North Haven Culiacan Connection

2012-02-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Today we saw God work in more than one way! Our morning started out the same as every other. We worked on the benches while the women did their ministry. Then, before we left to go to lunch, Lucia, Emily, Shawn, Alex (The one from Culiacan) and my self all went down to the school to invite the teenagers. We originally thought we would have about 10 kids show up, but we had about 50 join us. 15 of those kids were from the school. Pray that tonight starts a movement of the youth in the church. At the same time as we were having our youth event, the men had theirs. From what I could tell, it was a great turn out. There were about fifteen or twenty men from Progreso that showed up. Amongst all of this happening, we held a HUGE meal for the town of Progreso. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs. We planned on serving approximately 150 people, so we got a ton of extra food. If any of you know my dad, you know how he can't cook for small groups of people. When we were done with the night, we realized that we had served well over 200 people. It was probably closer to 250 or 300 people. God was deffinately great today! Once again, we are all very tired, so I'm going to end with the prayer requests now!

Prayer Requests:
1. Jim is not feeling the greatest right now. Pray that he is strong and healthy tomorrow morning!
2. Don and Carols house was broken into today, and they have had a lot of police going in and out of their house to find some finger prints. Pray that everything will be okay and that things will be taken care of at home.

Praises:
1. Arnoldos mom was going in for a biopsy today because she had a lump on her breast. When we arrived at the church we all prayed for her because she was in surgery at that moment. Not even a half an hour later, we got great news that there was nothing there. Praise God!
2. Also, praise God for a great turn out for dinner tonight, and that there was enough food for so many people.

I am positive that there are many more prayer requests and praises for God, but if I typed them all out, I would be here for days! I guess you will have to wait until we get back to hear the marvelous works of God!!

Nicole Renee and Emily June

2012-02-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Today was another fantastic day here in Culiacan! We are all very tired so I'm going to try to keep this fairly short tonight! Our morning was very similar to every other day so far. We continued to work on benches. This afternoon we did the third day of VBS! We did the story of Jonah! Steve Jervis played the role of Jonah in the skit! I must say that he did a fantastic job! We created the boat out of bricks and an old play house that they had at the church. We also had a big blue tarp that was the waves. When Jonah was thrown out of the boat, the big fish (Shawn) swallowed steve up! When the whale spit him up after three days, Jonah was soaked! The skit seemed to be a great thing to keep the kids focused! We then went to the church for another fantastic meal of carne asada!! mmmmmmmmmmmmm :)

The women from our group went to the little girls house who caused the fight yesterday, just to see what her home life was like. While they were there, Egla came across a man who was possessed by a demon, watched pornography, and was an alcoholic! She started to pray for him, and through that process, both the man and his nephew came to know the Lord! Praise God!!

Prayer Requests:
-There are three different ministries going on tomorrow! The boys are meeting with the men from Progreso to play cards and just fellowship. Me, Emily and Lucia are planning to get together with the teenagers from Progreso to start a relationship with them. Please pray that we get a good turn out in both of those. We are also holding a dinner tomorrow for the whole town of Progreso. We are eating hotdogs and hamburgers. We are expecting approximately 200 people to attend the meal.
-Pete was no longer able to join us on the trip! He had to bring Debbie to the ER in the middle of the night yesterday. Pray that she will be healed and healthy as soon as possible.
-Lastly, please pray for health. More people have been getting sick. Pray for health for all of us, so that we can continue to minister to others.

Thanks for all the prayers!!
Buenas Noches!

Nicole Renee and Emily June

2012-02-07T23:22:00.002-07:00

Let's just say that today was a long day for us, Emily and Nicole. We built every single part of the benches this morning. Don't feel bad, we let the boys use the mini hammers to pound the nails into the benches. We only let them help after continuous begging. While we and the pestering boys built the benches, the rest of the women went out into the neighborhood of Progreso to minister. We haven't heard much about it, but it sounds like it all went well. After a short pit-stop at the hotel, we headed back to Progreso. While the boys attempted to build a bench all by themselves, the women held the second day of VBS.

We went to the Bello house for dinner and they served a two course meal, which was WAY too much for us, as usual, but it was delicious. Then to top that, they served four different desserts. And yes, we all ate some of all of it! Then we went back to the hotel for a short roof-top meeting and bed time! And now I (Nicole) am here typing this.

There seem to be more and more prayer requests adding up! So what better way to share those with more people than on here? :)
Prayer Requests:
- The little boy who was diagnosed with Terminal Brain Cancer. Pray that he and his family have comfort even though it is complete chaos in their lives right now.
-Many of the children in Progreso have been fighting a lot lately. Tonight, I, Nicole again, had to break up a fight of about six kids tonight during the bible story. They were fighting over such a simple thing as a chair. Pray that they will get along and pay attention to the story tomorrow and not what chair they're sitting in!
-Pray for Lucia. As I told you before, we all ate too much food tonight. It got to Lucia. Pray that she will be healthy by morning.
-Finally, please pray for the Beruman family. They just added the next member to their family today! Josiah Antonio Beruman. Pray for great health for both mom and baby.

I almost forgot to add something! Pete should be joining us tomorrow evening. Debbie is now home and stable. Debbie encouraged him to join the group! YAYY!!

Hasta Manana! (Insert tilde above the 'N')

Nicole Renee and Emily June

2012-02-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

So today was another good day here in Culiacan!

This morning, the men (or the boys as we called them)went to Progresso to start the process of building about ten benches for the sanctuary. While the men were doing that, the women stayed back to sort through all the suitcases full of clothes and VBS supplies. We then met back at Emmanuel to eat lunch. Then we started the journey to Progresso to hold the first VBS of the week. There were 50+ kids there today.

