| DAILY LOGS
DAY 1 - Saturday,
March 17
|
Mexico Outreach 2007 Daily Logs
These daily logs are written by Chris Bushey, Outreach Coordinator.
With everything packed the night before, I woke up to the
“beep-beep-beep” of my Casio watch at 4:45am (new daylight savings time
only one week ago, so it still feels like 3:45am). Early this morning I
only had to pick up some spending money from the ATM and call my son at
5:15am to remind him to pick me up to drive to the airport. After I
loaded all my gear into my son’s SUV, we picked up Mr. Lanning at his
house at around 5:40am and headed to the Sacramento Airport.
Due to the change in time, it was still dark outside so I couldn’t take
my customary video shots of the sunrise on the way to the airport, but
no worries, God always has a new twist in every Mexico Outreach - and
as this is our 8th Annual Outreach, I really look forward to the new
adventures the Lord will provide us each year!!
Arriving at the Terminal A in front of the Southwest sign, we unloaded
our luggage and five boxes of outreach supplies, I gave my son a hug
and thanks goodbye, we made sure we had pink tape tied to our luggage,
and we checked in to get our boarding passes. I talked with the
Southwest ticket agent, told her that we have 59 total in our group
about to descend upon her and the other ticket agents, but she said to
just have everyone stand in line and do the standard routine.
6:25am Mr. Lanning and I staked out some territory at the beginning of
the line (where you’d enter to wind your way toward the ticket counter)
and waited for our early birds to arrive. With one roll of pink tape
for each of us, we were ready to give these to every missionary in our
group to tie to their luggage so that we could very easily identify our
luggage on the carousel when we arrive in San Diego (it’s a great way
to travel with a group or even for a family).
I took video while Mr. Lanning handed out the pink tape, and we were
rockin-n-rollin with our group beginning at about 6:30am. By 7:05am,
most everyone had arrived and I left Mr. Lanning to wait for the
stragglers while I went down near the escalators where our group was
waiting.
While Mr. Lanning and I were helping our team members check in, Mr.
Vidmar (such a trooper for helping out) and Mrs. Vidmar handed out the
goody bags (with student badges for students, and a Pocket Journal,
gum, clicky pencil, and a piece of candy for both students and adults),
the 10 throw-away-type cameras for some parents I previously selected
to be our camera crew, and walkie talkies for the first eight group
leaders so we could stay in communication during the outreach and to
act as surround-sound for me when I gave my Airport Briefing (to save
my wimpy voice from going completely out).
After my half hour briefing speech on everything from praying, to don’t
say “bomb” anywhere near the airport, to numbering our hands with our
group assignments (we had ten groups), to our schedule for the day, and
even photo taking tips, we headed up the escalators to the gigantic
line of passengers widing their way back and forth to get through
security. You’d think at 7:45am on a Saturday there’d hardly be anyone
at the airport, but the line reminded everyone of the 1.5 hour wait at
Disneyland for any ride. Fortunately I have traveled enough through
Sacramento airport to know that the line travels very smoothly, and
within another half our or so we were through security and to Gate 14.
Arriving at the gate around 8:25am or so, I went up to the counter and
asked the Southwest lady if she had received info from the marketing
office about our group. She had a paper in her hand
with the full
scoop, and a bag of Southwest goodies for our team! (I had called a few
days back and arranged for the marketing department in Sacramento to
get the goodies together for us. In addition, I asked if we could
preboard, and after a quick check with the head guy, she confirmed that
we’d be able to get on first and take up the back of the airplane with
our 59 missionaries!
I have Tom DiFrancesco some money and he went back to the Cinnabon
place, bought one of those longer type buns, and gave it to the
Southwest employee at the counter telling her it was from the “crazy
guy with the hat” --- oh, I had on my St. Patrick’s Day green hat
(thank you so much Mrs.Linebarger!!). I also had on my “lucky” green
St. Patrick’s Day socks (that was fun going through security and taking
off my shoes -- again, thanks Mrs. Linebarger). The Southwest lady was
very grateful for the tasty treat and told me so a few minutes later. I
thanked her and the rest of the crew at Southwest for the goody bag and
for the permission to preboard.
