The excitement of the 5th of July...

One can understand the jitteriness and excitement of fireworks and bright colors, loud bangs and people flinching as they explode, on an evening on the 4th of July. Let me present another scenario… it’s the evening of the 4th of July. With all excitement of celebrating the 4th of July, perhaps some went to see fireworks and were praying to God that a firework would not fall on them and explode and prevent them from going on their trip to Mexico City the following day… While others where busy forgetting that it was the 4th of July… Do I have enough socks?… check! Did I put in my deodorant and toothpaste? …. Oh.. And don’t forget my toothbrush and hairbrush… check! It’s 9:30 pm and I need to get to bed because I’ve got a bright and early morning tomorrow… better put my alarm at 3:30 am… maybe I can wing it if I put it at 4:00 am… Well, this was the case of the Mexico City STM 2008. May I present to you… Mexico City Short Term Mission Team of 2008! Drum roll please… drrrrrrr… The team leader, Carlos Diaz, and under his leadership, 10 team members: Henry Bafiera, Luis Duenas, Sergio Cifuentes, Luisa Pellon, Armida Mineros, Wendy Zahn, Vanessa Ling, Jhaneth Gomez, Sarah Wang and Katie Hamilton. Six members of the team have gone to Mexico City on a STM before… and the rest of the team… it’s their first time!! Receiving an exciting voicemail from Luis Duenas, who was calling from the airport to say hello and bid his quick farewell thereafter, was great… especially because some teammates got to leave a little message too. Rushing to dial Luis back, I couldn’t contain myself with so much joy that I felt for this team knowing that they were embarking on a mission where God is going to use them to their fullest potential and do all for His own glory!… anyway to show a little personality of the team members… Luis answered the phone saying, “Hey…what up, what up?” and I could just hear in the background the team roaring in their conversations, laughing, excited. The lovely and very engaged Vanessa was being accompanied by her fiancé and pretty sure she introduced him to the whole team. Miss Katie and Wendy said hello. Team leader, Carlos, got on the line as well to say hi and said he hadn’t slept a wink ;D (how fun…) He also asked that we pray for the team and for the whole trip. Jhaneth, whom I have to say was the most ecstatic on the phone was almost cheering in every word she was speaking!!! She was VERY HAPPY and excited :D. Sergio got on the phone too having me guess who it was speaking to me (not hard to figure out), and Sarah said she was so excited… this being her first time going to Mexico on a STM!! I can tell already this team is blessed…and GOD IS WITH THEM. Jhaneth filled me in on the details of their morning today… practically the whole team had to wake up around 4 am to get ready and arrive at the FLYAWAY in Van Nuys at 5 am. There, they had to take the FLYAWAY bus at 6 am that would take them to LAX. They arrived by 7 am, and had to check in with their luggage… after all this… they were ready for breakfast!!! Yummy… there’s nothing like having Burger King and Starbucks for breakfast… at an airport!! ;D The team was waiting to board their flight on the Alaskan (I don’t know how the whole Alaskan Airline works with going south to Mexico instead of going north towards Alaska…ahh…sense.) Boarding time on the plane was at 9:55 am and their flight departed at 10:25 am. Mexico City STM should be arriving in Mexico City at 4 pm their time (meaning 2 pm US time - 2 hour difference). So strap yourselves in and get ready to fly with God’s wonderful blessings as this team is on their way to do the Lord’s work with the Mexicans, both the saved and unsaved. Please pray for this team, pray for it’s members individually, even if you don’t know them, pray for them by name - God knows all and hears all!! Updates will be posted as frequently as possible… you are more than welcome to email the team if you’d like at mexicocitystm2008@gmail.com

posted by yours truly,
tiara