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Welcome to the Mission Mexico Blog! Stay tuned for more updates, but here is some initial info which can also be found on the sidebar.
Mission Mexico Trip Info:
When: February 13-16th
Where: Puerto Penasco, Mexico
What: House building.
Who: All of club is invited.
Cost: $250/person.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Why?
It is true what they say, "time flies." With February approaching we have less than 3 weeks until we're in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. That doesn't give us a great deal of time to do all of the prep work required to plan a successful trip, but so far so good. At the end of a busy week I find myself again asking "why?" That is, what is the purpose of our work? Why are we going to Mexico?
The truth is, it's far from convenient. You have to travel by car to Mexico, spend a weekend in the desert, miss work or school and pay $250 bucks to work your tail off for 3 days. It's not sipping a cold drink on Santa Monica overlooking the ocean or snowboarding in Lake Tahoe, no, it's labor. So why? What's the deal?
There's something strangely beautiful about what the bible presents as life. There is something strange and unusual about what Jesus spoke to his disciples during his short time as a man. It is this idea that life isn't really about # 1. At least not in the way that we think it. Not in the way that our modern culture will have us believe. Jesus laid his life down to save humanity, it was this incident that allowed for the redemption of humanity, but it was also set as an example of how we ought to live. My most natural inclination given any situation is to do what's best, easiest most pleasurable to myself. It just happens as an autonomic response. The bible says that this is due to my broken nature. Furthermore, I often think that following my selfish desires will actually bring me meaning and fulfillment in this life, but I am learning to challenge this. To live as Christ is to fully live. And His was a life of sacrifice. Weird I know, but serving others even when it's not fun or exciting or easy is actually the way that we find true life at least this is what the bible seems to present. This "true life" doesn't mean you don't struggle through it sometimes, or that you won't get cuts and bruises along the way, sometimes it just flippin' hurts, but you find life as it was meant to be, a life that is about more than you and your comfort, a life that is larger and deeper than you ever imagined, a life of love.
One mission, the organization that is hosting us in Mexico is one of many similar communities that work to help families that
are in dire need of aid. I spoke with Jason, the guy in charge of organizing volunteers and he told me that they have a waiting list of over 200 families who are living in tin sheds and cardboard houses. We're talking entire families, kids and little old grandmothers and all living without real shelter.
The truth is, we can do something. You can.
If you are like me, you're really comfortable, and by comparison to much of the world you are wealthy. You have an over abundance of food, and shiny clothing, and a house, dorm room or apartment- a solid roof over your head. It might not look like MTV Cribs and you may not have everything you want, but you're "rich" and it's likely that you've never lived in a place you made out of shipping material.
What is more, you also have the opportunity to serve others, to improve the quality of living for a family. You will pour a foundation, and put up four walls and a ceiling that will keep them warmer this winter. You will have a chance to use your broken spanish as you relate to the parents and play games with their children, and as we break bread together you will have a chance to share the love that Christ has "shed abroad in our hearts." You will leave a family with a sturdier structure, a house that they will decorate over the years, into a home to call their own. And you too will change in the process, if you will allow it at least that is what we most often hear. So it is worth all this work, a 3 day weekend and money? Well, I guess that's up to you. This is just part of the "Why" to Mission Mexico, I hope you will join us this year.
The truth is, it's far from convenient. You have to travel by car to Mexico, spend a weekend in the desert, miss work or school and pay $250 bucks to work your tail off for 3 days. It's not sipping a cold drink on Santa Monica overlooking the ocean or snowboarding in Lake Tahoe, no, it's labor. So why? What's the deal?
There's something strangely beautiful about what the bible presents as life. There is something strange and unusual about what Jesus spoke to his disciples during his short time as a man. It is this idea that life isn't really about # 1. At least not in the way that we think it. Not in the way that our modern culture will have us believe. Jesus laid his life down to save humanity, it was this incident that allowed for the redemption of humanity, but it was also set as an example of how we ought to live. My most natural inclination given any situation is to do what's best, easiest most pleasurable to myself. It just happens as an autonomic response. The bible says that this is due to my broken nature. Furthermore, I often think that following my selfish desires will actually bring me meaning and fulfillment in this life, but I am learning to challenge this. To live as Christ is to fully live. And His was a life of sacrifice. Weird I know, but serving others even when it's not fun or exciting or easy is actually the way that we find true life at least this is what the bible seems to present. This "true life" doesn't mean you don't struggle through it sometimes, or that you won't get cuts and bruises along the way, sometimes it just flippin' hurts, but you find life as it was meant to be, a life that is about more than you and your comfort, a life that is larger and deeper than you ever imagined, a life of love.
One mission, the organization that is hosting us in Mexico is one of many similar communities that work to help families that
are in dire need of aid. I spoke with Jason, the guy in charge of organizing volunteers and he told me that they have a waiting list of over 200 families who are living in tin sheds and cardboard houses. We're talking entire families, kids and little old grandmothers and all living without real shelter.
The truth is, we can do something. You can.
If you are like me, you're really comfortable, and by comparison to much of the world you are wealthy. You have an over abundance of food, and shiny clothing, and a house, dorm room or apartment- a solid roof over your head. It might not look like MTV Cribs and you may not have everything you want, but you're "rich" and it's likely that you've never lived in a place you made out of shipping material.
What is more, you also have the opportunity to serve others, to improve the quality of living for a family. You will pour a foundation, and put up four walls and a ceiling that will keep them warmer this winter. You will have a chance to use your broken spanish as you relate to the parents and play games with their children, and as we break bread together you will have a chance to share the love that Christ has "shed abroad in our hearts." You will leave a family with a sturdier structure, a house that they will decorate over the years, into a home to call their own. And you too will change in the process, if you will allow it at least that is what we most often hear. So it is worth all this work, a 3 day weekend and money? Well, I guess that's up to you. This is just part of the "Why" to Mission Mexico, I hope you will join us this year.
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