Amazing!!

All I can say is amazing... that is the only way to describe this trip. i am so glad that i was chosen to go on this trip. B/c i feel that god has told me many things.
I have learned so much through this trip and i would love to go again.

Kenton

We leave soon

So right now it's basically 11:09 on Sunday night. Wow is the only word I can think of to describe this week. Whether it was getting a 15 passenger van out of mud, experiencing God, or running a 2 kid's clubs a day, it was all great. Right now at 11:14 we are eating brownies and ice cream. Pretty sweet if I do say so myself. I can assure all the parents that there are so MANY stories to tell. What good times we had down here!!!!! The food was AMAZING as well. Well we'll see you all in about 1 day, 1 hour, and 14 minutes. Bye.


P.S. I love you mom and dad!!!!!!

Looking Back on the Week

Today is really our last day here to do anything. It's sad.... but if you look back on the week and see how God's been using all of us, it's amazing. Everyone was spoken to by God in some way or another. I could definately see God speaking to some people and see Him working in their lives.

It's amazing to see how God can take any situation and turn it into a better one. Honestly, I didn't really think God was gonna show us hardly anything, but He had other plans. The whole team has grown much closer together in everything we do. I thank God everyday for the opportunities we all have to worship and obey Him.

I can't believe this trip is almost over... (that's sad. i wish we could have stayed longer....)

~ Cariana

Beach

Today we went to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. It was sweet. We were able to spend some time relaxing after a busy week. The weather was nice and sunny. We played frisbee, card games, swam in the sea, and collected seashells. It was a good time except basically everyone got sunburned. Thanks for all your continuing prayers.

Spanglish by the Youth Pastor

I made quite the language blunder last night before the teen rally that we held at Monte Calvario church.

I was walking down the road to head to the park where some of our guys were playing soccer (or futbol). During my travels I passed a teenage guy. I wanted to invite him to the teen rally we were having but I was on my own to speak Spanish. I greeted him, shook his hand and excitedly invited him to the egg event we were having at the church.

I couldn't remember the word for youth and so I kind of made one up that sounded close. Apparently, the word I said, juevos, means eggs. Not only did I invite him to this special and wonderful egg event, I also pointed at him to ask "are you a youth?" and instead pointed at him and said, "egg? egg?" Then I pointed at myself and said "egg!". He laughed at me and told me he had to go to his house.

Hopefully he had a good story to tell his family about the crazy gringo who invited him to the egg event at the church that night.

Despite my stupidly amazing deficiencies at Spanish, we had an incredible time during our teen rally. Much of the time we spent hanging out with the teens, making braclets and playing soccer. It was awesome to see everyone engaging with the teens and helping them to feel welcome and loved.

Our group did an awesome job during the program part of the evening where we performed many of our dramas and some of them gave their testimonies. We could definately feel God's presence during the service!!

Also, the local Pastor and the missionary were able to make some new contacts with people that had never been to the church before. This gets me really excited because this has been our prayer all along that we would be able to help the missionaries and pastors connect with new people in their community so that the work does not stop when we leave.

Thanks again so much for your prayers, they are definately powerful and effective!!

Blessings!!

Mas Pictoras

Tomalo!!
Cute Kid!
The food here is amazing!!!!!

Thursday Pictures

Notice how excited the kids are!!
Freeze tag
"The Stand" drama

Monday Night from a different perspective

I just wanted to give a different perspective on the amazing night the missions team had on Monday Night. Wow would be how most of us described it and maybe the only word that could truly sum up that night and the extent of power that God showed us. As Jon said, to start off the night we had worship then started debriefing about handing out tracts earlier. When Jon starting talking about the evil spirits he felt in the city, I felt something come up behind me. Then as we closed our eyes to pray I could see the face of a demon. I quietly said to Michelle, please pray for me. I felt like I couldn't breathe and my body was tingling. When everyone else saw and heard this they all gathered around me to pray. After they were done my body stopped tingling and I could breathe again. Not only that but God's peace and presence filled me up. It was amazing to see the unity in our team as they all gathered around to pray for me. This unity didn't only show itself while everyone prayed for me, but it continued to show throughout the rest of the night as more people needed prayer. Then later in the night, God's presence fell in a powerful way. As people began to pray for healing and freedom from evil spirits they felt around them (look at Jon's Post for the full story), even more happened. During this God seemed to reveal to some of us new gifts, and not only that, but we acted them out. It was like a true body of Christ, each with their own part in action in us, young teens under 18. How awesome to see what God can do in us teens,who most of the time looked at as hormonal and emotional, on fire for God obeying as he leads. The unity that formed through this could only be build by God. This prayer time though was not only for us and the problems we had, but also for the fire that we felt in our hearts at the time to spread throughout the city of Ciudad Victoria. Many of us felt this one experience was not just a one time experience, it was just the beginning. The beginning of the awesome and wonderful things God wants to do in us teens, in our communities and schools at home and also in this city. How amazing God is, because without him the freedom and joy that we all felt after that night would have never been.

