of bubbles, songs, and laughter

The day before we left for Mexico Natale's mom offered to help with any tasks that would help us get ready. I sent the two of them on a Walmart run for bubble and Dawn dish soap (for more bubble capacity). We really didn't know what to expect so knowing how to prepare is tricky but I figured bubbles could come in very handy. After our pancake breakfast the men left to visit a men's shelter. That left the Spanish speaking women cooking and visiting in the "kitchen", the English speaking women visiting in the shade, and me and the kids playing in the yard.

 

I was very thankful for the bubbles....

The little girl in the purple was so happy with her bubbles she was singing to them...rocking them like a baby. I asked her to repeat her song and captured the above video clip. Too cute.

The church bathroom behind Sherry (wearing black). I managed to hold it until we returned to the hotel in the evening. Hot and sweaty playing and dancing helped.

When you are in need of something to play with there is always the ever present wandering dog....this one willing to let the kids sit on his back.

They were working on the street in front of the church. The first time the water truck went by the kids mostly watched
 but by the second pass they made the best of the moving sprinkler.

Alicia always has flowers blooming outside the church.

This little guy with the Tigger sweater was really enjoying his bubbles. At one point he climbed under the table to be in the shade while blowing his bubbles. He put the bubble bottle down and was scooting around chasing his own bubbles. In the process he unknowingly tipped over his bubbles. When I showed him the liquid happiness spilled on the sand he was close to tears. I motioned for him to follow me and, thanks for the extra Dawn detergent got him a quick refill.

of pancakes and fingerprints

Saturday morning, while sharing breakfast at the mission we discovered that both the ministries that we brought together for this trip had as our main focus the same pastor. Pastor Adam and his wife Alicia have a small church in the middle of the barrio. They had not received our message that we were coming so it was a surprise when we showed up Friday evening and unloaded rice, beans, clothing, and a motor scooter to replace Pastor Adam's broken moped.

Saturday morning Alicia does a bible school with the neighborhood children and then feeds them a meal. When we arrive the kids were playing on the plastic playground equipment that we brought down last spring.

Note to self: keep eye out for more playground equipment.

Alicia and her friends served us pancakes for breakfast (our second) and then the men went to pay a visit to the men's shelter while the women and children hung out at the church.

 The teeter-totter situation reminded me a little of the "how many people can you fit in a telephone booth" kind of thing.

We saw the Father's fingerprints on our trip again when we met Julian at breakfast (green and white shirt) who was fluent enough in both English and Spanish to translate for the outreach we were planning in the park. Pastor Adam has and his daughter have minimal English and two in our group had some Spanish but the outreach would have been greatly handicapped without Julian's language skills.

 This might be the best shot of the trip...

 

The church kitchen.

weekend missions

 

 Abba blessed our most recent trip to Mexico in multiple ways. One very exciting treasure was a new place to stay. We typically stay at a motel when we are in Rocky Point. It's nothing fancy but clean and reasonably priced. 

A second ministry that we teemed up had made reservations at a place called Weekend Missions. WM acquired an abandoned hotel three years ago and have been slowly renovating to be able to house mission groups when they come to work in Rocky Point. 

Meet  Conrad...the voluenteer director of the mission, great people person. He runs a hot dog stand/ministry on the street outside the mission in the evenings.

Meet Rocky, the mission guard dog.
  Don't be fooled, he's got a vicious bark and doesn't make friends easily.

Renovations in process but what is done is very nice, and did I mention that it was cheaper than the motel.

Here is the lobby/entrance.

Inside looking out and same window looking inward. 

        Beautiful Mexican hand-painted tile throughout.

 Restaurant-turned-dining room and full access to kitchen.

I love the original black and white tile on the walls in the kitchen.

Court yard and pool area with  salsa garden separate the three wings of guest rooms.

 It worked so well for us to stay here and only 4 blocks from our favorite Mexican ice cream store. What a delightful blessing both for this past weekend and future visits.