DAY SIX & SEVEN

Yesturday was wonderful and VBS was yet again a succes even though we were short one team member... besides Joe who we never know where he will be... but Eric wasnt felling well still so we had him stay back at the hotel. Pastor David did a great job pressenting the plan of salvation to the kids... and dinner was FANTASTIC! we all ate way too much im sure.. kinda normal down here they way they feed us you would think we hadnt eaten in a year. That night was the funeral of Rual's dad and so Don, Bethany and Cindy went back out to LaApoma and got back like 2am. It was good they got to go.

But today was the best and most sad of them all i would say. We had a shorter than normal bible school and had all the kids go to the block party down the street in the town cancha (dont know how to spell that!) They kids got tickets and went around to play the games and win prizes or play with water balloons or get thier face painted. We had a blonde clown come too! He mad the kids laugh, about what im not sure... although he did make fun of the way we say some things. After the games were done we had the kids line up for a snack and we had everyone gather around for our drama Don M, Bethany, Eric and I put on and Hermano Octavio talked about the drama and its meaning.

We had lunch out their as usual but got to go home right after. The young peoples in our group went out shopping while those old folks stayed back at the hotel : )
We had our goodbye dinner tonight (aka: the night of crying) at the church. They dinner looked tasty.. i wouldnt know, i was too busy playing with the kids to eat. After dinner we sing songs, all the tradtions and they give us all presents. Then we sing more and its time to say goodbye. and as always it is very emotional and VERY difficult to say good bye

tomorrow... oh wait that would be today... please pray for safe travel and good health as we head back home. pray that everyone makes it back into the country : )

THANK YOU for all yours prayers and support on this trip!
see you soon! .. good night

DAY FOUR/FIVE

Hola Minnesotans!
well im assuming no one blogged last night so here i am to fill you in, three of us on the team had a very exciting night, not at the hotel and not in Culiacan. Let me explain...
My mother, Cindy, knows a couple from the church in LaApoma very well from past trips and they asked her to go to thier son's graduation, but it would be too late for us to go the hour and a half drive back to Culiacan and so she was asked to spend the night at thier house after. My mom of course said she would love to and then Raul and Gloria (the couple) asked if her daughter (me) and her daughter's boyfriend (Eric) would want to come too! Both of us were very excited to have an opporunity to spend a night with the locals. and this the reason I could not write. Having none of our stuff for the night or the next day was the only delema but we thought it would be worth it. The celebration was... diffrent... interesting... elaborate and over all a great experience, But the night was the best part. We slept outside under thier thatched roof next to their summer bed in cot type beds they got all set up for us and four big fans blowing on us. We were actually pretty cold by the middle of the night and needing more blankets! it was wonderful and its the most sleep any of us will probubly get on this trip. The next morning we had a delicious breakfast.

But enough about us, back to the team. The VBS, vacation bible school, has been going very well.
We have made it succesfully through two of our days, presenting the theme 'God keeps His promises' We have stories and singing and puppets and lots of energetic smiling lovable kids. By the end of the day we are all ready for our beds I'm sure. The lunches prepared for us thier are wonderful and I will be missing all the great food when we have to go home. We spent the first day after lunch watching the guys help work up on the roof. Today some of us were invited into Raul's Dad's home to pray for him. So other's from the team went to see him and pray with thier family for him. We suspect these are his last moments. So please pray for that whole situation, Raul and their family as Im sure its not easy for them, and for his dad that this could be as easy as possible, pray for God's hand in all of it.

Tommorow will be a big day at VBS as the new pastor David tells the kids about Jesus and askes for those who want to accept Him and invite Him into thier heart and lives. Please also pray for that. .. A few more prayer requests would be health, Bethany has a slight soar throat from all here talking and Eric has been having chest pain, assumingly from heat exahustion, when he breathes and may be staying back tomorrow if it does not improve. ALso the well being of our team and that all those helping us are well rested because they have been doing so much for us.