After holding the VBS, we were all VERY hungry! So we went back to the church and had an extremely filling meal of Carne Asada!! Be jealous!! ;)After eating, we had the opportunity to go to a families house who has a ten year old son. The young boy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer this past summer. The tumor has been growing, causing him to be bed bound. He can no longer talk or move. Our group had the chance to go in and pray over him and his parents. His dad is not a christian, but desperate for any hope left, asked us to come pray for them. The boy however, has a very strong faith. Please pray for him and his family.

We also ask that you pray for a woman in Progresso who had eye surgery a few days ago. We don't know what caused her blindness, but we hope that this surgery helps give her sight again. Also, please continue to pray for Pete and Debbie. Pray for Pete as he has to make the difficult decision to come here or stay home with Debbie.

It's getting late, so we're going to hit the hay!

Buenas Noches!!

Nicole Renee and Emily June

La Primera Dia

2012-02-06T00:15:00.001-07:00

I know you were all so worried that we wouldn't make it through the church service, but we did. It was amazing what God did in the eight testimonies of our team members. Pam, Steve, Shawn, Cindy, Paul, Ive and Don spoke about why they come here to Culiacan. Emmanuel is in between pastors at the moment so our team provided the sermon. Almost all of our team members got very emotional when talking about how God works in such great ways and the relationships we have with these people. Yes, even the big, tough (adorable) men cried. At that time, I, Emily, turned to Nicole and Lucia and said "I love our team." Those testimonies really made me realize what the ministry has grown to and the impact it makes on any person involved.

A woman named Carol at Emmanuel had said to Carol Buckhout that the congregation is really discouraged at this time with no pastor and they need confirmation that they can make a difference. When Carol Buckhout asked if our service had helped with that at all, Carol said that without a doubt it inspired the congregation.

After lunch at the church, we had a meeting with the women of Emmanuel about the crafts for VBS this week. The men played Cribbage. We then stopped at Walmart and went to the Templo Bautista Sion to celebrate the aniversary of the church. Many of our team members expressed how awesome it was to see people from multiple different churches all worshiping together and in one church. There were poeple from North Haven, Sion, Emmanuel, the church from Renato Vega, and few other ones that we didn't know.

We arrived at Papas Locas as the team from Worthington was finishing their meal. The new members on our team enjoyed the meal and almost everyone, as always, overate. We tried a new drink called Sorbada made with wheat and vanilla. It tastes like chocolate and caramel. It is delicious!

While at Papas Locas, Ulises told us that he, Lalo, Julio, Abram and some other men from Emmanuel were going to play a game of futbol at a field a block down on the church rec team. We stopped by and watched the game for about 45 minutes. When we left, the score was 3-2, us.

When we got back to the hotel, we discussed the day during our daily rooftop meeting along with cathing up with some of the Worthington team. We had some major prayer requests and very good reportings of the days.

Prayer requests:

A women at Emmanuel told Cindy that her 10 year-old nephew was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer. He is not confined to his bed, not being able to speak. The woman said he has much faith and believes he will be healed. This father, however is not a christian and is compeletely devistated. She asked that we come to see her son and give the family encouragement and pray for a miracle.

After our morning service at Emmanuel, a women came in off of the streets asking for help and money for her "medicine" we were informed that she is addicted to drugs. Egla, from Puenta de Vida, he this women on her mind all day and requests that we pray for her, as she is imprisoned with this addiction.

Nicole Renee and Emily June

Warning: Satire Ahead

2012-02-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

So the old folks want this to be a serious matter, but we're teenagers, so expect some slight exaggeration.
After nearly dying seven times and losing all of our bags, we finally fought off the customs officials and boarded our dilapidated rental bus. Hours later, when we arrived at the hotel, our reservations were nowhere to be found. As the team waited for Don and Steve to clear up the sleeping arrangements, Buddy got involved in an old-fashioned gang shootout. Let's just say Shawn doesn't have a roommate tonight. We were only able to snag two tiny rooms. One for the women and one for the men. So the ol' wise ones want us to go to sleep, so we will update you tomorrow, if we make it through the church service. ;)

Ok. Ok. So we were joking, but you probably believed every word of that, right? We arrived perfectly safe and transportation and customs went fine. Cipriano, Arnoldo, Dani, Ulises, and Gadiel met us at the airport in Mazatlan and rode with us in our very nice bus here to Culiacan. We stopped at a grocery store on the way and picked up stuff to make bologna and cheese sandwiches. Once we got to the hotel, we got settled in our rooms, had a short meeting on the rooftop and are now heading to bed to savor the few hours of sleep before church in the morning.

Please pray for a good nights rest and that God will work in marvelous ways in the week to come. Also, pray for Pete's wife, Debbie, who is still in the hospital for pneumonia. Pete is expecting to join us on Tuesday after getting Debbie settled back at their home.

Emily June and Nicole Renee

Adios!

2012-02-03T18:09:00.002-07:00

Well, we leave for Culiacan tomorrow afternoon, Saturday Feb 4, 2012. The plane doesn't leave MSP until 4:10, which is nice, but it means we won't get to our hotel until about 11:00 pm. The plan for Sunday is for Don Buckhout to give a short sermon and than several of the team will say something short about what this ministry means to us and why we go. Then we'll have a meeting with members of Emmanuel church to plan the week in more detail. The team members from North Haven Church are Emily Johnson, Nicole Treague, Lucia Alle, Steve Jervis, Paul Christianson, Shawn Treague, Buddy Anderson, Cindy Johnson, Carol buckhout, Jim Tjernlund, Pete Marcaccini, Don Buckhout, and Pam Jervis. Ive Guzman and Egla Martinez are going from Puente de Vida church and there are small teams from Worthington and Hastings also going to work at their sister churches in Culiacan. We'd sure appreciate prayers for our trip and especially for Pete's wife Debbie who is hospitalized with pneumonia in TX the last I heard so I don't know the status of Pete going. Nor do I have the other churches' team members' names at my fingertips. Sorry about that.
Thank you all for your support for this mission!!!
Cindy, for the team

6 VBS, 72 Hrs, 140 Kids

2011-07-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

Wow, 6 Vacation Bible Schools in 72 hrs!! Only 4 more & block party to go :) I am beginning to think a "working" trip might be easier.

