Hiking and sand duning

We spent the day hiking around the Yuma area. It is full of great places to explore. We started with a hike up the Gila mountains looking for rocks and just to be out in nature.

Some of the hills were very steep.

After our picnic lunch beside the hills we headed out to the sand dunes.

The kids had a great time running up and down the dunes.

Mission fun

We were very exciteded to find Crossroads mission. We were looking for a grocery store, so we punched grocery store into the GPS to find the nearest one. The one that was closest sounded like a corner store so we took the 2nd option. We followed the instructions from our very soothing sounding GPS lady. As we followed the road we became aware that the area we were driving through looked more industrial than we had seen untill then. We pulled up to the stop sign and there in front of us was a huge sign that said FOOD DROP OFF -----> Beside the sign was another sign that said CROSSROADS MISSION. Well that was a pretty obvious sign for us. So we gave up on the search for food and followed the signs to the homeless shelter. We parked the car and walked into the shelter. Told them we were ten people that had time and wanted to help. Did they need any? They said they sure did, could we come back tomorrow at 10:30. Of course we could. We also told them we had a bunch of kids sweatshirts. Were there any kids or families around. Well, right up the road was their family shelter and they would love for us to come by and share what we had with the kids. YEAH!!!

We arrived at the shelter at 10:30. The kitchen lady showed us the kitchen and asked if we would like to make some Christmas cookies for their Christmas meals. They usually serve up to 500 people per meal. They had 3 days of Christmas meals to feed all the people who came.

We washed up and spent our time making cookies. We ended up with around 750 sugar cookies. We mixed and rolled and cutout snowmen, hearts and a few others. We sprinkled and made every cookie with love. We talked about the kids who would come and look at all those fun cookies and hopefully they would feel the love that we put into those cookies.

We also stocked the shelves with tin after tin of beans, soup, stew and every other food item that comes in a tin. There shelves were all stocked up and ready for Christmas, when they had so many more people show up.

We met so many great people who either volunteer at the shelter or live there and work during the day in the kitchen. They were all so friendly and made us feel so comfortable even though we had just dropped by.

After leaving the men's shelter, we went over to the family shelter to meet the moms and kids. They were so excited to see us. They had been expecting us and the kids looked like it was Christmas. We went through all the sweatshirts one by one with the kids, fitting each child with 2 warm sweatshirts each. Cindy also had some brand new receiving blankets that a lady had sewn for us to take. They all went to babies and kids in the shelter that needed a blanket of their own. Then we gave them each a leather bracelet craft to make. The colored beads on the bracelet represented the love of Jesus.

I was so sad to leave the kids at the shelter. They had so much fun playing with our kids, taking pictures and hugging and laughing. We met a few of the moms, who had to live in the shelter as they looked for jobs so they could afford a home of their own. We learned about a mom of 1 month old preemie twins that lived in the shelter. She was gone all day looking for work to support her babies, while they stayed in daycare, waiting for her to come back at the end of the day. They are all so full of love and energy. Its hard to imagine having to raise a family in those conditions. But it is so great that they have a safe place to be.

Yuma

Today we left thr Phoenix area for Yuma. We decided that we would look for oppertunities to be missional along the way as we were finding it very hard to find contacts in the city.
We tried a few places in Peoria that all ended up not working out.As we pulled into Yuma, Kalli was needin a break from sitting in the van. We had been driving for about 3 1/2 hours. She was amazing till the end when she had enough.

We stopped at Painted Rock Petroglyph site. It was a great place to run around and streach our legs.

When we arrived in Yuma, we basically stopped at the first hotel we saw. Because of it being low season the price of the hotel was much less than we expected. Then they told us the hot breakfast was included as was the happy hour with snacks in the evening, internet, pool with hot tub and the best part is that they also have a BBQ that we can use to cook up the farmer sausage we brought along to cook a real Mennonite meal for our hosts in Mesa. Thats what we had for supper today. BBQ sausage burgers. Mmmm so good.

The coolest part of our day was when we wenrt for groceries for supper. We punched in grocery stores into our Borrowed GPS (thanks Ted & Dar), and we followed us to the one near us. As we drove up to the store we noticed it was in a poorer area and as we turned the corner we saw a big sign that said "FOOD DONATIONS ---> " then we noticed a sign that said Mission ahead. We forgot about the groceries and headed for the mission. We walked in and said we had come to help, did they need us. They said sure, when could we come. We told them we would come tomorrow for the day. They also have a family homeless shelter that we could donate the sweatshirts we had brought along. YEAH!!!! We are needed!!!

So tomorrow we will go to the shelter from 10:30-2 and then again at 4:30 to help with supper and hand out the clothes. I think this will be an amazing experience and we will see where we go from there.

