Hi everyone,
So I’ve been back in Colorado for about a week and a half now. I’m sorry it took me so long to blog about my last week in Piedras, I had a class that was all week long, and a lot of preparing to do for returning to Mexico. My last week in Piedras was a blast! Morningside, a church from New York came to put up a pool at House of Peace and to work on tiling some more rooms in Nava. It was such a blessing to get to spend time with those guys, I think we all laughed really hard and formed some great relationships. It was also cool to see them in action, I had so much fun singing songs and dancing at VBS and helping the kids with their crafts. The last day I was in Piedras we were working in Nava at La Escuela de Nogal, we had to pack up and leave, but first Pastor Mark asked if he could pray for the school. So we all got in a big circle, sang “How Great is our God” (man those New Yorkers can harmonize!) and then we prayed for the school, the kids, the funds for lunch and providing for the kids. It was such a blessing to be a part of, Thanks Morningside! One other highlight was the second to last day of VBS, one of our friends from VBS, Analexi, came up to me and told me that her mom had asked that we pray for her dad. He is out of work. It was such a blessing when the group from Morningside gathered together and prayed…and I got to translate! What a cool experience.
I hope I get to see Analexi again just to encourage her. Other than that the whole week was a lot of preparing for returning, I’m excited to head back the 20th of this month, and I’m still learning and preparing!

This week was another chill week because we didn’t have a team. Hallie went home for a few days (she lives in San Antonio) and Whitney went to Austin on Monday. So after we all just recuperated on Sunday it was just me, Tex, and Marissa. I spent the mornings on Monday and Tuesday at Aleluya, so I got to hang out with the families and kids who come for lunch every day. We raced around the church and played soccer, and then I helped clean when everyone left and got to talk to Mari the woman who lives at Aleluya, takes care of it with her husband, and has bible school and lunch for the kids everyday. The afternoons were time to relax. Wednesday I got to go with Marissa to House of Peace and we babysat the babies and a 13 year old boy named Jesus. We were sooooo tired afterwards but it was fun to hang out with Jesus and take care of little toddlers. Jesus and I got to talk and play a lot which I think was good. Thursday I went to Nava to work out teaching next fall and got to see some kids and just experience more of life there. Then Friday we made beds and prepared for the team that came yesterday. Today we went to church at Aleluya, and then went to lunch at Maruca’s- a woman who lives here and always cooks for us. Tonight we are going to try to go to Casa Bethesda, the special needs orphanage. I think that will be good too. Thanks again for your prayers!

This week was definitely a whirl wind, we had a group from Calvary baptist church come in on Saturday night and by Monday we were working hard. On Sunday we got to watch the world cup at Casa de Paz the orphanage, it was a bunch of fun just to hang out with all of the kids and go crazy about the craziest soccer game I have ever watched! Then we spent the wwek cleaning, tiling and painting in Nava. I think one of the funnest parts of working in Nava was being with the kids, it is fun to think that a pat on the back or an encouraging word can show those kids how valuable they are. So it was fun to participate in that all week.
In the evenings we went to Senor de Senores to hold VBS, it was hot and crazy but we all had a lot of fun, and as they say here vale la pena or It was worth it. I had fun getting to know the kids and on Thursday we painted all of the kids hands and put their hand prints on a sheet with their names so that people at Calvary baptist can lay hands on the children’s hands and pray for them by name. It was a great experience to be a part of, especially because I got to paint the kids hands and it really felt like I was serving them and connecting with them. Also a woman named Blanca asked me to take a picture with each one of her kids, I had been trying to connect with her oldest daughter all week, and it was a blessing to feel like God had used me. I got a picture with the whole family which was quite a blessing. I also met a young boy who was seven, but could recite all of Psalm 23, I got goosebumps on the part where he said that God “anoint my head with oil.” It was a cool reminder of how much God loves us:enough to anoint us with oil. Then on Saturday after Calvary left I got to go with Casa de Paz to the water park and swim with the kids. It was so much fun to hang out with the kids and an honor to be a part of such an awesome family. Even though technically I am supposed to be here to help those kids, I felt like they are provided for and loved enough that I was simply along as a friend. It is so cool to see how their house parents love them, support them, provide for them, and discipline them it is like they show them the true love of a parent. Those were the highlights of the week, it is fun to just be here and experience what I did. I’m just going to keep being and learning. The final cool thing is that I made a decision to teach at the Nava school next fall, something I was very unsure about, but now I feel like it has been confirmed that that is what I’m supposed to do. It is exciting and comforting to know how God shows us what he wants for us.