One more note before I get to go to bed. Tonight we were invited to the office of the Mayor of Culiacan. We talked about our sister city relationship and how they want to improve the reputation that Culiacan has. It was a very exciting night and opportunity for us to 'rub elbows with the polatitions' as Don puts it. They were sincerely happy to hear about all the trips we have had and how much we love it here and that we would be willing to work with them.

Well I hope my writings do not bore you too much and I will be back on tomorrow night... as long as there are no other suprise sleepovers : ) Please keep us and our brothers and sisters here in your prayers, thank you and goodnight!

BROOKE WHITNEY JOHNSON : )

DAY THREE!

hmmm lets see how much i can remember as im ready to check out for the day and into my bed : )

breakfast - yumm!
PROGRESO! - it was so much fun to go out to the community that we have spent many of our trips at playing with the kids and helping out the small church. We got to serve the kids breakfast, play Uno and blow bubbles! It was so fun to see all of them again and see that they remember us too!
WATER PARK - we have many connections down here which came in handy today as we spent our afternoon at a waterpark... all to our selves! it was nice to hang out with some church members and play some volleyball in the water, not to mention its a great way to cool off
dinner - we went back to the church for a great meal as always and as some went out to coffee the others of us worked on preparing for our first day of VBS tomorrow out in La Apoma.

Keep the kids in your prayers as we hopefully will have an impact on thier lives as they do on us. Pray that God will be shown in all that we do and THank you for all the support you have givin us so far.

Buenos Noches (goodnight!)
Brooke : )

DAY TWO!

Well no one has died yet so I guess its been a good day ; )
but really we had a wonderful time, it is so great to be back and get to see our brothers and sisters of the church. After our long day of travels and late night of celebrating yesturday we got to sleep in this morning, a little. We got to eat here at our wonderful hotel resturant that we have missed and were off to church. We spent the day there after service having lunch with the congrigation and planning with them for the week. We are all excited for spending part of the day tomorrow at a water park that we will have all to our selves. We are getting spoiled, but after that its off to work... if you call playing with kids work. Im personally very excited to see them all and it is not work for me at all. Even though it will be very hot and we will be very tired I will love it, as always.
THank you for all the love and prayers, I cant wait to see what God has planned for us and what exciting things we will get to see HIM do this week. Pray that all of us will be a great example of GOds love and we shine His light. Pray also for everyone we come in contact with that they will be able to see God s love in us and we will have an impact in their lives.
=Brooke Whitney Johnson

Safe arrival home

Most of you know that the team arrived safely home. Now that we are unpacked we will try to wrap up the trip in this last post.

We last left you without knowing how our last day was. Well, it was another great day mixed with sadness about leaving. After breakfast we went to Progreso. Construction on the church building continued with forms being made for the beams and tying of more re-rod cages (beams). This work continued all day in hopes that the cement truck would come, but last we heard it would be there Friday to pour the concrete. The next stage we think is to pour the stage area of the building.

A few more home visits were done in Progreso with the women. We also observed something new. The government has a food give-away for the needy once a month. We watched the women come to our church building site and line up to receive their "number" that they would take to the pick up location. A police truck was nearby at all times while this was going on.

After lunch we went back out to Progreso to do a short Bible school and then a block party/fiesta. With the ladies classes going on, we didn't have a lot of extra space for the block party, but we were able to squeeze in about 130 children (and some moms) for the games. We played until dark and then said our tearful good-byes to the people of Progreso.

