RMI Day 30
Thursday, July 22
Gordon College
Believe it or not, the last day of the 2010 RMI is here. It's been a great month, and it will be hard to say goodbye. Students didn't want to go to bed tonight, but I think most are pretty tired.
Today was a day when mentors were invited to come and join their students at the RMI. Thanks to those who came, and we missed those of you who couldn't. In the morning, while Dave Horn and I met with the mentors, Chris, Tom and Lane met individually with each student in their respective group to debrief. In the afternoon, these three met with the mentors of students in their groups. The students and mentors played a few get-to-know-you games, and then the students gave the mentors a little bit of an idea of what they had experienced during the RMI through personal reflections and group presentations. In the evening, we had a nice meal along with a keynote address by Dr. Arthurs, who was one of the teachers during the seminary week. Later, the students displayed some of their talents at the Coffee House Talent Show. Mentors who can make it will be with us again for the final morning; those from out of town are staying the night here at Gordon.
The RMI ends today, Thursday, July 22, at 12:00 noon. Parents picking up their child are invited to have lunch with us at the Lane Student Center at Gordon. Lunch begins at 12:00. Final goodbyes are no later than 1:00p.
James
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Buenos Dias
Tom here for the Green Machine. It is now the exact time that we got up to catch our flight to Mexico City just 9 days ago. Everyone is tucked in and on their way to a peaceful night's rest. It is fitting, as today's theme was "Called to Rest."
Our time in Mexico was incredible. We were blessed with smooth travel days (with the exception of one lost piece of luggage on the return flight). The church that we served with welcomed us so warmly that we felt right at home. Pastor Roberto and his wife Enid, along with their two sons Dani and Roberto Jr., received us and guided us in our service in Mexico City. Our translator, Maki, allowed for her love of Mexico City to flow over onto us and fill us with excitement each day. Maki also thoroughly documented our experience via photography.
About our ministry site... Iglesia Christo Promisa Fiel is a young church that operates out of a storefront on Esparanza St. During the week, the storefront serves as a venue for children’s' birthday parties. They also host events in the evening in which they try to draw the community in. For example, we helped host a karaoke night. An hour before the singing commenced we split into groups and went out into the community praying and inviting people to karaoke.
Other ministry activities included a soccer and basketball tournament in a local park, painting and cleaning the church, an evangelistic presentation in the park, street cleaning, street evangelism, and taking part in the Sunday service just yesterday. Pastor Roberto was very kind to allow us so many opportunities to serve the church.
Most would agree that the food was sensational, but we did have some bouts with illness during the week. Most folks experienced some tummy troubles, but almost all are recovered fully. Despite this challenge and the challenge that the language barrier presented, the Spirit moved through our actions and ministered. We are so grateful to our ministry partners in Mexico and the rest of Compass groups for support and fellowship during the past week.
Thank you for your prayers.
-The Green Machine
Our time in Mexico was incredible. We were blessed with smooth travel days (with the exception of one lost piece of luggage on the return flight). The church that we served with welcomed us so warmly that we felt right at home. Pastor Roberto and his wife Enid, along with their two sons Dani and Roberto Jr., received us and guided us in our service in Mexico City. Our translator, Maki, allowed for her love of Mexico City to flow over onto us and fill us with excitement each day. Maki also thoroughly documented our experience via photography.
About our ministry site... Iglesia Christo Promisa Fiel is a young church that operates out of a storefront on Esparanza St. During the week, the storefront serves as a venue for children’s' birthday parties. They also host events in the evening in which they try to draw the community in. For example, we helped host a karaoke night. An hour before the singing commenced we split into groups and went out into the community praying and inviting people to karaoke.
Other ministry activities included a soccer and basketball tournament in a local park, painting and cleaning the church, an evangelistic presentation in the park, street cleaning, street evangelism, and taking part in the Sunday service just yesterday. Pastor Roberto was very kind to allow us so many opportunities to serve the church.
Most would agree that the food was sensational, but we did have some bouts with illness during the week. Most folks experienced some tummy troubles, but almost all are recovered fully. Despite this challenge and the challenge that the language barrier presented, the Spirit moved through our actions and ministered. We are so grateful to our ministry partners in Mexico and the rest of Compass groups for support and fellowship during the past week.
Thank you for your prayers.
