Family story #1 - Team Orange

By Calvin Antonetty

Hi Everyone!

It’s me Calvin, and I hope all is well up north! Things are great down here in good old Tijuana!! Earlier in the week I was asked by Leslie and Josh to conduct a little mini interview with the family that my group (TEAM ORAAAAANNNGEEE!!!!!) is building a house for (the house is looking pristine by the way). So I casually asked questions to the man of the family and remembered/translated his Spanish responses so that all of you lovely people at home can get an idea of the kind of people we are serving this week.

So first of all, there are four brothers who were all born in Guerrero, Mexico close to Acapulco. Acapulco is a touristy area by the beach that has a lot of money flowing through the rich and no money or real jobs for the poor. Guerrero is apparently much worse than Tijuana. He described Guerrero as an outskirt of a beautiful place that is engulfed in drugs and gang violence. Now that you have a background of some of the places, here is the background of this amazing family.

The four brothers were born into a very poor family in Guerrero. They lived there their whole life until about five years ago when they all decided to move to Tijuana. The man of our household is Adrian Soto-Ortiz. He is a shorter, stubby, serious-looking man with a very tender heart. His best friend growing up was a girl named Maria Isabel Gomez-Martinez—who eventually became his wife (AWWWW!). They have four beautiful children. The oldest is an adorable and stubby little boy named Adrian Soto-Gomez (9 years old), next came the very thin and intellectual Angel Soto-Gomez (7 years old), after came Fernando Soto-Gomez (5 years old) who has succeeded in capturing everyone’s hearts with his constant tripping over everything and his funny little personality, and the youngest is an adorable girl who looks a lot like a mix between “Boo” from the movie Monsters Inc and that baby from Ice Age and her name is Elitzabel Soto-Gomez (1 years old).

Adrian was making $4-5/day in Guerrero working from 4:00am til about 6:00-8:00pm. Rent for the apartment they used to live in was $1000/month. His wife was obviously working as well. As they kept having kids, they had to find other kinds of jobs, skip meals, and help Adrian Jr. with school. So, with the birth of Angel, they moved to Tijuana with the three other brothers and their families and lived in one house all together.

There is a local school close to the houses we are building that their kiddos will be attending on the 27^th of September. The family goes to the central Cathedral in Tijuana. And now Adrian works at an Apartment complex doing random fix ups throughout the complex (which would explain why he is so good at all this construction stuff!). Sometimes he travels to other places to sell good in markets and tourist spots. He told me that he can’t describe how grateful he is to have these houses that himself and his brothers are getting. He said that they moved out of Guerrero and into Tijuana for a new beginning and a safe environment for their kids and that now that they have these homes, everything will be easier. The money that goes to rent will now go to food and clothes. The time spent working will now be spent loving their kids. He said he has big dreams and hopes for his children and that every decision he and his wife have made have been for their kids - and Sammamish Presbyterian Church and Doxa has helped in ways that WE can’t even comprehend. I’ve known him for a week, and I love him and his family so much. This trip is amazing, thank you SPC and thank you Doxa.

Much Love,

Calvin Antonetty

Uplifting

By Nellie Hoehl

Hello to all of our family and friends!! After another long workday on the sites, I am SO happy to let you all know that the houses are almost finished! Today saw the completion of the walls on all of the houses. This was one of the most uplifting (literally) experiences I have ever had, and cannot believe that only 4 days ago our houses were piles of dirt. The fact that all of the teams have been so successful is a true testament of God, for He has given all of us the strength we needed to persevere through the frustrating moments. In addition to the walls now standing, windows and doors have been added, bright white trim is now outlining the beautifully colorful walls, and everyone house is in the process of a roof being finished! I spent my entire day basking in the sun on top of the roof … it is a great thing that I am not afraid of heights (and Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, I assure you that I didn’t get too close to the edge)! With all of the sites needing a LOT of work done today, it is incredible to look back and see our achievements thus far. Not only have we almost completed a house, but we have also built relationships with each other, the families, and God, all of which will last a lifetime. I cannot wait for the last few hours we are going to spend on the sites tomorrow! Thanks so much for your prayers throughout this week!! Your support has strengthened our mission team in ways you cannot imagine! See you all in a couple of days!!

