FBC Columbus in Mexico 2010

The Indian Village

2010-06-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

More Pictures!

2010-06-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Long awaited pictures!

2010-06-19T07:23:00.001-07:00

Well, it must have been the connection in Mexico, because now that I'm home, uploading pictures is working just fine. So, enjoy! We plan to put all the pictures together at some point, have some type of showing, and then make CDs for everyone. Be patient though, it make take a while!

Home again!

2010-06-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know, we're home! It's so good to be home! The trip was awesome, and thanks to Jeff, who is a much better writer than I am, and much more patient, you have a few more details about some of our adventures! I'd have to say, since I don't really like to fly anyway, the biggest adventure of all happened as we approached Indianapolis and the storms last night! We dipped and shook more than I ever have on a flight, and more than I ever hope to do again!!! After circling the airport in Indy, waiting out the storm, they finally decided to head to Louisville for refueling, then try again! God is truely great, and we made it! I should've had more faith, but man, I was scared! May not fly again for a while!

Well, now that we're home, maybe uploading pictures will be more successful, so I'll try again. Over and out! Hope you enjoyed the blog!

I have wrested the site from Beth!!!

2010-06-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hola, amigos!! This is Beth's husband, Jeff. Knowing we've failed to get pictures on the site, I wanted to give you a few thoughts on the past few days and our crew.

First, the Col North Spanish class crew..... What a terrific bunch of young people. Tim White, who is the "alumni", provides a third interpreter for all our events/activities (along with "Senora" (Marcia Cheek) and Juana). That's not his only skill, though; soccer (futbol as they call it here) and concrete finishing also have to be on the list. Mariah Schwenk keeps everyone's spirits up, rolling with the punches and always managing a smile. Natalie Bush plows through every situation with the same panache, always inserting her personality into the equation and keeping her teammates on their toes. Jason Bowman was terrific in EVERY situation, always diving in and not being intimidated by his language skills, but at least 4-5 times I observed Jay 1-1 with local folks, getting their story and just sharing his. Tessa Lane, truly the take-charge type, was at her best leading the "shoe team" in the Indian village we visited yesterday. After sharing school supplies, toys, shoes and dental hygiene supplies with all 6 grades and kindergartners (can't wait till we can post THOSE pictures) (about 130 kids), we saw another 100+ villagers, many of whom desperately needed shoes. Tessa quickly became our go-to person for identifying who really needed shoes and getting them fitted. Her concrete skills weren't too shabby either. Siri Retrum and Robert Dorenbusch, clearly the quiet ones in the bunch, were huge hits with the local kids, quickly adopting them and making great friendships that started the minute we hit the ground and lasted through the week.

The FBC gang was extraordinary, but I've got to give the biggest kudos to our pastor, Dan Cash. A local pastor (also named Daniel) of a start-up congregation (who pays the bills and feeds his family by being a plumber) asked us to share in a Wednesday night service. Marcia (Sra Cheek) interpreted and did a great job, while Dan spoke to the group and likened their situation to Nicodemus, being planted in the middle of a religious establishment and trying to be true followers of the faith in their own right. It was the right message for a group of new followers in the right place at the right time. Truly led by the Spirit.

Forrest (Dr. D) got medical work all week, and Marsha fretted over us all; kind of nice having their steadying influence in all our work. Carolyn Curry and Judy Rhude treated every bug bite, concrete abrasion, and general unwell situation, making us all feel "taken care of". (Knock on wood - - no one has had any REAL intestinal issues.) The Jones gang (Ryan, Heidi and Reilly) were a trip - - but really missed Kayla, well, maybe not Reilly ALL the time. Reilly managed to build quite a following of her own, and dived into all the lives of the neighborhood kids. Elisa Watkins was a soccer star in the street, and created a few friendship bracelet masterpieces to share with the kids outside our door. Jane Ellen Watkins, Beth and Mrs. Mason (better known as Dr. Cindy and/or Tessa's Mom) were our photographers, and I hope and pray we can get most of the photos on the blog eventually, because all three are TERRIFIC photographers, and they got some outstanding shots. Cindy also finished a floor in one of the houses (along with Robert D's able assistance).

Kip/Lianne kept us on schedule, even though Lianne did learn more about Mexican schedule flexibility!! Kip's eggs were the best breakfast we had all week, and Ryan Jones can really flip a pancake. We've had black beans almost every meal, and Lupe, our cook for the week, fed us with great meals of authentic Mexican cuisine. Jacob Cash eventually got into it, even; I don't think he lost any weight prior to 3-a-days for the Olympians just around the corner!!!

We've been touched by the generosity of our hosts in Calnali. All of us will have special stories to share, and don't be surprised if you see a tear in the corner of their eye during the telling, nor if they express the desire to return. The valley Calnali sits in is so beautiful, truly a paradise.
OK, I'm being harassed to get off the site, so I will. Sorry for the words, but this impromptu team of do-gooders really bonded, worked well together, DIDN'T get on each others' nerves, and in general had a great time sharing our love for our fellow man with our new friends in Calnali.

Hasta luego.

Whew! Thursday!

2010-06-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

Whew! After about 3 and a half to 4 hours on the bus, up mountains and through many curves, we made it to Real del Monte! This is the silver mining town that is about half way between Calnali and Mexico City. We're playing tourists today, enjoying lunch, some shopping, then dinner and bed! We'll get up early tomorrow (Fri.), and head to Mexico City and the airport! We'll be in Indy late Fri. night, but most of you already know that! So sorry about yesterday, but for some reason the blog site was not allowing me on to do anything, even text! I'm going to attempt to put some pictures up for you now, but I'm sorry in advance if it doesn't work!!

It's Tuesday!