-The Green Machine
TBC #3
RMI Day 27
July 20, 2010
We're back from Mexico! And what a week it was! I am so proud of the whole team - they worked incredibly hard all week and kept a great attitude the whole way through! We've had a great time
TBC worked at Casa Hogar Emmanuel for the week. Casa Hogar is a Christian orphanage run by founders Leo and Angelica Cruz 14 years ago. Along with their four biological children, they take care of 18 orphans from age 5 yrs and up. During our days there we adopted some Spanish names for ourselves, played a lot of games, sang a ton of songs, ate a lot of good food, and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ricardo (Richie) and Sara Maria shone in their ability to connect with the younger kids. Taylor, Ashley, and Andres (Andrew) were hugely helpful as they helped translate for the rest of us. Ashley endeared herself to the Casa Hogar staff as she jumped into the kitchen to help cook up some moletas (deep fried tortilla wraps with tuna inside, topped with a salsa). Sara Mariah, Marcos (Mark) and Ricardo took charge of a lot of the games we played - and helped all the Mexicans become experts at our new favorite game: NINJA! Rebekah, though she doesn't speak a lick of Spanish, managed to connect with some of the little girls. The first day, she and Leslie (8 yrs) played a game of 'hide-n-seek' with some index cards tucked inside her Spanish dictionary. Alonzo had the kids cracking up with his soulful versions of the song "Yo Tengo Gozo" (I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy). Maria (Moriah) often had a little girl in her lap, and one or two playing with her lovely, long hair. At the end of the week, we all shared some sad faces, a few tears, and long hugs, then prayed God's blessings upon them and made our way back to Iglesia Cristiana Valle de Chalco (ICVM), our church home for the week.
This church has hosted missionaries working with Spearhead (Latin American Missions) for a couple years now, and they were incredibly generous in how they opened up their home and their church to us! Enrique and Eva Gonzalez, the couple that run the church, also live in a house on the same property. The church is a baptistic, charismatic church that is a daughter church of a Presbyterian church in another part of the city. We spent many hours sharing worship, prayer, and mealtimes with the Gonzalez family and other ICVM members. Our days always started and ended with many laughs and stories with these brothers and sisters. In fact, our days were loooong and jam-packed because we were usually awakened by thumping Hillsong praise songs sung in Spanish, around 7 in the morning, and we often didn't end dinner until 11 or 12 at night. During our evenings at the church, we helped clean, arrange tables and chairs for various events, and attended several worship services at the church. The TBC guys helped with some manly work of hauling wood and cinder blocks, putting up large tarps for roofs, and moving dirt outside the church property. The TBC girls were a huge help in the kitchen, rotating in with the guys to do dish duty, and often helping with some of the cooking for the day's dinner. All of us helped ICVM prepare for a large women's conference they had this past Saturday. Four hundred women from different parts of Mexico City attended the conference, and our host mom reported that two hundred of them received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!
All of us had a wonderful time getting to know the ICVM family. No matter what time of day, it seemed like their was a small crowd enjoying life together in the small courtyard of the church. Alonzo had a lot of the ICVM teens laughing with him as he sang and practiced his Spanish. Richie played a ton of soccer with some of the ICVM guys. Andrew was our charmer and jokester, and used his considerable Spanish very well. He was usually surrounded by the younger teenage guys who wanted to hang around him and even managed to get one of the shy little toddlers, Tita, to let him hold her. Ashley was constantly using her own Spanish to help translate for the group and share stories and explain jokes to our ICVM friends. Rebekah, Sara Maria, Ashley, and Moriah enjoyed getting to know some of their hermanitos and hermanitas (little brothers and sisters) at the dinner table. They also got to know some big brothers, who were a huge help during some late night travel in and out of the city. Lots of jokes were traded and lots of songs were sung together at the dinner table. Alonzo and Sara Maria endeared themselves forever to the Tias (aunts) of the church by how much they could eat at every meal. Mark had his 19th birthday at the beginning of the week, and both our church family and the Casa Hogar family sang and prayed for him.
One of our most powerful experiences during the week was our time of worship with ICVM. Their style of worship is very different from most of what we are all used to. Yet it was humbling and thrilling to worship the same triune God along side of these brothers and sisters from another part of the world and sing words of praise in a language different from our own. And we didn't just sing... we DANCED! ICVM also asked Taylor to give his testimony and asked the whole TBC team to lead the whole church in some worship during their Sunday service. Taylor did an incredible job, and truly shared a testimony of who the Lord is and how he has worked in Taylor's life. Then he turned around and led us in singing the Spanish versions of several praise songs. Andrew summed up our worship experience well when he said he just felt the Lord's presence there.
