11:39 Mountain Time 5/27/05

When we came down here the goal was five houses in five days. We didn’t do that. We finished the five houses in four and a half days. 11:39 AM on Friday was the official finish time.

For our last work day we ganged up on houses and put stucco on those that needed it. After that we all toured all five houses and presented the families with a Bible, the St. Timothy sending cloth, a quilt, and any other gifts we had for them. It was bitter sweet as we said goodbye to them. After cleaning up here at the mission some headed back to the market to cure some buyers remorse. Then we all met at Ajuahs for a wonderful dinner, entertainment, and basically celebrating! The houses were done, we could now let our hair down.



I have a hard time summarizing my reaction to this week. I guess I would say that it was a rollercoaster of emotions. Like a flower on a cactus. Extreme lows were: getting in a crash with two church vans last night (nobody was hurt, we just gave the vans some more “character”), personality conflicts, and being disappointed with people. Extreme highs were: giving Dennis a handshake at 11:39 when the houses were done, being extremely humbled by my work crews words in our affirmation circle, playing with the Mexican children, talking to a Mexican that I gave a Bible to, singing praise to God (as long as my voice held out), and even playing drums with the band after worship on Sunday. I’m on the edge of tears now that we’re done, I’m very anxious to see my family, and am humbled to be Jesus Christo’s servant. –Greg Arnett



This has been one of the most amazing weeks of our marriage! God blessed us with so many things (an awesome, friendly, cooperative house crew, cool weather (thanks God), new friendships (loved the music guys, the game “I Win”, Marci’s AWESOME trips into and out of Mexico, Bible Study, new friendships in both our mission group and in Anapora, using my limited Spanish skills ((my kids at the work site thought it was hilarious that I was mistakenly calling Jeff my wife rather my husband… it is only an a or o different!!), the team building games our leaders planned for us “I saw a boat”, watching the joy in our host family’s eyes, the bano aka bathroom in Mexico…obviously I could go on and on(right guysJ) and many, many laughs! We hoped that our trip would be enjoyable… truly… it has been so much more that adequate words are hard to find. We were so happy to be invited (THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!!!)! It was wonderful to serve as God’s tools to not only build a house, but also a home for our family!! We are surely leaving blessings here. but I wonder if really in our hearts we are carrying numerous more home in our hearts! -Jeff & Natalie Deschner



This was an experience of a lifetime. Yes, I was one of the terrorist. I was with a family of four Lupe, Luther, Kristina, and Nancy. They were wonderful to be around and a great help to us. I also had the experience of driving in Mexico, that was an experience in a lifetime. We have been blessed with a great team to work with in Anapora and the United States. We have had plenty of laughs with the families and our team members. I am really glad that I had the opportunity for this experience. -Marci

“GOD BLESS THIS HOUSE AND ALL WHO LIVE HERE”
That’s what I wrote on the side of one of the wall studs before I covered it with drywall yesterday afternoon. We can certainly already see how well God has been blessing Lupe and his family and all of us who were privileged to serve as laborers on this project. It was a wonderful experience and very fulfilling for all of us. I have met many new brothers and sisters in Christ both in Mexico and on this mission team. I have also learned a deeper appreciation for those from St. Paul whom I hadn’t known as well before this. I want to express my thanks to all who supported this mission trip with their donations and dollars and your prayers. You are all part of this team and God is doing His work though us. “God bless this house and all who live here” will be a prayer of mine for years to come as I think about this experience and this family. – Pastor Steele

Christo Te Ama (Jesus Loves You) Christo Te Ama (Jesus Loves You)
This has been a challenging adventure. I have met many wonderful people to share this experience with.
It is great to have the support of many churches to make this possible. -Carol

LORD JESUS, Thank you for letting me be your servant, continue to bless this work in spreading Your Word.
Your Servant, LeRoy Reif

God has blessed America! – Roger DeNeen

Hola from Texico! We’re on the bridge right now coming back into the United States of America from a hard day’s work and we’re finally all finished. The weather in Texico is the most beautiful I’ve ever felt….although it does get a little cold sometimes. Ciao from ESTEBAN y ROBERTO!



