Tues Build Day

Pepto-Bismol pink isn’t not what you would think of a typical house color, but it’s pretty common in Mexico. This is my first time coming on this trip and it’s so amazing to me how much of a difference we can make in someone’s life just by sacrificing five or six hours to build them a house and spend time with them. Today we worked at a site by the bottom of a mountain, building a house for a woman named Kenya and her family. There was an adorable little boy there whose name was Nathaniel. I loved seeing how much joy we brought him just by talking to him and giving him attention. Not only has the building been rewarding for the families, but it really brings us together as a group. I have made so many new friends and I’ve had so much fun. I am so excited to see what God is going to do during the rest of the trip and when we go back home.
- Angela Krause

Climbing Cerro

Every year it is one of my favorite parts of the trip is to climb up Cerro. ( a hill or mountain, depending on where you come from) We got up at 5:15am and left the dorms by 5:30. 28 of us started up the hill, immediately several paces were established as we start the arduous task of walking up Cerro. The incline would very but at its steepest point would be around a 50 degree incline. The best part was that it did not matter whether you were a turtle or a hare all 28 crested the top. Around 6:30 we were greeted by the sunrise and then the wind picked up. This wind always seems to cut our time shorter but we were able to get a great view of TJ. For many this is there first expansive view of the the city.

As we neared the bottom on our way down we came across a man by the name of Saul. Saul is a Mexican guy who was born in TJ and then moved to LA, CA. Two years ago he was deported back and because of drug and alcohol addictions he was put in to a rehab center, Oh and we know this because he spoke english fluently. Saul had been waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain ever since he saw our group going up. He started talking to us and asking us what we were doing down here in TJ. After sharing with him about the house building at Caravan he asked us if we would like to come to his church. He told us we could rest our feet as we could sit on their benches and then he asked if we would come to pray with him. His church was called "living water". On down Cerro we continued until we arrived at their church. There we found a one room church we were able to go in and pray with Saul for ten min. It was so neat to be able to hear Saul pray for his church and how thankful he was for God's faithfulness in his life, and how excited and encouraged he was by our willingness to pray with him.
We then headed back to the dorms and were greeted by a wonderful breakfast that Cliff and Ruth and prepared. A breakfast of burritos with potatoes eggs cheese and chorizo is a hearty breakfast for some hungry climbers.
A new word was invented today was several asked what our plan for the day was. Culturing - this is the process of experiencing and learning of another culture.
-Erik Hultquist

Travel Day and First Day in Mexico

11.22.09
Hola from Tijuana, Mexico! It’s great to be back down here and we had a great time getting here. Not only did we get to sleep in the night before our flight (5:00 am!), but we got to share multiple times with people we met on our way down why we were traveling to Mexico. The main reason we were able to do that was because we were all wearing our bright green shirts, with the word “worship” written in Hebrew on them. I met some people from Holland (the country, not Michigan) and found out they had a daughter who used to live in Mexico, and now is a Spanish/English translator in the USA, and a son who graduated from a seminary in Grand Rapids. We also were greeted with “Shalom” a couple of times because we had some people think that we were Jewish. It’s cool how people feel more comfortable talking to you knowing you are with a large group.
After we had spent some time at the ocean in San Diego on Saturday, we left for Tijuana. It is surprising to me the stark contrast between the U.S. and Mexico when you cross the border. The land is different, the houses are different, and the culture is very different. Last year at this time I didn’t know what to think of the Mexican culture, but coming from the perspective of having been here before, I know that God doesn’t see a different culture. He sees eternal souls with eternal destinations, and he wants us to know him. I guess for me it sometimes takes getting out of my comfort zone to fully remember this.
I’m glad that you are thinking of us and praying for us. I would also ask that you pray for God to work in our lives and change us from the inside out. Also pray that I can avoid the really large potholes while driving (they’re everywhere!). We’ll see you all soon, and thanks again for your prayers.
Also to my wife Kristin; I love you sweetie!
- Jeremy Foco


11.22.09
So I’m kind of a pro at this trip now….. haha. This is my fourth year, but the amazing thing is how much it changes each year. I always think that I’m going to know exactly what to expect and any curveballs the trip might throw at me, but God always has other plans. This trip is just starting but, I can tell that God has something special planned for me and everyone on this trip. New relationships are beginning already and I am excited to see how God is going to unify this group. It is definitely cool to be able to keep everyone back home involved like this. We appreciate your prayers and we miss you! I will probably have something more interesting to say after we do some building, but until then take care everyone!

Jordan Mears

South Church 2009 Mexico Trip

We are 35 hours away from a prayer meeting which will officially start this years Mexico Trip.
South Church has had church members going to Mexico since 2000. It was in 2003 that I first want to Tijuana to build houses. Jim and Martha Bowden were at the time leading the teams that would go down. Jim helped to mentor me in the trip and allowed me to co lead with him in 2005. It was in 2006 that I took over the trips. Knowing the incredible impact that these trips had on my life I have longed to pass that same experience on to as many people as I can. When we go to Mexico we partner with a ministry that operates in TJ ( Tijuana, Mexico) called Mexico Caravan Ministries ( aka MCM). They have a great balance of physically helping the Mexican people with houses, but primarily their focus is to teach and mobilize people with regards to missions.

