Buscad Primero (Ixtlan 2013)

"Cuidadito los Ojitos"

(By the Ixtlan VBS students)

Relatively speaking, I am home. I had a wonderful, blessed trip to Mexico and am so thankful for the many experiences and relationships we developed through the ten days I was there. I am back in the states now, but am planning to spend another week in Minnesota before going back to Iowa and the reality that awaits.

Trip to Ixtlan, Mexico: July 17-27, 2013

Wednesday: My family came to see me off as I flew to Chicago from Burlington on Wednesday afternoon. There were two other passengers on my flight. :)

I arrived at Chicago, took the shuttle to the hotel, checked in, ate my Subway sandwich from Burlington, and then Norman and Gloria picked me up to bring me to church. I met several people in Chicago church, and it was a great evening to begin my trip! Shortly after I arrived back at the hotel, the Princeville girls arrived-Rebekah, Laura, and Tonya. I did not know any of them very well when the trip began, but after ten days with them we got to know each other quite a bit better!

Thursday: We woke up at 3:30am to catch the 4:00 shuttle for our 6:00 flight. Despite a short layover in Dallas, everything went according to plan and we arrived in Guadalajara around noon, where Grant and Hannah were waiting for us. They brought us to a burrito restaurant for lunch.

The drive to Ixtlan was about two hours, and was a great opportunity to develop a first impression of Mexico. To describe the first impression in one word, I would have chosen poverty. This trip was the first time I had ever left the country, and I was surprised to find it just as the pictures showed. People just do not have as much down there as they have in the United States. It was a culture shock in the beginning, but it grew on me and stopped bothering me within a couple of days. I knew at this point that this trip was going to be an eye-opening experience for me, and I was excited to see what was in store for the coming week!

We arrived safely to the guest house where Grant and Hannah have been living, unpacked our suitcases, got settled, and prepared for church.

This was the view from our bedroom. The building in the middle is the church. The vans belong to the church. The school is to the left of the guest house, and Marshall and Jan's house is to the left of the church. The empty space is a driveway and the basketball/volleyball court.  

Thursday night was the midweek church service and my initial immersion to the Spanish language. It was this evening that I met a lot of the people of the Ixtlan church and saw Issa for the first time in four years. The church is full of a group of wonderful individuals with a desire to serve Christ! Following the service, the people helping with VBS had a meeting in the guest house and prepared invitations.

Friday: Friday was our day to be tourists. We went to Zamora with Issa to visit the market and do some grocery shopping. The market in Zamora was huge, and a person could buy about anything there. It was a very interesting experience!

Hannah, Laura, Rebekah, Me, and Issa at the market

One of the stands

Rebekah, Issa, Me, Tonya, and Laura in the plaza

After the market, we stopped at a cafe for frappes.

That night we visited Marshall and Jan, toured Grant and Hannah's future home, and played our first of several games of Ticket to Ride.

I got second place every time. I don't like taking away the pleasure of winning from others...

Saturday: I was sick all day Saturday, but still managed to participate a bit. We went on a walk around town in the morning and then started painting primer on chairs for Hannah in the afternoon.

I was happy to find a piano to play in Mexico!

Priming the chairs.

Saturday night was "Jovenes" but I was sick and could not make it. It is for children. They started by singing and having a talk, and then went around town handing out invitations for VBS. I was sad to miss out!

These four kids came from Barra Vieja to help with VBS: Misael, Booz, Dennis, and Miriam. It was fun to get to know them!  

One of the invitation delivery groups

Popcorn followed!

Sunday: I started feeling better on Sunday and was glad to make it to church in the morning. Marshall had the morning service in English and Matt translated to Spanish, but in the afternoon Matt had the sermon in Spanish. In spite of the language barrier, it was a blessing to share the day with the brethren in Ixtlan and experience their enthusiasm in worshiping and serving God.

Me, Tonya, Rebekah, and Laura in front of the church.

After church, we went to a seafood restaurant in Ixtlan with Marshall and Jan. I did not have seafood, but the food I had was very good! That evening there was a singing at church, followed by VBS preparations and several games of volleyball.

Monday: Our first day of VBS - "Escuela Biblica del Verano" - went well. The theme was "Pescando en la Biblia" (Fishing in the Bible), so most of the stories related to fish. Please see our blog post on Grant and Hannah's blog for more details about VBS. I helped Issa teach the 8 and 9 year old girls, and on the largest day we had about 44 students. The kids were so eager to sing praises to God and learn the Bible stories. The entire week was very special as seeds were planted in the hearts of many young children who otherwise would have little light in their lives. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help for the week.

We went on a walk after lunch, and then played another game of Ticket to Ride.

The younger boys waiting for more to arrive at the church for VBS.

The attendance table...

11-12+ year old girl class

There were goats standing on rocks on this random empty patch of land in town. I wanted to be a goat too.

Walking through Ixtlan!

Tuesday: The second day of VBS was once again very good, and we had several more students than the first day. Our classroom of girls got pretty crazy every day, but we managed. Any time I could not understand what they were asking, I sent them to Issa. Usually I could figure it out, though. I learned that their faces lit up a lot when I complimented their artwork. I also learned that a lot of the children do not know how to read or write. We take a lot for granted in the United States.

