We have been privileged to host several short-term missions teams at Welcome Home over the winter months. Here’s a look at what’s been going on. . .
FIRST REFORMED/MEDI-MEX

It is always a blessing to welcome our good friends and Welcome Home Partners, First Reformed Church (Lansing, IL). In late November we hosted a team of eight stalwart folks from this Chicago-area church. Seven of the eight team members are “regular” Welcome Home guests, including Don Tiemens who brought along his new bride, Barb, for her first Mexico missions adventure.

The team funded and built a mechanic shop for local pastor David Mendez. Pastor Mendez is the overseer of more than twenty churches in the local area, plus a few congregations located in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca. He is also a master mechanic who is using the new shop as a mechanic training facility.

Some members of this Lansing team are also involved in a ministry called Medi-Mex which has worked in Mexico for a couple of decades. For many years Medi-Mex funded a children’s breakfast feeding program in Reynoso, MX, just across the Texas border. But recent escalating violence in the Reynoso area forced them to discontinue the program. Medi-Mex officers, Ken Vanderhye, Jerry Cassity and John VanDrunen, came to Welcome Home this trip to discuss the possibility of diverting the Reynoso ministry funds to Baja work. We were delighted to be able to offer a proposal which was accepted by the Medi-Mex Board and is now being implemented.

Each month, Medi-Mex will disburse funds to Welcome Home to use in three major areas: 1) assistance to Saturday breakfast program called Mision Vino Nuevo administered by Cesar Aguiar Martinez and located in the Triqui village; 2) a scholarship/helps fund for children and families of Casa Hogar Bienvenidos; and 3) a food pantry and emergency fund for community members in need.
We are so grateful for this wonderful new source of funds so that we will be able to serve and help more needy people in the Vicente Guerrero area. Thank you, Medi-Mex! You are helping us serve as God’s hands in this community.
CALVARY CHAPEL MADISON COUNTY

If we gave a prize for the most-miles-traveled by a visiting team, it would have to go to Calvary Chapel Madison County (Huntsville, Alabama) who traveled over 2,200 miles to Welcome Home in early December. Under the guidance of Pastor Don and Lori Hawkins, this team was led by the Hawkins’ son-in-law, Andrew Calderon, a California resident who regularly leads missions teams from Calvary Chapel East Anaheim into Mexico.
This team worked directly with Pastor Ken and Rita Marr of Capilla Calvario Vicente Guerrero. One of the things the CCMC team did was provide and serve very special Christmas dinner party for the women of Capilla Calvario. What a blessing this beautiful night this was for the women of the church.
Another great gift was the presentation of a Nissan Pathfinder [which they had driven from Alabama] to Pastor Ken and Rita who, in turn, passed on the gift to Welcome Home’s Neri Maya. God’s blessings just keep flowing!
Thank you, CCMC, for coming to Baja to minister with us. We hope to see you again soon!
CALVARY CHAPEL EAST ANAHEIM

Andrew Calderon brought a team from Calvary Chapel East Anaheim to Welcome Home in mid-February. This weekend team of sixteen persons brought funds to do a roof repair for a family in Triqui. Unfortunately, when the Saturday morning of the roof job arrived, it was pouring rain so the job had to be postponed.
But, the CCEA team did provide and serve a lovely Saturday evening dinner for couples of the Capilla Calvario Vicente Guerrero. Great job, Anaheim!
Although the CCEA team was not able to do the roof project themselves, the money was left so that the job could be finished. The following weekend a group of students from Calvary Chapel’s Bible school in Ensenada came to join young people from Calvary Chapel Vicente Guerrero in completing the roof work, under the supervision of WHO crew members, Jose Luis (Colores) Santiago Bautista and Neri Maya. A great example of teamwork and unity in the body of Christ.

LIFE PREP ACADEMY

Leaders from Life Prep Academy (Newport, WA) wisely plan their annual missions trip to Mexico for mid-February, as the winter snows continue to pile up in their home driveways. The Baja sun thaws them, even though the evenings here can be cold and damp.

Under the leadership of Rory Axel and Buddy & Michelle Moody, the eighteen-member team eagerly came to tackle a house build in Playitas for the seven-member family of Alberto and Maria de los Angeles who, along with three other relatives, had been living in a makeshift cardboard and plastic structure. The contrast of the old next to the new house is striking!


