The past 2 days have been absolutely amazing! As team Super Cuernavacians, we are privileged to be this year’s Team Stephen.
What is Team Stephen? Every year students from APU are leaders in community service projects that consist of cleaning up park, painting, and making a huge difference in the community through God’s love and spreading His word. We are so excited to be Team Stephen and today we already cleared and fixed up the volleyball court at a park the just needs some T.L.C.
Our second site is another park that Octane has been going to for years. We got to make new relationships and make even stronger relationships with past friends. The kids are fantastic and have tons of energy! We play soccer, make bracelets, color, and just have an amazing time. We are truly blessed to be able to do this missionary work: to spread Gods word and above all, see God work in unspeakable ways. We can’t wait to see what the days in front if us hold and get even closer to God than before.
God bless. We miss and love you all.

So it’s been a long but great day! We had our first shopping spree in the market, our first night of worship and we’ve received our sites!

So Heppa’s Peppas (John Hepper, Heather Hess, Kara Miller, Mackenzie Wille, Jenesa Brenton, Katie Kinzel, Danielle Briley, Sarah Miller, Brett Gibson and Mackenzie Ovensen) will be going to a disability clinic in the morning to work with and spend time with those in need there. In the afternoon they will be traveling to a new orphanage to do their programs and to love on kids that don’t always get that.

The Cuernavacians (Rachel Miller, Maddie Gareau, Andrea Carrabia, Ashli Falk, Matt Corsetti, Emili Wilson, Ali Briley, Ari Britz, Mitchell Porte and Mackenzie Haglund) will be taking over team Stephen. This I am pretty jealous about! Team Stephen is in charge of community service. Sooo, in the AM they will be leading other teams in the cleaning and painting of a park here in Mexicali! And they get free t-shirts! In the afternoon, they will be going to the park site that we have been ministering to for the past couple of years and do their program and love on the children of a broken neighborhood.

We are very excited to see what God has planned for us all in the week to come.

Jason and 2014 Octane Mexicali Mission Team

Friday morning started with picking up our final two vans, some Jamba Juice and wheat grass shots and some driving. We crossed the border and found the building where we needed to get our visas for the week. There was only one guy working at the time, so he was definitely happy to see 31 people walk in… but it went smoothly and we were ready to enter Mexico.

We arrived at camp and were greeted by all of our friends. We set up our tents and got all of our Mexico friends picked up. Yadira arrived with 100 homemade tacos to feed the crew! John Hepper led us in some worship and then we were all ready for bed.

This morning started as all Mexican mornings do, with the roosters at 3am! They are not too smart… everyone was up by 7:30am and ready to eat some breakfast. Today is a day of embracing Mexicali/Flexicali! We are helping set up camp and preparing for the week. This afternoon we will be meeting up with the build team to help build some walls and get that project underway.
I have been happy with how God has provided for us, nothing but smooth sailing so far.

We did receive some sad news from home for one of our leaders and we would ask for your prayers for him as he pushes on through this week. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We love you all and will see you soon.

Jason

p.s. The build team reports in that all is going really well and that God has greatly provided. Our new family has an adorable set of twins and an extremely hard working dad who has worked hard along side the build team after coming home from work all day to provide for his wife and children. They have been blessed already by the generosity of the community, including a free extra day for the cement mixer!

Just wanted to let you all know that everyone is doing well in Mexicali. They have two posts written but are having a difficult time getting the reception to upload them! They are trying as we speak!!

Keep the love coming in the comments!!

In His Grip,

Amy

The team has crossed the border, gotten their tourist visas, and were on their way to camp last I heard!! If I had to venture a guess, I would say they are currently setting up tents and moving them around for the second or third time right now! Just thought I would let you know since I have had a couple questions.

Leave the team some love here in the comments. At least let them know you are reading it or it becomes super easy to stop writing on it because it appears that no one cares if you post!

In His Grip,

Amy

So today was our day of fun in the California sun!  The morning started with some breakfast and then some group, get to know you time.  We found out that the most popular board game is candy land and that majority of the students are happy to be away from school!  After the early excitement we hit the road for the day.

The build team was dropped off and Mike Houghten’s house to do some prep work for the house we will be building in Mexico.

