video by Larry Walton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hGvMgh_waE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87BqWMXz7ws

created by Larry Walton

Link to over 100 photos of the trip

Arrived last night in Medford at about 2:30 a.m. Whew!!! Would have got home sooner but In and Out burger was calling......Larry is a professional photographer and he set up a site where you can view photos from our mexico trip......

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3040&id=1751308174&l=6d47f728f7


Thanks for following our trip. For Alison and I, it was the best one ever. We appreciate your prayers while on the trip and would apprecaite your prayers as we continue to explore ways to minister in Guaymas Mexico. It was so apparent that the Lord was with us and protected us the entire trip. A special thanks to Larry, Robin, Clark, Angela, Kevin, Joel, Joe, Miranda, Will, Matt, Mark, Jackie, Kiana, Kallen, Koral, Jesse, Sam, Brian, Jared for allowing us to hang out with you for a week and a half on this adventure. We love you all.

Mike

More photos

Border

On the road....crossed border and all is well...everyone is tired and we are heading for Palm Springs. Such a great bunch of people ....the Lord put us together and knit us together. Alison and I just love all this group and are so blessed to have been a part of this whole adventure.
Yesterday Kevin, one of the Wheeler boys, got so dehydrated that he had to be taken to a clinic to get an I V to get back to normal....he was one sick boy! After recieving his IV he was almost back to his bouncy self. A week later Kevin was still sick after two rounds of antibiotics.

Quick sailing ventures

Finally a quick sail....on our 2nd day in Mexico we got to rush out to martini cove for a quick swim and then rush back for our 1st day camp with the kids.

Later in the week a few of us were able to go on an evening sail in near perfect sailing conditions.

Some think that this is why I got a group to go to Mexico to minister to the Mexican people....it was an incentive......for whose who know me I dream of sailing. The Lord has given me such a passion fo sailing so this is awesome to be able to share this with everyone. It is my hope that the Lord would give us a large sailboat to take small groups out and teach them the word and encourage others.

under the stars and photos

Here is Clark assisting with the cooking

Brain was the brains behind the meals....we didnt eat brains I mean....he was our cook and house dude. Brain did an amazing job!

Here is Larry with the parachute game.

Last night we gathered on top of the roof of our house and watched a slideshow of the last few days. The stars were shining bright, music was lofting in from the city below and laughter spilled over the hill. It was so cool to hang with such wonderful people that love Jesus and want to serve. ....then we thought of all the amazing things we were a part of through the week

Kiana

I love Kianas tender spirit. Kiana jumped right in and was the leader of the skit team and loved the children. Kiana was the oldest kid on the trip and was a huge help. She is an competative volleyball and basketball player but you would never know it. I asked Kiana what were some of the highlights of the trip...she said that at first she was scared of getting lice and afraide to get too close to the children and then later she siad...she just didnt care about the lice and hugged the children and touched them and played with them......that was so cool to hear. Kiana was a huge part of the powerful skit that Larry developed.

Taco stand in Guaymas

Fish tacos....foget your diet.

work camp

The children made braclets that had colors representing the gospel which they would be taking with the the next day as they traveled back to their home in wouthern Mexico.

Will was taking it all in

Kevin taking it all in

Had a tug of war with the 125 kids that showed up. The parents watched from a distance. After an hour the word got out that the Americans drove for two days to come play with their kids and to share the love of Christ with them. We were told that the people of the camp were blown away that we would do that. Martin, the pastor who works with these people saw kids come out that he never saw before and hopes that this event will open more doors to share the gospel. The pastor and the people who helped him absolutely loved and apprecaited what we did....it was awesome!

kids at La Montana

We visited La Montana last year...a middle class church that we have connected with. The pastor and my brother have very similar backgrounds. I really love this church and we have an open door to work with them any time.

Grammer and typos

It has brought to my attention that I need to proof my clips and use spell checker. Someone asked if I was tired.....YES but loving every minute of it. When I write these posts, it is between events or stuff....so I am in a hurry and tired....so pretend that my wording is professional and excuse me for typos.

Jacque and kids

Jacque and her gang at the work camp.! Kids were really dirty and flies were thick. Even though the kids lived in such filth they were so enthusiatic and

fun loving.......and here is Jacque loving the kids. We could see flees and flies and smell things that should not be smelled.

Joe and kids

Here is Joe taking photos....as the trip progressed we would find Joe jumping up and down with the children in the thick of it

Angela and kids

Here is Angela hanging with kids in Fatima. Angela, as with the other ladies, always had their "groupies". The litlle girls absolutely adored Angela wherever we went. The simple act of loving kids opens doors to the gospel and opens doors to our hearts.

