In early June, Rachel went on her first missions trip. We asked her to write this month’s newsletter…
“I thought I was going to help a family in Muna . . .”
26 people from our church landed in Cancun, Mexico, and took a bus to Merida, four hours away. After shopping for food and supplies we had dinner. The next day we went to Muna, two hours away.
Muna was this little, impoverished town. Everything was dirty, and the first thing they told us was not to touch any of the animals. There was a welcoming ceremony at the church that included dancing and singing. We then met the families we would stay with. My roommate, Leslie, and I stayed with a big family who had a small house. Leslie is “old and cute” like a grandmother. She had wanted to go on a missions trip her whole life, which I thought was a bit ironic… I thought about it for about 5 minutes before I said I’d go to Mexico.
The next day we woke up, went to the church, had breakfast and our leaders told us more specifics about the work we would be doing. From that morning until the last day, I didn’t stop sweating.
We walked through town to a piece of land that had a hut with a thatched roof, and three cement block walls with no roof. A woman and her two daughters and her grandchildren lived in that hut — we were going to finish the second “room” for them. Right away we started mixing concrete and putting it on the roof. The men set concrete pillars to hold the cinder blocks we would be putting up later. It was really hard work.
After working about five hours we had lunch at the church and then a siesta which is literally a designated nap time! (Why don’t we have that in America?) This started at about 2 p.m. After siesta we had dinner. Then we had game time with the kids in the community. They were amazing at soccer! Each evening, after soccer, one or two of the missions team would share the story of how God had worked in their life.
“. . . but God had something for me in Muna too.”
The second day in Muna, Scott Brand, our youth leader, didn’t feel well. This was our church’s third trip to Muna and not a lot of people had gotten sick before. Also that morning, my friend Hannah had an allergic reaction to something she had eaten the night before — she was covered with hives and her face was puffy. Half way through that day I realized I didn’t feel well either. That night I had a high fever and I felt awful. I ended up missing two days of work. I didn’t want to make others sick so I stayed at a house and rested. Through this time of sickness God was there. I was scared and confused because I was in a place that I didn’t know with people that couldn’t even understand me. God showed me how comforting it is to just talk to Him regularly and how important it is to do on a regular basis.
Toward the end of the 4th day I felt better. Scott asked me if I wanted to share my testimony the next night and I said, “Absolutely”. A few of us stayed back from the siesta time that day, in the church, and we worked on our stories. That night my friend Reese and I told our stories. We shared with all of the kids and their families after soccer. It was really cool to hear the kids ask interesting questions and to hear what they took from my story. I was telling a story, through a translator, and that wasn’t a big deal to me because it was my life. Yet, here were these people that didn’t even speak the same language as me and they were understanding. I felt like I was making a difference in their lives. I knew for a fact that they made a difference in mine.
On the last evening our whole group went to a church service and sang The Doxology (“Praise God from Whom all blessings flow…”). The church members then sang it in Spanish. Then Byron and Inez (missionaries to Muna who are supported by our church in Orlando) sang it in Pijin, the language of their home, Hawaii.
The last full day in Mexico was cool — I woke up ready to go home and eat American food. It was earlier than usual. We loaded the bus, then headed to the Myan ruins at Uxhamn . It was cool to see the big temple which was there so long ago and it is still there!
We then went to the Cenote, an underground cave filled with water. We had to climb down a really steep set of stairs to a rickety platform. The water was so blue and you could see fish where the sun was. There was a cave that went off to one side, and as it got darker, it was scarier. I borrowed some goggles and got not even halfway into the cave before I got scared because it was so dark! It was fun and it was the first time I wasn’t sweating and felt truly clean.
Although it was difficult, it was cool to be reminded that God has His hand in every situation. I’m so glad I took this leap of faith.
We were thrilled to hear about Rachel’s experiences in Mexico and wanted her to share her story with you. It is extremely significant that Rachel chose to tell her story to the people there, and that the people in the audience embraced her.
As August approaches, please pray with us as Rachel transitions to her new school, The Master’s Academy. Change is always a bit of a challenge.
Thank you for your prayers and love and financial support that help make all this possible.
Some pictures of Rachel’s trip to Mexico…
The Kelloggs 