Dayspring Outreach Summer Groups

   Well our trip ended today with the ECC group getting on the plane to head home.  Yesterday we had a very uneventful trip to the border, traveling about 10.5 hours before arriving at the ministry guesthouse.  After a great dinner and a debrief, the group rested and prepared for their departure today.  We should have pictures posted here in the next few days.  Please come back and look for them.  We had such a great trip and like all the other summer trip, we saw many lives touched.  As always, the lives most clearly touched are the group members.  As the teams leave their comfort zones and launch out into ministry, they realize that God is waiting to use them and the gifts that He has given them.  We at Dayspring pray that they will take that fire for ministry home to their home churches and let it make a difference on their mission fields as they certainly made a difference in Mexico.

As for all the Dayspring staff, we have a few more days ahead.  We all return to Dr Arroyo for our National Pastors Conference and then meetings with all the Dayspring missionaries.  Our last few summer staff members arrived at the border this evening by bus and they will head home in a day.  Our long term missionaries will return to their areas of ministry and I head back to the States with Carolyn to begin fund raising for the orphanage project.  for everyone that came this summer and all of you that have read this blog, thank you for being a part of Dayspring Outreach.  Please remember us in your prayers and we ask you to prayerfully consider supporting Dayspring on a regular basis.  It is through your partnership that we can continue to touch lives for Christ.  If you are interested in becoming a partner with Dayspring or sending a special gift you can find our mailing address, give by credit card, or arrange for a monthly gift directly from your checking account by going to our main website at: http://dayspring.us.  Thanks again. 

Roger and Carolyn

July 31, 2009  Cindy Chen

Wow, this is our last day at Dr. Arroyo. Dayspring staff really is a blessing to our team. We are comfortable and eat well here. At the beginning, we were up in the morning and had events until night, in the first two days. I felt we had done lots things in a day, but at Seattle the day went by so quickly but not much done ( I blame the computer/internet/TV). Now it is our last day, and we have one more VBS to go. We still need your prayer for rest of the day and the trip going home safety.

We have run several VBS, and we are able to reach out about 250+ kids. I hope the children will remember that God loves them, and they have hope in God. We had two evening services with local villagers, and Solomon and Dan had good messages that also spoke to me.

Now, we just came back from our last village visit. That village has not rain for months, and the children haven’t had baths for 2 months. The whole place is very dry, and the wind brings a lots dust. Please pray for God to send rain to several areas that need rain. Also, Elton is having stomach ache (virus…)  and Amilia’s toe infection is not better. We are thinking to take her to ER after we get back to Texas tomorrow. We do need your prayer for the safety and God’s protection for whole team.

Gabriel Wang

The last day of Dr. Arroyo! D: This shocking realization seemed to hit everyone today, especially the Mexico 5 who have been here for almost a month… I hope that our stay here has touched the lives of many Mexican people, especially the children who we ministered to through VBS. Our day started out great with group devotion, where both Alan Liu and Victor Hsiao shared their testimonies. Team A left to run VBS at a village, while Team B stayed at Dr. Arroyo to run VBS at the church in our compound. The turn-out was great and we managed to reach out to about 80 kids!

After lunch we headed out to our final village, Pompeya. It was extremely dusty and hot, and the dust and heat were all in our face the moment we stepped out of the vans. Our VBS there was extremely successful and we gave out both toys and the green VBS shirts from the recent VBS that ECC & EKC have held.

And now for the inevitable paragraph about prayer! Please pray that the VBS, Women’s Ministry, and evening services we have held will have touched the hearts of those that attended, and that they will take in what we have said and taught. Please also pray for Elton’s health and for Amelia’s toe infection, that she will have peace during her surgery. And of course, safety and patience for the 10 hour van ride back to McAllen tomorrow… Finally, we thank you for your prayers for Sarah, as she seems to be recovering from the Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease she caught and was able to participate in almost all of the group activities.

I can’t believe Mexico Missions is pretty much over tomorrow! It seems like we just got here and now we’re about to leave… We hope that you will decide to go on a short-term missions, as it is definitely a life experience, a bonding experience, and a great chance to experience God and his grace and love! Thank you for all your support this whole time!

July 30, 2009

   Amelia Liu 7/28/09
Today after breakfast we did construction work. It was pretty tiring; we all worked together mixing up concrete and carrying it up the stairs to the roof.  Then they poured the concrete on the roof of the kitchen/dining room. Everyone worked extremely hard, got really dirty, and got a lot of blisters and cuts. Most of the adult women went to repaint the bathroom. Everyone had a job to do, even the very young children helped carry water to mix the concrete. After that we went into another village called Palma Gorda. We sang songs with the little kids and handed out toys and stuffed animals. All the children were so grateful and happy with the small gifts we gave them. It made me realize how much we have and how much more grateful I should be. We ate dinner and then we listened to a guy named Mike’s testimony. It was very intense and shocking listening to everything he’s been through and how much the Lord has changed him and used him for his glory. Please continue praying for Sarah Chu, it’s getting difficult for her to eat.

