DH trip to Mexico

Week-before-last DH went to Mexico for week on a mission trip with our church. For several years now, I think it's 14 years or so, our church has sent groups of young people to Mexico to build homes for the poor. This year our associate pastor asked DH to go. The group needed another male adult and also needed another musician. DH said he would think about -- and ultimately decided to go.

I did not mention the trip here on the blog for security purposes. Not knowing who on earth reads this bologna, and having posted pics of our house from the outside, I did not want to publish that I was home alone. Now that he's back, I can talk about it.

DH was chosen to speak about the mission trip at yesterday's worship at our church. Following is the text of his speech.

Note: We have been married eleven years. I have never seen him speak in public, except for the day he tried to strike a match on his fly -- but that's a story for another day -- and I never would have guessed at what an effective public speaker he is. Confident, steady, and well-spoken, he brought many folks, men and women alike, to tears. He was not nervous and did not stutter, lose his place, or get lost. He stood up there, looked people in the eye, and told his story in the slow, deep voice we all love so.

Now. Here it is:
Good morning.
It was about 5 months ago that Randy came to me and asked what I had planned for the summer. Without a real answer, he said, “Well, we sure could use you in Mexico.” Without a thought, I told him I would think about it.
Now I have never been on anything like this before. So I went home and told Margaret about the conversation I had had with Randy, and she said, “Well, of course, you need to go. “
So…I went to work and looked at the vacation schedule and realized that the days I needed off were not available. Marty, one of my co-workers offered to change his vacation to free up the days so that I could go. It’s amazing how God works.
So now I want to fast-forward to crossing the Mexican border. It’s startling how much it changes -- the difference between US and Mexico. .
On that first day, when we got to the Colonnias, when we started to drive thru the streets we began to see the houses, the dirt streets with potholes so large that on a rainy day, any car would get stuck. Homes built out of whatever people can find. Cardboard pallets, bed rails sheets over the openings for doors. There is no way I can truly describe the poverty, the situation. You’d have to really be there to understand how little the people have. It made me realize why they try to come here to the United States. There was no running water in the houses.
Before I left the States, Margaret tried to teach me a little Spanish. She told me about “el baňo” and “agua.” When we spoke on the phone, she asked about “el baňo,” and I told her, “Honey, there ain’t no baňo in the house. And if you can find a baňo, you don’t want to go in it.”
After we were there a couple of days, I began to realize they have something many of us don’t have. Yes, their conditions are hard, and they don’t have much in the way of material items. But they are a strong people. Their everyday life is a lot slower than ours. They love their families and they maintain a happy spirit despite their poverty. They are extremely kind. And giving.
After a while, we began to notice the people and not the devastation.
That’s how it was with most of the people we met. The women, the men, the children.
Our goal while in Mexico was to try to complete a house. This was a hard mission with only eighteen people in 4 to 5 days because this is just hard laborious work. Most of us were not used to that kind of work and we knew it. But this group of people was very special. Very dedicated and I am very proud, honored and humbled to work beside each and every one of you. It was great.
Well, we did it. We laid the blocks, poured the columns, poured the ring, laid the two extra rows of block on top of the ring to complete the walls for the roof for our church family and you could see how excited they were. The temperature on a given day ran about 103° in the sun.
I’ve worked with teams a lot over the years. Teamwork is a critical component in completing a task as big as building a house in a week. This team never stopped. The teamwork, the working as one unit, was perfect. Everyone on the TWAM team was caring for each other’s needs.
The Mexican people were so gracious. Abdulla, the lady for whom we built the house, had so little, yet every morning when we arrived, she had something to offer us.
On that next-to-last day, as we were nearing completion, our task was to pour a roof of concrete, on another house, which is the hardest thing to do on these houses. We began around 8:00am. I have to tell you mixing concrete, sand, rock and lots of aqua on the bare ground with shovels, a pick, a wheelbarrow, and old buckets, to pass the concrete up to the roof… oh yea and our scaffold with 2 not-so-great boards to stand on, was hard. When it got to be 12:00 and we were only ⅔ done with the roof, I was beginning to wonder if we would actually finish it. You have heard of the term hitting the wall when you don’t think you can go anymore.
I saw every one on this team hit the wall and climb over it and we completed that roof. You will see the smiles on our dirty faces when we finished, when we realized we had been successful and God was with us. I also wanted to mention that three of our teammates found the time to have vacation bible school with the kids at third Presbyterian church .
I am so very grateful for this opportunity to go on this trip. It made me realize these trips are not something you do because you want to do it. The trips are something we must do. And, as is always the case, we received ‘way more than we gave.
As I said in the beginning, I have never gone on a trip like this before, and it was nothing like I expected. I want to share with you that this was a life lesson that we will never forget. The TWAM trips are not by any means frivolous. They are a meaningful service opportunity, life-changing experience, and I truly hope you will continue to support the TWAM program in every way. Thank you.