Come March 2nd to the Youth Service in the Gym at North Albany Community Church at 9:30 to hear about the 2008 NACC Youth Mexico Mission Trip. We will be preforming our Bible club program (don't worry, it will be in English), sharing what we saw, did, and learned, showing video and pictures, and much more. So come and find out what we did.
Stephen
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Picrues and Descriptions
Here are few more pictures and descriptions to show a little more of what we did.
Here is us playing songs at one of the Bible clubs. One of the songs that we played was "Every Move I Make." They really loved the hand motions for that song. We played it once at the beginning and once at the end. At the end we had all the kids doing the motions. Even after, I heard kids singing "Na, na, na, na, na" and doing the hand motions. It was really fun.
I hope you enjoyed this little explanation. If you have any questions about the pictures or anything, PLEASE ask. We have loads of stories that we want to share. We would love to tell you more about the trip.
Stephen
Here is a picture of one of the markets that we went to. They were interesting because they had the different products in rows. Like they would have all the fruit on one row and all of the hats in another row. I just thought that it was funny how they placed all of them together because it made the competition so much harder but at least it was easy for us to know where we had been.
Here is a picture of some of the houses that we went to to build the latrines. They were all rusty tin shacks. You see the pictures of houses like that but you don't really realize that is how they really live. The picture doesn't do it justice. If you eve have the chance to go on a mission trip, I would really encourage you to go because you will see things that you won't see at home.
Here is one of the latrines we built. They had made the base before we came and we made the frame and put on the sides and roof. One thing that I thought was funny was we used Corona bottle caps for the washers on the sides and roof. There was Corona ALL OVER where we were so there were more beer caps than washers, thus making them cheaper. I have had a lot of people ask me how the latrines worked so here it is. The base is really two chambers. The latrine has two holes. The people will go in one hole until it fills up (which takes about six months). Then they will seal off the first chamber and go in the other chamber while the waste in the first decomposes. By the time the second chamber fills up, the second will be completely dead and they will be able to scoop it out and dispose of the compost how ever they want. The vision of Medical Teams Int. is to help the people become self-sufficient. With this design, they won't need us to come back and dig another hole when the hole fills up. They will have the ability to keep everything going themselves. That is the beauty of this design.
Here is us playing songs at one of the Bible clubs. One of the songs that we played was "Every Move I Make." They really loved the hand motions for that song. We played it once at the beginning and once at the end. At the end we had all the kids doing the motions. Even after, I heard kids singing "Na, na, na, na, na" and doing the hand motions. It was really fun.I hope you enjoyed this little explanation. If you have any questions about the pictures or anything, PLEASE ask. We have loads of stories that we want to share. We would love to tell you more about the trip.
Stephen
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Some Details...And Pictures
Sorry I haven't posted any details of our trip yet. I have been trying to catch up on a weeks worth of school. Here is a link to some of our pictures: http://www.valesano.com/album2/index.html. We were staying at the Casa De La Tia. It was a lot nicer than I expected. There are a few pictures of the building and the room to give you an idea. It was a little strange doing things lke taking a shower and washing hands because afterwards, we would have to use had sanitizer because they have different bacteria in their water. We couldn't drink the water either so we had to buy bottled water for drinking and brushing our teeth.
The first couple days we spent relaxing and visiting various tourist attractions. There were a lot of Catholic Churches there. We visited several. They were amazing structures. We also visited a large site of ancient ruins called Monte Alban. I was amazed at how big they were and how much area they covered. There are a lot of good pictures we took of those. After that, we went to a wood carving shop. There were a lot of intricate carvings with incredible paint jobs. I bought some small ones for my sisters Hannah and Sarah. The food was good but it didn't really taste the same as the food from Mexican restaurants in America. After a while, many of us were craving American food like hamburgers. One night some went out and found a food stand that sold hamburgers and hot dogs. I didn't know a hamburger could taste so good! :D
On Sunday we went to a Mexican church in Oaxaca. They were very warm and welcoming to us. It was really interesting how even though we did not speak the same language, we could feel a connection with the people because we shared the same faith. In the church service, the worship team even played a few songs that I know like "The Love of God" and "Holy, Holy, Holy." It was exciting to relearn those songs that I already knew in Spanish. It was also interesting in the worship time how I could still worship God even though I didn't know what they were saying. Their faith was so genuine and their worship so sincere that I couldn't help but get caught up in it with them. I loved church. I was also surprised when they offered to take us back to our hotel. I know that it was an inconvenience for them but they refused to let us pay for a taxi. They were some of the most hospitable people I have ever met, as were all the Mexicans that I met including the poor ones that we went to help.
