Punch buggy, white, blue, white, blue, TAXI

We are barrelling down on the last hours in Mexico...
Yesterday was great as we played soccer on the Cari Brenton School with some of Ben's youth soccer team (see pic from yesterday). There were some incredible moments... multiple goals scored by Steven "wild man" Chitty, small children taken down by Betty Lou and Den bringing the defense. It was a great morning with Ben's team. We wrapped up with Bryce (big Bryce) sharing his testimony.

Afterward we hiked to a huge cross that can be seen from all over the city. Ben oriented us to where all the things were in the city and we had a chance to pray over the city of Ometepec. We headed down the hill (that felt more like a mountain after a morning of soccer... at least for those of us in our early to mid 30s:) for a lunch at home, rest and a chance to do a little shopping in town.

We ended the day with dinner at the Johnsons with their neighbors and the women who had graciously cooked for us all week. We also heard life stories from LeeAnna, Farrell and Kacie. We have all agreed that the life stories have been a highlight of this trip... so impactful!

Today we woke up and got on the road by 7:30, said goodbye to Ometepec and anticipated a day on the beach in Acapulco. We arrived around lunch and spent the afternoon on the beach (a few were subject to the Pacific's power... the waves are HUGE!), a great way to end this week together!

It's been a great week and we can't wait to share with you all in person of what we have seen and experienced!

Olympics 2012...Mexico style

Is this lead based paint?

Yesterday, Tuesday, we started the day with a delicious breakfast prepared by Katie Johnson consisting of quiche, fruit and the yummiest, gooiest cinnamon rolls we had ever eaten!  Not to mention coffee from a real life coffee pot which was a greatly appreciated after several mornings of either instant Nescafe or the mixture of 1 part coffee, 2 parts sugar from the restaurant. After we were well nourished we were more than ready to begin the days activities. 
First, the medical team and a couple of others headed back to the town where we held the clinic the day before to pass out the medications.  All went well and the team also got an unexpected encounter with wildlife as they were able to hold a dove when they made a home visit.  Not sure if doves are considered wildlife but lets go with it... 
Meanwhile, the majority of the group headed over to Chico and Carmen's house for some painting.  We were looking forward to some manual labor after a few days of being out in the community working hard mentally to engage the people of Ometepec with our limited Spanish.  So Todd agreed to be our fearless leader and did a superb job as "el Hefe".  With 6 brushes, 2 rollers, and many, many gallons of LIME green, "lead free" paint we were more than ready to transform the living room and kitchen walls of this already beautiful home that Chico has built with his own hands.  Vail, Tait, and Bryce all spent time demonstrating their home makeover skills, and the interns worked skillfully and diligently even though they were becoming a little loopy towards the end of out first shift.  Kacie RN had to intervene at one point when Mary started to forget the lines of her favorite Pocahantes song.  Jokes...but the fumes were a bit strong at times but Carmen kept us well hydrated and we retreated to the outdoors when needed.  It was quite rewarding watching the once white walls become this vibrant green!  On our paint breaks, we also got to observe some interesting things such as a pack of goats running through the streets and a litter of young puppies at the house next door where Carmen's mom lives.

Back to the Woods house for a wonderful lunch of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and bread.  I think we were all a little surprised to be eating mashed potatoes in Mexico, but we loved it.  We also had the treat of eating with Chico's family an also hearing about the Lord's faithfulness in his life and were able to pray for him and the sports ministry he has here in Ometepec. 