During the middle of the week, we had a day off from ministry in order to attend a Spearhead meeting in the city. Towards the end of the week, all the COMPASS teams reunited on Saturday to enjoy an outing to Xochimilco. We all boarded three 'lanchas' - long boats with roofs that seated about 20 at a long table right down the middle. As we floated along on some canals, smaller boats with mariachi bands and vendors selling food and crafts would come up and 'attach' to our lancha for a few minutes, then continue on. That night, we got to share in the celebration of Spearhead's 40th anniversary. Our own COMPASS team shared in the programmed festivities by performing the "Lifehouse Skit" on stage. Later on, we joined in with other Spearhead missions teams to sing a Spanish praise song on stage.
Another powerful experience for our team were the goodbyes that happened at the end of our stay, which were hard and long. Our Casa Hogar friends each kissed and hugged us, and wished God's blessings upon us. We shared small gifts with the directors of the orphanage, and each of the children. Email addresses and Facebook sites were traded. Then more hugs and kisses. Our ICVM friends first prayed over us during their Sunday service. Then we got to linger over lunch together. Then many more hugs and kisses, and repeated questions of when we might be coming back. It was truly a humbling experience to be embraced by the brothers and sisters of the church and have them pray earnestly for God's protection and blessing upon us in all that we do, wherever God brings us next. We will miss our Mexican brothers and sisters very much and we are grateful for the glimpse that our time in Mexico offered us as to how the gospel is literally continuing to spread to every corner of the world, to every tribe, and tongue, and nation.
Please pray for us as we enter into the last few days of RMI. Each TBC member has a lot to process, and it will be hard to leave the presence of so many new, yet close friends here. Pray that they will continue in a lifestyle where every part of their day is worship of the God that created us. Pray that they will worship the God who made himself nothing, out of love for us; pray that they will follow his example and seek to humble themselves and work for the good of others first. Pray that they will continue to grow in their knowledge and experience of our God of love and grace.
Lane
July 20, 2010
We're back from Mexico! And what a week it was! I am so proud of the whole team - they worked incredibly hard all week and kept a great attitude the whole way through! We've had a great time
TBC worked at Casa Hogar Emmanuel for the week. Casa Hogar is a Christian orphanage run by founders Leo and Angelica Cruz 14 years ago. Along with their four biological children, they take care of 18 orphans from age 5 yrs and up. During our days there we adopted some Spanish names for ourselves, played a lot of games, sang a ton of songs, ate a lot of good food, and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ricardo (Richie) and Sara Maria shone in their ability to connect with the younger kids. Taylor, Ashley, and Andres (Andrew) were hugely helpful as they helped translate for the rest of us. Ashley endeared herself to the Casa Hogar staff as she jumped into the kitchen to help cook up some moletas (deep fried tortilla wraps with tuna inside, topped with a salsa). Sara Mariah, Marcos (Mark) and Ricardo took charge of a lot of the games we played - and helped all the Mexicans become experts at our new favorite game: NINJA! Rebekah, though she doesn't speak a lick of Spanish, managed to connect with some of the little girls. The first day, she and Leslie (8 yrs) played a game of 'hide-n-seek' with some index cards tucked inside her Spanish dictionary. Alonzo had the kids cracking up with his soulful versions of the song "Yo Tengo Gozo" (I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy). Maria (Moriah) often had a little girl in her lap, and one or two playing with her lovely, long hair. At the end of the week, we all shared some sad faces, a few tears, and long hugs, then prayed God's blessings upon them and made our way back to Iglesia Cristiana Valle de Chalco (ICVM), our church home for the week.
This church has hosted missionaries working with Spearhead (Latin American Missions) for a couple years now, and they were incredibly generous in how they opened up their home and their church to us! Enrique and Eva Gonzalez, the couple that run the church, also live in a house on the same property. The church is a baptistic, charismatic church that is a daughter church of a Presbyterian church in another part of the city. We spent many hours sharing worship, prayer, and mealtimes with the Gonzalez family and other ICVM members. Our days always started and ended with many laughs and stories with these brothers and sisters. In fact, our days were loooong and jam-packed because we were usually awakened by thumping Hillsong praise songs sung in Spanish, around 7 in the morning, and we often didn't end dinner until 11 or 12 at night. During our evenings at the church, we helped clean, arrange tables and chairs for various events, and attended several worship services at the church. The TBC guys helped with some manly work of hauling wood and cinder blocks, putting up large tarps for roofs, and moving dirt outside the church property. The TBC girls were a huge help in the kitchen, rotating in with the guys to do dish duty, and often helping with some of the cooking for the day's dinner. All of us helped ICVM prepare for a large women's conference they had this past Saturday. Four hundred women from different parts of Mexico City attended the conference, and our host mom reported that two hundred of them received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!