   Sarah Chu   7/28/09

Today we ate breakfast.  There were soft noodles, so I was glad that I could eat it!  After that, we did construction. Sweaty and tired, we all mixed concrete and passed the buckets up the stairs, to the roof. Tyler and Victor poured the concrete on the roof. I was surprised how everyone was working so willingly and hard. No one even cared about how dirty they got! Even all the moms and children were working hard painting and passing water buckets. My blisters from my virus started hurting a lot, so I stopped working and took a break. Then it was time to eat lunch. It was getting really hard to eat, so I had soft fruit and ham for lunch. Saraphina, Kirsten, Apphia and I got really bored, so we tried to catch flies. It was really difficult, but it took up the time. After a little while Apphia caught a fly, and everyone was happy. Then Kyle and Aaron came along and caught flies with us. Kyle caught a fly with his hands, injuring the fly’s leg, and it couldn’t move. We wanted Kyle to eat the fly, so he agreed and ate it…..with salt!!!!!!!!!!  Anyway, back to important stuff… we went to a village. It started to pour down rain and thunder and lightning came along with it. So, we went to the village that Team A went to. We sang songs, did crafts, and preformed skits. It was really fun just playing with the kids, and also sharing my limited knowledge of Spanish with them. After that, we came back to the compound and ate dinner. That’s where the difficulty started. I couldn’t eat, but I was starving…I didn’t know what to do, I was miserable. But I just knew I had to bear with it. We then listened to Mike’s testimony; it was really surprising and touching, realizing how powerful the mighty God can be. While we were listening, Mark stole my sister, Emily, and me to town to buy some yogurt and soup for me. (It felt SO good in my mouth!!) We came back to the compound, and something was different…it was so quiet! I then realized that everyone went downtown to get some ice cream! I have some prayer requests. Please pray for Amelia’s skin infection, and also for my hand, mouth, and feet virus. We would appreciate it deeply…Thank you!!

   Julie Liu  -  July 30, 2009, Thursday
Dear ECC family and friends,
Greetings from Dr. Arroyo!
This is Julie blogging tonight.  Right now is Thursday night.  It’s been a light day for our team.  We went to visit a town called Real de Catorce today.  It’s a beautiful, historical town that has become a favorite for tourists, local and foreign.  I was told that it is named after the Sierra de Catorce mountains in that area.  The cobble stone streets and ancient buildings were beautiful.  To get to the town, we had to take a two hour long, hair raising drive along windy, unpaved mountain roads.  At one point, I realized that I dearly missed our American guard rails.
 We finally arrived at what looked like a base of a mountain with a tunnel opening to it.  A line of cars were waiting.  We waited until it was out turn for our caravan of 5 vans and 1 truck to pass through the one lane 1-1/2 mile tunnel.  It seemed as if we were driving through a mysterious ancient windy path.  I guess it could have seemed “spooky” but it was too interesting. 
Upon returning from Real de Catorse, we had locals waiting for us to start the evening service here on the Dayspring campus.  There is usually a weekly Thursday evening service run by  “Pastor E” that starts at 6 pm, but tonight they had pushed it back to 7 pm so that we could have time to travel.  The service was very worshipful .  One Dayspring staffer gave her moving testimony of how God has worked in her life.  She has been through extremely difficult circumstances and abuse in her young life and yet she encouraged people to stand firm in faith in God.  During the service, Elder Danny gave a message based on the account of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil.  Pastor E followed with a call to anyone who needed prayer to come forward.  One woman did and many in the congregation, including members of our ECC team, went forward to surround her and cover her in prayer.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was a wonderful day. The morning was spent working here on the Dayspring campus.  Then , after lunch, the two teams set off for two separate villages to hold VBS.  Due to the rain, Team B ended up joining Team A at the village called  “La Palma Gorda”.    It is about a 1-1/2 hour drive there along some noisy, bumpy, dusty, did I mention bumpy? roads.  Tavo, the young youth pastor here on Dayspring staff, goes to hold a church service once a week on Wednesdays in this village.  He says usually about 50 children and 40-some women attend on a weekly basis.
La Palma Gorda has a large population of children.  I think because of Tavo’s presence, the children are somewhat familiar to seeing the Dayswpring caravan pull in.  About 150 children live in La Palma Gorda.   It was pouring rain and cold when we arrived.  I, as a mother, was kicking myself for not knowing enough to bring a coat for each of our girls.  It was like being in Seattle in early fall during a rain storm.  Lighting, some thunder, wind…. all of that good stuff.
Praise God!  Despite the rain, when Tavo went to ask permission to use the covered cement area, he also used the town’s “intercom” to announce that we would be holding VBS today.  The people came!  We were ready for as many as 150 children, but due to the storm, we guessed we would only have a handful come.  But, it was much more than that.  At least 75 children attended the VBS.  There were more standing around the fringes here and there.  What was surprising to the Staffers was the number of women who attended.  When Team A and Team B combined, we had a total of 60 Women Gifts that we could pass out.  During the Women’s service, we passed out all but 4 of them.  That was quite a turn out.   I felt really happy to hear that.  Lalo, a Dayspring staff member, is a native Mexican.  He is surprisingly young to me as he is very mature and extremely devoted to God.  Lalo is only 20 years old but he is answering God’s call to serve Him.  Isn’t that wonderful?
Anyway, Lalo delivered the message to the women while the children were outside doing VBS.  During the prayer time, some women were moved to tears.  I don’t know all that they were going through, however, I praise God that He used Lalo to speak to their spirits.
I think today’s VBS was very special for our ECC team as it is the first and possibly the only time that we were able to minister together (Team A+B).    For me, this was especially fun because this meant that our Young Drama Team (the age 10 and under) got the opportunity to do our skit as a whole team.  The little kids did a GREAT JOB!!!!!  I was so excited for them.  Then, the Youth Drama team performed their skit on the Prodigal Son.  Of course, it was an Oscar worthy performance by all.  Way to go, ECC!!
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and continued prayers. Tomorrow will be a busy day for us, but we are ready and excited to do what God has sent us here to do.  Thanks so much!  On behalf of Pastor Solomon, the girls and I, we are all looking forward to seeing all of you- -our ECC family – next week.  Please continue to keep our team in your prayers.