This team also helped the neighbors of their house-build family. The wooden house next door was experiencing a lot of wind through the cracks in the walls. So Life Prep folks purchased some additional materials to insulate and stucco two-and-a-half sides of this neighbor’s house for added protection from the winds.
The Life Prep group included DarLynn Petrie, an EMT trainer, who worked along with local friend of Welcome Home, Hannibal Reyes, to present a 3-day training for EMT workers. Together, DarLynn and Rory Axel, also brought a large donation of firefighter gear for local bomberos (firemen).

We have to give huge props to Michelle Moody for spearheading some amazing fundraising efforts for this team ~ including a bridal fair! In addition to the $3500 house construction funds raised, the group brought $1000 for outreach. This money was used to purchase a large amount of food to prepare dispensas (family food packs) distributed in Bella Vista camp, plus forty dispensas for the Welcome Home emergency pantry and additional bulk food provided for several other area ministries.
Life Prep, you were such a great blessing to us at Welcome Home, to the family of Alberto and Maria and their neighbors, to the people of Bella Vista and the community of Vicente Guerrero. We thank God for your willing hands and hearts!
CEDARS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (Prince George, B.C.)
Okay, and IF we gave out prizes, our second prize for the most miles traveled would go to Cedars Christian School of Prince George, B.C., Canada who traveled just over 2,000 miles to reach Welcome Home in mid-March. This was a second visit of Cedars students and teachers to Welcome Home, and we are grateful to Shane Nelson and Dave Brown for leading this return trip.
But, then, it is no wonder the Canadians want to come to Baja this time of year. Shane told us that when he left Prince George, the shoveled snow bordering his driveway was well over his 6-foot height! That global warming rearing its ugly head again!

This group of students from Cedars Christian raised and provided funds to help start the new classroom building for the Casa Hogar Bienvenidos (Welcome Home) guardaria (daycare). They worked on the foundation and floor for the classroom project. Work on this project will continue as God supplies the funds and labor over the course of this year.

The team’s young, strong muscles were also used to help our Welcome Home crew dig and prepare a foundation for a family house to be built by the next team.

Cedars students came with a long list of things they wanted to do while in Vicente Guerrero. In addition to their construction work, students spent time having fun with our daycare children every day.

They also planned and implemented a three-day soccer event in the Santa Fe community, working with local leader Hannibal Reyes. The soccer camp culminated with a Saturday tournament involving about 10 teams of youngsters who had a ball (literally)!
Another sport these teens got involved with was a little pick-up basketball at the new community basketball venue which is just a block away from Welcome Home. They went to watch some city league games in progress and ended up playing some late-night b-ball with the locals. It was a split: Canadians 1 win, Mexicans 1 win.
The students were also interested in connecting with some local young people, so we were able to connect them with the jovenes (youth) group of Calvary Chapel Vicente Guerrero. On Saturday evening they joined together to worship and share testimonies with people their own age. Thanks to Pastor Joel and Pastor Neri of CCVG for making this happen.

All in all, it was truly a blessing for us to have these great young people with us at Welcome Home. They are a super group of kids who are devoted to serving God and whose hearts are tender with God’s love for people. In their own words, two Cedars students describe what the Mexico experience meant to them:
Karley Goertzen writes: Wow, what an experience of a lifetime. How Mexico has changed my view on life is incredible. The interactions that we had with the people in Mexico were so amazing. I loved every part of the trip, the tacos, that never seemed to run out, the kids, the hard work, the sun and everything else. Working for God is one of the most amazing feelings one could have. Trusting God in everything we do is key. Some highlights for me this trip were hanging out with the kids. Both at the daycare and at the soccer camp. The language barrier was difficult at first, but you learn to just live with it and discover other ways of communication. Love and smiles are the same in every language.
Giving a hug, a high five or a pound it, seems to put a smile on anyone’s face. The kids were so outgoing to us as strangers, they didn’t care about what we looked like, or what we were saying in English, they just wanted to be around us, to play, to go on the swings, to give piggy backs etc. They were so content to just be around us. I was very content to be around them as well.
And Keaton Gairns reflects: This trip, in retrospect, has been truly one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I have seen poverty before, but not through the same eyes that I saw it this time. I have been blessed with opportunities to see many different countries in the world before this trip, but there is a difference when you go with God at the forefront of your team. I believe that we have much to learn from the Mexican people, and that yes, they may have material poverty – but in actuality, it is us – Canadians, Americans, or whoever happens to rest in the top 20% of the world’s rich – that have spiritual poverty. This is not true in all cases, but when I take the things I saw and witnessed in Mexico and compare them to things I see and witness and am a part of here – it becomes apparent that we have a lot of work to do.
Now, would anyone want to argue that a short-term missions trip doesn’t have an impact on young people? We positively know that God uses missions trip to change the hearts of people of any age!
Cedars School and parents, we thank you for sending your young people on this trip. It has already made an eternal difference.
CORNWALL CHURCH (Bellingham, WA)

Cornwall Church in Bellingham, Washington, is one of our strong Welcome Home Partner churches. Not only does this great congregation partner with Welcome Home by being a consistent financial supporter, but Cornwall also regularly sends teams to work alongside our WHO staff.
In late March, Jenny Redmond led a stalwart team of four to spend a week at Welcome Home, to build a house, to connect with old friends here in Vicente Guerrero, and to make new friends of the staff and children here at Welcome Home. Jenny has visited Vicente Guerrero on numerous occasions over the past years, so she has a lot of friends in the San Quintin valley – but this was her first visit to Welcome Home. It was great to connect with her, as well as with the other team members, Art & Lynn Zawicki and Sean Depner (a returnee to Welcome Home).

Even though the team was small in number, they were mighty in spirit and “heart” and were a great blessing to us and to many others in the area. The house they built was for a single mother of one of our daycare children, Josue Oliver. Josue, his mother Janel and her other children are now enjoying their brand new casa here in Vicente Guerrero. It should be noted that a team of four would have difficulty completing a block house during their week with us, but our WHO construction crew worked hard to have the job far enough along so that the Cornwall team could see the job completed and dedicated before they left. And it was done!

The Cornwall team also visited and helped in our outreach ministry in Las Aves. And they were introduced to several other ministries in the Vicente Guerrero area.

We are looking forward to welcoming another team from Cornwall in July when youth pastor Kevin Stamper brings his students to Vicente Guerrero for a second year.
CENTRALIA COMMUNITY CHURCH OF GOD (Centralia, WA)
and NEW YORK COLLEGE OF PODIATRIC MEDICINE

Yes, we do love our Partners! And another of our great Partners is Centralia Community Church of God (Centralia, WA). Pastor Elmer Goodeill has built a strong cooperative team of doctors and students who come to Vicente Guerrero each spring to minister and serve. Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Justin Sherfey, and general practitioner, Dr. Chris Yarter, and their families lead this medical team that has for the past three years also included Dr. Sharon Barlizo and a team of students from New York College of Podiatric Medicine. What a terrific team they make!
During their time in Vicente Guerrero, all of the doctors spend time serving in the clinic of Foundation for His Ministry under the supervision of clinic administrator Dr. Heber Avitia. In their three full days at the clinic, they saw several hundred patients.

But the doctors also split into teams to work out in the field as well. The doctors worked in the elder care home, Casa del Buen Samaritano, with Juan Vazquez; they held clinics in the community center of Dias Ordaz, in the city park in the town of Colonet, and in our Welcome Home outreach site of Las Aves. All in all, it was a very busy but productive week for this energetic team.

We want to give special recognition to Gabby Anaya for coming with the Centralia/NY group to serve as translator. Gabby is a high school senior from Chehalis, WA, who has accompanied the Centralia team several times (along with her father Pastor Tony Anaya) to help with translation. With her sweet spirit and servant heart, Gabby is a tremendous asset and we are always delighted to welcome her back to Welcome Home.

The Centralia/NY group provided funds to buy bulk foods to help people in need. We were able to distribute despensas to the families in the Las Aves community, as well as stocking our emergency food pantry to assist families throughout the month. Food was also provided to our sister ministries in the Vicente Guerrero community.
The Centralia church will be sending their youth group to Welcome Home this summer as well. We look forward to working with youth pastor Jon Geyer and his students in August.
AND MORE GUESTS . . .
In addition to the missions teams who have visited Welcome Home over the past several months, we want to acknowledge various individual friends who have spent time with us:
> Darryl Brown of Saskatchewan
> Nick & Linda Molatore of Portland, OR
> Nate and Lisa Nelson of Portland, OR
> Marie Stuart of Portland, OR
> Marcus Dorsey of Portland, OR
> Adam Lindsley of Bellevue, WA
> Stevie Lindsley of Long Beach, WA
We are abundantly blessed by visits from friends! If you would like a personal introduction to the work at Welcome Home, or if you just want to visit us in Mexico for a little R&R, feel free to contact us for more information. Email the Scotts at Steve_jackie_scott@yahoo.com.