Day 5

Day 5 - Sat 6/11/22 (Jodie) 

Hola chicos!

Today we woke up bright and early (as always), and went down to a breakfast of English muffins, Tater Tots, hash browns, and fruit. We were also joined by Carlie and Judah (two of our Mission Adventure leaders).

After breakfast, we had our morning worship, small group devos, and session. We played Chicken in the Henhouse as our daily warmup game (Rachel + Gigi made it to the final round!). Then, we all packed up into two vans and headed out towards the dump (our mission site for the day) back up in Tijuana.

The drive started out very smooth, with a quick stop at a local grocery store to buy some food for the people we would be meeting at the dump. We also had a quick lunch of sandwiches and chips (we saw a dead cat which was incredibly sad and some of us may have cried). 

Then, we continued on our way toward Tijuana. After getting lost and driving along pretty bumpy and roller coaster-esque roads, we finally made it to the dump! There, we spent 3 hours (though it felt like less) packing and handing out food + hygiene packages. Each of us also took a leap of faith to step out of our comfort zones and trust God completely by talking and praying to the people at the dump despite the HUGE language barrier (shoutout to our translators, Busta and Evan).

Before we left, pastor Julian (right, in the photo below), the resident pastor at the dump, shared with us the two blessings he had witnessed in each of us:

1) All of us had been sent a calling from God to come and serve in Mexico.

2) All of us responded to God's calling and followed it to Mexico.

These were things that each of us took to heart and carried along with us all the way back to the YWAM base.

On the way back, we all felt a little fatigued and dehydrated so we took some time before dinner to recuperate. For dinner, we had another very yummy spread of tacos and juice, which we all enjoyed. Our evening session tonight was centered around the idea of an iceberg and how it shows only 3% on the surface but hides 97% below (which can be compared to ourselves and what we let on externally vs. internally). After evening session we had a very special worship. Today, the leaders decided to set up self-reflection stations and all of us went around examining who we were on the inside while listening to the worship team rock it on stage. There were stations for painting, planting, washing, reading, etc, all symbolizing an aspect of our lives as Christians. 

After a very fulfilling session of worship, Uncle Gary decided to take us all out to OXXO (mentioned before, the 7-11 of Mexico). There, we had a fun time making puns out of snack names and picking out our, now daily, pineapple sodas. We brought our goodies to the roof and enjoyed each others' company under the lights. 

Below is a photo Elaine took at OXXO:

As the clock hit 10:00 pm, Rachel declared quiet time and we all filtered back into our respective rooms, but not before our daily wishing of 'Bonus Nachos'.

As our time in Mexico begins to come to an end, I find myself reflecting a lot on the bonds we've made and the growth we've had. But most of all, I continuously find myself wondering, where are all the cats that our Mission Leaders said lived on the base? 

But in all seriousness, it's been a great time serving God here in Ensenada and building new relationships with all my lovely brothers and sisters in Christ. That being said, we still have 2 days and I'm sure we'll make the most out of them!!! 

Bonus Nachos Amigas + Amigos!

Adios,  Jodie <3