True Love....

Our teens are doing a great job of connecting with the kids, really reaching out. Sarah Babner, however, has made a powerful impression on one young lad. The 4 year old grandson of Pastor Vidal told his mother that his "heart ached with love" for Sarah. He brought her a flower and a picture of himself too. His mother asked Sarah if she would stay in Mexico so as not to break his heart! One of the unexpected hazards of teen mission trips...
This was posted by Kevin on Aubrey's account, because I am a computer blogger illiterate.

Kids Clubs & Kyle's Leg Kick

Drug Rehab & Kid's Clubs

Tuesday

Hey Everyone!
Tuesday we had two kids' clubs- one in the morning and one in the evening. In between we visited a drug rehab center. Both of the kids clubs went well. The morning club has been increasing in attendance by about 10 everyday. Today (Wednesday) we had around 50! The visit to the drug rehab center yesterday was incredible! There were about 6 guys there and they all had amazing testimonies! The man who had the passion to start this rehab center had some addictions in the past as well, and he was so passionate to begin the rehab center that he and his family started it in their own home! God has really been working in that place. We were able to take time to pray for them and they prayed for us as well. In the evening we had a great debriefing time. Today we again had 2 kids club. We have really been able to make great connections with the kids as we minister to them. Thankfully the rain stopped for most of the day! It's the sunniest day we've had yet and we were able to take the morning club outside for a little while. We attended Principe de Paz for the Wednesday night service and ate dinner at the pastor's house. Along with some of the Pastor's family, our team went and played basketball this evening at a stadium nearby. We will all be very happy for sleep tonight since it's been quite a tiring day/week. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Blessings,
Aubrey
P.S. Today was Gina Ebersole's birthday! Happy Birthday Gina!

Monday Night...

Hola and hello friends and family. Last night was the most intense spiritual night I have ever had. It all started when our plans got rained on literally and we had to pass out tracks around Victoria instead of doing a kids camp at the one church. When we came back some people told some pretty awesome stories about when they passed out tracks. I would tell you them except for I totally forget a lot of what was said and would mess the story up. While they were telling these stories I started to feel like my stomach was churning and boiling. I started to close my eyes and tried to push it out of my mind like it was just some leftovers from the spicy food. When i closed my eyes however I started to see this vision of an army of demons marching underground. I opened them up and I saw this portal to Hell in which the same vision was there only millions of times more real. I told Chad and the team that we need to pray for protection because a lot of our advancements today would not go without a counter attack. He agreed and we prayed that the fruit that we saw today would not die but spring up wonderful things. After we prayed Alicia started to spas out and was struggling to breath. A bunch of girls quickly rushed around her and prayed. I walked away and talked to Mike and Lori about what needs to happen tonight as far as prayers for protection and prayers for safety as we sleep. After whatever was inside of Alicia left we took a fifteen minute break from debriefing because it was too hot and Justin was sweating bullets. When we came back we were going to start handing out encouragement beads. Someone got an encouragement bead from someone else along with some encouragement. It was one of those fun team building activities to create unity and boost the moral. These nights normally turn out to be awesome and this one certainly got awesome fast. Only three beads were passed out before Alicia started to explain some stuff about spiritual attacks in her family. That's when my sister started to talk about her trip to Albuquerque and soon started to cry. I went over to comfort her and pretty soon everyone started to pray. Aaron then started to shake and there was an evil presence definitely in the room. In the name of Jesus I yelled at the top of my lungs for the thing to get out of the house. After minutes of me yelling commands in the name of Jesus to the presence that was there Josh said "I need prayer. They're are demons inside of me." Half the group from my sister went over and prayed for Josh including me and he trebled and sobbed as he was becoming free from past bondage. It was probably five minutes before he stopped trembling and I walked over and told Mike Castle to walk around his property and pray for a hedge of protection to be put up in Jesus name. Lori told me that their son Ben wanted prayer because of some fears he has. After I prayed for Ben Chad prayed for him and then he was prayed for by several other people and he was slain in the spirit. During the time that he was slain in the spirit Aaron was also being prayed for and when that was done people started praying and singing and reading words from the bible. It was the most amazing experience in my life and I surely will take it back with me to my home.