We traditionally go over the week of Thanksgiving. During that time we will be building houses, working with an orphanage, and working with a portable bath house ministry ( spectrum ministries) .

This will be my eight team to be involved with going to TJ. South Church has seen over 150 people go to Mexico over the years. I know that there are many lives that have been touch and changed forever because of the trip and specifically how God was at work in their life. There are always more stories than can ever be told and you can never really understand what it is like with out going, but I do hope this year through sharing on this blog we might better communicate some of the thoughts and reflections of the team.

Be praying for the team as we go November 20th - 28th.

South's 2009 Mexico Team

Beckett, Chad

Beckett, Clifford

Cruz, Priscilla

Denyes, Kendra Deshaw, Taylor

Durow, Diane

Durow, Jeffrey

Everett, Jamie

Foco, Jeremy

Feuss, Daniel

Hansen, Alyson

Hultquist, Bethany

Hultquist, Erik

Hultquist, Ruth

Krause, Angela

Lauterbach, Luke

Mears, Jordan

Mears, Katie

Mears, Kelly

Mills, Calvin

Mills, Emily

Myers, Paul

Myers, Courtney

Neuenschwander, Joshua

Peterson, Curtis

Risch, Callie

Scarantino, Nicholas

Shaw, Aubrey

Shaw, Shawna

Wieland, Autumn

What is the Bible???

How do you answer that?
Is it God's Word?
Does it have authority?
Is it sufficient for all of life?

" Everything that God wants to tell all his people for all time about that kind of issue or situation will be found on the pages of the Bible."

" Just as our physical lives are maintained by daily nourishment with physical food, so our spiritual lives are maintained by daily nourishment with the Word of God. To neglect regular reading of the Bible is detrimental to the health or our souls."

-Christian Beliefs - Grudem ( quotes from ch.1)

Moody visit

Today I visited Moody for the first time. I drove down to Chicago, leaving my house at 5 am. I had to leave that early because I had to make an appointment at 8:45. So I met with the admissions department and received a tour of the campus.I am really excited to be moving on to this next phase of life. It certainly will be different though, living in a dorm, being a fulltime student. living in Chicago... you get the point.
I am really excited to be getting into a dorm life, however this may also be one of the most difficult parts of transition. I saw the dorm size and not that I need much but having been to Michigan State University many times and been in the dorms these dorms for two are about half the size. So we will see, it will be interesting to see who my roommate will be and how we get along. You may be wondering then what part of dorm life are you excited about. Well it is the opportunity that I have to grow in community and the opportunity that I have to build into the younger guys on my floor. There are two different guys dorms... one is a three floor building that is farther removed from campus and these are triple occupancy rooms. Then there is a building which is centrally locateed. This dorm is 16 or so floors high and is only a double occupancy. I will be trying to request to live in the the highrise and be in the highest floor possible and this will give me only one roomate.
As for the rest of campus it was lovely. I was able to see the swimming pool which is another thing that I am really excited about being able to get back into swimming. When I was in Japan I was able to swim for about a month and a half last year and I loved it.
So my prayer is that I would be prepared and grow in the necessary grace to live at Moody.
Also that God would provide a great match in a roommate.

Missions the need is great

my friend sent this to me its a blog entry from her friend who is a missionary in zambia,

September 12th, 2009
In the last 48 hrs, our newest visitor to Zambia is our intern Abbie’s fiancé, Paul. In this short amount of time he has fixed our water pump, installed an antenna and ran a line for our Zamtel modem and phone (while the Zamtel workers watched in awe), worked on our Land Cruiser, fixed some misc. computer issues, dug up and fixed water connections to get water to all the places in the house we need it and various other things. I am writing this to let you know the value of problem solving Mac Geiver types here on the mission field. Too many times I have heard people down play the gifts that the good Lord has given them. I know of some pretty amazing people who don’t see how amazing the gifts of fixing and building can be to those of us who live in places like Zambia, Africa. We have already been blessed by a good friend, Brian, who built us a kitchen from scratch as well as other things. His biggest impact was when he gave his Bible to a guy named Azzie (Ozzy) who carries it everywhere.
Being a “missionary” or “humanitarian worker” is not dependant on your ability to be a doctor or a preacher or even a good speaker. The people we need most here in Zambia are guys like Paul. I can’t tell you how many missionaries and aid workers here would be so blessed to have someone come and just fix things and build things. Having Paul here is like having a breath of fresh air as you see these things get fixed that you have been needing done and having someone say, “I can do that,” when you mention you have a need. I am so thankful for a guy that is willing to help and has the experience and knowledge to do it right!
Are you a mechanic and all around fix it person? Your gifting is gold to us here on the mission field, why don’t you look at seeing what God can do with it to change lives. It may be time for you to become “A Paul ing!”