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Whooping, sighs and singing reverberated through our van as we crossed the border from Mexico to the US today around 12:30. Thank you for praying! We had no problems, just about 75 minutes of waiting. Then our van chauffeur pointed us straight to the closest In-n-Out Burger--along with nearly every other SERVE van! (Pastor Rick, Frank continues to covet that list you provided...). We were slightly later to the restaurant since we ended up following another caravan of white vans by mistake! It seems that many church groups come and go each weekend to Mexico for ministry!
Our final day of community serving yesterday was unique. It was the hottest day yet, and we were in the same community where we had prayer walked on Sunday. Our chosen job: to renovate the roof of a nearly-blind widow. Sounded simple, until we arrived and discovered a nest of fierce wasps under the eaves. No, not one nest, but 6! Two guys went off to buy wasp killer stuff while the rest of us chatted with Senora Luipta and tried to avoid the sun. Wasp killing was marginally successful so roof repapering proceeded, with 2-4 people on the roof at a time. We worked in shifts both to avoid long stretches in the direct sun, and to reduce weight on the very shaky roof.
Meanwhile, Wendy got stung so our first aid kit finally came in useful. (The sting didn't cause too much discomfort.) We declared her sting the only one necessary, and God allowed the rest of us to remain unscathed. As we all tried to stay in the meager shade of the senora's concrete porch, several students took turns reading to her from the Psalms. Nichole, Melissa, Clairesse and Jonathan gave her deep blessing by reading from the Spanish Bible we would leave with her. She had shared how sad she was to be unable to read her Bible due to her poor eyesight.
After the roof was finished, a few guys labored hard to repair the front door so it would actually close and provide security. Then we gathered to pray with Sra. Lupita; we were so humbled by her gracious prayer (translated from Spanish). She was overcome by tears as she thanked God for the blessing of a roof that will no longer leak and for hearing God's Word. We felt as much blessed as she did.
We didn't provide a blog post last ight becasue we decided, after our second showers for the week, to take our students for a tour of Baja Bible College above downtown Tijuana. Two Caravan staff, one of whom just finished her year at the school, led us, and we were able to see the beautiful castle-like building that is the school, with amazing views of the city. This two-semester Bible school combines cultural training and community outreach in a very appealing way. Maybe some of our high schoolers will take advantage of this great opportunity one day!
We devoured delicious pizza before zipping back to camp for our final meeting. We know the teens are processing what they've heard and seen--when Karen went into the tent for bed, several girls were writing intently in their journals.
Everyone is well and feeling refreshed (despite the 100 degree heat of Santa Clarita) Tonight and for the next 2 days we will debrief the many aspects of this venture as a large group and in our own team. Pray that we adults will be discerning as we lead these discussions and help our kids understand and think about what they've seen, done, and experienced internally. We so desire each of them to see how God has worked in them and where He is pointing them in their next step as His followers.
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