Lots of love, Nellie Hoehl

P.S. To Audrey and Christine Strom, we love you both and so wish that you were here with us this week! Your love has definitely been shining through to the entire group!! xoxoxo

Part 5 Video Recap

Check it out - the houses are ALMOST DONE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiT2T0D2Mso&feature=youtu.be

Phenomenal

By Allie Matheny and Sydney Smith

Today was absolutely phenomenal. Exhausting, but phenomenal… We ended up staying three hours over just so we would be able to finish the houses by tomorrow. As most of the walls went up, so did our excitement to get the job done. We are all so blown away that we started with just a plot of uneven dirt and now we have almost three completed houses. Throughout the ten hours we spent at the worksite today, we were able to strengthen our relationships with the families, as well as with each other. Although the language barrier is very much present, it is amazing what can be said through just a simple smile and we know we will all be very sad when it is time to say our goodbyes tomorrow. Even though we have only known these children for a few days their cuteness has overwhelmed us and we wish we could take them home. The cutest of all of them may be Fernando, the youngest boy who never fails to make us laugh. As he constantly trips and shoves food into his mouth we can’t restrain ourselves from taking as many pictures as possible. Saying goodbye to Fernando, as well as the others may be the hardest thing we have to do all week, but knowing that we’ve built them a home is something that will make the hardship well worth it. See you all soon and thank you for keeping us in your prayers. J(GO ORANGE TEAM)

Tijuana 2012 - Part 4 Video Recap

Check it out :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnmhbw4jp-s&feature=youtu.be

A Beautiful Day

By Erik Stromswold

this post was intended to be published yesterday (Wednesday).

Today was a beautiful day we started with a run through of the construction plan for the day. Me and Nellie were the student leaders and were given the day that required the epitome of precision and extreme team cooperation. We started by getting off to a big jump ahead of the groups and were ahead throughout the day. Today was the first day Timoteo, the father of the family were building the house for, didn’t have to leave half way through the day to go to work. We learned today that he works in the deli shop cutting ham and when the doxa house is finished they’re going to move in and rent out the living space in downtown Tijuana to get a little more income because money is tight for their family. Timoteo was a machine with the hammer and worked non-stop throughout the day. Halfway through the day Timo and I took a break and he offered me a soda. We took a break and sat in the shade and we each had a vintage coke out of the glass bottle.

The work was going better than planned and we were ahead of schedule which meant we got to spend more time with the family. The oldest son and I talked for a little while. I learned that he is a forward in soccer and his “novia” lives just down the street and he is going to add me on Facebook when he gets the chance. Also, the youngest child there grew a very fond attraction to me and he helped me every step of the way through the building whether it was moving wood, hammering nails, or taking a water break he was always with me throughout the day and it’s going to be sad saying goodbye on Friday. At the end of the day all the team finished on time and we had a giant girls vs. boys soccer game. I might add that the boys won 2-1!

So today I’ve played soccer, jumped 20 feet into a sandpit, shared a coke with the father of the house I’m building, and finally have a visual representation of the hard work we’ve put into this house. It was an awesome day.

Full Potential

By Alyssa Stromswold

                Well today has been the day we have all been waiting for! We were able to use all of our brand new tool belts and hammers to their full potential. We built the framing for the house today, and it was AWESOME!!!! All three of the teams were pumped up when we got to the sites, even though we were all dead tired. The energy was high, and the motivation to get those walls up was huge! We all wanted those walls up, but sadly none of us did. However the blue and green teams got all their walls done the orange team is almost done. Tomorrow we will be putting it all together which will be a job well done.

                We love and miss you all! I hope things are going well at home. We are having an AMAZING time here, and we have seen a lot of progress. We are all pumped up and ready to finish this house! See you in a few days!!! <3 

Tijuana 2012 - Part 3 Video Recap

Check it out - part 3 of the Tijuana mission trip. Jesus Lives, Get Hyped!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD0kG92E76U&feature=youtu.be

Gratitude

By Becki Barrett

Dios la vendiga!  As the students return from their work sites, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for how God is showing up at every turn.  You can see Jesus in the problem solving – the laughter – the hard work and most of all in the way our students play with the children and interact with the families who will receive these homes.  Knowing this trip has been years in the making, it is complete privilege to watch it unfold under Josh’s strong and joyful leadership. 

