† Saturday †
Well Saturday we arrived in Mexico at about 11 or so. Soon after we landed we met David and Pam Wong, the missionaries we would be working with this week. Soon after meeting them, we packed up our luggage in the van and went back into the airport to have lunch at an Italian restaurant. There we met two other missionaries that have been there for a couple of years. We met and fellowshipped with everyone and kind of got to know one another. Well when we finished lunch, we said our goodbyes to the other missionaries we had met and were on our way to the hotel so we could drop off our things. After we dropped off everything, we left to go to the Wong’s home. It took about 30 minutes or so to get there. They actually live on the side of a mountain, and I know this to be true because on our way there, my ears were popping! Well when we got there we noticed that their yard was unlike any other yard we have seen there. They actually hard a yard! Not just a patch of grass, but a good size yard.
We walked inside and wow; their home was so nice. It didn’t look like their home belonged in Mexico, but rather in the US. Anyways, Pam had made us hot tea, apple cider, and served us some cake she had made, which by the way was very good!
Soon after, David started going over the guidelines, schedule, goals, etc. for the week. He talked about the area in which we would be saturating, what the culture is like, and showed us the map for the parts we would be saturating. After that, we all just hung out, talked amongst everyone. Dallas and me hung out with his sons Andrew and Stephen. He also has a daughter named Elizabeth, and her birthday is next Tuesday! But we went outside and talked and played a little soccer. I got out of breathe after about 5 minutes because of the altitude.
After a while we left from the Wong’s home and returned to the hotel to finally get some rest, yay! Dallas and me are in a room together, Michelle and Nichole to a room, and Stephanie and Stacie to a room. The beds in the rooms are very stiff, so when you wake up, you’re a little sore/stiff. But anyways, that’s Saturday!
† Sunday †
Waking up Sunday was kind of hard because we were very tired from the day before. But thankfully God gave us strength to carry on. Well today was the day to get to go to the church and have service with the Mexicans. When we get to the church, we can’t believe how nice this church is. Usually the church’s there are on the small side, and are not usually this well kept and are not this furnished. This church had actual pews, a stage, and altar. This was the real deal! Anyways, when we got there, there were not a lot of people there. But as we waited, more and more people began to show up. And more and more we greeted people. So finally it was time to start worship. Now this is the cool part. Worship for them is not like we know it to be, where we sing according to a piece of paper that tells us how many songs we’re going to sing. Their worship went on for however long the Spirit led them. We were worshipping for over an hour, it was awesome! Most of the songs we couldn’t understand, but there were a couple we knew just from the music. So we sang along to those we knew! After worship, the pastor of that church preached for about 25 minutes and then handed over the mic to Pastor Fransisco, the pastor that David introduced us to earlier that day. Pastor Fransisco introduced everyone, especially us, because we came all the way from the US. And after him, another man came and spoke a little something. This service was awesome; God was in that place like nobody’s business!
Well soon after the service, they served lunch and the church. Oh boy, was I ready for lunch! Knowing from my last trip to Mexico how good the food was, I couldn’t wait to eat! And this time wasn’t any different, the food was awesome! After we ate, we all gathered and prayed. We were about to go on a prayer march, so we were praying for the Holy Spirit to be with us. We all thought that we would be helping in a prayer “walk,” but this was no walk. This was a march! We had to guitars going, two tambourines, and the rest of us singing while we were walking around the streets that we would be saturating over the next couple of days. This was an experience that I will never forget. It was amazing to see everyone singing and praising God as we were marching! After the march, we all gathered back at the church and prayed, and after we prayed we got in the van and left from the church. Soon after we arrived at Wal-Mart to get something’s for us to drink and snack on. After we left Wal-Mart, we went to the hospital to see Cheryl Collins who had been sent to the hospital due to back problems. Unfortunately, Cheryl had to be sent back to the US to be treated for her injuries. So after we left the hospital we went to the mall to get something to eat for dinner. We ate at a place called 60’s. It was like a hamburger joint, it was really good. After we ate at the mall, we went back to the hotel and then we went to Starbucks to see if they had Wi-Fi. Well no one has Wi-Fi that’s free. So I paid for Dallas and me to have unlimited Wi-Fi. It was only $9.95 per person. So now we have Wi-Fi, finally! And that’s all for Sunday!
