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
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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
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
Monday, February 9, 2009
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
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
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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
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..........
Monday, February 2, 2009
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:
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