The trip has been spectacular…and it will be sad to leave it behind, but I look forward to seeing family and friends again. -Becky

We just came back to El Paso for the very last time and we have completed our jobs. Tom, Gary, and I will be leaving to start home tomorrow morning…probably be home Monday nigh. I love you Doris. -Leonard

Just a few thoughts about our week here in El Paso and Anapra. I am here with my two sons, Philip and Andrew. It has been a good time working with them and watching them work with the ministry team here. It was an eye opening experience to see a whole village of people living on an abandoned land fill. The poverty is astounding. But God is good!

Just a note to say thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to plan and execute this mission trip. Philip, Andrew, and I have had a good time here together this week. Thank God for his grace to all here. Thank you for your prayers. -Jeff, Philip, and Andrew Bolzman



Wow what can I say, what an experience building houses for familes that had little or no home of there own. The Lord worked through all of us to get though this week of hard labor, the worship and fellowship that was encountered. I had a great time meeting new people and also meeting the families that we are building the houses for. The work week started off sooooo hot but we stilled though the tough start God Bless, -Brien Fox

Although I had expected to learn through this mission trip, I did not know just how much my eyes would be opened! We came in contact with some difficult issues…especially in regards to how different daily life is for the people in Anapra, Mexico, compared to our situations in the United States. Praise God that we do not despair though, as He enables us to help our neighbors, and more importantly, share the Gospel message. I will look back on this trip with some very sombering memories, but also with very joyous ones, including memories of the precious little kids we met! Thank you to all of the people who worked so hard to make these five new homes possible, especially to the great leaders. Peace in Christ, -Heather Bishop

This has been one of the most amazing weeks of our marriage! God blessed us with so many things (an awesome, friendly, cooperative house crew, cool weather (thanks God), new friendships (loved the music guys, the game “I Win”, Marci’s AWESOME trips into and out of Mexico, Bible Study, new friendships in both our mission group and in Anapora, using my limited Spanish skills ((my kids at the work site thought it was hilarious that I was mistakenly calling Jeff my wife rather my husband… it is only an “a” or “o” ending different!!), the team building games our leaders planned for us, “I saw a boat”, watching the joy in our host family’s eyes, the bano aka bathroom in Mexico…obviously I could go on and on (right guysJ) and many, many laughs! Greg, Dennis, Sarah, and Susan… what a massive undertaking! Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and leadership. We hoped that our trip would be enjoyable… truly… it has been so much more that adequate words are hard to find. We were so happy to be invited (THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!!!)! It was wonderful to serve as God’s tools to not only build a house, but also a home for our family!! We are surely leaving blessings here, but I wonder if really we are carrying numerous more in our hearts! -Jeff & Natalie Deschner

This has been quite an amazing experience, and I am glad the dear Lord granted me the opportunity to serve him in this capacity, It has been great and it will be something I shall never forget. I Praise the Lord for being able to serve with this great group of people I am sure that it shall be sad when we all part at the airport, it was sad leaving our families we built the homes for. God continue to Bless America. -Sandy K.



This has been a wounderful experience for me. I got the opportunity to see a whole new world and grow in the Lord. God Bless Anapra , and flushable pluming. -Annette Fox :o)

Well hello everybody I can not believe that we did this in five days. I was really amazed at how fast and hard the crews worked. Jimmy-Joe-John- ah oh ya -Jeremiah.

