Friday photo's

MEXIC08-FRIDAY!

Today, we spent the morning cleaning up the Back2Back base and packed all of our stuff out and then had some time to hang out before we headed to El Pollo Loco for some delicious lunch!

From there we headed to Grutas de Garcia caves. We took a Cable Car up the side of a mountain and entered a breathtaking cave that we spent the next hour or so walking through and standing in awe of God's creation! At the end of our time at the caves it was time to say goodbye to our dear friends Matt and Julie Cooper. They are having a MONUMENTAL long term impact in Monterrey and they are a huge part of our experience down here in Mexico!

We made it to the hotel safe and sound, ate a great dinner at Los Alitas next door and then spent some time as a team processing what God has done IN us. All week long we have been talking about what God has been doing THROUGH us but tonight's focus was what God is doing IN us. It was a helpful time that DC led us through! And we ended up all jumping in the pool with our clothes on! A bit of a Mexico friday night tradition...

Tomorrow it's up bright and early in the morning to get to the airport and start the trek home! We'll see everyone soon!

-Johnny

Mexico Day 6 (Thursday)

hursday was an amazing day. We went back out to the Cadereyta today to grab some kids who just graduated kindergarten, six, and ninth grade. We loaded them and their moms on two buses and headed to a HUGE public pool to hang out, grill out, and give the students brand new back packs filled with all new school supplies for the upcoming year. Back2Back is really trying to encourage education and staying in school and this is one of the ways they do it. So we played hard all morning, most of the playing occured in the kiddy pool which was around 95 degree's and the water was rather not clear (you can do the math on that one). But the big pool was great, and our kids served like champs, loving on those kids all day. We then served all of them steak taco's and the local pastors and missionaries commented that it's probably been forever since any of the people in that community had steak. Seemed just like a typical afternoon in the park for us which put it in great perspective for our kids. So after that we put the kids and their mom's back on a bus and sent them on their way with lots of tears and waving goodbye, and we headed back to campus via a gas station for our kid's to fill up on sugary goodness. They've all had a great week, and it came out in our debrief time tonight. Tomorrow were cleaning up on campus in the morning then we head out for a El Pollo Loco Lunch followed by an afternoon cave expedition. We'll be staying in a hotel tomorrow night so this is our last night on campus. We'll see if I can get pictures up tomorrow night. See you all on saturday.

Love
-Jeff

Mexico Day Five (Wednesday)

Today we took the kids from Manatial de Amor out to a national park for a good old hang out day. Some of the kids went in the pool that the park hide, while another half of the group (mostly older kids) went on a 'hike' which was mis-advertised. It was essentially the closest you could get to rock climbing without needing a rope, and at times, DC and I did kind of want a rope. I was on the mountain almost all day so I have no pool shots, but I do have a bunch from the mountain. One of the local girls ended up needing a lot of extra breaks while climbing so DC and I stuck with here which was just fine with us. It gave us a lot of extra time to take pictures. Tomorrow is our last day doing a work project so be praying for the endurance of our kids. Let's finish strong and give it everything we got tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers and encouraging words. It has really been uplifting for our students during debriefs every night.

Love
-Jeff

MEXIC08-WEDNESDAY!

Wednesday was yet again another GREAT DAY here in Monterrey! After a quick midweek cleanup of our dorms we loaded up the bus to go pick up the kids from Manantial De Amor. All the boys, girls and little ones joined us on 3 full busses and we traveled to a canyon park in Monterrey that is literally surrounded by mountains on all sides, it was absolutely gorgeous!

We ALL partnered up with kids and had lunch then part of the group decided to go on a hike/mountain climb that was a hardcore climb up the side of one of the mountains while the other group either played games and colored or went swimming in a pool that they have there at the park.

The hiking team was gone for a couple hours climbing up a trail and exploring a small cave and avoiding as many cactus' as they could! The swim team pretty much spent the entire 2-3 hours in the pool swimming, tossing, splashing and dunking kids! Everybody had a GREAT time with their little buddies! We ended our time at the park with some tamales for dinner and then it was time to load up the busses and say goodbye to our new friends! We had spent the last 3 days with all these kids and the relationships that formed during that time were truly remarkable! The team kept their composure together to send the kids off with smiles and laughter, but there were quite a few tears once our bus had departed.

Tonight at debrief the team had an amazing time of sharing stories of the day's activities and the way that they interacted with their buddy. There were many stories, but in the end the team was confident that God has a plan for each and every one of those kids lives and that our time here was part of that plan. And even though it is sad that we have to part ways with our buddies, we know that they are going to be continually loved by Back 2 Back and the wonderful men and women that run Manantial de Amor and who knows, we may see them again next year!

We hit it hard one more day (Thursday) with an outreach to the Cadereyta and some play time with the kids there that we met on Sunday! Thanks for your continued love and prayers!

-Johnny

More Pics from Tuesday...

Here's some pics I snapped yesterday when i wasn't working. Most of them are from the group I was working with.

Mexico Day Four (Tuesday)

Great day today. We got up and worked around campus for a few hours, then after lunch the kids from Manantial De Amor came over for a pool party that included some donkey burgers for dinner. The kids left after dinner and the boys of the teams took on the staff boys in a little game of basketball which we, of course, one. Now we're just hanging out, John and I are playing euchre and every one else is playing kick the can. Good things. See you all tomorrow.