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From December to June, I'll be in Cacalchen, Mexico (on the Yucatan peninsula) with kids, elementary to high, round-the-clock! From morning devotion at 6AM, to eating breakfast/lunch/dinner together, to hanging out after school. At Nathaniel Academy, I'll teach, tutor, mentor, and befriend 150+ kids who take classes in music, computer skills, theater, English, and math. But wait! There's more!
The culture in Cacalchen is such that parents press largely towards urging their kids to quit school so they can work to help support their family. For others, it's a pointless game. On top of family pressures and hopelessness, factors such as gang activity and teenage pregnancy make it more difficult. I'll be there to shed light on their dark circumstances and give hope during difficult situations. To tell them someone cares. To show them they are loved. It's simple but magical all at once. It's the little things that moves a heart and changes a person. Which also means getting to know where they come from.
'Ohana' means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten, right? Alongside getting to know the kids, I'll be an integral part of the families who raise them through various roles which include but are not limited to teaching, maintenance, construction, cleaning, cooking, administration, medicine, and music. I can't wait! My top 2 that I’m most eager about is construction-- it’s something I’ve been really really wanting to do, and now, I finally get to build houses for families who lose their homes in natural disasters or tragic fires-- and cooking-- if there’s anything I do best, its cutting ingredients like a boss. Though, it doesn't stop here.
My mission expands beyond the borders of Cacalchen to San Antonio Sodzil (SAS). SAS is a smaller, poorer village where a stronger indigenous people dwell. Cool fact: they speak Mayan in addition to Spanish. IN SAS, the albergue, a government-sponsored center houses underprivileged children where I will spend 24 hrs a day, once or twice a week, every week. In a place where brokenness is guarded by a callous that can be sanded, smoothed, and opened. In a place where brokenness is prevalent but God prevails. Mm, preach!
I am super super thrilled for my 1st mission trip and I hope you can share this excitement with me through:
1. Prayer. That although the littlest things (i.e. particular taste of food, cultural differences, stomach bugs, mosquitoes, ticking clocks) sway me or distract my vision for God's mission, I would become strongly rooted as I fight them off. That despite all things I learned or grew up with, I would abandon my thoughts and desires for God to move in me. That my strong dislike for unsanitary conditions would be replaced with humility. Pray for the children and families. Pray for the town of Cacalchen and San Antonio Sodzil. That chains would be broken. People would be healed. Hope would be found. Relationships would be built.And above all else, that I would seek God like I have never before. I need Him. I desperately need Him.
2. Donations
I'm so thankful for every prayer and donation in advance and for you, the person behind it. It reveals your love for Christ and your thankfulness to Him. Your support directly affects the lives of the children I serve. It is by your prayers and support, God's love and kindness are expressed through my living body. So, thank you. Gracias mis amigos y adios (broken down: a- to & Dios- God). Toda la gloria a Dios! All glory to God!
The culture in Cacalchen is such that parents press largely towards urging their kids to quit school so they can work to help support their family. For others, it's a pointless game. On top of family pressures and hopelessness, factors such as gang activity and teenage pregnancy make it more difficult. I'll be there to shed light on their dark circumstances and give hope during difficult situations. To tell them someone cares. To show them they are loved. It's simple but magical all at once. It's the little things that moves a heart and changes a person. Which also means getting to know where they come from.
'Ohana' means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten, right? Alongside getting to know the kids, I'll be an integral part of the families who raise them through various roles which include but are not limited to teaching, maintenance, construction, cleaning, cooking, administration, medicine, and music. I can't wait! My top 2 that I’m most eager about is construction-- it’s something I’ve been really really wanting to do, and now, I finally get to build houses for families who lose their homes in natural disasters or tragic fires-- and cooking-- if there’s anything I do best, its cutting ingredients like a boss. Though, it doesn't stop here.
My mission expands beyond the borders of Cacalchen to San Antonio Sodzil (SAS). SAS is a smaller, poorer village where a stronger indigenous people dwell. Cool fact: they speak Mayan in addition to Spanish. IN SAS, the albergue, a government-sponsored center houses underprivileged children where I will spend 24 hrs a day, once or twice a week, every week. In a place where brokenness is guarded by a callous that can be sanded, smoothed, and opened. In a place where brokenness is prevalent but God prevails. Mm, preach!
I am super super thrilled for my 1st mission trip and I hope you can share this excitement with me through:
1. Prayer. That although the littlest things (i.e. particular taste of food, cultural differences, stomach bugs, mosquitoes, ticking clocks) sway me or distract my vision for God's mission, I would become strongly rooted as I fight them off. That despite all things I learned or grew up with, I would abandon my thoughts and desires for God to move in me. That my strong dislike for unsanitary conditions would be replaced with humility. Pray for the children and families. Pray for the town of Cacalchen and San Antonio Sodzil. That chains would be broken. People would be healed. Hope would be found. Relationships would be built.And above all else, that I would seek God like I have never before. I need Him. I desperately need Him.
2. Donations
I'm so thankful for every prayer and donation in advance and for you, the person behind it. It reveals your love for Christ and your thankfulness to Him. Your support directly affects the lives of the children I serve. It is by your prayers and support, God's love and kindness are expressed through my living body. So, thank you. Gracias mis amigos y adios (broken down: a- to & Dios- God). Toda la gloria a Dios! All glory to God!