Tuesday night was a Bible Study for the adults led by Matt. This was followed by volleyball, and then we walked to a nearby taco stand for supper. Lalo and Silvia and their family came over to eat. We really enjoyed our conversation with them (or what we could understand of it).

We did a lot of cooking in the kitchen...Tonya was one of the faithful chefs.

Watching our tacos being made at the stand.

Lalo's family, the Barra Vieja kids, and us eating tacos.

Wednesday: We did not have water on Wednesday, but were still able to shower at the church. Drinking water was not a problem because we used bottled water anyway. VBS went well again. Laura and I wrote our blog post on Grant and Hannah's blog that afternoon. In the evening the church had a singing and wiener roast. It started sprinkling as we were getting ready to begin, so we moved the chairs- and the fire itself - under the parking roof. It was a nice evening to spend with the church people.

Here are a bunch of kids trying to pack into one of the big trucks to go home from VBS.

Issa was a wonderful teacher!

Issa, Me, Tonya, and our class on Wednesday.

A few of my students working in their books.

Kids waiting to sing again.

This is Laura and I working on our blog post. She didn't want to put this picture on Grant and Hannah's blog, so I'm putting it here! ;) 

They literally scooped up the fire and moved it over thirty feet.

Singing around the fire.

Roasting hot dogs!

Miriam, Laura, Rebekah, Margarita, and Dennis.

Everyone gathered around the fire!

Marshall and Jan

Thursday: VBS was in the morning again. We then sanded the chairs we painted earlier for Hannah, and went to church in the evening. After church, we prepared the prizes for the last day of VBS and then went to the plaza (town square) for chips and ice cream with the kids from Barra Vieja. When we got back to the guest house, they stayed and played games with us. We had a lot of fun together Thursday evening.

Laura and Lourdes's class of young girls.

The older kids singing in the school in the morning.

The girls out for ice cream and chips! Hannah, Rebekah, Tonya, Laura, Me, Dennis, Miriam.

The boys in the plaza: Grant, Misael, Booz, and Aron.

Playing a big game of Dutch Blitz.

We eventually decided to downsize a bit...

Friday: The last day of VBS was very good, but it was hard to say goodbye to the girls. The class finished their activities early, so I played the piano and they sang "Cristo me ama" (Jesus Loves Me) before we handed out prizes and said goodbye. The girls who had perfect attendance or memorized all of their verses for the week got extra prizes.

Below are pictures of many of my students:

Singing around the piano!

Tonya, Me, and Issa-the three teachers.

I helped clean up the classroom and church from VBS, and then there was a church picnic (a Mexican potluck) followed by birthday cake and then a water fight. I ended up with a big bucket of water dumped on my head and I wasn't really even involved with the fight. I think I was just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person with the wrong influence with the wrong bucket. The church kids sure had a lot of fun with the water!

All of the VBS help and my friends from Ixtlan...I won't even try to get the names right. 

Water fight! Don't get in the way of the kids with the bucket...

After we dried up and packed, Grant came downstairs and set up a white board with a checklist of everything that needed to get done before we left at 3:30 in the morning. They were coming back to the states with us for a few weeks.

After finishing a majority of the list, we walked around to say our fond farewells. The part that made it so difficult was that we do not know if and when we will ever meet again. I am so thankful for the friendships we made and the special bond we have in Christ. "If we never meet again this side of Heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore..." What a wonderful hope to have within us!

Saturday: I honestly think this day deserves its own blog post, but I will try to restrain myself. Our flight from Guadalajara was delayed an hour, and it all spiraled downhill from there. We left at 3:45 from Ixtlan, arrived at Guadalajara around 6, went through check-in and security with no problems, and flew out at 9:20. Because I had another flight from Chicago to Minneapolis (where my family was meeting me), I had to reschedule my middle flight from Dallas for 1:10.

This gave me an hour to go through customs and security at the airport. Thanks to an express pass, I made it to the gate five minutes before boarding time to find that my flight had been cancelled. Following a long series of disastrous events that I would love to explain at another time, I finally ended up in Minneapolis. My luggage did not. However, at that point, I was so elated to be safe in Minneapolis that I was past being concerned about my luggage.

The trip definitely went out with a bang! My parents were quite happy to have me safely back from Mexico and in their presence. The luggage was not at the hotel by the time we left for church Sunday morning, so I improvised with my mother's clothing. My suitcase and I had a happy reunion after church at the hotel, and that marked the official end of my Mexico trip.


Thank you for your prayers during our trip to Ixtlan! I had a wonderful time getting to know the other girls, Grant and Hannah, and the congregation in Ixtlan. Teaching VBS was a very good experience to share God's word with others. Even when language was a barrier, something as small as a smile went a long way. I learned so much last week and cannot fully express how thankful I am for the opportunity I was given. Please continue to pray for the congregation in Ixtlan-that they will grow in their faith and spread their light to the world around them.

"Buscad primero el reino de Dios..."

For more pictures and details (or a better summary) of the trip, please see the posts we did for Grant and Hannah's blog during the week:
1. First Impressions by Rebekah and Tonya
2. Pescando en la Biblia by Laura and Me
3. Just a Few Words by Hannah