The panic that always sets in when you return home after a few weeks away has nearly subsided. We've seen the family, the grass has been cut, and the nearly dead flowers have been watered. But just when I thought we had recovered our initial panic a new kind of terror overtook us upon finding out the Bombers are now 1-5.
Finally I've found a few minutes to tell you how our trip to Mexico went for us. In a few words, it was awesome! God was so good to us. We saw things and experienced things that will stick with us the rest of our lives.
Our trip down to El Paso and back home from El Paso was enjoyable and only momentarily exciting. Let me explain. You might assume that border crossings and check points in Mexico would create more drama but, truth be told, they were a snap compared to our experience entering the US from Canada. When we arrived at the border crossing our naivete regarding these matters very quickly became obvious for once we mentioned Cuauhtemoc, visiting Mennonite missionaries, and bringing mail with us this led to a lengthy visit with Homeland Security complete with interrogation and having our car checked out with detection dogs. Of course they found nothing out of order and after about an hour we were on our way. I was a little ticked by the whole affair but Caroline assured me that this was all part of the "experience" of going to Mexico. Going to Mexico, okay, but entering the US?
After a brief visit with Peter & Louise Hiebert and their adult children Kevin and Rochelle we arrived in El Paso on July 19. To travel to El Paso from Paris, Texas, where the Hieberts live, you have to drive through the heart of Texas. So, you guessed it, we drove through Midland the home of President George W. and Laura Bush. One of our surprises in travelling to West Texas was to discover how mountainous it is.
The next day we attended church with Elma at the Nuevo Pacto Church in Jaurez, Mexico, just over the river from El Paso. I was invited to share a powerpoint report about our church in the service. I was proud to do so. This is a wonderful church and they are led by a wonderful pastoral couple Carlos Martinez and Vanessa Lomas.
On Monday we travelled with Elma and her son-in-law Leslie Reinke towards Santo Thomas where the youth camp was to be held. They dropped us off at Campo 72 where we met up with John and Lorna Wall who are EMC missionaries serving amongst the German Mennonites. We spent the next two days with John and Lorna touring the German settlements and visiting Alvira Friesen (another of our EMC missionaries) in Cuauhtemoc. After visiting the world-famous Copper Canyon and the Basaseachi Waterfall they dropped us off at the youth camp on Wednesday afternoon.
Judging from our advanced years, you may be wondering what good could we be at a youth camp? Good question! Not only did we have our age working against us but we don't speak more than a few words of Spanish. But we did what we could. We smiled a lot, and hugged a lot, and swept floors a lot, and prepared and served food a lot, and did many other things we hadn't done before. We learned to love them and they were nice enough to love us in return. Caroline slept in a cabin with the other women staff and I slept in the adjoining cabin. The biggest excitement regarding the sleeping arrangements was when the ladies discovered that they had an additional occupant in their cabin of the non-human variety. They have a Spanish name for this creature but it looked a lot like a gecko. The young boys had a great time that day tearing the cabin upside down trying to find this unwanted occupant. Only to report later that, while they had seen the creature several times, they weren't able to evict it. The ladies were forced to sublet their unit to this guest for the rest of camp.
At eating time we usually found someone at our table that could speak a little English. So we got to know most of the young people over time. They are very hospitable with similar interests to youth in Canada. They dress just like youth in Canada do and, by my observation, the iPhone/cell phone craze has not eluded them.
We were able to sit in on most of the sessions with someone translating to us what was being said. Every session started with exuberant singing led by a band and was concluded with "ministry time." Many youth came forward for prayer. We were deeply touched by how passionate these youth were to experience God and how serious they were about their faith. Many of them had booked time off from work to attend camp which was no small sacrifice for most of them.
The highlight of the week of camp was Friday and Saturday night when two different bands brought concerts. Let's just say that had a rockin' good time. These were noisy, energetic and spiritually powerful events. Caroline and I had the opportunity to mingle amongst the dancing youth and pray with those who needed prayer. God touched many lives.
On Sunday morning I had the opportunity to accompany Carlos Martinez who was speaking at the Mennonite (Spanish) church in Santo Thomas. Again I was asked to share a few words. Carlos doesn't speak English but there was a person in the church who translated for me.
On Sunday Afternoon We headed back to El Paso. We arrived back in Steinbach on July 31.
This doesn't begin to describe how this trip has changed us. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity after I get back from my sabbatical where Caroline and I can share more about this trip. Thank you so much for sending us. We will be forever changed.
If you go to this link you can find some pictures of the camp (and of us).
http://guerrerofiel.com/kampa.html
