Mexico Caravan Ministries Blog
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Nov
24
Mexico - Day 6
Posted by: faithne in Group Blogs |Tagged in: Untagged
Happy Thanksgiving from Tijuana!
We’ve had an amazing week here in TJ. Yesterday we finished building houses and were challenged by missionary Brad Buser. Brad took the Gospel to an unreached, unengaged people in Papua New Guinea. He shared how it took years to learn their language and translate the Bible. Then after sharing the Gospel for the first time they stayed another 11 years to disciple the new church and get it to the point of being a healthy and reproducing church. It was a powerful testimony. We then headed out to Spectrum ministries’ bathhouse location. We washed the feet and hair of around 150 little boys and girls and handed out clothes. It was a great experience of humble service for us. Tonight we got to take our first shower of the week, it was great and definitely something to be thankful for.
Tomorrow we are doing some service projects that Eddie lined up for us. It should be a lot of fun. We then pack up and get ready for the trip home on Saturday. I will have all the students call their parents when we arrive in Denver on Saturday. I think that should be around noon on if everything goes well. We will see everyone at home soon!
Jared
We’ve had an amazing week here in TJ. Yesterday we finished building houses and were challenged by missionary Brad Buser. Brad took the Gospel to an unreached, unengaged people in Papua New Guinea. He shared how it took years to learn their language and translate the Bible. Then after sharing the Gospel for the first time they stayed another 11 years to disciple the new church and get it to the point of being a healthy and reproducing church. It was a powerful testimony. We then headed out to Spectrum ministries’ bathhouse location. We washed the feet and hair of around 150 little boys and girls and handed out clothes. It was a great experience of humble service for us. Tonight we got to take our first shower of the week, it was great and definitely something to be thankful for.
Tomorrow we are doing some service projects that Eddie lined up for us. It should be a lot of fun. We then pack up and get ready for the trip home on Saturday. I will have all the students call their parents when we arrive in Denver on Saturday. I think that should be around noon on if everything goes well. We will see everyone at home soon!
Jared
Nov
22
Mexico - Day 4
Posted by: faithne in Group Blogs |Tagged in: Untagged
What a beautiful day in TJ. This morning and this evening we were blessed by a missionary who was kicked out of Central Asia. He shared about his experiences sharing the Gospel with Muslims. It was powerful stuff, especially when he shared the numbers of people in the 1040 window that are practicing Islam. It was something like 86% of practicing Muslims don’t even know there is something other than Islam out there. Essentially, they have not had a chance to either accept or reject Christ. It was really a great and challenging day in the missions room.
We built houses again today. Our two groups split up and went our separate ways. We finished our build around 3pm so our team leader took us to her host family’s house. Her host dad is a pastor of a church here in TJ so she showed us the church. It was really great to get that experience because I have always wanted to see where the church gathers in TJ. The church was smaller than our youth room and typically has 40-50 people on Sunday for a two hour worship service and an hour of classes.
There are only a few people I haven’t built with yet but I have been extremely proud of our students on the work sites. Everyone has been working hard and loving on the families. We have had a few dings from the work sites but overall God has kept us safe. Tomorrow is our last building day.
The guys have developed a habit of getting a snack from Maria’s hot dog and hamburger stand on the corner a couple blocks from the dorm. The food is great and it has forced us to learn some Spanish. I now know the words for “one hamburger with bacon, lettuce, onions, tomato, pickles and ketchup.” With proper motivation, anyone can learn Spanish :)
Thanks for your prayers and support from the Midwest.
-Jared Rentschler
We built houses again today. Our two groups split up and went our separate ways. We finished our build around 3pm so our team leader took us to her host family’s house. Her host dad is a pastor of a church here in TJ so she showed us the church. It was really great to get that experience because I have always wanted to see where the church gathers in TJ. The church was smaller than our youth room and typically has 40-50 people on Sunday for a two hour worship service and an hour of classes.
There are only a few people I haven’t built with yet but I have been extremely proud of our students on the work sites. Everyone has been working hard and loving on the families. We have had a few dings from the work sites but overall God has kept us safe. Tomorrow is our last building day.
The guys have developed a habit of getting a snack from Maria’s hot dog and hamburger stand on the corner a couple blocks from the dorm. The food is great and it has forced us to learn some Spanish. I now know the words for “one hamburger with bacon, lettuce, onions, tomato, pickles and ketchup.” With proper motivation, anyone can learn Spanish :)
Thanks for your prayers and support from the Midwest.