The plane was delayed about 20 minutes or so, which was fine as two
students “lost” their boarding passes (one found it shortly thereafter
and the other had to have one re-printed). We lined up in groups 1-10,
single file fashion stretching back to the other gate, and then we were
told to “come on board” and we made our way down the jetway, onto the
plane, and all of us sat in the very back of the plane.
The plane ride was over before we knew it (only 1 hour 15 minutes or so
for the flight). We arrived in San Diego, made our way down the
escalator and to the right to the baggage carousel, and looked for
Flight #2582 and all of our pink tapes. With the help of lots of strong
backs, we threw the bags off the carousel into a general pile and
everyone grabbed their bags and made their way to the cement area just
outside the doors.
I turned around and Kody, from YWAM Ensenada, was at my side before we
even had half of our luggage off the carousel. It took about 30 minutes
or so to get all the vans to the curbside. We loaded all bags and
luggage into the seven vans, double-checked that no one was missing,
and made our way to In-N-Out in National City (about 20 minutes south
of the airport).
Though totally packed with people, the In-N-Out crew were fast servers
of totally YUMMY food, so we all had a great, relaxing lunch. Ever the
task-master, I looked at my watch and as it was now after 1:00pm, we
had to continue our journey south to the border.
Only a few minutes later and we were seeing the signs for the
international border! All of the vans drove into the far right lane and
parallel parked in front of the “Migracion” offices.
We were hoping to have a new “FM3 Group Visa,” which would have allowed
us to travel right to Ensenada without stopping at the border, but it
didn’t work out so we had to stop and get individual “Tourist Visas”
which meant LOTS of paperwork (one form per person).
Kody and Ivonne -- actually Ivonne really saved the day by
sweet-talking the immigration processing agent into allowing us to get
the visas without charge. God is GOOD!! We still had to walk in,
one-by-one to process the forms, but one hour later we were back in the
vans heading through Tijuana to the toll road leading us to the YWAM
base in Ensenada.
After about a 30 minute stop at the beach half way down, we drove the
remaining 40 minutes to Ensenada and were blessed by the sight of the
HUGE Mexican flag waving over the harbor. The smell of the fish market
greeted our excited team as we wound through town. Just past the fish
market the entire flag came into view and was truly an awesome sight
looking up at that 50 meter x 28.7 meter (about 150 x 90 foot) banner.
Five minutes later we were pulling into to the YWAM base greeted by the
Staff and DTS students from YWAM. As we lined up for registration, the
YWAMers unloaded the baggage. I told everyone that our sleeping
quarters were going to be in the apartment complex across the street,
assigned the rooms, and we all staked out our territory and threw our
stuff on our bunk beds. By 4:30pm, we were heading down to the beach
for some fun before dinner.
Pastor Roberto and his wife Ada made over 400 tamales along with beans,
rice, guacamole, tortillas, salad, and all the fixins! It was a
SCRUMPDILLICIOUS dinner!
We had a bit of free time and then the orientation meeting with a great
program from the YWAM staff, short leaders’ meeting while everyone else
played in the game room or just enjoyed the nice, cool evening, a team
meeting back in the beautiful new worship center, and then about 20
minutes to play before “in the rooms at 10:00pm” and “lights out at
10:30pm.”
Being the crazy person that I am, we played a terrific prank on a real
team player -- James. Get with James and ask him about it. And many
thanks to YWAMer Solomon for being our “Health Inspector.” After 10
minutes of belly laughter, we finally went to our rooms and soon the
sound of many logs being cut could be heard throughout the apartment
complex.
Thanks Lord for a TERRIFIC DAY!
|
| DAY 2 - Sunday,
March 18 |
Mexico Outreach 2007 Daily Logs
Sunday, March 18, 2007
5:00am As is tradition, my watch alarm beeped me up and out of bed
(although I was really awake by 4:30am), and by 5:30am both Mr. Lanning
and I were outside the room in our running gear (I had on two shirts
and running gloves to keep me warm but wore shorts anyway with my Asics
running shoes completing the ensemble), and met Jacob (one of the high
school students from the other group staying at the YWAM base) and Mr.
