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Monday, March 22

Up at 4:30am, got ready, packed the 4-Runner, woke up my son Adam to drive the car back, and took off from Dixon to the Sacramento Airport. The sky was clear as we headed through Woodland on I-5 south to the airport. We got to the Southwest Terminal A right at 5:45am -- so far we were on schedule. What we didn’t expect was so many other people up at this time of day! The place was packed already!

Mr. Suderow and others were already waiting in line to check their luggage. We found out real quickly that the guys outside couldn’t just look up your name -- they had to have your confirmation number (something that only I had on the itinerary sheets). So, we steered everyone inside and had them just say to the ticket person, “Flight 111 to San Diego at 8:45am.” That worked for almost everyone.

Ashley was the first to have a problem and I almost had to get the confirmation code for her ticket, but the ticket lady just spelled her name wrong. Once corrected, all was okay, and she got her boarding pass. Another student going without his parents, Josh, was “not in the system” until I let the counter know that he was under a different confirmation code. The ticket lady searched and found Josh, and all was well once again.

Everyone else fairly sailed through without much problem, getting their boarding passes, carrying their luggage over to the xray guys, and then congregating near the news stand just past the ticket counters near the escalator heading up to the security checkpoint. We had 57 people all checked in by around 7:00 or so, pretty good timing so far. Two stragglers wandered in around that time (we won’t mention who that was Tom and Melissa) nor who’s fault it was (Tom), but by 7:30 or so, we had gone over all the travel instructions (like taking off belts and shoes for the security check, don’t mention the word “bomb” at any time, etc.), and were through security and heading to gate A-11. By 7:45am, right on time, we all spread out in the general vicinity of the gate and then made the necessary Cinnabon and latte pit stops. By the time the plane (a bit late) arrived, we were all fat and happy, excited to be flying to San Diego.

The nice folks at Southwest not only let us pre board (as long as we took up all the back seats on the plane), but they had a good bag ready for us (some Southwest souvenirs for all the students). I went down the jet way first so I could catch on video all the crazy missionaries running down the ramp to the plane. With every seat taken on the completely full 737, Neighborhood’s Outreach 2004 Missionary Team literally did take up about one half of the entire plane. My prayers were answered as we began descending into San Diego and the flight attendant noted over the speaker, “We want to thank the Neighborhood students for being so good on the flight, you guys were great!” as the rest of the passengers applauded her remarks. Great start students in representing Christ to the world! They really were very well behaved!
Gum was handed out to alleviate the pressure change in our ears while we descended, and 59 chewing team members exited the plane, hit a quick restroom break, and went directly to baggage to retrieve our luggage.

Half way to the baggage claim area I was met by the aunt and uncle of one of our students, exactly as planned for these relatives to play surrogate parent for one of our sixth graders. This gave us the planned total of 61 team members traveling in our group. After a bit of chit-chat, we all headed on to the baggage claim area.

Only one minor delay in getting one mom’s bag was great relief as the team exited the terminal to await the arrival of the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) vans. Everyone was accounted for and in one of the six vans, so I jumped in the last van and we began to travel to National City for an In-N-Out pit stop. Just as we got moving, I couldn’t help but think that I forgot something. Then I realized in my hurry and concern in getting everyone on board the vans, I forgot to pick up my own suitcase and put it on a van. “Oh Lord,” I prayed, “please just let my bag be in someone else’s van.” I couldn’t imagine heading back to the airport to see if it was still sitting out there in the middle of the cement area.

We arrived at In-N-Out, some 15 minutes down the freeway towards Mexico, and I quickly headed to Mr. Suderow’s van as his van was against the curb when we left the terminal. “Stan,” I asked with as much hope as I could muster, “did you by any chance load up a large black suitcase with the yellow tape on it.” “Sure!” Stan replied in his nonchalant manner. “We have yours in the back of our van.” “Praise the Lord!” was all I could think and say. So far we hadn’t lost anyone or any piece of luggage. The day had been great to this point!

Most of us had a very tasty and early lunch at In-N-Out (around 11:30 to 12:30 or so). Then we had a hiccup again, as one of the YWAM drivers made a “quick run” back to the National City YWAM office to get some paperwork or something, yet he never made it back. Too bad that he had a bunch of our luggage! Oh well, my van was here and my luggage was here, so let’s just go! Okay, well, it wasn’t that bad, but we really did decide to leave two groups behind while the rest of us went to the border to process the visas.

I prayed that the same older gentleman would still be working in the visa office so we could get our paperwork done quickly and easily. God has a sense of humor, however, as I walked into the office and saw a clean-cut, sharply dressed, uniformed soldier welcoming me in to process the visas. “Oh well,” I thought to myself, “ God can get us through this so let’s just put on the best game face I’ve got and go for it!” I walked into the office and greeted the gentleman and explained in Spanish that we had 61 in our group and it might be easier for him to give me 61 of the visa forms to complete. He was hesitant at first, but when I opened the binder with all the passports, he quickly agreed that assembly-line processing was the way to go. With the help of about a dozen of the adults, we completed and processed all 61 visas and thought we were home free when he asked to see every student. “Every student?” I asked. “Si!” - “Yes” he answered, that he needed to see every student before he could stamp their visas. Okay Lord, we’ll play along. So I called to Mrs. Trueblood to get all the students out of the vans and lined up.