All of us had a wonderful time getting to know the ICVM family. No matter what time of day, it seemed like their was a small crowd enjoying life together in the small courtyard of the church. Alonzo had a lot of the ICVM teens laughing with him as he sang and practiced his Spanish. Richie played a ton of soccer with some of the ICVM guys. Andrew was our charmer and jokester, and used his considerable Spanish very well. He was usually surrounded by the younger teenage guys who wanted to hang around him and even managed to get one of the shy little toddlers, Tita, to let him hold her. Ashley was constantly using her own Spanish to help translate for the group and share stories and explain jokes to our ICVM friends. Rebekah, Sara Maria, Ashley, and Moriah enjoyed getting to know some of their hermanitos and hermanitas (little brothers and sisters) at the dinner table. They also got to know some big brothers, who were a huge help during some late night travel in and out of the city. Lots of jokes were traded and lots of songs were sung together at the dinner table. Alonzo and Sara Maria endeared themselves forever to the Tias (aunts) of the church by how much they could eat at every meal. Mark had his 19th birthday at the beginning of the week, and both our church family and the Casa Hogar family sang and prayed for him.
One of our most powerful experiences during the week was our time of worship with ICVM. Their style of worship is very different from most of what we are all used to. Yet it was humbling and thrilling to worship the same triune God along side of these brothers and sisters from another part of the world and sing words of praise in a language different from our own. And we didn't just sing... we DANCED! ICVM also asked Taylor to give his testimony and asked the whole TBC team to lead the whole church in some worship during their Sunday service. Taylor did an incredible job, and truly shared a testimony of who the Lord is and how he has worked in Taylor's life. Then he turned around and led us in singing the Spanish versions of several praise songs. Andrew summed up our worship experience well when he said he just felt the Lord's presence there.
During the middle of the week, we had a day off from ministry in order to attend a Spearhead meeting in the city. Towards the end of the week, all the COMPASS teams reunited on Saturday to enjoy an outing to Xochimilco. We all boarded three 'lanchas' - long boats with roofs that seated about 20 at a long table right down the middle. As we floated along on some canals, smaller boats with mariachi bands and vendors selling food and crafts would come up and 'attach' to our lancha for a few minutes, then continue on. That night, we got to share in the celebration of Spearhead's 40th anniversary. Our own COMPASS team shared in the programmed festivities by performing the "Lifehouse Skit" on stage. Later on, we joined in with other Spearhead missions teams to sing a Spanish praise song on stage.
Another powerful experience for our team were the goodbyes that happened at the end of our stay, which were hard and long. Our Casa Hogar friends each kissed and hugged us, and wished God's blessings upon us. We shared small gifts with the directors of the orphanage, and each of the children. Email addresses and Facebook sites were traded. Then more hugs and kisses. Our ICVM friends first prayed over us during their Sunday service. Then we got to linger over lunch together. Then many more hugs and kisses, and repeated questions of when we might be coming back. It was truly a humbling experience to be embraced by the brothers and sisters of the church and have them pray earnestly for God's protection and blessing upon us in all that we do, wherever God brings us next. We will miss our Mexican brothers and sisters very much and we are grateful for the glimpse that our time in Mexico offered us as to how the gospel is literally continuing to spread to every corner of the world, to every tribe, and tongue, and nation.
Please pray for us as we enter into the last few days of RMI. Each TBC member has a lot to process, and it will be hard to leave the presence of so many new, yet close friends here. Pray that they will continue in a lifestyle where every part of their day is worship of the God that created us. Pray that they will worship the God who made himself nothing, out of love for us; pray that they will follow his example and seek to humble themselves and work for the good of others first. Pray that they will continue to grow in their knowledge and experience of our God of love and grace.
Lane
Kaleo returns to the USA!