 
   Frank & Amy Chu 07/30/2009
It rained both yesterday and today! God answers the prayer from his children and sends rain to the deserted land.
After three intense but joyful days, we had a day off today. Roger brought all of us and his staff to Real de  Catorce  which is three hours away, a famous tourist spot. The road is bumpy but nobody complains.  We have great fellowship on the car and  know each other better.  Most of us have some duties  at church and we hardly have chance to sit down and have deep fellowship. Real de Catorce is surrounded by mountains and the only way to outside is through a 2 mile long one lane tunnel.  We arrived around noon.   Five brothers drove five buses to bring  all of us to Real de Catorce. It’s amazing that the talent and  energy God has given to these brothers. They play music instruments at worship, some even do language translating during worship. Some of them even fix car problem.  We know  their ability and energy come from our God!     
We had our lunch at a restaurant of a hotel  called  “Mission.”  The setting is antique and dignity.  Everyone orders chicken burrito and it’s delicious. We took lot of shots and will bring them back to you.
Some kids bought Mexican specific fabric clothes and it looks very cool! I can see the joy from everyone’s face. The short term mission helps us to experience God and exercise our faith.   
At evening, we had a worship service including all of us and some Mexican from the neighborhood.
The worship is simple and straight forward. Sign for joy to the Lord, prayer, and message. We also prayed together for a special need woman. I saw her with tear but was comforted.
Please continue pray for us so we can fulfill God’s command that is “Let your light shine before men so they see your good deeds and give praise to your father in Heaven.”

   Hello all. This is Tyler here.  Praise God for another successful day here in Mexico.  We all started off by waking up an hour earlier than usual because we had to set off to a village that was about a one and a half hour drive away.  Right after breakfast, we immediately did devotions and worship, then we set-off to go to Real de Catorce, which in English, translates to “Real of 14.” I don’t really have any explanations as to why it is named that way.  I was full of energy and the rockiness of the ride excited me.  As we were nearing the town, the roads became more and more bumpy.  We eventually were driving along the side of a big, rocky mountain.  As we peered out the window, the majestic views of the mountains and the blue sky show how God is such an amazing God.  I really enjoyed the scenery along the ride there.

After a bumpy hour and a half, we arrived at the village at around 12:00.  The village was very historic-looking; brick houses would be located everywhere and cathedrals were a big influence in the town.  The whole town was literally like a street market.  They sold everything; from bracelets to ponchos to caramel candies. We shopped until about 1:45, where we ate and finished a delicious fajita lunch and went to go some more shopping.  Some families visited a Catholic cathedral, and it was a very big building.  Paintings filled the ceilings, and glass cases would encase important figures such as Virgin Mary and a replica of Jesus when he was persecuted. Even coffins were used as the church floor! It spooked all the little kids.  Enoch and I had an amusing experience as we left the Catholic cathedral.  An elderly Mexican lady came up to us and started talking to us in rapid Spanish.  I replied “Hablamos español solo un poco” which means, “We speak Spanish only a little bit.” So she kept on saying one-word phrases, but I still could not under stand.  I could only pick up “De dónde” which meant “from where.” So I guessed she was trying to find out where we were from. Finally, she said “China” (pronounced cheena), and Enoch and I said “Sí, Sí, China!” And the old lady also repeated “Sí, China,” as she placed her finger next to her eye and stretched her eye to look Asian!  It was hilarious for both of us.

 After about 3-4 hours of “shopping” (talk about “shop ‘till you drop”), we left the village and headed back home for service.  We arrived around 6:50, and started worshipping around 7:15.  This was the most memorable experience I have had out of the whole day.  Juanita, a Dayspring Staff shared her testimony and it was very touching. She talked about her horrific trials in life and how she still longed to seek God more and more.  About everyone was in tears, including my self because it was so stirring.  It encouraged me to strive for an even stronger relationship with God.  The rest of the service was all Holy Sprit.  Uncle Danny Wu preached a very strong, motivating sermon, and the worship was so moving and amazing.  I could feel the Holy Spirit comforting us as we sang songs and helped Pastor E. pray for people. “Tengo Hambre De Ti” was one of the songs we sang during service.  It means “I Am Hungry For You.”  During that service, I took in the meaning of the title and the words of the song, and I could really feel God’s hand comforting me, because I was so hungry for God, wanting to feal his hand lift any burdens I have. We ended around 9:20, realizing that we haven’t eaten since 12! I became very hungry, and so soon afterwards we had dinner. I am content with what has happened, from shopping to serving and worshipping God.  Tomorrow is our last full day at Dr. Arroyo and I am hoping that it will be a wonderful experience for the kids that we are teaching to tomorrow, as well as all the Dayspring members.  Time has flown so fast, it seems like we only arrived Dr. Arroyo two days ago!  Anyways, thank you for supporting us in your prayers.  May I ask that you please pray for Amelia Liu, sister of Alan Liu and daughter of Sean and Tran Liu.  She has a minor skin infection near her big toe, and as a result, has to remove her big toe nail.  Please pray that the God’s grace will give her a smooth process.  She is doing fine right now.  Again, please keep us in you prayers.  Until now, Hasta Luego! (See you later!).