Hi All
Well God has blessed us on the completion of the 5 house by Fri. about 11 AM. We had Wen afternoon to go to the market. Some days were hot up to 122 degrees. Thanks for your prayers on the mission trip. Blessing to all. -Art Haas


Well, we’re done-for this trip. So many emotions today. Glad for what God has let us accomplish; sad because of so much that needs to be done. Thanks Greg, Susan, Sarah, and Dennis and all the staff, Thanks crew, you were great. Thanks everyone for becoming friends. Thanks Tom for asking me to come along. Thank you Diana for taking care of things at home. Thanks God for everything -Tim


Wow where do I start. What an adventure. Special thanks to Greg and the crew for a great job weal done. I had no idea Greg was such a slave driver. Special thanks to Tim for all his carpenter skills and keeping us moving till the point of exhaustion.
Thanks for everybody back home for keeping us in your prayers. Thanks to my family for cheaking on me. Love you miss you see you soon.
I can not leave the blog without saying good bye to my special friends, sue and Loraine you are great Tom Best you are a blast, also I enjoyed having fun with all the young bucks, especially Travis who I’m sure I will meet on the table. (hope your neck is ok). I Enjoyed all the people I met and worked with.-Tom Kern



What to say…what an amazing week. God has definitely stretched me and my abilities as a “leader,” I am so thankful for Greg, Susan, and Dennis, We have totally grown as a team. Usually, we have our ups and downs as a team but this week we have never been a stronger group. We have had each other’s backs and supported each other in all of our activities this week.
I was completely blessed to work on a site that was close to the site we worked last year. I was able to play with the kids that I felt so close to last year. It was extremely hard to say good-bye. What a difference a year makes. Karen still remembered me, Cynthia gave me gifts almost everyday, Brenda is now pregnant at 16 and Naytalie is growning like a weed. The family was wonderful.
The most important lesson I learned this week was something that my dad said all the way from Caro. “You can’t push a rope” Thanks Daddy. I hope you all enjoyed reading all about our adventures. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.
-Sarah Beth

Somewhere in Mexico

The work went very well today. Three houses are essentially done, with just a few things to finish up. Two sites will need some help with stucco work but they are well within striking distance!






Today was much cooler, although windy (which blows sand around).

The real excitement didn’t start until we tried to get into the U.S. We had three vans and a pick-up to bring back. One van left early with the Mexican driver. That left three Americonos to drive back. We got our channels crossed and one van left before us, so that left two of us together out of the four vehicles. We got a phone call that the bridge that we take across into the U.S. was closed. Come to find out later that some drug smugglers hit a female border patrol officer, so they shut the bridge down. The problem was that none of us knew how to get to another bridge. I called to the mission and got directions. That headed us in the right direction, but somewhere we missed a turn. the second van got directions from somewhere else (we know this because we’re all calling back and forth on the cell phones). Finally we decided to stop and ask for some directions. We asked a Mexican truck driver (thank goodness for Heather being able to speak Spanish!) and he heads us in the right direction. As we’re pulling into the line for the bridge Dennis calls me on the phone to call the second van and tell them they missed the turn because he just their van go by. I called and they said they were on the bridge and it said “Welcome to the United States”. Eventually we saw that van four vehicles ahead of us and off to the side on the bridge. The van we saw going the other way was the first van to leave. They indeed beat us back to the mission, but when we showed up the secong van was no where to be found…they got lost, but at least this time it was somewhere in the U.S.

Right now we are listening to the mariachi band from here at the mission! What a special treat!



Tomorrow will be a special blog entry. We’ll share the final house pictures and allow the rest of the crew to blog. Till then…remember Christo Te Ama (Jesus Loves You)

Market Day

Yesterday I did a lot of updates on the houses, today I’m going to focus more on the group and what we’ve been about. But I will tell you that the houses are coming along at a good pace. We think this crazy idea of building five houses in five days may actually come true. Basically every house was at the same point today…drywall. Dennis put it to us this way…hang the drywall and get your first coat of mud on so it will be dry tomorrow and you can do the second coat of mud. Some made it that far, some are just short of it, but all made good progress today, even though it was a little bit of a shorter day.

Which leads me to talking about the market! After showers we jumped back in the vans and headed across the border to the Juarez Market. It is a place where you can buy a whole bunch of Mexican items, and everything is bartered. The conversations go something like this: “Sir, what you looking for?”

“I’m just looking.”

“How about a watch, you need a blanket, how about some sunglasses?”

“How much for the hat?”

“$20”

“No, that’s too much.”