We started working on Monday. We split up into two teams and poured the floors on the latrines Monday, and then Tuesday through Friday we spent assembling the latrines. There are several pictures of the latrines being built. I was amazed that we finished all the latrines. Just about every one had little problems or mistakes and we still finished or nearly finished. One thing that amazed me was the people that we went to help would often go out and buy ice cold bottled water or pop for us. It just amazed me at how they went so out of their way to be hospitable to us and buy us something that they would never drink because they couldn't afford it.
After each team had finished their latrine for the day, we met at a local Bible club building (that Suzan and Arlene had helped make on a past team) for lunch. After lunch, we traveled to the Bible club that we were going to for the afternoon. By then everyone was sooo tired, but it didn't really seem to matter when we saw all the kids. At the Bible clubs we sang some songs, did a skit of the Prodigal Son (I got to be the son), taught a verse to the kids (Romans 3:23), sang another song, and then split the boys to play games and the girls to get their nails painted. I loved playing the games with the boys. At every bible club there was several boys that would really like me and that would hang around me for the whole time. There were a few boys specifically that come to mind that really made it hard to leave. Before we left each Bible club, we would hand out little presents that the kids in our own church's VBS had made along with a little cross necklace and some candy. The Bible clubs, especially the first one, was my favorite part of the trip.
On Friday, We only had one latrine to build so we did it as one team. It was really fun to work with everyone there. It was a lot less pressure because we had more people working. That day we finished in record time. After we had lunch that day, we split up into two teams again and did some house visits. Each team visited two houses. There we talked with the families about them. We talked about their kids, their husband or wife, where they worked, how much money the make, and anything else we wanted to know. Their stories were so sad but to see them and the hope that some of them had was amazing. Leaving the last house, it felt so strange that our trip was nearly over and we would be doing anything the next day.
One thing that I really like about this trip was the meetings that we had as a team every night. We met to talk about how our days went and to pray for each other. It was really nice to just talk about the day with someone who had experienced the same type of thing. I hope this give you a little more insight into what we did there. I will try to post more with other details or interesting things about the trip.
Stephen
The first couple days we spent relaxing and visiting various tourist attractions. There were a lot of Catholic Churches there. We visited several. They were amazing structures. We also visited a large site of ancient ruins called Monte Alban. I was amazed at how big they were and how much area they covered. There are a lot of good pictures we took of those. After that, we went to a wood carving shop. There were a lot of intricate carvings with incredible paint jobs. I bought some small ones for my sisters Hannah and Sarah. The food was good but it didn't really taste the same as the food from Mexican restaurants in America. After a while, many of us were craving American food like hamburgers. One night some went out and found a food stand that sold hamburgers and hot dogs. I didn't know a hamburger could taste so good! :D
On Sunday we went to a Mexican church in Oaxaca. They were very warm and welcoming to us. It was really interesting how even though we did not speak the same language, we could feel a connection with the people because we shared the same faith. In the church service, the worship team even played a few songs that I know like "The Love of God" and "Holy, Holy, Holy." It was exciting to relearn those songs that I already knew in Spanish. It was also interesting in the worship time how I could still worship God even though I didn't know what they were saying. Their faith was so genuine and their worship so sincere that I couldn't help but get caught up in it with them. I loved church. I was also surprised when they offered to take us back to our hotel. I know that it was an inconvenience for them but they refused to let us pay for a taxi. They were some of the most hospitable people I have ever met, as were all the Mexicans that I met including the poor ones that we went to help.
We started working on Monday. We split up into two teams and poured the floors on the latrines Monday, and then Tuesday through Friday we spent assembling the latrines. There are several pictures of the latrines being built. I was amazed that we finished all the latrines. Just about every one had little problems or mistakes and we still finished or nearly finished. One thing that amazed me was the people that we went to help would often go out and buy ice cold bottled water or pop for us. It just amazed me at how they went so out of their way to be hospitable to us and buy us something that they would never drink because they couldn't afford it.
After each team had finished their latrine for the day, we met at a local Bible club building (that Suzan and Arlene had helped make on a past team) for lunch. After lunch, we traveled to the Bible club that we were going to for the afternoon. By then everyone was sooo tired, but it didn't really seem to matter when we saw all the kids. At the Bible clubs we sang some songs, did a skit of the Prodigal Son (I got to be the son), taught a verse to the kids (Romans 3:23), sang another song, and then split the boys to play games and the girls to get their nails painted. I loved playing the games with the boys. At every bible club there was several boys that would really like me and that would hang around me for the whole time. There were a few boys specifically that come to mind that really made it hard to leave. Before we left each Bible club, we would hand out little presents that the kids in our own church's VBS had made along with a little cross necklace and some candy. The Bible clubs, especially the first one, was my favorite part of the trip.
On Friday, We only had one latrine to build so we did it as one team. It was really fun to work with everyone there. It was a lot less pressure because we had more people working. That day we finished in record time. After we had lunch that day, we split up into two teams again and did some house visits. Each team visited two houses. There we talked with the families about them. We talked about their kids, their husband or wife, where they worked, how much money the make, and anything else we wanted to know. Their stories were so sad but to see them and the hope that some of them had was amazing. Leaving the last house, it felt so strange that our trip was nearly over and we would be doing anything the next day.
One thing that I really like about this trip was the meetings that we had as a team every night. We met to talk about how our days went and to pray for each other. It was really nice to just talk about the day with someone who had experienced the same type of thing. I hope this give you a little more insight into what we did there. I will try to post more with other details or interesting things about the trip.
Stephen
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Home
We arrived last night. Our plane landed at around 8:30 P.M. It was nice to have our families there to greet us. It was a great end to our trip. We were all very tired and ready to sleep. I have noticed that I am not who I was when I first left. I don't really know how I have changed exactly. I know that I am a lot more grateful for the luxuries that I enjoy here in the US such as being able to drink tap water, being able to eat just about anything I want when ever I want, and having so many forms of entertainment. I think that may be part of my change, especially the last one. I don't really realize how much entertainment affects me and others. When I went to the Mexican church last Sunday, the people didn't seem to really need much. They weren’t expecting it to be entertainment. They were there because they loved God and wanted to praise Him. I hope that I never fall back in to the temptation of wanting church to be entertaining. That is one thing that I definitely want to keep from this trip. I am glad that I am home and with my family and friends again. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us. It really made a difference. Goodbye for now.
God Bless,
Stephen
God Bless,
Stephen
Friday, February 8, 2008
Last Day Of Working
Today was our last day of working. It is bitter/sweet. We really miss our families but we know that we will miss here too. We finished our last latrine today as a team. It was good because we finished in record time and also were able to talk and play with the family. The hardest thing is saying goodbye because they hug you and don't want to let go. After that we had lunch and then split up into two teams of four to visit some families. It was interesting to talk to them and hear about their lives. The culture here is very welcoming and hospitible. They were very willing to talk to us and tell us about themselves. OK, now for our update on each person:
Suzan couldn't find bottle caps for the latrine.
Arlene has a lot of surprises for people at home.
Joel likes to sing and dance in the latrine.
Jeff now owns a lot of coffee.
Branden still needs his churro.
Jenny is good at putting up siding.
Stephen doesn't have a bed to sleep on...he needs to pack! (oh yah, he needs some beef and broccli)
Allie is packed an ready to go but will miss the people.
We will be home tomorrow and ready for some good sleep. We miss you all and will see you very soon!
Stephen and Allie
Suzan couldn't find bottle caps for the latrine.
Arlene has a lot of surprises for people at home.
Joel likes to sing and dance in the latrine.
Jeff now owns a lot of coffee.
Branden still needs his churro.
Jenny is good at putting up siding.
Stephen doesn't have a bed to sleep on...he needs to pack! (oh yah, he needs some beef and broccli)
Allie is packed an ready to go but will miss the people.
We will be home tomorrow and ready for some good sleep. We miss you all and will see you very soon!
