Swimming lessons

We just finished two weeks of swimming lessons for Gavin and Abby today. We were blessed with an amazing two weeks of weather - I don't think there was one day that it was too cold to wear shorts and a tank top! Quite an amazing thing, as many years there's groups of moms watching lessons huddling together with their coffees for warmth! ;)

Gavin did an amazing job this year! Even last summer he would still get really panicky about anything that was too new - going off the slide or the diving board. But this time he did so well, I was just amazed. Here's a video (just off of my phone; with three kids to keep an eye on, I didn't get any good pictures this year) of Gavin jumping off the diving board - this was a few days ago, but today he did it several times where he jumped off and then swam to the side all by himself! They got their report cards today and he passed the level on his first try! Way to go Gavin!

This was the first year Abby has done swimming lessons on her own (I did parent and tot with her last summer). And...she started off with a great demonstration of 'like brother, like sister' and screamed her way through the first couple of lessons. If a drop of water happened to touch her face, she'd scream. When they put lifejackets on to practice floating, she clung with all four limbs to the teacher's neck (not kidding!) and screamed. We had a little talk with her after the first few days and promised her a baby ice cream cone at the store if she could go through her whole lesson without screaming at her teacher. (Yeah, I know...but we had to do something!) :)

Fortunately the bribery worked and after one more day with just a little bit of screaming, she did really well after that. I wish I could have gotten it on video, but it was the cutest thing: she would be involved in the lesson, then would suddenly turn around to look at me, grin a huge toothy smile up at me and yell out "Mommy! I am doing a great job not screaming at my teacher!" She entertained the watching parents, that's forsure. :)

Abby didn't pass her level, but she made a huge improvement in the two weeks, which was wonderful. At today's lesson she even put her face underwater a couple of times (at least one was by accident, but she was pretty calm about it), and practiced her front and back floats with the rest of the class. Granted, she was up on the second step, so the water's only about a foot deep...and she hangs onto the next step up so it's not actually floating...but she was so proud of herself, she would call the teacher and say "teacher, look at me! I am DOing it!" The fact that Gavin, the original screamer himself, is now a 'strong swimmer' according to his report card, gives me such hope for Abby! Hopefully it will work out to do some lessons in the fall for them so they don't forget everything they've learned.

Here's a short video of Abby at her lessons. That's the rest of her class there in the background, probably learning the finer points of back crawl ;) and then there's Abby, hopping happily on the stairs. She was the littlest in her class (you have to be three years old, and she was three and a week when the lessons started) and she couldn't even stand where the rest of the kids were if she wanted to since she was so short.

Here's all the kids in her class lined up waiting to get the go-ahead from their teacher to get in the water. Isn't she cute???

Final Mexico update (Friday July 4)

Friday's email from Greg Mulligan... (this may be the last update before the team arrives home - please pray for safe travels as they make their way home for Monday night)

Hi everyone … it’s Friday evening, and we’re back at the base for a free time evening, which is so needed for all of us!

Today was our final full day in Ensenada – we spent the morning going to both houses that we had built this week, to pray (all 67 of us in a big circle around the house – was very cool), and to give a few more gifts to the families and a small gift of thanks to each of the national builders that worked with us. And after the second house, we stayed there for a “fiesta” – a party – where both families that had received the houses were cooking for us – and we enjoyed a great feast of fish tacos! (Someone just mentioned to me that they aren’t going to want tacos for at least 6 months after this trip – even though it has all been very good).

Then after our fiesta, we loaded all the vans and drove to an area south of Ensenada that is commonly nicknamed “YUGOslavia” … because it is incredible poor and dirty and filled with house after house that YUGO has built over the past decades! Even after working here for the past 4 days, driving past poor neighborhoods and run down houses/yards, I was deeply impacted by what we witnessed on this drive. My heart was broken, and I don’t know if I will ever get those images out of my head again (which is probably very good). The need is so great, and the contrast to my life so drastic – I have a great responsibility to do so much more with the amazing blessings that God has given to me!

Following this side trip, we proceeded to La Boofadora, a natural wonder about 35-40 minutes south of Ensenada. It is apparently one of only 3 natural oceanic blowholes in the world, and it was an amazing site to see when the water spewed up in the air 40-50 feet! The street leading to the actual water site is a long and windy one, lined on both sides with shop after shop of merchants and food … so it is a great place to shop for tourist items, which we did! It was fun watching everyone learn how to barter with the vendors, and even more fun comparing the deals we had received on our items later. We all found various options for supper while we were there, and met again at 6pm to drive back to the base for the evening of free time.

