. Then we had lunch and headed out for 3 hours of WOW (Walk on Water.) That consisted of going to out the neighborhoods and just talking to people. I got to meet a lot of interesting people who just wanted to tell their story. I loved listening to them and just praying for them. Even though they don’t have much, they always invite you into their house and offer you anything that they can. It was so cool to see and just experience. I also learned that I remember a lot of the Spanish that I learned in high school. I was able to follow almost every conversation, which was really awesome. On Wednesday, instead of WOW, we got to choose one of the ministries that they have in Mexico. Each participant gets to choose a ministry, some went to Esters house, which is a place for kids to go who have parents that can’t provide for them, another is Harvard, a school for kids to learn English, another is the hospital, and then the prison. I decided to go to the prison with Matt and Caleb. This prison was a lot different that the ones in the states. First off, the prisoners get to walk around freely, without any guards in the area. Another thing is that they can have their families live with them in the prison. In the prison I met Bryan, who was an American citizen from Arkansas who got put in prison for having 17 bags of cocaine on him. Since then, he cleaned up and started a Christian library, the only prison Christian library in Mexico. I got to hear about his life and he had an amazing testimony, which is encouraging to hear. After WOW/ministry, we eat dinner and then have the night to ourselves. For the guys, that consisted of going into town and eating tacos at various stands. So good!

            

    We had to find a donkey for a scavenger hunt                           One of the neighborhoods that we visited

On our free day, we got to go to the Market and haggle for stuff. I got my family and myself a bunch of stuff for amazing prices! I love how cheap everything is in Mexico! It is intimidating sometimes though. The storeowners hound you and try to just get you in their store. I do have to say that I am good at haggling and go stuff for really below cost, so low that I left storeowners angry when I paid and left.

                                     

             The church that we went to on Sunday                                                                     Cute little guy

I just want to thank you for praying for me while I was down in Mexico! I started feeling a lot better when I got down there and I know it was by the power of prayer that I got well so fast! Mexico is a country that is struggling and they are looking for something to fill that emptiness inside. They need the Lord and it people like the participants in Mexico right now that are bringing people to Christ! I felt God during the week I was in Mexico; it is crazy how much you have to rely on God, when you are out of the comfort and safety of America. Please keep the Mexico team in your prayers, they do live in an area where being an American is not always a good thing. I had an excellent time and it really opened my eyes to how lucky I am to be born in America and have what I have. Thank you to my supporters for allowing me to go on this trip and experience the culture.

Oh yeah, here is the bathroom that we had the privilege of using…

                      

                     The shower                                 &                                      The toilet