Mission Mexico Year 1

Today was another good day. The women ministered to a number of single mothers with preschool age children. The men went back to the work site to prepare the roof for concrete to be poured tomorrow. Brad and missionary Tom went to the pastors conference where he had the privilege of encouraging pastors from multiple denominations, their families and a number of seminary students.  We have had beautiful weather every day minus the smoke as farmers burn their fields in preparation for planting season.

Today was a day of worship and site seeing, but I wanted to share this insight from one of our team members: " Donkeys for Jesus" God does things right. What a team He has put together for our trip. We have a registered nurse, two ministers, a Spanish translator, four skilled tradesmen/contractors, VBS instructors, a professional laugher, children's coach and a bunch of "donkeys for Jesus" (myself included). I affectionately use the term donkeys because all of us had a calling to come on this short term mission and like this animal we follow our Master and do what is asked of us. If you could see the hard work (sifting sand, hauling buckets of stone, mixing cement, cutting steel rebar, twisting wire, laying block walls, breathing volcano ash and getting really dirty) you could see the cooperation and obedience of these hard working animals (hope you catch the inference here). To God be the glory!!! Respectfully submitted Chet Bojanowski

Today was a great day. We are all exhausted, but accomplished much good today. The women had a great time with about 70 local women they hosted for breakfast. Testimonies, a message from Kathy and music from Barbara. Then the women came to our work site and put on a fun day for the kids which included salvation bracelets with the gospel story. The men went to the worksite early and we asked to gather with our local workers. We thanked them for the privilege of working with them and asked them to correct us when we were wrong. They in turn apologized for messing up yesterday causing some of what we had done to be of naught. We all shared our hopes for the day and we prayed and presented them all with Bibles. And from there the day began. We put the roof support beams in place and we completed the concrete floor for the bathroom. It was a long day, but we all left feeling good about our day of working together.  At the end of the day PoPo decided to cough up some volcanic ash. We...

Day three is under our belt. The guys had a less productive day due to the locals wanting to do it one way and all of us wanting to do it another way. But that is often the way it is here. The women had a day of shopping for our kids fair tomorrow and then kids ministry in the afternoon. Many of the children prayed to receive Christ. Tomorrow will be the women's breakfast in the morning while the men will hopefully have a more productive morning. In the afternoon we will all help with the kids festival at the soccer field. Below there is a picture of a young teenager who has cancer and is facing extensive treatment. His name is Aaron.

After a good night's sleep, we enjoyed a great breakfast buffet style! It is a clear day expected high in the village low 70's! Devotions and we are off! It is now 8:15 pm. We have had an exhausting day. Toting block, mixing cement, shoveling rock. The ladies ministered to over 175 preschoolers. And then in the afternoon an Afterschool program. We had to work through a forest fire in the area. Many of us broke out our masks. Below are some pictures from today. Tony shared the daily verse from the Bible app: For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Hebrews 6:10 NLT That was appropriate for our day! Thank-you for your prayers!

We are packed and ready to roll! On the road to Raleigh for an afternoon flight. 7:49 pm - we have made it to Houston awaiting our flight to Puebla. Hope to arrive around 8:45 pm which is two hours behind Shallotte. Pictures and journal entry of our first day in the village tomorrow!