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Thanks to Pastor Larry Moore for allowing us to use this video. All pictures were taken during the Apostolic Youth Ministries International’s ( AYMI) trip to San Felipe, Mexico.

Hello, everyone. I would like to apologize for writing my report so late. I am writing about my trip to Mexico. I just wanted to thank everyone again for your prayers and support for the youth groups and the families we helped.

I would just like to start out my report with the weather. It was really hot there, just like back home in the 
Philippines. San Felipe was also a very warm and caring town. Everyone who lived there welcomed us with open arms.

We departed from Calgary on March 22nd, we left to fly to Vancouver and then to L.A. We spent the night at Buena Park. In the morning, we drove to San Felipe. We stayed at San Felipe until Thursday. We left Thursday afternoon and drove to Anaheim that night. We went to Disneyland on Friday for the whole day. We left for Calgary on Saturday afternoon.Our first day at San Felipe, we attended the morning church service. Their worship time was very energetic.

There was something about it that just moved everyone in the room. Their worship was just so energizing because they always put so much into everything that they do there. Their services are also very touching. I think that the keyword was community. They always took everyone in the community in account. They always prayed for everyone that asked for prayer. We started our construction work on Monday. There were two jobs that groups were assigned to. The two jobs were construction or Vacation Bible School (VBS) with little kids. My first shift was doing VBS with the children. We performed skits of Bible verses for them. Afterwards, we did crafts with them. Our pre-VBS ritual was always to play soccer. We always get beaten. They are very good at soccer because that’s all they play. The kids were very open to us. They were always so happy to see us and they were just generally happy. Most of the kids were very funny even though we could barely understand them. They were so content with what they had and they had almost nothing. That’s what made them so special. They were also more tolerable than the kids here in Canada. The conditions they live in contribute to their maturity and attitude towards certain situations. They were always just cheerful which brightened everyone’s day.

I was on VBS two days in a row, which made me happy because I would get to spend time with the kids and it meant that I wouldn’t have to work in the hot Mexican sun. The third day we did our shifts, I was on building. We were stationed at the bigger worksite because it needed more people. The family that we were building for were very nice to us. They were concerned with our well being which is more uncommon here in Canada. We managed to finish up all of our building before heading back to the U.S.

The lessons I took away from Mexico were the freedom of people and how poor we actually are. The children were just so free in doing whatever they wanted to because there were no restraints in Mexico. Here in Canada, we feel inclined to fit in with everyone. We always want to buy brand names and we always want to have the top of the line things. We are more concerned with how we look than how we should be spending our time. The people there are also free in the sense that they can connect to God so easily and that they love Him no matter what they have or don’t have. They are always thankful for what they have. Another thing is that one of our youth pastors, Larry Moore, shared with us how poor we are compared to the Mexicans that we helped. They are always open to God and they are never held back by the rules of society that come into play here. They can always just spend time with God. He provided them with everything that they can ever need and so much more than us. We should be humbled to serve them because we can get from them so much more than we will ever give to them. They teach us humility and how to serve the Lord.

Overall, it was a very life changing experience. We all made new friends, learned new lessons, established new friendships and just enjoyed each other’s company. I learned so much on this trip. The people I went on the trip with also changed my life. They were all so special and helped me to learn more about everything. Hopefully, we can go on another mission trip next year. Thank you once again for supporting us and praying for us during this journey.