Spring Break Mexico Trip

We planned, we trained, we prayed, we prayed some more, and we went to Mexico. And I can report back that it was an amazing trip that saw God move in so many ways in the community of San Luis and in our students.

From the long drive down I-5 playing music and games in the car to our daily time at our ministry sites, here are a few highlights from the trip:

Hombre de Galilea is a church we have been to before, and it was a joy to go back. The students and adult leaders helped with some floor leveling and shoveling sand in a new room going in at the church, and a number of others helped to paint the main worship area of the church. During the afternoons they spent lots of time singing, doing scripture memorization and playing lots and lots of soccer.

Getsemani is also a church we have been to before, and this was our biggest construction project of the trip. Our team, as well as some super helpful church locals, built a room on the back of the church. This room is to be used for a kids classroom and some much-needed extra space for the church. This was such a cool example of what this trip and the Merge ministry is all about. Coming alongside a local church to work on a project together and even if the project doesn't get done they can finish the rest after we leave. In the afternoons this site had 2 great days of VBS with kids and then did two days with the youth (15-25 year olds) group. What a joy it was for them to connect with their peers, make fun crafts together and share testimonies of how God has impacted their lives.

Misión de Gloria was a church that a few years ago our friends from UCC had been to, but I hadn't been to last year or on our pre-trip visit. This was a great new site for us and our team did an amazing job tiling the main worship area and also painting their entire fellowship hall area. In the afternoon they enjoyed lots of drawing and bracelet making as well as some pretty epic games of soccer.

Misión de Caridad is a school co-founded by a former Merge ministry staffer, that has a great vision to serve the community while helping the kids and their family with groceries and school supplies and a great education. Our team here was a little different than the church sites and a new experience of how to serve. They worked on painting a mural all week, that was to be hung on the outside of a classroom (it turned out amazing) and then in the afternoons they ran an after school program full of games, robotics and fun craft projects.

Overall this trip was such a joy to help lead and a perfect example of God's people working together. We worked with UCC to make this all happen and gathered students and leaders from both churches. And then as we went down to Mexico we stayed at a different church on the way to and from. Then while we were there we stayed at one church and served at the others. It's so cool to see the work of the Church everywhere and how Christ can unite us all.

Lastly, we want to thank everyone who supported us financially to make this trip possible and also all of you that were praying for each student by name during the trip. You may not have been in Mexico with us, but your support was felt by our team! So thank you so so much!

Jeff