Then we went to Emmanuel Baptist Church for a good bye dinner for our team. Many of the church members were there to say good bye, sing and share hugs and tears with us. This year in particular, we felt that we made many new friends from their congregation and enjoyed watching our "family" grow. They sang their traditional good-bye songs to us and it was difficult to tear ourselves away. But, we had to go to another good-bye party at the Panama restaurant with all the other teams from Minnesota and a few people from their churches. Three people from the mayor's office were also there to hear about our week together. Many testimonies of the week were shared and many thanks to each other and to God for making this week happen. Representatives from the mayor's office also said their thanks to us and said how much they appreciate our groups and what they are doing. They are more than willing to work with us to help make Culiacan a better city for all. They gave each of us a bag full of promotional material with the phrase: Culiacan: se transforma contingo (Culiacan: it transforms with you - or something like that) More good-bye songs were sung and the hugs began again. Each church seemed to have a fabulous week and were looking forward to coming down again.

Friday morning we met the bus around 7am. We rode the bus to Mazatlan - with a short stop at the beach and McDonalds for most of the team. (two of us were unknowingly left in the bus and got a short tour of Mazatlan instead). Then off to the airport and home.

We were tired but happy as we returned home. Ready to share with you more about our trip and how God did amazing things with us, through us, and without us! God is at work in Culican! Please pray for that city and our ministry in the future.

Don't forget to check out the photos:
http://www.quantumsvd.com/v/Mission+Work/LASBendicionesquesucedenennuestroestadomesconmes/album_006/album/
We have also seen an article in the paper and radio station (both on line). Things get lost in the translation, but they were very neat to see and exciting that it really happened.

Thank you for checking in
For the team,
Peggy and John

Wednesday

Buenas dias!
The week has flown by and this might be our last post. We will be ending today with our "goodbye dinner" and who knows how late that will go. Then Friday morning we leave the hotel at 7am (before breakfast) so we won't have time in the morning to type while we wait for our breakfast order. So, we will see what we can do.

OK, back to Wednesday:
It was another beautiful morning and after breakfast we moved upstairs for our "press conference" with the mayor's office. (There were newspaper reporters, two television stations, the secretary to the mayor and other people from his office). Up front at the table sat Manrique (representing the Culiacan Baptist Conference), Steve Jervis (representing the St. Paul/Culican sister city relationship), Don B, Marco Vallejo (representing the Baptist churches in Sinaloa and also the MBC St. Paul sister churches), the mayor's secretary, the pastor from Zion (representing the Sinola Baptist Conference), and Lucio. There was sharing about how our trips started, and what we have been doing in the city. The reporters asked a few questions, and took lots of pictures. The reporters were most interested what we have been doing to help the city - projects, etc. It was a new and exciting dimension to this growing ministry. Our story was on the television news that night and we are waiting to see if the newspaper has published our story. The name of the newspaper is El Debate and I think you can find it online.

We then went to Progreso and the construction work continued. This was actually quite exciting because we got to see this really cool cement truck (made in Indianola, Iowa - at least the mudflaps were...) that was like a cement factory all in one. It is the only truck like this in Sinaloa. For more details and lots of pictures, ask Steve Jervis. They poured the cement for the footings. I won't mention how many "supervisors" were observing this part of the work.

The women that could walk (that's not Peg) walked to 3 homes for more visits. These are such wonderful times to deepen our friendships and encourage each other. We have already been asked to come to Ninfa's home next year for a meal! Our calendar is starting to fill up for next years' trip!

We had a WONDERFUL surprise visit by Gloria and Raul. They came to Progreso (about an hour drive from the La Apoma area) and were warmly greeted by everyone. It had been a few years since we had seen them. Junior is 15 years old now! They also made our day by bringing their supplies for raspados and we all enjoyed them. (Raspados are shaved ice with real fruit/syrup and sweetened condensed milk.) After that refreshing treat, we had to go to lunch. (more eating....)

The afternoon activities were wonderful. The women's classes (sewing, jewelry making and hair cutting) are such a wonderful opportunity for these women and they are really working hard. This is going to give them a way to help support themselves and help encourage them. The childrens Bible classes/activities were full of energy and excitement. (John says, it was a little wild at first...) The puppets are so much fun for everyone and the kids were chanting "otra vez" (again, more).

the traditional valentines dinner by Emmanuel Church was moved to wednesday evening so that we could attend and many couples were chosen to share words of love to each other inf ront of everybody. The Buckout's and Denham's were chosen from the Minnesota team to share. There was PDA also (kisses in front of everyone was expected and demanded when you were up front). It was a fun evening. It was also a very late night.

