As many of you already know, Project Mexico is as much about relationship as it is about anything else. Relationship with each another. Relationship with God, through serving those he loves. And relationship with the people we're serving. It's this last one though, that can be the toughest bridge to cross. There's language gaps, cultural gaps, and more. The distance can seem daunting, particularly in the context of a blitz weekend of building... who has time for relationship?

But I remain convinced that it's in the relationships we develop with the people we serve in Mexico, that hold the greatest promise of Project Mexico. I hold that conviction close and dear. Still, it's a stretch for me.

My wife, who's a spanish-speaking latina herself, has been instrumental in helping us cross some of these bridges. Thanks to her giftedness in connecting with other women in San Bernardo, we've developed some great relationships there. Even my kids are in on it, and have a good friend that they look forward to playing with every time we visit.

For me personally though, I've felt the strong tug, but have struggled to make much headway and develop relationships of my own. Some of that has to do with how busy I am on building trips, focused with the task at hand. Part of it is my lack of fluency in the language. And part of it, I have to admit, is my own barriers to getting to know these people, so different from me.

So it was with great excitement that God slammed *open* a door recently for me in this area. On our November building trip, I was able to connect with a local that I had met a year earlier, Fernando Lugo.

Fernando lives in San Bernardo, is on staff at the local church, and (thankfully) speaks good English (I'm such a guero). I could go in depth about my initial meeting with Fernando, and my re-connection with him in early November 06, but will leave that for another story (it's a good one). Suffice to say that I sensed strongly God's presence in this man, and my privilege to connect with him once again. I knew I needed to come back and see him again, soon.

So later that month, went back to San Bernardo and hunted him down. What ensued was an amazing few hours of walking and talking, listening and learning. Fernando walked my friend Mike and I through the church and we met lots of people on staff and serving. We toured the orphanage there and met some of the kids, and met the two other pastors on staff, and heard some of their stories (they were plucked from the jungles of Chiapas... again, a great story for another time).  

At the end of our visit, we offered to pray for Fernando. If there was ever any doubt that God's fingerprints were all over this connection with Fernando, it ran fleeing in the time that followed. Fernando opened up with some stuff going on in his life, challenges and disappointments, needs and hopes. It was as if everything that happened in our meeting, connecting and re-connecting over the last year led up to this one powerful moment.

We prayed with Fernando. After, he looked up, tears in his eyes, and said "God sent you two to me today. God knew I needed this. Thank you."

The feeling in that moment nearly knocked me down. This sense that God had orchestrated this all, how he chose to work through Mike and I in that moment. The way in which he made himself known to this man who's lived a hard, hard life, given his life to serving God and others, and was in such need. And I had a front-row seat to it all. It was nothing short of awesome.

That day had many other great experiences, including some very cool exploration of other areas of TJ, lots of learnings and discoveries. It was that time though, with Fernando, that I discovered the true power of relationship with the people of San Bernardo. I couldn't be more thankful.

—Jon

 

It was a long and tiring weekend, but we all made it through in one piece, as five homes were built, and five families sheltered in a weekend full of hope and the presence of God.

Team 1: BSA Troop 321, led by Allen Covey and Randy Raus
With a full team of nearly 30 scouts and parents, the Boy Scouts did an outstanding job building yet another home. Once again, the boys did much of the construction themselves, building the roof without parents help, and one scout building the latrine with the help of only one other. The residents, Ana Christina Vega Pantoja and her husband Javier Seledonio Ledesma, along with their two boys Jiovany (2 yrs) and Jesus (3 yrs) were deeply moved as the scouts drove away, having presented the keys to their new home.

Team 2: led by Beth Hanson and Kevin Shannon
Team Hanson/Shannon built their third home on Manzana 328, as they continue to make an impact on this one part of the community of Colonia de San Bernardo. They did a terrific job of working the new home into the existing structure, and once again adding their signature whirly-gig on the roof. Single mother Elisa Santiago Cruz and her children Ruth (9 yrs) and Alan (1 month old) now have a safe, secure home to build a life in.