The roof

One of the projects we took on was to add a roof to a ladies house that our missionary friends know. She has raised 4 kids with virtually no husband around(he takes off for lengths of time and they dont know ehre he goes). She works 3 jobs to send her kids to school and they have lived in a one bedroom house with no running water. The people in the community kept watching and asking what was going on....they heard that we traveled 1500 miles to do this and they were amazed that anyone cared. This simple act will be a huge testimony to the 100's that live in the colonia. Above on the left you will see 11 year old Jerod srewing down the metal sheeting and Dave, our missionary friend of Guaymas doing the same. Brian Monroe was the the guy who managed that project and when Brian gets a project going watch out!!!! I might add...that we did not have enough money to finish the project and the guys that worked on the roof chipped in to finish it up......Special thanks to Clark, Mark and Joe to helping out with this awesome project!

Larry Boy

Larry playing with the kids and loving on them. Thank you Lord he speaks Spanish! This was tonight at La Montana de Guaymas...(Interesting that it is named the Mountain.) We had an fantastic time with over 100 kids and once again pastor Jose wrapped up with a message about Jesus.

Jose de Guaymas kids

Jose de Guyamas skit....starring Kiana, Matt. Kevin, Kallen, Ari, Koral, Will and Sam and Joel.

San jose de Guaymas

Here we are at San Jose de Guaymas and the kids are presetning a skit. The Mexican kids loved it and the message was recieved as the pastor got to used the skit as a visual for his message. Afterwards there were two moms that came forward for us to pray for and they shed tears of appreciation. It was really awesome....it was a really poor area....a little girl named Wendy came to me with a flip flop that would cost us 3 dollars in the states. It had already been repaired twice with nails and worn down 1/2 way.....I fixed it up with duct tape and she went on playng in the games....just a reminder of the poverty....so many opportunities here and so many needs. Beautiful children and hungry hearts.

VBS rocks

Had our second VBS tonight and once again and it went soooooooo good. Yesterday we went to a very poor area in the evening and about 150 kids showed up and our kids and Larry and Clark and everyone did everything with excellence! Kids came, kids heard and kids responded....got home really late and we all crashed from exhaustion.
Today we had our first chance to go sailing and go to the beach...we have been so so busy. Everyone is unified and committed to our mission....I love these guys! More later but I gotta go

Preparing for the first VBS

Here you can see who the real workers are....women are all working hard and the boys are hangin.....it just looks that way because the boys were talking about heavy stuff. Tomorrow is our first VBS. In the morning Dave and Dee will be having breakfast with us and sharing their missionary heart.

Weather is awesome....not too hot...some mosquitoes...right now it is 1230 a.m. and I am sitting on my motorcycle outside an internet cafe blogging to family at home

...I better get to bed cause it is a big day tomorrow.

Desert

Sweet Ari...very long ride but she is a trooper. The kids were always interacting on the bus and having a ball together. The adults...enduring and trying to sleep while the wheels kept rolling rolling rolling.

Broken down in Nogales AZ...another raidator hose...but the Lord taking care of us and once again Brain fixed the problem. He is like Mcgiever...always finding a solution.

Clark ...he is kickin it while the work is done

Clark took it easy when we were fixin things....the drive took much longer than expected with breakdowns but we

never heard one complaint from this group...then are so positive. Sp proud to be linked to such a special group of folks. Clark was a huge huge help during the day camps with the children. Clark spoke spanish and was able to communicate the children.....thanks Clark!

And more delays

Started out of Quartsite Az and a radiator hose blew...wet us back an hour...paul encountered many obstacles on his missionary journey and so are we....glad we are not shipwrecked though

Blythe

We are now in Blythe CA. Got in very late last night and we are now getting ready to head down to Nogales. Everyone feels a little better after a shower and a little sleep...without the bouncing of the bus.

Opposition

Total bearing blow..15 miles south of Yreaka! Went back to Yreaka and got parts to repair and after 1 1/2 hours or so we were on the road again to Redding where we needed another part. Put us way behind but as I told our group...the enemy has repeattedly opposed our efforts.

bus activity

Everything going smoothly

Taking off

Taking off..a few family members saw us off but pretty quiet at 5:00 a.m except for the buzzing street lights. We finally shoved off at 6.

Joe and his family dropped off their stuff and will meet us at the church at 5:00 a.m.

Thunder and lighting in June?

Waiting for all the families to bring all their gear and load it all up in the bus, trailer and suburban. Found out that Craig and his son Ethan will have to stay here and Jesse and Sam will continue on with us...sad.....but its all going to work out.

14 hours nonstop

The list is getting smaller but still lots to do in preparation to go. Larry stopped bye to grease the bearings of the trailer, Brain stopped bye and and I ran around town doing errands and getting new tires for the bus. On top of it all, I took the suburban in to the shop and 671 bucks later it is on the road. We have had only one car for 3 days. Alison has been getting all kinds of things ready too and now maybe we can pack ourselves. Whenever the Lord is about to do amazing things there is much opposition from the enemy....but...we are pressing on.

Serving the Lord is an adventure

7 families, 3000 miles, hearts to serve, kids to love and it lies before us. It all started with a simple vision.