Hola from Gordon College this is Chris. It is 1:00 AM and we just arrived back to Gordon College. Technically it is Tuesday morning but it still feels like Monday because we have been have traveling all day. Our trip to Mexico City was amazing and God worked in some amazing ways. One of the best things about our trip has to be the relationships that we built with the people of the host church where we stayed. They were all so loving and caring and there were defintely many tears shed as we said our good-byes.
I am sure one of the things that everyone will tell you about our expereince was the food. They sure do know how to cook for a lot of people. Although we had a few upset stomaches we all were welcomed back to the States with a late night trip to McDonald's. You can't get any more American than that.
All in all I think this mission trip to Mexico City really opened a lot of our group's eyes to what God is doing internationally. It is always great to be able to worship with people from a different culture and a different language because I think it was a reminder to all of us that God is much bigger than America and the gospel is spreading throughout the nations.
It was so great to have Josh rejoin the Kaleo group on Wednesday since a sudden illness the night before we left for Mexico (Saturday night 7/12) prevented him from flying down the with us. He is such a trooper for traveling down there by himself and was greeted with huge hugs.
We also had some very powerful Table Talks while we were in Mexico City including a night where we spent meditating on Jesus' love for his disciples when he washed their feet. Our Table Talk for that night was titled "No Greater Love" and we ended up washing one another's feet. You could really feel the Spirit of God working in our group.
Pray for us that we will continue to seek after Jesus these last few days and take what we have learned this past month to reshape the rest of our lives. God is doing something amazing in everyone of our lives so expect them to be a little different when they get back. Many of them may even be a lot different. I hope you can echo my prayer for them: That they may drop their 'nets,' deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus!
- Chris Rappazini
I am sure one of the things that everyone will tell you about our expereince was the food. They sure do know how to cook for a lot of people. Although we had a few upset stomaches we all were welcomed back to the States with a late night trip to McDonald's. You can't get any more American than that.
All in all I think this mission trip to Mexico City really opened a lot of our group's eyes to what God is doing internationally. It is always great to be able to worship with people from a different culture and a different language because I think it was a reminder to all of us that God is much bigger than America and the gospel is spreading throughout the nations.
It was so great to have Josh rejoin the Kaleo group on Wednesday since a sudden illness the night before we left for Mexico (Saturday night 7/12) prevented him from flying down the with us. He is such a trooper for traveling down there by himself and was greeted with huge hugs.
We also had some very powerful Table Talks while we were in Mexico City including a night where we spent meditating on Jesus' love for his disciples when he washed their feet. Our Table Talk for that night was titled "No Greater Love" and we ended up washing one another's feet. You could really feel the Spirit of God working in our group.
Pray for us that we will continue to seek after Jesus these last few days and take what we have learned this past month to reshape the rest of our lives. God is doing something amazing in everyone of our lives so expect them to be a little different when they get back. Many of them may even be a lot different. I hope you can echo my prayer for them: That they may drop their 'nets,' deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Jesus!
- Chris Rappazini
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Casa Hogar Emmanuel
RMI Day 22
Thursday, July 15
Mexico City
I was with Lane's group (True Blue Crew) today in Chalco at the Casa Hogar Emmanuel orphanage. It didn't take long to realize that this is a special place. God placed this kind of ministry on the hearts of Leo and Angelica, the parents of the orphanage, decades ago, and they have been at Casa Hogar Emmanuel for 14 years. It is a well-kept facility, with a small, open courtyard, a small, clean dining hall and adjacent kitchen, and girls and boys bedrooms. It even has a room for a visiting physician to check out the kids regularly and a jam room with guitars, keyboards, amps and a drum set. The group has been eating well, and today was no exception: spaghetti with cheese and mole with chicken. It was 5-star-restaurant worthy.
The Compass group divided themselves into teams in charge of songs, games, and crafts respectively. On this day, Taylor led a time of singing in the open courtyard along with Alonzo, Moriah, Andrew, Rebekah and others. His "Mas rapido?" after once through a song would always be greeted by "Si!" A game of Pato, Pato, Gonso (Duck, Duck, Goose) followed. Lively conversation and activity filled the air always. Even the Compass students who don't know much Spanish were doing their best to communicate. The kids at the orphange were delighted. The Compass students were delighted. EVeryone is having a wonderful time.