But the 140 kids we shared the miracles of Jesus with yesterday make it all worthwhile.

We saw our own fishes & loaves experience as we handed out flip flops to kids at Progreso...amazing, down to the very last pair. No child went without!

And, a father in Progreso, Javier, was temporarily blinded while welding. The Dr told him he would not see for 4 to 10 days. Pete & Cipriano prayed & he was able to return to work one day later!

Pray for continued strength, focus & energy as we serve along side our friends of Emmanuel.

Blessings & thanks!
Kimberly (aka Princessa)

VBS: Photos, Wind, Rain, and Blessings

2011-07-06T05:27:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few photos from our first two days of VBS at Emmanuel and Progresso. God has been good and we feel blessed to be sharing this time with our brothers and sisters in Mexico. The weather is hot (mucho calor) and it has been raining, we just experienced a !wind, dust and rain storm during VBS in Progresso, but were able to finish singing and presenting the bible story before having to take shelter. The children are excited to see us and we have definitely been enjoying interacting with all of them! Keep the prayers coming, as we are seeing the Lord conquer the obstacles that are put in our path each day.

Love from all of us!

Heartwarming Hospitality and VBS

2011-07-05T05:46:00.001-07:00

We are back at the hotel for almost two hours of rest, prep and/or shopping, depending on personality and age.

As usual the people here are so welcoming and their hospitality is heartwarming. Ismael Bello from Emmanuel Church said that many teams come to Culiacan to help for a week but the groups from North Haven are like family coming and we mesh together so well. How wonderful to hear that!

Our first morning of VBS at Emmanuel went very well for a first go at it. 21 kids came, most in the 8-11 age group. Ivelisa, from Puente de Vida church, has put together an amazing program for the week. The lessons this week are about Jesus and today's was about his birth. There were new songs, puppets, and a drama with kids acting as shepherds, the wise men, angels and innkeepers. Our team played Joseph, Mary, a shepherd and an angel. Ask Pete to demonstrate his flying style. Kimberly made an enthusiastic pitch to the kids in the closing activity, promising special prizes to those who bring friends tomorrow. We were told to expect about 40 kids but some kids don't get out of school until Thurs.

Around 4 we leave for Progreso for this evening's VBS there. We were there last night for their weekly church service and saw that the building has new trusses up for the roof and they have 30 pieces of metal lamina ready to put on it.

Thank you for all your prayer support!!! There have been a few attempts by the enemy to cause problems (nothing serious: scrapes, wet VBS materials and headaches) so please pray for God to prevent Satan from hindering the work for His kingdom.

Muchas gracias y Dios los bendiga!
Thank you and God bless you!

Cindy, for the team.

Sunday, July 3

2011-07-04T07:55:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

We are here safe and sound. Praise God!

Ulises, Arnoldo and Octavio picked us up. We made it to the hotel around 9 last night because we stopped at the church in Renato Vega first. They were celebrating their 8th anniversary! I can't believe they've been an independent church that long. They had a collage of pictures showing their history and many of them were of our teams. They were fun to see.

Also, last night it was raining a little with lots of lightening so we didn't go up on the roof for our usual meeting. Octavio and Arnoldo said it was the first rain all year!

We are off to church now so I'll write more later.

Cindy

Wrapping it up

2011-02-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well, you probably know that our team is home and back to work or school for most of us. We want to let you know how the rest of the week went and some impressions along the way. Thank you again for following our blog and supporting us throughout the week.

We spent our last day in Progreso (Friday) with some more home visits for the women, wrapping up construction projects and finished sorting clothes. A small group from our team walked down to the school and found the principal and teachers outside with the school children. We were warmly welcomed and we presented a copy of "Tu Eres Especial" (You Are Special) to the teachers. The principal spoke English so that was great for translation. They thanked us many times for our part in the beginning with the school and said we could come back anytime!

Our afternoon block party had around 100 kids where we had games, face painting, music, crafts and prizes given away. Then there is the goodbye to the children of Progreso which is the hardest part. The fiesta is always a highlight and a good ending point to celebrate with the kids and display God's love for them.
The team ended their night with a Valentines/sweetheart dinner with friends at Emmanuel Baptist Church.

Saturday was a free day for fishing, shopping, river walk and time with friends, concluding with a traditional good-bye dinner with sharing from both teams. Sunday afternoon was spent in Mazatlan with lunch at Ponchos and some time on the beach for walking, shopping or para-sailing.

It is difficult to sum up a week long trip that is part of a ten year plus adventure with our friends in Culiacan. Many exciting things happened this past week, so we want to try to paint a picture of some of those here:
1. It is exciting to see that God is at work in Culiacan, Mexico! and in our own lives as we were spiritually challenged and encouraged.
2. It is always a humbling experience working with our friends in Mexico. We are enriched by our cross culture experiences, with four cultures or more coming together. These mingling cultures are: suburban St. Paul, Culiacan, those living in poverty and an area of 2% population consider themselves Christians. We bless each other and work together for a common goal. We have much to learn from each other as it is not a one-way exchange.
3. We saw the commitment of our sister church, Emmanuel Baptist Church, to continuing work in Progreso. Cipriano, Arnoldo and Gaby are very involved in the work there along with Esperanza and others.
4.As a result of some meetings last week, it seems there are exciting new possibiiltes of connections with officials (city, state and country) and the school in Progreso.
5. Our opportunity as well as accomplishments of displaying Christ's care and love for us all was like a wonderful display of color in the drab and dirty area of Progreso.
6. It is always a challenge when we return from these trips that we carry the experience and our reactions into our daily lives. It is our desire and prayer that the work continues and lives are affected long term, not just for a flash.
Thank you again for your love and support for our team. May the growth and work carry on...

