We made it! After a long journey we are getting settled in for the evening. Where did the day go? It's hard to believe we were in Tucson earlier today. Praise God for a successful border crossing and drive to Hermosillo! It's hot here, but the desert landscape is beautful. When we arrived in Hermosillo we were warmly welcomed by the pastors and congregations we will be serving this week, complete with songs, prayers, and testimonies for how long they have been praying to have a team come and help. We had our first Mexican meal and are getting ready for the next day's events. We are excited for all God has in store for us. Thanks for your prayers and helping us get here!

It's only been one full day of ministry and God is already teaching us so much! We had a wonderful breakfast at Pastor Arturo's house, then headed off to our ministry site, Ebenezer church. There is a lot of work to be done! The pastor here said they have been praying for 12 years that a team would come and help, and now we are here! We spent the morning painting the church and the roof, then tearing down a dilapidated wall so that we can put a new concrete one in its place. It's a large project, but we know we can get it done. We got to split into groups and walk around the neighborhood to invite kids to vacation bible school as well. It's amazing how warm and friendly people are, even with our poor spanish skills!

After lunch we visited some homes of people in the community to pray for them and hear some incredible stories of how God has changed their lives. One woman even told us the story of how her baby had drowned, but been revived after proclaimed dead. She is alive and well. In the evening we had our first test-run of VBS and had a blast playing soccer with the kids. The whole city is watching the World Cup right now...go Mexico!

God is so good. We are excited about all he is going to do today!

It's the start of our last day of ministry already, and already we are sad to think about leaving. So much has happened in a short amount of time, and we'll have lots of stories to share when we come home. Yesterday we continued with our construction projects and laid the structure for the wall. There is a man from the church helping us by the name of Jesus, and we are glad to have him! Though he is quiet and a bit shy, we're becoming good friends. In the afternoon we had a chance to do more home visits and pray for a man who suffers from water retention. God encountered us in a powerful way as we prayed, and we are excited to hear how this man's life will be changed. We had even more kids show up for VBS too! God seems to be multiplying them each day. We'll see what today has in store!

(More photos coming!)

We just ended our final meeting and will be getting on the bus to head across the border tomorrow. The time has gone by so fast! We just finished our final meeting with the group after a surprise visit to nearby San Carlos for a recreation day. Yesterday was our last day of ministry and God blew us away with the incredible testimonies we heard and our own to share when we get home. We finished our work projects and spent most of the day with mercy ministry home visits. Talking with the people and hearing their stories has definately been the highlight of the trip. We had our final meeting with Ebenezer church and it was hard to say goodbye. A few of us shared testimonies from the week and one pastor shared a powerful message about taking the word of Jesus into all the places that still don't know him. We know this trip is just the beginning of following God's call.

After the meeting we were told we would be going to visit another church, but instead found out we had the whole next day for recreation in San Carlos! (Thursday) It was a huge blessing to get to spend time on the beach and go kayaking in such a beautiful city. Tonight we'll get ready to leave and prepare for heading home. We are excited to see you and share more in person Hasta pronto!