Team 3: led by Brent Salvador, Kevin Kilburg and Steve Reichwein
Martha Rodriguez Ventura, her husband Jorge Mendes Salas and their 2 yr old son Fernando thankfully received a home from a team full of parents and their kids (Clyde and Quinn Taber, Jeff with Bryan and Josef Trusiak, Kevin and his daughter Renee, and Jon & Sophia Hall with their daughters Emily, Natalie and Stefani), along with a mix of first-timers and veterans.

Team 4: Rob fried and Steve Hazlett
Rob and Steve led a team that built a home for Juana Leon Leal, husband Martin Emilio Celedonio Ledesma and their children Miguel (age 5) ad Itzi (age 3). The home was brilliant pink with white trim, and was located next door to Team 5, creating a unique team experience for these two teams from Saddleback church.

Team 5: led by Tom Feruzo and John Taylor
Tom and John were first-time leaders, and did a terrific job leading a home built for Adela Moran Vargas, husband Marbel Mazariegos Vasquez and their daughter Doris (age 2).
 

You've probably heard the advice, "don't drink the water in Mexico." It's pretty smart thinking. We've had our share of people who did, either intentionally or not, and pay the price. Montezuma seeks revenge, and the person ends up with projectile expulsion from every orifice. It can be brutal.

Having seen this occur a few too many times, I tend to be pretty careful about hat I drink while in Mexico. Sometimes though, there's just not a lot you can do about getting an inadvertent swig of Tijuana tea.

It was late Sunday afternoon. The last of the homes was getting it's finishing touches, many teams were already headed across the border, the chuck wagon van I drive was packed, my wife and kids tired and in their seats, and I was making my last rounds to make sure everyone was getting out and heading home.

I was driving up Manzana 319, the main little road through San Bernardo. 319 is not much of a road after the rains. There are often deep trenches, and driving up it requires the right mix of courage and a steady foot on the gas. As usual, there was runnoff coming down the middle of 319, mostly flowing from gray water, people dumping buckets of who-knows-what on the street, and a mixture of other ingredients I really prefer not to know about. I drove to the top of 319 when I saw a tire coming down the road. It was an old tire, gaining momentum, and behind it was a lady named Terry, running, trying to catch the tire.

Terry is an American living in San Bernardo. Terry is a bit of an enigma in San Bernardo, married to a local, she lives in a old trailer up near the top of Manzana 319. Over the last few years, Terry hasn't been very happy with us. She's always wanted us to build a home for her, often asks for money, and sometimes verbally harasses our volunteers. Truth is, Terry's house is much nicer than the people we build for. Still, many of our volunteers have helped her out on many occasions, and I've talked to her a number of times, trying to listen and understand her her situation.

So here I am, watching this tire fly past me on 319, and Terry giving chase. She gives up, and seems to realize she won't catch it before it rolls across town, to the bottom of the hill. Feeling bad for Terry, I figure this is an opportunity to do something good for her. So I negotiate a 14-point u-turn on the rather narrow Manzana 319, and drive down the hill to pickup the tire. When I reach the tire, I see it has come to rest in a giant puddle of mucky yuck water that had been draining down 319. Carefully, I pull the tire out and roll it up the van. The van is jam-packed with gear and my family. The roof-rack, some 7 feet off the ground, is also packed. There is however a small spot atop the cab area on top of the van. So, I figure I can give the tire a heave-ho, and toss it up to the top of the van.

I get a good grip, get it into a rythm swing, then with all the discus-throwing style I can muster, heave the tire up. Only, the tire is much heavier than I expect. As the tire reaches an apex at the top of my swing, it fails to fly as expected, and stops, mid-throw, directly above my head. With mouth agape, a rather large quantity of Tijuana water comes rushing toward my face.  Inside the tire, it had picked up a good quantity of water (if you can really call it water), and I watched, as if in slow-motion, as the torrent came rushing toward my face. It was then that I got a mouthful of the foulest-tasting, nastiest water in Mexico. And I was soaked, head to toe.

I looked up to see my wife Sophia, looking at me from the safety of the passenger seat of the van. She had an expression that fell somewhre between utter horror and uncontrollable laughter. A roar of laughter broke out behind me, as a local family was sitting out in front of their home, directly behind me, and witnessed the afternoon's gringo entertainment. It was not exactly how I pictured my little good-samaritan gesture going.

I grabbed some drinking water from the van and rinsed and gargled and spewed, much to the continuing entertainment of the locals. With all dignity lost, I stripped down in the middle of the street and changed clothes (the laughter stopped, as I think I grossed everyone out). Unsure exactly what to do about the toxic waste that I was sure would hit me sometime during my 3 hours wait to cross the border, I grabbed antiseptic wipes and began wiping my tongue. I wasn't sure if that would make things better or worse, but this point, I didn't really care.

I finally managed to get the tire back up on the van, and drive it up to a very thankful Terry. With good deed done, I dragged my very smelly self back into the van and we headed home. I'm glad to say that at no time during the long wait to cross the border, or during the long drive home, did Motezuma come seek any revenge. My wife and kids did manage to break out into spontaneous laughter a few too many times during the afternoon and evening though, reminding me what it means to be humbled.
 

April 27-29.
200+ people.
8 homes.

It was our largest trip to date, represented by people from Canyon Hills Church, Saddleback Church, Creekside Church, Boy Scout Troop 321, and a collection of businesses, friends, family and neighbors. We had people travel from as far away as Colorado and Seattle to participate, and generous donations coming from participants, businesses, churches, and including some fantastic, bright paint donated by Dunn-Edwards.

Thank you volunteers. Your hard work, patience and flexibility were outstanding. And to those who contributed with donations of everything from money to paint to heaters and hand-made quilts for newborn babies, thank you. Between volunteers and those sponsoring the volunteers, there were many hundreds of individuals and organizations who made this happen. It's mind-blowing.

As San Bernardo continues to grow, the impact by the participants of Project Mexico is felt in increasing measure in this community. You can hardly walk an un-paved street in San Bernardo without finding a home built by Project Mexico volunteers. And I continue to hear stories of families that we've built homes for, and how that their home has become a catalyst for a better life. Impoverished living conditions wreaks havoc on hope and personal dignity. These homes we build help change that.

And that's not all.

Project Mexico has blossomed into more than just home-building. Arte de Video (Art of Seeing) is a youth-focused art workshop that will kickoff this Summer. And Small Change, a micro-lending effort that hopes to empower entrepreneurs in Colonia de San Bernardo, is in it's beginning stages of vision, dreaming and planning. Like everything we do through Project Mexico, you are invited to be part of these efforts, as we continue to find ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus, demonstrating love in practical ways to this amazing community.

Lleno. That's "full", en Español, and that's what this Spring 2007 trip is shaping into. We're on track to best our largest trip ever, with 7 homes and more than 150 people. Teams have grown, are splitting into two, and we're wondering where the heck we're going to put everyone.

Growth is a good thing. It's awesome to see what God is doing in the lives of people through this ministry, as people are jumping in like crazy. Project Mexico has a core vision of sharing the love, of growing this thing as much as God wants it grown. Only, our vision for growth is a little different than most others.

For one, we seek to multiply our ministry, rather than just adding to it. In other words, 7 homes an 150 people is awesome, but that's as big as a single trip will ever get it Project Mexico, for a couple of reasons.

For one, managing and guiding groups larger than 150 gets daunting. People get lost, both literally and figuratively, in the sea of vehicles, people, and commotion that large groups stir. More important than that though, we've found that true community happens in gatherings of 150 or less. Bigger than that, and people lose touch, and our incredible sense of community that defines Project Mexico is lost. Malcolm Gladwell, author of the bestselling book The Tipping Point, calls it the "law of the few." Many successful groups and communities have successfully followed this rule for generations, and so are we.

We do have a vision for growth though. Our hope is that groups will continue to take what they've learned with Project Mexico, and launch their own trips, and in turn, guide others down the path of being the hands and feet of Christ by serving the poor in Mexico (and perhaps elsewhere). Some have successfully done this already (Project Mexico has multiplied two other groups to date), and our hope is that others will follow, taking what they've learned and spreading the love. We've tried to develop a model for building homes, recruiting people and raising funds, that is replicable. It's designed to easily hand off to others, as a foundation for thier own home-building ministry.

So if you haven't signed for for the Spring 2007 trip yet, baby, get it in gear. Go to the How to sign up page, and get to it.