Spring Breakers!

Team 1 (March 7th-21st)

To recap what happened in March is a bit tough since it was about a month ago. I remember the first week, all teams excited and preparing ourselves for students to come! It took a LOT of preparation with the question…what are we going to do with them each moment of the day? And, how can they experience the full experience with a balance of fun, ministry and God? This picture is only 14 of the 33 that came that first week. For better use of each leader in the Enfoque Team, we each were in charge of a group for at least one day. Tuesday was my day! On this day we brought these students to ESEF. To begin, we already prepared the leaders, Matias and Laura, of our plans by telling them that they will be the ones to plan something for 14 students. They thought of some outside activities (physical). To begin, we were left waiting outside the gates of the school. The guards would not allow us in since we had no school ID. The communication between student leaders and office staff took about 30minutes resulting a visit in the director’s office. In my mind, I thought of a grim face man saying something along the lines of, “What is your reason for being here? I can not let you in, but only for today since you came a long ways…” Well, he did ask what our reason for being there, and we answered him and shared what group we represented, etc. Instead of kicking us out, he actually invited us to tell others in the US about this school. That he is more than willing to provide housing and meals for an entire month, for those students who plan to come attend his school. He then gave us all backpacks that had the school logo! We were all dumbfounded as we walked towards the field to begin playing with the students. There we met with many students. Some played volleyball, others basketball, others played field games, and the rest stayed at the benches talking and sharing. At the end, Matias said a couple words of thanks and how he is touched by the unity that Christians have no matter how many miles apart they are from the other! We prayed then headed out to eat. Instead of eating out, the director of the school paid for our entire meal in the cafeteria!! It was a full course meal already set for 30 people! … Can you agree that this moment was a God moment???

Team 2 (March 14th-21st)

The next huge team actually surprised us. See, the plans were that these students (Oklahoma, Montana, etc) will go to Puebla, Mexico and serve there for the week. However, they had planned to serve in Mexico City, NOT Puebla. Unfortunately, my team, the Oriente team, already had plans to serve Katie’s church of six this week. Because of that, I didn’t have much time with this large group as the other teams did. Even though the team was small, amazing things happened!

Below is a snapshot of what happened! We went to two of my schools, UACM and ESIME! Both times we had a chance to share the Gospel! Honestly, I get so pumped up whenever I share God’s love!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=85043615148&subj=30609409

(SAD NEWS: I lost my camera in the same hotel the spring breakers were staying in the week before, so these pictures are all from others…I was so bummed!!)

Team 3 (March 21st-24th)

This last week was optional. We received an email about a month ago asking if we wanted to help Queretaro’s team during this last week. I did! I wanted to not only visit a new state, but to help in whatever way I can in the ministry there! I arrived Saturday with the four from Louisiana name Laquinta, Quirby, Lydia, and Megan. On Sunday we attended church (picture below).

There we got to know some more of the members of the team. We also had a chance to see a few consistent Christians from the weekly meetings. It was super cool! We ate, played games, learned a few tips about Queretaro’s schools and the ministry that they do there, and simply bonded!

On Monday we went to our first school, UAQ (University Automatico de Queretaro).

It was really enjoyable to talk to students and to invite them to the Tuesday night weekly meeting. Then when the opportunity opened up, we shared the Gospel!

Here is a scenic picture of the Aqueduct and the overview of the Queretaro! Truly it is a tranquil city with beauty and a cultural background!

We met this a new friend, on Tuesday at the Tec school nearby.

We invited him to the English club meeting (which promotes communication in English to others in a fun and welcoming way). He actually wasn’t interested, but after two invites, he decided to come for a “little” while. Funny thing, he didn’t leave until after we ate lunch (which was about four plus hours!!) Pray that he continues "hanging out" with the team!

That Tuesday night could not have been any better!! We had a HUGE result! The Queretaro Team said it was more than they ever had of students. In the picture below, we just filled the room! Praise God! The topic of this meeting was, “How to have/solve healthy conflicts.”

One of the bonus’ for coming after four times is hearing the Gospel in the room across the hall. Four young men had this opportunity to hear the Gospel. That night each one accepted Christ as their personal Savior!! Pray that they will devote their time in the follow up to learn more about what it takes to be a Christian.

My last day, Wednesday, we went to UAQ again and talked to students. I had the opportunity to share the Gospel to three girls. Again, taking the step of faith to share is the greatest joy anyone can have! It is sharing my love, my best friend, to others so they can also experience and enjoy this love! This night, we played a picture scavenger hunt with a group of students at the center of Queretaro. It was a LOT of fun! More than that, two students who were not Christians, but interested in the fun, committed to going to Acapulco!!

(share with you about this soon!)