Day Eleven

We're currently sitting in the airport in Mexico City waiting to board our flight.  It seems like such a long time has passed since we arrived here.  Most of us are pretty tired, and I'd say there is some excitement about coming home.  Still, we all agree that this was a great trip, and so many of these experiences will stick with us in the days to come.  Some of the highlights....

- Working together with the church and forming relationships with the people there.  We were very blessed by the way that the church welcomed us in and allowed us opportunities to minister.  They have an excitement and passion for God, and it comes through in their church services.  We were able to serve them this week, but we were also able to learn from them.  Even with the cultural differences, we really valued the experience of working with this church.

- Working with Josh and April and their family.  We were so blessed by the Amiots and their willingness to sacrifice on our behalf.  They truly did everything possible to make this a beneficial trip for each one of us.  Even though they were spread thin this week, they made us feel like part of their family.  Our prayers are with them in their continued ministry and for the rest of their summer with another team coming in next week.  

- Visiting the Esperanza Viva Orphanage.  All of our students have said that this day strongly impacted them.  I wish we had more time to spend with these children.  We were all impacted by what we have, and by what they do not.  Our perspective was strongly altered by seeing their lives and what they have gone through.  We feel so much more aware of how blessed and loved we are, and that the struggles we have undergone in life quickly pale in comparison to those of others in the world.  

- Keeping our focus.  One of the biggest challenges of the trip was keeping our "eye on the ball".  I can't recall a day where there was not some sort of distraction or opportunity to divert our attention from what we were there to do.  I'd love to say that we stayed on course 100% of the time, but there were times when we allowed ourselves to get distracted.  Still, I found this to be a great opportunity to learn about just how important it is that we remain focused on what our mission is.  When we take our eyes off of that and put them onto ourselves, we can easily become distracted, a lesson I hope we learned during the course of this trip.

- Being a team.  Every individual has the power to impact the entire team in a postive way, as well as in a negative way.  We saw both over the course of this trip.  Decisions are powerful, and they rarely just affect one person.  Our team saw the importance of making the decision that is right for the good of the team, not just for the good of an individual.  

I'm proud of our team for their continued desire to be servants and to be used by God this past week.  My prayer is that they continue to build upon the experiences we had, and allow God to continue to stretch and grow them.  My prayer is that they would continue to learn what it means to keep their focus on God and on His will in every situation, even what that means not getting our way or not being the center of attention.  My prayer is that God will seal the experiences and challenges of this trip inside the heart of every student, and that He would use those experiences to continue to grow and shape them in the days to come.