† Monday †
Monday was the first day we had to actually saturate the streets with the Gospels. We met at Pastor Jose Villa’s church where we would get our teams together and find out what streets we would be saturating. I was on Pastor Fransisco’s team, along with two other women. So from there we went our to the streets and began to hand out the Gospels. We would saturate until one o’ clock and then we would return to the church to eat lunch. The lunch was awesome. The people of the church prepared food for everyone so we didn’t have to pay to eat lunch. After we ate lunch, we returned to the streets to continue to hand out Gospels. We would continue on the streets until six o’ clock. The time spent on the streets would go by so quick because we would be having such a great time witnessing to the lost people of Mexico City. Well after we would get done saturating we would go back to the hotel and clean up a little and get ready to go out to eat for dinner. Well tonight we ate a restaurant called Sanborns. This was a very nice, sit down type of restaurant. Although we were in Mexico, I ordered a cheeseburger haha! But that was it as far as Monday went. We went back to the hotel and went to bed, needing energy for the next day!
† Tuesday †
Well Tuesday was going to be a little different. Today we were not going to be saturating. Instead we were going to be helping at a homeless shelter in downtown Mexico City. This was good because some of us were very tired from the day before. Also today was the day we would get to go sight seeing down town. So we left and were on our way to go down town. On the way there we had to go through a very rough part of the area down town. David Wong explained to us how bad it was there and how bad the crime, drugs, and prostitution was there. It was very sad to have to see how these people had to live and the fact that each adult had one or more child, knowing that they would have to be raised there just broke my heart. Soon after driving a good ways, we stopped at a church that worshipped a death saint. Basically they worshipped the death angel that was in the Bible. David Wong explained to us that many people believe in this death saint. He also said that he had talked to a woman and said that there is actual power, but that it is a temporary power. It was very different, but at the same time very sad to think that that is all they believe in. Anyways, after that we went straight to the homeless shelter. When we got there, we walked in and there were already a lot of people there. There were Mexicans there that all looked different. No one looked the same, but they were all homeless. They soon started the service for the homeless. They played worship music first, and then soon after the pastor of that church began to bring the message. While all of that was going on, we were in the back preparing food and getting everything ready for their lunch. It was so great getting to help prepare everything for them. We helped fold up tortillas and get the drinks ready. As soon as the service was over, that’s when we had to begin to actually serve the food and drinks to the homeless. It was such a joy seeing smiles on their faces as we handed them their tray of food. Well after we served them and they ate, they began to leave and thank us for serving them. When they were all gone, we had to help clean up. We had to mop the entire floor. Now mopping in Mexico is very different than in the US. Mopping here consists of getting soapy water and pouring across the floor and then taking brooms and scrubbing the floor. And then someone would come behind you and squeegee the water to a specific location to be disposed of. It’s very different, but very quick and effective at the same time. Well when we were finished cleaning, we were on our way to go sight seeing down town. So we left there and went to go park somewhere. We got out of the van and began to walk to the down town area. It felt pretty good outside, especially with the breeze, it was very nice. Our first stop was at the Palace. My last time here we didn’t get to go to the Palace. Anyways, the Palace is like their version of a parliament. It what a very nice and beautiful place. When we walked in, there was a huge mural showing a historical timeline from when the Aztecs first arrived to the current time. All over the walls were murals painted, depicting the ancient times of the Aztecs and other tribe peoples. When we left the Palace, we went to the archeological sight where back in the 70’s or 80’s they had found this temple where they would sacrifice people. It was also a main source for water and was also a waterway where water traveled to other parts of the city a long time ago. So we walked through the site and then we went into the museum. They had the things they had found while they were digging up the location. It was cool to see what all they used to dig and the things they found. After we left the museum, we went to the Cathedral and looked around. This is the same Cathedral I had been to the last time I was here. It was still cool seeing it again and being able to say, “Hey, I’ve been here before!” But it was so much fun seeing it again. I forgot how huge it was and how big the organs were, they were massive! After we left there, we walked around and tried to find somewhere to eat. Finally we found a very nice restaurant that looked like the place from the movie The Godfather. I ate, again, a non-Mexican dish haha! I got a club sandwich, and mmm mmm mmm it was the best I have ever had! After we ate we went back to the van and left the down town area. We were dropped off at the hotel to get some rest for the next day of saturation!
