Mexico Musings

I was part of a mission team from our church that built homes for people in need. I am going to try to process some of what I experienced over the next few days. I thought I'd start with a general overview of the experience.


Our church in Minnesota sent a team of 70 people (almost a quarter of our congregation!) to Mexico to work with Amor Ministries and built 4 homes for families in need inTijuana. Our team was a combination of families, youth, and singles. The youngest participant was my son Alexey - age 7 - and the oldest participant was over 70. We had 21 Jr/Sr high youth from our youth group that partici

pated either with their family or as individuals.

Our itinerary:

Left Saturday afternoon and arrived in San Diego. Stayed at Point Loma Nazerene College.
Sunday - packed up and crossed the border into Mexico.
Monday - Hit the work site, met our family, poured the foundation for the home we will build.
Tuesday - Framing and put on the roof.
Wednesday - Tar/Shingle the roof. Wire, paper, chicken wire the walls, and first coat of stucco.
Thursday - Final coat of stucco and then do a blessing of the home/family as we present the house to them!
Friday - Return to San Diego, Point Loma College and hang out.
Saturday - Play day in San Diego and then head to the airport....arriving in Minneapolis at Midnight.
Arrive home........1 am.

The homes we built were approximately 11X22 ft. Two rooms, two windows, a door and a cement floor. Not as big as the garage on my home......

General observations - the trip defied expectations. The descriptions of the trip from people that had gone before were good - but didn't come close to what it is like to go in person. I have never worked harder and been challenged physically, emotionally, and spiritually this much in my life.

Over the next few days I hope to describe and share some of what I experienced.....and encourage you to explore serving in this way at some point in your future. It was amazing.