Eager Apollos

The final work day is simply applying another coat of stucco. The group is so jazzed that they typically make short work of the task. After that we take pictures with the families, pass over the keys, pray with them, then we head back to the camp site to strike camp.

Once the camp is packed up we load the vans and head across the border. The border crossing was easier into the US than it was into Mexico. Once across the border we set our sights on taking showers as the first order of business.

Every night, after the work was done for the day, we would gather around the fire for a delicate blend of devotion and tomfoolery.

Josh would lead us in a few songs of worship and then Matt would stand up and give us a message on community or serving or something that was relevant to our mission.

Both Josh and Matt wore a head lamp so they could see their notes. Occasionally they would look out over the group and blind everyone around them.

The time was good and the group really enjoyed it. It kept our thoughts on God.

After the evening devotion the camp site erupted into friendly banter and all sorts of antics that made me wonder how no one left without third degree burns on their body.

Two of the photos below are a group of people running over the fire.

When we weren’t playing with fire, we were simply enjoying one another’s company and getting to know each other.

Quite time was at 10pm. At which point, people would talk quietly and eventually trickle off to bed.

Wake up was at 6am almost every morning we were at the Amor Camp. From wake up to 6:30 was personal time (brushing teeth and such). Breakfast was served at 6:30, Krista and Sharoll headed that up, but we made sure that two to three people were helping them for every meal.

After breakfast we would have a morning devotional. For the whole trip we were working our way through an abbreviate version of the story of Noah. People did various things for the devotional. Some read their bibles, a few stared off into the horizon, some talked quietly, one played a guitar and there were more than a few that journaled. It was interesting to see where people gravitated when it was time to “do devotionals.”

Once we got the work done on day three. Matt decided to take the group out for dinner. We left the work site and headed into the out skirts of Tijuana. Matt knew a place called The Oasis from past trips. When we got there Matt talked to the owner and then proceeded to walk around behind the counter taking orders and giving us drinks like he owned the place.

Day three is all about creating walls and finishing the roof. We put roofing on the particle board and seal it with tar. Then there is the more involved process of creating walls from bailing wire, tar paper, and chicken wire.

Bailing wire gets strung all over the building with no more than six inch gabs between the wires. This provides a backing for the tar paper. The wire has to be tightened and then it has to be retightened. If it is too loose it won’t support the tar paper which won’t support the chicken wire which won’t hold the stucco.

Once the wire is in place we wrap the whole building in tar paper. Each sheet has to be nailed in and if you have never heard 14 people hammering all at once, it is deafening.

Then comes the chicken wire. The main issue with chicken wire is that it serves as support for the stucco, like rebar in a concrete foundation. Tightening the chicken wire is a pain, but it got done quickly this year.

Next comes the sifting of the sand and the mixing of the stucco. About half the group is involved in the creation of the stucco and the other half is involved in applying it. The goal is to get one layer on before we go home on day three so it can dry over night.

Day two is the best day of the four work days. The work site is a clamor of sawing, nailing and shouting. The sawing crew is taking orders for specific 2×4 sizes. When those are cut the wall crews nail them together.

Every year a wall gets put together wrong and we have to pull it apart and put it back together correctly. You never really know how flexible wood and nails can be until you build one of these houses.

After the walls are done it is time to set them in place and anchor them to the foundation. This is Matt’s favorite part of the whole trip. He starts running around and barking out orders, squaring this corner and nailing in that one.

Once the walls are in place the roof sections get pushed on top of them. At which point they are squared, nailed together, and nailed to the structure. Then the clamor begins again as we measure, saw and nail bird blocking on to the roof section. Then the particle board is nailed to the roof and the goal for day two is complete.

Easily the hardest day of work is the first one. On day one of work the team lays the foundation of the house.

Leveling the ground, creating the forms, squaring the forms, anchoring the forms all take most of the morning to get right. These tasks are the most time consuming and the frustrating.

When the initial work is finally done, it is a made dash to get the cement mixed and poured before we have to go back to the camp site at 6pm. This is to ensure that the cement has time to dry over night, so we have a foundation to build on the next day.

This was Rick’s deal. He had us running every which way unloading vans, setting up tents and making this dirt lot a functional living space. Kudos to Rick for pulling it off.

For a bunch of reasons, the Mexico border has tightened its security. In previous years, our convoy of vans were simply waved through the search area and we were in Mexico, but not this year.

