Thanks to everyone (by Amy)

Whew! What a week! I can't believe how fast it went by, and yet I'm so excited for all that happened while we were in Mexico. The kids worked so hard most days at a children's home called Imperio de Amor. They planted trees to give the kids more shade (there is virtually none there for them and it's really hot), they poured a concrete driveway, they leveled an area in front of the new dining hall so that cement could be poured next week, and they tirelessly played with the children. I felt so blessed to be able to watch our kids step up and love these kids with their whole heart. A few of them were talking on the first day and said that when they go tired all they needed to do was look over at some of the children and it energized them again. They really understood why they were working so hard; so that these kids' lives would be changed.
I also know that there was a lot of spiritual movement in the lives of our students. You'll have to ask them individually about what they learned and how they were changed by the week, but I'm pretty confident that God did a ton in the hearts of our kids! I wanted to upload a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Until next year...
Amy :)

More Pics

Wednesday by Maddie bell

Today was another great day. We woke up and ate breakfast at 8, then followed with our quiet time that we have every morning. Today in quiet time we thought about different truths about who God is, and some of the lies we believe when it comes to God and how He works. I got a lot out of quiet time this morning because I wrote a list of things holding me back from really pursuing God and all He has to offer for my life. It helped me realize what I need to change in myself in order to live my life for Him. After quiet time we had small group, and I happen to have the best group of all consisting of: Mai,Jeanette,Ashleigh,and Mrs.Logeman. After that we went back to the children's home and finished our cement project and planting trees. It has been really hard work, but it is definitely worth it when you see the look on those kids faces when they are running home from school with their school uniforms on, and you remember what a major impact you are making in their lives. Once we were finished working we taught Vacation Bible School to the kids, which was really fun. We sang songs, acted out a skit, and made crafts. The kids were so into it and really had a good time. After we said bye to the kids we loaded up the bus and came back to campus in time for dinner. We are all really tired but had a great day today.

Ps. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! We love you. We are having an amazing time and we truly appreciate you sacrificing to sending us here;it had been an eye opening experience.

Written by Parker, Maddie was here to.

My Thoughts about this Amazing Trip by Josh

Let me begin by saying how awesome God is. He has shown me so many things thus far on this trip. One thing being how blessed I am to have all of the things that I have. I have had many "God moments" on this trip and hope to have many more. Most of these moments have been at the debrief times at the end of each day. Amy talked a few nights ago and said something that I have been thinking about constantly. She said "God is the starting point." God cannot be somewhere in the middle. He is what must be at the beginning. Everything we do must be based off of God, and if it isn't based off of Him, we are surely going to stray away from the very thin path of righteousness. God's awesomeness is shown in many ways. One being that He created everything we see. I took some time this morning to sit down with God and reflect on Him. I was thinking about His creations and a beetle crawled up next to me. It tried to make its way up a small ledge and every time it would get halfway up, it would fall back down. I compared this to us as Christians, because many times in our lives, we try to get closer and closer to God, but we often fall short. Sometimes all the way to the bottom and we have to start over again. This has been one of the best and most informative mission trips I have ever been on in my life and I am enjoying every minute of it. To my siblings and to any siblings coming up into Crash in the coming months or year, I strongly recommend coming on this trip to Mexico. It will change your life.

Tuesday (By: Lauren Lytle)

Today was a great day! We woke up at 8 and had breakfast at 8:30, then we had our quiet time! Todays quiet time was about why service is important to God's kingdom. something that really stuck out to me was when i read this quote "Service keeps our heads centered on the things of God. It makes us more human and less selfish."