“This is a very nice hat. How about $18.”

“I don’t think so.”

“How much you pay?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll tell you what, today’s been a very slow day, I’ll give it to you for $16.”

“No, that’s still too much.”

“I have to make some money. I can’t sell it for less than $15.”

“How about $10?”

“I not make any money at $10. How about we meet in the middle at $12.50?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“No, if you think about it you never come back. How about $12.50?”

***So you start to walk away, trying to take the hat off of your head and give it back to the guy in the booth. While he tries to keep the hat on your head.***

Finally you are able to set the hat down, and you start to walk away when he finally says:

“Okay, give me the $10. You hard on me.”

***You reach in your wallet and all you have is a $20 so you give him that. He starts counting your change and stops at giving you $8 change. You point out his faulty subtraction error. To which he says is his tip. You say no to this, and then he gives you your full change. As you gather your change and hat, and start to walk away he says:

“How about a watch, you need a blanket, how about some sunglasses?”

We also gave away several health kits, quilts, and Spanish Bibles at the market. Some were given to the “gypsys” (which is not a derogatory term but rather describes in the best way who they are) who are rather poor. The Spanish Bibles were given away outside the market but our main target were the vendors who Jo (the Servant Event Director at the mission) said would probably be our best “target” audience because a lot of them are Christians, but don’t have their own Bible. I saw several of them reading their Bibles right there on the spot after we gave it to them. I figure it this way, how can you go wrong giving a Bible to someone!



My vanload of people said I had to put in the blog one funny thing that happened on our way back from the market. One of the things that you can buy cheaply in Mexico is liquor. Maybe you’ve heard the joke about when there’s four Lutherans there’s always a fifth. Well we had 16 people in my van on the way back and had 17 bottles of liquor! We had to declare these bottles as we crossed the border and being the driver I had to take all of these bottles out of the van and get them stamped by the border patrol. So they took my picture with these 17 bottles, and the funny thing is that I hardly ever drink, and not one of these bottles were mine either!



We also need to update you on the vehicles down here. Dennis was not able to drive the truck today because it was being worked on. The thing has been leaking somewhere around 3 quarts of oil a day! So tonight we looked over and there was the truck on the side of the parking lot with it’s hood up, a Mexican under it, and two Mexicans leaning over it discussing the whole situation. Then the van I’m driving has 339,000 miles on it. The thing dies constantly and I have to put the shifter in neutral and restart it. Also, every time we pull into the parking lot it dies. The power steering goes out, and we coast into an open spot. I swear the thing knows it’s home.



Tonight in our Bible study groups we had “affirmation circles” within our work crews. It was an emotional time, and very uplifting! It is neat to see how God is working within the group.

I have noticed a fair amount of talk about family and friends back home. We love you all, and thank you for praying for us while we our on this mission. Hasta manana!

Oh, what a difference a day makes!

Yesterday the heat just plain beat us up! I truly have to say that it brought out the worst in our group. Tempers were short, some hurtful things were said and at the end of the day we had to work out how we were going to work together and get along as a group. That was yesterday, this is today.

One of the biggest things that we changed was that we started out 2 hours earlier. That means we had morning devotions at 5 AM! When we stepped out of the dorm for breakfast it was still dark out, with the moon shining. That also means that we left for work at 6, which is the key.



There actually was a cloud cover and it was very pleasurable until about 9:30. I was up on the roof when it started getting hot. Then this afternoon Becky, Heather and I were up on the roof laying down tar paper. You couldn’t put down a tool and then pick it up because it was too hot. We were preparing to suffer and put the roof down, matter of fact we had just opened the tar bucket, when a truck came to our house delivering drywall. There was not a hesitation in our minds that it was time to do drywall and we would leave the roof for tomorrow morning.