Stephen and Allie
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Working Day 2
Today was our second day of working. It has been hard work but very enjoyable. Yesterday we poured the cement floors on the latriens. We did all seven floors in one day! Today we worked on finishing the latrines. We finished one and have a little more to go on the other. We are trying to do two per day. Today was the first day of the Bible school. It was the most fun we have had all trip. We sang songs, preformed the skit, played games, and painted nails. We also got to hand out presents to each kid at the Bible school that our own VBS kids had made. The were all very happy. Now for an update on each person:
Suzan is a good mom.
Arlene will get the story out even if she can't breathe.
Joel is a crazy tall person according to Allie and the girls at the Bible club.
Branden wants to find a churro.
Jeff is a hard worker.
Jenny paid all her bills to people she owes.
Stephen wants American food again...soon!
Allie's purpose is to serve and love the kids of Oaxaca.^
Tomorrow we will finish some more latriens and participate in another Bible club. We all can't wait to come home be with family. The weather here is gettign warmer but is not bad. It feels worse in the direct sun while working. We miss you all and will be home soon.
Stephen and Allie
Suzan is a good mom.
Arlene will get the story out even if she can't breathe.
Joel is a crazy tall person according to Allie and the girls at the Bible club.
Branden wants to find a churro.
Jeff is a hard worker.
Jenny paid all her bills to people she owes.
Stephen wants American food again...soon!
Allie's purpose is to serve and love the kids of Oaxaca.^
Tomorrow we will finish some more latriens and participate in another Bible club. We all can't wait to come home be with family. The weather here is gettign warmer but is not bad. It feels worse in the direct sun while working. We miss you all and will be home soon.
Stephen and Allie
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Hello From Mexico
Hey everybody,
As you saw, we have arrived in Mexico safely.
Suzan loves it here. She is a great guide and she can speak Spanish.
Arlene hates lizards.
Joel needs to eat.
Jeff likes the coffee.
Branden was the first to get sick but not too bad.
Stephen misses English but is learning Spanish. (He expects at least 1/2 credit for school.)
Allie says hi to her family and friends. (Mom, I need food! No more goat cheese!)
Jenny is running out of money. JK! =)
We have mostly been shopping, hanging out, eating (well...some of us), focusing on the week ahead, sleeping, and getting to know the culture. We are starting our latrine projects tomorrow. It has been great getting to know each other and the culture that surrounds us. We are looking forward to the coming week. There have been a lot of new experiences and seeing how God will work through us is exciting. When we return, you will have to ask us about the details of our trip while you are looking at our pictures. Please post comments or questions. We really want to hear from you. We will hopefully be able to post more often. We miss you all.
God Bless,
Allie and Stephen
P.S. Paul H. and Denny, we have some good ideas for our Sunday services. ie: dancing, jumping, and just going totally crazy for God! Those are just a few. =)
As you saw, we have arrived in Mexico safely.
Suzan loves it here. She is a great guide and she can speak Spanish.
Arlene hates lizards.
Joel needs to eat.
Jeff likes the coffee.
Branden was the first to get sick but not too bad.
Stephen misses English but is learning Spanish. (He expects at least 1/2 credit for school.)
Allie says hi to her family and friends. (Mom, I need food! No more goat cheese!)
Jenny is running out of money. JK! =)
We have mostly been shopping, hanging out, eating (well...some of us), focusing on the week ahead, sleeping, and getting to know the culture. We are starting our latrine projects tomorrow. It has been great getting to know each other and the culture that surrounds us. We are looking forward to the coming week. There have been a lot of new experiences and seeing how God will work through us is exciting. When we return, you will have to ask us about the details of our trip while you are looking at our pictures. Please post comments or questions. We really want to hear from you. We will hopefully be able to post more often. We miss you all.
God Bless,
Allie and Stephen
P.S. Paul H. and Denny, we have some good ideas for our Sunday services. ie: dancing, jumping, and just going totally crazy for God! Those are just a few. =)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Arrived In Oaxaca
We heard the mission team has arrived safely and without illness in Oaxaca, Mexico. I'm not sure how easy it will be for the team to update this blog, so if anyone hears any information about the mission trip, email me at wade.valesano@gmail.com and I'll post it on this blog.
Wade Valesano (Stephen's dad)
Wade Valesano (Stephen's dad)
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