2010-06-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

Wow! We thought yesterday was hard! Today we poured concrete floors in two homes again, but they were both on a cliff, overlooking the creek! Very tight spaces and very difficult circumstances in which to mix and pour concrete, but we did it!! It took all day and we are all exhausted! I hope the pictures give you a good idea of what we were dealing with! A lso very poor families. Pay attention to the home (again, most of my pictures are only from the site where I worked, I'll try to show pics from the other house tomorrow), what it's made of, etc. I'm also posting pictures from the other crew's house from yesterday. Enjoy!
OK!! The pictures are not wanting to download, so I'm going to try a different way, which means they'll be very large and at the top of the blog! Not they way I prefer, but I'll go with it!
AAAGGGHHH!!! I'm so sorry, but it's just not allowing me to post pictures at all today! I'll try again tomorrow. But just know we're all well, having a wonderful experience, value your prayers, and working HARD! Love you all!

Monday's News!

2010-06-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hola! It's the end of day 3 here in Calnali and boy did we work hard today! We split up into two groups and worked on pouring floors in two different houses. Everyone worked very hard, and it was very rewarding to be able to help these families. The pictures I'm posting are from the site where I worked, so don't panic if you don't see your loved ones in the pictures! I haven't had a chance to download the other photographers' pictures to my computer yet, but I will! I'll try to post some of those tomorrow. We're going to pour floors in two more houses tomorrow, then go to the Indian village on Wed. We're also giving clothes, shoes, glasses, etc. away at each of these homes, and to many of the children who stop by "Casa Calnali" daily, usually looking for Reilly or Elisa to come out and play soccer!! Hope you're enjoying the blog! Thanks for all your comments! I'm trying to relay the messages to everyone when I go back to the house! Oh yes, Forrest, Judy and Carolyn went to a clinic today as well, to try to help with medical issues. I don't think they had many "customers" however, so they were disappointed, but anxious to try again tomorrow! Oh yes, again, some of us also went to a school for a little while to play and observe! Very interesting! Especially to the teachers in the group!

More photos!

2010-06-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

We are having a wonderful experience! Today (Sun.) was market day, people from all over bring their "wares" to sell! Very cool! Took lots of pictures! Enjoy! We've been giving lots of things away to people Juana deeds "worthy". Tomorrow we start on some jobs! I'll try to post some pictures at the end of the day! Enjoy!

Buenos Tardes de Calnali!

2010-06-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hola to all site visitors from Calnali. Our connections were great, even with a long bus ride, and we arrived in Calnali around 7:30PM yesterday (Friday).

HACE CALOR (Man, is it hot!!!)!! Several members of the group tackled the mountain climbing this morning (Kip and Dan were the oldest of the group that made it near the top).

After lunch, we scoped out 4 job sites for Mon/Tues (and maybe Wednesday). Tomorrow is market day, which we are all looking forward to. Soccer in the street, lots of ice cream, and authentic Mexican cuisine are the orders of the day(s).

Make sure you look through the attached pictures from Jane Ellen and Beth. We'll have more in our next update, too.

Everyone is well.

Packing the donated items!

2010-06-08T17:45:00.001-07:00

Tonight we got together and packed all the wonderful donations that we're taking to the people of Calnali. Thanks again to all of you that generously donated items!

Four More Days!

2010-06-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

As we count down to departure time, I thought I'd better get on here and see if I can remember how to post things!! It's been awhile, and I've slept since then! :) So, this is really just practice! Tomorrow night (Tues.) we're getting together to pack the extra bags containing all the donations. I'll try to get some pictures of that, and post them..... again, mostly for the practice. By the way, we've been told that there is an internet cafe nearby, where I'll be able to work on this blog. But if there isn't, or if it's not working, there will be no blog, so I'll apologize now!!

Mission Team Meeting

2010-04-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the mission team will meet for lunch, updates, and discussion this Sun. right after Sunday School (11:30). It's a pitch-in lunch, so if you need a reminder of what you're bringing, call Judy Rhude. :)

Fund Raisers for the Trip!

2010-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

In an effort to cut the cost of the trip as much as possible, First Baptist has several fund raising ideas in the works. First, on March 27th, we hosted a Mexican Dinner Night, and asked for a love gift offering. The evening was a success, and also served as an information session for those people in the church who are not planning to go on the trip, but are interested in knowing about the area and our planned projects there. A big thank you to Lianne Wright for pulling that evening together! Thanks Lianne! Next, the youth of the church are sponsoring a "Pennies for Calnali" campaign. The proceeds from the penny project will go to Children of Poverty, in Calnali. Last Sun. at ABY, the younger group decorated the canisters for the pennies! The canisters should be in each of the Sunday school rooms, so be sure to check your room and make a donation!! The mission team will also sponsor a rummage and bake sale in fellowship hall, on April 24th from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thanks to Heidi Jones, the Rhudes and the Carters for taking on this project! The team will also fill suitcases with donated items that the people in Calnali can use. If you would like to donate items, we're looking for two-yard lengths of colorful cotton-blend fabric, baseball type caps, t-shirts (nothing bigger than a "large"), toothbrushes, toothpaste, and bars of soap. We'll also take monetary donations for children's shoes, which we'll purchase down there. Thanks in advance for any donations you can make!

First Baptist Church, Columbus, IN Mexico Mission trip, June 2010!

2010-03-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

In June, 2010, First Baptist Church in Columbus, In. is planning a mission trip to Calnali, Mexico. I thought it might be fun, and helpful to families and church members if we "blog" our trip. Not sure if we can do this, once we're in Mexico, but I'll check into it and see! I'm new at this, so forgive me if it's really bad, or makes no sense, but we'll see!!