Hola, Buenos Dias!

This is Faye blogging and it is Wednesday morning.  At this moment, our team of 44 is divided to kids filling their small bucket with water from the hand water pump and hauling several hundred feet where the cement is to be mixed. The women are painting the bathrooms and the youth and men are working with cement.  While everyone is working hard to improve our living quarters, I’m comfortably typing.   

Here is a quick run down of our events yesterday, ready?  8am personal devotion (while Dayspring staff is having their group devotion),  9am breakfast (scrambled egg, beans, pasta), 10am worship in songs , devotional and testimonies, 11am visitation outreach, 1pm lunch (cold sandwiches , 2-3pm prepare for outreach ministry at two villages (package 100 women’s gift, prepare for VBS, and skit),        3-4:30 pm a hot , bumpy ride to the village, 4:30-6pm village outreach ministry , 7pm arrive at La Laja village to join team B. Dinner on site (cooked by local Mexican pastor’s wife and relatives). 9:30pm-11pm Worship service , 12:30AM arrive back to Dayspring quarters. We were all so tired and so dusty. There was a long line waiting on the 8 individual bathroom/shower stalls. By now, we all know the crisis with the drought (have not rain since last September), everyone takes quick showers.  My personal highlight in this long day was working together with the other 4 families in our team A(Chan, Wu,Liu,Ma,Hsiao)  at El Aquilar where we ran a VBS craft, the Prodigal  Son skit and facilitated a women’s sharing time.  Kit was cute playing patty-cake with the little Mexican girls, Abel presenting a a gift from us to pastor Saturnino , the kids playing piñata and pastor’s wife Camerina prepared us gorditas (small round tortilla stuffed with eggs or cactus or beans). Julie Liu prayed for Mexican women , for health, wisdom, strength and rain.    

    
Thank you prayer partners for supporting us from the beginning of our trip. Please pray for Dayspring Long Term Mexican Missionaries who are with us (Roger, Carol, Lalo, Tavo, Laurita, Chely). They serve  here and some to the unreached Indian tribes who speak Mezateco language on the island.

Please pray for the long term American Missionaries who are with us -  Joel & Ruth , Andrew & Juanita, Dennis & Elda, Steve & Emily, Tom & Laura, Josh & Cathy.
 
Please pray for the summer staff (Mexico 5, Mike, Lucio, Honaria) and several students that just completed Dayspring’s 7 months missionary training.

Please pray for protection in health for all, obedience to God’s leading,  humility, rain, and funding for Dayspring. 

It is a blessing to see our ECC families serving together and learning from the other missionaries here.  Thank you for sending us and keeping us in your prayers!

Faye 

 Apphia Liu
  Today is day 5.  We’re working this morning and this afternoon we will be holding VBS at 2 different villages.  And tonight we will be holding evening service at one of the villages.

  Let me tell you about yesterday. Yesterday we got up early and didn’t come home until almost midnight.  Right after breakfast, we had gone out into the city of Dr. Arroyo and did door to door street evangelism.  We drove to a street and parked our van and got out.  We went door to door and knocked. We told people who we are and we told them that we are Evangelical Christians and we talked to them about God.  We prayed for them at every house.
 
  I was very hot but I thought that it was nice for them to get to know a little bit about God. My sisters and I gave bazooka bubble gum to the small children we saw.  I think they liked it.

  After we ate a quick lunch we left for the villages.  I am on team A. At our village, “Aguilar”, we held VBS, a woman’s meeting and played soccer with the boys. In VBS, we made a craft there. Uncle James taught that we all sin and once we accept Christ Jesus we can be with God.  The youth did a skit on the prodigal son.  It was very funny.  I was one of the pigs.  We made a cross with black paper. When you scratch off the black there are bright colors underneath.  I think they liked it. They wrote “Jesus loves me” in Spanish.  Then we hit a piñata and we got candy. As they left we gave each one of them a stuffed animal.

  Then we left for the village where team B was at.  The village is called La Laja.  We ate dinner there and played with some cute animals.  Some kids played soccer.  Soon it was time for the service. We sang some songs and then several people shared their testimony. We performed a song and then Daddy delivered the message. At the end of service we gave stuffed animals to the kids, men, and woman. The people liked it. :) I liked seeing the smile on their faces. It was about midnight when we got home. I was asleep.

  Vania is doing great right now. Sometimes she limps a little but overall she is doing great. Thank you for praying for us.  Please pray that the kids can learn more about God even though we can’t speak their language.  Thanks for your prayers!

