Lanza Letters: Blessings for Baja turned into BLESSED BY BAJA

We are back from Baja, and words can't really describe this humbling trip....but I will try.

As most people say, we went with the intent of blessing the people of San Quintin in Baja, Mexico, but I think they actually blessed us even more.

Day 1

Paul and I arrived at midnight to Atlanta, GA on Thursday. The LaQuinta Inn where we stayed actually upgraded us to a suite room, which was pretty awesome for the four hours of sleep we got there. haha We appreciated it anyway.
We took the shuttle the next morning from the hotel to the airport (which I am convinced is the most stress-free way to fly), and we rode with people who were so supportive and told us they would be praying for us on our trip. We made it to the airport and through security and boarded right away. Perfect timing!
We flew out with Southwest, and one of our crew members sounded like he should belt out with "What a Wonderful World" at any moment - such a Louis Armstrong sound-alike.
After a 4 hr & 45 min. flight, we landed in San Diego, CA with all of our bags. I still don't know how we packed all of our stuff for 8 days in one normal suitcase and one tiny suitcase, but we did. We also had two huge duffel bags filled with shoes to take to Baja.
We then met with everyone at the airport and piled like Mexicans into a van to cross the border (bad joke, I know, but I had to). We also enjoyed a yummy lunch at In-and-Out burger. I had never heard of that, but it was quite yummy.

First Impressions of Mexico: * I immediately noticed that all billboards and signs were no longer in English, and I immediately felt out of my element.

** The police are more like 6 army men on an army truck, and they carry machine guns.

*** The road to Ensanada and on to San Quintin is the longest, winding (and dangerous) two-lane road that I have ever seen. However, there were beautiful views.

**** People in Mexico drive even faster and crazier than we do. I'm not even kidding. I almost saw three deadly wrecks, one involving a semi, in under thirty minutes.

***** There are so many unfinished buildings where money just ran out.
We stopped in Ensanada at the City of Children to trade out of our van and into two small buses. (This is where we met Palar and Mishka - the two biggest pranksters, ever - which made the trip so much fun.) After about the fifth time of Palar yelling "I need your passport - hurry!" I finally learned not to trust everything they said. In fact, Mishka's famous words were "I told the truth once, when I got baptized." LOL They were a hoot!
Then, we stopped in at Costco in Ensanada to pick up the biggest grocery list ever. We had to pick up items to feed over 300 children breakfast and lunch the next day, which is a lot more food than you realize. It was also fun to try to find the cereal when I couldn't read anything. Thank goodness that Tony the Tiger looks the same in Mexico as he does here! :)
We also stopped to pick up 100 blankets at a local store.
We made it to San Quintin, Baja, Mexico by about 9:00 and checked into our rooms at the Old Mill (where we met Javier - the manager of the Old Mill who, let's just say, likes to party), followed by dinner at the restaurant there. The food there was so good - Mexican, of course, but the prices in pesos can give you a shock at first. For example, when you open the menu and it says Enchiladas Meal - $124. In the words of Paul, "This looks like the menu at Ruth's Chris." lol I cannot complain, though. Their spinach soup was awesome (which was not Cactus as Jan and Palar would have me believe), and I can definitely get used to having key lime on every chip.
We made it back to our rooms to retire for the night after a brief devo around the fire. Paul and I quickly learned that this would be a new experience and test of love, as the bathroom door did not shut all the way and all toilet paper had to be thrown in the trash can, so not to clog up the toilet. We survived, though, and it really wasn't all that bad.
Day 2

After falling asleep to the Mexican band jamming out at the restaurant, we awoke the next morning to a rooster crowing and birds chirping. Beautiful sounds. After a quick breakfast of cereal and viewing the beautiful view from the hotel, we headed to the church to put on a carnival for the children.
I was amazed at the line of children waiting to come in. We were told that we would be doing good to have about 250 children show up, and we had 350+ --- Praise God!
We set up cereal to feed them for breakfast. They were so excited, and I was told this was a real treat for them, as they usually just eat corn tortillas for breakfast. We had more children than expected, but somehow we had enough food to feed them all. Thank goodness for God supplying the need. We also feed them hamburgers, chips, and Oreos for lunch, and the teens at the church helped us serve it. It was such a blessing.
Then, we put on the carnival. It was lots of chaos, but lots of fun. Trying to explain how to play games while speaking no Spanish is a little difficult....but I quickly learned that if you'll just say "Uno, Dos, Tres" , they will take off doing the relays on three. It worked like a charm! Paul also had fun doing the egg/spoon race with the children. Some of the games we played were spoon/egg races, three-legged races, sack races, cornhole, jump ropes, limbo (which the rule of touching the ground went out of the window), frisbee toss, balloon popping, bouncing inflatables, etc. We had lots of fun prizes to give them, too, but what they ended up liking the most was trading those prizes in for a old balloons that we found and took on the trip just to have. They loved popping those balloons.
The children were awesome - humble, kind, polite, and they listened.
After the carnival, we went visiting homes with Pastor Agrapino and his wife Gloria (forgive the spelling of these names). The people have so little, yet they feel so blessed. This was definitely a wake-up call for me. We handed out some shoes and prayed with them. We asked one particular lady that we visited with what size shoe she wore, and here response was "I have no idea. I have never bought a pair of shoes for myself." Wow! I was humbled right there. She was so grateful to receive a pair of shoes that actually fit her. The ones she was wearing previously were very big on her.