After lunch, half of the group went back to finish painting while the other half stayed at the Woods to work on a couple of things.  At Chico's we reassumed our positions and got back to work but this time we all joined in with Mary for some sing alongs.  Not sure if the fumes had gotten to us all or not but we had a great time singing Disney music "..hakuna matata.., Whitney Houston "...the children are our future..", Boyzz 2 Men, Tom Petty, Fresh Prince, Vanilla Ice Ice Baby, etc, etc.  Yes, we are diverse...and grew up in the late 80's...some of us, anyway.  The boys did some painting of their own back at the Woods place as they applied an even more noxious paint to the van rack.  Adam who won the consequence of hitting the deck upon hearing fireworks became increasingly listless due to the fumes to the point where he could only utter the phrase "get to da choppa" at the sound of the fireworks. 
Dinner was amazing!!  We ate Tamales and drank an interesting oatmeal, cinnamon concoction that tasted just like the Hot Tamales one would purchase at the movie theater.  We ended the night with incredible stories of the Lord's goodness, faithfulness, sense of humor, and LOVE before falling fast asleep.

You mean you didn't have pesos in your gift bag?

Sunday morning began with a visit to Puerta De Salvacion, the church started by Sports Outreach staff members Tim and Barbara Wood. As nearly all structures in Ometepec, the church is an open air facility. It is basically set up as a small amphitheater. We enjoyed worshiping with the members, and seeing a performance put on by the Vacation Bible School, where some of the team had volunteered earlier in the week. One of the coolest things was seeing the little Johnson kids singing and socializing in Spanish alongside the rest of the children of Ometepec.

In the afternoon, we went on a prayer walk through the heart of the city. Ben encouraged us to pray for the people of the city, specifically their protection from and victory over alcoholism, the negative affects of the machismo culture, and idolization of the saints.

Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, and frequently won't occur until 2 or 3 p.m. Sunday's lunch was special because Ben and Katie invited us to eat at their house alongside two of their closest native friends, Gerardo and Pily. In preparation for the meal, a few of us went to purchase handmade corn tortillas from a family operation about a block away. When Ben was asked why the group was in town, he told them about our work in the medical clinics. We learned that one of the ladies was suffering from some kind of progressive disease which had been deteriorating her body for 10 years. So, Ben offered to bring Adam back to take a look at her later on.

Katie and Pily combined efforts to produce an amazing spread which we enjoyed with fellowship and games in the Johnson home. It was a beautiful time of enjoying and embracing each others' cultural differences as well as sharing our faith commonalities. Specifically, Adam and Maria shared their testimonies/faith stories, with the group which Ben translated so as to include Gerardo and Pily. Afterwards, in a gesture of appreciation for our hospitality and care for his city, Gerardo treated the group to "picaditas", small handmade corn pizzas made by street vendors over an open wood fire. They were beyond amazing.

The majority of today was spent running a medical clinic in a nearby town. Adam and Kacie saw a steady flow of patients throughout the day while others prayed with the patients or supported them administratively. The rest of the group played games at a nearby playground with children and shared the gospel through gospel bracelets with children and some older folks who also had gathered there.

Late this afternoon we piled 27 people, yes, that's correct, 27 people in the 15 passenger van and drove to Ben's soccer game. Once again, we enjoyed this part of the culture, seeing the fruit of some of the relationships Ben has cultivated on the soccer field, and seeing another victory performance.

Finally, we concluded the day by hearing faith stories from Ben, Katie and Jamie, and sharing a little ice cream and fellowship.

What happens when you lose a game on a SOI trip... consequences!!

Dr. Adam is a great sport!

More blogging to come...

Goalaso!

Just because we all went to bed happy and full of good food and fellowship, a recap of last night's activities...

We spent the evening at the Johnson's home hanging out with about 20 youth from their church. Every week the youth are invited to "El Huerto," a hang out/Bible study time in the Johnson's outside patio area. We had a sweet time worshiping with one another in two languages (at the same time) and sharing stories of how God has transformed lives. Bryce Swinehart drove home the simplicity of loving Jesus with his testimony and the 5 words that changed his life: "Jesus come into my heart."

Mornings around here usually begin with a beautiful sunrise over the view of the city we have from the house, sporadic popping of fireworks, and individual quiet times.

Today was our first medical clinic day in a neighborhood called Aliansa. Since we were all unfamiliar with the Mexican medical system, we weren't really sure how things would go or what exactly we were stepping into, but the long and the short of it is that, as always, God had his hand over the details and the day was so good.