Saraphina Wang

We’ve been having fun in Mexico. On Tuesday morning, our team divided into four groups, and we went around Dr.Arroyo evangelizing door to door. I was with my family and the Chu family. We walked on the sandy road. It was hot. We visited three houses. One of the houses was the old campus for the Dayspring staff. After we were done evangelizing, we split into two groups. Group A and Group B the two groups went to two different villages. We had a VBS at the villages. I had fun singing songs, making crafts, and being in a skit. (it was the Prodigal’s Son) They also had a women’s service. After the VBS was done I played soccer with the Mexican Boys. It was Dayspring vs. Mexicans. It was very competitive. The  other team had some really good players. We lost. We ate dinner at the pastor’s house. The food was delicious. After, some of the kids went and petted the little goats, they were soft and cute. We played another game, this time Group A was on our team. We played soccer until the service was beginning. The service probably started at 9:30. I listened to the sermon preached by Pastor Solomon. After the service, we gave the little kids stuffed animals. When we were done cleaning the church we went back home.

   Well this is Roger from Dayspring starting out the blog this morning.  I only have one entry from Isaac Chan and Aaron Wu and they are sharing about yesterday.  We had several others that were going to blog today, but it was such a busy morning they either did not get to me or they typed up their entries on another computer and did not get it to me.  They have all headed out to the villages now and will not be back until late tonight.  I though I would fill you in on today’s news and if I can get some additional blogs from the members later I will add them to this days entry.

Yesterday was a great day of ministry and work for the team.  My part was to run the work team.  Our job was to get the electrical wiring in and the reinforcing steel on the forms for the concrete roof that we will pour on Wednesday.  I was expecting two days of work but your team finished it in one afternoon.  We also did the rough-in plumbing for five additional bathrooms in the staff quarters and for the upstairs dorm rooms.  We finished that this morning and our native workers are already pouring the cement for those rooms.  The rest of the teams went to two villages to minister to the kids.

Today, after a breakfast of quesadillas and a watery oatmeal with fruit called atole, we had a time of praise and worship and a devotion from Elton Lee.  Then the team headed out on the streets of Dr Arroyo with the Dayspring staff to do some door to door evangelism.  When they returned we had a quick lunch of fruit and sandwiches and the team loaded back into the ministry vans for the one hour ride to the villages they visited yesterday.  They will do VBS services and a ladies meeting there.  We will eat supper together (I will head out after posting this blog entry) in one of those villages called La Laja and then do an evening service with Pastor Solomon preaching.  The village of La Laja is the village that all four of the past ECC mission teams have ministered in.  All of the church members ask me when your group will return.  They remember each team and ask about different members all the time.   You and your church are prayed for all the time by the church there, so your family in La Laja was very happy when your team arrived yesterday.

We will return to Dr Arroyo and some much needed sleep around 11:00 this evening.  If there are any additional blog entries I will post them then.  You can check for those late tonight or tomorrow morning.  We will be pouring cement tomorrow and also sending the team out to two different villages.  Please pray for strength and energy for all the team.  Tomorrow will be a very busy day.  Normally on Wednesday we try to post a short video of just some unedited footage of the teams in action.  If we can get that put together we will get that up tomorrow as well.  In the mean time, thanks for sending some of your very best to work with us on the field and thank you for all the gifts and goodies that you sent with them. 

   Isaac Chan/ Aaron Wu                                    7/27/09

Hey there readers! This is a blog of our third day of our Mexico Missions trip. We started the day off with a nice freezing cold shower (they ran out of hot water).  Isaac ended up screaming when he got in. After cleaning up a bit, we ate a savory breakfast of eggs, ham, beans, and things that looked like noodles. We then had a time for worship and devotion. After learning many Spanish songs, Elder Dan Wu gave a message that included three main points: 1. Through all the physical and cultural diversity, we are all equal in Gods eyes 2. We are here to bear witness, not just to spread the gospel to the locals, but to show how God has changed all of us 3. Respect all cultural diversities even though we may not be used to it, or we may not even like it very much, we still must respect it. We then went to the weekly farmers market not too far away. Everybody split up and then went our own ways. The Dayspring crew went and bought all kinds of fruits for the night and the youth went and got ice cream (obviously). When we (Isaac and Aaron) went split off from the main group (don’t tell our moms!). Just like the kids we are, we got lost in the countless stands of food, clothing, and unique knick-knacks.  In the end, we got our delicious ice cream! When we had to return back to the compound, we met up together and we walked or rode in the cars back. Lunch involved sandwiches and exotic fruit such as the cacti fruit (sort of like a kiwi). Going back to our church, the elementary kids and a few middle school students sang Spanish worship songs and practiced bible story skits. After an hour or two, we were off on our way to the two local villages a few miles away. The road to the first village was the bumpiest ride we’ve ever had! A Dayspring worker called it “The road to hell”. With our very helpful translators to assist us, we invited many families to their local church for VBS. Along the way, giant pigs, goats, donkeys, and dogs surrounded us. (What a surprise!)  In the first village, 6 or 7 families showed up and were very excited to sing songs and make crafts. The language barrier between us “Seattleites” and the local kids did not stop us from singing, helping, and playing with them.  The kids loved the songs and the crafts and we almost ran out of supplies! The enthusiasm that they gave us made us feel joyful and appreciated. Seeing all of their happy faces, I back was very sad to go to the compound (We get to see them on Tuesday!).