Despite not having any teams this week, it was absolutely wonderful! Our interna familia grew by three as we welcomed interns Alyssa, Angie, and Sean to our humble abode at Crossroads missions.  Each and every person on the Hands and Feet team is so wonderful, and this week I was given the opportunity to get to know their wonderful selves even more!  For the weekend, Whitney, Julio, Chris, the Roland family, and I were invited to Oklahoma City, OK by the ever so ah-mazing Edge church to talk to their congregation about making a second trip to Piedras at the end of the summer.  We departed on Friday, and after a day of intense roadtriping, we were welcomed by the Edge staff, their families, and some delicious burgers.  The weekend was absolutely incredible!  A HUGE thanks to all of the staff members and their families who allowed us to stay in their homes and kept us thoroughly entertained for the weekend! Every singe person we had the privilege of meeting simply radiated the love of God and I couldn’t be more excited to have them back in Mexico at the end of the summer!  Our Oklahoma trip was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the summer.  I hope there is another Edge trip in our near future! Next week we have a small (but mighty!) team coming in from Georgia and I am anxiously anticipating their arrival! Until then,

Love Wins!

Hallie

My first week in Mexico has come and gone quickly, but we’re getting geared up for next week so no need to worry…I know you were.  There were no teams this week, so it was a little bit more laid back then it will be this coming week. We did some planning for VBS, and getting ready for the team this week.  What I really enjoyed was getting to hang out with the kids at Templo Aleluya and Casa de Paz.  We helped with a sleep over on Sunday and got to visit throughout the week at Aleluya, and then I helped to make lunch for the orphans in Casa de Paz and got to just hang out and jump rope with the younger kids, and talk with the older girls.

I think what I am most excited about is just being in Mexico and experiencing the way of life here.  We haven’t don’t a whole lot of ministry so we have gotten to visit people and build relationships, and I feel like I have begun to get a taste of what it is like to live in Mexico. That has been awesome, so for now I’m just content to be here.

Mostly right now I have to work on just letting go of my expectations.  The culture here is more relaxed and we haven’t had a team for the last week, so it is easy for me to feel like I need to do more to make the most of this experience.  I have to let it go and trust God with my experience and remember that I don’t have to be going all the time.

Tomorrow we start working at Nava with our team from Calvary.  I’m excited for it, please keep praying for me. Love you Katt

This week was absolutely amazing! We hosted a rambunctious team from Sunnyside Baptist in Oklahoma, and loved every minute of it! The team split up and worked at two worksites, Aleluya School and church where they painted, and Casa de Paz orphanage where they helped construct two new rooms.  In the evenings, the team held a VBS at Rey de Reyes.  Just like every other week, I loved being able to get to know and grow with the team members.  I am so thankful that God has placed all of these new friends in my life!  The Lord is so great in that just when we need it most, He places wonderful people in your life that you can learn from and grow with.  I know that I have made friends this summer that will continue to help me in my spiritual walk and growth with the Lord, despite the miles that may separate us.  Our God is SO good!  Next week is a break week, and I can’t wait to get to spend some good quality time with my fellow interns, whom I love very very much.  Until then, vaya con Dios!

My apologies for this blog being extremely late, but it’s better late than never, right? My last two weeks were incredible, to say the least. The Lord blessed each of us on the team in a multitude of ways. The second to last week we didn’t have any teams, but it was a great week of working at Casa de Paz and just enjoying community within the body of Christ. We got to know each other a lot more and connected and formed our intern familia. I feel so blessed to have been able to bond with everyone in Mexico! What a great experience. The last week I continued to work at Casa de Paz with one other intern, Jon-Ford, while the rest of the team was at a separate worksite. It was a fun work week, and our night-time intern devotions were absolutely amazing! One night we just rested underneath the beautiful star-filled sky and admired the Lord’s beauty. It was incredible.

On the plane ride home from Mexico I was a whole bundle of emotions. Sad to be leaving, happy to see friends and family back home, and excited to see how the Lord was going to use me next. Of course, God’s a pretty awesome guy and He decided I was supposed to start sharing about my trip right then on the plane ride. I boarded the plane early and the two seats next to me were empty for a little while. I watched as people passed in the aisle and I was waiting to see who would be sitting next to me.  For some reason, a man caught my eye. He just seemed like a nice guy and I really hoped he was sitting in my row. He was of course, because that’s just how things work when God is letting his awesome plans roll out. So, he sits in my row, but another man sits in between us. I try to start up conversation with both, but soon they both pulled out their books… a major clue they didn’t really want to talk. But the man who I wanted to talk to was reading a book entitled the Necessity of Prayer. Of course, I wanted to talk to him even more after seeing that. I started to pray that somehow I would be able to talk to him, and after about twenty minutes of our plane being stuck on the runway, the man in the middle got up and moved to another seat in the back with one of his buddies. A chance to start up the conversation that I felt really strongly led to initiate! I start to ask the man about his book, and finally began to tell him about Hands and Feet. By the end of the conversation I found out that he is a radiologist that lives in San Antonio and is going to be working in Eagle Pass (the city bordering Piedras Negras) one week each month! We exchanged contact information, and I am hoping he will get involved with the ministry somehow. God is so great! Already, before even returning home I had a chance to share my amazing experience with someone and invite him to join in. So now, I invite each of you to get involved somehow. Give time, prayers, money, or however else you feel called to give.

