We're Home

Last night we finally made it home after can only be described as a saga.

Now, don't misunderstand, it wasn't a disaster, by any means, just a saga. We had times of fun, of concern, or spontaneity, of joy, of fulfillment, of sadness, of humility, of exhaustion, of uncertainty, and of many other feelings.

You already know much of the story or can read it on this blog. The latest chapter was just the trip home.

After dedicating the house we built in prayer with the family, we handed over the keys and made for market. There we bargained for a few souvenirs and then headed right for the border. The crossing there was by far the most painless thing of this whole trip. It was simply a let down from what we'd built ourselves up for.

The road after that was long, but at least it was somewhat predictable. We stopped in Camp Verde, Arizona to visit Crusty's Pizza (Yum!) and then hit the road again until we reached Gallup, New Mexico, where we spent the night.

The next morning we said goodbye to our friends from Wichita (who had a shorter road trip ahead of them) and took off a little after 7am, local time.

Everything was going as well as could be "predicted" and then we had to kick it back into spontaneous mode. When we crossed into Kansas, and thanks be to God it wasn't until that point, we encountered the winter storm you are now watching outside your window. It was about 9:30pm. We had about 200 miles in front of us but we could not drive more than 35mph. On top of that we found out that all the hotels in the area were booked solid from travelers getting off the road. So we could either sleep in the vans for a few hours and hope the storm would let us enough that we could resume travel by daylight, or we could just inch away at the road before us until we reached our warm beds. We chose the latter after a considerable amount of thought (and knowing the prayers of our friends at home were being lifted up).

We got home at 3:30am this morning, never more excited to be dealing with snow in the middle of the night, a night we could now finish in our own homes.

If you want to hear more stories about our trip, just stop one of us at church. It was a great blessing and privilege, despite of all the changes and adjustments. I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Thanks to all the KP community who supported us and prayed for us. It wasn't for us, and we keep none of the attention. It was for the King, Jesus, and to Him be the glory and honor, Amen.

We're Back Posting!

Another day in Mexico, and an exciting one at that.

Let me first recap yesterday after the post.

In one work day we marked out the foundation, poured it, assembled the walls, erected them, put up all the bailing wire, put on all the tar paper, put on the roof pieces and covered half the roof with plywood. That’s a lot in one day.

After that we went back to camp, with a quick stop at a very American Circle K station along the way, and had the most delicious Chili ever. We has Fritos and dogs to go along with them too. Yum! There’s just no other way to say it.

Today we went right to task finishing the roof (plywood, rolls of shingles, and tar), we put up the chicken wire, hung the door, installed the windows, and as I write, the first coat of stucco is drying. That was all before lunch.

This afternoon we’re going to put on one more coat of Stucco and then it’s off to the beach. You hear me right, the beach. If you’ve not looked on a map, we’re in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, a prime vacation spot for folks in Arizona. It’s a beach town and we get to partake in the parte’ just a bit.


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There is, however, something far more important to report on.

The kids in the neighborhood have all really warmed up to us and there are never less than 4 kids working alongside us. Christina and her little brother have definitely made a nice spot for themselves in our hearts.

Julio, the third child of the family we’re building for, and his siblings, have all found their way in there too.

This is the part you’re going to be jealous of. Today the family fixed us Tamales. That’s right! Home made, made in Mexico, while hanging out in Mexico, tamales. We just ate a lunch of those and let me tell you: they were amazing!

The family has been so warm and gracious; they’ve really welcomed us and been so sweet to us.

I guess one of the hardest things about all of this is that it’s very easy for us to get a savior complex and feel that we’re real super heroes coming down here to save the day. We’re not! That’s just the truth.

Yeah, we (and our church) made some sacrifices to get here, but we’re nothing but hands and feet. We’re not saving anyone or anything. We are following the footsteps of the Carpenter who taught us to care, who taught us to give, who taught us that it’s not about us.

I’d like to believe that He’d be proud of the structure we’ve built. But of one thing I am almost sure, He’d be proud of the not the house, but the home we’re helping to build.

Now Lord, knowing that some plant and some water, may you bring the increase as you nurture this beautiful home in Your love and Grace. Amen.

Wow.

It's been such an amazing trip.

You're not going to believe this but I'm sitting at an Internet Cafe in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, on my way back to the work site. Internet access here is $1 for an hour. Fortunately my trusty mac book is with me. Otherwise I could use one of the PCs here.

The work is going very well.

We crossed the border early in the evening last night and drove about an hour to the site of our camp. In the distance we could see the beach resorts standing several stories above the landscape and could picture hundred of American tourists just having a good time.