Friday and Saturday and Sunday

2011-02-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hola. Just a quick note to let you know that we will finish the blog when we get home and settled.
Friday was basically preparation for the afternoon block party where we had over 100 children attend.
Saturday has been a free day and Sunday evening is when we will return home really really late. (actually Monday morning).
There is more to tell, so you will have to wait.
all around it has been a great trip with a great team.
Until then,
P&J

Thursday

2011-02-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias.
News flash and updates from Progreso:
1. Progreso school - its always good to walk down to the school where our work first started in Progreso, so a small group from our team did just that. The original school had 3 walls made of tar paper, two rooms, and a dirt floor. We patched walls, poured a cement floor and fixed up the desks. This caused the government to take a look at what we had done and they acted and start building a nice school, and it has grown and improved each year. It now has 6 buildings with a large patio inbetween, along with a nice fenced in school yard, and a new large, roofed cement slab play area. Things are clean and have bright colors and the kids wear uniforms. It is a happy place to visit.
2. Last night there was a meeting that included Pastor David, Marco (president of the Baptist Churches in Sinaloa) and some Mexican officials from the city, state and whole country. There was much discussion of how the churches could be involved in the school and encourage positive activity for the students and also to have a presence in the prisons in the area. To make a very long and very exciting story short, the city official was a women whos first project was the colonia of Progreso, so it is dear to her heart. When she heard that Pastor David and the church (including North Haven) has been working in Progreso and helped with the school and are now building the church building, she was very excited and said "what do you need? I can get it for you! Do you need land, radio time, etc?" Well, David and Marco were jus overwhelmed and wowed by what God is doing here. Stay tuned for exciting future developments!!!
3. The agricultural crisis as mentioned in an earlier blog has resulted in about 90% of the crops being destroyed which means employment crises, price increases, and other economic issues because Sinola produces the major amount of the crops in Mexico. The President of Mexico will be flying into Culiacan tomorrow (Friday) sometime to have a press conference to sign some type of a welfare proclamation to fund the agricultural crisis. (probably disaster relief equivalent). This should be very interesting with his security detail.
4. We distributed more food bags today and spent time with the people of Progreso. Another afternoon children's program included a fabulous skit by Angel (Linda), Prisoner Peter (Randy), some tough looking prison guards (Trey and Bob) with the dramatic reading by Paul. This was followed by an evening evangelistic service. Our team sang a song (in English) for the crowd/. They did not ask for an encore!

We spent a lot of time on the roof tonight after our day was over, discussing our week and its impact on all of us. We all agree it was a great week that went too fast. Seeing the needs of others really shocks us out of our own little comfort zone, and puts lifes issues into priority. Knowing that God has the whole world in his hands and loves us all so much, gives us the reason to come to Culiacan. We have been blessed by the people here, and also our teammates have blessed each other.

We will be wrapping up our week with a Fiesta Block Party tomorrow afteroon. Please continue to pray for our team and our final days here.

Muchas gracias,
P&J

Wednesday

2011-02-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Wow - what a day......
Wow because we were able to see past the "projects" and focus on the people. We enjoyed the journey,not just the tasks. A very full day with similar activities as mentioned in the previous posts. Our team seemed more seamless today - we moved together well. We distributed the food bags today to many homes. The families really appreciated the food, especially one who's husband has just lost his job. Some of us walked up and down the streets stopping at homes visiting, inviting them to the services tonight and tomorrow night. The Mexican people are so warm and friendly and often invite us to come into thier property and sit and chat for a bit. It is so heartwarming and enjoyable to sit with them in their humble abodes and share life stories and encouragement from the Bible and our life experiences.

For the childrens Bible school Pam and Steve shared the story of the boat twice owned. We all sang He's Got The Whole World In His Hands with the motions, and even tried it in Spanish, but that didn't go over too well. Yoko taught us the Oragami folds to make a boat for a craft. The puppets made the kids squeal with joy as always. Another event that the kids enjoyed was the clown that came tonight to share his talents and enthusiasm with the kids, weaving in bible stories. He held their attention for a very long time.
The highlight for us all was the evening service. The church at Progreso, House of Hope, is still under construction, yet we had our first real service in the "sanctuary". The city donated a stage which was set up, the Three Amigos musicians were on stage, and we had an awesome sunset as the backdrop. Two members of our team shared how Jesus has changed their lives - transforming them, after some very low points in their lives and struggles with addictions. Pastor David preached with enthusiasm and passion. It was a great night to remember, especially for those of us who have worked here in Progreso since our first time here.
We are lacking in sleep a bit, but that's usually the norm. Everyone seems in good health and usually remembers to put their sunscreen on. (Yes, the SUN is shining). Have we mentioned the food is really good? :)

For the team,
Peggy and John

Tuesday

2011-02-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

We began our day Tuesday with an early breakfast in Progreso with 36 kids at the church site. We served up a warm breakfast of eggs and ham, tortillas, beans, fruit, tamales, and OJ. It was fun to see the kids eating breakfast on the tables covered with tablecloths that the kids from North Haven Wednesday night club had written sweet messages on. Once breakfast was over, the kids from Progreso wrote on tablecloths that will be returned with the team. Great idea!

The construction work continued on the walls and chairs. The numero uno bano was finished and the inaugural flush was done. We all say GRACIAS!!!! We spent a lot of time with the children and playing with them. We ordered bread from the family next to the church who have a brick oven in their back yard. Mmmmmm good - fresh yummy homemade bread.
Octavia, Pete, Cindy and John went to the wholesale market in town to purchase food to fill food bags to give out to families in Progreso who are in need and have a relationship with the church. Money was raised at this years Gala particularly for that. We put together bags of food to be given to 30 families.

VBS story "David and Goliath" was acted out by Shawn and Lexie (guess which one was Goliath?) while Cindy read the Bible story in Spanish. Music was led by Emily, Glynae read a poem in Spanish about Jesus is our Shepherd, and Nicole told the story of the candy cane: the shape is a shepherd's staff, or turned up side down, a "J" for Jesus, and the (red) stripe represents the blood of Jesus and the (white) is Jesus' pureness.