We also visited a family who was decorating a home that Lipscomb teens has built for them the week prior. They were painting it purple and green.

We also went to the flea market to meet with a couple from the church there. At each stop, we enjoyed a time of fellowship and prayer with the people. Unfortunately, at one stop the bus was broken into and a duffel bag of shoes was stolen. So what did we do for the next stops? We parked the buses so close together that it would not be possible to get to the duffel bags. :)
After a fun-filled day, we came back to the hotel and enjoyed Mexican again at the restaurant (Chile Rileno is really good, btw), and we ended the night with a devo and beautiful Spanish singing and harmony by Dan, Erica, Isai, and Pablo.

Day 3
On Sunday, we attended church at Iglesia de Cristo, the Church of Christ in San Quintin. Church was at 10, and it was neat to hear the Spanish version of the songs I know.
Some of us ladies were pulled at the last minute to teach the children's class, and I am so thankful that Laura Lee brought Spanish Bible videos with her. That really helped! We watched the crucifixion story, and the children were very engaged in it. Once the video was over, though, we were not sure what to do since none of us spoke any Spanish. Thankfully, Mishka came to the rescue and sang songs with them.

Paul also taught the teen Bible class that day, and Mishka translated. Jan taught the women's class, and Palar translated. I hate that I didn't get to hear or see either one of them teach, but I heard that they did an awesome job.
After the Bible classes, the children were brought in to the church office in small groups to find a newer pair of shoes to fit them just right. We took over 300 pairs of shoes to Baja, and it was such a blessing to watch their eyes light up as they found a pair of shoes. Some of the shoes even literally lit up, and those were quite popular. From babies to older women, it was humbling to watch their joy over a pair of shoes. As a shoe fanatic, I shamefully look at how many shoes I have and how many times I feel like I need to go look for more. Again, another wake-up call.
After church, we took the preacher and his wife out to lunch at Jardenia's, which has the best seafood soup, ever. I love Mexican food, so needless to say I ate well on this trip.
We also went to Papalote to look at the church there. The men also went to look at two houses that they were going to roof the next day, and we ran into Carmen -- a lady who had come over to one of the houses to get Aloe Vera to put on her leg. We found out later that Carmen had a really bad dog bite that had gotten infected, so that suddenly became on of the ladies' tasks for the next day -- to help her. She also had no electricity and was out of propane to cook.
We went back to church for the evening service. We spent about 6.5 hours at church with the wonderful congregation that day, and it was such a blessing. Paul and Charlie also had a lot of fun entertaining the children with games during the service that night.

Day 4
On our last day, we checked out of the Old Mill that morning.
We went back to the church and packed up all the shoes by size to leave with the preacher and his wife. Then, we split up - guys and girls.
The guys went to roof two houses in area.
The girls went and bought tons of food for food sets to be handed out in the community. We went to what is basically the Mexican Costco, in a way, and stocked up. The pile just kept getting bigger and bigger. We were able to get flour, sugar, rice, beans, tomato sauce, noodles, oil, washing detergent, milk, etc.
Then, the ladies went on to the grocery store to buy food and medical supplies for Carmen (the lady we met the day before with the bad dog bite). We went back to Carmen's house with the food and medical supplies. We also filled her propane tank so that she could heat water and cook; before, she had put a little piece of metal over two rocks outside, and that is how she was trying to cook. We were also able to get her jugs of water from the water truck when it came around. She thanked and thanked us, but Jan reminded her to "Thank God, not us." At that moment, tears rolled down her face as she thanked God for this. I was truly humbled, once again. An older woman living in a two-bedroom home the size of my closet who picks up cans for a living, was so very grateful just to receive some food, water, and medicine. Oh, how much I have to work on in myself.
On the way to Carmen's house, we also came across a Chubacabra (otherwise known as a sheep). Jan wanted to take a pic with it and was able to untangle it so it could get some water.
We took the guys sandwiches, chips, and cookies for lunch and had lunch with them at their job site. Then, we loaded up and started back towards Ensanada. We stopped along the way in Collinette to meet the pastor and his wife there. They were such sweet-spirited people and even gave us each a guava to take with us.
Then, by nightfall we made it back to Ensanada. We stayed at a pretty nice hotel there across from where the cruise ships dock, and we were able to enjoy some shopping in Mexico and some yummy eating. We had wonderful Italian food that night for dinner, and the next morning we went to a place for breakfast that had fresh-squeezed orange juice. There is just nothing like it. That was the best orange juice!
The next morning, we said our goodbyes to everyone in Mexico and headed back across the border to San Diego.

My only complaint about the mission trip was that it went by too quickly. We are already counting down to next year!!

To view the full album of pictures from our Baja Mission Trip, please click the link below:
Baja Missions - 2014 Trip

Paul and I decided to stay a few extra days in San Diego, CA to explore a little and take a mini-vacation. Read the next post titled "Our little San Diego Getaway".