There were some other problems today though. One house had the INSTALLED electrical boxes stolen. Taken right off the walls. Only to discover later that the homeowner had taken them off! I don't know, maybe they were keeping them safe. One of the girls on my site had a problem with not sweating enough this morning so had to use the el bano (bathroom). Well there is no el bano on our site so she went up on the mesa to use the el bano. Talk about an outhouse with a view! Also, the border guard must have been warned about our group, because Marci’s van was pulled over as we went into Mexico, and then coming back across the border a 15 passenger van was stopped and normally they would ask the whole van for i.d. but no, they only asked Rob for his. Now, I ask you, do these two look like terrorists?




Would you trust them?

Now that we are back at the mission, it’s ciesta time!



(We’re not sure what his problem is, we’re not sure he actually worked. Every time he was at my site he would just stand around and talk. And his quote for the day is: “what I’m telling you is, I don’t know how to get out of this country”)

Anyway, here’s the update on the five houses:
#1 has it’s roof completely on, celotex completely on, drywall in 1 1/2 rooms, 2 windows in, electrical done.




#2 has sheeting on the roof, celotex completely on, two windows in, no drywall delivered yet, electrical done.




#3 has tar paper on the roof, celotex completely on, drywall on 1 room’s ceiling, electrical done.



#4 has tar paper on the roof, celotex completely on, no drywall delivered yet, electrical almost done.



#5 has it’s roof completely done, celotex completely on, 1/2 a room is drywalled, electrical almost done.



Tomorrow we'll be starting early again, and tomorrow is market day!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The crew was chomping at the bit to work in Mexico and today they got to.



We aren’t exactly what the temperature topped out at, and I’m not sure I want to know. I know this though, I drank around two gallons of water! The heat was very draining.

But…it was a very productive day. All of the houses have four walls and most (or all) of the celotex!





Due to the heat we are talking pretty seriously about leaving two hours earlier (6 AM) tomorrow.

Everyone was pretty testy (sorry, but I’ve got to be honest) at the end of the workday. Now that we’re back at the mission everyone seems to be in much better humor. They’re talking about the work, the funny things that happened (Chocolate chalklines, or whatever), and the kids (adults too) that were around the sites, and “when is dinner”. Amazing what a shower will do for your outlook. They smell better too!

Mexican Sabbath

This has been an extremely busy day! We started at 7 singing our little hearts out in our morning devotions!

For breakfast we were very pleased to see Rita for the first time. (Rita is our cook, and I can say from personal experience that she is a wonderful cook)

We worshiped first at the mission (in English) where we were commissioned and jammed with the local praise band! After a short siesta, and watching the temperature steadily climb we jumped into the three vans and the infamous pick-up and headed into Mexico.

For many in the group, this was their first time into Mexico, but we were very warmly (pun intended) received at the church and we enjoyed our worship (this time in Spanish).



Back to the van thing: It took many conversations spanning over several days to get the third van, and actually ended up with two people driving into Mexico to retrieve Pastor Hernandez’ van. I don’t know what they had to do to him to get away with the van, but we were grateful that we could all make it to church in Anapra.

After church we distributed quilts and health kits that were so generously donated.



We were also able to witness a couple of houses that were built by previous servant groups being dedicated.



After dinner (Art’s van took a detour in Mexico and almost didn’t show up)



we divided up into work crews and prepared for our first day of work tomorrow. Everyone is excited about actually starting the work, although concerned about the heat!



Here's one family we'll be building for, and the concrete pad we'll be starting from!

Texas hold em

I’m up early this morning and thought I would give you a couple of quick updates.

In case anyone was worried, Dan did arrive! He arrived late last night safe & …. well, I don’t know how sound. Dan wasn’t feeling too hot when he arrived. He had driven across the desert during the day without a/c. Yikes! We’re glad he made it, our group is now complete! I always say that I haven’t lost one yet, but this is looking like the year that I might. You know it’s a percentage thing, anything above 90% is still an A. Right?

I wish you all could have been here for a couple of impromptu jam sessions we had here yesterday. The first one happened yesterday afternoon…I heard some banjo playing coming out of a room and couldn’t resist sticking my head in the room to see who was playing. There’s Gary just a playing away. Well, next thing you know Tim brings out a harmonica and added it to the mix, and then I get my guitar, and then people are singing harmony to a bunch of old gospel songs. It was quite the group, all packed into a bunkroom.