Amelia Liu

Today in the morning, after eating some really spicy salsa for breakfast, we had worship service. We sang a lot of songs in both english and spanish, and then we went to the farmers market. There was everything there from used tools to true religions. We went into Christian book store that one of the staff owns and then went to a delicious ice cream shop. The ice cream and drinks were a lot different than anything in the U.S. it was pretty hard to communicate with the store owners as most of us don’t speak spanish and most people here don’t understand when we say “bathroom”. We left the market and the younger kids rode back to the campus while the youth walked back. Now we’re getting ready to serve the Lord by going into two different villages with the drama team while a lot of the men/boys are getting ready for construction work.

Alan Liu and Gabriel Wang

Sleep! It was so nice getting to wake up to rooster crows and donkey cries. After the market and some great lunch, the high school boys (also known as the Manly Men) went straight to construction work at the compound. The Dayspring team had built an add-on to the dining hall, but the roof consisted of no more than some wooden planks. We spent many hours putting in PVC pipes and electricity wires, cutting rebar and tying it together. Halfway through, a small thunderstorm came and it rained a little, but our manly persistence got the job finished! (After all, we’re Asian… we are America’s future engineers, doctors, lawyers, and CEO’s J) After the job everyone on the team was dirty and we quickly cleaned ourselves up, but not after helping Dayspring staff start installing a new bathroom! While we couldn’t go to the village and help in VBS, we look forward to tomorrow, when we can finally drive to the village and witness to the children and adults! Thank you and God bless!

Monday July 27, 2009

Elton Lee

We split out group up into 3 different teams.  We had one team of guys help out with a construction project, preparing the roof of a building for pouring concrete.  The other two teams went out into two villages about 45 min away to do a vacation Bible school with singing, a skit, a devotional message and a craft.  Our team had 33 of the local people show up with 2/3 of them kids.  They were so cute.  The area was quite barren.  They are subsistence farmers and they have not had rain for over a year.  We saw their small reservoir which was completely devoid of water; only dust was there.  Our guide said he’s never seen it empty.  Even the cacti were wilted.  We in the US may be feeling the economic crisis, but they have a very different, more immediate crisis at hand.  Their livelihood and their very lives are at stake. The kids were out mostly by themselves.  They seemed happy that there we offered them something to do.  The local pastor was an elderly Mexican man who was so happy to see us.  Everyone in the area we talked to knew who he was, so he must have a tremendous influence in the area.  He was such a gracious man.

Prayer requests: pray for rain in the area.  I commented that we in Seattle are happy when it doesn’t rain.  How ironic. Also please pray for one of our team members who has come down with a viral illness that is making her quite uncomfortable.  Pray also that the rest of the team does not get sick as well.  Thanks for supporting us and praying for us.

Yvonne Mark

Buenos noches!   We had a fabulous day today.  Praise the Lord!  I’ll be focusing on our afternoon visit to the village of El Aguilar.  (Our team got split into 3 groups: one group of strong guys poured concrete and the two remaining groups separated to visit two different groups.)  El Aguilar is pretty remote; approximately a one hour drive from Dr. Arroyo.  We got there around 4:45pm and didn’t start walking out to the houses to invite the townspeople until 5pm.  I wondered how many people would show up to service which was more or less “on the spot.”  God is so good!  We had quite a big turnout of people from a wide range of ages.  After some rousing praise songs in Spanish led by the Dayspring staff and the kids in our group, a skit was performed which depicted the parable Jesus told about the seeds that fell on different soils.  The kids’ performance was spectacular.  Following the skit, Abel & Grace took photos of the children in the audience with plans to print out the photos on their portable printer.  This would go with the VBS craft of decorating a photo frame.   I imagined that only the children in the audience would want to participate in this craft.  Much to my surprise, the adults in the audience also asked for photo frames to decorate.  Wandering outside of the church, I saw Julie talking to some teenaged boys who were “hanging out.”  They looked kind of embarrassed but after a while, they too started decorating a photo frame each when one of the children provided an example.  I was amazed at that the craft was such a big “hit.”  One of the interpreters told me that the townspeople don’t usually get photos of themselves.  It was a very memorable afternoon for me from the graciousness of the Mexicans in light of my nearly incomprehensible Spanish to the way our team worked together.  Praise the Lord for His work and goodness!

Hola to all!  We have had a busy couple of days.  Everyone arrived at the guest house last night and off to Dr. Arroyo we went this morning.  Our day was full of travel and lots of  laughter.  God blessed us in our travels today. We are looking foward to seeing what God has planned for the rest of the week.  We will be posting a blog each day of the trip.  Check it out each day to find out what is going on.  Also, spread the news of the blog onto family and friends so they can read it also.  Until tomorrow!

God Bless,

Josh and Cathy Vaughn-  Dayspring Staff

Greetings ECC Brothers and Sisters:

Jessica here.  Praise the Lord for His Providence as our entire team of 44 excited and joyful (albeit a little tired) arrived safely at Dr. Arroyo Sunday, July 26 after a 6-hour plane ride from Seattle to McAllen, an overnight stay in McAllen, and a subsequent early morning 10+ hour van-ride!  We were warmly (literally) greeted by Roger and Carolyn Tomlinson and Dayspring Staff at the Dr. Arroyo compound where we ate our fill with authentic tacos, spicy hot salsa and cool punch.  I personally overheard Victor Hsiao exclaim, “Delicioso!  I ate 12!”