Today is our last day in Progreso, with the block party in the afternoon. We will be saying good-bye again and that is always a difficult time for us all. The week went way too fast. Please pray for our last day that we would share God's love with everyone we meet and that the few people that don't feel good would be restored to health so they can enjoy the last day. We fly home tomorrow, so also for a safe trip.


Time to go.............Have a great day and thanks for checking in.

For the team,
Peggy, John and Cindy

Tuesday

Buenos Dias

Time for another report while we wait for our breakfast to arrive at our table. Today it is avena for me and yogurt con fruta for Cindy.

Yesterday was day two at Progreso, much like day one, but each day is better and more comfortable for us. Construction continued and the women visited their friends in their homes. One exciting thing was the reunion of Linda Treague and Luz, dear friends that hadn't seen each other for two years and had both had their own journey through cancer. There were lots of tears of joy! We were able to encourage other women in the neighborhood by sharing God's word and prayer with them. Some of them opened their hearts and shared their pain and a few opened their hearts to receive Christ.

One difference of the day was that we ate more than the day before. (Imagine that). One group of women were invited to eat tortas at Iris' house. Then for lunch the women were invited to Lupita's home (in Progreso) and the men went to Enriqueta's home(in Culiacan). You can imagine the wonderful homemade food that was served. Pollo con mole, rice, tortillas, chili rellenos, etc. I shouldn't spend so much time discussing food...........

We had a great afternoon telling the story of Noah and the ark. We had about 70 children attend. The skit about the fiery furnace deserves an Oscar, especially for the costumes. You will have to see the pictures of the actors. There were two tough look guards (Steve and Pete) - it was the ice cream buckets that they had on their heads....I think they were supposed to be helmets... :)

It was fun watching all women of Progreso (maybe 10?) practicing cutting hair on both kids and adults. Keila, a young mom that we've met before was especially giggly as we watched her practice. The women in the sewing class got to practice sewing on paper without thread.

Greetings to Marc and Craig from Hector! He is driving us around this week. We have a NICE 15- passenger van (only 10 years old) diesel. You can imagine. There has been a BLUE van sighting............we weren't in it. Many other greetings to friends back home. Thank you for your prayers. They make all the difference!

The mayor and press will be arriving soon so we better finish our breakfast.

For the team,
Peggy and Cindy

Monday

We had a great day on Monday. After breakfast, each team travelled to their sister church sites. We began our day with a construction project of making rebar cages used to pour concrete in for the cement beam that runs the perimeter of the church building in Progreso. The men broke a mission trip record by digging 3 footings in one morning. (of course the back hoe helped!) The field alongside the road by the church was grated yesterday just in time for the area where the children play games. That was divine timing of course and nothing that was "planned". God provides before we even think of it. The women went and visited in a few homes and reconnected with their friends. We have a few translators and that really helps for our conversation time. We had lunch at Emmanuel Church, as we will every day, and then back to Progreso for our afternoon.

The classes began while we had the children's program. We had a sewing class, haircutting and jewelry making class going while we kept busy with the children. God keeps his promises is our theme. We told the beginning of the story of Noah and also of Moses and the burning bush. The lesson is that when God tells us what to do, we must obey him. The people from Emmanuel used puppets for the story of Noah and we used the flannel graph for Moses and the burning bush. There were about 70 kids there and lots of commotion! Steve and Pete led the games on the newly leveled and cleaned field across the road.

We just heard that the mayor of Culiacan and one of his secretaries will come to breakfast with us tomorrow with a lot of media! They want to know what 20 some Americans are doing in Culiacan and if we feel safe. We do see a little more military presence but not as much as we expected. We do feel safe and know that God protects us, but please keep praying. Mostly we feel so welcomed and loved!