Jorge

Later on Monday afternoon, we decided to split into four groups and hand out tracts to people in the neighborhood. While my group was walking down the road, a man came up to us and asked us what we were doing. He spoke a good amount of English, so we were all able to converse with him. We told him about our involvement with the church nearby, and he explained that he used to live in Dallas but moved here because his daughter, Jorge, is very sick. The more he spoke, the stronger I sensed that this was a divine appointment. Michelle asked if he attended a local church and he said no. Then she asked if we could pray for his daughter, to which he agreed. He told us his home was nearby if we would like to pray for her in person. We followed him to his house and met his wife and some of his other kids, and he brought his daughter out to us in his arms. He didn't know how to explain her diagnosis, but she was unable to walk and talk. We laid hands on her and prayed for her. Afterwards, he said that she sometimes responds to music and video and we offered to sing a song for her. As we sang amazing grace, we felt the presence of God in the room. The father had to get to work, so we started to leave, but he stopped us to say he wanted to go to church and asked when the next service was. We excitedly answered him and when we got back to the house, we took Mike over to the house to show him where it was so he can follow up later. Please pray for Jorge and her family as God clearly wants to do something powerful in their life!

Kid's Club @ Principe de Paz Monday Morning Part Dos

Kid's Club @ Principe de Paz Monday Morning

Amazing Trip

Hey Everyone!
First of all I want to thank you all for your prayer and support. Today has been a very good day. We had our very first kids' club this morning at Principe de Paz Church. We painted faces, colored pictures with the kids, and made balloon hats and animals for them in the beginning. Then we went into some testimonies, songs, and skits. We had a great turn out considering all the rain that we've been having. It's been so rainy that there are like streams flowing through the streets! We actually had to cancel our kids' club that we were planning for tonight at the other church because the water in some spots is over a foot deep. We didn't really want to have to pull the van out of the mud again. But God has used the time in place of the kids' club for our team to continue to bond and we have been using a good amount of it in worship and prayer. We will do more planning tonight for the rest of this week. Thanks again for all of your prayers. God is definitely moving in this place. (and yes, mom, we're all doing great! Love you!)
Blessings,
Aubrey

WHERE IS THE SUN!!!!!

There was absolutely no sun today. It stunk, but we still maneged to have a kids club today and that was fun. Everyone was playing with the kids and having fun. it was really weird because I had a really bad migrain and i took my pill and i went back to playing with the kids and my migrain went away in less than like 5 minuts. It was crazy. but yeh i loved playing with the kids and chasing them aroung and giving them piggie back rides.

to day was a really fun day...

Invitations, rain, and pray on the other side of town.

While the other team was trying to get the van out of the mud, my team was walking around inviting kids the kids club at princepe de paz. Since there were about 7-8 people on each team, we decided it would be best to split up even farther so as not to overwhelm the families we were inviting. Considering we only had a few useful phrases to make a basic invitation and an interpreter for each sub-team, we were very successful. By the end, everyone I was with was able to say a greeting followed "Club de Ninos, esta semana, Princepe de Paz" which translates to "Kid's Club, all week, Prince of Peace (the name of the chruch). Then we would ask if they wanted candy for their kids and would continue on the next house. Around 12:00, we decided to start the prayer walk. During the next hour, we walked around while praying silently/aloud for everything from adequate shelter for everyone in the city to Mike and Lori and their ministry here. When we finally got back to the chruch (which is also where we started) we waited patiently with empty stomachs for the food to be ready. At some point, we learned of the trouble the other team was having and said a quick prayer for them.
Well, we're off to the taco stand for dinner!