Then last night while we waited for the resupply from Wal-Mart we sang our hearts out to Susan on piano, Tim on a djembe drum, me on guitar and a whole bunch of singers. It was quite the time of praise! I just hope they sing out as well when we’re over in Mexico!

I’ve heard that the Caro police department is reading this blog, making sure their sheriff is behaving himself. Well, I would be negligent if I didn’t pass this photo on.



Now, in all fairness, I don’t know if it was the 4 college youth who corrupted the sheriff or the other way around. We may never know. Also, if you look close, you might be able to tell what they’re betting. Band-aids! So, if you see some poor Mexican child walking around with open wounds because they just didn’t have the Band-aid they needed you’ll know why!

The Gang's All Here?

Well it has gone from a fairly quiet, small group this morning to busting at the seams! I’d say all 42 are here but Dan (from Chicago) hasn’t shown himself yet. Dan, where are you? All of those who flew arrived safe and sound. You’ve heard of culture shock, well they had temperature shock! They went from 40’s this morning to 100’s here on the border.

Only three went into Mexico today to stockpile materials and deliver lumber to the different sites. All 5 sites have lumber, and celotex. I’d like to say all five have concrete, but one was still to be poured last time I saw it.





We tried to carry on a conversation with the family about when we would be starting the work, but basically boiled it down to: uno dias iglesia, dous dias casa. (One day church, two day house) My vocabulary is pretty limited, but growing!

After several name games with the group we descended on CiCi’s Pizza! Mucho Pizza!



Lorainne was touched by the comments back to the servants and wanted to get her own little entry in the blog:

Dear Family of St Paul and Cindy, & Dan Maureen D J & Amanda:
Got your note and enjoyed it. We are doing work around the Mission and waiting
for the other group to arrive. D J We had church service here and again in the Pastor’s office.
Sue and I attended the church service as the fellows all had different jobs that fit their job description. Everyone is well including me but I am having a hard time with the heat. Now I know my limits. DJ & Amanda Grandma loves you. Pray for us for our safety and completion of our work that it will be pleasing to our Lord. Love Grandma Lorraine H

Just so everyone knows, I set the laptop out for everyone to read, so if you do comment back to this blog, they will see it!

Tonight we celebrated Becky’s 24th birthday complete with ice cream & cake.



Then we assembled 245 health kits, got our quilts and Spanish Bibles together and prepared for worship in Anapra tomorrow morning!





So...here we are in El Paso…could you please send money!

Concreto Dias

We bucked the system this morning and started working while it was still cool outside. We loaded up the truck (I love that truck!), broke into a shed to get to the concrete mixer, had devotions and headed off to Anapra.

We have a secondary project of moving three storage bins and their contents that we’ve been working on so we left Sue and Lorainne behind to work on that while the men went to work on concrete.



There is nothing easy about concrete work, but today was far easier than yesterday.



After seeing that the rest of the guys had it well under control I went with Genaro to check on the other sites. Two of them were working away on laying concrete just like our guys (except that they were mixing the cement Mexican style).

Here's one family we will be working for:



And for those of you who were here last year, they live right by Salvador and his family!

Here’s the site where we’re replacing the house:



Enough said on that one.

I was at the fifth site when they dropped off the gravel, so that one should get done tomorrow! By the way, I asked Genaro how many houses they have ever built in a week before and he said: “Two, and they didn’t get them finished!” He also said when they announced in church that we were going to build five houses they wondered how we could get five done when some groups can’t finish one in a week. I just had to laugh!

From there Genaro and I went to Home Depot-Mexican style and spent $25,000 for 2x4’s, 10 windows and 5 doors. Oh, that’s pesos. Later when I talked to Cathy, she said that Visa called and wanted to check on some suspicious expenses in Mexico. Indeed!