People from a bordering neighborhood were invited by a group from Emmanuel to attend the Wednesday and Thursday evening evangelistic services at House of Hope. One group spent an extended time with Maria. Please pray for her, as she acknowledged her need to be right with God and take that step of faith.

We wrapped up the day with carne asada dinner at Emmanuel Baptist church.

Thank you for your interest in our trip. We covet your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for our team. We are really having a great time!

For the team,
Peggy and John

Monday

2011-02-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day in Culiacan! After breakfast here at the hotel, we split into two team. Guys went to Progreso to work on the church building site where they painted, laid cement block for the walls and bought supplies. News Flash: HALLELUJAH there are two bathrooms at the church there that will be finished this week and I would like to say that I am super excited about that. :) Meanwhile, back at church, ladies worked on sorting the donated clothing we brought down. These will be distributed later. We worked on our puppets and other activites in preparation for the afternoon. After lunch we all were at Progreso at the House of Hope. We had around 50 kids and parents show up for a fun afternoon. The puupets (well done, Julie) along with John and Peg, led the singing time, and then we read the Max Lucado book, "You Are Special" to the kids. Trey read the whole book in Spanish - "Tu Eres Especial". We took digital photos of the kids and printed the pictures on a little printer while they colored frames as the craft, then gave them the photos to put in the frame. That was a big hit! We were so happy to see the children and parents again and be back in Progreso! Not much has changed from what we can see so far. It just feels great to be there again. We are looking forward to a great week together. Our team is having a great time getting to know one another better,and working well together and laughing a lot. The sun was shining all day here and we felt the warmth of it. The Son is shining amongst us all and we feel the love between us all.

We appreciate your continued prayers for our team here, in all areas, especially health. We have a few people who aren't feeling 100% at the moment, but not too bad.

Tomorrow will be a long day of construction (so we have heard) after serving breakfast for the children in Progreso at 8:00 a.m. Another early to rise day. That means lights out campers.

For the team,
Peg and John

we are here

2011-02-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hola and greetings from Hotel Santa Fe Express in downtown (warm) Culiacan, Mexico.
Our travel yesterday was uneventful...just a long day. We arrived in Mazatlan on time and made it through customs. We dined in the charter bus with our to go orders from McDonalds. I had McPollo and it was pretty good. John went crazy and had BBQ sauce on his. We arrived in Culiacan around 12:30 (1:30 your time), so the alarm went off too early this morning.
Today we spent most of the day at our sister church, Emmanuel Baptist. Our exuberrant service ended at 2:30, and we immediately were served lunch. It was great to be together with our mexican friends worshiping in thier culture. We are now relaxing and working on our assignments for tomorrow. Tonights dinner is at Papas Locas, our favorite outdoor restaurant..mmmmm. the closest thing to a Tiki Hut! Go Packers.
We are heading out to Progreso tomorrow and look forward to spending the afternoon with the children with a mini-Bible school.
There was a cold snap in the area recently where the temps went below freezing for 5 hours....which does not bode well for the tomatoes, peppers, corn and beans. There is not time to plant another crop, so everyone is waiting to find out the outcome from this possible disater. This will affect peoples jobs and the economy.
Back here at the hotel, we don;t have the usual noise of traffic here to lull us to sleep. There is none because there is no street in front. Instead of climbing over piles of snow back home we are climbing over rubble and base layers of rock that will eventually be the new street.
That's the report for now..........stay tuned. Please continue to pray for our team and our work here.
For the team, (Packers)
Peggy and John
ps...who won?

February 2011 trip to Culiacan, Mexico

2011-02-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ready, set, GO!
The next 24 hours are "Get Ready" time! The team members are tying things up at work and at home, running to Target one more time, trying to find summer clothes, doing laundry, leaving "while I am gone" notes, etc. Team XI leaves tomorrow and returns early morning February 14. Please cover us in prayer and check our blogs for updates.

Reflections

2010-02-19T16:09:00.001-07:00

Hello dear team members and friends,

It was wonderful to spend a week in Culiacan with you, whether physically with you there or whether you were elsewhere and praying for and thinking of those of us in Culiacan. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and love. It is beautiful to experience companerismo with you, whether close by or far apart. (now that I have an english keyboard I wont be able to include the ~ or ' in my spanish words anymore!)

Each of us, who experienced the trip physically or vicariously, are a part of a great team, a part of God's transformational work on this beautiful earth with its beautiful people. Seeing and experiencing what we did in Culiacan is a part of that transformational work in our own lives, and will flow out into how we partner in the work for the lives of others. God's transformational work is happening in Culiacan, and is happening beyond Culiacan; it is needed in Culiacan, and it is needed beyond Culiacan. We need to partner with each other, share, be accountable, and learn from one another as we seek to be a part of God's work. Let's all remember this as the days and weeks go by, and may they never separate us from these experiences or companerismo.

To all, whether you came with us to Culiacan or read or heard about it,

What did you see, hear, smell, feel, taste, think, sense, or experience during that week that is becoming a part of God's transformational work in you?
And what did you see, hear, smell, feel, taste, think, sense, or experience that is becoming a part of God's transformational work through you?

Thank you for your piece in this tapestry.

It has been a joy and a gift to journey with you.

Peace be with you.

Elise Probasco

Fotos!

2010-02-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

I noticed that we stopped posting pictures half way through the week. Forgive me! Here are some for you to enjoy.

Blessings.

Monday evening in Guasave (the drama)

Tuesday in Badiraguato (Huesito the clown)

Thursday in Progreso (fiesta)

Friday in Chulavista (spontaneous fiesta)

Flying back

2010-02-15T14:38:00.001-07:00

We are all home safe and sound! Pray that our colds would go away quickly, and for time to meditate on the trip. i will post an end reflection soon. Thanks!

¡El ùltimo dìa!