We started setting up our camp, the KP team as well as the team from Haverhill Christian Church in Augusta, KS, which turned out to be quite a task to accomplish in the dark when half of your team hasn't ever set up a tent at all.

They all did beautifully.

At our campfire talk that night Jason, our leader from Haverhill, reminded us of something that really kind of rocked me. The spring break crowd at the beach just a couple miles away was setting one example for the people of Puerto Peñasco; we, however, were being called to perhaps set a different example. Now, the folks on vacation here cannot be lumped into one category, that wouldn't be fair, but the fact is that we were called here for something entirely different, and there are folks who will not leave the most positive of impressions while partying on the beach. We were called here to leave not our impression, but the mark of the love of Christ, in the shape of framed walls, and concrete, and tar, and chicken wire.

The work today has gone very well and everyone is working really hard.

As I write, the concrete foundation that we poured this morning is drying and almost all the outside walls are up and squared. The roof parts will go on next, then we'll cover the roof and eventually we'll start the stucco phase on the outside walls. Of course, most of what I just described won't get done until tomorrow since it's already almost 5 here and we'll be going back to camp soon.

I wish I could write more but I have to get back to camp.

"Not from sorrow, pain or care, freedom dare I claim. This alone shall be my prayer to Glorify Thy Name!"

Change of Plans

So this mini saga continues...

Yesterday we woke up in Amarillo, TX, happy as could be that we'd have a relatively short drive ahead of us and we could take it easy and enjoy a bit of Amarillo.

Some went to breakfast; some went to Starbucks; some went to Wal-Mart. We also skyped into both church services at Kaw Prairie to pray with and greet the church there (which kind of reminds me of Paul writing letters to the churches. I bet if he'd known about Skype he'd be jealous). That was a really cool thing.

We could see the church worshiping, we laughed with them, and we prayed with them. It felt a little like being on Oprah, but I liked it way more.

So we head out of town and head for Cadillac Ranch, a little piece of land just west of Amarillo where they buried a line of old Cadillacs in the sand and allow people to come by and spray paint them. That was a totally amazing experience and we had so much fun finding poses for pictures in and around the cars.

I'd be showing you pictures of all this but the 13 people who brought cameras knew they wouldn't have a computer to download their pictures to so none brought their USB cables.

I guess they hadn't heard a Mac was coming on the trip :)

Well, the really exciting stuff is what comes next.

As soon as we were done at the Ranch, we got a call from our partners from Wichita saying to us that Amor Ministries was recommending we do not go to Ciudad Juarez. In the days leading up to this there had been a shooting there, which I'm sure you saw on the news, that killed three Americans.

The most relevant reason, however, why they thought we should not come through, was because just down the street from our camping site, a fight had broken out at a party on Saturday night and a Mexican national had been shot and killed. No harm has come to anyone with Amor, and the violence at this party had nothing apparently to do with the overall conflicts going on in Juarez, but with an incident that close to the camp, they thought it best to send us elsewhere.

This, by the way, is one of the reasons we trust Amor, their attentiveness, and their judgment when it comes to looking after the teams.

So we had a few options, but really only one possible one: to go to Arizona, cross over at Lukeville, AZ, and head to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, and build a single unit there.

This morning we woke up at the Super 8 in Flagstaff Arizona. What we thought would be a short day of travel yesterday turned into a 9-hour road trip which we are now recovering from (the waffles at the Super 8 really help with that).

Later this morning we'll be going to Lukeville, crossing in to Mexico, and heading right down to work as soon we can get to it. Long live the concrete volcano.

After we leave this hotel it will be harder for me to blog, but I'll try to get on here as often as I can.

You'll see tons of pictures when we get home, or you may see some sooner if we can get our hands on a USB cable :)

Thanks again for your partnership, support and prayers.

Amarillo, TX

We arrived in Amarillo, Texas, around 8pm tonight, had dinner at a local place, and are now settling down for bed time.

Got a complicated schedule tomorrow including skyping into KP, doing laundry, working out, and making it to church, and that's all before lunch.

It's been a while

I haven't blogged in a while, but now I find I must.

I'm just south of Wichita, KS, with the KP team that's going to build a house in Mexico.

We could not be more excited about this opportunity. We're thankful, and humbled by this whole thing.

At this point there's not much to say. The road has been good to us. Lunch was tasty. We're making good time at this point.

In about 2 hours we'll be stopping at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial for a few minutes and then we'll head out to Amarillo, TX, where we'll spend the night.

We don't know what we'll do in Amarillo, but there is a lot of talk about leaving our mark at Cadillac Ranch.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. We'll post more pictures and news as we have it and as we find hotspots.

Rock it!