June 3, 2002

Tijuana 2002

Norma is a single mother of one son, Alejandro. Something is wrong with one of her feet, causing her to walk with a limp. She has been living with her brother, trying to make ends meet.

Miriam is also a single mother of four children, ranging in age from 10 to 8 months. She and her husband separated because he did not consider the family a top priority, so the children often went hungry. Miriam has been living with her mother, who provides child care while Miriam works as a waitress in a seafood restaurant.

These two families live in similar circumstances. This week they have one more thing in common. They both are happy owners of their own homes. A group of 17 ABCers traveled to Tijuana, Mexico last weekend on a house-building project. Nine adults, five youth, and three children made the trip. We returned to Altadena dirty, bruised, blistered, sunburned, tired, and very satisfied.

Our preparation for this trip began weeks ago, with the decision to commit to a missions trip. Each member of the team raised funds to cover the cost of the building materials and the trip expenses, for a total of $1600. Special mention goes to Albert Lebsch. When he heard that one house would cost $600, he set that amount as his fund-raising goal. He actually raised $409.65, the largest amount brought in by a single person. Thank you to all who sponsored a team member and to all who ate our hot dogs and hot links.

We also prepared mentally and spiritually for the trip. We read Scripture and prayed in the days leading up to our departure. And we determined to work hard on our attitude as we accommodated to a different culture.

All our preparation paid off. We were able to complete two starter homes, not a simple accomplishment given that the smaller, less muscular team (which included the youngest children: Tianna Van Alstine, Lauren and Alena DeVaughn) was sent to the site on which a bigger than normal house was to be built. Everyone worked hard with no complaining. We were able to successfully practice a servant attitude that gets a bit rusty in our American "me-culture."

We also enjoyed interacting with people from a different culture. After Alejandro, Tremaine and Albert tried shouting at each other a bit, trying to get the other to understand exactly what they were saying, they simply ignored language barriers and communicated in other ways. Tianna and Lauren bonded with Miriam's two older daughters, sharing babysitting duties, teaching each other hand-clapping games, and putting the finishing screws on the door and windows together. Most of the youth started a pick-up basketball game with some of the neighborhood guys who were around the dorm. Others tried their bargaining skills with varying degrees of success.

Incredibly, we have no traveling mishaps to report this time. We managed to keep the caravan together and find our way to the dorm and back across the border on our own, in spite of the fact that I was driving the lead vehicle and ran a few yellow lights (I say two or three, Mike O'Neal-Petterson, who was driving the last vehicle, says a more accurate figure is seven or ten.)

Why do we go each year to TJ? Yes, it is for people like Norma and Miriam. But it is much more for us. We need to get a glimpse of God's heart for Mexico. We need get away from our consumer mentality in order to understand how wealthy we are and consequently what our responsibility is with that wealth. We need to be more grateful and giving. We need to incorporate servanthood into our lives not just for one weekend, but as a lifestyle. We were building something important. Norma and Miriam are a step ahead in life because of our work. Bur God was building something important in us, too. And we also are a step ahead spiritually when we use what we learn across the border.

–Pastor Connie Larson DeVaughn