Mexico! (missions trip)

Wondering where I was all this past week? I was in Baja, Mexico! I thought today that I would share a bit about my missions trip and a lot of pictures to give you some crafty inspiration. :) (The picture above is of the border.)

I couldn't help but take a picture of this statue of Jesus on a hill. Isn't it awesome? :)

Oh, and this is the beach. The best beach I have ever been to--ever! To get to it, we had to cross these sand piles with the green plants growing randomly on top of it (see above). The waves were so calm and smooth. Not like Zuma Beach in California where they crash at the shore line. If I had to go to any beach, I call dibs on this one! :)

Remember when I told you that I was bringing my friendship bracelet supplies? Well, on the first night I was there at the orphanage, we got to babysit some of the kids so the house parents (the people who take care of the kids) could get some "free time". So I brought my supplies that night. The picture above is of a little girl trimming the end of the friendship bracelet she made. It's a bit blurry because I took it "in motion".

Here's the same girl, only on a different night, working on another friendship bracelet. It was so much fun making these bracelets with all the girls! :)

Here some of the bracelets that my friend has. They were all given to her during this past week. :)

One day, we had a "mini carnival" for all the kids at the orphanage in the theater that they had. We put bunting up on the ceiling and set up booths with fun games in each one. There were prizes, balloon animals, and face paint. Above is a picture of one of the balloon animals I made. It's a dog, can you tell? I also helped out with the face paint. I did mainly butterflies (mariposas in Spanish) for the girls and cars (carros in Spanish) for the boys. It was so much fun! :)

Here's a balloon animal poodle that one of my friends made. Isn't it cute?

On the last full day we were there, we got to do a bit of shopping. We went to a park where a lot of women had set up booths full of handmade items. One of them had these cute dolls. I bought one very similar to the one above in Ensenada. See below..

Isn't she cute? :)

In Mexico, they have these tasty chips called, Tostitos. They are amazing! They only sell this certain flavor in Mexico, so if you happen to be down there, make sure you buy a bag of these! :)

They also had these amazing brownies! So what it is, is of course a large bottom layer of brownie and the top layer is a layer of cookie. It's so good! I definetly need to find a recipe on how to make these!

At the park, where they were selling all these handmade goodies, they had these bags. You can find them about anywhere in Mexico. I want to learn how to make them because they are so cute! Here's one that I bought...

Like it? :)

Last but not least, here's my dala horse cross stitch I was telling you that I was going to work on during the long car rides. Well, I did't get much done-- except a leg. On the way there I was in a car with two of my friends so I got caught up in conversation and on the way back down... well, I was looking out the window to see Mexico passing by.

I loved Mexico. I loved the dirt, I loved the homes, I loved the food (you gotta try their tacos!), I loved the language, but most of all I loved the people. I loved serving everyday at the orphanage. Which could mean I was pulling weeds, cleaning bathrooms, sorting nuts, or assembling newsletters. I loved it all.

We would go on child and aldult evangilisms on some days of the week. At the child evangilisim, we would drive around a village while one of the ladies would speak into a mega phone, inviting all the children of the village to meet at a building. When we would arrive at that building, children surrounded the doorway, anticipating for us to arrive. Once they were all inside and seated, the lady would tell a story from the Bible (in Spanish of course) and they would sing songs. At the end, we would serve milk and peanut butter to kids-- a cup of milk, and a spoonful of peanut butter.

At the adult evangilisim, we would go as a big group to one village. Then we would seperate into smaller groups and we would go throughout the village inviting people to meet us at this one spot where we had a large white van\car\not sure what to call it. Once we were done inviting people, we would all head back to that one spot. During that time, we would play with the kids, paint little girl's nails, twist balloons to make animals, and play jump rope. After that, we would watch a video about Jesus and after the video, give out Bibles and pray for the people. It was so nice. :)

This missions trip was so eye-opening for me. I saw how much people hurt and how much they need the love of Jesus. This is an experience I will never forget. :)

-HappyHands