The Final Night!

Well, it is 2a.m. and it is the last night of this years Mexico trip. What an awesome night of debriefing, sharing, singing, communion and baptisms! Hard to explain the way God has worked in the lives of everyone that has experienced this week in Mexico. God always seems to show up in new and huge ways. Like we should be surprised!! We were reminded that God doesn't operate in the boxes we like to confine Him to. He blows those boxes apart-in fact he obliterates them(Ryan's word for the night). Another trip is in the books. I will add more pictures later, but for now good night.

Peace,
Greg

Baptisms in Mexico!

Blog posted by: Whitney Winters, Courtney Todd, Claire Knox, Nichole D'Urso

Today was by far the best day. We started out the day by going to Casa Hogar Douglas. We helped Back2BACK with work projects which included pouring cement, building picnic tables, repairing fences etc. To finish the day off with a bang we took the kids nature hiking. What started out as simple fun, soon ended up as a complicated rock climbing, mud sliding hiking trip. Our leader ryan massey "accidentally" left us to fend for ourselves in the wilderness. Aside from nervous breakdowns and pouring rain It was definitely the most fun we had on this trip! The night ended with baptisms from Bob and Bryan Burkle, Whitney Winters and Stephanie Ruppel. It was an extremely moving experience for those not only participating but also for those spectating. The trip was so amazing and filled with life changing events. God is love.

Chad's moment

"There is the cutest 2 month year old baby!"

Josh's Blog

The past couple of days have been quite eventful for our group....quite eventful. Hang gliding, Helicopters, Small excursions into the mexican frontier. Just kidding. But we have been on the go nonstop since monday, losing sleep and getting to know many of the children at El Retiro Juvenil, a children's home Back2Back partner's with. All of monday was spent at El Retiro digging ditches, painting buildings, and assembling drywall, not to mention avoiding all of Greg's group so that we didn't catch the ole montezuma's revenge. Eck. We spent the evening packing over 100 kids into a bus made for 36 people and having a vacation bible school in the side yard of a local church. It has been incredible to hold, encourage, and show love to some kids who have no one to love or guide them. Believe me though when I say it hasn't been easy. God will really try you if you ask Him. We had known going into the night that we would be staying at El Retiro and we also knew that we couldn't take our bedding due to the risk of lice, etc...That's totally cool to think, "yeah I can take it," "I've roughed it before" and such, but seriously, this was rediculous. No fans, no windows, no sheets, dogs barking, roosters crowing, bugs crawling. I stared at the ceiling for almost 4 hours. The dog, "Puppy" pronounced "Poopy," was cute barking at who-knows-what for the first 25 minutes. But I know Chad James reached a point where killing the one-eyed, three-legged dog was not out of the question. To be honest, Monday and Tuesday ran together. Continuing to dig ditches, put up drywall and the like. However, we did manage to light a beanie babie on fire. Anything to get across the point that Jesus loves you huh? Anyway, we're working hard and really living our worship here with our brothers and sisters in Mexico. Peace to the middle east.

josh.

Wow!

Well, we had an incredible day. We went to Cadereyta which was eye opening to say the least. It probably comes close to the poorest neighborhood I have ever walked, and we had the greatest time. The amazing thing about these places are that the people especially the children are so happy go lucky. Our students played so hard by playing tag, giving piggy backs, taking photos, holding babies, passing out diapers, and eventually taking 50 of the kids to a nearby swimming park. We were all paired up with 2 children and swam for 2 hours and then served them dinner, played on the swings, and gave out beanie babies and coloring books. Words can not describe the experience and you can view the pictures. Pictures in this case truly do speak a thousand words! I thank God for the incredible opportunity to be here with our epic team.

Greg

Some things never change!

Renee's Ramblings

Wow....there's just not much more I can say.....
This whole experience is absolutely incredible.
The last couple of days Group 2 has been out at one of the children's homes. We even spent the night over there! Just a quick recap....
We went and worked on the campus....painting, digging, roofing....and then went to a local church to do a VBS. There were a lot of kids there and then had sooooo much fun. After VBS, we went back to the ERJ (the children's home) and bunked on the floor, mattresses, and my personal favorite.....tables. The next morning we continued to work on the campus and then did some team building events. In the evening, we went out to do VBS. When we got to church we counted 100 bodies coming off our bus that seats 36. We were totally packed in!!!!
Tonight is the VBS finale. We expect to have even more children there and we can't wait!
Just a note on our overnight....ALL of us slept sooooo good last night in our bunks at the compound. We also very much enjoyed our shower!
Please continue to pray for us as we earnestly yearn to continue to touch each of these kids' lives and the lives of the people around them. They are so loving, so open, and so appreciative of each second we spend with them; it is a pure joy to serve them.
Personal note: love to my family at home!!!!
renee

Blog From: Allyson Hollon, Courtney Todd, Dana D'Urso

Hey guys! Today we worked at LDM (the place we are staying at) and learned about all the exciting things Back2Back has planned for the future. They are building 6 new amazing homes for the teenagers who are trying to continue their education outside the children homes. They are alo trying to build an on site medical building for all of the families, children, and staff etc. on compound grounds. Today we did everything from sealing rooftops, to digging up trees. It was a long, hot, physical day, But god gave us the strength to work all day and contribute to Back2Back's future plans. We're having an awesome time here experiencing new things every day. We miss you ALL!! and we are looking forward on our arrival home to see our wonderful families!!