2010-02-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

Today was the last day that we are here in Culiacàn. And we went out with a bang!

After breakfast, we went to an area close to Emmanuel church that had several apartment buildings, 3 or 4 stories high with 4 apartments on each floor, with staircases open to the air and a plaza in the middle. We went with people from the church to invite them to Sunday services and to pray with them. One group talked to a man in a wheelchair who was drunk and sells drugs, some talked to people about how God has impacted their lives, and one group prayed with three or four people to begin having a relationship with Christ.

After lunch (everything seems to center around food on these trips!) we went to Chulavista and had a last-minute fiesta in a park. We got set up right when school let out, so children came running - literally - from every corner of the park to our fiesta. It was great! The biggest one we´ve had yet, and we didnt even invite anyone ahead of time.

We had our fancy Valentine's/Good-bye dinner tonight at Emmanuel with lots of people from the church. We heard from an older couple in the church, and sang our traditional good-bye songs that speak of always loving each other because we are family. We didnt leave the church until almost midnight...

and we leave the hotel at 6:30, so it is surely time to go to sleep.

Please pray...

For those who are fighting sicknesses, especially as we have a long day of travel ahead. We have found this to be the trip of headaches, perhaps from some bad backpacks...
For safe travel
For the people of Emmanuel, that they would be able to continue their work here with love and energy in all their relationships. They tell us all the time that it energizes and empowers them when we join them, but they are the ones who continue the work and relationships after we leave.
For the people we met over the week, that they would connect with Christians in their areas and experience the holistic transformation of Christ in their lives and communities.

I hope to write some time after we safely return. And include more pictures again!

Peace and blessings.

Another late night

2010-02-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hola. It has been a long day. We left the hotel at 6:45am and went to Progreso to hand out breakfast snack bags to the children as they entered school. While we were there we saw friends that we hadnt seen yet, dropping their children off at school and that made us very happy. It is always exciting to be at the school there because that is where our ministry in Progreso began four years ago. The school building then was a 3 sided tar paper wall with a dirt floor "building". Now there is a "compound" of several cement classrooms - some of the nicest buildings in the neighborhood. It is so exciting to see the results of how God has worked through us in Progreso over the 4 years we have been visiting.

After a breakfast break, we went back to Progreso and spent a good amount of time simply being there and building and making new relationships. The women met in homes and caught up on life with their amigas and the men walked around the neighborhood looking for conversations with men and to help them as we could with any projects. One group of women (including me - Peggy) got carried away and didnt watch the time and went "missing" for a while....we didnt realize the rest of the group was at Lupitas house for lunch waiting for us and they were making phone calls and starting to worry about our safety,. We were just fine............just talking!

We continued with an event at the House of Hope this afternoon-evening including a fiesta, drama, music, puppets and preaching. Lots of fun and games for the children and families and our team. We enjoyed our time together. We played games with over 100 children during the service time. The evening concluded with a new event - a MEN only pizza-fellowship time. (true FELLOWship). Since it was everly evening, men were home from work and able to spend time and connect really for the first time, after praying and desiring for this to happen. The timing was right. It will be exciting to see what becomes of this as the men from Emmanuel and the few men from House of Hope follow up.

Over all a great day of ministry. As you might have guessed, our blogster, Elise, is unavailable. She needed sleep, so we granted that. So, you get John and Peggy instead. We are tired also, so cutting this short. Thank you for your interest, prayers and support. Please pray for health and strength to get through the last day of ministry and then travel home. And wouldnt you know it, they started up with the jackhammer outside the hotel about 45 minutes ago. We are going to try ear plugs tonight.

Goodnight from Culiacan.

A short

2010-02-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Yesterday's post was long, so today's is short. It is late, and we have to leave the hotel at 6:45 am to pass out breakfast at the school in Progreso.

Today/Wednesday we spent a lot of time organizing ourselves for the rest of the week. It was raining so we didnt walk around inviting people to Emmanuel's prayer service like we had planned. We had free time this afternoon too, so we are all tired from walking around the city for hours!

This evening was a powerful prayer service with our brothers and sisters at Emmanuel.

Tomorrow/Thursday we are going to be in Progreso all day, handing out breakfast, spending time with the women in their homes, having a big fiesta and also a time with pizza for the men to spend time together (something that we have been wanting to have at Progreso for quite awhile).

Peace and blessings!

PS
The rain probably means no construction tonight!!

Relationships, Relationships

2010-02-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hola! I´m back. Thanks to my mom for setting up a good case for sympathy for me while I was gone... :) What she didnt mention is that baby Josue, Vanita and Lucio's boy, wasn´t feeling well either so Vanita and Josue stayed back in the hotel too for the morning. He (and his parents) need some sympathy too!

How is the snow up there in MN? We heard we are missing a lot!

So, I¨ll start with what we missed...

Monday
On Monday, as Peggy mentioned, we went to Progreso in the morning for some home visits. We also passed out bags of food (beans, oil, pasta, etc) to several families. For the team members who come to Progreso every year, it was a great time to see hermanos and hermanas and reconnect. Some of our amigos are in tough times, with loss of work or death of family members, and we carry their pain with us. But it was also an encouraging time as they shared with us their commitment to their children and to trusting God in ithe difficulties.

After lunch we went to the town of Guasave, a new place for us, which was a good 1.5 - 2 hour drive away. Pastor David from Emmanuel was working to help establish a church there before he came to Emmanuel church, when he lived in Los Mochis, which is close to Guasave. We walked around the neighborhood with some people from a church in Los Mochis, inviting the neighborhood to our fiesta in the park. At the fiesta we had a puppet show, a solo by Lindy, a clown ("Huesito," or Little Bone, is a member of Emmanuel church and is famous in Culiacan), a drama about how the devil traps us with bad decisions, a message from David, and Shawn and Kathy shared about God's work in their lives. Then we had a lot of fun carnival-like games and face paint for the kids. We started late, so we had to do the games in the dark, with the headlights from the van to help us. Several people asked for prayer after the message.