Invitations, Rain, and Prayer

Today is our first full day in Ciudad Victoria! We split into two groups this morning to invite people to the two Kids Clubs we are hosting Monday through Thursday. We are working with two churches here, Principe de Paz and Monte Calvario. My group took the 15-passenger van to Monte Calvario, where we set out to find kids in the neighborhood we could invite to the Kids Club. It went really well; despite our group's slight grasp of the Spanish language, we greeted people, told them about the Kids Club (with the help of flyers), and made balloon hats and animals for the kids we saw! We got back in the van to leave for lunch around 12:30. Since it has rained a lot in the past few days, all the (dirt) roads were very muddy. Our van became stuck in the mud. Some men from a nearby church came over and helped push us out, which was awesome! We went around the block to try a different way out and got stuck again, but got out...but then we got stuck again and this time it was not good. By this time the lighthearted air we had brought to the situation was starting to wear off and we were becoming worried. We couldn't see how we were going to get back because there was only more mud ahead. Our group disagreed about which direction to try next and tension began to rise. Soon after, Aaron's asthma began to act up. A couple of the teens reminded us that we needed to pray and prayed immediately over Aaron. Before long, Aaron improved. Just a few minutes after that, a man drove his pickup truck toward us to help us out. With some deliberation, he was able to pull us out of the mud with his truck and skillfully guided the car through and out of all the remaining mud! Two hours after the time we started, we arrived at the Pastor's house for lunch. We are praising God for his faithfulness and for teaching us about unity, faith, and perseverance in prayer. To echo the youth, "Prayer really works!"

We've Arrived!

We're here in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico! After a long day of travel through the rain (much needed here at this time - thank God!), we've finally arrived and eaten dinner. Now, time for bed! I don't think any of us will have trouble falling asleep after a 2AM departure for the airport, 2 flights, loading 3 vans with luggage in the pouring rain, a quick stop at Wal-Mart and Chick-Fil-A, then a 2.5 hour wait at the border, and finally a 5-hr trip through the Mexican countryside to Mike & Lori's beautiful home! We're tired, yet buzzing with excitement! We thank God for a smooth trip the whole way through today!

We've connected so well already with Mike and Lori - they are AMAZING and so hospitable! Their son Ben is quite the social butterfly and has wasted no time entertaining all the girls with conversation :) We also met another group of almost 40 from Mississippi who is also in Mexico for a short-term missions trip!

Tomorrow morning we get to sleep in a little bit, and then will head out on the streets with flyers for our Kids' Club and ballooning tools in hand! Please pray with us that we will make good connections with neighborhood kids, blessing them with some fun balloons, and that God will use us to create an excitement in the area among the kids... We want to see Him draw many kids to Himself through this event! Also continue to pray for team unity as we seek to work together as a unit, a body! Thanks for your support and prayers! It's hard to believe we're here already and it's all starting.. the anticipation is GREAT!

-Michelle

1/2 day!

Wow! I can't believe we will be meeting in just 12 hours to begin our journey to Ciudad Victoria, Mexico!! I am so excited to see what God is going to do in this city over the next 10 days.

I am so proud of our team and the way they have grown over the last four months. As we leave for this missions trip, I believe they are all excited to minister the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.

As we travel tomorrow, please pray for safety, an easy time crossing the border, and energy!

I would like to thank everyone so much for their support both financially and through prayer. It has truly been a blessing to us as a team. We will be sure to update this blog regularly so please check back in for updates!

But for now, it's time for a 4th of July party! Make your own kabob's!! :)

Blessings!!

Welcome to our blog!!

I am so excited to announce our plans for a youth missions trip to Ciudad Victoria, Mexico this summer from July 5 – 14, 2008. We have a team of 13 teenagers* and 6 adults who will be partnering with BIC missionaries Mike and Lori Cassel and ministering to the people in Victoria through:

· Vacation Bible School for community children
· Street/Park evangelism
· Soccer (futbol)/Sports Camp
· Joining the local church and church-plant in worship
· Assisting the churches, pastors and missionaries with other projects

* Also, there is an additional teenager who has committed to be a part of our team but is unable to travel to Mexico with us due to scheduling conflicts. They have a desire and a heart to partner with us in ministry. They are fully a part of our team, attending all meetings and training sessions and will intercede for the rest of the team in prayer while we are in Mexico.

Our desire is to partner with Mike and Lori and the local Brethren in Christ churches in Ciudad Victoria to help bring new people from the community into the church where the church can minister long after we leave Mexico. Our prayer is that God would use us to introduce many people to the wonderful saving grace of Jesus Christ by serving according to 1 Peter 4: 10, Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

- Pastor Chad