Cindy's Blog!

I am sitting in the kitchen area looking out the window and most of kids in group 1 are sitting in the Palapa (covered patio, sort of) chatting and fellowshiping and anxiously awaiting word from group 2 as they will be home late tonight after VBS. There are new friendships being formed, old friendships being made more meaningful, and memories being made that will last a life time. If you read Romans 12 you will get an idea of what this week is all about for us....offering our everyday, ordinary lives as a sacrifice to our most amazing God. Who, by the way, has revealed Himself to us in many, many ways - from majestic mountaintops to amazing experiences in church, to seeing a downs-syndrom adult's face light up HUGE when presented with a baby-doll and watch our students faces awash with tears as Heather tries to separate herself from her embrace in order to leave the children's home.

Today was a day of hard, hard work, but also very rewarding to each and every person! The painters, I think had more paint on them than on the walls (except for Greg who has to have painting classes before next year's trip!), the wire-cutters and wire-strippers had blisters on their plier-fingers, the jack-hammerers and shovelers have sore shoulders and arms, and it goes on and on and each one of us will tell you that it was AWESOME!

Tomorrow group 1 goes to minister to Cadereyta (Rio) and group 2 goes back to ERJ (children's home) and the VBS Finale - both groups will be able to bless the children with a meal, coloring books and beanie baby distribution. Please, please pray for our children's hearts to be touched and to touch other's hearts with nothing but God's amazing love and grace. Many of our kids will be experiencing this type of poverty for the very first time and it is stunning. Pray for God's will to be done and his purposes to be fulfilled.

We all appreciate everything SouthBrook church, staff and leadership, our friends and families have done to make this trip possible. It has been an amazing experience and your investment in epic's Mexico missions trip, by supporting our students and by providing work opportunities, will bring life-changing and life-lasting experiences to these kids.

Mama D!

Bob's Blog

Another great day today as we really, and I mean really, went to work today. We started after breakfast and worked up to dinner time doing a number of projects here at LDM. We broke out into smaller groups that tackled things like wiring, internal and external painting, sealing roofs, moving dirt around, and even trying to move a tree out of the middle of future soccer field. We worked through triple digit heat but everyone drank plenty of fluids, stayed hydrated, and perservered through it all. Actually, it was a lot more than perserverance.These kids tackled these projects with all their hearts and souls. Our study time this morning centered around giving God our very best and everyone was tuned into that all day. The teamwork was great with lots of encouragement and helping one another. I am so impressed by everyone here - from our kids to the staff. I am most impressed how God continues to show up, each and every day, and turning this into a trip that will change lives forever.

Tina's thoughts!

God spoke to us in a very clear way last night! We had a tough day with several kids getting sick and not being able to participate in the ropes course. The entire group was worried about them. By dinnertime, all but two were feeling well enough to go back to Douglas to share a pizza party with the kids we bonded with the day before. We had been playing and having an awesome time for about two hours, when all of the sudden I looked up and saw the most incredible double rainbow I had ever seen. Since I was a little girl, double rainbows have been extremely meaningful to me, words can not decribe the meaning behind this one. I ran to the top of a hill at Douglas to take pictures of the rainbow, but lost my breath when I looked down at what was happening below. 15 of our kids were playing soccer with about 20 little ones in the craziest game of soccer you have ever seen. Several of our teens were playing with their new little friends riding on their backs! A few yards over, a group of girls were playing with a young lady, named Lola, who suffers from Downs Syndrome. Our girls had brought her a doll and were teaching her how to care for the doll. Lola's smile was brilliant! A few yards over, a young man named Beau was tossing little ones into the air, I could hear their laughs from the top of the hill! And just across the street, many of our girls were hovering over 12 little ones who were taking such joy in the coloring books that had been donated for this trip. The love these kids are sharing is breathtaking. But God clearly sent his blessing to our work last night in the form of that awesome rainbow. ALL of our kids woke up healthy, happy and ready to face the day today. GOD IS AWESOME AND WORKING THROUGH OUR CHILDREN IN MONTERREY, MEXICO!!!!!!!

a day of sickness, fears and double rainbows!

Hey everyone! Today was a day filled with some stomach issues, facing challenges and fears on the ropes course at El Retiro, and God's gift of a double rainbow after dinner. Check out these awesome pictures!

Greg