† Wednesday †
Wednesday was the next day for saturation. It was nice having a break in between days to saturate but I was glad to be back at it, handing out the Gospels. So we got to the church and found that we would be in different teams. Somehow I was still with Pastor Fransisco, which was because he actually spoke a little English, which helped when I really didn’t know some Spanish words. But anyways, I was on his team this time too. And the awesome thing about today was that I actually ventured out on my own and kinda took it upon myself to go to each door and present the Gospel to the person that came to the door. It was such a joy to be able to present them with the Gospel, and to see their face light up when they same an American knocking on their door, it was an awesome thing! Later on in the afternoon, we went to a house church where they had prepared food for everyone to eat. It was so nice of them, everyday, fixing us lunch…these people had the love of Jesus running rampant through their body. After lunch we went back out on the streets. Except this time, I had the pleasure of working with Pam Wong and their 10 yr. old son Andrew Wong. Let me tell you, Andrew’s heart for spreading God’s word was so inspiring. To see at such a young age, someone that is so eager to share Christ with the lost, it was awesome! So anyways, Andrew and me kinda teamed up and passed out the Gospel to EVERYONE we saw! We made a great team! Unfortunately, they had to leave not long after we started, so Pastor Fransisco and me were teaming up again, passing out Gospels. Soon after that is when I began to venture out away from him and take it upon myself to go house to house by myself, handing out Gospels. We had finished a little earlier than the rest of the groups, so we went back to the church and waited for the rest of the groups to return. While we waited, I picked up my Bible and began to read. I read some chapters in Psalms and I also read the book of II Timothy. I love II Timothy because it is such a great book of encouragement and steadfastness in Christ. Paul is writing to Timothy, urging him to remember what Jesus promises and to keep the faith, regardless of persecution. After reading, I felt like Timothy, having been handed a great deal of encouragement and strength, for spreading those Gospels, and whatever else was put in front of me. So soon after, the rest of the groups returned to the church. After they returned to the church, we left and went back to the hotel for a minute, and then we were out the door again to go eat. Pam and David took us to this amazing taco place that they love going to. This place wasn’t that big, it was kinda like this little mom and pop’s place, which always means it’s going to be good…and it was! I ordered Gringas de bistec y pastor con queso. It’s basically a quesadilla sandwich with the beef and pork and cheese in the middle. Oh my-lanta! It was out of this world! And that’s not the best part yet! We ordered this cheese thing too. It was cheese spread out, melted and flattened, and then let to cook until it was ready. Then the guy kinda rolled it up like a tube and let it cool. It was soooooo good! When they brought it to us, you would just break pieces off, it had the consistency of like chips, it was thin and brittle, but oh so good! So we got that and then I noticed that Pam had got some kinda white drink to drink. So I asked her what it was and she said it was rice water. I was like rice water? That cant taste good! So she let me try it and…oh my!!! It was the best drink I had ever tasted! She said they extract the water from cooked rice and add sugar and cinnamon to it, and that my friends is the combination to what they call Horchata, rice water. So I told the waiter that I wanted some Horchata, and as soon as they brought it out to me I guzzled it down. I think it lasted about 2 minutes in front of me before it was all gone! Soon after we ate and talked, we left to go back to the hotel to get some much needed rest for the next day of saturation!