La Jolla was our first pit stop.  We spent some time checking out the seals, rock climbing, sitting in the beach, and exploring the city.  I’m pretty we only had 1 minor injury, which was a cut on the foot and it was to Jeff.  I call that a win!

From La Jolla we went off to Mission Beach for some lunch and shopping!   The highlight of Mission Beach were definitely the seagulls.   It started with Mackenzie O and Allie being terrified of them!  One of the birds swooped down and stole Allie’s sandwich right off of her plate!  Brett, being the gentleman that he is, attempted to defend them by throwing his hackie sack at them.  But the seagulls had the last laugh!  One of the seagulls picked up the hackie sack and flew away with it!  I’m pretty sure that the hackie sack was in a tree, on top of a house, and in the ocean!  This did not stop Brett and Mitchell though.   The chased that seagull down the beach until he realized it wasn’t food and dropped it from the sky.

We then returned to the hotel to change, nap, and hit the pool for a bit.  We had in and out burger for dinner and did some last minute shopping at target. 

It’s 10:00 pm now and we are all beat and ready for bed.  Our 2 thursday flyers are on the way to the hotel so our team is almost complete!   We are all super excited to head to mexico tomorrow and start the real mission we are here to do!  Keep the prayers coming!

Jason

Planes, planes, vans, palm trees, and sleep!

So we have made it to California!  The day started early with our flights from Detroit.   Things that typically cause some stress went off without a hitch today! 

Bag check was maybe the smoothest we have had in years, they let us through the pre check section of security which meant to taking off our shoes or emptying our pockets!

Our first flight, during which a 5 year old told me i was cooler than his mom and dad and he wished i was part of his family, was to Baltimore. There we had time to get some lunch and just have a bit of down.

Next was a quick stop in Austin Texas and then onto LA!  All 48 bags made it there with us and the vans were delivered as promised!  We gathered our late flyers, picked up some pizza, ate, and then hit the road to san diego!  We found Madi sleeping on the couch in the hotel waiting for us to check in!  Hotel check in was a breeze, and most everyone is now fast asleep in preparation for a fun day of exploration tomorrow!

Overall it was a great day.  Everyone was so so helpful, patient, and willing to help!  God is definately watching over us!  Continued prayers for those traveling Thursday and Friday, for us all to have some fun tomorrow and safety on our way to mexico!  Also prayers for continued financial support as we are still a bit short.  Thank you all!

Jason

Tents have been packed, craft supplies have been gathered, house plans have been drawn up,  and donations have poured in.  We are all ready to embark on our adventure to Mexicali again this year.

So yesterday was our final planning meeting and things are coming together!  We have three teams this year who are all excited and ready to reach out to those in Mexicali!

Our first team, Super Cuernavacians,  is a veteran student led team that will be doing service projects in the morning and then traveling to the park site in the afternoon.  For most of the students this will be their first time at the park, which is one of the neediest and best sites we have ever had so we are excited for them to be able to show them the love that this area so desperately needs!  Keep them in your prayers!

Our second team, Heppa’s Peppa’s, is a team led by great student leaders that will be going to a disability clinic for part of the day and to an orphanage for the rest of the day!  The students are accompanied by Mentors that are both physical therapists, which is fantastic considering they will be going to the disability clinic!  This team is so amazing!  From the beginning it hasn’t been a question of what one site they wanted but rather if they had enough time to go to 3!  I am excited to experience both sites with this team and just see the work God has in store for them!  Be sure to be praying for this team!

Thirdly is our build team!  This year we have a large and amazing build team!  There are many new faces but all are definitely placed here for a reason!  Dale, once again, has taken his crew and run with it.  They have had the plans ready for months now and they are definitely ready to get there and impact the lives of a deserving family in need.  Oh wait, I forgot to mention that just this past Friday they were called and told that everything changed!  They are going to be building for a new family and in a new location!  5 days before we leave?!?  REALLY!?!  But no worries they are fantastic and took the news right in stride!  They are ready!  Keep this team in your prayers for sure!

All in all it has been a great 3 months of preparation.  From a new leadership team to the many hiccups we have had along the way, we have known and trusted that God is in control!  We love you all and thank you for all the support you have given to us and especially our students!  Without all of our extended families this trip would not be possible!  Pray for safe travel and that God will not only open the hearts of the Mexican community that we are ministering to but also the hearts of our students and leaders that are on this trip!

THANK YOU!

Jason