Sunday 12 March 2017

DAY 2 | orphanage and session

Hola, 25 degree weather and swimming in the ocean (as a few did late this afternoon) seems a lot better then snow around this time of year.  

Today was our first full day in the beautiful country of Mexico. Our day was filled with much joy, struggles, and emotional impacting experiences we will never forget. 

Our day started off early, with breakfast at 7:30 and devotions following soon after. The YWAM staff lead us in worship as well as introducing us to Psalm 5 on a deep new level. Then we went into small groups and prayed about what we were to get out of the trip. Following devotions we separated into two groups, and we worked to prepare for VBS-style ministry opportunities.  We selected bible stories, prepared crafts, practices skits and planned games.  

After we squished into two vans we headed to La Roca (A church in downtown Tijuana, ‘The Rock’). It was an amazing experience as the whole congregation was so passionate for our Lord. Our hands soon became sore after clapping and our voices raspy after singing Spanish praise songs to the same God that we worship in Abbotsford. At the end of the service we went just outside of the church, where people of all ages came to us and welcomed us and were so happy to see Canadians. The vibe that the church gave many of us, left us wanting to express ourselves through worship in ways we never thought we would.

We went straight to an amazing orphanage, called Casa de Gracia (House of Grace), which was started by the pastor at La Roca, and is fully supported by the congregation there.  At first the kids were rather shy, but as the time went by they became very comfortable around us. We engaged in a multitude of activities with the children, including face painting, basketball, water balloon fight, story telling, and eating pizza together. One of the groups that had earlier planned a VBS program, told the story of David and the lions den, acted through on a engaging skit, as well as making lions masks later with the kids. Leaving the children was very hard for most of us. One of girls came up to me (Jae-Lynn) when we had to leave, gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear, "te amo" meaning "I love you", this melted my heart. 

After leaving the orphanage, we went back to the base where we had dinner and our evening session.  The speaker, Josiah, talked about how we are the temples of God, and how He sees us great worth in us.  Our group met afterwards to discuss the day and share our highs and lows with one another. We want to grow in our faith in this journey, and we asked that you can pray for us and the rest people we will be serving in these following days.

Thank-you,


Jae-Lynn & Lucy

Tomorrow, we are returning to the Ranch.  It's a men's drug & alcohol recovery home.  We went there as a team two years ago.  Would you pray for our interaction with the men there, as we serve alongside them, and play some great Mexico vs. Canada Volleyball!

Here's a few shots from our day today.

 
Walking into the Church

 
Playing VBS games in the courtyard of the orphanage

 
Adam's lion mask for the story telling drama
 

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