Mexico Mission Trip Part 1

I'm back from Mexico. My homecoming wasn't what I expected, but I'll talk more about that later. It's hard when you come back from a mission trip because you don't really know where to begin. I spent all week excited about telling everyone about my trip, but now that I'm back and it's time to talk about it, I don't know how to put it into words. I don't feel like I can accurately explain my trip.

Flying to Cancun

We had so much luggage

Exchanging our money

One of the vehicles loaded with luggage

Another vehicle loaded with luggage

The driving was so scary!

On Saturday, we spent all day traveling. We flew from Raleigh to Charlotte to Cancun. Then, we had a 3 hour drive to Tizimin. We had a 4 vehicle caravan. The riding experience was a little scary. There aren't really any road rules. People pass a lot! It was way after dark when we finally made it to the center where we were staying.

The DCI center has two campuses. One is in Belize and the other is the one we visited in the Yucatan. These centers are run by missionaries Bill and Kathy Craver. Here are some pictures of what the center looked like:

This is the view from the road.

The room I stayed in. We had to bring air mattresses. All they had was the bed frames.

This is looking the other way in the same room. We were in the biggest room.

We had a sink in the room.

We had a shower in the room.

This was inside the bathroom.

The shower in the bathroom

We made signs for the doors so that we could remember what door was what.

The eating and hanging out area. The doors on the left go to the rooms.

This is a sink area and where they kept the purified water.

The kitchen area

Looking at the dining/hang out area from the back

This is the back of the center.

The first day we were in Tizimin, we ate breakfast at the market. Then, we attended a church service. Of course, the service was in Spanish. During preaching, we had a translator, but the rest of the time we were lost. The service lasted 2 hours. During the afternoon, we sorted through the items we brought to donate and the things we brought to do with the children. That evening we went to a village outside the city. In this spot, a church has been set up for children. This was our first night going to this spot to play with the children. It was a real eye opener. 

The market for breakfast

Market

Market

All the restaurants at the market. We sampled food from many of them.

Meat in the market

This place did not smell good.

The church where we attended Sunday morning service

sorting through the stuff

All our crafts and goodies for the kids

Packing donation items into suitcases

We painted fingernails.

We painted faces.

We decorated bookbags.

We colored.

We hung out and loved on the children.

We played ball.

They were so precious.

 Even after the first full day of being there, we were exhausted. I don't think any of us knew how we were going to make it through this entire week.

The story will continue tomorrow...