When we met Briana and her parents to celebrate Sylvia’s birthday last Sunday, she gave us a thank-you letter.  It was a letter to those who had supported her recent mission trip to Mexico.  I asked and received her permission to share it with you.  She also sent along some photos for us to share.  Here is what she said:

Thank you so much for helping me make it down to Mexico this Winter to spread the word of God! I had a great time bonding with my team and making new friends as well as playing with the children and leading the women’s bible study group.

Our group of 52 teenagers, young adults, and adult leaders from Cornerstone Church flew to San Diego on December 28th, stayed in a hotel, and drove through the mountains into Mexicali the next day. We stayed at “The Institute” which consisted of a two-wing dormitory, a chapel, and a cafeteria which consisted of tables and folding chairs. 

The dormitory is a big open room with cement floors we slept on and bathrooms with community showers for each side, fortunately the college girls stayed in the “apartment” in the middle of the boy’s and girl’s wings which had a single bathroom with a real shower and tiled floors.

We ministered to the churches for four days. My college group went to Pastor Rafael’s church, where we went last year, while the high-schoolers went to a new place and tried to find people to come out to the church. We would show up to the church after breakfast, chapel, quiet time, and lunch at The Institute.  Until it was time to start the lessons for the day, we would play with the children–jump-roping, tag, piggy-back rides, soccer, volleyball, anything to entertain them.

All of the lessons (children’s, sport’s, and women’s) for the week were about Saul/Paul and how he changed from a persecutor of the Christian church into one of the greatest missionaries ever. The women of this church all have a solid faith so instead of trying to spread the gospel, our goal was to strengthen their knowledge of the Bible and try to challenge them with how to apply the lessons in their lives.

I lead this bible study with my friend Erin and our interpreter, who was in our college group. Each day we would give the lesson and then do a craft while we just relaxed and chatted. Once all the lessons were done, we would eat a picnic-style “dinner” and set up for the church service, during which the boys would give the sermon for the night while the children went outside for another lesson. Sometimes during worship, the band would play a song that I knew in English so we would sing the English words while everybody else sang them in Spanish. There were even a few Spanish songs we knew that we could sing along with them. After church, we would pack up and go back to The Institute for a snack and more singing and worship before bed.

Watch for part 2 tomorrow.