Our numbers grew today as Taryn and Travis Grice joined us, and then the three guys driving down in a pick-up truck surprised us as we ate dinner. We didn't expect them 'til tomorrow, but they decided to push on and make it today. We look forward to the remainder of the crew showing up tomorrow!!!

Time for some real work

It has been a FULL day.

After changing the tire mentioned in my last entry we went to Lowe’s and retrieved the other half of our Celotex which we off-loaded for fear of said tire. After morning devotions (were Pastor Martinez led us singing in Spanish) Genaro I mentioned said tire to Genaro and he said “there’s nothing wrong with that tire, I’ve loaded 50 sheets of drywall on that truck and drove it into Mexico.” Here’s a picture of the tire, you decide.



Finally, after a Mexican start, we loaded our tools up (thanks Otisville Sunday School for some new tools) and headed to Anapra!



Some who have been down here before won’t believe me, but the road into Anapra is now a paved road! Other than that, not much else has changed with Anapra.

We worked the day pick axing, shoveling, leveling, and moving Mexican clay!



Wow, it was tough. We finally got the site prepared and then mixed some concrete-Mexican style.



The good news is that this is the only house where we need to pour the foundation. The other houses are set for the families to pour their foundations. One house will be built where the old house is being torn down, so the concrete is already there. Because we’re saving the money from concrete we will also be able to help a sixth family by putting a roof on their house. Two houses are on the same property, while the others are scattered around Anapra.

It was a hot day today and physically demanding. Lorainne had one time where the heat really got to her, but after pouring some water over her and getting her to set down she did okay.



After a wonderful spaghetti dinner we all sat around the table and reflected on our day. We shared many ways that this day has affected our faith, our attitudes, and how we feel about “normal” life back home. I, as leader, am pleased to see how close the group has grown already grown. These trips will do that to you!

Bueno Dias

I think I’ll start out this morning with a simple quote section:

At the restaurant last night where nothing on the menu was in English: “Is that spicy?”

From a couple walking past us at Lowe’s noticing our extremely over-loaded mission truck: “You’ve got a bad tire.”

From the three amigos (read fools-us) at Lowe’s: “Should we just try it?” *Note that this is without a spare tire

Quickly followed by: “And what do we do if it does blow?”

From the security system (all night): “Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…”

From Tim & Tom (all night): “Zzzz…Zzzz…Zzzz…Zzzz…”

From Tim this morning: “Oh, I snored.”

From me this morning (very early, but everyone in the room was awake): “Clap, clap! Come on, come on, let’s go, this isn’t Girl Scout camp!”

Quickly followed by: “Hitch, remind me to lock Greg out of the room tomorrow morning.”

At 5:07 AM: “Wow, Tom is really sleeping in.”

I’ll update again tonight…That is if something interesting happens today. ;-)

I'll try to put some pictures up too!

EL PLANO HAS LANDED

After a very early morning, and a fair amount of travel today, we are in El Paso and the work day is not even done here due to the two hours we gained in going West.

Already the funny stories have happened...I've told them all that I don't have to make anything up, it'll find us.

So...
We only had two slight wrong turns on the drive down, but nothing that delayed us much at all. Flying out of Detroit was pretty uneventful. Then trouble found us in Minneapolis. We sat down to lunch and through a honest enough mistake (he'll have to defend himself, I'm not going to do it) The Sheriff (Tom Kern) stole an airport employee's ham sandwich. We offered to let her have it back...after he had eaten only a couple of bites from it. She was bigger than all of us, and here he was without his sidearm to protect us. Somehow it all worked out in the end and we left on good terms!

Slightly delayed by this incident, and not feeling any great rush, we headed off to our gate...only to hear our names over the loud speaker announcing that we had better mosey our little behinds a little faster lest we be without our airplane. Obviously the airline was feeling more rushed than we were. Of course the other three completely blame me for being behind our schedule. Like herding cats, I tell you!

When we got to the airport we were happy to note that we were flying in at the same time as Steve & Krysia, so we had the pleasure of riding to the mission with them.

