Mexico Top Three

At the end of our trip, Corey sat us all down and told us to journal about a number of things. One thing he was big on was that we have answers ready for people who ask about our trip. We needed to have a short one sentence answer about the trip, a list of our top 3 experiences, and then a list of our top ten, depending on what people wanted to hear. All the way home, he would just point at people and ask them for their top three. Well, here's mine.



3. Drummer Baby-One day we headed off to a little square downtown where Jose Angel's church was hosting a V.B.S./Puppet Show in the square for kids and families from the poorest areas of town. While we were waiting for all of the kids to show up, the effects seeing all the things we saw that day were starting to weigh on me. There was a bench in Jose's 'church' that sat right in front of the old drumset. I was just sitting by myself, hiding behind the camera, trying to make sense of everything I'd seen that day. And then this baby boy, who could not have been more than 2 years old, climbed up on the bench with me and grabbed the drumsticks off the drumset. He looked at me, pacifier in mouth, and handed me one of the sticks. His parents where no where to be found, no one else was around. It was just him and me sitting around making noise on possibly the worst set of drums I'd ever seen. But sharing that moment of joy with that baby, just enjoying something that I loved, and that maybe brought some hope to a pretty dark situation, meant the world to me. Little angel baby I guess.

2. Gloria in Catereyta- I don't have the picture from this moment, but on wednesday we were walking through Catereyta handing out food and diapers and some other suppplies. We had run out of almost everything but milk, when we came to one of the last houses. Gloria was standing outside, and instantly asked if we would pray with her. Matt asked her why, and she instantly burst into tears. She had no money, no food, her husband had been out of a job for quite some time. He was off looking for work, and she was at home with all of her children and nothing to feed them. She said she had to ask a neighbor for some food the day before. She just didn't know what to do. We prayed for her, but that obviously wasn't enough, but we had nothing left of the things that we brought to give. At that moment, Corey remembered that we still had a lot of food left over from lunch on our bus. So I headed off back to the bus to find a lot of leftovers sitting in the back seat. As God would have it I guess, my team of guys were the ones that prepared lunch that day back at home. I told them to make extra sandwiches and bring extra of everything because we had been running out that past few days. Little did I know that those leftovers were packed for a different reason. I ran back with my bag full of half empty bags of chips, about ten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some apples, oreos, and other things. She was just so absolutly greatful to recieve them. Later, Matt grabbed a bag of hot dogs that we were serving to others, and had Corey give them to her and then walk her home so she wouldn't get mobbed. It was a little difference, but that's what God calls us to do right?




1. Goodbye- Thursday night, we had a cookout for some of the kids in the homes that back2back runs. We all stood around and they said their thank you's to us, and we said our thank you's to them, and they prepared to load the bus. Matt Cooper pulled us all aside and said that when we say goodbye to these kids, try not to cry. When the kids drive off on the bus, we want them to remember a happy time and smiling faces, not a bunch of blubbering americans. At this moment, I laughed to myself a bit because I never cry, and I knew that some of the girls on our team wouldn't be able to make it. "Good luck," I thought to myself. So we walked around to all the kids, gave out our hugs, handshakes, and hola's and sent them on their way. As we were loading up the last kids, Corey was standing there talking to Edgar, who was one of the men who ran Monontial. Edgar spoke some broken english, but mostly, he needed a translator to talk to us. He and Corey had spent the afternoon just sharing their stories and learning about each other. Right before Edgar was about to leave, Corey grabbed him and said this, in the loudest, clearest, english I've ever heard, "If something should happen to us before we come back, when we get to heaven, I'll meet you at the right side of the throne. We'll pick this party up there. Right side of the throne, you and me." I don't know if Corey meant that as a joke or not, I can't really tell. But at that moment, I just broke. I was standing there...crying. The reality of the fact that it won't always be like this, set in at that moment. They won't always be suffering, they won't always need food, they won't always be orphans looking for a family. On that day, we'll all be the way we were meant to be, together again. So there I stood, the guy who laughed at the thought of tearing up, crying in front of a bus load of kids. Somebody actually snapped a picture of me standing there, which I will keep to myself. But oddly enough, it had been raining that afternoon, and it was a bit over cast. I seem to remember at that moment, the sun came out. And as the bus drove off, all I could do was look at the sun over those amazing mountains, and feel like everything was right for that moment. God does some amazing stuff sometimes. Those were my top three.