To Every Tribe has decided that they would like for the students (and their families) to spend more time in Mexico this school year than they did last year. I guess it was a few months last year until they went on a trip to Mexico.
So as a part of this they have schedule a 2 day trip for just about every month of the school year. The first one fell on Jan 23-24.
We left about 11am in the morning after loading up all our gear into the trailer and vehicles. We were encouraged to pack very very light since it was only an over night trip and we where hardly going to be there for 24 hours.
Chris Johnson had driven back and forth across the border to make arrangements in hopes that we could camp on individuals property rather than on the school property (as the larger week long groups have done in the summer). Several people opened their homes to us and many of actually stayed in a home with a family.
We stayed in the little town of Emiliana Zapata (EZ) and I was very excited to go back because I had been there for a week last summer. I was very excited to see some of the kids I knew and also Rafaela who had been our cook last summer.
EZ is about a 2 hour drive from To Every Tribe's Base. It is not a coastal town but is a little inland from the Gulf of Mexico. There is a Catholic church in the town. It is a bit more well to do then some of the towns we visit but would still be considered quite poor. It is mainly a farming community. Although some of the men do go to other towns and work.
When we arrived we sorted out who would be staying where. Bianca and I were to stay with the Matt and Leanne and their 3 daughters (Jacy, Julia and Tabby) where to stay on the property of Juan and Lupita. As it ended up we stayed in their house. Juan and Lupita are Christians. They have four daughters and one son. All the daughters have moved out but their son and his wife and their little boy live with Juan and Lupita. There is plenty of room for visitors.
For the remainder of the afternoon we visited with people. Some of the group from played soccer with the local kids and I went to Rafaela's house and just hung out. Helped her or rather mostly watched her make home made tortillas. It is quite a science. I'll have to write more about it later. I just hung out with Rafaela. Which was interesting because she doesn't know any English and I know very little Spanish.
A little while later Irian came and translated for me and some of the guys. We had a good time just asking questions and also Rafaela shared a lot about the things she does and what some people in the village do.
Later in the evening we had a group meal with the families who's homes or property we were staying on. We had it at the biggest house in town which actually had 2 floors. We had mole (pronounced moelay). It was amazing. As most Mexican food is.
The people later requested for a Bible study. So we picked a time and the people came. It was pretty awesome. After the Bible study we all went to the place we where staying. Bianca and I didn't go to bed and Matt and Leanne didn't either. We simply sat in Juan and Lupitas living room and talked to them. Bianca translated for us. We asked them about they they believe and about their family. Their Son Ephraim and his wife (Jessica) where also there.
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