† Thursday †
Well upon waking up we thought we would be doing the same thing we did the day before, but we weren’t. David let us know that we would be helping other missionaries, close by, helping them in any way they needed. The missionary’s names were David and Anne Boyter. They were amazing people as well! We went to their home and talked about what we would be doing. To our surprise, we would be doing the same thing, saturating, except in a different location, a location where communism was still practiced. Anyways, we finished talking and began to get a game plan for the day ahead of us. My group consisted of Pam, David Wong’s wife and me. I love working with her, she is such a delight to be around, and she speak really good Spanish haha, so it was easy to have things translated! So we left the Boyter’s home and went to the streets again. Well we didn’t go straight to the streets. We met Antonio and Neri, a couple who are very close to the Won’gs and the Boyter’s. They had 3 children; Brenda, Onhel, and Mieda…my spelling is probably way off but you get the picture haha! They were such a joy to be around. They were so thankful for what they had. Their house was about as big as an office cubicle, probably smaller, and yet they were so grateful for that. When Antonio prayed, the main word that you would hear the most was “gracias.” He was thanking God for everything; food, shelter, wife, kids, everything! It really put things into perspective when you see what little they do have. So after we met them, we then went and passed out the Gospels. Soon after starting, we were faced with persecution. This one family had gotten mad that we were doing what we’re doing and went and told others and they began to gang up on us and told us that we can’t be doing this anymore. After hearing that, we went back to Antonio and Neri’s home and waited for further instruction. Antonio left to go talk to the main lady over this section of the neighborhood. She had already given us the right to do this but I guess Antonio went to tell her that these people were telling us we couldn’t, so she made it very clear that we could actually do this. As soon as he came back with that good news, we went back out and began to hand out more Gospels. We handed them out until there was nowhere else to hand them out at. Oh I forgot to mention that between the time we had saturated that area, we went back to the Boyter’s home and had lunch, that once again had been prepared by the church for us, so nice of them! But anyways, when we had finished saturating, we ate again haha! We ate rice and beans, and it was very very good! After we ate at their home, we said our goodbyes to them and we went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit and then we left to go eat again. Haha guess where we went to go eat again! That taco place! I got the same thing I had gotten the night before and made sure that this time I ordered Horchata to begin with. And also, as a to go order, I got one liter of Horchata to go! I was going to drink it on the way back but it was way to bumpy! So I drank it all before I went to bed. It was sooo good but I bet I got up five times to go use the bathroom. But anyways, that was Thursday!
† Friday †
Well waking up Friday was bittersweet because we all knew that this was the last full day we would get to spend in Mexico. So we woke up, and one of the main things Dallas and me kept saying was, “this sucks, I don’t want to leave today, I wish we could stay longer!” But no matter how many times we said it, we were leaving the next day. But today was going to be a great day, because today was the day that we got to clean the park up in Bario 18, which is another place near by where they were having a big concert. It was actually a music festival with drama, music, art, dancing, pretty much just a great time filled with a lot of great things having to do with church and Jesus! So anyways we got all of our things ready and we were out the door to go clean up the park! When we got there, it didn’t look that big, but upon cleaning it was a different story haha! At that point if got bigger! But that didn’t matter, we had a mission, and we were going to complete that mission! My job was cutting the grass, which was really like cutting patches of grass. For the most part, the grass was so close to the ground that the lawn mower wouldn’t even get it, so I really just went over the weeds in the park. There was also a lot of dirt, really dusty and dry dirt, so when I would go over it, it would just go everywhere! It looked like a sandstorm! Others swept up the sidewalks and picked up trash, and other piled up the leaves and stuff into piles and put them in garbage bags to be picked up later. As the day went on, we were making very good progress. This park was being transformed back into something a little more pleasing to the eye. Well eventually we finished and this park looked great, with