3/12 Mexico Trip

This past Saturday, I went on a one-day Mexico trip to Tijuana. I arrived at church at 5 a.m. to help load the supplies on the bus, and we left at approximately 6am. I had only been to the Tijuana jail before, so it was interesting walking around the village in Tijuana. Before we did anything, they had us all go into the village and actually see the condition of the people we were about to serve. Tijuana was pretty different from San Telmo in that the landscape was extremely hilly, and in the middle of the dirt paths was like a long trench of trash and debris. We made it to like a basketball court where kids were playing, and I met this 8-year old named Yamile (?) and her little brother, Luis. She seemed a little shy at first, but smiled and held my hand as we walked around the village more. After a while, she wanted me to carry her, so I obliged. After a while, though, it got pretty tiring since we had to walk uphill many times, and it was extremely hot. However, I did my best to carry her whenever she wanted me to, even though I was tired. My friend, Crystal, also helped piggy-back her for a little bit. When we finally made it back to the church, I helped out with making lunch (hot dogs and chips/sasla, mandarins, and juice). The kids lined up after the first worship session and we distributed the food (with smiles and "hola"s). After all the kids got food, I went out and ate lunch with some of the kids. They were pretty fascinated with my camera and kept wanting me to take pictures of them. Since I was done with food ministry, I sat with the kids during the childrens worship while they were teaching the kids songs and making crafts. Towards the end of the day, we went to the Terrasa church (where the other half of our team served for the day), had a time of sharing/prayer/preaching by Pastor Paul, and ended with dinner.
Even though I've been on Mexico Missions trips before, I think this trip really taught me how to give myself wholeheartedly for the purpose of Christ. Before, I had gone into the trips pretty self centered, and it is only by the grace of God this time that I was able to establish deeper and more personal relationships with some of the kids. I just felt so much love for all of the children that I met during the day, and saw how fearfully and wonderfully each and every one of them were made. My prayer is that these kids will grow up to become like gold refined in fire; that their hearts will become like fertile soil; that they will bring Light into such a dark place, and that this missions trip will not be wasted.