Well, home at last. Ally, Elise and I were quite happy when we landed and very excited to see our family and friends…although our trip was incredible by way of memories, serving opportunities, and blessings and surprises along the way, we all agreed that home was sounding better than ever by the middle of the second week. For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the Week 2 team got some sort of flu bug/Roto virus epidemic that hit our guys, girls, and parents randomly starting on Wednesday morning, June 21. I won’t go into unnecessary details, but one thing’s certain: it was not a pretty sight! Sending many to the hospital with 104 fevers, and others to the hotel in El Paso to rest and get re-hydrated, our admin. team had to actively think on our feet and trust God for His grace in each moment to do all that needed to be done. To make things worse, one of the girls had 2 very serious asthma attacks between Wednesday and Saturday that were very scary because her lungs were collapsing. Then, by Saturday morning, June 24, both of our pastors–Adam Malcom and Matt Maka–had come down with the Roto bug. We couldn’t believe what was happening! Yet, as always, the Spirit of God provided sufficient strength and wisdom.
On a personal note, I learned so much on this trip both through spiritual and physical challenges. The theme verse that I felt became my prayer throughout the trip was Philippians 3:7-11:
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
For sure, I felt like I learned how to share in Christ’s sufferings…but what is so amazing to me is the fact that these truths became a reality to me–they are no longer solely Paul’s words from scripture–they have become my own. I have experienced the reality of gaining Christ through losing myself for the glory of His kingdom. Not having enough time in the day to think about myself was freeing; hitting my pillow late at night, having exhausted myself for the Lord’s service, was totally satisfying; and dying to my preferences and desires by putting others above myself brought a new joy to my heart. Praise God for His work!
Other memories:
1. Special Admin Dinner at Cattleman’s Steakhouse–a Top 10 steak place in the country, at which I ate the best piece of flank steak I have ever had in my life.
2. The Rainbow Eclipse on Sunday morning June 25–like the promise from God to Noah of His covenant to His people even in the midst of trial…
3. Covenant Life church vs. Juarez church Soccer Game–We won 2-1! Go Sam and Julie!
4. MOW card games till midnight–who will ever forget the caramel on the face as the penalty?
5. Nora and Travis surprising me on Saturday after having driven 6 hours from Queen Creek, AZ to visit with me!
6. Taco Tote–an authentic, simple taco place which people either love or hate: I loved. The picture above is of all the fixings…
7. The adventures of cooking 3 meals a day for 70 people! Thanks to Tim Pyle for grilling bacon on 3 old charcoal grills for 4 hours. =)
8. Hiking up to the “Cross” in the mountains and spending time in prayer at 5:30 in the morning…the picture of the sunrise is the view from the top…
9. Cooking pasta for 2 1/2 hours with Elise and quoting Anne of Green Gables the entire time
10. Making fun of James Maresco for losing more water bottles than anyone the entire trip, and watching all the consequences he had to endure because of it!! (the push-ups)