like whoa!

We taught Samuel, the camp owners son, some american slang.  His favorite phrase was “like whoa”, which means something is very good.  It became some what of a running joke to say everything was “like whoa!”  As we were flying back to the States today, we were thinking about all of the great things that we were a part of and all that we could say was “like whoa!”  God used the Master’s Inn to help impact a camp and a staff  in ways we could never have imagined.  All of the people there were so grateful for all of the work that we were able to do.  We did not spend too much time with Victor’s (camp owner) older son but when we were saying good bye to everyone early this morning, Jim was thanking him for allowing us to come to the country and serve, and his eyes got very heavy and said no thank you, you have no idea what this means to my father!  As we left the camp yesterday Santos, one of their main staff members, was praying in spanish and he said “Senor con todo mi corazon gracias para todos que nuestros nuevo amigos pueden hacer en nuestro campamento y como auydame.”  Translated: God with all of my heart I thank for all that our new friends were able to do in our camp and how much they helped me.  They were so grateful.  It was such a blessing to serve these people and we know that we will continue this relationship as the years continue.  We are now back stateside and glad to be sleeping in our own beds and eating greasy american food, but would not trade a single moment spent there for anything.  It was an amazing experience that we will never forget.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support, it meant the world to us.  We love you guys!

In Christ

Sean

ps new pictures to follow 

No Se!

Nathan has learned some spanish while he has been down here and his new favorite words are No Se, translated in English, I don’t know.  “Becky ask me where we are going…hey Nathan where are we going…No Se”, “Monica ask me where we are going…hey Nathan where are we going…No Se”, “Richie ask me where we are going…hey Nathan where are we going…No Se.”  That has been the word of the trip we don’t know.  From the airport to the camp to the city there has been a lot of I don’t knows.  Yesterday was somewhat difficult as well because the City of Monterrey has been ravaged with damaging high winds and fires.  It is something you only see in movies or the news.  It has been crazy to look out our windows and see the mountain tops ablaze.  Fortunately the Lord has protected us and the fires have come no where near.  However the fires and winds have caused much destruction in Monterrey so please pray for them, but know that we are safe and most everything has been controlled by the policia and the fire fighters.  We waited for a while yesterday to get to the city due to the fires, and an inability to get up the mountain.  When we were finally able to leave the hotel we discovered it would be so worth the wait as we were able to spend the afternoon at an orphanage.  Everybody had such a great time.  Myself, Richie, and Cole got schooled in soccer by some 8 year olds who are far better than us.  Unfortunately due to his toe Jim could not play, I know he was very disappointed, but he was able to spend quality one on one time with a young boy named Antonio, it was very good for the both of them.  Becky and Monica had girls crawling all over them the entire time they were there.  Everybody wanted to hold Keilah which made Erin very nervous, but she did very well.  Erin also had girls crawling all over her.  We were able to give them new shoes that we brought from the states and show them the love of Christ.  We were also able to work out with Victor the camp owner scholarships for these kids to attend camp.  It was so very good for us as well as them.  It seems like often on this trip we have felt like we are going to minister to others and it turns out that is us who get ministered to.  It has been a blessing.  Tonight we head back to Sierra Linda to finish the week there.  When we get there we will be doing a wiring project for the camp in which we will rehang much of the electrical wires that run through their trees.  It is very important because whenever a tree branch falls they lose power.  Praise the Lord thanks to your generous donations we were able to pay for the entire project for the camp.  We were also able to help Santos, Sierra Lindas Andrew Ireland, who does all of the camp work projects, by buying some new tools and things that will be useful for their projects.  It is such a blessing to give!  This may be the last time that we are able to have internet access before we leave as there is none at the camp.  If we find more we will let you know what is going on, if not know that we love you and appreciate all of your prayers and support.  We are blessed to be serving in Mexico and look forward to seeing you all in a few days.

In Christ

Sean

We are here!!!

