This was such an incredible week!! Not only were there eight teams here at the ranch - but one of them was from our home church! The Sold Out (college/young adult ministry) from Faith Community Church in Fort Atkinson, WI came to Rosarito to build a home. As much as we would like to go on about them right now, we;re going to put that off for a moment and give you an overview of the week.
We had teams from California, Wisconsin, Ohio, Massachusetts, Illinois and Maryland here last week! That includes the girls' soccer team from Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA. They've been coming every year for the past few years, doing construction projects. This year they worked on backfilling the retaining wall for the future dorm building on the ranch. Galilee Korean Church from Glenview, IL had a team that ministered at Pastor Martin's church. They also had a construction team that did some roof repair in the community. Needless to say, it was a big construction week. Five other teams went out into different communities and ministered through children's, sports and women's ministries. It was an amazing week!
The teams ended up taking pictures of themselves and turning them into Kristy to make the slideshow, since she was building with our team all week. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge, but it worked out alright. However, it will not be the preferred method in the future. Here is the outreach highlight video from last week:
Struska Family - Following His Call
Following the call of Christ to reach the people of Mexico
Friday, August 13, 2010
August I - Sold Out Team from FCC
Now, back to the FCC team. We were so blessed by our team coming to minister with us in Mexico!! A team from FCC came in 2008 to build a house as well. The difference between these two builds was that Ron was not fully in charge of the '08 build, so he wasn't able to choose his materials for the house. This time he was able to make upgrades, do a little price shopping, etc. It's very exciting to be able to begin getting everything put together.
Besides getting blueprints put together for the model house that we would like to build here, we had one other major focus. That was to figure out how to help a team that is building a home have an evangelistic focus toward the family, as well as their friends and neighbors. Well, let's just say this team didn't need any help in that department! They brought gospel bracelets to give to the children - and there were lots of children! On two separate days they used an interpreter to explain what the colors on the bracelets meant. Every day they were out there playing, talking, interacting, painting, and playing soccer with the children. There were also a few adults that we had the opportunity to build relationships with. Two of them were raised mostly in the States, so they spoke english very well. Jose was a man that stopped by because he was curious about how we were going to build the roof. He lived down the road and is planning to build a small guest house for his parents to live in, but had never built a roof before. We invited him to observe/help out all week so that he could ask questions and learn a few things. So he did that for part of the week when he wasn't working. This opened up lots of time for conversations about what we believe and why we were here. On the last day a few of us had the opportunity to meet a man named Gerry, who also grew up in the US. We had a long conversation about various things, including Satan, nightmares, Jesus being the only way to get to Heaven, and more. It's so cool to see how God places people around the job sites that you can bless and witness to.
They worked so well as a team when they were here. There was a little bit of concern as to how the guys that had more experience with building were going to work with those, especially the girls, that had little or no experience. So on Day 1, Ron put about six girls on framing and they framed the first three walls by lunch time. Most of the guys painted trim and siding during that time. We may never know if this was a necessary move, but the whole team was very encouraging to one another all week long. Unfortunately, we had one person get sick in the middle of the week. On the last day in Mexico, all but three of the team and our family were sick. Most of them got sick overnight at the hotel in San Diego. We were kind of thankful, though, that this didn't happen earlier in the week or we may not have been able to finish the house.
Besides getting blueprints put together for the model house that we would like to build here, we had one other major focus. That was to figure out how to help a team that is building a home have an evangelistic focus toward the family, as well as their friends and neighbors. Well, let's just say this team didn't need any help in that department! They brought gospel bracelets to give to the children - and there were lots of children! On two separate days they used an interpreter to explain what the colors on the bracelets meant. Every day they were out there playing, talking, interacting, painting, and playing soccer with the children. There were also a few adults that we had the opportunity to build relationships with. Two of them were raised mostly in the States, so they spoke english very well. Jose was a man that stopped by because he was curious about how we were going to build the roof. He lived down the road and is planning to build a small guest house for his parents to live in, but had never built a roof before. We invited him to observe/help out all week so that he could ask questions and learn a few things. So he did that for part of the week when he wasn't working. This opened up lots of time for conversations about what we believe and why we were here. On the last day a few of us had the opportunity to meet a man named Gerry, who also grew up in the US. We had a long conversation about various things, including Satan, nightmares, Jesus being the only way to get to Heaven, and more. It's so cool to see how God places people around the job sites that you can bless and witness to.
