Un Llamado, Una Voz - Febrero 21-23

This past weekend was a blast! Saturday morning we started preparing: packing, cleaning...last minute things. We were going to the youth retreat with the Spirit and Truth youth group! We took an auriga to the church where the busses were loading, help pack (more like stuff) all the luggage in the bottom of the bus and headed off! The camp was about 20 minutes outside of Mazatlan, so the bus ride was real short! The camp was amazing! There was a pool with two water slides, a soccer field and a paintball field down the road! For the first hour, we all gathered up in the main area to talk about who was rooming together. All of us had no idea what was going to happen, and to our surprise, we were each put in a room with 7-9 people! That was a tight squeeze! But definitely good for our spanish practice! (Bryan, you would be so proud!) The first night was a late one. We stayed up late for a night of talents. A lot of the youth have amazing gifts and it was neat to see them being expressed. After, we were all pretty wiped, so sleeping wasn't a problem at all. Besides the fact most of us were smashed up against a wall, sharing a bed with a stranger, or had the blankets stolen, sleep was a blessing! Saturday was an early start. We got up and had worship down at the gazebo then some really yummy breakfast! We had no idea what it was, but it was good nonetheless! After, we all got ready for paintball! We took the van and different trucks to get there, then started grouping with our teams. We each had a turn to play and to run around with a gun! We had clues along the way to help guide us to the exit. It was ALL in spanish, of course, so most the time we had no idea what was going on, but we had a bunch of fun shooting people and being silly with the youth. Kyle and Kelsey especially had fun. They were the people hiding in the bush to "herd" the team to the next clue. The team (GBC) decided that Kyle could seriously be a G.I. Joe, and Kelsey, well, she's got skill shooting people in the butt! (Sorry Kyle!) Later on we went back to the campsite to have a late lunch, rest time and free time. The team gathered for some picture time and of course Preston's brother, Fransico, hogged every photo. That mustache is pretty funny! That night we had worship and Pastor Joe came and shared a message with the youth that was very powerful. They seemed to receive and truly take it to heart. Some of us also had the chance to pray with some of the youth. It was awesome to be used in that way!
Later later that night we had another night of talents. It lasted until 11 or so. We've discovered that in Mexico, there's no such thing as a early night.
Sunday morning was similar - an early start from a late night. We met at the gazebo for worship and the youth had another pastor share with them. The rest of the morning was pretty chill until the tournaments started. The teams were divided again and played water sports. The competition was on! Diving, (bellyflops more like) cannanballs, races across the pool and "see how many people can fit on a slide!" Then it was free time! Around 4 we started to pack up and clean out our rooms. The busses arrived and we packed up all the luggage. We gathered for the last time and some of the youth shared their testimonies with what God had done in their lives over the weekend. Kelsey had a chance to share on behalf of the Global Boot Campers and thanked everyone for being family to us during the weekend. After that we all piled on the busses and headed back to Mazatlan. It was an intense weekend for the youth as well as all of us. A lot of prayer was put into the retreat and a lot of fruit came from it. We were grateful to share the weekend with the youth! It was truly a blast!

*Preston's brother decided to follow us to the youth retreat and still wanted to be in every picture!!

The Night of Talents

Our host...Carlos


The judges are making their call!

Carlos and his co-host

PAINTBALL!!

We are not sure what is happening here....
Morgan and Laura washing their dishes in some very gross water.
We made friends with some kittens that were at the place!

Happy SUPRISE 21st Birthday Dana!!

Friday afternoon, February 20th, all the pastoral team from Spirit and Truth came over and we suprised Dana and had a birthday party for her!! It was a day full of suprises from the time she woke up to the time she went to bed and we ended the night with words of affirmation that we were hearing from the Lord! WE LOVE YOU DANA!

*also, preston's brother showed up that day and he had to be in every picture, can you find him???

We busted out in spanish "Happy Birthday"

We just didn't have one cake.....

not two....


not three.....

but FOUR birthday cakes!!! Only in Mexico!

Dana is cutting her cake and laura is whistling in the background...its a normal thing for Laura!!

Laura with Pastor Alfonso and his wife Ericka - Pastors of New Song Escuinapa!

Dana with her band!

Yazmin (Jasmine in English) with Dana -She is the kids pastor at Spirit and Truth. She gave Dana the first birthday cake, which she also shoved in her face!!! We love her, she is one of the sweetest people we have met!

Janae's 12th birthday kiss for Dana out of 21

the mustache again....

Carlos and Rocio - youth leaders of Spirit and Truth

Pinata time!!!!!!!!!

everyone is heading for the candy....

after it was all said and done, the GBCers and Shiloh sat down for a little R&R.

Later that night, we had another suprise for Dana!!! We got on a bus and went to a restaurant called PuraVida. They had a wide selection of food, along with delicious smoothies!!

We didn't know that preston had a twin.......

This is a comment from Dana, the birthday girl: I absolutely loved every moment of my b-day. I was not expecting in the least everything my family in Mexico did for me. There were times where I laughed my head off, and times I cried tears of joy. I have never felt so loved, appreciated, cherished, valued by so many people. They were telling me I was worth spending time with, that I mattered, that the things God has placed inside me are beautiful and significant to advance His kingdom. Each person from the team wrote a note to me, just touching on things they admired in me, that I had grown in, etc. I couldn't have imagined a better day, really! It was unforgettable.

The Salvation Army, 13 weddings, and Santa Catarina

Sorry everyone that it has taken us so long to update, its been a very busy couple of weeks. Since it has been so long, we just want to give you highlights of things we've done. So on Thursday February 12th, we went to the salvation army orphanage, to finish up the baseball field and to teach the kids how to play. While the guys finished up the field, the girls sorted through donated clothes and played around with the kids. Once the field was done, we headed up to play, but as things go down in Mexico, we didn't play right away. Some of us kicked the soccer ball around, and some of us played catch with the kids. About 30 minutes later, we were ready to play!! We had a great time, we were able to connect with the kids, learn new spanish vocabulary, and serve the salvation army!

Valentines day night, we went to the church, our host parents were renewing their vows, along with 9 other people and also 3 people got married!!! Later that night, we came home and made Lilia and Jose some hamburgers and french fries and presented them with a present! It was a very special night!

Sunday afternoon after church, we left for a small town called Santa Catarina. It was an hour and a half outside of Mazatlan, and about halfway, we stopped to have a small picnic and enjoy some shade. I think one of the things we have heard the most is "go to the bathroom before you leave the house, because you don't know if there is going to be a bathroom where we are going." Well i (morgan) thought that i could hold it, but by the time we stopped halfway i was dying, so i asked Lilia, "is there a place where I could go to the bathroom?" of course, she said, "no, but there is a forest if you want to climb that hill and we brought some toilet paper." So kelsey went with me and we climbed the hill! Yay for nature! Once we got to Santa Catarina, we went around the town and invited all the people, to a church service that we were going to have that day. *A little background as to why were were going to Santa Catarina: One of the pastors of Spirit and Truth (Pastor Jorge is his name) is planting a church in the town, and they have had a church service in his grandmother and grandfather house the last four weeks. We got up there a little early to help clean the area, and to help pastor jorge invite all the people in the town.* Kyle and Dana led worship with the Pastor Jorge and they did a fabulous job! After worship was over, we took the kids over to another little house to have sunday school. A woman from the church taught them and then preston and morgan administrated the games. We all had a blast, and it was a full day and we were very blessed to be able to be apart of what is building in that little town.

Thank you for your patience!!! love you guys!!! we will be updating more in the next couple of days!