Turtles Unite

Hola!

We set out on our journey very early Sunday morning.  Here are our thoughts on what we’re looking forward to (?Que te gustaria experiensar mas que todo?):

Sue:  slower pace, no phones & tv

Jenna:  little kids, nice weather

Linde:  hugging the kids

Kelly:  making friends with the kids

Krista: babysitting

Jan:  What will we end up doing?

Charlotte: curious to know how God will use me in a way I’m not expecting; holding little babies

Abbi:  I don’t know what to expect - loving on the kids

Ari:  talking to the kids in Spanish

Laura: seeing God move in some big way.. don’t know what way, but a big way

Rodger:  seeing the kids and myself gain a new perspective on how people survive without all the luxuries we have — to see how you can be happy without all that stuff; something tangible that the kids can leave behind (in the work projects they do) so if they return they can see it.

Alex:  My grandma (Mor Mor) is obviously looking forward to the marketplace

David: manual labor

Ginny (Mor Mor):  Meeting the children in the village; trying new food; having good fellowship with everyone.  ”So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong.  Do not let anything change you.  Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know your work in the Lord is never wasted.”  1 Corinthians 15:58

Tyler: the trip home - just kidding; I’m excited about the whole trip - I’m glad to help

Tiffany:  seeing the face of a child that connects with me: feeling the warmth of our Divine Appointment and understanding our message of Christ

Cindy: God softening my heart and I think He will

Felicia: growing closer to God; getting a tan; getting to know my NCA friends better

Evan: playing baseball with the orphans

Jonathan: playing soccer with them; eating chocolate covered macadamia nuts

Jennifer: helping in the nursery; I hope I get to

Brieanna: playing with the children

Jeanne: being used for God’s glory

Phil: getting there (Phil just spent the last 2 hours getting our rental vans from Enterprise at the San Diego airport); relieving the house parents by babysitting their kids and giving them the night off

Kim: not knowing what to expect - the surprises of the week - seeing a different way of life

Jill:  seeing my daughter Anna! (she’s been working at the mission since late February)

Dave: changed hearts

The border crossing at Tijuana was uneventful!  Praise God for our easy passing!!  (We found out at the mission today that an illegal item to smuggle across the borders is clothes.)  The guards pulled over Van #1 (we have 4) and opened the back to see all of our luggage.  They handled Jill’s red bag which was full of clothes to donate to the mission.  My lime green bag was glaring at me as I watched from Van #2.  I prayed that he would not open any of the bags.  He put the red bag back and closed the door which was full of approx 75 bags of luggage.  He waved the rest of us through, never checking passports or minor consent forms.  

Here are comments I heard in our van as we traveled into Mexico on our way to the mission.  We arrived at 8:15pm at night.

Dave: The road was cut through the mountain. I’m amazed that this doesn’t cause rock slides.  I’m thankful for the paved road.  The ocean goes right up to the side of the mountain where the road is.  I like to watch the pelicans fly over the ocean! (Hey!  I thought you are supposed to keep your eyes on the road )

Charlotte:  It’s so not okay in our country to have all of this garbage along the side of the road.  I love all of the colors of the homes!  There’s no respect for people’s property.  There’s graffiti everywhere.

There’s an interesting contrast in the development of the landscape.  The rich live next to the very poor. Really nice houses are next to barbed wire or cinder block fences that surround dilapidated shacks; trailers are next to luxury resort condo developments targeted to attract American tourists; English billboards touting the finer things in life are posted next to Spanish ads for everyday needs; a chicken farm next to Home Depot; McDonald’s next to a traveling circus.

At the second checkpoint, the guard talked to Phil (driver in Van #1) and then waved us all through…again no one checking passports or minor consent forms.

Once we were out of Tijuana, we had very scenic views as we drove in the mountains next to the ocean.  We saw different colors of earth, a variety of desert vegetation, the blue ocean lapping against the rocks and the beach.  It was a natural rollercoaster with our ears popping, mild car sickness setting in, locals speeding past us.  It was a bright sunny day and we had the windows open to feel the dry air.  BEAUTIFUL!

We didn’t want to dive into the culture too fast… we stopped at Wal-Mart for snacks and McDonald’s for dinner.  $20 pesos for a Big Mac ($10 pesos = $1 US)  Abbi required the kids to order in Spanish and they enjoyed the helado (ice cream).

We continued on our journey.. Abbi and Kim were grateful they weren’t driving or we wouldn’t get there until the next day - there were no shoulders, very few guard rails, no homes in this area, probably National Parks.  Abbi put her hands on the side of Kim’s face for a period of time so she couldn’t see how close we got to the edge of the road.  It’s tough riding in the front passenger seat… like the front seat on the log ride at Great America!  Our lead driver Phil said, “There were some hairpin turns with semis coming the other way.  It was a little scary.  I was surprised by the beautiful, majestic landscape.”

At the last military checkpoint, the guards had automatic rifles.  One guard was behind a sandbag wall with a cloth face mask.  Charlotte made sure we all had our seatbelts on.  Whatever Phil was saying to the guards worked to get us through without questions… still NO ONE has checked our passports or forms!

When we arrived at the mission, we were surprised to see how much it had a “resort” feel to it.  The architecture was consistent and planned… not anything like the landscape we saw on our way here.  It was much cleaner than we expected… better than Timberlee Camp in Wisconsin.  The area is more populated than we expected; however, in our orientation we learned that many have moved from the area because of the drought of the last 10 years.  Work is hard to find and the men have left for the States to find work, leaving women and children behind.  The mission serves these families with free day care for working moms, a soup kitchen, visiting locals where they live, providing free medical cared and fire emergency services, etc.  As you’ll read in our upcoming Monday tour notes, the mission is much more than an orphanage.