It's amazing to hear the stories of the other MN teams and their sister churches. They are so enthused about what they are experiencing, too.

Please for these things:
The time with the media tomorrow
Health and safety
Clearly presenting God's love to everyone we meet


For the team
Cindy and Peggy

Good Morning!

First I want to tell you about a website that you can visit if you want to see picture from our trip.
http://www.quantumsvd.com/v/Mission+Work/LASBendicionesquesucedenennuestroestadomesconmes/album_006/album/

Hope you enjoy the pictures taken by our leader Marco!

Right now I am sitting by a window on the 8th floor of our hotel overlooking the beautiful city of Culiacan. I can see the mountain range, a little "fog" or smog or whatever, and the palm trees and white buildings. We will be leaving soon to go out to our villages or neighborhoods to begin our projects and acitivities with each church. Our North Haven team will be going to the neighborhood of Progreso where we have worked the past 3 years. Some construction projects will happen and the women will be going to homes to visit the women there. We are looking forward to reconnecting with our friends and getting to see the "heart" of the city - the people.

Yesterday, Sunday, our team attended church at Emmanuel Baptist Church. It was wonderful to worship together with our friends and be back "home". The church was full. (Please continue to pray for them in their transition time as they search for a pastor.) We all went to the "orchard" for a picnic in the afternoon. All 6 teams from Minnesota were there along with their Mexican churches. Good food and good fellowship together. It was a fulfillment of the dream from 5 years ago of connecting other churches from Minnesota with churches from the Culiacan area. It was very moving to see the "sister church" teams sitting together getting to know each other and enjoying the fellowship with one another. There was at least 250 people there! It was a warm day, and the sun was shining and the Son was shining!

We are continuing our usual tradition of being well fed by our Mexican brothers and sisters. It's only been 2 days and we are enjoying the food but realizing we are eating too much!

We had an evening meeting with Emmanuel church to get organized for the week with our children's program and other projects.

Today, we are all healthy and feeling great. Please pray for our team as we start out on our first full day of ministry in Progreso!

Have a great day! Stay warm - we will! :)

For the team...............
Peg (Hop-along) and John

we really are here!

Sorry for the delay due to internet difficulty. we arrived in Mazatlan on a good flight and waited for the rest of the teams to arrive then loaded onto a bus and headed for a quick lunch at Burger King (the bus did not fit for the drive through window). We arrived in Culiacan around 6:30, checked into the Hotel Salvador and had a lovely get aquainted dinner for the new sister churches at the Panama Restaurant (popuar restaurant in town) and then back to our hotel for a noisy nights sleep as it is on a very busy road.

Saturday morning our team went to progreso to serve breakfast and it was great to reconnect with many people from our last three years of serving with Emmanuel there. We then met with the other churches for a prayer walk along a popular and busy river parkway. we had approx 150 people that broke into small groups and stopped along the way to pray for the city. we were all waering the same t-shirts that read "Yo estoy orando por mi ciudad".

Following this we checked into our final hotel located on a high point of the city with a great view over it with the Sierra Madres in the background. Later we held a training meeting for the new churches on how to put on a "block party" and the supplies for the day camps were handed out. A great energy time!

We have now ended the evening with a dinner at Emmauel for our team where we were forced to eat the traditional fresh barbequed carne asada and home made flan. So we are all stuffed and sleepy.

Adios until tomorrow.
John, Peg and Cindy for the team

We have arrived!

Greetings! (again) I just typed a log post, and lost it! Rats, will try again, and maybe do shorter ones. We arrived in Mazatlan Friday afternoon and waited for all the teams to arrive and hopped on a bus............oops gottago..........

Introduction

A team of 10 from North Haven Church in North St. Paul will head to Culican in Sinaloa, Mexico this February.

Group picture of team members from previous North Haven trips to Culiacan: