We did another trip to Mexico to build houses for Baja Christian Ministries. We saw over 70 people get saved as well as some healings and people getting set free from demonic oppression. Talk about a powerful trip….oh yeah…we had a ton of fun as well. Check it out…

MR

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Posted: April 18th, 2011 under Church info, Trips, Videos.
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April 7
Southwest delay on our layover in Chicago which caused us all to get $100 vouchers. We ended up being pretty rushed once in San Diego and chowed down on In-N-Out. Once we got into Mexico both our van and Lucas’s van got pulled over by the Mexico board patrol.  Paul met us and took us to the best authentic mexico food and it was delicious. We then got to our camp and saw Ramon and Ps Nikko. Had a great time of prayer over Ramon and we got excited about the ministry getting ready to happen this week. Had a great time of worship and reflection as a group.

April 8
Finished a house in record time (6hrs). We had the whole team of BCM helping us and our team was large. It rained for about 20 mins and then the weather was perfect. Our travel to the site took us over to a different part of Mexico. Apparently these people were relocated here after they had a big mudslide that ruined their first area. We built this house for a young mother and her 2 sons and 1 daughter. She made us some soup and it was very good. We went and bought the family some house warming gifts as well as candy for all the neighborhood kids. So far we have had nothing but Mexican food. Go figure. (Although it’s been the best we could ever have.)  Shower time was also quite an experience. These dudes from our church are crazy. BTW- On the way to the job site we encountered a police checkpoint complete with police driving after a car trying to escape the checkpoint. These police carry large machine guns. Pretty crazy. I also found that driving in Mexico is almost like playing a video game. It was crazy and very funny. I’m pretty sure this is the most unruly traffic there is.

April 9
Started our 2nd house build but today was much different than the first. No where near the help, power tools or great location.  We literally had to walk through the lady’s old house to get to the job site. Paul was our contractor today and he had a small amount of tools to work with.  But he had patience with us . Bob Sanders (the owner of Baja Christian Ministries) came today and gave us his new book. Great man of God that loves evangelism. We worked our butts off today. Literally were finishing up right before sunset. The family of this house accepted Christ before we finished. We also found out that the extended family of the first house, from the day before, got saved because they were blown away by the love of God. Awesome!! As we drove back to the camp we found out it was packed with people coming to visit the church (our camp is also a church). We had to park around back and I drove over some rod sticking out of the ground and popped the tire. We will fix it tomorrow. Great day though we are beat. Two houses in two days is alot!

April 10
First we had to fix the tire. Found our the “rod” I drove over was actually a rock with a very pointy tip…would have never saw it. ugh! Fixed the tire with help from Alex (from Lucas’s church). Today we went out to evangelize in the streets. Had an amazing time of worship and prayer with the group. Felt good since we all missed our own church services. Some people got delievered and we felt a real strong anointing of Gods power. We met up with Ramon and Guadalupe (Ramon’s soon to be wife) and Pastor Nikko. We went door to door and invited people to the local soccer field. About 70 people showed up and gave their life to Christ after testimonies by Lucas, Erica, Laura, Mike, Jody, Sulu, John, Will and Matt. My dad also fainted during the altar call from dehydration. Talk about mood killer .  We gave out purple books and bibles to them. The purple books are great foundation building books. While we prayed for healings,  people got healed of diabetes, leg problems, pain in her back and cancer. Also prayed for a girl that had trouble speaking clearly. She was prophecied that she would speak to nations. We then prayed for a lady that was demon possessed. She had wanted to be free of the oppression. I could see the demon through her eyes. We prayed and then went in hear house to have her get rid of the idols in her house. The idols were something she had since she was 9 years old. Once we got rid and broke them, you could see a change in her. She had been free and was so  happy. We then prayed over a lady in a wheel chair who was progressively getting worse with disease. We prayed and she felt warm feelings and healing. She was told that the healing would continue until she was totally healed. Her family was very happy.  We then went to dinner at a chicken restaurant, which had some very tasty chicken. I also bought 3 spongebob piantas from a street vendor for $5. I later found out I paid too much but hey…nothings too expensive for my kiddies! Now we are chilling at the camp the rest of the night. Great great day and trip!

MR

Posted: April 12th, 2011 under Culture/Society, Life Stuff, Trips.
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I’m back home from Mexico and back into the routine of the Life of Mark. Our church took a total of 6 people (including myself) from SouthView to Baja Mexico to build a house. We worked with Baja Christian Ministries. This trip was so amazing on so many levels that I decided to list my points to get them off my chest.

-I’ve never seen this extreme level of poverty before. And I’ve been to some big ghettos in the USA. Mexico was on another level.

-Bob Sanders, Hector, Ps Nikko, Juan, Ramon and all the other amazing people of BCM were both an inspiration to us as well as an extreme reminder that “the harvest is plenty but the workers are few“.

-Still can’t believe we built this house in a day and ½!

-Everyone of us got choked up when our family (that we built the house for) started talking about their father (husband) that died a few months earlier. He was dreaming and praying for this house but never got to see it built.

-Loved hanging and getting to know Ps Rob Taylor and his crew from Calvary Chapel Brentwood as well as Katherine from New Zealand. Amazing people!

-Strange to have dogs and a donkey as your security system at night.

-Ever drove by a sewer? Think of that smell and imagine it everyday and night. Now imagine living in it.

-These “roads”, and I use that word very loosely, were unbelievable. I’ve never seen things worse that them. Makes our potholes nothing in comparison.

-I’m very thankful we can throw our toilet paper in the toilet. You never know this pleasure until you are in a country where you can’t do that.

-I’ve never paid to go to the bathroom until this trip. Still a little upset about that.

-Not sure I laughed as much on any trip as I did on this one. I love that we can have fun doing God’s work. I love that our God has a sense of humor. I’m so thankful that even in the midst of extreme wear and being very tired, we were able to enjoy the moments serving God together.

-Hector, our friend that guided us in building our house, was so inspiring. He was never down or never complained (and he could have by how bad we hammered nails). He was a true example of “the joy of the Lord is your strength”. He has 5 kids, 5 grandkids, 5 dogs and worked almost everyday building houses with teams from all over the world….but he did it with joy unto the Lord. I was amazed and blessed by his love for God and people. Made me feel bad ever complaining again. Every mess up is an opportunity…

-I never witnessed one Mexican begging for money….although they had every reason to do so according to our standards. They found ways to provide a service (like charging you for a bathroom or selling wiper blades) or do a job (like filling in the huge dirt potholes) to make money. I really admire that and those people.

-You could tell that family meant the world to these people. They lived together and did most things together as a family. That’s all they truly had. I wish people in the USA felt that way.

-Witnessing and evangelizing was at a whole new level here. These people are hungry for love, truth and acceptance. On our first meeting we saw 75 people come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. On the second one, about 50 people did the prayer. All I can say is WOW!!!

-BCM gives everyone a Spanish Bible and a Spanish Purple Book (which is an amazing foundations book). They then give them a certificate upon finishing the book and have a local pastor follow up with them. I LOVE that they just don’t get people saved but they help walk it out with them. That’s the key, and Bob Sanders truly understands it.

-My heart and prayers go out to all the people involved in this life changing ministry. They need our prayers, support, encouragement and involvement. They have already build tens of thousands of houses and want to do so much more. Bob’s vision of reaching 1 million people for Jesus is both inspiring and challenging. I believe they can do it. We will definitely be back to help with that!

Here are some images from this great trip:

M

Posted: April 14th, 2010 under Check This Out, Culture/Society, Trips.
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From April 7th – 12th I will be going with a team from our church and two other churches, to build a house in Mexico. I’m excited to be part of this trip and see what God is going to do. Here’s some info on the trip and the organization we are helping.

www.bajachristian.org

M

Posted: March 26th, 2010 under Church info, Trips.
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Here’s a video of my trip to John Blue’s church in California…

M

Posted: August 26th, 2008 under Trips, Videos.
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