Airport mystery

Have you ever been in an airport and had someone stare at you? That happens to me all the time. People always think they know me or someone in my family. Well, this time it happened to Cindy. As we sat in the Winnipeg airport waiting for our delayed flight. A lady who had been watching Cindy and Kalli walked over and started a conversation with her. She was interested in Kalli and her age as she has a granddaughter similar in age. As they were talking about their little ones they got talking about where they were going and where they were from. She happened to be from Landmark Mb. and was going to visit her brother in Phoenix. She asked why they were going to Phoenix. Cindy told her about our mission trip. She asked if Cindy had ever heard about Angel Food? A ministry that helps feed homeless people. She then told her about it and the church that is affiliated with it in Arizona. The church that she talked about is called Discovery Point Church. Cindy came over after her talk with the lady and wrote down the name of the church. We talked a little about about it and then off we went onto the plane.

Yesterday as we were told that we would not be serving as we had planned the first thought that came to my mind was the Discovery Point church. I thought maybe this was the plan after all and the lady Cindy met was the contact we needed.

We googled it last night and found the church is located in Peoria. Peoria is an hour away from Mesa, so in the morning we packed up our bags, checked out of the motel and went to the 10:30 service. It was a very nice small church similar to the church we go to in Altona. We talked to the pastor after the service and he told us he would check out some places he knew in Peoria and e-mail us. So as of now we will wait and see what is in store for us. Two families, ready and willing.

Mesa here we come...

Hmmm...where do I begin?

Many months ago our vision of going as two families began to take a trip to Arizona and spend time together serving and learning. Friends of ours had just moved from Costa Rica to Arizona and were launching their outreach program in the USA. This seemed a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the cheap airfares into the states and to take a leap of faith to see what we could do to help in another country. We want to show our kids a different culture and awareness in them to experience the poverty that is really so close to home.

So we started planning and praying to see what God might place before us. The heppner kids collected sweatshirts from school and church and friends and a local lady who had a big bag of cotton started sewing and sent a box of receiving blankets for us to bring along to warm up a baby in need.

We loaded 10 bags of donations onto the plane and filled up the trunk of the rental car and van. Off we went, Arizona bound. What did God have in store for us now. As the excitement of being in a new place mounted we finally arrived at our destination.

That's when God changed our well thought out plan. We learned that as much as you can think you know exactly what's going to happen and think that everything will be as planned, we are not in control. God is, and so the plan is changed. We spent the night at a motel 6 in Mesa instead of the home of our friends. They couldn't host us or minister with us as some unexpected circumstances happened and as of now, we are on our own. In a city we have never been in, without any contacts. We will now spend the rest of our time here following God's plan because we don't have one.

Grab & Run

Every Spring and Fall, our church puts on an event called the Grab & Run. I love it. It is a free garage sale type event. Local people from the area donate gently used children's and adult clothing. People from all over who find they could use some clothing for their family come over and take what they need. Some people bring a bag and leave with a new batch for their family to use. We put it out for an afternoon, fry up some hot dogs and call it a great time. The whole event is tones of fun. Everything is free.

From the unpacking to the packing up of the leftovers. We have a blast. This year I actually remembered my camera.

Starting the great unpacking

All the racks are ready to hang up the clothes. Thanks Ken and Ruth

There are a ton of bags here!

Hmmm this is a nice dress. What do you think?

Even this granny came to help.

Would these fit me??

All ready!! Let the people come....

Ready to hand out free drinks

Hanger girl

Frying hot dogs. Oh they smell so good!

Yes Donovan, you can have your frying job back.

Checking out the clothing

Would this fit me?

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up!!

How much will fit in this bag??

All done......till Spring!

El Salvador

Almost 4 years ago our family took a leap of faith and followed Ray Loewen to El Salvador with MCC & Build a Village. It was an amazing trip. We worked and made relationships with the people who lived in a tiny squatters village on the side of a mountain. God opened our eyes to the beautiful people of La Linea. Recently there was a hurricane that devastated El Salvador and in particular the village of La Linea. Lives were lost and homes are gone. My question as I sit here sobbing is what can I do??

I just received this e-mail from Ray...

Four people died in La Linea as a result of the storm including a two year old baby along with her mother and grandmother … the church many of you have worshipped in is seriously damaged … the “Manitoba chicken ranch” (named for a fund raising drive we helped coordinate while the El Salvador team was in Manitoba) has been totally destroyed … at least 10 of the Build a Village / MCC homes have been totally destroyed … many people have lost everything and are “temporarily” staying at the community centre … Milton says that “much of the village is in dangerous condition and it has been recommended not to rebuild houses there again” and that “given the situation, they are working together to buy a piece of land (they don’t know where yet) where they can build permanent houses” …

An MCC volunteer is in the community right now helping people assess the situation and we are hoping to make contact with them to get more information … and as expected, Carmen (who lost everything she has) is coordinating the distribution of supplies and help for others … while Bernarda says “my home is your home” … I remember again why I have always found the people of La Linea to be so amazing … a 12 year civil war, natural disasters in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009, abject poverty, violence and more, yet their first thoughts are about others …

The questions many of you have been asking is what is next and how can we help. … I don’t have answers yet but expect that a very small group will travel to El Salvador in the near future to stand with our brothers and sisters there and to see how we can help … we have been warned not to go because of the extreme violence El Salvador has struggled with in recent months … but after reading Bernarda’s comment – “they are our friends and if they come we will be filled with strength” – I know that God will be with us and things will be fine … I will provide additional updates as they become available …

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=49375455001