Here are more pictures from our last day at MVM We are in the airport in Mexico City about to board (sorry for the delay but we've been short on time and internet access the last two days)

Our last day at MVM included,

VBS

VBS group photos

VBS graduation

English Classes in town

The Sewing class graduation

US vs Mexico Girls Soccer

Confirmation

Yesterday we were at the water park in Ixtapan. Everyone got waterlogged before going to the hotel where we had dinner. Afterwards some went to the Zocolo (central square) and the others to see Nancy's house.

Most slept on the bus today to Mexico City, but there has been much shopping in the airport. See you soon

Todd

¡Hola!

Hey everybody! We had a great time at VBS and english class and painting and the health fair continued today! The kids were so fun and were full of energy. They were even chasing us around! The food is excellent (we had cactus yesterday) and the cooks always have smiles on their faces. We´re not too tired yet but Rick is getting there, and he loves gumby and watermelon. The English class was only six kids yesterday but today the class doubled in size. Katrina types SO FAST. It has only taken 20 minutes to write this! Yesterday some of us went on a hike. The view was amazing. The weather has been fantastic with an afternoon rain everyday. We have been playing hockey socks (hacky sack) nonstop. Everyone has been playing, even the adults. After VBS there is a lot of free time so we all have been playing different games, including basketball, hacky sack, and soccer. The men on the trip were surprised with gifts from the midnight chicas! They each got a picture of them drawn by hand surrounded by compliments, a bracelet, and a native painting on handmade paper. We miss you all in 115 degree heat while we are here in beautiful weather! Cannot wait to see you soon! Adios!


Love,
Sammy, Katrina, Kari, Heidi, Megan, and Ricardo (Rick)

Day 4 Continued

Maren and Meagan went to teach english at a school that MVM is associated with. They were impressed by how eager the students were - the older kids wrote down everything in a notebook they brought.

The day concluded with Family time where an inspired gave the devotion!

Tomorrow brings more of the same except the doctors will be attending a health fair sponsored by the DIF

Many Directions and Tasks

Day 4: Many Directions

Today the group split up to work on several different projects-

VBS

A visit to the Rehab center

Prep Work for Painting the New Playground Set
Painting at the Bible Institute

English Lesson in Atlacomulco

Here is the Auditorium all set up for VBS. It is the cleanest it would be all day. Everyone who worked with VBS said it was the most organized that it has ever been. Many mentioned working with the kids as their God Moment for the day (family time) Derek saved the day with his technical skills and set up the computer and projection system (because his Dad forgot to set it up before he left to see the Rehabilitation Center.)

As you can see, the playground set is already getting heavy use. The group prior to ours built it, but were unable to finish it. Work continues (sanding, minor revisions for safety, etc) to prepare it for painting on Wed and Thurs.

(sorry, picture will be in next blog)

Here is the group that traveled to see the Rehabilitation Center in Atlacomulco. It is the only one in the county and surrounding 5 counties and has over 1300 visits per month. Jayne is standing with her two residents - Hector and Angelica - in front of the entrance. The DIF is the Mexican equivalent of our Social Services and it is run by the Mayor wife Dr Lilia Aguilera. They have had a fund raising campaign for the last year to build a new facility and have collected over $250,000. They have started building and will dedicate it in December. Their logo is an animated crutch and each of those attending got a stuff toy and Tshirt with the logo on it. The residents were busy taking notes as they have to present at Grand Rounds when they get back. They also will try to see if we can get support in the form of used equipment for the new center.

Day 4: Sunday

We took a half hour bus ride up into the mountains to attend church at Mt Sinai Church whose pastor had invited us for church and lunch. One of the highlights was having Matt Knopf give the sermon.








We sang several songs up front in the church and actually sounded pretty good (per Dennis who was filming from the back of the church)

Jayne continued the health fair after church with blood pressure screening.

The teens played games with the kids and had great fun despite speaking different languages.

Here is Dennis enjoying the great meal they served us - freshly made tacos made from blue corn tortillas fresh off the grill.

Finally a group shot of everyone there at Mt Sinai Church before the goodbyes began (much like the long Minnesota goodbyes)

Day 3: Here are Sally and Tacho in front of the MVM prior to the Health Fair which ran on Saturday. The fair was attended by the neighbors - usually the kids came first, then they would drag their other siblings and parents in later. There was lots of time for bonding in the group with Hacky Sack leading the way. Later Soccer and Basketball were the rage with the locals including the US vs Mexico on the soccer field.

People attending the Health Fair were greeted by smiles no one could resist. We had several stations set up to do screening for high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, body mass index (obesity), dental health, and womens health.

We had lots of free samples to give away, but the most popular at least among the kids were toothbrushes.

Jayne had two of her residents doctors along on the trip who both were born in Mexico and were fluent in Spanish. They were a tremendous help and very good with the fair attendeees.

Music has been another aspect that has unified the group and as a means of sharing with others.

More Pictures

Here are pictures from Day 2: We spent the day around Mexico City to acclimatize to the altitude. In the morning we visited the pyramids at Teotihuacan. Later we went shopping at the craft market then drove up to Atlacomulco to stay at the MVM.

The young adults atop the pyramid of the sun


The young women in a reconstructed temple near the Pyramid of the Moon

E is for Esperanza
The Schutts atop the Pyramid of the Sun

Pictures from Mexico

Though Jayne's name is on this posting, Todd is putting these pictures up at her request.

It is Sunday evening and we've had 4 busy days`so far. Tomorrow the work begins with VBS starting and the work projects continuing.

Here you see the eager travelers last Wednesday night when they were commissioned.

Here they are the next morning at sunrise to go to the airport.

Getting everything checked in and to the gate went without problems - no overweight baggage this year. The flight was uneventful and everything made it through customs without to much problem except for a long wait in immigration (over an hour). The bus was much closer this year because we came into the new terminal. Then it was off to the Zocalo (central square) in the heart of Mexico City. Some went to the largest bakery in the city, some to the National Cathedral. We ate at our traditional place - the Blue Tile Restaurant, and walked past the Opera House on the way to where the bus was parked. The night concluded with Family time. (continued)

Viva Mexico!

Besides the fact that we had to wake up super early and it was extremely cold, our day was amazing! After breakfast we set up the health fair where Heidi worked it out with the moviento workout video. There was a fairly good turnout and all went smoothly. The rest of the day we organized VBS crafts and polished our hackysack skills to try to beat the boys. We failed. So far we have all bonded really well and are enjoying our time here. Tomorrow morning we are headed to a church in the mountains, where we will most likely spend the majority of the day. We hope everyone is doing great back home and we miss you very much! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers = )

LOVE,
The Friends Club
(Megan, Lauren, Heidi, Julie, Kendra, Kari, Katrina, Maryn, Ashton, and Sammy)

Greetings

So today was our first day at the MVM and what fun it was. We had the health fair today which went on without a hitch. There was some down time so we did what we do best and played a lot of hackysack and some soccer and basketball. Me and Blake are burnt to a crisp right now cause we didnt know about this new invention called sun screen. Tomorrow we are going to a local church to see what a service in mexico is like and we will let you know how that goes. We miss you all. I miss my girlfriend and mom and dad and sisters and my taterbutt. Blake misses kat and wants to say I love you to her. He misses his mom dad and brothers and sisters and the handelbar! Talk to yall later

Glad you arrived safely!

Good morning from a wonderfully wet and cloudy Phoenix. I am glad your arrival was safe and now the fun can begin. I pray that today your adventures will be bathed in sunshine and clear skies. Keep sending the rain clouds our way :)

We look forward to staying in touch and hearing about all your special moments at the MVM. God Bless all of you.

Dara

And they are off!

The group began their journey this morning and we received word they arrived safely in Mexico City. It took a little extra time getting through immigration but all's well and they were heading off to a favorite shopping area. They will be joining up with Janet and Rick Knopf in Mexico City, then head up to the Mazahua Valley. God Speed all!

Ready to roll...

I can hardly believe we're leaving TOMORROW! After all the prep & meetings & packing, we're finally ready to go! I'm sure this is going to be an amazing experience for our family. Keep the prayers coming & we'll try to keep you updated. God Bless!

Yay!! :D

Only one more day! Our family is so excited to go on this amazing trip :) We appreciate your prayers and hope everything works out!

The Gerrish Family

Count down: 2 days!

Hello Everyone! Only two days left! I'm stilling trying to convince myself that we are leaving on Thursday seeing that I am currently in my summer school class and still have 2 papers to write before heading back to Phoenix tomorrow. Although I get to be with all you guys in Mexico City during my final, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I have finally learned from the last years and actually started the backdrop before the day before. My mom helped again and we had fun with basic geometry (even though I told her no one would notice if the angles and lines weren't completely straight). We spent most the weekend working on it (although there is still some work to do). I have to say, this is the first time I have gotten a blister from painting. Although I started with a queen sized sheet, we trimmed it down a bit...but I still think this is the biggest backdrop I've made so far, so I hope we find a wall big enough for it to fit on :P

Where What When

If you are following along with our trip - Here is the first Guess of what we will be doing during our 10 day trip:
July 10 - Arrive in Mexico City at around 2:30 pm We will be met by Sally and Tacho Domingues - our hosts at MVM. Check into our hotel and then tour the Zocolo, eat dinner at Sanborn's Blue Tile Restuarant
July 11 - Visit a local craft market, see the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, and spend our first night at MVM in Atlacomulco.
July 12 - Offer our Health Fair at the MVM for the people of Atlacomulco including health screening for Diabetes, Hypertension, Weight management, nutrition, exercise, dental care, and Women's health issues.
July 13 - Worship services & preparing for Vacation Bible School & work projects
July 14 - 17 - VBS and work projects (building a playground area)
July 18 - travel to Ixtapan del Sal for some fun at the waterpark & visit to Nancy Nelson's home
July 19 - Return to Mexico City airport and home - arriving 7:05pm
I am excited to see how God will use our time in Mexico to meet new people, make new friendships, and hopefully make a difference in the lives we touch. I know I will learn and grow from my new friends in Mexico.

Awaiting the trip

This is one of those experiences that one can really not describe! I wait for this trip with feelings of excitement and of curiosity, no matter that I have been on this trip twice before, it always brings new friends, life lessons, and immense spiritual growth. This trip is one that I am extremely grateful to be a part of and consider it a privilege to share with others things they may not have and create memories that will live in my heart and mind just as they will with the brothers and sisters in Christ who await our arrival. When most people go on mission trips they see it as an opportunity to travel and help those in need and spread the word and love of Jesus Christ, while this is the reason that we go on this trip, I have found that we travel to Mazahua with an intention to help but come back realizing that it is the people of Mazahua that have helped us and opened our eyes to things that we have forgotten in suburban life. These are just some of the things that I look forward too when I proceed on this faith journey, and it is the reason that I and the rest of the team are so excited for this trip.