Final day of Ministry in Merida

Good Evening!

Please be aware, that I am not a writer. All of our students are in bed, packed up and ready to go to San Felipe tomorrow.

But I want you to know what and how everything went today. So at CCA today a lot of hard work happened. We got ceiling fans up, lights into the rooms, blue paint on the wall and the Merida "DB" is looking real good.

At Hocaba, awesome ministry took place. The students met the most awesomest...(maybe not a word) woman of the village. She makes less than a dollar a day, so we painted her house. But after that she bought soda for the team, got fruit from her backyard, and was more of a blessing us than we were to her.

At Tabi, Mrs. Klipfel and Anya led the team the past 3 days. The women learned how to make crafts for them to sale. It has truly been a blessing to the village for these women to turn trash into treasure. The children memorized Bible verses and little stuffed animals we handed out.

The group went to Tizimin and prepared ministry for the next couple of days. They went door to door talking about Christ. Edward Rodriguez met a JW and Edward knew more about JW's than the man. And Edward showed the man how Christians believe and what the Bible truly says.

Casa de Abuelos has continued to be a blessing for every student that went. We have led worship, prayed with grandparents, colored with them and truly been a blessing to people that so badly need love.

Lastly, tonight we did a Children's carnival and it was a huge success, look for more information about this tomorrow...

Tomorrow look for more information! We love you all and thanks for praying!

And you kids are AWESOME ! ! ! !

Before we go out for the day

Hey all.

I just wanted to give you the plan for the day so that you could be praying for us as we work and play and feed the sheep.

1 Team will be going to Casa de Abuelos, 1 Team will be going to CCA to prep for a children's carnival, 1 Team will go to Hocaba, 1 Team will be going Tabi, and 1 Team will be going to a new place of ministry Tizimin so that they can prep the ministry for the coming days.

dGod has been more than faithful on this trip, continue to pray for good weather! It has been somewhat hot, yesterday was 104 degrees, but pray the rain stays away and that the Lord's work continues to happen!

June 3 2010- 2nd Day of Outreach

Today we had a truly amazing day! God is good! The morning began with breakfast at the hotel and a great devotional by Pastor Jorge. He read from the Book of John and talked about the importance of not just playing with sheep but also feeding them. We had quite the challenge to start our day, however, God blessed us in a mighty way as we delivered His message. Just like yesterday our team was split between Hocaba, Tabi, Casa de Abelous, and CCA Merida and God did some miraculous works through us. Several people from our team were even able to lead some of the locals to Christ. God has been doing a work in our lives as well as the lives of the Spanish people and it is exciting to see what God is going to do as we finish up our last day here in Merida. We ended the night tonight with a time of food and fellowship with the youth group from Calvary Chapel Merida. It was awesome to see how we were able to enjoy a good time with the youth group praising God, despite the fact that we didn't all speak the same language. Please continue to pray that God will give us the words and use us as He sees fit. Thanks for checking out the blog and keep looking us up to see what God is doing here in Mexico.

Thank you and God Bless,

Drew Anderson.

Hi family!

6/2 First Day of Outreach :)

Hello Parents!

Today was our first real day of outreach. We separated into five groups, each headed for a different location but with a common vision. Pastor Jorge reminded us during breakfast with a devotional that our goal should be John 13:34, to love one another. Even if we had spiritual gifts or skills or knew Spanish well, without expressing God’s agape love, we would not be able to accomplish all that God had in store (1 Corinthians 13). And God definitely did have a lot planned for today.

Two of the five groups headed to CCA Merida to help in any way possible. They ended up moving rocks and painting ceilings in the new middle school building under construction there. Despite the difficult work, these groups showed servants’ hearts and shined brightly at CCA, even leading a man to Christ.

One group went to Casa de Abuelos. Though the language barrier was difficult to conquer, students listened to the stories of the Abuelos there and ended up leading three people to Christ. The simple statement “Dios te amor” brought people there to tears and to openness to let the Holy Spirit move.

Another group went to Tabi, a village nearly two hours away from Merida. Anya and Noemi Klipfel worked on art projects there while the students played with and blessed the children’s lives.

