Hanna, Becky, and Alex. Moring of the Baja 500
Wow!! Where do we begin? Today I walked over to the ministry site and it was weird (as always) to know that it was Terrific Tuesday and no one was there. To go back and review everything would mean going back to our first duty of Summer which was to go pick up one of our summer interns Alex Trulove. We then got ready for the Baja 500 which is always a great time and this year Hanna Morse was able to hang out with us, so that was special. Soon we were all back up in the States as our second intern Ashley Wallenberg was making her way down from Applevalley CA. Our crew was almost all together as we had some of the locals still in school, but before we knew it our first group from Galt, CA was here and we were on our way! Our first group was built mainly of families and we always love the dynamics of family units working together to build a home for another family. Horizon community built a home for Gabriel and his family and this is also a family that is faithfully building a church body. It was a great joy to drive by his home just days after we finished to see them moving in.
RLM Staff Camp out
The next week we did not have a group so we took this opportunity to have a Staff Camp out and we had a great time getting to know one another. It’s important to spend a bit of time with those you are going to spend your whole summer with. It also gives us a chance to get a feel of how everyone feels about each other as different personalities come together and interact in games, camp fire talks, or just plain goofing off.
Sunnyside Washington!
We came home from our camp out and got ready for our next group that came from Sunnyside Washington. Steve Waller headed up this group and we’ve know Steve for a very long time and he even brought his son Andrew and daughter Tory with him—oh yea, and 4 barrel intake manifold for the Plymouth. I think we often wonder what great things the Lord will do for the people of Mexico, but this week within their group one of the students became a Christian! Travis is a friend of Joe, and Travis has been witnessing to Joe for some time now, and on this trip Travis confronted Joe with the important question—”Do you want to except Jesus as your Savior?” It was a fantastic week with my good buddy Steve and his crew from Sunnyside Washington.
Oasis High Desert!!
Ashley was excited as this was her home church from Hisperia CA! Ashley made her first trip down here to RLM to build a house 3 years ago, and her she is working as an intern. Vinnie Hanke heads up this team and he has been involved with house building projects since he was in High School. During their week her they built a home for Yeni (Jenny) and her two daughters. It was a great week of work, plus some great fellowship, and our work with Yeni is not over as we will try to help her find a church family. We also had a great time at the Beach, eating Han’s hotdogs, and they ended the week with a great time of worship around the camp fire at the ministry site.
Horizon Community Youth trip
This was a very challenging week as we not only built two homes, but we did it with a team of 21, and we were doing something we had never done! These two additions connected to two block homes, thus it provided many challenges. Both families that received the homes were very grateful, but I think everyone drew very close to Roxane who is a single Mom. Her past was full of pain and she had only knew the Lord for a little more than a year. This week also brought us back to our dear friend Pastor Samuel who we’ve known for many years. He looks great, but he has been battling Parkinson’s disease, but he would still come out to the site and see how everything was coming along. Our week usually comes to an end with our customary Round of Golf, and for me it’s fun and all, but the best part I like is just being with a bunch of guys joking around as we smack the little white ball around—-and the drive to the golf course was helpful too!
Quail Lakes Baptist Church
This was a very fun week as we had some old friends return and we even had some newlyweds! Kory and Liea got married this last year and that why they did not make it down this last year. Daniel Torres heads up this team and this year we were building in an area that was fairly new. and were very excited about seeing their vision come to life and they would explain how they planed to do their own additions and how they wanted it to all fit together. This is a family that has never really had a place to call home, and now they take pride and joy in being able to do so. This week was also Debbie’s Birthday! She had a great day, and she said she even felt OK getting the van stuck in the silt as all us guys came to her rescue. This week as also special as we had some good friends come by to lend a hand, there was also the Hot Dog cook out at church, and, the nice, slow, relaxing Breakfast at Cafe Jalisco on Friday Morning.