The Dayspring compound is currently abuzz with all 44 of us unpacking all of your generous donations and organizing them onto church pews for distribution to all the children and locals of Dr. Arroyo during our ministry outreach tomorrow.  It looked like Christmas in July as Carolyn Tomlinson expressed, “This is just wonderful!  The kids will love it so much.  Thank you!”
We want to also say, “Thank You ECC Family!” for your love, support and prayers.  We really are so grateful of our partnership in the gospel.  Perhaps we are most thankful for the fact that even thought McAllen was a blistering hot 105 degrees yesterday (it felt like the inside of a convection oven), Dr. Arroyo is currently a balmy 70 degrees.  Until next time…Hasta luego, y Dios te bendiga! (see you later, and God bless you!)

Jessica Chen

Holas mis amigos! (Hello my friends!) It’s Victor and I’m blogging for the youth today. These past two days have been so action packed and it has been so amazing. We all got to the airport around the same time (5:30ish) so when we walked into the airport with our green team shirts, it was a real ASIAN INVASION MOB. During the plane ride to McAllen, we took up almost the whole plane with our 44 members. At the McAllen guest house, almost everyone got in the swimming pool so there wasn’t much room to move but we “swam.” Meanwhile, some others (Tyler and me) tried to get a tan while parents told those certain individuals to put on sunscreen so that they wouldn’t get cancer and die. We had fantastic meat loaf for dinner and…by the way, it was Auntie Yvonne’s birthday too (and she sang to herself, a Dayspring tradition) so that was special.

Again, we woke up early the next morning (6:30) and started our journey to Dr. Arroyo.  Roger said it would only take 6.5 hours by himself but with a team our size, he said it would 10 hours. And it did. There was a bloody war (actually just a quick debacle, as Alan calls it) to get on Roger’s van since it was well air-conditioned and then after that, we left. It actually wasn’t that bad. Uncle Elton had my van play mind games for a couple of hours. Alan had to guess the word “snowman” and he ended up with “macaroni art.” He couldn’t figure out what a “lonely, useless object that kids make that can sometimes be found in your backyard.” Auntie Faye also decided to entertain herself by counting how many “likes” I used when I talked.

The bathrooms weren’t too bad either. Just used toilet paper all over the seats and plugged up urinals. Most people slept through the heat. I also got a great time in the back seat with Alan, Tyler and Emily and learned how to sit on a bumpy leather van seat with only one butt cheek for about 5 hours straight. After all this, I really thank God that everyone was safe these past few days and no one had motion sickness during the van ride. I also realized how blessed we are in the US. Roger told us we had to make sure we conserve the water we use since there’s currently a water shortage. We also have to bring our own toilet paper to the public bathrooms.

Anyways, we got to Dr. Arroyo safely and were super excited when the Mexico 5 team was waiting for our arrival. We had a super delicious soft taco dinner. When I kept asking the server to give me more, she looked confused and kept asking if they were all for me. I told her “yes” each time and she eventually stopped asking me. I had 12! We walked around the compound for awhile and are currently separating the gifts while the girls are freaking out about what is apparently the largest bug in the world. It’s a hairy moth about the size of my palm. That’s about it for our first two days. The team says “hi” and we hope that you will all continue to keep us in your prayers. More specifically, please lift up Sarah Chu in your prayers because may have a viral infection. She’s doing fine but just please pray for her. Thanks for all your support back home! Hasta luego! (See you later!)

Victor Hsiao

By the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we safely arrived Dr. Arroyo this evening around 7 PM.  After months of planning, meeting, and prayer, it took a second to realize that this is the place our Lord has called us to serve.  My emotions were mixed with joy, excitement, and with an unreal feeling.  My prayer at that moment was “Lord, this is it.  We are finally arrived.” 

When our van drove into Day Spring Ministry’s compound, we were warmly welcomed by all their staff.  From a far distance, we could recognize the fantastic 5, the five ECC/EKC summer staffs who arrived last month and will stay in Dr Arroyo throughout the summer.  To see them waving, then hugging, jumping and laughing with each other was a true bonding and fellowship experience.

We had a brief orientation by Roger, and he introduced his long term staff, students in the ministry school and his summer staff.  We got the room assignment by Elton and all the children were so excited to explore the place they will sleep this week.  Some adults and teenagers also had a chance to look at the construction project that they will work on Monday.

Tonight’s taco dinner was cooked by a Pastor’s wife.  Many parents and children commented that it was the best and most authentic tacos they had ever tasted.    The tacos was small and cute and everyone had five.  Victor had twelve.  Now you know how much the children liked them.

We were supposed to tour the downtown, Dr. Arroyo, after dinner.  I know the kids wanted to go.  But, we will kick off the children’s program tomorrow, and we must sort out all the gift and tools we brought so we can get ready in the morning.  I worried the kids might whine and feel disappointed.  It turned out everyone was willing to pitch in and follow the instruction to open boxes and put all the items into designated locations.  It was truly amazing to see how many toys, stationionary items and gifts that were donated by our brothers and sisters.  Might God bless every brother and sister who has support us.

