Last Day Pics

Today was our last day in Cancun.  :(  Of course, once again, our team is too busy playing mafia to bother themselves with letting you know what happened today, so I'll fill you in!!  Today we had a super productive morning at Oti's house.  Oti is a widow with 8 children.  She lost her husband about 2 years ago to HIV after a blood transfusion and she was left with no job and no way to support her kids.  Back2Back has come along side of Oti and have tried to prevent her losing her kids.  It's amazing to see the progress a year makes.  We walked into her house this morning and those who came last year were blown away that she had some new walls, a door, and  it was actually looking closer to sufficient living quarters.  Today we were able to bless her by painting the inside courtyard, putting up some ceiling fans in the inside of her house and also installing exhaust fans .  The team worked super hard to put together the fans and get them hung and working.  It was a huge blessing to us as we recognized that just those fans would completely change their living environment.  When we walked inside we were all sweating within minutes because of the heat.  Knowing that she and her kids will have a way to cool down makes us all smile :) 

We then took a trip to the beach to have our quiet times, small groups, and a little fun time...then to the market for a little shopping (yes, your kids may or may not be bringing you something home) and to dinner at a local food court.  Yum.  

Worship tonight was awesome as Brant (our worship leader for the week) led us in some great time just enjoying God.  Lots of singing and prayer time which was extremely moving.  All in all it's been an awesome trip!!  See you soon!

Day 4 as Seen Through the Eyes of Julie Loock

Happy 4th of July!

We had a busy day today. It started with getting up a half hour early (I really enjoyed that), so around 7:45am, and traveling to a government-run children's home called the DIF around 10:00am. We did VBS with the kids there and then ate lunch at "PDA park" across the street, appropriately named for the public displays of affection that go on there, although I never saw any. Maybe Jamie and Lucy a little...just kidding. Anyways, after that we went to a Delila's house. She's a widow that Back2Back has been serving and ministering to. We split into 3 groups to work on her house. One group painted, another (my group) dug a trench, and the 3rd did some electrical work. We were probably there for 3 hours or so, although it felt like a week for those of us who were out in that sun. Man! After that we came back to the house to eat dinner - the most amazing tacos ever - and were surprised with a mariachi band! (is that spelled right?) The trumpets were a little to loud for my taste, but it was awesome to see/hear one in person. Then we debriefed and, of course, played some Mafia. For those who don't know, it's a group game where players are assigned specific roles and are expected to lie, deceive, and manipulate one another to win.  Just ask us about it when we're back..we'd love to explain. And don't worry parents, it's a widely accepted game at Christian colleges/organizations, and church youth groups. It was a great day altogether. I've never seen anyone work so hard in my life. The 4 men in my group who dug the trench with me (Dr. Jay, Jonathan, Austin, and Alex) worked themselves to the bone, and never complained once. Not even when we hit about 3 feet of rock stretching across where we needed to dig towards the end. We ended up having to dig out of the way a little to make a new path but they just continued digging as if it didn't even annoy them the slightest. Even Amy Rudge came over towards the end and started to dig...with her broken back! So cool to work with such hard-working brothers and sisters in Christ.

Hope you all lit off a firework for us! See you soon!

Tuesday/Wed pics

You have concrete WHERE?? - by everyone

Hola Diary-

What a relaxing day in Cancun.  We didn't faint from dehydration, and that was nice.  Today we built a church in a very impoverished neighborhood. John and Austin conquered their fear of heights on a rather shaky scaffolding.  Drenched in sweat, we all persevered through the lifting and shoveling of concrete. We really switched up the lunchtime cuisine by enjoying pb&j or turkey sandwiches...as opposed to pb&j or turkey sandwiches.  Allie surprised us all with her relentless determination to lift entirely too heavy buckets of concrete (for the average girl).  La di dah there was some other really awesome stuff too, we love Jesus a lot and all his people too.  Let's all drink Tang (our new fave Mexican beverage) and be merry.


"Party and pray"

Adios

Monday Pics

Unfortunately 

Day 2 - Sean Hollowood

Day Two in Mexico.
We started the day off the devotions that back two back called "He is Before all Things and in Him all things Hold Together." Today we discussed EPIC moments in once life, we talked about how Miriam brought along a tambourine as she left Egypt.  When they crossed the Red Sea Miriam took out her tambourine and lead the people in song. A tambourine??? out of every thing that you could grab to take with she grabs a musical instrument in her rush to leave slavery?  Its all about being ready to praise God when those EPIC moments come our way.

After our devotions we went down to a church called Vida Life where they had the service in both spanish and english.  It was one of the most amazing church services.  Hearing people singing in both spanish and english praising the Lord was life changing.  

We spent the afternoon at the B2B house where 3 widows brought their 18 children over for pizza, vacation bible school, and swimming.  At VBS it was a huge afternoon as Lizy (Mexican B2B staff) shared the gospel with the kids during story time.  It was a blessing to be a part of the life change in these children.  We all also learned that the language barrier really isn't an issue when you pour love out onto a child and are willing to engage with them.  We had a blast and while there were over 30 people in one pool (probably not legal in the states), it was amazing to see the kids smile and enjoy the afternoon.

After some great worship and debrief time we are now settling in to a rousing game of mafia...
 

Sunday Pics