the everyone’s help, including the pastors and their church members from the local churches. After we completed the park, we all went to a close by church where we eventually be saying our goodbyes to those who we worked with this past week. But before that, they served us lunch, once again. We had fresh fruit before the main course, and that fruit was sooo fresh, mmm it was great! They also made this drink from different fruits, it was like fruit water, and it was also great. They made us, I guess there version of fried chicken, maybe breaded chicken, but it was amazing. Every bit of food they had prepared for us this week was beyond good, it was great. It was so nice of them to keep making us lunch. As we ate, we fellowshipped with everyone one last time. After we ate, we all got up and stood before everyone there and Stephanie read some Bible verses to them, encouraging them in their goal to spread the Gospel. After that, we handed out our gifts to them, they were so thankful for the gifts we had for them. It was so nice and joyful to give them gifts, and to see them smile! After we gave them the gifts, it was time for us to go. It’s always hard saying goodbye to someone or some people you have really just started getting to know, and especially since we have been doing God’s work together. So we said our goodbyes and we were off. From there we left to go to the canals, where long ago the Aztecs used the same canals as means of transportation and trade. It took a long time to get there because of all the traffic, it was crazy. And don’t get me started on trying to find a parking space, woo! I thought it was bad in the States, this was horrible! Thankfully we found one, and we went into the canal area. Along the canal there were little shops that sold jewelry, shirts, and toys, basically tourist stuff! So we looked at that for a little bit and before we knew it, it was time to get into the boat for our canal ride, yay! So we got in and we were on our way! Oh my, you wouldn’t believe the number of boats in this canal! It was like Atlanta traffic, except everyone was in a boat, on top of each other basically! But I will admit, it was still peaceful and relaxing, I didn’t worry about the other boats, I was focused on taking in a great afternoon of relaxing! Along the way there were people that would try to sell you things like blankets, flowers, plants, and jewelry. Michelle bought a really nice blanket and got a great deal on it, thanks to her and Stacie talking the dude down from his original price, good job ladies! Ell before we knew it we were on our way back to the place where we started, and soon to be dropped off of our little boat ride. After we got off we shopped around some more. Dallas and me got ourselves a shirt and some bracelets. We then decided we had spent enough money, and waited for everyone else to finish. While Pam, Elizabeth, and Andrew went home, we had to wait for others to get done shopping, and then we left to go back to the hotel to get ready for our Missions Night at the Wong’s house. Tonight wasn’t just a missions night but we were just going to have a good time being in each others company before we left, and we were celebrating Elizabeth’s birthday with her, since we couldn’t be there Tuesday on her real birthday. So after we all got ready, David picked us up and we began our journey to their home. On the way though, David drove us further up the mountain to a spot where we could get out and see everything! And let me tell you, you could see as far as your eyes would let you, it was amazing! For as far as the eye could see, you could see Mexico City, and that wasn’t even all of Mexico City, that just goes to show you how big it really is. You could also see the mountains really well, and the two volcanoes. One of them was even smoking, and the other one, well…it was ginormous! The size of this volcano was, HUGE! So we all got our pictures/video of God’s amazing handiwork. How people can look at something like this and not believe there’s a God is beyond me, I mean really! Well anyways, we got in the van and left to go to their home. We got there and we ate some pizza and salad, mmm Costco makes some real good pizza! Soon after we ate, we sat down and began to go over what happened this week and we talked about what stuck out to us and what was one of the best things about this week. We all shared, and we could all see that God used each one of us in a unique way, regardless of the lack of Spanish we knew, He still used us. We also got a folder willed with some things about the Operation Go prayer requests, future mission opportunities, contact information, and so on. We watched some videos of some of the mission from past years and the video also encouraged us to begin to seek God in His calling for being a missionary. After we did all of that, we prayed and thanked God for this awesome past week, and we all hoped that we could come