The Compass students are staying at a church 5 minutes down the road. We said goodbyes and left the orphanage and headed to the church. We were greeted by a flurry of activity, as the church is getting ready for a huge women's conference this weekend (estimated 500 women). The Compass group jumped right in to preparations. It is a scene that is somewhat hard to describe. For starters, Chalco itself, being on the outskirts of Mexico City, is different and hard to describe in few words. The church is a fairly large building--if you can call it that. A concrete floor with pillars with rebar sticking into the sky--much of it is open air, about half is covered by a tent-like covering--cinder block walls. Richie, Taylor, Alonzo and others helped move stones and dirt on the sidewalk. Taylor, Sarah Maria, Ashley, Mark and others helped hang posters around the interior walls.
These are long days for True Blue Crew. Their LAM leader commented to me that she is impressed with them and commended them for their willingness to engage people at the orphanage and church and their positive attitudes.
A few quick words about the rest of the Compass group... Everyone was together yesterday for a whole group meeting along with LAM Spearhead participants... about 80 people in all, inlcuding the president of LAM and the founder of Spearhead. Representatives from the Compass group performed a skit for the entire group, and they did a masterful job.
There have been a few students who have gotten sick. Tom's group in particular had a tough night Tuesday night. By the end of the day Wednesday, most seemed to be feeling better. Josh has also rejoined the group, and this was cause for celebration at the whole group meeting.
I wish I had time to tell you all I see and hear, and I don't even see and hear half of it. The groups are doing wonderfully, overcoming the anxiety of being in another culture, the uncertainty of what they will be doing next and their own weaknesses and limitations. I trust they are learning much, and I hope they are enjoying it all in spite of the challenges.
James
Thursday, July 15
Mexico City
I was with Lane's group (True Blue Crew) today in Chalco at the Casa Hogar Emmanuel orphanage. It didn't take long to realize that this is a special place. God placed this kind of ministry on the hearts of Leo and Angelica, the parents of the orphanage, decades ago, and they have been at Casa Hogar Emmanuel for 14 years. It is a well-kept facility, with a small, open courtyard, a small, clean dining hall and adjacent kitchen, and girls and boys bedrooms. It even has a room for a visiting physician to check out the kids regularly and a jam room with guitars, keyboards, amps and a drum set. The group has been eating well, and today was no exception: spaghetti with cheese and mole with chicken. It was 5-star-restaurant worthy.
The Compass group divided themselves into teams in charge of songs, games, and crafts respectively. On this day, Taylor led a time of singing in the open courtyard along with Alonzo, Moriah, Andrew, Rebekah and others. His "Mas rapido?" after once through a song would always be greeted by "Si!" A game of Pato, Pato, Gonso (Duck, Duck, Goose) followed. Lively conversation and activity filled the air always. Even the Compass students who don't know much Spanish were doing their best to communicate. The kids at the orphange were delighted. The Compass students were delighted. EVeryone is having a wonderful time.
The Compass students are staying at a church 5 minutes down the road. We said goodbyes and left the orphanage and headed to the church. We were greeted by a flurry of activity, as the church is getting ready for a huge women's conference this weekend (estimated 500 women). The Compass group jumped right in to preparations. It is a scene that is somewhat hard to describe. For starters, Chalco itself, being on the outskirts of Mexico City, is different and hard to describe in few words. The church is a fairly large building--if you can call it that. A concrete floor with pillars with rebar sticking into the sky--much of it is open air, about half is covered by a tent-like covering--cinder block walls. Richie, Taylor, Alonzo and others helped move stones and dirt on the sidewalk. Taylor, Sarah Maria, Ashley, Mark and others helped hang posters around the interior walls.
These are long days for True Blue Crew. Their LAM leader commented to me that she is impressed with them and commended them for their willingness to engage people at the orphanage and church and their positive attitudes.
A few quick words about the rest of the Compass group... Everyone was together yesterday for a whole group meeting along with LAM Spearhead participants... about 80 people in all, inlcuding the president of LAM and the founder of Spearhead. Representatives from the Compass group performed a skit for the entire group, and they did a masterful job.
There have been a few students who have gotten sick. Tom's group in particular had a tough night Tuesday night. By the end of the day Wednesday, most seemed to be feeling better. Josh has also rejoined the group, and this was cause for celebration at the whole group meeting.
I wish I had time to tell you all I see and hear, and I don't even see and hear half of it. The groups are doing wonderfully, overcoming the anxiety of being in another culture, the uncertainty of what they will be doing next and their own weaknesses and limitations. I trust they are learning much, and I hope they are enjoying it all in spite of the challenges.
