Wednesday, July 3, 2002
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Wednesday, July 3, 2002 |
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Senior teens at First Presbyterian endure, share, during mission trip By CAROLYN SIRKEL
On May 29, an exciting nine-day mission trip began for the Senior High group of the First Presbyterian Church, Peachtree City. The team was composed of 34 teenagers and seven adults. The first stop was El Paso, Texas, where the group was transported by bus to the Lonetree ministries Camp in Capitan, N.M. to begin their two-day training session. This was key time designed to expose the group to goal setting, problem solving, and team building through several events that included climbing ropes and going through obstacle courses. The main mission was to build two houses in Guadalupe, Mexico. For the next five days, all 41 participants lived in Juarez, Mexico, while they worked with Amor ministries at their ongoing project in Guadalupe. Building materials for the houses were already on the site. Members of the crew mixed concrete, then poured and finished the concrete slabs and framed, and roofed the house. Then they finished interiors, installed doors and windows, and stuccoed the exteriors. It took a team of 20 people working 10- to 12-hour days to complete a home. The heat was over 100 degrees. When the houses were finished, a family of four moved into one, and a family of five into another. "It touched everyone's heart to see how extremely grateful and appreciative these people were for their new home." a spokesperson said. From some of the leftover lumber on the site, the group fashioned a cross for a housewarming present. During the trip, they also had an opportunity to visit an orphanage, play games with the children and cook dinner for them. In Juarez, the group stayed in rustic cabins on the Amor Ministries campsite. There was one bathroom for "girls" and one bathroom for "guys." The toilets were front flush toilets you flushed them with a bucket of water. The two bucket showers were four walls on a small slab. Each person was provided with two and a half gallons of shower water daily. They wore a bathing suit in the showers and while walking to and from. Each brought a mat or foam bedroll to sleep on the bunks had no mattresses. The group brought their own food and had drinking water transported to the site. The dress code was strict all shorts had to be at least to the fingertips and shirts had to be modest. Girls' dresses had to be at least to the knees and no bare shoulders were allowed at any time. In church, the men were required to wear long pants and a clean shirt. The people of the host country were friendly. "The most fun was with the children, who were curious, and always had a 'sunshine smiley' face. They loved to play soccer," the spokesperson said. The last two days of the trip were spent in a Lonetree Ministries resort near a town called Truth or Consequences, N.M. Here the group underwent debriefing and took time for reflection. Since they lived on several houseboats moored near the beach, they enjoyed every kind of water sport. On June 7, the travelers were welcomed home. "They were tired but had joyous hearts, since they knew they had accomplished something right and good." a spokesperson said. "The Senior High group worked hard to earn money for this trip by having a Swing Dance and rolling posters of the river systems to mail to middle schools and high schools. "In Juarez, they worked very hard in intense heat and in living conditions they were not normally used to. It was interaction and reciprocal giving. They witnessed another country, so close to the U.S.A., yet so very different. They witnessed God by serving in His name to someone in need."
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