Packing and Families!

The sun is shining, midterms are almost done and we leave for Juarez tomorrow at 5p.m!

It's an exciting and busy time as we're all preparing to leave.  Some students have packed their bags 4 or 5 times already and some of the staff have yet to start packing (myself included).  The guys house has piles of duffle bags and sleeping bags all over as students drop their stuff off to be packed into vans tomorrow morning. 

After 13 years of traveling to Mexico, Mitch has the packing process down to a science. Everyone signs up for a van and puts a color-coded label on their bags, so that their stuff is always in the same van.  Joe, Jon, Drew and Nate will be teaching the other guys how to load a van so that the maximum amount of stuff can fit into the smallest possible area. Apparently, there's a pretty specific science involved that usually includes cramming, squeezing sleeping bags into weird places and a lot of grunting on the part of the guys.  You should see their faces when you forget to pull something out of your bag until after the van is packed, especially if it's the bottom bag!

Heather has our menu and shopping lists almost done, everyone has their forms turned in and passports checked, Kelly W. and I will finish packing all of the first aid kits tonight (I keep tripping over the peroxide bottles on the office floor.  I should just move them or I'll wind up needing the kits before we leave!), and I think we'll be good to go! 

As we've been packing and repacking, it's been really cool to think about the families that we will be serving this upcoming week. This was the first year that we were given an opportunity to "meet" the families that we will be building for through family photos.  It makes the trip seem more real to already know who will be receiving a house because of our efforts next week.  And because of YOUR help getting us there!

So, we'd like to introduce you to the families who will be receiving a house next week because of your help and support of our missions trip! 

This is Pedro, his wife Caroline and their son, Pedro. 

Next is Jesus, (pronounced Hay-sues), and his wife Lidia. They have 4 children: Arlet (15), Quintana (14), Angel (11) and Aziel (6).  

This is Saul, his wife Victoria and their children. 

And this is Maria and her daughters Larisa (13) and Mia (1) and her son Miguel (10).  

















One of the most important things for us to remember though is that our missions trip doesn't start once we cross the border on Monday and end after the workday on Thursday.  It starts the moment we leave the guys house tomorrow.  From the moment we get on the road until we land exhausted back in Big Rapids, we have the chance to be a blessing to a lot of people. Gas station attendants, wait staff at restaurants, other families and groups along the way and to the Casas staff who will be building with us.  We're excited to see what God's going to do this week!