Te doy Gloria!

Hola a todos! It’s been a beautiful day as the rains have cleared up and we got a chance to visit the communites today. God’s presence was definitely felt as we worshipped alongside the people in the community of Las Palmas. The church we visited welcomed us with open arms, and it was great to see God’s community joining together as we sang worship songs in English and Spanish and as Tony delivered his message in Spanglish this morning. Noe and his family joined us in Las Palmas and introduced us to the greatest fish tacos known to man. We are all fully enjoying the Mexican food. We even got a chance to try chicharron, which is basically fried pork rind but can also double as a fun word that is applicable in almost any situation.

Our day continued with a great adventure in the mountains of Tijuana, but I’ll let Marissa fill you in on that portion of our day. Thank you for your prayers and support, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the week. Hasta manana!
Sarah Gadway

Sunday part 2...

First of all, I want to emphasize on what Sarah said about how welcoming the church was in Las Palmas. The people there were filled with the love of God and you could see their joy for the Lord overflowing in how they jumped, danced and raised their hands in worship.
After lunch we spent some quality time in God’s creation. We took a long, windy, scenic drive through the mountains and stopped along the highway to climb up the boulders that lined the side of the mountain. The view got more and more beautiful the higher we climbed. We ended the climb with a hearty Hail to the Victors, followed by the Mexican version of the chicken dance. We then drove back down the windy mountains and headed back to our home for the week.
Thank you for all your support and prayers! Please continue to pray for us as we start work in Villarutia tomorrow.
In Christ’s Love,
Marissa Person

Don't yell at the pastor.

We are playing spoons to wind down the night. Katherine Raymond just knocked me out and she screamed really loud in celebration. Thought you would all like to know this.

Rainy rain...

Hello, friends! Brian here – we’ve come to the end of our first full day here in Mexico. It has been raining more than usual in this area…so much so that we were not able to make the drive up the mountain roads to Villarruita. These communities need this rain. Please pray for patience on our parts as we wait for the weather to clear up enough to make our way to our Mexican brethren. We were informed today that Katherine and I will be co-leading worship and Tony will be giving the message at church in a community tomorrow. This is more than enough prep time for Mexican culture. :)

Thanks!

1. Thanks to the Lord-we are safe at the Rancho La Paloma in Tecate, Mexico.
2. Thanks to our team-Morale is high, everyone worked hard today moving promise packs (backpacks) into storage in San Diego. These packsare filled with school supplies and are given to children in need in Mexico.
3. Thanks to your support-We miss each of you. Personally, it's by no means easy to kiss my wife and 10 month old son goodbye for a week. But Mariah and I hope Cy will grow up and decide to steward his spring break in service to the Kingdom and the King. These are stellar students here. Thanks families for a job well done! [PS-Precious, if you read this, our team had a great idea on how to prevent Cy from taking his first steps while Daddy is gone. Please hold him in your arms for the next 7 days :) Thanks.]
4. Thanks to the skycap servant who assisted us with check-in today. Your $20 spot was well deserved.
5. Thanks to World Vision for sending Kathryn Compton to join us. Kathryn is the national director of many important things in the organization. We relish our one week of quality time together.

Tomorrow we are off to Villarruita, a community where our team last year began great work on their community center. Our summer youth team continued that work. We are excited to return. Please pray specifically for this community. Sanitation provisions and road conditions are a few of the many glaring needs here. Pray the rains don't keep us from traversing the mountainous, dirt (and crater-filled) roads.

This blog should be updated around 12am EST each night by a few students. If not, our internet connection is shaky at best. More to come!

Leaving Tomorrow

Hey friends,

So... I never got around to putting those pictures up (sorry...). However, if you're my facebook friend you'll find pictures there.

We are leaving in the morning! Thank you all for your prayers so far - as little as I've seen the rest of the team this last week I can sense that there is a huge amount of excitement building, which might help us get through our 5.45 AM meeting time at church to head to the airport.

The next time you'll hear from us, we will be at the ranch in Tecate. Viva Mexico!