Easter Outreach - Mexicali, Mexico

The team from Maryland came to Mexicali and blessed the socks off of the local people! The majority of the team ministered at a church in Quintana Roo. They had a great turn out of children, youth and women. They also held evening services and paid a visit to the construction site one day. Here are some photos from their ministry:

 Sports Ministry

Children's Ministry

Women's Ministry

The construction team built a home in La Puerta. This is the fourth home teams with YUGO have built in this area, as it was among the most heavily damaged areas by last year's earthquake. This home was built for a couple, Ignacio & Leticia, and their three children. The first photo is of the construction crew, Leticia (holding the cross), their oldest son, Nacho (Ignacio Jr.), and their pastor (far right).

Photo (of a photo) of their home after the earthquake.

 

Hannah Ford sharing with Ignacio & Leticia's two youngest children using the Evangecube.

The family cooked for us a few different days. This photo on the right shows

Ignacio (left) and his friend preparing a meal:

The team handed out salvation bracelets to everyone, including family, friends & neighbors. Here is Laura McGrain, YUGO Missionary, translating for our speaker for the week, Richard Sharp, as he explained the symbols on the bracelets.

Praying for the family receiving the home:

Left: Cross presented to the family; Right: Construction Ministry Coordinators, Ron (Rosarito) & Jose (Mexcali)

Jose will be in charge of finishing the home with stucco for the exterior and painting the interior.

There was also a Mexican team that did ministry in La Puerta, at a church only a few minutes from our building site. This first picture is of this church's building after the earthquake (taken last week). The pastor of the church would like to see more people in the area receive homes before rebuilding the church.



 

Will spent four days on the construction site working alongside Ron, and one day in Quintana Roo with the team doing sports ministry (while Kristy took photos). He was also "Encouragement Lad" for the week.  He got to help hand out encouragement cards during chapel.

Brittany helped in the kitchen most of the week. She helped every day with breakfast and all the other days, except for two, that she spent at the construction site. She also had the privilege of helping to lead worship with one of her favorite singers, Hannah Ford, by playing keyboard and singing.

Mexicali Outreach Week

Today kicks off the Easter Outreach Week here in Mexicali, Mexico, where it promises to be in the upper 90's all week.  Praise God for the sunshine!!  (Even though Ron and Will wouldn't mind being back in Wisconsin where it is much colder right now.)

This week we have a team coming from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Damascus, Maryland.  They are bringing along an extra crew to build a home for a family that lost their home in last year's earthquake.  We will bring you more details, and of course pictures, when we have them.  Ron will be helping lead this home build with Jose, a Mexicali local that is heading up the home building in the Mexicali area.  This home will be constructed of lumber, as opposed to the styrofoam blocks and cement.  It's not July (last July when we were here it was averaging about 110 degrees), but it is still very hot - especially for those coming all the way from Maryland.  Please pray for the construction team.  Pray that they will stay healthy, be able to finish the house, and that they will have opportunities to share the Gospel with the family, as well as their extended family, friends and neighbors.  The children will of course be helping wherever needed.  They were a huge help with the cleaning and getting the outreach center ready.  Brittany will be helping in the kitchen with KP duties.  Kristy will be taking photos and shooting video at both outreach sites and putting together a video for the week, as well as helping out at the construction site.

Please pray for the evangelistic team as they go out into a colonia (community) to minister.  There will be children's (VBS-type), women's and sports ministries.  Pray for a lot of children, women & youth to come out.  Please pray that the team will have a positive impact on the church and that they'll be able to clearly communicate (mostly through translators) the message of salvation through their Bible studies, songs, messages and testimonies.

The Rosarito Outreach Center (ROC - a.k.a. our home) is being blessed by a team from New Life Community Church in Clovis, California this week.  Our family is sad that we will not have the privilege of meeting them, as we are ministering in Mexicali this week.  Half of the team will be serving at the Ranch (ROC), by doing some much-needed painting.  Last year they painted the kitchen, classroom and storage buildings on the Ranch and did an amazing job!  The other part of the team will be ministering at YUGO's Grace Children's Home. 

One last prayer request is for the YUGO staff here at the Mexicali Outreach Center.  We have a Canadian volunteer, someone from Northern California, and the rest are from the Rosarito/Tijuana/San Diego area.  The heat can be a big adjustment for some.  On top of that, most of the staff is already here getting things set up and ready for the team to arrive this afternoon.  Last night there was a fiesta next door with very loud music until after 6:30 a.m., so needless to say much of the staff had very little sleep last night which can be a difficult way to start out the week. 

Thank you so much for your prayers.  Please know they are very much appreciated and greatly needed!  God bless!

East Tijuana: Building a Comedor (Feeding Kitchen)

Ron had the priveledge of leading the build of a comedor in East Tijuana a couple of weeks ago.  Comedor means dining room/area in Spanish.  The purpose of constructing a comedor is to house a breakfast feeding program.  This one was attached to the side of a church.  The church wanted to also build a small addition for church-related events.  We asked them if we could just build the comedor attached to the church and it could be used for both purposes, since the feeding program takes place early mornings on weekdays and the church would use it on Sundays, evenings, etc.  They were more than happy for the idea, as they didn't want to take advantage of the comedor building the team was building.

The team that came to build the comedor also worked on other projects in the area, including a new fence for this church.  The team was an amazing group of people from Canada.  They are from the church of two YUGO missionary candidates, Jody & Angela.  This was the first full comedor Ron has led, but not the first one he has helped with.  This team of about 30 people ended up working an extra day to help get projects finished up.  This was due to a malfunctioned computer system for their airline.  They were delayed by a few days and instead of flying home on the same flight, they flew home on about four different flights.  They handled this delay amazingly!  Here are some more pictures of the build:

 

 

 

 (Pastor Romero & the keys to the comedor)