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After having a little time to reflect on my entire trip, I have realized how much the Lord taught me while I was in Mexico. I have a new sense of peace about the unknown. I currently am a second-year college student who feels called to missions, but has no clue where the Lord is going to lead her. And that’s totally okay. It’s kind of exciting to know that the Lord could just whisper in my ear and tell me to pick up and go to India or Peru, or wherever. Wherever it is He calls me, I just have to have faith and follow Him every second of each day. So as I am watching the waves and writing this blog, if He calls me walk up to someone at Panama City Beach and share about His love, I need to be strong in my faith and have the courage to do it, because I am a missionary no matter what city I am in. And so are you! Just get to know the Lord’s heart and will. Let Him lead you every minute of each day. As Matthew tells us, don’t worry about tomorrow! Just keep in step with the Holy Spirit as Galatians says to do. Soak up the joy and peace of the Lord and enjoy every day He blesses you with!
Love you all,
Rachel

So this is my second week here this summer but last week we didn’t have a team.  Kennesaw was  a small group but they were  a lot of fun.  We did some tiling at Gloria a Dios church and a lot of painting!  The church is now bright yellow with black trim…the first day we let the kids do a lot of painting with us and that is always a cool experience to let the kids who go to the church be a part of working it and making it look better-and of course the kids loved helping and getting yellow paint all over themselves!  We did VBS at Cristo Rey and had a great turn out.  The kids there are so cute and it was so awesome watching them have fun learning about Old Testament characters and doing fun crafts.  The team members did a great job, especially with there only being four of them.  We had some really great intern devotions this week too-I really enjoyed just sitting out under the stars and talking with an awesome group of people about all that the Lord has taught us recently.  For me, I have really been able to kind of step back and look at how much the ministry has changed since I started coming here five years ago.  It was grown so much and is really able to reach out to so many more people within the community and beyond in a variety of different ways.  Speaking of which, I am now getting to experience one of Hands and Feets latest opportunites to reach out here in Mexico.  I am staying with the Roland’s in Nava, about 30 minutes away from Piedras where they live and work at  school here.  It has already been such an awesome experience just to witness the kind of faith and sacrifice that comes with being a missionary.  This will be my only post for the summer because I am going back to Georgia at the end of the week but I am excited about what all the Lord is doing here in Piedras Negras and Nava, Mexico!

Week Dos: Sunny Side
This week a group of us worked at Casa de Paz converting an old church stage into two new rooms. One for a nursery so the new baby girl that arrived this week will have a place to rest and grow, and a second giving room for the older students that go to school to have a place to do homework and not be around the younger ones. The construction of these rooms went amazingly quick even giving us time , in between waiting for more wood and supplies, to play with children and sort out and organize a storage room that was over run with collected broken toys and old ratty clothes. But by far the best part of this week at Casa de Paz was taking almost all day Thursday to play soccer with Jonathan, a ten year old that lives a the orphanage. It was so cool to see all the guys from Sunny Side drop their tools, not worrying about if the project was going to be finish by the time they left and step into the goal while Jonathan took shots on them. The smiles were huge on everyone’s face! Jonathan was having so much fun, I know that it made his day! This week was so great, I am loving being in Piedras with God and his family being hands and feet! Can’t wait to see what this next week has in store!

-Jon Ford Kelly

Yet again another great week! We worked mostly in two places, Aleluya and Casa de Paz. The ceilings and kitchen got a new coat of paint at Aleluya! Not only was there a new baby delivery at Casa de Paz, there was also a nursery and study room put into place. Daniel Miles and his family also tackled some of the upper part of Tex’s house and the roof in Maruca’s yard. There were many task and many things that I learned or was reminded of this week. The biggest thought that resonated with me was the idea of accepting things that God grants you. For me it’s a lot easier to accept struggles and bad things that happen, not as necessarily from God, but I work with God through them nonetheless. However, when something good happens or is put in front of me to run with whole-heartedly it hard for me to receive. It mostly is because a fear of it not being what I’m supposed to do or getting hurt through it. Though we go through struggles, good things happen too. Recognize those times and enjoy them!

Until next week,
Charlotte Houston