Tomorrow we leave this place … and each and every one of us will leave a little piece of their heart behind, I am sure. God opened our eyes to see with different lenses while we were here … and I am asking you to pray unceasingly over the next few days, that we would not lose those lenses as we leave Ensenada and begin to transition back into life in Grande Prairie. We desperately need to be impact players in our world back home, and this experience has positioned us to be just that, IF AND ONLY IF we can keep this all at the forefront of our hearts and minds over the days and weeks ahead.

Pray also for traveling safety for us tomorrow, as we drive south to San Quentin for a day at the hotel on the beach there … a much deserved day of R&R on the shores of the Pacific Ocean! And in case I am unable to send an update from there tomorrow, pray on Sunday for safe travels and great patience in our 6-hr drive (and likely 4-hr wait time at the Mexico/US border) as we head back to Los Angeles.

Thanks for standing (or kneeling) with us through this trip … God has answered your prayers in such phenomenal ways, and we can’t wait to share this with you face to face … just a few days more! God bless each of you this day.

Thursday July 3 Mexico update

It’s been a day that few of us will EVER forget! Here’s the recap:


VBS Team … this was their final day with the kids, and they presented the salvation message in the morning, and had a “fiesta” in the afternoon.

It was a very tiring 4 days for this team, but an awesome experience … and they will ALL have great stories to tell when they get back home!

Please pray for them now as they “come down” from this … that God would keep the passion alive even though they are finished with the task they had been given.

Mercy Team … spent the day at a local orphanage, and were deeply moved by this experience.
Not being able to open their lunch cooler, because there wasn’t nearly enough food to share with the multitude of hungry children, made the day a little longer … but they survived! And being able to supply the orphanage with about $2000 worth of food and other supplies was a wonderful privilege!

Please pray for them as they process all that they experienced … that it would change/impact them in exactly the way God wants!

Building Teams … both teams “gave the keys” to their respective families today, in ceremonies that brought tears to just about every eye in attendance!

As each team member passed the keys along the circle, they spoke a word or two of blessing and/or appreciation to the family, which was translated by Pastor Tony. And then we prayed for the family and for their new home.

Please pray for all 67 of us on Friday morning, as we go back to each home with additional gifts of furnishings, and as we surround these homes in a huge circle of prayer, that we would represent Jesus and His church well, and that we would demonstrate His love to these folks through this!
Then following the gifts and prayers at each house, we will be enjoying homemade fish tacos (apparently a much-sought-after treat here) at a giant FIESTA celebration at the new home of the single mom and her 2 daughters! It’s going to be so great!

Also on Friday (afternoon, supper) will be our “tourist trip” to La Boofadora, one of only 3 natural oceanic blowholes in the world (or so I’m told) … where we have a few hours to shop/barter and have our supper, as we begin to wind down from a very emotional and impactful week of ministry here. Pray for safety and fun together in all of this.

On behalf of your co-laborers in His kingdom …

Wednesday Mexico update

Don’t be confused … I’m writing this on July 3rd, but it’s 6:45am here, and by the time I got to my room last night, it was WAY too late to give the day’s update. Sorry about that … hope this still makes the rounds.

What an amazing day we had on Wednesday! There must be a huge amount of family & friends praying for us, because God is working so powerfully in our midst here! I’m changing up the format of the report today for something different, and because God was doing too many cool things yesterday that crossed over from team to team, so reporting by team won’t work as well. Here’s the highlights:

- One house (Building Team #2/Wooden) is basically done … all they have left to do is hang the front door on Thursday!

- The other house (Building Team #1/Hewko) is coming along very well, and some of Team #2 moved over to this location on Wednesday to help with bringing it to completion faster

- Both houses had beds built in yesterday (this is an “extra” that isn’t in the original plans) … so all 6 kids will have bunk beds to sleep in, and Maria (single mom) will have a “double bed” to rest on in her new bedroom

- We made arrangements at both house locations to have the power hooked up to the house as soon as possible … it may even be by the end of this week (another “extra”)!

