This is a letter I wrote to my church when I couldn't make it to the Mexico service after the trip. I was in Kentucky. This letter below describes some thing that went on in Mexico. If you want to see pics from the trip, go to the pics page, and click on Mexico pics. Those are only some of the five rolls I took. I would have put them all up if I could have!
My Mexico testimony.
The first thing I want to say is thank you. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a great church, a church that is confident enough and trustful enough to send a group of teens to a different country. If it weren’t for you and all the others who supported us, we couldn’t have done it. So thank you.
As some of them have probably already said, or you have seen for yourselves, it really is very beautiful down there. When we were standing down at Pago, Pago and when we were at the Indian village, I was thinking about how beautiful God’s creations are and how lucky I was to get to see only a few area’s of his glorious works. It has really made an impact on me to see how much we take advantage of the things we have. Mike has mentioned before that people think that the Mexicans are the sheltered ones, but it is really us. They are so happy with what they have, and they make the best of it. We on the other hand complain of little things such as someone being in the bathroom when you need in there or not having the material things we think we need to survive. It really shocked me when I seen that the an entire village only uses one bathroom and one shower, and the fact that their houses which fit probably at least four people a piece, are no bigger than the size of my room. These houses were made with whatever they deemed suitable to build out of. Sometimes you hear people say that you shouldn’t waste food or complain about little things because there are people who don’t have as much as you do. Before I went on this trip, those were just a bunch of words that contained no meaning because I had heard them so many times before. But now, I see things in a different light and I hope that when I say those words from time to time, people will listen to me, because it is so true.
It made me really happy to see how much they love God and how joyous they are to be serving him. The church services lasted a good while. Not just because the preachers were long winded but because most every one of the Mexicans took a part in the service, whether it was just to stand up and recite a verse or to give a testimony. They sing so loud too. Even though some of them were off key, it didn’t matter because they were singing that loud for God and they didn’t care what anyone else thought of them. One of the churches that we attended in Valles was completely packed from front to back and it was smaller than Trinity, yet there were more people there.
Then there were the tracts we passed out. Everyone was so nice and polite when we handed them out to them. And they were so willing to be approached by us. They would take them and say thank you and then you would walk on. Sometimes you would hear something behind you and you would turn around thinking they were talking to you but they were just reading the tracts out loud to themselves. Other times you could watch them take the tract then go sit down and read it. Then there were some who would just come up and stick out their hands and ask you for them.
Another thing that amazed me was the service in the park. When Sammy, the Mexican preacher, was giving the sermon, I noticed that the guys who were playing basketball would watch him. They would just stare at him for so long and then a few of them came over and sat down on the steps to listen closer. They were so interested in hearing about God’s word.
I can’t do justice to the trip if I don’t add that I grew closer with most of the team members. We learned so much about each other and we all had such a good time together. I never knew some of them were so funny or so goofy. You should really get a chance to know all of them if you don’t already. You don’t have that many chances to meet such goodhearted fun-loving people in a lifetime so take advantage of it. You don’t know what you’re missing if you let them slip through your fingers.
Ed asked us a question during our team’s own personal testimony service on Friday night. He asked us who got more out of the trip? The Mexicans or us? It was definitely us. Life will just go on for those we left behind as it would for us if a Mexican or some other foreigner were to come visit us. But for those of us who went on the trip, our lives will forever be changed. We learned lessons we couldn’t have learned or things we couldn’t have experienced in a better atmosphere.
Some of you may think that I’m babbling. Well maybe that’s true, but for me, this may have been the only chance that I will ever have to embark on a journey like this, or it may be someone else’s only chance to hear about it. I feel obligated to them and to myself to tell all I know about it, and to let those who didn’t get to go, experience it through me. But believe me, I’m not doing this because I have to, I’m doing it because I want to.
If any of you ever get the chance to go to Mexico like I have, then I encourage you to go. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget and what better way to travel then to do it and serve God at the same time.
love Jamie
That is pretty much the whole letter! Actually it is the whole letter! Here's a list of the people who went, I'm sorry if this is boring you, but you know what, you can leave if it is!
Jamie Jordan
Lauren Burkett
Miranda Howe
James Combs
Michelle Emerick
Kristen Burkett
Becky Fish (adult on trip)
Mike Anderson (adult on trip)
Alicia Howland
Matt Roberts
Ed & RaeAnn Montague were the two missionaries we stayed with during the trip and who took us around. They're great!!!! Here is there little buisness card thingy that they gave each of us!!!