Suderow. After we recorded a brief video “good morning” we headed out
of the parking lot and down to the beach to run on the now almost
completed roadway towards downtown Ensenada and the big flag -- some
two miles from the base.
We had a great time on the run, getting to meet Jacob (who turns out to
be a very talented track athlete who runs the 400 and 800 events for
his school in Northern California), and even seeing the “Black Pearl”
boat made famous in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. The ship was
docked just south of the Ensenada Harbor, but was cordoned off by a
chain link fence topped with barbed wire. It was a bummer, but we had
to settle for a picture some 200-300 yards away. It still looked
impressive as the backdrop for our photo!
We ran all the way to the flag pole, did 25 pushups off the benches and
then a couple of us did some upside down pushups (check out the
photos), and then we headed back. It was a great run and a great way to
start off the second day in Ensenada.
Breakfast of fruit, muffins, cereal, yogurt, milk, juices, coffee, and
more filled our bellies and the quiet devotion time set the stage for a
very special day with Pastor Nino at his church. We grabbed our Bibles,
water bottles, sunscreen, chapstick, a light jacket or sweater, and
hand cleaner (ever present necessities kept in our backpacks), and with
me as the task master trying to keep everyone “on schedule,” we drove
the 30 minutes to Pastor Nino’s church.
As is customary in Mexico, however, being on time means showing up when
you show up, not when any clock or watch says you must show up. We
actually arrived at the church just before 10:00am and I expected the
entire congregation to be waiting for us. Only two ladies and a child
were standing by the locked gate of the church. I asked them, “Where is
the pastor?” a
nd they said, “Oh, he isn’t here yet.” I continued, “The
service begins at 10:00am, right?” and they said, “Yes, but it will
begin when the pastor arrives.” Another ten minutes or so saw the
arrival of Pastor Roberto Nino and his wife Ada as they pulled up and
parked across from the church on the rutted, dirt road.
The church service began with Pastor Nino on the piano playing a few
hymns, announcements for the church, and then a time of intercessory
prayer for all in need as they came forward and knelt on the padded
rail just below the stage. Busta and I translated the Spanish into
English during the service.
After the prayer time, an offering was taken and I couldn’t help but
think of the Macedonian church in Scripture, as this little church,
with these poor people, has sent out many missionaries to all ends of
the earth. (Pastor Nino told us later about some missionaries they
support in Morocco.)
Pastor Nino then introduced Neighborhood’s group and as Stan led
worship, Fermin Rubio provided a great beat on the drum, and the
students taught the entire church some new Spanish songs and hand
motions. Junior High students then performed the “King of Hearts” skit
and the Sixth Grade students put on a great “Champion” drama. I had
quite a few of the church people and our own adults comment on how
great the students did in the dramas. It was very evident that the Holy
Spirit was there as we all worshipped the One True God in both Spanish
and English and yet we had the same hearts!!
After church, we traveled down to La Riviera, a beautiful museum
building complex and garden grounds in Ensenada, located just across
the main road adjacent to Ensenada Harbor. We traveled around to the
back of the facility and had lunch in a beautiful park-like garden
area. After we filled our bellies with peanut butter and jelly or ham
sandwiches, chips, cookies, apples, and water, we went back to the
parking lot to gather our money and jackets to walk over to the big
flag area and the fish market. We had a surprise waiting for us at the
vans.
One of the back windows on one van was broken into and some of our
backpacks were stolen while we ate lunch! Fortunately, the thieves only
received a bible and some pencils. It was a bummer, but not a real big
deal. We moved the vans to the front of the building which was on the
main thoroughfare and in a very open area, so the vans would be safe.
We then walked to the Fish Market, souvenir shops, and the big flag to
have about two hours of fun near the harbor. It was a great time ---
take a look at the pictures on the web site.
When we got back, another surprise awaited us. Another van’s big side
window was smashed all to pieces and this time the theives took four
backpacks, including Mr. Suderow’s digital video camera and case, his
backpack (including some personal items), my backpack with my wallet
including all my credit cards and about $140 in cash, and they also
took my camera case (I had the camera with me), with all the
videotapes, cables, and charger for the camera so we lost the entire
first video tape of our outreach (from Sacramento Airport all the way
to the YWAM base). We counted our blessings that no one was hurt, but
it was a very sad afternoon for many.