The night has arrived and it is dark outside.  But the highlight of the day has just started.  The children and adult have decided to tour downtown Dr. Arroyo in about 5 min.  That means I have to stop blogging for now. 

Yuen (Able) Chan

Well we are winding down on this week.  Today will be the market in Matahuala and later some ministry and work.  We end the day with a church service here in Dr Arroyo and maybe some free time afterward to go and get one more plate of tacos down on the plaza.  The group has been a joy to host for all of us at Dayspring.  I know that the staff will miss all of them expecially the kids.  Here are team blogs.  they may be the last entries for this team unless someone wants to blog once they return to Texas.  We start down the mountain tomorrow morning.  Please remember us  in your prayers for safety on the road.

Roger
 

   Yesterday was so fun at a village in Pompeya!  We played over two hours of futbol and worshiped with more than 50 kids.  I even made some new amigos, Enrique and Raul.   – Reagan

   Today we are going to Matehuala to go to the market. I am expecting to have so much fun, and hope to get some cool stuff. We are going to have our first service in Dr. Arroyo tonight. – Matthew

   Good morning from Dr. Arroyo! This week has provided many great experiences thus far, and we still have a couple more days to go. It has been great to see this group of young adults that serve here at the Dayspring facility in action.  The humility and joy that is so apparent in them while serving has made a lasting impact in my life. I think it can go without saying, but a trip like this helps us all to understand what is really most important. I am so thankful for the abundant blessings in my life. Best of all, I have had the privilege to share all of this with my beautiful bride-to-be! – Jeff

Well we have put together some of the video footage we have taken so far on the trip.  It is raw footage and basicly unedited but should give you an idea of how the trip is going and what the group has been doing.  I hope you enjoy it.  You can find it at: http://dayspring.tv/grace.htm

God is blessing the seeds that have been sown this week.  Check back later this afternoon, and a video will be posted with more information about what has been happening this week.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

After several days of being in Mexico, I’m not nearly as scared of bugs as I was a week ago!! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my motion sickness issues, God has definitely been awesome in that area.  I was able to ride 11 hours through Mexico, on a van with no air, on some pretty stinky roads with no problems! 

Our time here has been a blessing.  You’ve never seen anything more beautiful than a group of Mexican women praying.  They all stand around each other holding hands while everyone prays aloud.  I love their passion for Christ.  We are here to minister to them, but that is not the case, they have been ministering to us!  There were 2 women at our meeting who requested prayer that they would come to know Jesus “someday”.  Please pray specifically for those 2!

This part is for my mom and dad…

The kids are doing well!!  Reagan has embraced this mission!  He’s working on learning all of the songs in Spanish,and the motions, he’s acted in the skit during the service, and he has stepped up and invited people to the service(using an interpreter).  He has been amazing!!  Payton is doing ok.  She’s having a really hard time with the giantbugs in our room.  She’s just not as enthusiastic as Reagan, but she’s a trooper!  Mackenzie & Reese are just likemom, no fear, and right at home anywhere.  Jackson is a hoot.  You’ve never seen a dirtier or happier kid! 
P.S.  I’m definitely a spoiled American and am so thankful that we can worship inside instead of in a dust storm!

Love you guys!!  Deneise

Cori McCauley

I find that when I am out of my comfort zone, that is when the Lord brings out my true character and heart.  I have a feeling that is how it is with most humans.  I have become even more aware of my selfishness and my flesh and how I let daily irritations control my attitude.  I can do nothing on this trip on my own strength, yet I catch myself continuing to try.  I guess it is habit to drift from God through out the day without even being aware of it.  I have to keep turning my flesh over to God so He can give me His heart for the people and for this trip.  When I am weak, He is strong.  I asked God to give me a scripture, a song, and a saying or quote for the trip.  So far, all I have is the saying , “I can’t, God can, I think  I’ll let Him”, and “May the words of my heart and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, Oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. 
Each of Roger’s sermons have been about being available in every way and getting out of the way so God can work through us.  It starts with a surrendered heart.  Please pray that we all have a surrendered heart as we are here and as we leave to go back to our comfortable surroundings.
P.S.  The Mexican people have been nothing but kind and welcoming to us.  They are sincere and eager to share their hurts, struggles, needs , and prayer requests with us.  It is so refreshing to see their genuineness.

Cori McCauley

Mackenzie
 
Today we went to a house in Dr. Arroyo.  The lady there could not read.  She only had tapes of the Bible to listen to.  I read her John 3:16-21 and Tavo translated for me.  Then we all got up and put our hands on her.  I prayed to God that she would get better and that her stomach problems would go away.  I like it here so much.  The food has been great, and so have the sermons and music.  I feel so proud to be worshipping our great God.  I can just feel his presence around us.  I have so much fun playing with the kids here.  I handed out stickers yesterday and the kids loved them.  They have such sweet hearts.  Today we are going to the same village as we did yesterday.  It is called Pompeya and it is beautiful.  The mountains are so close to the village and it is so pretty.   I hope next year more people will want to come and experience this.
 
Sincerely,
Mackenzie