skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Well the work is offically done. We finished up our last week on Friday afternoon. Sorry this has taken so long to get done but we had a real quick turn around on Friday to head to Puerto Penasco for some translator vacation.
Saturday afternoon we met up with a group from North Carolina/Indiana/Arizona. We headed to Vicente Guerrero to spend a week working with the church there. We stayed in a concrete compound/bunkhouse that we affectionally called prison. We slept on foam mats on the floor. It wasn't like a hotel but we made it just fine. Saturday we got there and spent some time with the preacher and his wife and had dinner. We then got settled and got some rest for the next day.
Sunday we had service with the brothers and sisters there in VG. Then we served everyone hotdogs. After that we did a medical clinic. They brought a doctor and two nurses. I worked with the doctor and we worked for about 3 hours on Sunday. I have grown to love working in the clinic. It can be something so helpful and also something that really touches the lives of the people we are working with, just showing them that someone cares about them.
Sunday afternoon we went to church again. But we didn't go to the building in VG. Instead we went to a house church of sorts. It is in a city called Zapata which is close by. They are working on building a congregation there. For now, it is just several Christians reaching out to the community there and meeting at the home of one of the brothers. It was a great experience to get to worship with them.
Monday we did the clinic at a community center the church has right across the street. We worked from 8:30-3:30. It made for a looooong day but it was well worth it. We got to help a lot of people. One thing I loved about this medical team is that we prayed each morning before we got started. Also, the doctor I worked with all week made it a point to pray with each person we saw before they left. We would ask if there was anything special they would like us to pray for and then he would pray for them and I would translate it. It made the whole thing more personal and also allowed us to serve them spiritually and not just physically. Monday night we had classes for everyone. I sat in on the women's class. Sara translated it and did a great job as always.
Tuesday and Wednesday we had more clinic days. But we did them in Zapata to try and reach out to the community there. We did it in a community center there. This place had no air conditioner and no lights. That made for a very hot couple of days. We worked from 8:30 to 3:30 again with a short break for lunch. We were blessed to get to serve over 120 people in those two days. We met several people that made a great impact on me. One of them was a 20 year old girl whose mother had died several years ago and her dad left the family two years ago. She lives with her elderly grandparents and takes care of her 5 younger siblings. When the doctor commented on how strong she was and how sorry he was for the situation she replied, "Don't be sorry, this is God's plan and he is taking care of us." It is amazing the faith she has. I can't imagine having to take care of 5 people but she does it and does it with a smile.
Thursday we did a half clinic day. We worked from 8:30-12:30. Our last patient was a baby whose mother brought him in. His name is Miguel and he is a month old. His skin looked like he had been burnt all over. His ears were swollen shut and he couldn't breathe well because his nose was swollen as well. We asked the mom if he had been burnt. She said no, that he was born that way. She showed us papers that said he was born with a rare skin infection. He needed to see a specialist but she didn't have the money to get him there. We talked with a nurse who is from Zapata and had been working with us. He promised us to get her an appointment with a specialist and we gave them some money to get her there. It was a sad situation but we are praying that everything turns out well and that Miguel can live a happy, healthy life.
After clinic on Thursday we went to visit a house of a young girl that one of the nurses had gotten close to. Her name is Bendita and is 16 and she has 3 younger siblings. She is constantly abused by her stepmom and has to provide for her siblings. Her father and mother left her and her siblings to go to the states and left her with her stepmom. Its a very Cinderella-like situation. We talked to her for a long time and have got her to consider reporting the situation so that she can get some help for her and her siblings. Please keep them in your prayers.
Thursday night we had class again and said our goodbyes. It hit me about halfway through class that this was the last class of the summer. The summer has been a roller coaster of emotions but it has truly been a great one and it was strange thinking it was time for it to come to an end.
Friday we said goodbye to the group. They did a great job and we were truly blessed to get to work with them. We came back in Ensenada and then turned right around and headed for the beach! We spent Friday night in Mexicali and then drove the rest of the way Saturday. We had a lot of fun with the group which was Me, Sara, Allyson, Matt, Misha, and Arturo. Also Liberato and his wife, their daughter, and her kids came as well. It was a wonderful time of relaxation and spending time together.
We drove all the way back today, spending about 9 hours in the car. We just got back to Ensenada. Tomorrow we will go to say goodbye to the kids at the City of Children as well as our friends there. Its gonna be a hard thing to do since we have been her so long. I have grown used to seeing the kids and everyone every week. They mean so much to me and it will be hard to leave them. We head back Wednesday afternoon and will land in Nashville Wednesday evening.
Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers this summer. I plan to do at least one more blog post when I get home, sharing with you guys the feelings of the last couple days. Its been a crazy summer but definitely one that I will never forget. I thank God for the opportunities He has given me and the people He has put in my life this summer.
In His Service and For His Glory
Well week 6 is officially done! We got back to Ensenada Thursday evening and the group left yesterday afternoon. We had a wonderful week in San Quintin working with the church there. It was a busy week but a great one.
Last Friday the group from the week before left the City of Children at 7:30 and we had to meet this group at 8:30. Needless to say we did not have any sort of a break but we made it through the week just fine. We left for San Quintin Saturday morning and got to the church around 3. We spent some time getting the medical clinic set up and the stuff for the kids classes organized. Then we went back to the hotel and had dinner and some time to get settled. Before we left that morning we had received some heartbreaking news. One of the kids in San Quintin had been killed Friday night. He was riding his bike and got hit by a car. His name was Isaac and he was 13. After hearing that news I knew this would be a very difficult but special week with the church there in San Quintin. God had given us the opportunity to be with a family and a church family in a time of pain and sorrow. Most of the time when groups are with a church its all happy and good times. And that is a wonderful thing. But truly being a family means being able to be there in the difficult times as well and that is what we were able to do for Isaac's family and the church family there. We prayed a lot for God to give us this right things to do/say to bring some comfort to the people in San Quintin.
Sunday morning we worshipped with our brothers and sisters in San Quintin. Then we had lunch with everyone. The group had brought BBQ from the states and served that to the entire congregation. Sunday afternoon we started the clinic. The group brought 4 doctors, 2 dentists, and an eye doctor. We were all kept very busy in the clinic. Sunday night we had service and after service the funeral started for Isaac. Something really special that happened was that preachers from all over Baja and members from their churches all came to be with the family in San Quintin. Some of them didn't know this family in particular but said they just wanted to be with their brothers and sisters while they were hurting. We stayed for a little bit and then headed back to the hotel.
Monday we got up and headed back to the church. The funeral was still going on so I sat in there with some of the members of the church. They had a service and then went to the gravesite. After they left we started with the clinic. We worked at the clinic until 3 and then headed back to the hotel for a little break and dinner. Then we came back for class. I translated for the ladies class. I did that for the first time the week before in El Zorrillo and I was terrified to do it. It just seems so much more intimidating than the kids or teens class. But I have really come to enjoy it. The ladies of churches here are a very special group of people and I love getting to spend time with them.
Tuesday was much more of a "regular" day, if there is such a thing in Baja. I went to visit houses in the morning and then translated the clinic in the afternoon. That afternoon I met a girl named Kayla. I had seen her around all week but had never met her. She came and introduced herself to me. She was Isaac's older sister. Their family had come directly from the graveyard on Monday back to the church and had been there ever since. It was cool to see that in their time of pain the place they wanted to be was at the church. I spent a lot of time talking to Kayla and she seemed to be doing very well.
Wednesday morning a lot of the medical team left to go to San Vicente to do a medical clinic there. This included a ton of the translators. So those of us that stayed were kept very busy. I went to do visits during the morning. That afternoon there was a soccer game between the Americans and the Mexicans. Before we left, the preacher from the group asked me if I could go with them to translate a visit. I love visits so I was completely willing to do that. We were at the house for well over an hour. It was the house of a young mother named Maria and her son Aaron. Maria is right at the point of wanting to be baptized but she says she gets discouraged a lot and doesn't think she is good enough to be baptized. We tried to encourage her and tell her that there is no such thing as being good enough to be baptized. That all we have to do is be willing to give our lives to God, to commit to serve him. I think our time spent there was very encouraging to her. Please continue to pray for her that she will make the decision to become a Christian soon. Wednesday night I translated the women's class again. Then we said goodbye to everyone. That was harder for me than I thought. Kayla came up and just hugged me for a long time. I didn't expect to get close to her like I did but I guess God had different plans. We swapped emails and I hope we are able to stay in touch.
Thursday we got up and headed to San Vicente. We got there and had lunch. Then some of us went to El Rancho. El Rancho is a home of migrant workers. They are people who work in a field owned by someone. The owner provides a room for them to live in and food for them but doesn't pay them. It was a really cool experience. We went and had a clinic and kids activities. As soon as I got out of the van a little boy named Carlitos came up to me and I picked up him. He is 2 and stayed with me the whole 3 hours we were there. When I had to go translate in the clinic, I put him down. He ran in after me and sat in my lap while I translated. It was a great experience to be there with the workers for a few hours and they were appreciative of everything. Antonio, the preacher in San Vicente, is going to start doing a service there for the workers every Sunday. Please pray for the success of that work.
