See more photos on PHOTO TAB above!
REFLECTION ONE
Today was the first day of the Family and Health ministry. I never thought I would be so blessed like I was on the first day. Natasha and I went out originally to go invite women to the meeting we were holding. We were walking to site 5, which was in the area around the church, when we came across a woman who was here visiting her mom from the U.S. She was able to speak English and communicate with us which already was such a blessings because, at that point, Google Translate was not getting along with us. She was with her mom and her son, and she was telling us about how her mom just moved here and had nothing. We saw the grace of God working by her talking about how she wanted to be able to afford a house for her and one day have King's build it. That was the grace of God working just there. Then later, we were having lunch with the ladies and children at Pastor Fransisco's church, and we saw one of the little girls wanting to be by her mom and eat with her. The love that you saw between those two was so strong that it started to make me tear up and see God's work. Miss Rosie and Miss Maria told Natasha and me that we would have "God Moments" on the trip, but I did not know they would come that soon. I am so ready to see what God has in store for rest of the trip!
-Abigail Speer, Grade 11
Family and Health Ministry Team
Today was our second building day, and most of us have all of our walls up! Further progress today was halted by the rain late in the day. Fortunately, it wasn't raining at camp, so we all had the opportunity to eat nachos and change into dry clothes! Though we were frustrated by the interruption due to the downpour, we are all still so grateful for the families who have helped. Even small children helped to paint! We built deeper relationships with the families; students and adults talked to the families and learned more about their lives and faith. Fun things on sites include: learning more Spanish, receiving gifts of food from the locals, and mastering new skills. Back at the camp, the student worship team was (literally) rocking it and raising their voices to God. SL (Spiritual Life) team comedy duo, Sam and Chetan, brought both laugher and the daily announcements through their skits to all of us again. Although we are all pretty tired, we are excited for another beautiful day of service tomorrow! This is Ming and Alison of SL team signing off from Tecate, Mexico! Adios!
-Alison Hamblin & Mingyuan Dong, Grade 11
REFLECTION THREE
All year I've had students and staff members tell me stories about Tecate. As such, I've been excited to see this place that so many members of the TKA community have traveled to right before Easter for the past 26 years- over 400 people living in tents for a week without running water, building houses and relationships with the people of this city. And I have been blown away by the service mindset exhibited by each person I've interacted with. On this Monday of Holy Week, I am thankful for the chance to take a step back, look outside of myself, and remember that each of us is called to serve our neighbor. All three of the speakers this week have reminded us that because of what Jesus has already done for us, what we will celebrate this coming weekend with Easter, we can confidently move forward in love and service to both the families in Tecate and to each other. It seems so simple, and yet I'm thankful for the important reminder.
-Chrissy Guerra, TKA Staff
Tonight at chapel, TKA staff member and Tecate EMT, Hanna Sandquist, spoke to the students about how she has realized a bullying incident when she was in 4th grade deeply affected her. Because she didn't really know how to handle it, she shut the world out and found that to be strong, resilient, and to cope, she now found it difficult to express emotion and vulnerability. This manifested also in a fear of failure because to fail is to show weakness. Consequently, she avoided anything that she wasn't good at because it was only safe to do what she was good at and succeed. This resulted in becoming prideful. Even now, she confessed she deals with a fear of failure. She referred to John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." She asked God to "prune her" yet she was stubborn and really wanted to keep things as they were. God kept her awake one night (Hanna said this is how God speaks to her...by depriving her of the sleep she values!) and told her to get baptized. She resisted, but then succumbed. The pastor who baptized her asked what she was "keeping out of the water, " and holding on to. Hanna recognized she was holding on to many things including pride and the safety of the emotional walls she built. But she responded to God that she would be "all in." To this day, Hanna expressed she has to ask God to prune her daily to remain in the vine. She encouraged everyone to think about what they are "keeping out of the water," holding on to, and to give it to God.
Family and Health Ministry Team
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REFLECTION TWO
Hola from Tecate!
Today was our second building day, and most of us have all of our walls up! Further progress today was halted by the rain late in the day. Fortunately, it wasn't raining at camp, so we all had the opportunity to eat nachos and change into dry clothes! Though we were frustrated by the interruption due to the downpour, we are all still so grateful for the families who have helped. Even small children helped to paint! We built deeper relationships with the families; students and adults talked to the families and learned more about their lives and faith. Fun things on sites include: learning more Spanish, receiving gifts of food from the locals, and mastering new skills. Back at the camp, the student worship team was (literally) rocking it and raising their voices to God. SL (Spiritual Life) team comedy duo, Sam and Chetan, brought both laugher and the daily announcements through their skits to all of us again. Although we are all pretty tired, we are excited for another beautiful day of service tomorrow! This is Ming and Alison of SL team signing off from Tecate, Mexico! Adios!
-Alison Hamblin & Mingyuan Dong, Grade 11
REFLECTION THREE
All year I've had students and staff members tell me stories about Tecate. As such, I've been excited to see this place that so many members of the TKA community have traveled to right before Easter for the past 26 years- over 400 people living in tents for a week without running water, building houses and relationships with the people of this city. And I have been blown away by the service mindset exhibited by each person I've interacted with. On this Monday of Holy Week, I am thankful for the chance to take a step back, look outside of myself, and remember that each of us is called to serve our neighbor. All three of the speakers this week have reminded us that because of what Jesus has already done for us, what we will celebrate this coming weekend with Easter, we can confidently move forward in love and service to both the families in Tecate and to each other. It seems so simple, and yet I'm thankful for the important reminder.
-Chrissy Guerra, TKA Staff
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tonight at chapel, TKA staff member and Tecate EMT, Hanna Sandquist, spoke to the students about how she has realized a bullying incident when she was in 4th grade deeply affected her. Because she didn't really know how to handle it, she shut the world out and found that to be strong, resilient, and to cope, she now found it difficult to express emotion and vulnerability. This manifested also in a fear of failure because to fail is to show weakness. Consequently, she avoided anything that she wasn't good at because it was only safe to do what she was good at and succeed. This resulted in becoming prideful. Even now, she confessed she deals with a fear of failure. She referred to John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." She asked God to "prune her" yet she was stubborn and really wanted to keep things as they were. God kept her awake one night (Hanna said this is how God speaks to her...by depriving her of the sleep she values!) and told her to get baptized. She resisted, but then succumbed. The pastor who baptized her asked what she was "keeping out of the water, " and holding on to. Hanna recognized she was holding on to many things including pride and the safety of the emotional walls she built. But she responded to God that she would be "all in." To this day, Hanna expressed she has to ask God to prune her daily to remain in the vine. She encouraged everyone to think about what they are "keeping out of the water," holding on to, and to give it to God.
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