- James Nelson took a few people from Building Team #2, along with Maria and her girls, and Pastor Tony’s wife (to interpret) to Walmart on Wednesday, and completely outfitted all 3 with new clothes for the next year, AND a full assortment of school supplies for the girls! You should have seen James’ face when they returned … I don’t think he’s EVER had that much fun before! And the family was SO grateful and overwhelmed by this gesture … in fact, Shar Shoff had to “teach” Maria how to shop for herself, because in all her life she has never done so … always lived on hand-me-downs from her sister, and the only purchases she has ever made were just for her daughters.

- When I arrived at Building Site #1, I found Ryan Law sitting on the gravel, with a toy paddle in his hands, playing a game with a little guy that couldn’t have been over 2 or 3 years old … was the cutest picture.

- The VBS Crew was having another busy and fun day with the kids … we lost count on Wednesday of the numbers of children, but it didn’t matter … I have some great pictures and video of smiling faces and great singing! The children all received toothbrushes/toothpaste today, along with an awesome demonstration of how to brush your teeth by Jess Nelson. This VBS team is amazing … we’re going to have to figure out how to do some city-wide/area-wide VBS programs at home in the future, because they are great!

- The Youth Centre is finished, and it looks amazing! Doors are in, windows are in, and the paint job is unbelievable! I’ve attached a picture, the quality of which isn’t that great … but it does give you a bit of an idea of the incredible paint job inside the room … WHICH WAS DONE COMPLETELY BY FINGERPAINTING (since the Mercy Team didn’t have the right size of brushes to do the detail work). The man giving the thumbs-up is Tony Jr. – the youth/worship pastor for the church … and the man in the yellow shirt behind him a ways is his dad – Pastor Tony.

- Myself and the other Pastor Greg spent pretty much the entire workday driving around Ensenada/Chepultapec with the cargo van … picking up furniture that had been pre-purchased by Gwen Rubie … purchasing additional furnishings for both homes, and lumber to build the beds … and buying a huge tarp to cover the new shelter built at the church for the services! Pastor Tony travelled with us most of the day as well, and as we found each thing we were looking for, he would get goosebumps and tear up a bit … this week has been somewhat overwhelming for him already too!

These are all great things, and even if the day had ended after all of this, we would have been thrilled! But the BEST was still yet to come! We had an early supper at the YUGO base, and then at 6:30pm the entire team of 67 loaded in the vans and drove back to Pastor Tony’s church … all decked out in our good clothes (Ryan Law even had on a tie – with a bright red Canadian flag on it). There we joined with about 100 people from the church … and together we had an incredible 2 hours of worship & testimonies together, with Pastor Greg Clark bringing a great message at the end. This was probably THE highlight of the week for everyone … and everyone sensed a very special moving of the Holy Spirit in our midst there. Families with small children … grandpas and grandmas … men from the halfway house that the church owns/operates … teens and leaders from Canada … all lifting their voices, their hands (and even their bodies … the children, the pastor and some of the men jump during the singing – so you KNOW a ton of our kids joined in too!) in worship of Christ our Saviour! What a night! What a night!

So what can you pray for today?
- As I type, it is spitting a bit of rain outside right now, and while we don’t mind the cool, we really would prefer to not have a lot of rain today as we finish the houses and the final day of VBS.
- The Mercy Team will be going to an orphanage this morning – which is really cool, since they have spent the week so far covered in paint and having very little contact with local people – so they are understandably excited about this. But please pray especially for them as they go this morning … I am a bit concerned about the emotional overload of this trip today, as they are very worked up to go, and wanting desperately to get the most out of these couple of hours with the kids.
- Pray for safety for those who will be connecting the power to the houses today (none of our kids).
- Pray for the salvation emphasis of the VBS program this morning … that it would be delivered in a way that is clear and understandable to the children, and that they would respond because of God’s move in their hearts (not because their friends are responding).

Wow … very long email this morning … sorry about that! But as each day goes by, it becomes clearer to me that this trip is much bigger than I ever imagined it might be, and you are getting the overflow of what is happening in my heart! THANK YOU SO MUCH for praying for us … we believe that it is the prayers of our supporters at home that are being used by God in all that is taking place in Ensenada! May God bless you as He has been blessing us!

