Baja 2019 Day 2: Day Time

It's been a couple of weeks since we got back, but I wanted to post an update on our Mexico trip.  It was a great trip.  I was chatting with one of my friends today, and he said something like, "I think we are happiest when we are serving others." Well said.

Our border crossing at Tijuana on Friday was uneventful; Adam said that's the easiest crossing he's ever had.  They didn't even pull us into secondary.  Here's a picture of part of "the wall" that separates TJ from USA.  It goes on for miles....

Steve with Adam (who flew down early in a private plane, then met us with a van in San Diego)

my view of Josh in the back of the van

Josh's view of us

From TJ, we drove straight to La Misión.  First stop, Tacos Richi for lunch. Cole loves the quesadillas.  I tried a mulita, it's kind of like a quesadilla sandwich. Muchos tacos y mulitas por todo! Yum.

After lunch, our first task of the day was to clear debris up at the hilltop.  For some of us, this drive up to the top was a shock to our system. Yes, it is that same harrowing drive, bumpy, dirty. (Reminding me to make that appointment with the chiropractor when I got home.) But the surrounding hillside looked like I would imagine the surface of Mars to look.  Scorched. By the time we saw it, the house itself was only a foundation and retaining wall of stone, some steps, and tile from a former interior shower/bedroom.  Most of us had previously stayed at Casa de Manà. It was pretty quiet as we all walked around and surveyed the damage. We swept dirt, shoveled bits of concrete, raked, picked up shards and shards of melted glass and trash.  It was tedious.  Our work was in preparation for a worship service the next morning.  It was good work.  Kids and adults alike were all glad to have something useful to do.

scorched earth

dying catcus

These are photos of Casa de Manà just days before we arrived. Crews came in and tore down all the burnt wood and adobe parts of the house.  We came up and cleaned what was left.
  


Here we are moving debris.  All hands on deck!
   

Here Adam explains Strong Tower's vision for the hilltop (as a crew is rebuilding the warehouse in the background.) There are so many ministries in this little valley.  Strong Tower Ministries wants to provide a place of refuge for those in ministry, housing for short-term teams and a warehouse for storing supplies and dry goods.

 

This is the area where we would set up worship the next morning.  We moved a LOT of debris and picked up buckets full of glass.  Maryn also found a little bell.  I found a small corner of a page of a devotional, perhaps part of a Bible study in Spanish.
 
Isaiah 61:2-4 "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations."