Mexico Mission Trip - Day 5

Tuesday was an awesome and jam packed day of doing stuff for God.  We kicked off the morning with an incredible time of group devotions in which every student felt God challenging them to make the most of the remaining trip.  The exciting part is that they seized the moment and put the discussion into action in a short period of time.

Before and after lunch our team split up and worked on two projects around the gated community, Rancho Santini.  One half of the group worked on creating a concrete foundation near the church that would eventually be built into a storage shed for food and clothing.  Hope Chapel Rosarito will use the shed to store such materials for those in need in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

Part of our team receiving instruction for the concrete foundation project

While part of the team was moving dirt and laying a solid concrete foundation, the other part of our team was out on the beach picking up trash.  Directly alongside the community of houses that we're staying in there is a beach that was covered in trash.  Everything from automotive parts, glass bottles, used tires and other miscellaneous garbage.  We ended up picking up two full truck loads of garbage that left the local dumpster overflowing with bags.  The difference was so dramatic and noticeable that local residents have been thanking our team for their hard efforts.

Part of our team celebrating their hard work picking up a ton of garbage off the beach

Once we were done with the day's projects we got cleaned up and headed out for street tacos.  Again they were the best tacos ever.  So tasty.  After dinner we drove to a local Spanish speaking church that we were given an opportunity to serve at.  

Our team in front of the local Spanish-speaking church that we served at on Tuesday night

During the service we had our team perform the pantomime, the puppet show and the interactive story about Moses.  What was really exciting was that all three elements came together to form a cohesive message that Sean was able to preach about.  He delivered a message about the greatest commandments, which are to love God and to love people.  Even from the beginning of the service during worship the students could sense the power of God and that we were a part of something special.  As the evening continued Alex, McKenna, Carrick and Emily were able to share their testimonies of God's power and love in their lives.  Then the night concluded with a powerful response.  Two young ladies made a decision to follow God and accept Jesus into their hearts, and almost the entire room responded for prayer and support in being able to actively show God's love to people.  Our students did such an amazing job ministering to the people of this church, and despite the language barrier you saw that the power of God was at work in the lives of people.  As the night finished the senior pastor had us pray for their youth group because they had recently gone through some tough divisive events. The told us that our team was such an awesome encouragement and sign of hope.  

Our students ministering to the locals during the Tuesday night service

Duane and Sarah Cawthon praying for a local man during our service's ministry time

Our leadership team was tremendously proud of our students for getting out of their comfort zone and being willing to serve the Lord in any way necessary.  They came home Tuesday night totally excited and charged up to serve God in any capacity.  This was super encouraging to see that our students were no longer just spectators, but because of the events this week many of them are now experiencing what its like to be used by God in real practical ways.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and we are so grateful for your support.