-Jared Rentschler
Nov
21
Atkinson Group Mexico - Day 3
Posted by: faithne in Group Blogs |Tagged in: Untagged
What a great start to an amazing week. After roughly 24 hours of being en route to Tiijuna, we finally arrived. We unloaded the vans and had our initial meeting with the staff at Caravan Ministries. Our first experience with Mexico culture happened when we sat down at Pablanos for some Mexican food. Our group had Asada (steak) and Adobada (pork) tacos and tortas. I believe everyone enjoyed the food, most people fell in love with the tacos.
On Sunday we started with our devotions and then headed to the Tiangas. The Tiangas are a little like a huge garage sale. There are probably a hundred vendors who set up their tents. You can buy all kinds of things at the Tiangas, many of the students made small purchases which forced them to engage in some conversation with our Spanish speaking neighbors. What is really nice is that people in Mexico are very patient with us. In the afternoon we headed to the beach. It was probably 55 degrees out with a 15 mph wind blowing but we still had some student who got wet.
Today was our first building day. We started with some worship followed by a powerful message from Eddie. Eddie is the director of the ministry here at Caravans. After the message we headed to the build site. Our group was split into two groups. We built a 12’x16’ and a 12’x12’ house for two families. My group did an amazing job. Everyone did anything they could to get the job done. Ashley and Meagan cut their first 2x4 by hand this morning (Way to GO!). Calab and Noble showed their skill in construction and really did a great job. Sebastion was great helping me finish up the door and windows. Brianna helped with construction but had the most fun coloring and playing with the children on the site. The family we built for had a six year old girl and a two year old. I didn’t get a chance to work with Alex, Matt, Kelsey, Katie, Kaitlyn because they were on the other team but Duane (their leader) gave a very good report of their work. When we finished the build we had some time so we walked up to the Cathedral (2 blocks away) and played Basketball and Soccer. Sebastion, Caleb and Noble played 3 on 3 with some Mexican guys. It was a riot to watch them try to communicate with each other. Lots of smiles and laughs and in the end I really don’t know who won but they all had a good time. In the evening we had the opportunity to listen and interact with a couple heading to Southeast Asia in 2012. It was really cool to hear their story and learn from them.
With the end of that I figured I should blog a little. I apologize for taking a few days to post. Hopefully it will be daily from here out now that we have an account set up. Everything is going really well in Tiijuana. Please pray for us as we serve. Thanks for your support we love you!
Jared Rentschler
On Sunday we started with our devotions and then headed to the Tiangas. The Tiangas are a little like a huge garage sale. There are probably a hundred vendors who set up their tents. You can buy all kinds of things at the Tiangas, many of the students made small purchases which forced them to engage in some conversation with our Spanish speaking neighbors. What is really nice is that people in Mexico are very patient with us. In the afternoon we headed to the beach. It was probably 55 degrees out with a 15 mph wind blowing but we still had some student who got wet.
Today was our first building day. We started with some worship followed by a powerful message from Eddie. Eddie is the director of the ministry here at Caravans. After the message we headed to the build site. Our group was split into two groups. We built a 12’x16’ and a 12’x12’ house for two families. My group did an amazing job. Everyone did anything they could to get the job done. Ashley and Meagan cut their first 2x4 by hand this morning (Way to GO!). Calab and Noble showed their skill in construction and really did a great job. Sebastion was great helping me finish up the door and windows. Brianna helped with construction but had the most fun coloring and playing with the children on the site. The family we built for had a six year old girl and a two year old. I didn’t get a chance to work with Alex, Matt, Kelsey, Katie, Kaitlyn because they were on the other team but Duane (their leader) gave a very good report of their work. When we finished the build we had some time so we walked up to the Cathedral (2 blocks away) and played Basketball and Soccer. Sebastion, Caleb and Noble played 3 on 3 with some Mexican guys. It was a riot to watch them try to communicate with each other. Lots of smiles and laughs and in the end I really don’t know who won but they all had a good time. In the evening we had the opportunity to listen and interact with a couple heading to Southeast Asia in 2012. It was really cool to hear their story and learn from them.
With the end of that I figured I should blog a little. I apologize for taking a few days to post. Hopefully it will be daily from here out now that we have an account set up. Everything is going really well in Tiijuana. Please pray for us as we serve. Thanks for your support we love you!
Jared Rentschler