What this means to me is, as human's we have grown up with people saying " your not perfect" and "its okay we all sin sometimes". We live in a world that has low expectations of us. When really God created us not to sin and to strive to be like Jesus. We live in this bubble that has made it okay to not obey God sometimes because "He will just forgive us anyways." But my thought is what if we make a conscious to act like Jesus. God created us to be perfect and just because Adam and Even chose sin does not mean we should choose sin everyday. we all slip and fall but i believe that if humans embrace the mind set that we can be more like Jesus everyday that our would become a better place! As a side note, this trip has been awesome and i am so proud of our youth group. on countless occasions we have pushed past being tired and hungry. We have helped others who need it a lot more than we do! All i ask is that you all pray for the strength and health of our youth group as we spend these couple last days here in Mexico...

Sincerely,

Lauren Lytle

PS.I love you Mom, Dad, Matt, and of course Nate! I can't wait to see you all!

Monday:) (By Ashleigh)

Hello! So today was quite a bit of a workout, both physically and mentally. First thing in the morning, we set up a bunch of crafts and food for the kids we would be meeting at the park later in the day. Once we finished, we made our way to the amazing park and waited for the kids. When they arrived, a few of us made a tunnel for all of the kids to run through and the looks on their faces were priceless. We got them food, sat down with them and got to know them a little. Then played with them for about 2 hours and we were utterly exhausted, but that's not the end of it. We were split up into groups and went into 4 different stations with them. We were all dead by then, and we still had to ride bikes with them! The worst part was, i don't even know how to ride one! But we all followed through and made their days complete. When we got back to campus, we were greeted by a mob of children from all of the different children's homes except El Limon. We ate dinner with them and did worship, which inspired a lot of kids. We then had debriefing and bonded as a group, then ended the day with a couple games of mafia!

Monday!! (By Phil)

Today was a pretty awesome day. There was not much physical labor involved but the Horizon group had the opportunity to work with kids from a local church and help out with a vacation Bible school. This was a really great experience because the kids here are so amazing, so full of energy, and a joy to be around.

Although this service today was great, the best part of the day, at least for me occurred during the evening. Back at the home base, the children from several of the children's homes that Back2Back serves came for a cookout, a night of worship, and a night to share some testimonials. The testimonials and worship are out of this world. There is so much energy and one can truly see God in every person that steps up to the microphone to tell their story.

One girl who spoke is currently in a children's home and she is in her mid-teens. The insight that she brought was unbelievable. She discussed her struggles, already in her young life. She explained how God was able to save her from a destructive and uncertain road that she was moving down. However, the most impacting part of her sharing was when she distinguished between what the idea of freedom when one is pursuing God and freedom when one is pursuing a sinful path, or the devil. This really made me start to think and how true this really is. The freedom that one experiences when pursuing God is unmatched. It allows one to pursue true happiness, true love, true joy, true forgiveness, and everlasting life in a perfect state. On the other hand, there really is no freedom when pursuing a life of sin. One is met with addiction, to being held down by earthly substance and earthly worries. One is lost, is helpless because they are not connected with their creator, with the one who promises a great life, and the one who can provide what is needed.

It was truly amazing to hear a girl, in her young teens, provide this insight. I sincerely hope and pray that each and every person on this trip, that includes myself, will be aware of this. Why be held down by the world, when one can be uplifted, beyond this world, and be able to be in a genuine relationship with Christ?