As we pulled into the search area we saw other Amor groups unloading everything in their vans. We waited for a good span of time while the border patrol finished with them and then it was our turn.

Well practiced at unloading and loading the vans to stay at the churches on the way down, we made short work of the large task of getting the gear out and on display.

It was quite a sight to see, everyone unloading the vans, all the gear out on the ground. Matt tried to take pictures but was quickly told that this was a federal area and that pictures were prohibited. Matt graciously obliged the command, but I, not feeling particularly compelled to honor the sovereignty of the Mexican government at this point in the trip, took some quick shots with my iPhone.

Most of our gear was allowed to cross into the country with few exceptions. Then we repacked the vans and rolled out of the secure area and were on our way to the Amor Camp.

When we got to the Amor office Matt had some administrative stuff to get done and the rest of the group played frisbee and hacky sack (a Mexico trip staple).

We met our Amor Rep. Steve who would be our guide over the border and our go to guy when it came to building houses.

After the paper work was filed and everyone was ready, we gathered in a circle and prayed for save travel and a swift border crossing. Which turned out to be not so swift.

We had some time to kill before we had to be at the Amor Office so we decided to hit up La Jolla Cove. For a couple of hours we walked up and down the beach, look at seals, played frisbee, picniced and generally relaxed.

After pizza we headed out to La Mesa. We stopped and gassed up on the way. And the females on the trip were so tickled by the fact that the guys had to line up to go to the bathroom, that they made me take a picture of it.

Once we got to La Mesa we pulled up in front of the church, unloaded gear, cleaned up and then had a brief time of worship. Josh is leading us on his guitar and doing very well.

After worship we review the schedule for the next day. After that all but the extremely exhausted drivers go play games into the early morning hours (not really THAT early).

Tomorrow is the border crossing…

Every year on the Mexico trip we stop at Laguna Beach. It breaks the monotony of the constant driving and the sea breeze is refreshing.

When we get there the shepard is struck and the sheep scatter. We have free time prior to dinner and people wander about chasing after their own interests. Some people swim in the sea, some tan, others shop, and I go to the tide pools.

They are small but there is life in those pools. It’s like a little sabbath, watching the hermit crabs and the erchants.

After free time we headed in for pizza at BJ’s, where we go every year. Between the pizza and the view of the ocean our spirits are lifted and our short trek to La Mesa flies by.

Prayer and Burgers. Lilies and Grape Vines.

At 6am we got to the rest stop where the first group was going to pick us up.

I pulled out the sleeping bag and laid down in the grass and slept until group 1 got us at about 8:30am.

I was rudely awakened (the video of which is destined for YouTube), but then warmly greeted by group 1.

Rob and Jon were so glad to see one another, they were willing to pose as if they were hugging. It was such a touching moment I captured it on film.

We are now on our way to La Mesa CA. We are driving through LA today and will be stopping for dinner in Laguna Beach. That will be a beautiful stop. But even now California is looking pretty good through the window.

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A light hearted fight breaks out. After one brother dumps gas on the other. Only 15 miles until our stop.

The chase van stopped somewhere in OR. We lucked out and found a Costco where we gassed up and ate on the cheap.

As we walked up to the horn of plenty that is the Costco food court, we marveled at the prices of the menu items. There was pizza, ice cream, salads and the ever popular polish dog for a $1.50.

We feasted on it all. We ate pizza, consumed polish dogs, and chased it with ice cream sundays.

Here we are basking in the glory of Costco.

Today, we sent off the first four vans of the carrying the first 25 of the members of the Mexico Team on their way. Myself and 5 others are going to leave tomorrow and drive 16 hours straight to catch them.

We met at Matt’s place. Everyone was running around loading gear, checking passports, and generally being excited. I was so busy I forgot to take pictures.

Just picture in your mind’s eye everyone running around, Matt is nigh frantic, I am double checking everything and then the group gathers around the vans. We circle up and for a solitary moment we calmly pray for safety in our travels. After the “Amen” is uttered, brief chaos ensues as everyone rushes the vans, shuts the doors, and pull out headed for Salem OR.

Pray for our vans, some are old and tend to brake down in interesting and novel ways. Pray for our safety, we drive long hours and in rough places. Pray the houses get built, that we bond as a team and that we communion with the God that has sent us on this mission.