Construction Project in Merida

Would you like to meet our host in Merida? How about understanding a little more about the construction project? Take a look at the video! Get in shape now...squats, overhead press, bicep curls, walking / running and more. You will thank me later.

Serving the needy children in Merida

We can not wait to serve in Merida! After each hard day of construction work, we will take a few hours rest then head over to Comedor de Beneficencia para Niños de Escasos Recursos Emmanuel A.C. where we will bring food, school supplies, clothes and anything else we can to support the children. We are also planning, for now, to put on a mini-concert and perhaps a skit or drama along with a relevant and fun gospel message. I put together a few pictures so you can see exactly where we are going. For those supporting our efforts, we could not do it without you!

Small Group Dinners

Small Group Dinners

Every month, our wonderful Mexico group gathers together. This month though, in lieu of a meeting, we took the opportunity to gather in a more intimate setting as small groups for dinner after InsideOut. In local restaurants small groups got to know a little bit more about each other and about the trip. With less than 60 days until departure, our excitement continues to grow for July 19th!

Thanks,

Serena

Getting Closer!

Good afternoon fellow team groupies!

With school being out (HOORAYY) and many fun vacations, camps, and lake days planned, this also means that our departure to Merida is quickly approaching! We are going to have so much fun serving and bonding as a familia! With that being said, we also need to come up with a checklist of things we need to pack and need to pray for. We can call this our "Pack and Pray List".

Some of the most important items to pack would be t-shirts, a water bottle, socks, and a hat. However, these are the things that most people will remember, (hopefully). We need to be communicating with our leaders to ask about some of the items that we probably would forget to bring or not know we needed. These would be items such as multiple toothbrushes. Many team members from last year forgot on those EARLY mornings that we cannot drink the water in Mexico and accidentally rinsed their toothbrush in the sink! It is the little details that we need to be reminded of to make sure we stay safe and prepared for our trip.

Not only should we be preparing physically for our mission work, we also should be praying! Whether you pray in your small group, during large group, or by yourself, God hears all of our prayers. We can pray for things such as health, team members, a servants heart, locals in Merida, safety, just about everything! One awesome way to pray is by praying for someone on our team specifically by name. Reach out to them and ask how you can pray for them. This will allow you to become more comfortable and prepared for our journey!

PLEASE feel free to suggest any items or prayer requests for our "Pack and Pray List"! Remember to be vulnerable and open to doing things outside of your comfort zone!
 Hasta Luego!

Aqui hay dos fotos  del ano pasado
(here are two photos from last year)


1. This was our adorable, yet mini transportation to the sink holes in Mexico which was an amazing experience that we will hopefully be able to share this summer!

2. This photo on the left is our friend Adrian Glory! He is native to Merida and will help us travel around during our trip. He is absolutely incredible and quite comical. (also able to follow on Instagram @realadrianglory)

The "other" Walk in Merida

We're making a few changes this year, one of which is the hotel where we are staying in Merida. This year we will be at the Las Margaritas in Merida, just a few minutes walk down the street from Shalom Church. Take a virtual walk with us from the hotel to Shalom in this 30 second video. Enjoy!

May 4 Meeting (Trip 1)

Collage of our May 4 meeting, which includes a few people Josie was talking about in her below post...yep, creepy and cool, that's the way we like it.

Who is going on this thing anyway???

Good afternoon lovelies,

So, I realized that not all of you may know one another though— from pre-trip meetings— it's apparent that shyness is so NOT a thing.

And many of you have gone on trips together before.

Yet for those who do not completely know one another 100%, a once-a-month meeting just won't make the "stare-deeply-into-my-eyes-and-tell-me-things" cut that I feel lifting concrete in a foreign land requires.

SO, from the leaders to the students here are some quick quotes I've captured in my creepy, stalk brain that I will now use to blackmail, Erm, I mean...enlighten... you all on who is REALLY on your trip.

PS- everything I write is a billion percent accurate and true and indisputable! (and some was taken off Group Me...not even gonna lie.)

PPS- Disclaimer: Italicized comments are the direct reflection of the writer and not the Merida team...

PPPS- they are also the direct reflection of the Merida team.
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"All my money went to Vernon's jeans."- Micheal Hall

"Bacon is nice."- Alyssa Jennings

"Hi." -Hannah Brosius (the lucky recipient of her 'hello' just fell over in complete adoration...)

"My little brother tried to eat my last piece of pizza so I strangled him." - Sava

"Watching Netflix because I'm not at my school prom." -Chandler Burnell (Oh Chandler, that's so sad. It better be Game of Thrones.)

"Babe." - Hunter (to whom or what he was referring, we'll never know.) 

"Happy Friday from me and my greasy hair!" - Katie Jones

"I'm pretty sure my bedroom is a mini-hospital." - Victoria French (hey, that's really weird...)

"I'm getting an amazing farmer's tan." - Jordan Bingham (raise your hand if you wanted to know that.)

"I mean, you just have to play this game. You put the phone on your head and..." - Kelsie Good (Oh Kels, you're cute but we stopped listening after the word head.)

"Vernon, will do." -Richard Good (this was NOT off Group Me. This is just what he always says to Vernon. Hey Richard, you've got something brown on your nose...)

"I love ya'll." - Daniel Harper (what a teddy bear. He'll also let you eat ice cream for breakfast and do all your math homework.)

"Juan Pablo from the Bachelor just gets me." - Ellie Rodriguez

"Behave like a ninja." -Braden Ragsdale

"Wobbledeewobbledeewop." - Shane Cross

"You gotta start somewhere." -Chad (wow, gosh thanks, Chad.)

"Sunsets are cool." -Bennie

"Truck yeah!" - Zakk Gross

"It's all about that white blaze..." - Evan Gibson (appalachian trail, guys, appalachian trail!) 

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So this is a small sum of who you'll be traveling with. Good luck ladies and gents! I can't wait to get to know each one of you more...

so I can spy on you and blog about it for your parents and leaders to read forever and ever online. 

<3