Today my group, led by Pastor Jorge and Topher, went to Hocaba, a little town about an hour from Merida in the heart of the Yucatan. We arrived to see buildings and walls past Mexico trips had created and to see the influence they had left. We expected to be reaching out to children there, but then found out we would be painting some of the houses there instead. These people have so little compared to what we have; their church is made of sticks. But that’s only the building. The true church, the people there, are like a family, following Christ’s lead. And today we had a chance to serve them. We divided into groups of three people and painted their buildings in the sweltering heat. Pastor Jorge showed us how the people there lived off the land by cutting down coconuts to eat and drink and also exotic fruit. The people there were so willing to share what little they had. They were so appreciative that they prepared food for us and then we were able to fellowship with some of the families there. We used silly bands, telling the story of Jesus’ life with their shapes, to talk to the children. Even the smallest things like bouncy balls and stickers made the children smile. Joy radiated from the people there and so did gratefulness. To meet them, serve them, and share the love of God with them was such a blessing to all of us.

After another wonderful dinner, our whole group was able to go to international worship night at Calvary Chapel Merida. The Calvary Chapel band there joined with Danielle, Rebecca, and Drew to play worship songs in Spanish and English. It was truly amazing. The Holy Spirit moved in our hearts as we sang songs in Spanish along with the believers in Merida. As we sang songs in both languages, it reminded me of heaven when one day all Christ-followers from every country and language will worship God.

We are looking forward to seeing God pour out his Holy Spirit tomorrow and soften the hearts of the people we will meet. We have been praying for rain and “let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:6)

In our groups and as we become more focused on serving Christ, we can become a more united Senior class. Our verse for this trip is Romans 12:5-6: “May the God who gives you endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of UNITY among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with ONE HEART and ONE MOUTH you may GLORIFY the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Keep praying for God to give us this one heart, for His glory here in Mexico!

Melissa King and Your Mexican Missionaries :)

Arrival

Hello parents!

We have arrived safely in Merida, Mexico! We just checked into our rooms at a beautiful hotel, and we are about to leave for dinner at Los Trompos (a favorite restaurant of ours in the past). Today was mainly spent traveling from Cancun to Merida, but tomorrow the real work begins. Please keep us in your prayers as we venture out to spread "el amor de JesuCristo."

We will update more later!

From the Mexican missionaries

hello papi, y mami--- I'm safe :) Rebecca

Tuesday Morning Departure

Hey all.

Please be sure to be here at 7:00 am. Bring your one carry on item, and 1 personal item. We will be meeting at the Hub. Bring any documents you still need to turn in! And you may want to bring a rain jacket, it looks like we will get some rain while we are in Mexico.

Until Tuesday, have fun packing and if you have questions post them on here!

Toph

Flight information and packing list

Dear Parents of our World Travelers.

We are almost a week away from our departure, so I thought I would take the opportunity to inform you of information that would be good to know.

We will be leaving from the front offices of the church Tuesday morning at 7:00am. (Please don’t be late, the bus leaves at 7:15 sharp) We will be returning to Ft Lauderdale International airport Tuesday the 8^th at 3:00pm. The flight will be Jet Blue 1796 from Cancun.

On June 1^st we will be landing in Cancun and driving to Merida, staying there for a couple nights and then traveling to San Felipe. If you want to follow what is taking place on the tip please visit http://www.ccamerida10.blogspot.com/ and you will get the most updated information that we can provide.

Also, the Stecherts are hosting a garage sale this Saturday to raise money for Mexico. If you would like to help or have stuff to sale please contact them at SusiS@ccaeagles.org.

Lastly, here is the packing list of what your students should bring. The luggage needs to be under 50 pounds.

Packing List

· Clothes that you don't mind getting dirty (for 8 days)

o Guys this is not the gun show…wear sleeves

o Don’t dress like a hobo

o Girls this is not a tanning opportunity…t-shirts

· 2 Nice church outfits

· Working shoes (closed toed)

· Non-work shoes

· Swimsuit (modesty is a must…)

· Water bottle

· Work gloves

· Towel

· Toiletries (toothbrush, soap, deodorant, shampoo…)

· Raingear

· Sunscreen and bug repellent.

· Earplugs (for light sleepers)

· Flashlight

· Bible and Journal

· Needed medication

· Snacks

· Money for snacks and souvenirs

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!