Tijuana

Well, we are safely back from Tijuana. (I would like to apologize for misspelling the name in previous posts- if only I had some exposure to Spanish I'd have known that... :)). Josh and I (as well as our team) had a great trip down to Mexico. We were gone for 8 days- the longest days of my life! Don't get me wrong- the time spent there was good, it was just without my baby girl! Mom and Phyllis took great care of her and all seemed to love the time together. Rebekah sprouted her 8th tooth, so they got the joy of some sleepless hours...sorry, guys! Rebekah learned so much from them- my favorites are that she now says shoe in a really high-pitched voice as she admires hers or your shoes and "men-men" for amen at the end of prayers (they must be more spiritual than we). They also taught her to back off the couch, which is really cool. Anyway, I was crazy anxious to get my hands and eyes on her and it seemed like it took forever to get back to her. She was waiting for me and I burst into tears the second I saw her! I just couldn't get enough- honestly, she seemed a little confused, then really happy to see us. We got some great hugs and kisses. Y'all know I was worried that she would walk before we got back- as much as the grandmothers tried, she waited to take her first steps (to me!!) until yesterday- her 13 month birthday!

As for Tijuana, it was wonderful experience, albeit tough. We took 50 people from our church of all ages and Josh's and my team of 10 (there were 5 teams of 10) was awesome!! Each team built a 12x12 ft or 12x16 ft "house" (read shack) per day in about 5 hours. We each had a staff member teach and guide us- we loved our leader! Her name is Alicia and she has a great heart for reaching the lost. We worked with her and her friend that is a boy ;), Chris, almost every day and they seriously were the best! I felt challenged to know more and be more active in reaching the lost of the world, be it Mexico, Iowa, or overseas.

Here are some shots of daily work across the border. We hand-built each house without the aide of power tools, so that was hard work. Hopefully, you can see the progress as we built as you scroll through. There are some shots of the families for whom we built, mostly the children who were preciosos! The 2 girls were darling and just wanted hugs and kisses from the gringa!
It never ceases to amaze me the little people are able to have and still survive. These people were so generous- each family sacrificed to make us a meal in appreciation- I was very humbled. Josh and I loved participating (in such a tangible way) in God's restorative work in the world. So often we think of people's spiritual separation from God and fail to see their very real physical needs.

Thank you, Lord for this opportunity and for so faithfully providing the way.







































These were from the last day as we waited for our plane- at Mission Beach in San Diego with the Kampmans. It was so nice to kick back a little bit on the beach.