They worked so well as a team when they were here. There was a little bit of concern as to how the guys that had more experience with building were going to work with those, especially the girls, that had little or no experience. So on Day 1, Ron put about six girls on framing and they framed the first three walls by lunch time. Most of the guys painted trim and siding during that time. We may never know if this was a necessary move, but the whole team was very encouraging to one another all week long. Unfortunately, we had one person get sick in the middle of the week. On the last day in Mexico, all but three of the team and our family were sick. Most of them got sick overnight at the hotel in San Diego. We were kind of thankful, though, that this didn't happen earlier in the week or we may not have been able to finish the house.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
July IV - "Mexican to Mexican" Week & Mexicali Build
As some of you may remember, last year we kicked off a new type of outreach here on the ranch. Youth from all around Rosarito & Tijuana came together, formed teams and ministered to their peers. They held children's, sports & women's ministries in local churches. This year, we also had some friends from Mexicali join us, including some that were able to minister this past spring during the Mexicali outreaches.
We spent the first three days of this week in Mexicali, building a home out of the styrofoam blocks that we told you about earlier. It was quite an experience! We learned a lot about these new materials and what it would take to put together teams to build with them. Funds are being raised to build these homes in Mexicali, so please let us know if you have any interest in helping families get safe houses to live in.
Monday, August 9, 2010
July III
Well, it may have been an off week here on the ranch, but it sure was a busy one! Ron helped pour the foundation for the house we're building for August I.
Also, thanks to a new, dear friend, Kristy and the children were able to go to the San Diego Zoo with the interns and some of the other staff members.
We will be in Mexicali from Monday through Wednesday of this week building a home. Hundreds of families in Mexicali were left homeless after the earthquake this past spring. If you haven't heard, we will be testing out some new building materials. There is a company that makes styrofoam blocks used with cement and other materials to build homes. They have given us the blocks to build ten homes in Mexicali. This will be the first home that YUGO is building using these materials, so we are going to help build. This may be something that we will continue to be a part of. Please pray for us as we are going from days averaging about 70 degrees, to days averaging a little over 100 degrees. (We plan to build during the cooler parts of the days.)
Unfortunately, this means that we will miss the first half of "Mexico to Mexico" week here at the ranch. This is when local churches send their youth to come, form teams, and minister to other local churches the same way as the Americans and Canadians do when they come to ROC. When we return, Ron will be busy as he finishes getting everything ready for the build next week. The lumber will arrive on Saturday. Kristy will have to use Thursday and Friday to shoot pictures and video of the outreaches, and then get the slideshow ready for Saturday morning. So basically, it's going to be a very busy and exciting week!! And the following week - the team from FCC will be here and another home will be built!! Praise God!
Also, thanks to a new, dear friend, Kristy and the children were able to go to the San Diego Zoo with the interns and some of the other staff members.
We will be in Mexicali from Monday through Wednesday of this week building a home. Hundreds of families in Mexicali were left homeless after the earthquake this past spring. If you haven't heard, we will be testing out some new building materials. There is a company that makes styrofoam blocks used with cement and other materials to build homes. They have given us the blocks to build ten homes in Mexicali. This will be the first home that YUGO is building using these materials, so we are going to help build. This may be something that we will continue to be a part of. Please pray for us as we are going from days averaging about 70 degrees, to days averaging a little over 100 degrees. (We plan to build during the cooler parts of the days.)
Unfortunately, this means that we will miss the first half of "Mexico to Mexico" week here at the ranch. This is when local churches send their youth to come, form teams, and minister to other local churches the same way as the Americans and Canadians do when they come to ROC. When we return, Ron will be busy as he finishes getting everything ready for the build next week. The lumber will arrive on Saturday. Kristy will have to use Thursday and Friday to shoot pictures and video of the outreaches, and then get the slideshow ready for Saturday morning. So basically, it's going to be a very busy and exciting week!! And the following week - the team from FCC will be here and another home will be built!! Praise God!
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