Our Charlotte medical team (Dr. Adam , Nurse Kacie, and Translator Maria) was joined by two other doctors - a Swiss physician, Dr Tom, who lives permanently in Ometepec and runs the private hospital, and another Mexican doctor from Ometepec, Dr Augustin, (who joined us at the last minute...even after working a night shift the evening before).  Each of the 50 patients we saw today also had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and pray with  team members. During the clinic the team was instrumental in interacting with the community who came and keeping los ninos (the kiddos) entertained with street soccer games.

While the medical clinic finished up, most of the team went to watch Ben's weekly soccer game with the "Veterans Team" (for players over 35 years old...and yes, he calls himself "el burro viejo," meaning "the old donkey"). Don't let his age fool you though... El Burro Viejo pulled out more than one hat trick and scored 7 goals for the team win! As they say here... GOALASO!!!!! (awesome goal!!!)

All in all the whole day really was a "goalaso." Community members were loved through physical and spiritual care, the team sweated and played together, and God put together details we could not have planned.

Some praises and prayers:

- Huge praise for Dr Tom and his integral help to us with his knowledge of the local medical system, tropical medicine, and for writing all the prescriptions we needed for our patients. Please pray for him and his wife Rosa as they live out daily life of service to this community of Ometepec.
- Another huge praise for Dr. Augustin for joining our team today. Pray that the love of Jesus in our lives would be a witness to him, especially as he may join us again later this week.
- Praise that God brought the right patients to us today. Pray that the medicines and prayer they received today would do a healing work in their lives. Also pray for the second clinic we will do on Monday. We will only have 2 medical people for this next one and a bigger language barrier as this community also speaks an indigenous language.

We have ARRIVED!!

Lastnight we finally arrived in Ometepec after waiting out rain delays in Houston for 5 hours. We made the most of the wait by playing card games, checking Facebook stati, sharing the deep things of life, and of course recording anything that was worthy of the top quotes of the trip list (stay tuned for those). We were so glad to see Ben and Katie (the missionaries here) when we made it smoothly through customs and got on the road... we traveled all together, 18 of us, in the white van below with the luggage on top and enjoyed subway sandwiches for dinner. Ben entertained us with stories of living here so far the whole way to Ometepec, 3 hours.We made it safe and sound and quickly hit the hay.

 In the wee hours of the morning we were awakened from our slumber to what some thought just might be World War 3 but in reality it was just someone shooting fireworks at 5am. We managed to fit a few more moments of sleep in before we were up and at em. We started the day together with a wonderful breakfast at a local restaurant. We had eggs with salsa, tortillas and spanish rice... DELISH! Then we were off to help with different Bible Clubs through out the town. We split into 3 groups and joined vacation Bible schools that the church here had been running all week. We helped run games, do crafts, and some got to share their testimonies. Kids have been learning about God being our father, he has a place prepared for us and wants to produce fruit in us. It was a sweet time to step into what God has already been doing here.

 Adam (the giant) hanging out with Samuel as he worked on his craft.

Farrell (aka Tina) being proud of Jesus after he recited his Bible verse for the day.

After Bible Clubs we had an incredible lunch back at the house and most people took a siesta. The night will consist of prepping for the medical clinic tomorrow and hanging out with the youth group kids at Ben and Katie Johnson's  house.

Thanks for your prayers and for following the trip. We are pumped to see what the Lord has in store for us as we are on this fun, HOT journey!

Mexico Bound

Most of the Mexico bound team at our last team meeting!

We leave for Ometepec, Mexico in less than 48 hours and we are PUMPED!

