This past April, I (Amanda G.) went to Mexicali with Hope Community Church. We drove down, eleven of us in all, in two vans.
For the five days we were there we experienced many things including: hospitality, friendship, laughter, and more. Our days would begin with chapel and breakfast. We would then go to our mission site—one of the poorer neighbourhoods in the area. Our group decided we wanted to organize a Vacation Bible School (VBS). For VBS we would play games and make crafts with the kids. This also included face painting. It was really neat because when we got to the site we would start by walking around the neighborhood and collecting all the kids. I really enjoyed that because in Vancouver it doesn’t really work that way.
We would end our day by coming back to camp, eating dinner, participating in chapel, and then we would go to bed. A cool thing about this trip is that we all started off knowing each other really well, however, through this trip we became even closer. I find myself wanting the trip next year to be exactly the same. Another cool thing was that the pastor in Mexico that we helped insisted that we eat with him. He told us that he wanted to help us because we had helped the kids.
At the beginning of the trip I found it tiresome to attend two chapels a day. But after the first two days I found myself looking forward to it. I found myself seeing through different eyes; walking in different boots. I want to thank our translator, John, for helping us out at the last minute and Willoughby Church for supporting me in this trip.
If someone asked if I wanted to go again next year . . . I would say “absolutely”!