Arriving at the mission we were happy to see that the Hergenreders and Overzets were already here safe and sound. Art Haas arrived shortly after we did. From the mission, Genaro was here, as well as Pastor Heimer, and Rebecca (the secretary) so I was able to get our group all paid for, get cash for buying materials in Mexico tomorrow (no waiting for the bank this year!) and get the scoop on the houses.

We have basically determined that we are indeed building five houses...not two. Will anyone be surprised that no concrete has been laid? I wasn't. Get this, Genaro talked about a concrete truck, but then determined that it wouldn't be a good idea, so we're laying concrete tomorrow! But, that's okay. The families are all ready and prepared to be doing that work tomorrow. Genaro loved our "blueprints" and we only had to make very minor modifications.

Tonight around dinner time we'll be stopping at Lowe's and buying celotex and the other smaller items that we'll be buying in the states. Pastor Heimer also gave us some work to do here at the mission, so the crew is working on that right now. Storage bins, etc. My philosophy is idle hands are the devil's workshop. We'll have none of that here!

The servants arriving on Saturday will be happy to know the bunk rooms look better than ever,
the bathrooms are finished, and the rooms have locks on them. The meeting room looks like a war room with donated building materials and health kits. We're making ourselves right at home!

Tomorrow we'll lay concrete, meet the families, and buy the materials we'll be getting in Mexico. I'm sure it will be a full, and oh so interesting, day!

Hasta mañana!

Morning Report

Just a short note to keep you updated......

Greg Arnett left this morning around 4:30. He and three others travelled to Detroit Metro and are winging their way to El Paso right now. I'm sure to get the names wrong, but his companions are Tom Kern, Tim Bauer from Reece and Hirsch? from Otisville. I'm not sure about that last person....sorry. If someone knows the correct name, please post it in the comments.

I think it's kind of funny that Greg needs to have a sherif travel with him -snort-! For those of you that don't know Tom Kern, he is our Sherif. Do you think he can keep Greg out of trouble?

If you're in a praying mood this morning, please pray for their safe travel and safety for the rest of the group leaving Saturday. I am also praying for their work to go fluidly, without setbacks and prolonged interuptions. And I'm praying that this be a spiritually uplifting week for the group.

Greg will probably post an entry later tonight.

The Sending Cloth

Yesterday in early service, several parts of the worship focused on our Mexico Mission trip. During the offering, the song 'I Want to Know You' was sung in English and Spanish (very appropriate for Pentecost). Then we had a commissioning for those attending the trip. Part of that ceremony explains the strip of cloth pictured below. From a large piece of fabric, which is to be used on our mission trip, a 4" strip is torn and placed on the altar as a reminder to the congregation that part of the congregation is away on a mission trip and for them to be praying for us who are away. The fabric will remain on the altar during the trip and removing the fabric will be the last thing that the crew does as a mission team.

My next entry will be on Wednesday from El Paso!!!

Welcome!

Somehow, you heard about our new blog! And now you are here, wondering what a blog might be.

THIS is a blog, or 'web log'! It is a journal, a place to share thoughts and events via the internet. And this blog has been created just for St. Paul Caro. On our blog, you will find devotions from Pastor Steele, Greg Arnett, and a few church members. You will see observations about daily life and photos from activities around St. Paul's.

Our kick off will be the Mission Trip in Mexico. 42 people from St. Paul Caro and several other area churches will be travelling to Mexico to build houses. Their goal is to build 5 houses in 5 days. They will be posting blog entries from Mexico, so check back soon to follow their adventure!

All Systems Go.

Ready For Launch!
10... The quilts have been dedicated!
9... The pile of materials in Greg's office for the mission trip is gone!
8... Seven cases of Spanish Bibles are on their way to El Paso!
7... Our final commissioning for the servants is this Sunday!
6... Greg's tools are all loaded up in Jim Hergenreder's truck!
5... The drivers all leave this week!
4... Eight days till Greg flies to El Paso (and counting)!
3... The "to do" list is quickly shrinking!
2... The excitment level is quickly rising!
1... Please pray for the crew, for their safety, for their final preparations!
Blast Off!