![]()
![]()
My apologies for not getting this blog up sooner, it has been a crazy week, but a great one! Last week I was in El Zorrillo again with the group from my church and it was such a wonderful trip. But when we got back to the City with that group, we only had an hour before the next group got in so there was just no time to get this done until now. So here we go...
We had a great week in El Zorrillo this week. Sunday we had service with our brothers and sisters at the church there. After lunch we spent time talking with the Francos and the ladies who would be helping us that week. It was a great time spent together. Then we got some shopping done. After a somewhat stressful shopping experience, we went back for church and dinner.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we did a combination of house visits, clothing give aways, concrete work at the church, and working on some roofs. I helped out with house visits and clothing. I love house visits anywhere but house visits in El Zorrillo are very special to me. It is such a blessing to spend time in the houses of people that I know and love. That and the fact that I was with people from my own church just gave me a little piece of home that I really needed last week.
During the week I helped with the teens class, the babies class, and also translated the women's class Wednesday night. That was a new and slightly intimidating experience but all the ladies said they enjoyed and understood the class. I can only take credit for the latter of the two but I really enjoyed it as well.
Thursday we had the carnival, that was an adventure. There were over 100 kids going through the different stations. I worked at the tattoo station, tattooing the children of El Zorrillo :) After the carnival we fed everyone hamburgers. Then we said goodbyes to everyone. After that we went to Ensenada to shop and have dinner. Then back to the hotel to pack and sleep. Friday we got up early and headed to the City of Children. The group left at 7:30 and we met the next group at 8:30. We went shopping at then spent the afternoon/evening at the City of Children. I always enjoy any time that I get to spend there.
We are in San Quintin now. We will be spending the week here. I am excited about it. Please pray for us as we work here this week. We have two weeks left and everyone is getting tired. Check in with you guys later!
In His Service and For His Glory.
Just finished a very good, very LONG week in Camalu! Break time is short this time around because this week went from Friday-Friday instead of the normal Saturday-Thursday. However it was a great week and a lot of good things were done.
We got down to Camalu (which is a little over three hours from Ensenada) on Saturday afternoon. We had dinner at the church (pizza that is HUUUUUGE) and spent some time with the preacher, Juan Jose, his wife, Flor, and their kids. They are a great family and I really enjoyed getting to know them this week.
The hotel this week was...interesting. We had three frogs join us via our toilet at different points throughout the week. Hot water was hard to come by and construction on the hotel started at about 6 every morning. Never thought I would look forward to the Villa Marina but its looking better every week :)
The team this week had stuff going on all day. They had VBS classes for the kids every morning, then had lunch, then got ready for more VBS classes at night. At the same time there was a construction team working on Juan and Flor's house, a team going to visit/clean the homes of some of the members, a team building furniture for some of the members, and some other random errands going on. At night they had classes for men, women, kids, teen boys, and teen girls. Sara and I translated for the teen girls class. It was really great to spend that time with the teen girls from the church and watch the relationships between us all grow.
During the day I worked with the team going to visit some but mostly did random errand running. Little trips to the hardware store, grocery store, getting copies made, and the candy store were an everyday occurance. On Wednesday 5 of us went to the store to get food for the food bags we were making for the members of the church. When we drove up, I saw a little puppy sitting outside of the store. We got out and went over to see her, she was tiny! I asked the people around if she belonged to anyone and they said no, she had been there for a couple weeks but didn't belong to anyone. Well, being the animal lover/softie that I am, I couldn't just leave her. I left her in the van with two of the teens that were watching our stuff while we went in to shop. We bought her some food and then after we left, took her to the vet to get her some flea shampoo. The vet looked at her and said she was about 8 weeks old and was pretty healthy. Then the real fun began. We wanted to give her to Flor and Juan, their dog had been stolen about a month ago, but we didn't want to give her to them all dirty. So we decided we needed to keep her a secret until we had our break in the afternoon so that we could give her a bath and make her look nice before giving her to Juan and Flor. So we left her with another member of the church who said they would watch her till break. Then at break we put her in my backpack and took her back to the hotel and gave her a bath. That wasn't fun for any of us. Try keeping a puppy a secret that won't quit crying! She went back in my backpack for the ride back to the church and for a little while until we could get Flor alone. We went in the house and surprised Flor with her first, we didn't want the kids in there in case Flor and Juan didn't want to keep her. But that was nothing to worry about because they loved her! They named her Kiara and we left money with them to get her shots (which are MUCH cheaper here than at home). It was a fun day of puppy daycare :)
I had an absolutely great week this week! I got to spend the week with a group from my church at the City of Children. The City of Children has been one of my favorite places since the first time I went 8 years ago. Throughout the years I have been blessed to build relationships with many of the kids and staff there and always look forward to spending some time with them. Here is some of the hilights for the week:
Saturday: We did some errand running and then Misha and Sara left to go with their group to San Vicente for the week. I stayed behind at the City of Children and waited on my group to get there. When they did, I spent some time with them while they got settled in then we went and had dinner and spent some time with the teens. After dinner and some hang out time, we went back to the rooms to get some rest before really starting the work the next day. I loved getting to see so many people that I love and have missed since I have been gone.