It’s Wednesday…and I already anticipate the tears at the airport!

(P.S.  Missy and Mary Jo are making the best food any of us have every eaten…seriously!)

Tijuana 2012 - Part 2 Video Recap

Enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2YDrlew0QU

Highlights and Lowlights

By Sarah Elderkin

Hello everyone back in the States! 

Today, many of us woke up to the sound of music playing on the street for the Tuesday market. It was a slower morning, and throughout the day it was apparent that many of us were more tired than yesterday. Despite the difficulties of laying concrete, we (and I think I speak for all of the build teams when I say this) still worked very well together. Things were slightly tenser as the day went on. As everyone got tired, it was harder to stay motivated. With a little late afternoon encouragement, we pulled it off! And at the end of an extended work day, all of the sites had finished concrete floors.

The highlights and lowlights of the day were intense! We were able to spend a lot of time with the kids today, and the families never ceased to astound us. I was especially impressed at how they helped us on the houses. Everyone pitched in, including the small children. The men stood fearlessly in the cement in their sandals. At one point, they complimented us on our work, then asked if they could help, then proceeded to request that they simply did it for us. They knew what they were doing far better than us, and their help was essential to our success.

Each of us has noticed the ups and downs of the trip so far. At times we find ourselves standing on the build site with nothing to do (since there are many people working), feeling frustrated. On the flip side, we also all have been working hard, and felt as though we were doing more work than anyone else on the team. Everyone in the group wants to contribute constantly, but the work itself is inconsistent. Group work is difficult! But so far we’ve kept it together through all of the struggles. I am incredibly proud of everyone on the team, and it’s evident that we’re building relationships with each other and the families on site, and I’m excited for the rest of the week.

Sending love back from all of us here,

Sarah

Tijuana 2012 - Part 1 Video Recap

Click here to check out the slideshow on Youtube!

In His Hands

By Josh Schack

It’s amazing how time slows down on trips like this. The TJ team has not even been here for 48 hours, yet it feels like we have been here for weeks! There is so much bonding, encouraging, building up, and love to go around here that it’s impossible to describe in words! Please just know that all of your prayers for a close-knit team are being answered!

It’s amazing to see God at work on this trip. He has done nothing but provide for us time and time again – it’s incredible! A few highlights of His work and faithfulness on this trip - we know that we are in His hands!

-There were months of planning the logistics of managing three build sites around Tijuana. We had to figure out how to give Alex’s (our DOXA connection) housebuilding wisdom to leaders who have never built one of these houses before. We had to figure out how to keep everyone supplied with food, water, sunscreen, snacks, encouragement, and the ever-important otter pops. The list goes on…Anyway, we were not sure exactly how it was going to work – but once we got down here, we quickly learned that all three of our houses were going to be build ON THE SAME SITE! All of our students have been building side by side all week!

-On this site there is already a house that has been built by another church. It is a great reference point for our teams – they can look at this house if they have ANY questions about framing, joints, wiring, etc!

-We have been given free reign of a beautiful chapel on the top floor of the orphanage. We can look out over 40 miles of Tijuana and San Diego and watch the God-made sunsets from this chapel!

-We have Alex! He has been doing this for 15 years and has tons of wisdom and insight for our group to learn from.

-We have two incredible cooks, Missy Van Der Wath and Mary Jo Stromswold, who have cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, snacks, and more with humble, servant hearts. Praise God for them!

-We are seeing build teams come together with grace, love, patience, and encouragement as they strive to build 3 houses in the hot Tijuana sun.

-We have seen sun and will continue to throughout the week! The weather has been glorious!

That’s all for now – we will have a student post up later tonight :)

For Him,
Josh

Pics from Day 2 (Work Day 1)

Rob working hard on framing the footprint of the house!

Allie working on framing!

Rob and Eric ensure that the frame is level and ready for concrete.

Lisa, Leslie, and Nellie spreading dirt.

Vince, Erik, Nellie, and Nicole.

Us with part of the family that we are building for!

Adam.

Dave!

Leslie, Paula, and Liz

:)

Day 2

By: Kyle Knechtel

Day 2 a.k.a. Work Day Number 1. Today we went to the work sites for the first time and leveled out the areas where our three houses will be built. This was a chore more so for some groups than for others because of the amounts of hard clay that lay hidden beneath the soft top layer of dirt. Once you got your dirt level, we set up the border pieces of wood that outline the area where the concrete will be poured tomorrow.

Throughout the past couple of days we have been keeping God on our minds and what He has planned for us. This greatly showed through to me today as we were beginning to see how much work and how long building these three houses will actually take. We may not know exactly what will get done and when it will be completed, but we know that in the end we will accomplish our overall goal: changing the lives of three families forever!

(Go Green Team [The A Team]!!)

P.S. Hey Mom and Dad, hope you’re having fun and not missing Allie and me too much! We love you guys!

Clickin' Like a Mouse

By: Calvin Antonetty

Tijuana Mission Trip day NUMBER 2!!!! So far, this is the best mission trip I’ve ever been on. The group is clickin’ like a mouse when playing minesweeper and the sun is AMAZING. Today was our first workday and let me tell you, our generation of high school students is a lot more hard working than what they are given credit for!

Not only did we all wake up at 7:00am after a long day of traveling and culture switching, but we went to the worksite and we did work on it! Everyone was able to level out very difficult terrains, measure the area in which the concrete would be placed, dig trenches, and survive the constant sunshine all day long. Mothers and fathers, you should be very proud of your kiddos. Everyone gave their all today at these worksites and not once did I hear a complaint.

Something even more amazing than our hard work was the families’ dedication to the construction of their homes. The men AND the women and children all pitched in throughout the whole day. The men were so cooperative and were always on their feet working—EVEN DURING OUR WATER BREAKS! The women all put in just as much effort. The children did a fantastic job at keeping the atmosphere happy and motivated. The love that was flowing throughout our group, the families, and their puppies was almost overwhelming.

I love this trip and the people involved and I think I speak for the rest of the people on the group as well. Thank you to all the people that helped us get here.

Much Love!

P.S. I love you mom! And any other family and friends reading this! 

The Philosophizing Honey Badgers!

By: Vince Peterson and Erik Stromswold

Day 2: work day one: FOUNDATION BUILDING!!!!!!!! Well, to say the least, today was difficult. Being the team leader (Vince) for the day, I made the actual decision for which of the three build sites my team would work upon. To my dismay, the plot of land that I selected, although initially appealing to the eye due to its relative isolation from the others, happened to contain some of the most dry (arid, lacking of water) soil (again, don’t think it could be called soil) that I have ever had to move. The most frustrating portion of the day was simply getting the work site to be completely level. Although simple in its description, the task involved using pick axes and square nosed shovels in order to break up the earth and transfer the clay from the high portion of the incline to lower portion. The amount of displacement got incredibly redundant after the first five hours and the whole morale of the Blue (Bro) Team (aka Team C, Team 3, but most importantly the Philosophisizing Honey Badgers) was low. We were exhausted, but luckily the soon-to-be residents were willing to offer their helping hand.

WOW. So I know reading this is probably rather depressing. BUT HAVE NO FEAR!!!! THERE IS HOPE! After receiving a much needed Otter Pop break for our workday snack, the whole atmosphere around our work site shifted for the better. When previously it was difficult to get everyone working together as a team, after that break, every member became incredibly willing to do what the team saw as necessary. Part of this change can be attributed to finally getting the work site fully leveled (the bulk of the Day #1 work), and the rest of the work seemed to all come together incredibly rapidly. We built the supports needed for tomorrows day of laying down the cement and solidified the structural strength of the beams with metal supports all around, followed by a trench around the border that will house the rebar beams in the cement we lay tomorrow.

So after a mildly frustrating first day foundation building, I am happy to say that The Philosophisizing Honey Badgers are back on track, and pumped for the work of finishing the cementing tomorrow. The foundation is looking really solid, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the house comes together.

PS: Highlight of the day – Definitely coming back to the orphanage to a lovely bucket shower. I was literally caked in sand, clay, and other hard minerals from the work today.

Peace out! 

Arrival

By Nicole Busacca:
This is our first day in Tijuana, and all of the different emotions are incredibly difficult to describe.  I had a fantastic time all morning, the plane ride was a blast and the van ride to Mexico was hilarious, but once passed the border I felt like everything had changed.  When the 2012 mission trip to Tijuana was announced, I felt called to be on it; I knew that somehow God had something big in mind for me and wanted me to be on this trip so that he could work through me in a tremendous way.  My level of excitement for the trip was so high, and I could not wait to see all the wondrous things that the Lord had in store.  Despite the extraordinary pull I felt toward signing up for this trip, after so many months the thought of the trip had become commonplace, such a normal idea that for me it had lost quite a bit of its splendor and its importance in my mind had diminished.  My faith is such an important part of my life, but recently I have felt my relationship with God weaken.  Realizing that it was most likely because, since Core and Sunday Mornings were over, I had not spent much time with him I began trying to pray more often, do the devotionals for the trip (which were PERFECT for the place I was in), and remember to center my life around Christ.  I so longed to regain the close relationship with God that I had before, and without it I began to feel sad, lost, lonely, and angry with myself.  Being a fairly constantly happy person and one that puts great value on my relationship with God I felt like I had lost or forgotten a piece of who I was, but even though I so longed for my relationship with God to strengthen again nothing changed.  I prayed and prayed and prayed for this mission trip to do something about that, and already I feel His presence.  Driving across the border, I could see how easily traffic moved into the city and how the cars attempting to enter the United States were practically at a standstill; there were food stands all along the roads for such drivers.  As we moved into the city we began to see the buildings; homes that looked so unstable they seemed about to fall over, buildings that were merely rubble on the ground that no one had cleaned up, an entire city of homes that from my perspective were far too sketchy to live in.  But these broken-down buildings that existed far beyond the reaches of my eyes were home to hundreds of thousands of people.  Maybe over a million?  House after house appeared with trash littering the ground, graffiti covering the walls, children roaming about, and stray dogs running loose throughout the neighborhood.  It was nothing more than I had expected, but way more than I imagined.  WE lived in such a privileged area, and although we hear that all the time I am not sure that we know exactly how much that means.  Driving past these homes filled me with emotion, but I am not sure what those emotions were.  Mostly, my heart just wanted to cry in a ball in a corner, but I was also in a kind of horrified awe mixed with feelings of praise and determination.  This is the world.  These are our neighbors.  This is who God calls us to love.  We are his hands and feet; we cannot sit by telling ourselves that someone should do something to change all of the tragedy that infests our world because the "someone" that we refer to is someone else.  We pray that God will wield his mighty power to change things, but WE are His mighty power. WE are he hands He will use to change the world.  I am so guilty of this shameful mentality; although I was happy to be serving the world I had mostly been thinking about myself and the fun I was going to have and worrying about me and my needs and me me me me me.  Seeing these houses changed all that and it definitely planted a seed.  Being here, physically here not seeing pictures or hearing stories, gave me the new perspective, new drive, and new center that I needed.  Hearing about poverty is sad, but until you see it with your own eyes it doesn't feel real in your mind and it sure didn't feel real in my heart.  The incredible and immediate need that this town and this world has has made me see how little we can do on our own.  Three houses won't change all of Tijuana, but God can.  It is in Him that we must look to and trust in and depend on, but it is through us that He will do work in this world.  I can already feel my relationship with God strengthening and I cannot wait to see all that He does this week.
Thank you all for praying for us!  We could not have done this without you!  All of our work sites are in the same lot, which allows us to get advice and support from each other the whole time.  God really does work in mysterious ways and prayer does have a monumental effect.
 Nicole Busacca

First Time on a Plane!

By Xander Davidson:

Hey everybody, Xander here with your in-air blog! Man, we are so high up! Being my first time flying, the crew thought it would be appropriate for me to do the blog. Its amazing up here. The airport check-in went by super smoothly and we are just now above the clouds. People have been saying this is where the angles live; I think it's true. From the vast clouds to the small patches of the Earth we love, the beauty is hard to wrap your mind around. This may be a "well duh" moment, but everything is so tiny! You never really know how small we actually are until your soaring through the sky. But as insignificant as we are compared to the great size of Earth, I know what we are doing will make a difference. It's the little things, guys. They go a long way. Even though I'm missing my fam a ton, I know they are praying for me, and I'm praying for them too. Take care everybody. 

P.S. Shout-out to my little sisters, Lilly and Lucy. Love you guys! 

It's go time.

by Josh Schack

"At airport. Checked in. I woke up this morning and prayed. God clearly said 'Go. You all are ready.' We are walking on sacred ground from here, Josh! Will be amazing."

That was the text that I received from Becki Barrett this morning. After nearly 3 years of planting the seeds and nearly 10 months of preparation for this trip alone, the moment is here! As I type this, the preparation team is in California buying food, supplies, and ensuring that things are all in order for the group's arrival on Sunday. There is no turning back now!

Becki's text this morning was a simple yet powerful reminder that this mission trip is ALL in God's hands. He knew about this trip, its purpose, and chose this specific team before the foundations of the earth were laid. He has been preparing the hearts of leaders and students alike for weeks, months, maybe even years for this very week - and I am convinced that all of His preparation in our hearts is merely the beginning. A good work has begun with this mission team, and I am sure that God will be faithful to see it through until the end.

Mission team, I invite you to get packed up tonight and then take tomorrow to rest, focus, and spend time in prayer.


Mission team family members, I invite you to encourage, support, and build up those from your family who will be going on this trip - and to pray for them.

Mission team friends and greater SPC community, I invite you to pray for us. Please pray:
- For a sense of calm and the peace of Jesus to be with team members, as the impending trip has stirred anxieties.
- That student leaders, adult volunteer leaders, and SPC staff would be spiritually charged and ready to lead on Sunday.
- That the team would forget about any expectation that we have put on God and instead open ourselves to whatever He wants to show us in His perfect timing.
- For the families and orphans that we will encounter in Tijuana. Pray that we would love them with the love of Christ faithfully and unconditionally.
- For the city of Tijuana. Pray for redemption and healing of poverty, injustice, and violence. Pray that Jesus would be at work, building His church in this poverty-ridden city.

Getting to this point has truly been a SPC-wide effort, and I cannot thank all of you enough for your support! Now that we're on the trip, we need continual prayer support from now until the very end! Thank you so much for your ongoing commitment to this team, to this church, and to Jesus. Grace and peace be with you.

Tijuana 2012 // Un corazon - Una voz - Un Dios.

Welcome to SPC Senior High's 2012 Tijuana Mission Team blog! 

This page will be intermittently updated as we approach our date of departure, and then regularly updated during our time there! On this blog, we will post:


- Tijuana stories and testimonies
- Evidences of God's grace that we are witnessing
- Insights from leaders
- Ways you can be praying for us throughout the week
- Pictures
- Hilarious quotes from ourever-so-random-and-funny high school crowd


We are just a couple short weeks away from our departure, and the excitement is beginning to build. We are so blessed to have the ongoing financial, prayer, and emotional support of the SPC community - it's amazing! Through SPC:


- $12,800 was contributed by SPC's mission leadership team
- $5,585 was contributed by families through fundraising letters
- $4,850 was contributed through Work Days


A total of over $22,000!


This is amazing! THANK YOU to all who have supported us financially! More importantly, we need prayer support. Please be praying:

-          That deep relationships will form and solidify between students & God, leaders & God, students & students, students & leaders, and leaders & leaders.

-          That we would be kept safe throughout the trip.

-          That God’s will be done in our lives individually but also in the team as a whole & the families that we will be serving.

-          That there would be great conversation, laughter among the entire team.

-          That students and leaders would start getting ideas of how to bring the mission mentality back from Tijuana with us.

-          That God would teach each of us what He wants to teach us, and we not place our narrow expectations on Him.

-          Against satan, demons, and his armies, and their works and effects.

Thank you for your ongoing, support, and encouragement. We look forward to returning with stories of redemption, healing, triumph, and witnessing the growth of God's Kingdom!

For Him,

Josh

Josh Schack

Senior High Director of Ministry

Sammamish Presbyterian Church