a few pics

Work Day Number 1

Hey Everyone! Just thought you might want to know that all is going well!
Yesterday, we started our day put at 8:30 and had breakfast, quiet time (for bible study), then small groups. After all of that we all got a tour of the Back2Back campus which is truly amazing. Everything is finished and operating very well.
When the tour ended, we got onto a bus and went to Imperio De Amor, a children's home about 45 minutes away from the Back2Back campus. As soon as we got off the bus, we got a tour of the home (which is the nicest children's home that Back2Back serves) and learned a lot about the backgrounds of the kids and the home. We had lunch, then got to work. The jobs included digging holes to plant trees and leveling out some land. Since it was Sunday the kids were off of school, which means they were running all around where we were working. Some of the boys even tried to help, but since we are serving them, they are not allowed to help. As we finished our projects, around 3:30, we had two trees planted, and a lot of land leveled out. Everyone worked extremely hard and was very sweaty by the end of the day.
Now for my favorite part of the day, playing with the kids. So at first they were all sitting in their dorms not coming out. We tried to lure them out by drawing with chalk in front of their dorms, and getting out the puzzles. But soon we learned that the best way, which we never thought of, was to go to the dorms, knock on the doors and tell them that it is okay to come out. They were so excited to hear that we were done and came running out with huge smiles on their faces. The children were very excited to see us. Even though nobody thought that we would have enough energy to play with them, it turned out that everyone got a sudden burst of energy that helped us play with them. The guys built legos and the girls drew with chalk, played crazy eights, and put puzzles together. It was great letting those little kids have a lot of fun with people they hardly knew.
We had to leave at 5, so we got back onto the bus and headed back to campus. The bus' air-conditioning wasn't working on the way home and we all had a layer of sweat on us when we got back. From the bus we all ran to the showers, dinner, then worship. Many people were inspired by worship and accepted Christ that night.
I think everyone was exhausted and headed back to the rooms and went to sleep, only after a few games of Mafia. It was a long days work that turned out to be successful!
Jeannette Jinkinson

The Journey Beginnith (By Rachel)

The last the parents saw of us was before security, so they didn't see us relishing our last American pizza from SBARRO or watching the world cup games in Max & Erma's. We all ate our fill then proceeded to the gate to embark on our trip to Dallas. After leaving from Dayton, we spent a lovely 2 hour plane ride together. Everyone slept for the most part on the first plane ride, but as soon as we arrived in Texas, everyone wanted food and soccer more than anything else. Almost the entire team watched the game from tables in TGI Fridays, and we all shook our heads when USA tied England. The two and a half hour layover was then occupied by our favorite game, mafia, in the middle of our departure gate. We got a few looks, but it was the beginning of a trip tradition and a way to pass the time. The next plane ride was much noisier, with some wishing to continue the mafia games, while others were content to play with the movable head rests on the plane. Zac had the lucky honor of sitting behind Aimee and I, who played with the head rest as well as bothered him about his hair. We landed in Monterrey and were immediately welcomed by a gust of hot air as we exited the plane. I checked my phone for the last time, to see the weather, and my weather app told me it felt like 105F outside. We all made it safely through customs with few problems or luggage checks, and were on our way in an air-conditioned bus to Back2Back shortly. The bus ride was a nice rest before we arrived on the campus, just to unload all of our luggage again. We heard the rules, got some burgers for dinner, and got a chance to worship as a team before the exhaustion set in and we had to retire to our dorms. Once in the dorms, the air conditioner was a welcome surprise, and we all got ready and climbed in bed pretty quickly. Everyone was excited for the next day, so we tried to get to sleep early. Our dorms are extremely nice, and our group even has our own showers! Breakfast this morning was cereal and milk, and the lunch crew jumped right on their job with no complaints. Parker, Emily, Austin, and Mai are being so helpful right now, making the most delicious PB&J sandwiches just for us. To all the parents: we are safe, happy, and excited for our mission.

TMX 2010 - Forty hands, One heart

It's that time again, and I'm very excited to be heading out on Saturday to Monterrey, Mexico with 19 other folks. Our team has been meeting for months and through those meetings have grown close to each other and excited to "get on with it". A few weeks ago they came up with the mission statement, "Forty hands. One heart." This personifies our group. We are 20 people each with a different set of hands...we are all very different in our strengths, weaknesses, gifts and talents that we are bringing to this mission, but above all we have one heart. It's a heart that has led each one of us to make the necessary sacrifices to serve for a week in a third world country. It's a heart that is excited and expectant for God to do great things through us. It's a heart that wants to see life change, both ours and others. I know this is going to be a great week and I'm happy you are all along for the ride.
My hope is that this blog will give our students a voice throughout the week to share with friends and family about their adventures. We will be having a few students write each day and if possible, share some pictures as well.
Thanks for your support...stop by daily (starting on Saturday) to see what we've been up to!
Amy