Sunday: We got up and got ready for church. We had service with the kids then Mario took us on a tour of the home. Now I have been on this tour about 27 times, but each time I learn something new. After the tour, we ate lunch with all the kids. I sat with Oscar, the little boy who my family and Leah sponsor. We have been sponsoring him for about a year and a half and everytime it has taken him awhile to warm up to us cause he is very shy. This time though, he sat with me at lunch and talked and gave me a picture he had drawn me. He's a really sweet kid and it made me happy to see him coming out of his shell some. After lunch we had some playtime with the kids. Once again I got to experience the feeling of walking up to a dorm and having a number of kids just shout my name or run up and hug me. There is no other feeling like it. Mike and Reba and the Thurmans sponsor Oscar's sister, Wendy, and our church sponsors a Ana, who just graduated high school this year. That afternoon we were able to get those three by themselves for a bit to give them the presents we brought them. Oscar and Wendy are both still getting used to getting so much attention and love from so many people. You could tell they were a little intimidated at first but they got better as we went along. This is where I have to brag on the group from my church. They technically don't sponsor Oscar or Wendy so really they didn't have to be there. But they have been so great about being loving and accepting of them as well. It was cool to see how close Ana was with everyone from church since we had been sponsoring her for several years and then see that process just starting with Oscar and Wendy. After presents, we got ready for VBS then had dinner. After dinner, we had VBS. My group had the younger medianas (girls from about 6-9). I translated for them and we had a great class. Then we had playtime and group devo before bed.
Monday: On Monday I translated for Reba's dorm mother's class. She did a great job with the class and the ladies really loved it. She gave them each a bag that Brian's wife, Lisa, had made and they LOVED them. Then we went and played with the babies. I love being in the baby dorm, they are so sweet and loving. Its hard to think about some of the abuse and mistreatment some of them have experienced at such a young age but its comforting to know they are at the City of Children now where they will be loved unconditionally and given everything they need. I also translated for the babies VBS on Monday afternoon. We talked about using our hands and feet to please God. We did handprints and footprints for all of the kids in the class. Monday night I translated again for the girls class and had a lot of fun doing it.
Tuesday: On Tuesday I went to El Zorrillo with a small group to help translate the house visits. I love house visits, they are probably my favorite thing to translate. Its great to watch the interaction between people in house visits. It is the one thing that really makes me feel like we are all part of a family. Tuesday night I translated for the class again.
Wednesday: Wednesday I went back to El Zorrillo to translate for the group for that day. One thing we stressed a lot this week in El Zorrillo was doing fewer house visits but really taking time to learn the story of the people who we were visiting. There was a lot of emotions on Wednesday. We visits one member whose brother is dying at a young age, one mother of 5 who was baptized on Sunday but is struggling with the relationship with her husband who is abusive and a drug addict, and Felicitaz whose husband has been unjustly imprisoned for over a year. Each of those were hard visits for me because these are people who I have come to love and I hate seeing each of them going through such a hard time. It was great to see people from the group really step up to say what they could to encourage and support our brothers and sisters. I did my best to translate in a way that conveyed their great love and concern. We had class again Wednesday night for our girls.
