When I think Mexico I think of a laid back holiday and sun tans, I think resorts and beaches and freedom. It is crazy what lies outside of that. What lies outside of that is poverty, people working in rundown shacks to make ends meat, people living in concrete buildings with no doors or windows, people wearing dirty clothes and looking as though they haven’t showered in years. This is what lies outside people’s vacation spots… a person’s reality.
The opportunity to go and reach out to these people living with nothing was an amazing experience. A group of twelve of us headed to San Qunitin to bring Christmas bags to children who would not receive much, if anything, this holiday season. We headed down for a short missions trip on Thursday. It was a long drive and when we arrived we ate and headed to our hotel for an early night. The following morning a few of us got up early and headed to a local home where we prepared breakfast for the rest of the team. San Qunitin is a Spanish speaking city and I not knowing a lick of Spanish stood and watched as the others conversed. Shortly after breakfast we headed out to a local orphanage and a local Old Folks home where both Gary and David went in to see if there was any way we could reach out to them, if there anything they needed help with. We were able to give shoes to the people living in the old folk’s home.
Friday evening Gary spoke at a church, we headed there and listened as Gary spoke on reaching out to people and being a witness to people, doing whatever it takes to help people find God, to bring them into relationship with him. After the sermon we grabbed some Christmas bags and began handing them out to children, it was so humbling to see these children so grateful for such a small token. Something of which most people would take for granted, a simple toothbrush, a small toy, to most would mean nothing, to them it meant the world. After the children received their bags, they sat down with smiles as they looked at the things they had just got. We then brought out bags of shoes and allowed the older people of the church to come and grab what they needed, as they collected shoes of all sizes and styles I couldn’t help but notice the shoes on their feet. Holes, no laces, ripped, tattered, too big, too small, it was heartbreaking. They didn’t care what the shoes looked like that they were getting, they were just so grateful they had something to put on their feet. It was nice to leave that church that night knowing that the people of the church were leaving with smiles on their faces. After this we headed off to the beach where some of the boys set off fireworks. We didn’t stay long because we had a circus to get to, when we arrived at the circus we were late, it was half over but we went anyways, it was a neat little experience. We headed back to the hotel after to prepare for another early morning.
The final morning in Mexico we headed to another church where we handed out Christmas bags to more children, this church had much more children than the last. Once again I was overcome with joy as I watched these children’s faces light up when they received their small gifts. It was so amazing to be a witness to this.
This concluded our journey to Mexico; although it was a short trip it was all worth it. What a blessing to be a part of such an experience, what an honour it was to reach out to the less fortunate, what a great thing to be a witness to. God has filled this world with beautiful people, and I thank God for the opportunity I had to kick it with the beautiful ones located in San Qunitin, Baja California. The people, city, sights and tacos made this an all in all fantastic trip!
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