I called my wife and had her cancel all of the credit cards and started
to think of what I had to replace (my drivers’ license, library card,
etc.) and just gave it all to Jesus to worry about. They were only
THINGS and could all be replaced!
We got back to the base, relaxed and had some fun and then began to eat
dinner. About half way through the dinner time, Tom DiFrancesco yelled,
“All Neighborhood come to the dining room!” (he helped to save my voice
this entire outreach as he was my town crier). No one could figure out
what was going on --- why were we having a meeting now?
We all made our way to the dining room and then Tom said something like
this,
“This afternoon something happened that Satan meant for evil and we
want to turn it around for good. We are praying that the thieves who
stole our things will realize they stole a Bible, the “King of
Hearts” drama gear, the skit words to “We Are Christians,” and more
actually read those words from God and about the drama and one day
realize what they have done, repent, and even come to the YWAM base for
a training school!” (This was met with great applause from our entire
group.)
Mr. DiFrancesco continued, “Since the two who lost the most, Mr.
Suderow and Mr. Bushey have been serving us so well over so many years
and provided this outreach, some of us got together and wanted to help
lessen the blow of this event for both of these servants. Mr. Suderow
and Mr. Bushey, please come up here. For Mr. Suderow, we have purchased
him a brand new Sony digital video camera, case, and video tapes.
(Thunderous applause!) And for Mr. Bushey, we can’t replace your
drivers’ license and credit cards, but we can replace your camera case
and you’ll find inside some tapes and some cash to cover your loss.
(Again, Thunderous applause!) And for Mr. Lanning, who had his backpack
stolen as well, here is a YWAM sweatshirt to replace the one lost!
(Thunderous applause one more time!) And for everyone else, if you also
had any items stolen and really need them back or compensated for them,
we’d like to try to help you, so please come to me and we’ll try to
help. Now, let’s make sure we don’t let this get us down, but let’s do
God’s work for the rest of this week! (Much shouting and tremendous
applause!)
Both Mr. Suderow and I were overwhelmed with God’s love and the love of
our friends on our outreach team. What an awesome blessing to have them
be used by God to bless us through this event. WOW!
The program for Sunday evening really fit the mood of what had just
happened as the YWAM staff put on the Passion Play, which always
touches hearts and reminds us of why we are here. You’ll have to get a
copy of the Mexico Outreach 2007 DVD for more info, as I don’t want to
spoil this night for any future short-term missionaries.
We had a time of prayer after the play, and then a short while to just
hang out and then bed at 10:00pm and lights out at 10:30pm. We had a
great day even with the break-ins with the two vans. God is truly good!!
|
| DAY 3 - Monday,
March 19 |
Mexico Outreach 2007 Daily Logs
Monday, March 19, 2007
5:00am Beep, beep, beep and I was awake (again I was actually laying
there waiting for my watch to sound off --- had awaken around 4:30am).
I made sure Mr. Lanning was also awake. After getting my runing gear
on, I typed up these daily logs for a few minutes and then at 5:30am,
quietly made my way outside to meet my crazy amigos who were waiting
for me.
This morning we had two of the high school guys from the other group
and their leader, plus Mr. Suderow, Mr. Lanning, and me. It was a motly
crew to be sure, but the more the merrier! We ran toward the big flag
pole again, but this time we stopped half way there to take some
pictures of ourselves in front of the “Black Pearl” (you know the
sailing ship from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie). We couldn’t
get real close to it but you can see it in the background (check out
the pictures online). I was glad for the stop as well, as my calf
muscle (which I had pulled two weeks ago during a squash match) began
to hurt again real bad and I was limping.
We made it to the flag pole, did 25 down angle push ups (feet up on the
bench, hands
on the ground) and then the one high school student and I
did 10 upside down pushups (we did a hand stand, had someone balance
our legs, and then did 10 pushups --- well I did 10 and he had to beat
me so he did 12, but I could be his dad he’s so young, so he should do
more than me!!!). We began our run back and one of the high school
students and the leader both were a bit tired and my leg still hurt, so
Mr. Lanning and the one really fast high schooler ran ahead while the
other four of us slowly made our way back to the base. It was a great
run and another nice start to our mission day.