I called the students forward as I found their names on the forms, and when he looked and saw the student, without checking their picture IDs or passports for verification, he stamped their visas and then all of the adult visas, and we were finally ready to leave the border. Why he did this we have no idea because we could have had ANY student stand in front of him as he looked at the name on the visa (he didn’t need picture ID verification!). We’re definitely going to check into processing these visas next year through the Mexican consulate in Sacramento or San Francisco plenty of time in advance so we can avoid this 30 minute or longer exercise in patience. The members of the team were real troopers as they waited in the vans without complaining. “Thank You Lord for getting us one step closer to the YWAM base!”

Driving through Tijuana and over the hills on the “cuota” or toll road toward Ensenada, I was finally able to relax a bit and realize that we made it through the air travel and through the border visas without any major hassles, with everyone and all baggage accounted for and safely traveling to Ensenada. It was an interesting, colorful, and scenic drive down the coastal highway through the many villages and small towns along the way. Our YWAM hosts and drivers paid the $24 Mexican Pesos, or $2.20 US at each of the five or six toll plazas along the way.

About half way down to the YWAM base, we pulled over to a rest area and parked adjacent to the beach. It was great to be able to stretch our legs after 45 minutes or so in the van (and much longer for those who had to stay in the vans during the wait at the border). There were about a dozen or so merchants there, selling everything from fresh “cocos” (coconuts) where they chopped open the coconut with a machete to high-flying Hulk parachute kites. The restrooms were free and had nice tile floors and a regular porcelain toilet, but no toilet paper and no running water -- not too fun.

There were horses to pet and with which to pose and take some keepsake photos, a wide white-sand fairly messy (lots of trash) beach to walk on, and two little girls ages 4 and 3 who entertained a number of us as the students practiced their Spanish and were even able to bless the girls with two of the Southwest Airline coloring book kits (a coloring book and multicolored pencil). We think the older girl’s name was Viviana, but she wanted to spell it with a B (I was thinking that she hadn’t been to school yet and that’s the way a V sounds in Spanish). No matter, because the students wrote her name in their Mexico Outreach Journals (mini books we made for everyone) and they can pray for her and her sister. God knows who they are!

We had stalled long enough at the beach (about 30 minutes or so). The staff at YWAM wanted us to arrive somewhere close to 4:00pm, so we wanted to take our time heading to the base. We loaded up the vans and I made a head-count check with each of the drivers. All accounted for and we were heading south again on the toll road.

Winding around the few final turns, we finally saw the tall cranes and many boats of Ensenada Harbor come into view. As we drove into the city proper, we were enticed by the smells, sights, and sounds of the many restaurants, stores, open markets, souvenirs hawkers, the fish market, even the circus, and then our eyes were amazed to see the giant Mexican flag flowing in the gentle breeze in the center of the harbor area. I have been told that the flag is 150 feet wide by 50 feet tall (it’s close to that if those aren’t the correct measurements). It’s HUGE! And the flag pole is an incredible telescoping skyscraper. It is truly an awesome sight.

We continued hugging the harbor on the coastal road, made the 90 degree left turn by the concrete plant, then the 90 degree right turn across the creek and looked to our final half mile to the base. Heading past the ever fragrant fish factory and then spying the “Six Tecate” sign, we turned right onto the dirt road with a great view of the ocean. Bouncing our way down the dirt road we turned left in front of the base and could see the sign on the building, “Juventud Con Un Mision” (Youth With A Mission). We made it!!!

Pulling into the amazingly crowded parking area just inside the wall of the base, our YWAM drivers expertly navigated the narrow passage and pulled alongside the other dozen or so vans and we were here. We piled out, grabbed our luggage, and got in line for registration to get our official YWAM badges. Rooms were assigned, everyone picked their bunks, and we headed to the beach for about 90 minutes of finding shells and playing frisbee.

On the beach, we found dozens of sand dollars and even a few still alive, where we could see the little appendages moving! We also found mussels and other type of shells with live animals still inside. It was neat to see them burrowing under the sand.

Dinner at 6:00pm was fantastic as Kody hired the cooks from his favorite local eatery (taco place) and they prepared “carne asada” - barbecued steak tacos -- and the “mild” sauce made most of us sweat for quite a while! The beans, salad, rice, fresh made corn and flour tortillas, and punch and rice water to drink made a terrific meal.

We had an orientation time/worship time around 7:30pm, with a great video made by the YWAM staff to show us the rules of the base. A troupe from New Zealand is also with us this trip and they blessed us with a skit to describe the “Worship” bag, t-shirt, sticker, and devotion magazine to help us learn this week’s theme of: “Worship: Every Knee, Every Nation.” God wants us to worship Him with all of our lives, not just during “worship time” at church. We pray that each one of us learn that this week!

Our team meeting followed the general meeting, and we went over our schedule for the week and then were blessed to watch the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders perform their dramas. It was great to see them worshiping the Lord through this drama, and it was good to get another practice under our belts before visiting the villages tomorrow.

We ended the day with about 30 minutes of play time, in our rooms at 10:00, with lights out at 10:30pm. Much snoring, tossing, and turning greeted everyone as we tried to sleep in a strange place with strange people ... and yes, we are all pretty strange! It was a good end to a long and glorious day for the Lord. I thank You Lord, for getting all of us here safely and for watching over every aspect of this outreach. We’ve had a fantastic start to our Mexico Outreach 2004

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