Valley Community Church
This is a group from Plesanton CA and this is usually one of our most challenging weeks in many ways. This group stays at a camp that is about an hour from our site, so that means we pack up EVERYTHING and head out to Tierra Santa! She might deny it, but Jan Ash pulls this crew together every year and it’s always a pleasure to work along side here and VCC. This year they completed the addition to the house they did last year and we helped one team build a new roof structure. Debbie worked with most of our crew on the house and Ashley and I tackled the roof project with the rest of the VCC crew. Both of these sites sit in an area that is traditionally HOT HOT HOT, and this year it was HOT. Jan shared with me the some of the changes that have taken place with the family and after last years presentation I guess the father was greatly affected by what was done, and what was shared. The father struggles with a bad drinking habit, but over this last year he has gotten much better, and he even started to attend church. So we not only take joy in providing new homes, but we take greater joy providing a way to open new doors for new lives.
Canyon Lake Community Church!!
Yea!!! Our home church! We were very excited to have our home church make it back down here to our home! This week was special in many ways, but I think what was most impressive about this group was that is was mainly composed of Senior Citizens, and it was only a group of 9!! We all headed up to a hillside and completed and addition for Marisol, Marcos and their daughter. We quickly moved to a theme that best discribed our week and the dedicated work force that we had, and it was,,,”Tuff Chicks do Work!”. This was a special week for Debbie and I as we got to work with the members from out home church in the States, and they also got to hear me preach! This was also the first trip and Paul and Teresa Milano put together and they did an excellent job! This small group of hard workers became an inspiration to the whole team of RLM staff and we can only get excited of future trips and we hope and pray that this will give a new direction and purpose to those in our home church, I know that for us personally it was a very special week—Oh yea, and let’s not forget the fish tacos that Marcos and Marisol made for us–yum yuummm.
Our Two week Break
Before our last group we had a two week break and this came about due to groups that canceled and it was just too late for other groups to reschedule and put something together. During these two weeks we work on different projects, took care of some emergency repairs, said good-bye to Ashley our intern from the US, visited a school for Autistic children with Hanna Morse. We then drove Hanna up to San Diego Intl’ airport and later on that Afternoon we picked up SARAH DORSEY!!
Sarah was our only summer intern from the States 3 year ago and we were very excited about her coming to visit with us. For us it is more that just an ex-intern coming, it’s more like one of our own kids coming home, and yet, it’s like a very good friend taking out time to come hang out. I think we were busy with something just about everyday—Wine tasting, Hot springs, visited Casa Esperanza, we went to the circus, Cafe Jalisco, La Hacienda (nice out door restaurant), taco stands and ice cream, and what would a trip be with our going to La Bufadora (during the day and at night. So it was a very fun week and it was great to have Sarah here with us—We miss ya Sarah!
Oh Canada, Bakerview Gospel Chapel
This was our last week and even though we were very tired this team from Canada was like a shot in the arm! This was the first group that we have ever hosted from Canada and I must say that I hope everyone I meet from Canada is as nice as this group was. We made our way back to Antonia’s house for the 12′x24′ addition and it amazing to see all the changes that had taken place with Antonia and her family. Altogether there were 6 individuals living in the house and with no electricity or running water—I don’t know how they do it. This was also by far, hands down THE HOTTEST week of the summer, and not just the this summer, but the last few summers. There was no hidding from the shade, and not that anyone was hidding, but it was constant sun all week long. The funny thing that usually happens to us is that our bodies seem to say “OK, summer’s just about over, so time to shut down”, so everyday you got to push a bit extra to get through the day and then before you know it—it’s all over… So to our new friends in Canada, thank you, and we hope to see you again and thank you for making a difference in Antonia’s life.
Back to…
I now go over to the ministry site and it’s still and quiet, the fridge is shut off, and the shop is clean—but not for long. The off-season means we return to the projects we’ve been working on, and this would be Javier and Casa Esperanza. Javier is very close to moving in and there is a ton of work to be done at Casa Esperanza. This is also time to do some maintenence on the vehicles, get caught up on computer stuff, and eventually hopefully have a nice quiet Saturday morning to work on the Plymouth.
Also pray for us as we have already seen to the need to be more involved in some young couples that are having some difficulties, and families that are affected by drug addiction. We feel some what confident in talking and counseling other young couples, but I’m not sure how the Lord wants to use us with families dealing with the affects of drug addiction, so please pray for us in this area.
Besides all of the above I’m looking forward to — getting back to the Plymouth, finishing our stairs, painting the house (exterior), doing some kayaking, and, and, maybe-finally-putting grass in our little back yard!
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