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Go to our Y.A.H.O.O. Mission Album to see pictures from the trip
Thursday, March 18th Pre Departure
All the bags are packed the buses and trucks are loaded and we are ready to head south for the border. Vaya Con Dios!!
Friday, March 19th
With an ontime departure we started the 1,500 mile journey to head south of the border. Once in California it was sunny and beautiful and WARM!!! We are playing a game called "Entering the Kingdom of Heaven" and there are still some participants active in the game. New friendships are being made. Did you know that Jesse Gragg plays the bagpipes? Old friendships are being strained.... I mean renewed. Energy is high and we are all excited. Brian Bixler spoke at the evening devotions about enthusiam. And we sang our rap as we continue to Rock it Jesus Style!
Saturday, March 20th
Day two begins with a very, very, very long journey on I-5. The youth are looking forward to In-Out burgers at Kettlemen.
Sunday, March 21st
Another very long day on the road. We played many games of catch phrase there was also a good game of "would you rather". Of course there have been many friendships bracelets exchanged. Logan and Ben Johnson sang Christmas carols and Brian tried to bribe them with food to be quiet. We are enjoying the warm weather. Everyone is very excited to be in Mexico tomorrow.
Monday, March 22nd...8:07 am
It was an incredible day on Sunday! We stayed at Clairmont Covenant church. We stayed for there 9:00 worship. The Pastor gave a message on being extraordinary and waliking on beautiful feet. Then he called the whole yahoo team up along with there youth group that is also going to Mexico and the congreation prayed for us. It was awesome having 80 people on the stage walking on beautiful feet to go do extraordinary things. We then got lunch. Got 200 gallons drinking water. And then we crossed the border. God was with us because noone was stopped or questioned and we got through in two minutes. Then onto to setup camp. The team did great. The weather was perfect sunny, light breeze, probably low 70s. The cook team served a wonderful spaghetti dinner. Then devotions where the Cool Runnings and Amped Up On Jesus families performed hilarous skits about avoiding bad temptations and building a house on a rock. Everyone sends love to the folks back home.
It is now Monday morning and we are driving to the sites to start doing concrete.
As always we are Rocking It Jesus Style
Monday continued...6:35 pm
It was a very long day on the jobsites. All three were in good condition when we arrived and fairly flat. The whole team, both youth and adults, were amazing. So with a lot of teamwork we got all the jobsites' concrete poured. It started out sunny, but after lunch a cloud cover came in and helped keep us cool. Everyone is exhausted and as we drive the 50 minutes back to camp we are looking forward to a fijiatas and a good night sleep.
Tuesday, March 23...6:34 pm
The day started with learning that Jack Anderson is almost 15 and just got better. It was warm and sunny all day as we framed the houses. Everyone worked hard at sawing and hammering and I imagine there will be many sore arms. The three sites are coming along well. Everyone is staying hydrated and applying sunscreen libererally. We are driving home and looking forward to sloppy joes and some cold showers (I know...crazy). Other highlights today include sightings of Blurple and Nurple and even a decomposing dog. We are all doing well and thank you for your prayers and good thoughts. As we say good bye, we are all rocking it Jesus style.
Wednesday, March 24th
It was Wednesday and Georgine celebrated her birthday with the Yahoo team. We got to the jobsites and started working hard. The houses really started taking shape as we wrapped it in smooth wire then tar paper and finally chicken wire. The roofs were raised and stucco was started on two sites. It was another hot sunny day and the wind got a little strong. Some of us suffered from allergies due to the dust and smog. I am still amazed that there are no sunburns. When we got back to camp we enjoyed hambergers. The devotions were great. Corina spoke on patience. The skits were interessting to say the least. We had Logan, Christian, Johan, and Georgine who are all celebrating birthdays come up as the team sang and then everyone got donuts. Yummy! All in all, a good day rocking it Jesus style.
Thursday, March 25th...11:31 pm
It was a day of patience and many blessings. We spent the morning at the jobsites applying stucco to the walls. After cleaning all the tools and making the finishing touches on the homes we had an incredible lunch made by the families we built homes for. They made us fish tacos, beans and tortillas. We then did a prayer of blessing at each home. We presented the keys and quilts made by our church members. It is always a very emotional time. Through many tears the families express their gratitude. Then we rush back to camp to load everything in the trucks and head to the border. It took an hour and a half and a lot of PATIENCE. We quckly drove to a car wash and a quick bite to eat. And then the blessed time at the YMCA to get a hot shower...or luke warm. A shower none the less. We are now at the Clairemont Covenant Church in San Diego and most are exhausted and sleeping. Two more days of rocking it Jesus style back home to our loved ones!
Saturday, March 27...2:00 AM
It is 2 AM and 25 of the youth and Georgine are still awake. Why? you may ask ... Because it is our last night and we don't want it to end. That is why. It seemed like an endless day on the road as we traveled from San Diego to Redding. Everyone seemed to be getting punchy. On the bus today we saw with Jeff's fancy camera the inards of Christian's nostril. Eric Nygren had a dart gun with gummy bears attached and when you got hit with it you had a bear in your hair. Don Baird put on a Nacho Libre mask and was wrapped in toiletpaper as he walked down the aisle and said "I am the viper."
We finally did arrive in Redding. We had our devotions/worship. Kirsten and Kyle spoke tonight on family and Kyle sung "don't be shy" by Cat Stevens. It was amazing and we gave him a standing ovation. We took communion and closed in song. People shared what this trip meant to them and there were tears and hugs. So now the adults are asleep and the kids are playing air hockey. Kyle is jamming on the guitar. Tyler and Katelyn are going through the 3,200 photos downloaded on Georgines computer. So we will be home in 13.5 hours. The bus will be rocking it Jesus
style as we roll into town at 4:30 to return to our families and friends back home.
MEXICO TRAVEL WARNINGS
I have had a few phone calls and emails from concerned parents and church members about our trip to Mexico due to the travel warning that have been given over the news. You can click the link below to read the response from AMOR Ministries the organiaztion we work with that coordinates our stay while in Mexico. I understand that it can cause you to be anxsious watching the news. The Y.A.H.O.O. team has been working with AMOR for 25 years and AMOR has been doing their ministry for 30 years. I am confident that AMOR always put our safety as its first priority. While no one can 100% guarantee our safety, I do have faith in God and know that we are helping do God's work. If you still have concerns or would like to talk, please don't hesitate to call me Georgine Benner, 971-241-0083.
http://www.amor.org/Document.Doc?id=87
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