I can’t believe this will be the final update for our trip. Although it is nearly time for all of you to be waking up on Saturday morning, and really time for me to get to bed, I wanted to make sure that I updated you on our final day here in Monterrey.
Our final day in Monterrey was full of emotions, happy and sad, from us and from the Mexican believers. Taylor, Colin, Duncan, Ragan, Bethany and Kelsey have all had an amazing time getting to know and work with the youth from Encuentro Con Dios. Each day there were more and more smiles on their faces. The ladies (Jennifer, Suzanne, Lori, Marilyn and I) have been enjoying getting to know the Mexican women that we are working with. Many of them came to us this morning and told us how wonderful our meal together was. Jessica was able to make a friend her age that doesn’t speak English. She also had some special moments with the 3 year olds in her VBS class. Travis and Don were hanging curtains and replacing the kitchen countertop. Don was busy helping with the snack when he wasn’t with Travis. During the game times we practiced which song and verse we were going to say for the parents. They came at 12:30 for a closing program. Many hugs were given and goodbyes said with sadness.
Glenn, Bob, Mark, Duncan, Dan and Scott, though, head a tough time leaving their projects for the day because they were working so hard all week there were just a few more things they wanted to get finihshed. We are excited to see the before and after pictures that they took. Glenn reported tonight that they got the electrical wiring finished. The dry wall is hung, so it just needs to have the door frames hung before the basics were finished. They were able to come to the closing program to see what our week was like.
Following lunch (which was a very interesting chicken salad sandwich caserole and salad) we went to the River Walk to check out some street “vendors”. It seemed like a big farm market but under tents and and with not as much food. Most of our souveneirs came from there. However, a few of us did manage to save enough for shopping down town. Our evening activitiy (goodbye dinner) was supposed to start at 7 and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 7:25. We had until 8 to get ready for the fiesta. What a fiesta it was.
We had tortas(like a very small taco) and bean soup. Much to our surprise, a mariachi band came up the steps and played for about 30 minutes for us. It was really neat to see how much fun everyone was had. Travis gave a testimony of the week and several of the Mexican church members gave us gifts as well. Each church received it’s own copy of the entire group of VBS. We are hoping to stop by the construction sight in the morning so that we can see what the guys have been up to all week. And though VBS was tough to end, tears began to flow as we REALLY had to say goodbye after the fiesta. The youth from both mexican and american have already exchanged all the social networking information they needed to stay in touch with one another. Jorge and Maricela Aleman (our Mexican team coordinators) have two teenage daughters who ended up spending the night tonight in the hotel with our Ragan, Kelsey and Bethany. That is how close they got this week.
To all of you who have continued to pray for us, thank you. We have seen God working things out and teaching us things we didn’t necessarily want to learn right now, but things that He knows are good for us. God is good.
Please continue to pray for us as we come home for the following:
- Safe and smooth travel for all of us
- That God will continue to finish the work he started in us long ago.
- Good rest in our own beds.
- Clear minds and open hearts as we continue to process everything that has gone on.
In His Service, for His Glory!
Crystal (for the team)
