Mexico Twenty12

Like previous years, Jessi and I headed down to San Felipe, Mexico on a mission trip with our church's high school group. San Felipe is on the East Coast of the Baja Peninsula, about 3 hours South of the border. It's a popular tourist destination for Americans. However, given the current economic climate, tourism is down. The quote I heard was, "When America gets a cough, San Felipe gets pneumonia." The above picture is San Felipe.

So, 60 of us headed down. A majority on the yellow bus in the background. It snowed the morning we left. School had been canceled the previous day too.

For the first time, I got to participate in the shopping. We go to a Walmart in El Centro, CA which is a few miles North of the Border. There we pick up about $1,200 worth of food. 9 baskets!

Once down in Mexico we have two main tasks: Construction & Vacation Bible Study (VBS).

My team got to re-surface a leaking roof. We put on a think white paint substance called "Impact 5000". It's a re-seals the existing roof.

Here we are working on our air guitar skills.

This is what actual work looks like. It got so hot on the roof that we had to take turns and take many water breaks.

Now, when I say "we", I actually mean the students. I did very little physical work. My job was to tell students when to rotate out and what to do next. I think I could make a good manager; especially with that ridiculously good looking mustache!

Jessi spent her day at an orphanage. Her group's job was to start building a chicken coop. Jessi, however, spent her time playing with the girls there. Here's one little baby that Jessi got to know really well.

Each afternoon we would put on VBS. We spread out in a dirt street and play a bunch of games while the children arrive.

Here's the turn-out. On the last day there were around 40 children and a few adults watching the official presentation.

The presentation includes singing songs, putting on dramas, puppet skits, and craft projects. Here's the creation story:

Here's Moses:

On the file day we do a non-taking drama which describes Jesus taking on our pain, dying for our sins, and being raised from the dead.

Here are the puppets:

Everyone at VBS were wearing red shirts. So a friend, Andrew, and I wore our "Red" shirts. Ha ha. We're so funny!

This family finds us each year to join in VBS.

On the last day we got invited to play a soccer game against a local club team. They quickly went up by 2. We added 5 more people to our team. They scored again. So we added another 5 to our side. Then it became a "fair" game. We ended up losing 3-5, but it was a ton of fun.

Vinnie spent the week at the "puppy hotel". Jessi cheated on him a little by cuddling with this cute little dog.

On the final day, I got up super early with a couple dudes to watch the sun rise. We were on the hill with the cross in the very first picture. The sun rise is amazing to watch.

Then everyone else joined us to pray for San Felipe and worship Jesus. Jessi and I got photo-bombed on one of our photos. Classic. I love it.

Before heading back, we also give people the opportunity to be baptized in the Sea of Cortez. This year 4 people decided to publicly declare their faith in Christ. Awesome!

It was a fanatic trip. We all had a blast, worked hard, and grew closer to Christ. It's an excellent way to get pumped about Easter and celebrate Christ dying for our sins.