Last Day in Merida!

Hola amigos!

Our team had a fantastic last day! We got an extra hour of sleep, had an amazing breakfast, and then stayed at the church to do some clean up work. We pulled weeds, painted the gym and classrooms, and touched up the fences and doors. After finishing our work for the day, we had spaghetti and fajitas for lunch, which was a very interesting combination. We then were given time to rest and pack before heading to an earlier than usual large group.
      In large group we sang many songs, and everyone had the opportunity to share what they had learned or gained from this trip and the people on it. Many tears were shed, and hearts were happy while worshiping the Lord. After worship we broke into our small groups to discuss our final memories and experiences from the trip. I think everyone can agree that bonds were formed that can never be broken on this trip.
     Heading into dinner, we were surprised with a Mariachi band, and sang songs and danced with our  friends at Shalom Church. While eating dinner we sang karaoke, which was probably the highlight of my day. The entire team let loose and enjoyed each other's company as we said our last goodbyes to the people at Shalom Church, and headed back to the hotel to prepare for our long day of traveling tomorrow.
   As our trip comes to a close, It is important that we remember all the friendships that were formed and all the experiences that were had here in the beautiful city of Merida, Mexico.

- Claudia Crawford

Last Day of Construction and VBS

¡Hola amigos! We got an early start this morning and went to construction site for the last day of work. We finished the roof with a nice layer of water proof of cement. Everybody took turns pouring cement and bringing the buckets back by using an assembly line. Even though everybody was so tired and the buckets were so heavy everyone pushed through the mental and physical barrier and we finished in no time. After work we had a tasty lunch and headed back to the hotel to get ready for VBS. Team 1 closed the last day at VBS with songs, water balloon catch, sidewalk chalk, face paint, and pictures. Team 2 did the same activities at their VBS. We had an awesome time worshiping with the kids and singing the songs in both English and Spanish. It was really tough saying goodbye to the kids. We had hot dogs wrapped in bacon for dinner and they were so good. We are going to have small group and worship, and we are very excited to see what is in store for tomorrow.  ¡Hasta mañana!

Much love,

Abby Stubbs

P.S. Visit the Facebook for pictures from today: https://www.facebook.com/iomexico14

Work Day 2 - Tuesday, July 22

¡Hola! ¿Como Estas? Today we started by waking up bright, and early for some delicious homemade Mexican breakfast at the church. After devouring multiple servings of the amazing Mexican food, we ventured onto a 30 minute bus ride to the construction site. The students were ecstatic to start a day of work regardless of the hot weather, or a short night of sleep. We began work at 8:00am, and worked hard for 2 hours pouring concrete, and moving it to 3 floors to the roof as our Mexicano construction amigos spread it. We took a much needed break around 11 o'clock, but were back at it about 20 minutes later to finish some of the daily projects we had started. After a hard day of work around 1pm some of the students played fütbol at the school with some of the Mexican students from Shalom church that had joined us for work. Quickly we raided the bus covered in dried concrete, and took our bus ride back to the church excited to join the children at VBS. We split up into a group that stayed at the church, and another group that went to a shelter for children. It was amazing to see how much the students opened up, and socialized once they had a day to get used to some new faces. Being able to connect with the children and teach them about God was an amazing sight to see. After around 3 hours of being with the children we are currently meeting back at the church to have an amazing dinner of tortillas chicken and other various Mexican foods!

¡Hasta Mañana!

Lawton

Facebook pictures coming soon: https://www.facebook.com/iomexico14

Good Morning!

Buenos Dias!

We're at breakfast right now eating some yummy omelets that Shalom Church has prepared for us! We're getting ready to head out for day two of construction. I think everyone is a little sore from our hard work yesterday, but we're all really excited to get going again! We're making great progress on the building, so we may get done with our work a little early this week and be able to help serve in another way. We'll keep you updated when we find out more. We've already posted some pictures this morning, so you can check those out and be on the lookout for more pictures and posts later today.

Thanks for all your support! We love you all!!

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/iomexico14

Construction and VBS - Day 1

Hola Americanos! Today we met up at 7am to eat breakfast and then we headed out to the construction site. I think we all were nervous, and none of us knew what to expect. At the site, we split up into our work teams (beam team and block squad). The beam team worked on lifting 6 beams that weighed 572 pounds each onto the roof of the third floor. Block squad started an assembly line shuffling 60 pound blocks up the scaffolding  to the roof of the third floor. After about 2 hours we took a short snack break of delicious fruit and cookies. Then we began our concrete mixing for the floor of a hallway. We had a huge assembly line that went from the concrete mixer, up the scaffolding, onto the third floor, down a separate scaffolding, and back to the mixer. We all started with fears of concrete burns . Regardless all of us ended up mildly covered in concrete but no burns! We were all totally exhausted as we headed back to the hotel around 2pm. We ate lunch, and then went back to the hotel to shower and nap before VBS. Half of our team went to El Comedor ( a shelter for needy children ) for VBS and some of us stayed at Shalom Church. We worshiped with the kids and were able to connect with them despite the language barrier. We're eating dinner now of empanadas, and about to  head off to do large group, small group, and worship.  After all of that we will be rewarded with a greatly needed rest!

 ¡Adios!
Serena and Maddy

Here is the link to the Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/iomexico14. Pictures from today will be posted later tonight!

Hola! Day 2 was our fun day. We started it off by going to the church service at Shalom, and then taking a 2 hour bus ride to Chichen Itza. There, we got to visit a beautiful sinkhole and see the Mayan Ruins. When we came back to Merida, we prepared for VBS and construction. Even though today was mostly fun and games, we're all prepared and excited for the week to come! My favorite part of today besides the fun activities was getting to listen to the church service. Even though we couldn't understand the sermon, being able to see how the people of Merida reacted to it was incredible. I love knowing that Jesus is a language for anyone around the world, regardless of culture. Overall, today was a great start to the week and we can't wait to get to work!

- Ashley Goldston

(p.s. Here's the link to our Facebook photos of today: https://m.facebook.com/iomexico14...enjoy!!)

Good news--We made it to Merida safely!! After the flight and bus ride, we checked into our hotel. We got to have a little bit of "down time" before we headed to Shalom Church for dinner. We then headed down to a local festival for some live music and shopping. We stopped at an ice cream shop here to have some of their awesome sorbet! Finally, we finished off the night with some team worship, large group, and small group. So glad we're here safe and ready for an awesome week of service!

We've been having some trouble with wifi here unfortunately, but we will post more info and pictures as much as we can!

Also, please follow us on social media to get updates on our trip:
Twitter - @IOmexico2014
Instagram - @IOmexico14
Facebook - IO Mexico '14

Thank you!!