The team from St. Mark’s in Geneva just arrived and we are excited to be working with [...]]]>

After and early morning, the Mexico Team has arrived safe and sound.  Right now, most of the team is unpacked and settling in.  The location is beautiful (overwhelmingly so) and the weather is hot and humid.

The team from St. Mark’s in Geneva just arrived and we are excited to be working with other students and leaders from our own community.  It is going to be a great experience.  Following dinner we will have an orientation session and then get ready to work.

Day 2 in Mexico is coming to a close and our group session is about to start in a half hour!
The sessions within the big group is going to be focused on influence. The influence we can have as Christ followers and as leaders. Different leaders from each group here will be sharing. Sterling will be sharing this evening!

Today was the first work day for our group and we were split into 2 groups. The first group went to a church in “el barrio”, named Centro de Fe and started painting the walls there. The second group went to a childrens daycare facility, Los Ninos Del Capitan, in the same neighborhood to meet the needs there. We also did some painting in the classrooms and have started a mural of the creation story! There will be more pictures posted as these projects progress!

We still continually covet your prayers back home and look forward to sharing all our experiences when we return! Until then… Buenos noches de Mexico!!

During our time here in Mexico, we have been studying what it means to be a person of influence. One of our theme verses comes out of the sermon on the mount where Jesus teaches us that we should be a city on a hill and a light that illuminates everything around us. With all of this running through my head, we have simultaneously been serving at Los Ninos Del Capitan (an incredible day and education facility) and Centro de Fe (a local church). Both of these ministries have made a conscious decision to locate themselves in the middle of the barrios (a spanish word meaning district or neighborhood but it is really a term meaning ghetto or slums). When you stand at these ministries sites, all you can see is rows of homes that looks to be about the size of a large garden shed. Thousands of people fill these homes and in the midst of them, Los Ninos Del Capitan and Centro de Fe are true the sort of influence in that community. They are a city on a hill and a light in those communities.

Today we continued a lot of painting work at both locations. We were also able to spend some time in more relational ministry with the children at Los Ninos, and our students loved that (Robert Didier even did a small magic show that the children loved). The team is doing great and you should all be very proud of them. We will be back at both sites tomorrow. We hope to finish painting the sanctuary and at Los Ninos, the students will be facilitating craft time as a part of the teachers curriculum.

It is now Friday and the weekend has arrived. The students have worked hard the past 3 days at both sites, Los Ninos Del Capitan and Centro de Fe. The murals are starting to be painted and there has been some significant progress at the daycare. Today the students splits up and help teach the kids. Some taught on the color blue to 2 and 3 yr olds, the 3-4 yr olds learned the alphabet and 4-5 yr olds learn about the season of summer. The kids did a great job in getting the kids to interact and do the crafts! At Centro de Fe the walls are completely painted! it has taken about 2 and a half days but we have had fun and gotten a lot done! Tomorrow and Sunday will be great days! We have many things planned to do and will post pictures and a blog about our weekend. Tomorrow we will be going snorkeling and taking a boat ride around the point and then having dinner together as an entire which everyone is looking forward to! Our team is going in relationship and friendship and we have had some great moments encouraging and sharing with one another.

The trip was awesome! The extensive daily drive time, New York traffic, the rain, and the heat were not able to steal our joy nor [...]]]> This past summer, a group of students and adults from Sugar Creek Baptist Church, flew to New York, while weeks earlier hosted their very own servant leadership experience.

The trip was awesome! The extensive daily drive time, New York traffic, the rain, and the heat were not able to steal our joy nor stop the ministry that the Lord had planned.  LYF students had an awesome opportunity to show love to some children in Bushwick, known as one of the poorest areas in New York.  Love seems so basic, yet these children we met lived in such conditions that we knew they needed to hear “Jesus loves you, no matter what”.  In fact, the skit the students did during the curb-side VBS was the story of the lost sheep.

But, let me back up a bit.  We passed out fliers in the neighborhood inviting homeless, addicts, and women and children to come to Freedom Square for free coffee and cookies.  I was kind of curious when I heard our target audience, but Cliff explained the women are either prostitutes or have been abused and need loving on.  The 1st day we hit the streets, we were drenched, but the rain kept the heat away!  People thought we were crazy walking around in the rain with wet papers, but we invited everyone we saw.  By the time we got back to the Center, people began showing up!   Some students served food, some talked to the people, and others stayed on the streets pointing to the center.  Several significant contacts were made for volunteers to possibly help continue the food supply.

Thursday, we went back to Freedom Square and did the same thing, but this time the sun was scorching!  Again, people showed up and we made new friends.  The students planned the VBS that would be attempted on Friday, so more invitations had to be handed out inviting kids to come.  Many kids were eager to accept our papers and asked their parent if they could come!  How refreshing….kids everywhere just want to be loved and Jesus has plenty of love to hand out.

Friday came and we prepared for the arrival of who knew how many! Keesha and the volunteers from Time Square Church had prepared food for 100 that was all eaten by the end of the day.  The kids that came had so much fun….balloons, face painting, singing, watching the skit, and just laughing.  The joy of the Lord was our strength for this day for sure!

It rainined on our free day while we were waiting for the Staton Island Ferry.  We saw the Statue of Liberty, but not in bright sun.  We rode subways back and forth across Manhattan trying to see everything we could in the time we had left.  We spent the first part of this day driving – lost – through the Bronx.  As usual the GPS directed us in a way we did not know.  Three vans of students tried desperately to stay together; unlike other days, we stayed together.  The sights of the city were cool, especially Broadway and 7th Avenue at night.  So many lights and so many people even at 10:00 p.m. The police said it was an area that never slept.

Worship styles in the 2 churches we visited were really cool – different from anything we have seen, but exciting. The 207 students attending servant leadership rocked the house down!  We may even get a stomper team out of this trip, I think I heard one of our students wanting to duplicate this talent.

What a blessing this trip was for me personally, but I think everyone who went would agree.  God is very good – this is the message we can share every day – no matter where we are.    YEA students!  THe love of Jesus was definitely demonstrated through you.  Thanks for being you!

-Sharon Villalreal (trips sponsor)