And a little note from 'our' Pastor Greg as well:

"So tonight was one of those nights where we planned on doing something but God had better plans.

We went to Pastor Tony's church and worshipped together there and it felt like heaven. We didn't want to leave. God really moved through our group tonight in an amazing way!"

Tuesday Mexico update

Happy Canada Day! We started our day today by singing the Canadian National Anthem at our chapel time … very cool! With about 80% of the 168 people here this week from Canada, you can just imagine how loud that anthem was this morning!

Well, I’m emailing at 10:30pm local time here in Ensenada … it’s been a very busy day, and I’m finally getting a chance to sit down and write an update. Here’s today’s updates from each of the 4 teams:

1. Building Team #1 (led by Daryl Hewko)
a. Highlights … the team is really working well, and is getting along great! There are absolutely NO bad attitudes in this entire group! PTL!
b. Answers to Prayer: those who had taken on too much sun on Monday, were just fine today! Thanks for praying for them!
c. Prayer Request: the team hasn’t had great opportunity yet to interact well with the family that will be receiving the new house … please pray that God would break down whatever barriers are there for them on Wednesday.

2. Building Team #2 (led by Dallas Wooden)
a. Highlights … another phenomenal day on this jobsite … we’ve finished shingling, putting on all the outside trim, painting the outside completely, and boarded, taped and mudded the entire interior. As one of the staff people here said when they saw the progress, “I never seen a house with shingles on it on Tuesday before!” This team is also working very well together – very awesome!
b. Answers to Prayer: what a GREAT day of getting to know Maria and her girls … this answer to prayer was HUGE! Today felt like family … and when one of our girls (Jayde Shoff) wasn’t able to come first thing in the morning due to feeling a bit sick, the 2 girls were obviously disappointed … but when Jayde joined us at 10:30, feeling much better – BIG HUGS from 2 very excited little girls! And we were able to begin communicating with Maria better, which was awesome.
c. Wednesday’s focus … sanding & painting the interior, raking and cleaning up the yard, and building a new bed in the new house for Maria.

3. VBS Team (led by Charity Vetsch)
a. Highlights … wow! God brought more new kids today (up to 35, with 6 of the first day attenders not back today!). Team is having TONS of fun, and God is blessing the work here.
b. Answers to Prayer: everyone’s health and strength were good today – God carried us through with flying colors!
c. Prayer Request: for continued health and energy levels for our team, and for the practical impact of handing out toothbrushes on Wednesday!

4. Mercy Team (led by Tracy Frey)
a. Highlights … the team is doing awesome, and has already accomplished more than Pastor Tony had hoped we would do all week, as well as some extra stuff he’s found for us already!
b. Answers to Prayer: good strength today … and some of the youth came and worked with us for a while today! PTL!
c. Prayer Request: for good understanding and communication with Pastor Tony … sometimes we think we are doing what he has explained, and then he either changes his mind, or explains it a different way, so we have to be VERY flexible and gracious … but it seems to be going well so far!

An update on Jocelyn … the girl who we had to take to the hospital on our first night (in Los Angeles) … she was diagnosed with TMJ (lock-jaw), and so between anti-inflamatory medication and hot presses, she has been mostly able to keep the pain to a minimum, and has been at the ministry site both days so far! And really cool is the fact that she “bumped into” a lady dentist here at YUGO today (here with another team), who was able to confirm the diagnosis and calm her concerns about the situation! God is too good!

One last comment … because of the financial support of so many of you, we’ve already been able to do some of those “extras” that we were hoping to do … things like purchasing some extra materials for the local church that we are ministering at (VBS & Mercy teams), building beds for the new houses (both teams), and even replacing some of the worn-out tools and supplies for YUGO. And last night we were told that because we submitted our finances on time to YUGO, there was a $20/person “refund” that was ours to do with as we pleased … so tonight we had the privilege of surprising a local staff member here at the base by telling her and her husband that we were transferring this refund to her support account instead! What an amazing gift that was for her, and God has blessed us so much to be able to be the instruments of it here! Thanks to each of you for your part in this too!

Thanks again for praying for us! Continue to pray for Amy Fehr’s brother, who had a car accident back in Grande Prairie last night … and for Amy, who is trusting God in this but is understandably struggling with being so far away during this time. God is faithful, and He will carry her (and us) through all that is in store during our time here!