Another yummy and nutritious breakfast, devotion time, and our first
morning worship set the tone for a great day. As I went with the sixth
grade group for Monday and Tuesday, I’ll fill you in from that
perspective. I’ll see if I can get some team members from the house
building teams to write up notes on their side of the outreach.
The sixth grade evangelism team started the day by traveling to Pastor
Nino’s Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) school and community center
project and prayer walked then perimeter of the project. We listened as
Pastor Nino, with Paul (one of our YWAM interpreters) translating, told
us about the project. We then formed a prayer circle and took turns
praying for the needs of the project and that it would be completed
soon.
We then drove to El Reino de los Ninos, an orphanage, or as they prefer
to call it a “Casa Hogar” -- “House Home” -- close to the Fountain of
Life project. I asked permission from Marisol (the director of the
place) to just take a quick tour for the group (all the students were
gone on a vacation day -- it was the first of two days of celebration
for Benito Juarez’s birthday on Tuesday). As this was a very well
cared-for orphanage (several churches from California support this
orphanage on a regular basis - with Calvary Chapel Downey taking the
lead with frequent teams of people coming down to help as needed), our
team saw the tiled floors, nice beds, beautifully decorated dining
hall, playground, and dormitories. I call it the “Taj Mahal” of
orphanages in the Ensenada area.
After the orphanage, we went to the park in downtown Maneadero and had
lunch. It is a really nice looking park with lots of grass, trees, and
cement benches on which to sit and enjoy God’s creation as we munched
on peanut butter and jelly or ham sandwiches, cookies, chips, apples,
and water. There were tons of local Mexican students enjoying the park
as well (they had just left school and many still had on uniforms). It
was a bummer, though, as signs were posted that playing soccer was not
allowed (we used to have impromptu soccer games each year at this
park).
After the park, we traveled to Las Flores, a nearby village where
Pastor Nino has built his second church. It is a nice little village
nestled in the foothills of Maneadero. The local children were in their
homes and most didn’t see us arrive, so we sent out two teams to round
up the local kids. About 30 minutes later, we had around 30-40 children
all excited and playing with our students. We had some time to go yet,
so we organized a race to the top of the hill. I ran up to the top and
had the video camera ready while Tom DiFrancesco took video from half
way up the hill and with an “Uno, Dos, Tres!” the race was on. Our
fastest students graciously let the local Mexican students win the
race.
We all made our way down the rocky, scrub brush hillside and began the
program. The team did a great job on the first presentation to the
Mexican kids. While the students and Mr. Suderow were performing their
dramas and singing their songs, the adults were inside the church
blowing up lots and lots of balloons. I showed the adults how to make
balloon swords, dogs, and hats, and they went for it! Everyone had a
great time.
Always looking for more adventure, I hitched a ride in Pastor Nino’s
yellow Suzuki Samurai (small jeep-like vehicle) and we led our caravan
of his car plus the three YWAM vans around the back side of Las Flores,
over almost-four-wheel-drive-type dirt roads to Pastor Nino’s church.
We did a potty pit stop and took a few minutes to see the church
classrooms and the repairs done to fix the damage done by the arson
fire last year. We then loaded up and headed back to the base for the
evening program.
The food is always very good at the base, and tonight’s dinner was no
exception. After dinner, we had a bit of free time, and then we went to
the worship hall at 7:45pm for the evening program.
Led to the throne of God by the worship team and the songs, both the
Neighborhood Team and the Good Samaritan Team (a group also from
Northern California) then listened to the message about committing our
lives to Jesus and sharing His Word with others. Called the “Commitment
Service” it was a time to commit our time, our energy, and our
resources to God’s plan to reach the lost in our world.
After the program, we had a little time before bedtime, so we talked
and fellowshipped, and then made it to our rooms. It was a great first
full day of working hard for the Lord down here.
|
| DAY 4 - Tuesday,
March 20 |
|
| DAY 5 - Wednesday,
March 21 |
|
| DAY 6 - Thursday,
March 22 |
|
| DAY 7 - Friday,
March 22 |
|