James
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
First Day at Sites
RMI Day 20
Monday, July 12
Mexico City
Something about flying 500 miles an hour at 35,000 feet into another culture makes that first night of sleep extra sweet. We all came down from our 4th and 6th floor rooms to this morning's 8:00 breakfast at least a little refreshed. Scrambled eggs--a little spicy--refried beans, bread and orange juice. The teams spent some more time getting oriented before heading out to the sites.
By early afternoon each team was at its site. Tom's group is at Iglesia Biblica Cristo Promesa Fiel, a new independent church plant that meets at a storefront children's party room in the north part of Mexico City near the Basilica of Guadalupe, one of the most famous sites in Mexico City. Today the group visited the basilica. Chris's team is at Iglesia Nacional Presiteriana Bethesda, an established Presbyterian church in the northeast side of Mexico City near the airport. Lane's team is at Casa Hogar Emmanuel, a Christan orphanage for boys and girls established 14 years ago on the southeastern outskirts of Mexico City in Chalco. Lane's group is partnering with and staying at a nearby church, Iglesia Valle de Chalco.
James
Monday, July 12
Mexico City
Something about flying 500 miles an hour at 35,000 feet into another culture makes that first night of sleep extra sweet. We all came down from our 4th and 6th floor rooms to this morning's 8:00 breakfast at least a little refreshed. Scrambled eggs--a little spicy--refried beans, bread and orange juice. The teams spent some more time getting oriented before heading out to the sites.
By early afternoon each team was at its site. Tom's group is at Iglesia Biblica Cristo Promesa Fiel, a new independent church plant that meets at a storefront children's party room in the north part of Mexico City near the Basilica of Guadalupe, one of the most famous sites in Mexico City. Today the group visited the basilica. Chris's team is at Iglesia Nacional Presiteriana Bethesda, an established Presbyterian church in the northeast side of Mexico City near the airport. Lane's team is at Casa Hogar Emmanuel, a Christan orphanage for boys and girls established 14 years ago on the southeastern outskirts of Mexico City in Chalco. Lane's group is partnering with and staying at a nearby church, Iglesia Valle de Chalco.
James
Sunday, July 11, 2010
We're Here
RMI Day 19
July 11, 2010
Mexico City
US Airways flight 829 touched down right on schedule, about 1:30p EDT, or 12:30p CDT, which is the time zone Mexico City is in. We passed through Migracion, retrieved our bags (thankfully all there!) and on through customs. In the arrivals receiving area we were greeted by Veronica, Lauren and Maki, our lead facilitators for our time here. They brought us to Hotel Stanza, our home base for the next 24 hours or so. There we had a fantastic lunch, a buffet of tasty Mexican fare. After an hour or two siesta, the group gathered in a room at the hotel for an orientation session led by Latin America Mission's Spearhead directors Paul Johnson and Wendy Der. The Compass teams then broke up into their Table Talk groups and headed off for a much needed night of sleep.
So the third and final leg of the RMI has begun. It is the culmination of much work as the teams have been preparing all week, and they are looking forward to going out to their sites tomorrow afternoon and beginning their time there. One important thing I should note is that Josh came down with the flu Saturday night and was not able to make the flight with us. He is deeply missed, and we are all looking forward to his rejoining the group once he is feeling better. We miss you Josh!
James
July 11, 2010
Mexico City
US Airways flight 829 touched down right on schedule, about 1:30p EDT, or 12:30p CDT, which is the time zone Mexico City is in. We passed through Migracion, retrieved our bags (thankfully all there!) and on through customs. In the arrivals receiving area we were greeted by Veronica, Lauren and Maki, our lead facilitators for our time here. They brought us to Hotel Stanza, our home base for the next 24 hours or so. There we had a fantastic lunch, a buffet of tasty Mexican fare. After an hour or two siesta, the group gathered in a room at the hotel for an orientation session led by Latin America Mission's Spearhead directors Paul Johnson and Wendy Der. The Compass teams then broke up into their Table Talk groups and headed off for a much needed night of sleep.
So the third and final leg of the RMI has begun. It is the culmination of much work as the teams have been preparing all week, and they are looking forward to going out to their sites tomorrow afternoon and beginning their time there. One important thing I should note is that Josh came down with the flu Saturday night and was not able to make the flight with us. He is deeply missed, and we are all looking forward to his rejoining the group once he is feeling better. We miss you Josh!
James
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