Thursday: Thursday we went shopping in Ensenada. It was fun because Ana got to come with us so we got to spend some extra time with her. I bought some toys to take back to Oscar (maybe Leah and I spoil him just a little :) ). We got back to the City and had playtime with the kids. I spent time with Oscar and the rest of the boys and then went to say bye to the babies. I spent a lot of time in the baby dorm this week, mainly because of Carlos. Carlos is Oscar's brother. He's 4 and has always been kind of shy with me when we have done things with for their family during our visits. However this week he was attached to me anytime I was in there. He would just sit in my lap and say my name over and over or we would look at/take pictures together on my phone and camera. Every picture he saw, he would point at each person and say, "mi amigo" (which means my friend for you Spanish slacker), it was adorable! Then it was letter writing time. Thursday ngiht we get to tuck the kids into bed and say bye to them. A lot of people like to give notes to kids who they got close to during the week. There were abotu 6 of us sitting in a room writing the letters. I was trying to help everyone at once, since they wanted to write them in Spanish. It got a little crazy but I loved it. Thursday we did a slideshow for the kids of the pictures of the week. Then we went to tuck them in. Saying bye is never an easy thing but the kids have gone from asking me IF I'm coming back to now asking me WHEN I'm coming back. After that, we had a devo and got everything packed. I stayed up pretty late talking to Lilly and Sophia and Beth, probably not a good idea looking back on it since we had to get up at 5:30 this morning but it was the last night.
![]()
God is good!
I'm writing tonight from the Villa Marina, the hotel here in Ensenada. Yesterday I finished my week in El Zorrillo with a group from North Alabama. They brought a group of about 16 to visit and spent the week doing house visits and a medical clinic as well as a VBS at night. It was a special week for me because I got to spend it in El Zorrillo, where I lived last summer. I have missed the people there so much so I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them again. I can't explain how great it feels to walk into a church and have so many people just yelling your name for you to come see them. Knowing that they remember who I am just means so much to me. One lady told me that the other day her son said, "Mom, Siobhan hasn't been here in like a month, isn't it time for her to come back?" It makes me so hapy to know they are thinking of me even when I can't be with them.
I spent most of the week translating in the medical clinic. We saw just under 150 people in 3 days so we were pretty busy. I really enjoyed getting to do my part to help make people feel better. Most of the stuff was just body pain and cold/sinuses but we had some more serious stuff as well. It was hard to translate some of the conversations because it meant telling people bad news about their health. I really just had to rely on God to give me the courage and wisdom to say the right things.
I also translated some house visits. I loooooove house visits. There is something that is just so special about being in someone's home with them, really gives you the feeling of being a family. We visited a lot of people that had fallen away from the church. One of them was a girl my age, who had a small baby. I translated all that the group wanted to say to her and then I talked to her some. I told her that for me, being a Christian is a decision that I have to make everyday. True, I made the decision once to be baptized, but that isn't all that being a Christian is. Everyday I have to decide that I want to live for Christ that day and I want to be His light. Kate has a devo book that we read from and last week it had one about being still. It talked about how often times we are so obsessed with making plans and getting things done that we don't just be still and let God be God. If we let him, God will give us the strength for that day. Too often I get stressed out about the future, what it will look like and how I will do certain things, instead I need to, day by day, make the decision to let God rule my life and trust him to give me the strength that I need to get through today.
Well week one is officially finished. We just said our goodbyes to an incredible group from Woodland Trace and are now trying to kind of process the week and get some rest in before we head out again.
I honestly could not have asked for a better week. I am learning so much and can feel myself growing as a person each day. It is amazing the stuff you can learn to live without when you just don't have it. I prayed before I left that God would do whatever He needed to do in order for me to accomplish the things He has set out for me to do this summer and I am trusting Him that that is exactly what He is doing.
So we spent the week in San Vicente with the preacher, Antonio, his wife, Nelly, and their kids, Christian, Itzel, and Alejandra. They are an incredible family. They have been there less than 2 years but they are doing incredible things for the church there. I am so glad I got to meet them and spend some time with them this week. Stuff I did this week included working in the medical clinic, translating kids classes, and translating conversations between the group and the members of the church. I was nervous at first but this group was so encouraging and positive that it made it so much easier for me to just jump into doing what I needed to do.
I loved meeting and spending time with the kids and families from the church. But I can honestly say that I never expected to make friends like I feel like I did on this trip with the group members. They never once treated us just like translators but instead made us part of their group. They were always appreciative of what we were doing and understanding of the fact that its not an easy job. Before we left in Ensenada, Kate, Sara, and I had talked about doing "Summer Superlatives" for fun throughout the summer. Just maybe keeping something going that would remind us of the couple people who really stuck out to us. But Tuesday we decided we could not think of one person who did not stick out to us from that group. So we made a superlative for each person, highlighting the characteristics that made them special to us this week. We gave them out last night and I think they really enjoyed it. Its not something we will do with every group but this really was a special group to all three of us. I've already planned to go and visit them when I get home and I am just so grateful to God for putting them in my life.
