There's No Place Like Home

10 days is a long time to be away from your family. Especially when a baby is as young as Joel is... because they change so much in 10 days. By the time I got back from Mexico Joel was quite a bit taller, calmer (thank goodness), talking (in his form of talking), and always eager to smile at anyone who will smile at him. It's good to be home.

Back from Mexico

Well, we're back from Mexico. We arrived Monday around Midnight. We were gone for 10 days... I missed home, and my family but it was an incredible trip. We built 7 houses for some families with some incredible stories. It was sad to watch the immediate change when crossing the border and going from San Diego to Tijuana. It's one city divided by a border... on one side "the land of opportunity" on the other is poverty... divided by a line... It is always powerful to give and share our blessings in order to bless others. It changes us. It changed our youth. Numerous youth decided to follow Jesus for the first time, and many others came back to Him with a determination to follow him more closely in Calgary. Mission changes us, and brings us together.
It is interesting how we separate "church" and "missions" in North America... how we come together for the sake of coming together... But I have become more convinced that the community that God designed us for is a result of mission. Community for the sake of community eventually becomes shallow and dies... But when we share a common mission, people come together in community. And what if half of the point of missions is about us? It seems God has wired us that way. Blessing others is crucial part of God transforming us.
I'm excited for the life change that happened on this trip. But now the real work begins. Pray for me, and our leaders here at SunWest that we will follow up well with these Youth and that they would get connected in the busy life of Calgary.