SUNDAY, JULY 27

Today we spent the entire day at the Bethel Bpatist Church in Chimalhucan. Our band helped to lead owrship in the service and we got ablessing worshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ in another culture.

But the highlight of the day for us (and I think for the church) was the Youth Program tonight. The church is only 3 years old and has grown from 30 to 700 in that time. There were well over 100 youth at the event tonight. Our kids absolutely rocked! Parents, have I told you how awesome your students are??! I am so proud of them. They did two skits, including the Everything skit which had everybody rivited and one of the pastors in tears; The band did a concert; our students served their youth and mades some friends as well. Rafael, one of their pastors, led a decision time, well, let´s just say I stopped counting at 25 who had made first time commitments to Christ, and it looked like they were dealing with more! But I¨ve rambled on enough, lemme let you hear from some of our students . . .

JJ



First full day in Mexico!! WHOO! After a breif nights sleep or nap... depending on what you consider 4 hours of sleep to be we had a full day ahead of us! We were able to attend the church service this morning, and enjoyed expierencing God in a new way. It was awesome to come together as two different cultures with two different languages and realize though we were so different we are worshiping the same God. It was neat to feel such unity with people who we had never met before. Im skipping through the rest of the day to the other highlight... because kendra is egarly waiting to blog and i wouldn´t want to keep her waiting! In the evening we were able to act as servers for a youth gathering at the church. After we served the youth dinner, we were given the opportunity to present the Everything drama, along with a new drama that a group of TSMACers learned just today. Both dramas had no words, but seemed to make a HUGE impact on the audience. This was answered prayer for our team because many of us were worried about the language barrier we would be facing here in Mexico and our ability to communicate. It was such encouragement to see something that had no words - be able to communicate so much and was a reminder of our Lord´s amazing power. Praise Him!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Brianne.



To All,

I had the outstanding and very new expirience to not only go on my first plane ride, but also seeing a whole new nation and thier culture.
My first plane ride was everything I expected it to be, AWESOME!! I got to expirence my first plane ride with all of my friends(I was the only person on the team to have a first flight that day), so that made it even more excieting! Sailing over Mexico City was a sight to see! When people say its all city, it really is! Before we got to the city though I saw gorgeous mountians, and farmlands.
Arriving at Mexico City I felt intense for about 25 minutes, then my energy dropped down quite considerably. The weather was nice, the pollution could be better at some spots, and the altitude was getting the most of us. After sight seeing the main sqare we had dinner then got to the private school around nine or ten. We got settled, had worship and a Bible study, followed by bed around one Sunday morning.
Sunday morning I woke up five hours later to a cold shower, followed by church at Bethal Babtist Church. After church we went to lunch then came back to host a nice dinner party for thier youth group. After food, games, and worship we cleaned up and got ready to head back to the school. During the cleaning up time most teens wanted pictures with us, (almost like we were celebraties). So now its 12:15 Monday morning, and we are starting our VBS tommorrow at the church. PLease keep us in youyour prayers, and thank you for the support!!

-Kendra



What a day it has been! God showed me a way to serve others outside of my comfort zone. Being handicapped with my voice, I am able to hear the many colorful voices around me singing in different languages. I signed up to be in a mime skit and turns out, it played out as a big deal- only rehearsed 4 times. Ladies painted our faces in white and clothed us in black with white gloves as a finishing touch to make it realisitc. God breathed through improv and not being able to use words, but only the emotions on a blank face (as a canvas.) I spent time talking with the people that are native to this country and it has been a real joy seeing so many of them giving their lives to Christ! I know God is with us and He has made himself known in various ways. Jane and I lead bible study tonight and I believe it impacted our time positively with my kalidescope comparison and our diagram to help further explain how we are called to serve others on this mission trip!
-Laurena

The past two days have been incredible! God has taught me so much, including patience, and dependence on Him. The day of travel completely wore me out. I was not feeling too good at dinner, and the restaurant where we went had the best food we would be eating all week! Luckily, I started feeling better and ate my dinner! :] Today, Sunday, was one of the most intense. I got to practice my spanish, and it turns out I know more than I thought! Mom, I know you are reading this, and Ben is doing fine. He is taking all his meds and we have had ZERO issues so far. He and Hudson were even working on their Bible study tonight! Well, I have to head off to bed, but there will be more to come! I love you Mom, Dad, and Stephen. Ben and I send hugs and kisses!
-Jane