back really really soon! Well after we finished the Mission Night, we all gathered around the table and got ready to celebrate Elizabeth’s birthday. Pam put all of the candles in the cake and lit them, and we began to sing to her! Haha it was crazy, Elizabeth blew out all of the candles with one swift, and easy breath! We all laughed at that, I had never seen someone, in one breath, blow out all of the candles! The cake was a flan cake, and mmm it sure was good! Soon after we ate, we gave us a present and she loved it! It was perfume that came with lip-gloss, and well she is a girl, so of course she loved it! Right after that, we went to go get other presents, presents that the Wong family didn’t know we had gotten for all of them. We got Andrew a new yellow soccer ball. We got Pam a nice red cooking pan, which she said she need badly! We got Elizabeth a straightening iron with a brush for her hair, which according to Pam she had been wanting for a while. We got Stephen some cool guitar picks, he loves playing guitar. And finally, we got David a new polo shirt and a tie. I know it doesn’t go together, but we were going to get him an oxford shirt to go with the tie but we couldn’t figure out the sizes haha! He loved it anyways though! They loved their gifts! I love giving to others, it makes me feel so good to give. After we gave gifts, we kinda stood around and talked and then someone said something about going up top to get a glimpse of the city at night. So David went and got his ladders. We got to get on top of their roof. As I stood up, I was speechless, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was atop their roof, looking down on the city, filled with lights! And seeing the mountains surrounding them, it was breath taking! We stayed up there as long as we could before we had to go back down and help David unload the van, full of yard working equipment. Soon after that we said goodbye for the night, because we would be seeing them all in the morning before we left for good. On our way back, it didn’t seem right that we were leaving, it seemed like we had just gotten then, ugh I did not want to leave, not then, not for a while! Well we arrive at the hotel and then it hits home when we start packing…this is it! Packing was such a let down, because we knew this was it, this was our last night. So Dallas and me got packed and headed to bed, to wake up to a sad day, our departure.
† Saturday †
Well waking up today, we knew this was it. We got the rest of our stuff together and we headed downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group. One great thing though, we got wake up to seeing Elizabeth, Pam, and Andrew there at the hotel! Soon our frowns were turned upside down when we saw them there! Before we left we had to wait for a little bit, so we played with Andrew and his soccer ball. We kicked it around a little bit, we also talked with Elizabeth and Pam too. Well before we knew it, we were loading up in the van, to head to the airport. But before we left, we all got pictures with Pam because unfortunately she would not be going with us to the airport, she had other things to do. So we said goodbye to her and then we left the hotel, airport bound! I tell you, that was the longest, somewhat saddest drive I think I have ever had. I’m glad Andrew was there to liven everything up though, he is awesome! Well we got to the airport and got our luggage checked in, and then we went to the gate right before you have to walk through security. This is where we had to say goodbye to David, Elizabeth, and Andrew, because they couldn’t go past security without a boarding pass. We hugged and took picture like nobody’s business!!! Then our group made the lonely walk through the security maze and made it in. I turned around one last time too see them all still standing there, looking with smiles and waving goodbye. Andrew yelled out, “bye Kyle!” so I waved and said bye back to them, I didn’t want to turn back around and face the airport, but I had to continue. So we got through security and waited in our terminal until our flight was called and we soon boarded our flight to Charlotte. That was it, that was our trip to Mexico City, to be missionaries for a week! But this was not the last time we, or should I say I would be seeing the Wong’s. I plan to go back soon and continue working with them, whatever it may be, I am willing to be a part of. I thank God so much for allowing me the opportunity to be apart of this past week. It was a joy to work with the Mexicans and to see/feel God working through them as they reached the lost for Christ. It was also a joy and an unforgettable experience getting to know the Wong’s. The love God and love doing His work. I will never forget them, and hopefully in the VERY near future, we will meet again.
Terrace Crawford 12:57 am on April 26, 2009 Permalink |
if only… $.
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