This was my third year on the mission trip to Monterrey , Mexico. This trip was a great experience, as always, for a number of reasons. First of which is that I got to meet  a lot of cool people that were very supportive and usually always had a good attitude. Whether they were interns or people that went through a mission trip, they were all super happy to be there helping out with anything they needed to help with. Moving on over to the kids that we got to see at the orphanage, I had a great time connecting and playing with them after I got done working. All of them were super grateful to see us and they always had smiles on their faces, which made me feel really good. It was a pleasure to see Alexa again, which is the little girl my mom and I sponsor.  Alexa always has fun playing with my mom and me while we are there. A couple of the amazing things I experienced were the lessons and cool new things I learned while I was there. I’ll only tell you a couple of things because there were so many. The most  important thing was that God is always with me wherever I go, even if it’s across the world. I also learned from a couple of the stories, that God can change your entire life from just one small decision, and it’s no fairy tale, it has happened to multiple people at the mission site. Lastly, I wanted to say that one of the things that stood out was the time I had with God.  The most special time I spent with God this week was at the extended worship.  Extended worship was a longer worship time with beautiful music and stations where you can express yourself and get rid of some negative things. God really touched my heart that night and it was special to me. Thank you for reading, God bless you.

written by Colby Mayberry

This was my fourth trip to Monterrey, Mexico. I always enjoy going but it seems before every trip I expect the same things. I always expect the long plane ride, the sleepy bus rides, and seeing the same kids, but why do I think that?

Every year all of that comes true but none of that is what makes the mission trip special or different from the other times. In all the mission trips the best part is always the new friends you make, the kids who you hang out with no matter if you knew them before, or if they are new to you, and the new group members that come on the trip with you.

I love to go to Monterrey, Mexico every year,  but not because of the long plane rides, the sleepy bus rides, the fact that the same kids are there. NO, I never go there for that! It is always for the new friends, the kids you get to hang out with whether you already knew them or not, the new group members that come, but really I ALWAYS learn something as well. About me. About others. About the trip itself. So yeah that is why every year I WILL ask “Can we go to Mexico this year?”.

By: Daisy Kercher, Age 11

There’s an old question that people ponder:  “What would a person do in a crisis situation?”  It’s felt that how people respond in a crisis reveals who they truly are.  I’m not sure I love that old question, but I’ve learned of a different question during this mission trip to Monterrey:

What would a Christian do without all the day-to-day busyness?

On this mission trip, I saw a lot of Christians unplug from their normal lives, focus on Jesus, and serve orphans, caregivers, and local volunteers.  God blessed the dedicated time.  I was blown away by the people serving on the trip with me.   We worked hard fixing up the orphanage in very hot conditions.  We loved those orphans with love and patience.  We connected with caregivers and volunteers despite the language barrier.  We prayed powerful, honest prayers for the caregivers and orphans.  We had small groups and “daily debriefings” where we opened up about what we loved each day and what we were struggling with in our normal lives.  When we had personal problems (and we did), we worked through them.

And it amazed me to see it in our children.  At home, I typically can’t get my kids to truly work hard outside the house for a full hour.  At the orphanage in Monterrey, I saw our kids work hard in the blazing sun with sweat dripping off them.  I saw our kids play for hours with orphans who haven’t yet learned to share, have patience, and take turns.  The kids understood why we needed to work so hard and love so selflessly, and they did.  God blessed and empowered our kids to serve amazingly.

And I saw God’s love and grace.  Orphans receiving and feeling genuine love, support, and attention from us.  Caregivers feeling appreciation and recognition that their work was truly God’s work.  And we missionaries being loved back from the orphanage.  Through this experience, God gave us insight into our daily lives and healing for our daily struggles.

This is what Christian life looked like in Monterrey this year… with a week devoted to following Jesus and to serving at an orphanage.  God blessed us like crazy.  I am so glad that my family went.  I’m so thankful to see my kids love selflessly and work hard in Jesus’ name.  This trip was absolutely priceless to me.  I saw the God-blessed best from a great group of people, who now are more like extended family.

By: Andy Kercher

After returning to the US last evening, following time spent in Monterrey Mexico this past week, I am already feeling the pressure of all of the things on my rigid “to do” list.  I even jotted on my list that I need to blog about my trip.  After starting to feel some tension building, I decided to go outside without my list and do what is truly important.  That is spend time with God.  There, I opened my daily devotional book.  After the first couple lines, I read “Cease striving and know that I am God”.  A few lines further it says, “Let go, relax, be still and know that I am God”.  It is truly amazing how He tells us just what we need to hear at just the right time.

This past week, His presence felt so strong to me.  I felt it as an individual and as a team with the rest of the group.  He led us to serve and touch the hearts of children and caregivers at the children’s homes.  Not only that, He showed us how to love on each other as a church family.  In turn, this overflowing presence of God reflected through us and it seemed evident to the B2B staff.  They were all very grateful.  More importantly, the children and caregivers seemed to feel God’s love and presence through us.  Whether we were praying for them or with them; working on projects around campus; playing games and doing crafts with the children; or having meals together, we were surrounded by the Holy Spirit and our hearts full with love.

Today, after returning home to the states, I pray that each of us continue to radiate God’s presence.  I pray that we put Him first and put our “to do” lists a distance behind Him, our families, loved ones and those in need.  I pray that we find ways to serve and love on others around us just as we did on our mission trip.  I pray this, not only for our team, but, for everyone.  I pray this in the name of our wonderful and loving Father, Amen.

By Tami Mayberry