In Guasave we met Jesùs (not the Messiah, but a guy from Los Mochis), who has been holding weekly Bible studies in the park. He has been asked to be the leader for starting a church there, and just moved in to a home in the neighborhood. His fiance, Ycari, was helping us with the service too. The home he is renting has 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a hallway, and a wee room with a sink, 2 shelves, and a corner table. And a hot dog stand with picnic table right outside of it (yum). All 20+ of us took turns using the little bathroom.

Tuesday
Today we (well, they, technically) passed out food bags in another new area, Chulavista, and invited people to join us in the park for another time with Huesito. While walking around and inviting, some people came upon a woman cutting down a tree on a ladder with a machete. The men offered to help, and soon there were 5 US guys doing the same job that 1 Mexican woman was doing a minute earlier! A lot of jokes went around about that, and a great bond formed between the group and the woman and her neighbors.

After lunch we drove to Badiraguato, in the mountains. The last time North Haven went to Badiraguato was in 2003, in the pouring rain, and we were in a park in the city. Today we were on a basketball court in the neighborhood, and it looked great all set up for the fiesta. After we invited people, we had a similar program to Monday, but this time it was all in daylight: Huesito providing energy and excitement, puppets, drama, a song from Kathy, Jon, and Lindy, a message from Cipriano, and stories of God's work from Cindy and Jim. Then the fun games, prizes, and face painting. People from Emmanuel come to Badiraguato every Saturday for Bible study, and are hoping that some day the neighborhood will want someone like Jesùs to move to the neighborhood and eventually build a church. Badiraguato is close to La Apoma, another town that we have worked in before, that had an established church and building (with Raul and Gloria, if you remember their names). Sadly, that church is struggling to survive, so hopefully the church in Badiraguato will lend them support.

Relationships
The biggest theme of Monday and Tuesday is relationships. Walking around Progreso was so rich, because we were able to reconnect with our dear brothers and sisters there. It was different in Chulavista, where we didn´t know anyone. It felt colder, more sterile, until we met the woman with the tree. Then, through shared experience, we made a new relationship, which was really exciting.

Pastor David met a policeman in Badiraguato awhile back through the Bible studies, who was very skeptical of what Emmanuel was doing there. After awhile, the policeman asked David to pray for his son who was sick. The next time David saw the policeman, he said that his son got better after they prayed, and that now he did not doubt what they were doing, and that he was open to being prayed for too. We saw this policeman today at our fiesta, and he addressed our team warmly and called us brothers/sisters.

Relationships are also why coming to Culiacan is so neat. We bond with our family from Emmanuel and the other small churches. We come to be with them, to work with them, to love and to live with them. Some on the team might even feel more bonded to people here than their own friends or family back home. It is because of the special work that we do together, and how we can share in the transformation of God and of God's transforming kingdom together.

For me, what is so important is knowing that the people from Emmanuel do not choose random towns, conduct evangelistic meetings, and then disappear. Not at all! The church visits these towns weekly, visits the people there, cares for them, prays for them, and brings them food or other necessities they may need. They provide wonderful experiences for their kids, the fiestas with Huesito, and wonderful experiences for the adults, the Bible studies. They love these people, and dont care just about their souls, but their lives and who they are. Jesùs and his fiance are great examples of this. They love the people of Guasave so much, and they really care about them and their city. So they are being incarnational, they are moving in and going to experience life, and all it brings, with these people. Even when life there means a teeny tiny apartment away from your "normal" life.

Perhaps this thing of relationships has to do with the compañerismo David was talking about yesterday...

*********
There are a few other stories I could share, and things that our team members have found encouraging, or enlightening. But, it is bed time for me. I hope that you will catch up with whoever you know who is here in Mexico for their own personal stories of seeing God work here, when they return.

For those who are pray-ers, please lift up these things:

Pastor David is running himself ragged. His 3 children are all sick, and he was not feeling well when we arrived. He is spending long days/evenings away from his wife and kids, and seems to be barely hanging on. He told us that he gets physically sick when he is too stressed out or too busy, and we are concerned. Lift up his health, and that of his kids and wife, to the God who designed our bodies and systems.
The construction workers are back tonight on the street outside the hotel. Ask God that we would all be able to sleep through it.
We are not sure yet of our plans for Friday. We might have a fiesta in Chulavista, or spend more time in Badiraguato or Guasave. Ask that God will give the leaders wisdom for this decision, and that they would be able to discern where we are needed the most and what work is to be done, or relationships to be grown, wherever we do go.

Tomorrow we will be walking around the neighborhoods near Emmanuel Baptist church and inviting people to church, and we will be attending their prayer service in the evening. The afternoon is for free time.

Blessings on you, and on your relationships

Elise for Team 10

PS
For those who've been paying attention, those missing suitcases showed up Sunday evening. :)

Monday, written Tuesday morning

2010-02-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Buenas Dias! Good morning.

This is a little note to inform you that the blog will be updated later, probably tonight. Our blogster, Elise, had a migraine headache last night so she was not able to write her post. She is feeling better this morning, but will continue to rest here in the hotel this morning. Please pray for her recovery.

This is not a quiet place to be, especially when you have a headache. Last night when we returned to the hotel at 10:45 pm, they began some road repair outside of the hotel. Right under our window. This continued through almost all of the night. Imagine laying in bed (with a migraine) and hearing the jack hammer, cement saw, scraping, pounding, and the beep-beep-beep of the machine backing up......Thankfully, we all got some sleep, but it was a bit challenging. We were all very tired, so that helped.

We had a great day yesterday - passing out food baskets in Progreso, and then the afternoon service, and fiesta in the afternoon. More details later......

So, that´s it for now. Time to get in the van pretty soon and off to our next adventure. Thanks for checking in.
Peggy - for Team Ten

El Compañerismo

2010-02-07T21:11:00.001-07:00

¡Dios le bendiga!

