Mexico Mission Trip 2007

We took our 15U and 16U baseball teams and a group of nine wrestlers to build houses for families in need in a poor neighborhood of Rosarito, just south of Tijuana . Our kids worked hard, and after four days of sweat and blood (one of our coaches, Lloyd Cherry, had chicken wire go through his finger), we miraculously finished the project. Brian Peterson and the wrestlers made quick work the first few days because of Brian’s prior experience on previous trips. However, the baseball coaches struggled the first few days as they tried to decipher the building plans, which appeared to be written in some language unknown to man! The interpretation of the “Rubik’s Cube” finally clicked as Gordy McLaren and Pat Frederickson of the Auburn Young Life group (Auburn Young Life and Reality Sports partnered in the trip with a total of 83 people on the mission) came to help square up and level the house on its foundation.

Though the house was now level and square, the third day of the four-day project approached with the baseball teams now 1 ½ days behind schedule. It appeared there would be no option but to continue the work into Sunday, which was designated as the reward day to go shopping in town and swimming at the beach. The baseball players were excited to go into town and barter for fake sunglasses, clothes, and jewelry, but the teams, still four hours behind at the job site, had the proverbial monkey hanging on our backs. The fourth and final day came as a grueling hot one with the clock ticking loud. Could we finish? The players responded with a vengeance, and a miracle began to take shape, as time seemed to stand still and the work multiplied at light speed. It actually felt similar to what the feeding of the five thousand must have been like as the bread and fish just kept coming! Tar paper was rolling, hammers tapping, chicken wire hanging, concrete mixing, stucco flying, and minute by minute was being made up as four hours were negated in just half a day. At 6:00 p.m. PST the last trowel of stucco was spread on the house and the presentation of the keys to the family and their new house was accomplished! It was a remarkable comeback comparable to erasing a 10-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was simply a miracle, as God was definitely in us finishing that house.

Finishing the house for the families was incredible. The presentation of the key to tear-filled eyes of gratitude was worth every drop of sweat, blood, dust in the nostrils, and “forced” trip to the outhouse. To quote Pastor Rick Warren, “We were created to serve. We are fulfilled when we serve”. We walked or rode on the bus away from that poor village with a sense of honor and gratitude for getting an opportunity to give our time, money, and energy to someone else. That someone else wasn’t just that family, but it was also to Jesus. Our hearts said, “Lord, you have done so much for us. We live in nice homes, drive our SUV’s sipping on iced lattes, and watch our kids play in parks with grass and sprinkler systems. We turn on light switches and get ice out of the fridge without a thought. We take warm showers and flush a toilet without much of an odor (most of the time). Our kids wear different clothes each day as laundry piles up on our washing machines. Most of us have the chance to go to school and ‘make something’ of our lives with a job that enables us to make the money to have that fridge with ice and running water. In our neighborhood, the ice cream truck attracts every kid from three blocks away with dollars ready and SpongeBob ice cream waiting. In Mexico the ice cream trucks come through with no kids following it or approaching it with smiles. They come through for the Americans who are the only ones with money

We built some houses, but we built more than that. We built friendships, though we may never see those families again, that will echo into eternity. We built memories that will never fade. We built character. We built our spirits, as God’s Word penetrated our hearts at fireside and tent times in the evenings. New mansions in heaven were started as some players gave their lives to the Master Builder. Some seeds were planted, some were watered, and some were harvested. Team unity was developed through “spittin’ ” out rhymes, games of Mafia, and wiffle ball.

We barely survived the riptide, undertow, and pure power of the ocean. A reminder of the power of nature and the frailty of man was once again proclaimed by the salty sea. The bonding of men occurred as only sleeping in a dirty tent with a few other guys on a small pad and sleeping bag can. Taking showers with a bucket of water or small bag with a nozzle in a shower area with rocks serving as the floor also enhanced the bonding. A row of outhouses ¼ mile away from the campsite with the distinct smell of hundreds of campers’ refuse could be considered the epitome of roughing it. After the first or second time of openly carrying your roll of toilet paper to the outhouse for all campers to see was no longer a “walk of shame”. Why? Because we were all in this together. Everyone took the same showers, used the same outhouses, and filled our dusty Nalgene bottles at the same water tank. We all brushed our teeth outside and spit in the dirt. We all went six days without looking in a mirror or having ice in our drinks.

All were together on this journey of giving up American comforts to grant someone else a thousand miles away a more comfortable life. Little did we know that being “uncomfortable” for a week would somehow feel “comfortable”, and that returning to our “comfortable” homes would feel strangely “uncomfortable”. Will it last? Maybe not. The likelihood of being sucked back into our culture and the rat race of gain and hidden greed is high. Mexico will soon be a distant memory. BUT!!! The point is that it is still a memory; something we will never forget, no matter how distant. We may forget the grueling labor and the stench of an outhouse, but the Word of the Lord that was burned in our hearts that week will last forever. The service given in that week will continue for eternity because, “We were created to serve, and we’re fulfilled when we serve.” Let’s continue to serve Him, who first served us, our entire lives (John 13:4-17).