letter to my church

In 2009 I set a goal to go on a mission trip and witness first hand the positive works of Jesus Christ. Your generous support enabeled me to make this goal possible. With the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, I experienced my very first mission trip to an orphanage called Ciudad de Ángeles in Cozumel, Mexico.

Each year, thousands of tourist come to Cancun or Cozumel on vacation. Most visitors do not see the unemployment and poverty, nor learn about the inadequate education that exists in the non-tourist areas of the Yucatan. Children in Mexico do not have the social safety net that exists in most developed countries. A need exists for alternative childcare options, through private funds, to provi for these children. This also affords Christians an opportunity to teach children about God.

Ciudad de Ángeles provides a safe and healthy environment based on Christian principles for orphaned, abandoned, abused, and needy children living in Mexico. The home raises children to become Christian adults who are responsible citizens in their local communities.

Ciudad de Ángeles is a Christian children’s home on the island of Cozumel, just off the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. The home provides total care for all of the needs of the children – physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual. Ciudad de Ángeles strives to be a permanent home for these children.

Ciudad de Ángeles currently resides in four houses with a total capacity to serve 32 children, and children are being added as God continues to bless this work. The long-term vision is to develop the campus with individual cottages to house over 80 children.

The majority of our time at Ciudad de Ángeles was spent painting two of the four houses. Each house is approximately 2000 square feet of concrete with wrap around porches. Since Ciudad de Ángeles does no have electricity, the houses are engineered to remain cool year round with high vaulted, ventilated ceilings that create a draft through large, mesh lined windows. The rough surface of the concrete made it very difficult to paint. As the paint rollers covered the walls and ceilings, paint would spray everywhere. Depending on the house you were painting, you could be covered in yellow, blue, or white paint. In my case, I looked like I went to battle against all three colors with the paint being the victor!

Walls were built around the perimeter of Ciudad de Ángeles for security purposes. When we arrived, the walls were finished but needed a gate. We installed a gate to the main entrance and moved several tons of sand to elevate the low lying area to be flush with the bottom of the gate.

When our group was not working, we spent time with the children. Our main time for interaction with the children was between dinner and and their bed time. The evenings were spent doing group devos in spanish and helping the children with their English or school work. Interacting with the children was my favorite part of the mission trip. Each child has a different background and story about how they got to Ciudad de Ángeles. Even with all their differences, everyone accepted each other unconditionally. I was even more surprised at the children's display of affection towards our group. You could see in their eyes that they were genuinely excited and happy to have us as visitors.

On our second to last day, we spent all day with the children. Our group performed a short VBS which included singing, a skit of the Good Semaritan, and thank you cards to the local fire department. We sang the kids favorite songs in Spanish and taught them a few new ones on English. In the skit of the Good Semaritan, I played the role of the Good Semaritan. I think my Spanish was decent because they laughed in the parts that were funny. However, it's highly possible that they were laughing a my improper Spanish grammer and comical antics!

After our skit, we helped the children make thank you cards for the fire department. Once the cards were made we walked down the street and delivered the cards to the fireman. They taught the kids how to slide down the pole and let everyone have a chance to try it. The kid in me was really upset that I couldn't slide down the pole because we had to leave!

That evening we celebrated Halloween by conducting carnival games in the city square for the children of Ciudad de Ángeles and anyone else that wanted to participate. Overall we had close to 100 kids playing games and filling their bags with prizes and candy. Halloween is celebrated much differently in Cozumel than in the US. Going door to door trick-or-treating is not an option nor is it safe. I think this was a major highlight for the children in Cozumel and a Halloween they won't forget.

On our final day we attended the local church that the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ helped to establish. I was able to sing along in Spanish with the song book but I couldn't tell you what the preacher talked about! After church we brought food down to a large cabana overlooking the ocean. We served the food to all the children, families and workers at Ciudad de Ángeles and swam in the ocean. The children do not receive many opportunities to swim in the ocean and you could tell they enjoyed every second of it. The kids were also entertained by my failed attempts at flips and dives off a nearby cliff into the water.

That evening we said good bye to all the children, took lots of pictures with everyone and spent time reflecting on the impact we made on their lives and the impact they made on ours. My heart was touched in a way that it had never felt before. For people that live very poor compared to our standard of living, everyone was happy. It goes to show that money is not the key to happiness and the Holy Spirit can be found in the most remote and poverty stricken areas on earth. I am very blessed and thankful for the opportunity to witness the good works of Christ and the unconditional love that was shared to our group. Without your support I would not have these life long memories and for that, I am most grateful.