Lo Siento…Spanish for I am sorry.  I am sorry that this is the first update that you all are getting from us, unfortunately today is the first day that we have been able to have Internet access.  The days have seemed to fly by already, speaking of flying let me start from the beginning of the trip.  We made it to Dallas and then to Mexico without a single problem.  Once we arrived we were to meet the owner of Sierra Linda, the camp we are working with.  Unfortunately no one was there when we arrived.  We were all very hungry so we sat down for an early lunch there time and late lunch our time.  Monterrey is 2 hours behind our east coast time.  we thought we would wait in the airport for a few minutes but the minutes turned to hours and the hours to more hours.  We waited in the airport with no transportation for almost 8 hours.  We were all very discouraged as we thought upon arrival we would be able to tour the city and learn more about the culture before going to the camp.  Fortunately Darren our guide was to arrive at 5:30 pm Monterrey time so we met up with him and then the camp owner, Victor at 5:30.  It turns out they had a group of junior high students at the camp and they were doing the programming.  Victor feels completely responsible when his team does the programming so he felt it was necessary to stay and see the program through, at the same time rather than send someone else to pick us up he waited so he himself could pick us up.  He felt it very important that he personally picked us up, this is definitely part of the culture in Mexico.  Upon meeting Darren and Victor we had dinner and then arrived at the camp around 9:00 pm their time, much later than the 3:00 am that we woke up to in Raleigh.  We got settled into the cabins, which was a little rough the first night because were all so tired and spent from a long day of basically nothing.  The cabins are very rustic much like we thought they would be but on arrival we were really tired.  Once we got a good nights rest everything seemed much better.  The next day we spent with the junior high kids, hanging out and getting to know each one of them.  We also got to introduce games to the students.  Mexico now knows how to play Kajabe Kan Kan Master’s Inn Style.  Unfortunately during the demo for the students Jim ripped half of his big toe toenail off, very painful, but Erin our camp mom was able to loosely patch him up and take care of it, it is still very tender.  The kids loved Kajabe and we also taught them the art of water balloons.  It was a blast.  As usual Cole met every kid at camp within the first 10 mintues and all the girls were in love with him.  He is doing an awesome job learning spanish.  Yesterday one of the students trusted Christ which was a huge blessing!  That night after the kids left we worked until 1:00 in the morning building new bunk beds for the camp.  It was a blast, actually it was really tiring, because we were pretty spent but it was a huge help to the camp.  Monica is very good with her spanish, it has a deep south North Carolina draw to it, but she does very well with communicating.  Even Richie, who now goes by Ricardo, is doing very well with learning spanish and communicating with the locals.  This morning we worked very hard to help them with a platform for the camps ropes course.  They basically had a valley that was walled on the back with logs and we filled it to make a level finish point for the ropes.  When we started it seemed impossible, but praise be to God we were able to finish before lunch.  The food has been great!  The camp is taking great care of us.  Even Nathan has been eating everything without complaint.  Last night we had fish tacos and he ate them all gone.  The locals really love the kids.  Every time I turn around Keilah is gone in somebody else’s arms.  Erin is being very patient with this, but in a major way has been able to minister to the locals through this.  They have both been so good through everything.  It has been amazing serving along side of the camp, helping them do little things that they do not have time to do on their own.  Almost the entire camp staff is volunteers.  When you work on a project like the beds with next to no tools, a drill that does not reverse, and limited screws, it makes you really appreciate the things that you have in the states.  Victor was so grateful for us to help them with this project.  Victor the owner owns a cheese business but his heart is definitely in camping.  He is a very humble man and God has been teaching us much through him.  This afternoon we are going to see Monterrey and get a better idea of the culture we are serving it should be awesome.  We appreciate each one of you praying for us as we serve and will look forward to seeing you all when we return to the states.  Gloria por dios de todo! (glory to God for all things)

Sean

PS pictures to follow soon

Mexico Missions Trip ‘08

Well, we leave on Friday evening to go to Raleigh to catch a 4:00 am shuttle to the airport.  Once there we will begin serving with Sierra Linda Campamento, the camp we are working with in Monterrey Mexico.  It seems that right now everyone has Mexico on the brain.  I personally have been holding off from eating at Altavista’s finest El Cazador with the hope that the food we will get there will be so much better.  The question was brought up today what will the camp food be like, I think we honestly have no idea what to expect.  No idea what to expect that seems to be the running theme for this trip, for all of us with the exception of Becky this is our first trip to Mexico.  We have no idea what the culture will be like, we are hoping the language barrier will not be to debilitating, but mostly we have no idea how God is going to use us.  This puts us in a great position to have to trust God for everything and we already are seeing how God is going to test us and stretch us in that area, just from a few planning meetings.  It will be so exciting to look back at this in just over a week and see all of the amazing things that God will be doing as a result of the ministry of The Master’s Inn.  We will give you guys trip updates as well as pictures as we continue on this journey so check back often to see how everything goes. We greatly appreciate each one of you who helped make this trip possible. Please continue to pray for us as we go down and serve Sierra Linda Campamento and their staff!

In Christ

Sean