Would love your prayers as we venture down to serve beside our friends Katie and Ben Johnson. Here are specific things for each day:

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
8- pray for the families of the team to have a peace that passes understanding concerning this adventure.	9- pray for the final preparations… packing bags, getting kids prepared to be without mom/dad, passports/ shot records, etc...	10 - pray for each team member by name (see list below)	11 Pray for the SOI staff in Ometepec as they prepare to receive this team. (specifically, Ben & Katie Johnson and Chico)	12 Travel Day Arrive in Acapulco 2:21 pm Drive to Ometepec Dinner & Orientation	13 Bible clubs Pray for the Gospel to be shared and heard clearly	14 Bible club/medical clinic in Alianza neighborhood
15 Church Prayer walk through the city Pray for Unity and Health	16 Bible Clubs/ medical clinic in Cochoapa Volleyball Bible study with soccer team	17 Service Project: Work day Soccer match Pray for safety and health	18 Bible Club/ medical outreach Dinner with the SOI staff	19 Drive to Acapulco Debrief Overnight in Acapulco	20 Morning on the beach Fly home: Land in Charlotte @ 11:46pm	21 Pray for each team member as they rest and process what God did the previous 8 days.

Team Members:

Maria Popa

Bryce Nelson

Mary Sheltra

LeeAnna Early

Den Beseda

Betty Swinehart

Bryce Swinehart

Jamie Allen

Tait Allen

Kacie Josifek

Todd Gaylord

Vail Gaylord

Steven Chitty

Adam Brunfeldt

Farrell OQuinn

CC Reynolds

Hot Tamales!!!!!

Hey Everyone,
The Liberty Girls are still holding strong.  We have been going to English classes at the Carey Brenton Prep School in the mornings to help the students learn english.  They have been teaching us a fair amount of Spanish as well:-)  This past Saturday we went to Pinotepa which is about an hour and a half away.  We mixed teams and played pickup with 2 women's soccer teams from the area and them shared Tamales with them afterward.
This afternoon we are headed into 2 nearby neighborhoods to do some sports ministry and play games with the kids of Ometepec.  Please pray that the Lord will open up doors and hearts for us to share His love.

Hey Everyone
The internet in Ometepec came back on this morning (Praise God).  Everyone is doing well and we are having fun playing Soccer and "Futbol Rapido" which is soccer on a basketball court with 10 people and alot of goals. The weather here is hot hot hot, and Wednesday Ometepec had its first rain since the beginning of November. The night was cool and we definitely enjoyed the drop in temperature even if it was only for the night.
Today we are headed to a small town about one and a half hours outside of Ometepec called Pinotepa. This is the first time the church there will be doing sports ministry so pray that the soccer clinics go well and the game that will follow will both be great times of fellowship and the gospel will be communicated effectively.
Tonight we will update you all more, if the internet if still working (God willing)

in Christ
LU girls in Mexico (plus one)

So far, so good!

The Liberty team arrived safely and are doing great in Ometepec! Thankful for no stomach problems so far!
Unfortunately, the internet is down so there is no access to the blog or vonage phone. But Kendall and Dominic (team leaders) promise to post pictures and give an update as soon as it's back up.
Keep praying for team unity, open doors for the Gospel and health!

Liberty Women's Soccer Mexico Team

Hi Everyone,

The Liberty Women's Soccer Mexico Team is preparing to leave in a few short hours for Ometepec.  We are very excited and looking forward to all that God has planned.  Please be in prayer for us as we travel.  Thankyou to all our family and friends who have been praying for us and helping us prepare for this time.  We will update you as soon as we can.

New adventures!

Over the next 4 months SOI will send 3 teams to Ometepec, Mexico.
The first is a team from Liberty University's women's soccer team, May 13-26. This team will be heavily involved in sports ministry, clinics and sharing the Gospel through Ben and Katie Johnson's ministry.
The second group is in July (12-20). This is a group from Charlotte, NC. The ministry office there sends their summer interns every summer to serve beside the SOI staff and partners. This summer the interns will be joined by an addition of other friends in Charlotte, some of those being from Hope Community Church.
Then, the 3rd group is from Messiah College. They will travel down in August and be involved mainly in sports ministry.

Please keep these groups in your prayers. Also pray for Ben and Katie Johnson. partner missionaries in Ometepec as they prepare for each team.