Today was a wonderful day of fellowship with our brothers and sisters aquì in Culiacàn. After breakfast in the hotel (yes, Peggy did get her avena) those of us who are with North Haven headed out to Emmanuel for Sunday School and church. {to clarify...there are 20 here who came with North Haven, and 2 from a church in Fosston who are visiting their sister church here, and 4 from a church in Worthington also visiting their sister church...we are all staying in the hotel together and traveling together, though}. Marco, the director of the Baptist Conference in Sinaloa (the state that Culiacàn is in), is in the city from Los Mochis and is staying at the hotel with us and using his 12 passenger van to help transport us.

La Iglesia Emmanuel is working through a series called ¡Encender!, or Power Up! and is centering their teaching around the need to grow community amongst one another and to pray together. Their Sunday School classes, powerful prayer times, and sermons are all centered around this focus. Today´s passage was Hechos (Acts) 2:42-45, and the theme was el compañerismo, or fellowship.

Compañerismo is more than simply spending time together or watching the Superbowl with someone else (which we did not do, mind you...). The leaders of Emmanuel reminded us that to have compañerismo is to be devoted to each other, to be unified, and to have the presence of God amongst the people. Pastor David doesn´t mince words, nor does he say things without acting on them.

Last week, Pastor David and other church leaders were praying for the church, asking God what they should do and how they should lead the church toward greater compañerismo. Compañerismo necessitates taking down walls, being united, and working through conflict. So on Wednesday, David and others took down some walls - literally! For those who are familiar with Emmanuel`s building, the outerwalls of the room we usually fellowship in, by the kitchen, were torn down so the room is now open to the concrete slab/parking area al lado, or next to, the church. The church is growing, so its building needed to as well. We had the church service in this space, as we would not have all fit in the Sanctuary.

Emmanuel is challenging themselves to true, devoted faith through this ¡Encender! series. We read in Hechos 2 how the believers were devoted to the teachings of Jesucristo so much that they made his teachings their reality. "This isn´t just hard stuff to be asked to do...this is reality" says David. Truly sharing all possessions. Working through all conflict. Being one in heart. Having compañerismo, sharing one with the other about the things in their life. Compañerismo is a way of life, not something we do for a tax refund or as a social event. If Emmanuel is going to take this seriously, David challenged, the fellowship will go deeper and farther than they think it can, and it will get messy. But this is Jesus' call on his followers.

It is humbling to then follow the leaders of Emmanuel to Progreso, where they are constructing a church building, holding weekly services, giving physical and spiritual food aid, and helping people to find employment or go to school. The believers of Emmanuel are living the reality of Jesus´ teachings, and are passing on these teachings to us while they think they are passing them on to Progreso.

We went out to Progreso for that service after relaxing at the church for several hours, eating comida China, playing with kids and conversing with the adults. We had a similar church service to Emmanuel´s, on the grounds of the Casa de Esperanza church building, with a great reunion for our returners and the people there.

Right now, in between people trying to find out how the Saints won, we are waiting for Dominos pizza to arrive at the hotel - what else would native US Americans be doing on Superbowl Sunday?

Paz, y compañerismo...

Elise Probasco for Team 10

We´ve arrived!

2010-02-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,

Team 10 is officially all together and in Culiacan, at Hotel Santa Fe II (though not all of the luggage is...)!

Our trip was wonderfully uneventful, though we are missing two suitcases. After settling in at the hotel we went out to eat at a favorite local restaurant and had Papas Locas, or Crazy Potatos, with Pastor David, Marco, Jorge, and other church leaders.

Our team from the US consists of 26 people, from different places in Minnesota, Missouri, and California. 20 of us will be spending most of our time in the area of Progreso, 2 will be with Manrique`s church and in Cofradia, and the other 4 will be with their sister church here.

We closed our evening in traditional style, up on the roof of the hotel, to debrief the day and discuss tomorrow`s plans. Thanks to a handy Ipod and speakers, we sang along to the song "God of This City" by Chris Tomlin. The song talks of the great things yet to be done in the city. North Haven Church has partnered with Emmanuel Baptist in Culiacan, helping them to serve the people here, since the summer of 2000, which is why we call ourselves Team 10 this year. We have seen wonderful transformation of people`s lives, of communities, and of the city. But "greater things have yet to be done here." The people of Emmanuel Baptist, and now several other partner churches, are still loving on and serving their city, 10 years later. We are still coming, 10 years later, and we are all still praying and working for God`s transformation for the people here.

It is our prayer for Culiacan, but it is also our prayer for our homes in the US. As we pray for God`s Kingdom to come, for God to bring "peace to the restless," as the song says, we can think of the beautiful things happening in our cities because of people doing God`s work. We can think of the people, communities, and systems that still need God`s transformation. But we don`t sing this song just for our own cities or for Culiacan alone. We can proclaim that "greater things have yet to come" for Haiti, for Colombia, for Palestine, and so many other cities. God`s kingdom and God`s work transforms lives and communities.

God, continue to expand our eyes and understanding of your work here, at home, and around the globe. May we see how you are transforming lives, communities, and systems to be just, loving, and righteous in the model of Christ. Show us our parts in your story of redemption, and give us the strength and courage to follow you.

After some much needed sleep, we will be eating breakfast in the hotel once again and heading to Emmanuel Baptist for church in the morning, and to Progreso for a worship service in the evening. Please pray for our 2 missing suitcases to return to us quickly and easily.

Blessings on you family and friends!

Elise Probasco for the team

Team 10!

2010-01-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

The Mexico Team 10 is glad that you stopped by to share in the experience of our trip.

We will be in Culiacan February 6 - 13, 2010.

We will send an update as soon as we can when we arrive!

Blessings,

Elise Probasco for the team

DAY SIX & SEVEN

2009-07-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-05T21:30:00.001-07:00

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

2009-02-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-11T07:31:00.001-07:00

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

2009-02-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-02-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-02-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

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: