Debriefing

This post was written on Saturday, June 30th

By Sarah Elderkin

Hi there!

I’m awake far later than I intended to be, but the fellowship here is so wonderful that I couldn’t get myself to stop the wonderful conversations about our lives, our problems, our solutions, and our faith. It’s amazing to see how much closer we all are than we were at the beginning of the trip. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by great people. All week, I have felt that God brought me on this trip for a reason, and tonight we had the chance to do some debriefing and let out our emotions. Through conversation, it was easier to see where God revealed himself, and we were able to build upon each other.

I am currently so tired that I’m slightly delirious, seeing as it is 3:14am and I am half listening to some very entertaining conversations. The love I feel for everyone here, both our team and the families in Tijuana, is so unbelievably awesome. I am blown away by the rush of emotions as well as the way that each of us grew.

I can’t wait to be back in Seattle in approximately 8 hours. This trip has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I praise God for this opportunity.

I miss everyone at home, and love you all!

Sarah Elderkin

Reflecting

This post was written on Saturday, June 30th

By Haley Parcher

Hello all!

It is currently 2:00am and the whole group has to leave by 5:15am for the airport. At this point, most of the team (myself included) has decided to stay up instead of getting 2-3 hours of sleep. We have been reflecting on this past week and talking about all the amazing things that have happened. We decided to share about our favorite moment from the trip. When it came to be my turn, I honestly didn’t even know what to say. We have had so many incredible moments throughout this trip. I decided that my favorite moment was today when we finished the houses and gave the house keys to the families. We went back to the work site to finish up the last details of the house and say goodbye to the families. When it came time to give the keys to the family, we circled up and prayed. We thanked God for the amazing things He has done this week and prayed that the family can feel comfortable and safe in their new home. Part way through the prayer, the parents of the family (Timiteo and Silvia) started crying. They were feeling overwhelmed with emotions, especially gratitude. This brought most of the team to tears. Even the children of this family (Manuel and Andres) began to cry. It was a very special moment for all of us. We felt a sense of accomplishment for finishing the house but we also felt very sad about leaving the family. After we gave Timiteo and Silvia the keys, I went up on the hill to look at the beautiful houses. I began to think about the things we had done throughout the week. When we arrived at the work site the first day, we had a big empty work site. When we left, we had three beautiful homes. We even added a cross to the front and back of the house as a reminder that none of this could have been done without God on our side. Over the course of the week, we had high moments, low moments, scary moments, exciting moments, sad moments and happy moments. But at the end, we had three COMPLETE houses and three very happy and grateful families. We didn’t just give these people a house, we gave them a home. We gave them a place to make memories with their family and friends. Most importantly, we gave them a place where they will be safe. These children will get to grow up in a beautiful safe house rather than renting a tiny unsafe apartment in the middle of the city.

                I feel incredibly blessed to have had this amazing experience with my group. God kept us safe, positive and strong throughout this entire trip and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. This trip was one of the most difficult yet one of the most valuable experiences of my entire life.

                There are a lot of problems with homelessness and poverty in Tijuana, that’s why we came down here. As much as our team would love to, we can’t fix every problem in Tijuana. But what we did do is change the lives of three families forever. These families now have a home that will probably stay in the family more many more generations to come and that is something for every single member of the team to be proud of.

All my love,

Haley 

The final day

This post was written on Saturday, June 30th.

By Calvin Antonetty

Hiiiii Everyone!

It’s Calvin again and this is my last blog post! It is currently 1:00am and we have to be awake at 4:30am to start leaving for the airport by 5:15am later today…soooo excuse me for any typos!

Today was our last day in Mexico and we went HAM CRAY FATTY STYLE (in Vince’s words)!!! We made it to the worksite early and just finished those houses, like, the houses didn’t even know what was coming!! Finishing involved tar guns, roof nails, white trimming, and complicated doors. I can’t even begin to describe how hard everyone worked today! All the groups had their own special little systems and tactics to getting the job du-dun-done! By the end of the work day, most people had tar stains on their pants, arms, and hands…OH and a nice hint of white paint!

Something AMAZING happened within the first five minutes of our arrival. (Grab the Kleenex, you might shed a tear or two) Papa Adrian pulled me aside and told me that his son (Adrian) is working on his first communion and that they go to the cathedral every Sunday. Everytime they go, Papa Adrian buys a new rosary or a new bracelet. Adrian Jr. decided he wanted to give his rosaries and bracelets to our team (orange team!!!!!). Now think about it. Little Adrian is 9 years old and here he is giving away these precious rosaries and bracelets to people he has only known for six days. In case you’re not familiar with the catholic logistics, to get your first communion, you have to sit through an hour or two of Sunday school every week and study the bible in depth. It’s not easy work AT ALL. I remember being that age and working for my first communion for so long. So all day we have all been wearing these amazing rosaries and bracelets and trying not to cry.

Leaving that work site was a melting pot of emotions. Excited that we finished the houses, in love with our new families, deep pain because we are leaving and may not ever see them again, relaxed because things were only gonna get easier, and confused as to why it couldn’t have taken us a month to finish these houses LOL. We also locked hands with Papa Adrian and his family and prayed. Andrew led us in the prayer and I translated his words into Spanish to Adrian. Throughout the entire good-bye process, Adrian tried not to cry. I must have said bye to him like five times. He said to me “I am so grateful that God put you all in my path and made a house for us to live in. I hope that God blesses you all and stays with you throughout your lives. I can’t even think of any more words to say because I’m trying not to cry.”.

Papa Adrian and his brothers were born amongst drugs and violence into a poor family in Guerrero. None of them made it through Elementary school because they had to work to make money for their family as they grew up. As they had kids, they picked up extra work to support their kids and their expensive apartments and skipped meals daily. They moved to TIJUANA to be SAFE and to take their kids out of the dangerous environment of Guerrero. All four families have been living in one little living room sized house for five years. Our Mission team came on Monday and built three more houses by Saturday morning. They now have four 12x24ft houses they can call their own. Now, the adults can starve, stress, and fear less. Now the new generation of kiddos can go to school and church and grow up with tons of opportunities they might have never had if their parents weren’t such amazing people. Instead of growing up to be in a gang, the kids might end up being the president of Mexico and putting an end to drug cartels! Who knows! After this week, I have learned that ANYTHING is possible. I will end this post with the last thing Papa Adrian wanted us to know about himself and Mexico. “I love living here because when the wind blows, it brings with it all of the happiness and the joy all around Mexico, and fills me with that same happiness.” The Soto-Ortiz family has a future, and now that I know of this amazing family, I know that Mexico does as well.

Much love,

Calvin Antonetty