Pete Beckman:  Wow.  We are only about 24 hrs away from the start of the trip.  Of course the real beginning for us started a couple months ago, when we heard EFCN was planning a trip down to Mexico to help at the school and children’s home of Emmanuel Ministries.  For our family (The Beckmans) it began with a series of dinner conversations with phrases such as “wouldn’t it be great if…” and “I’m sure we could help…”.  After several discussions, our kids (Paul and Emily) endured the “It’s time for a family decision” moment.  Yes, it was a bit like an old Brady Bunch episode, except we concluded our family meeting with a prayer.

So, here we are, scurrying around the house trying to get ready.  My wife Beth volunteered to organize a Wacky Olympics evening at the children’s home.  I’m not sure who suggested the adjective “Wacky”, but I think it originated from one of the adult team members who feared that in any real sporting event our participation would be unfair — not because of our skills, but because the 100+ kids would be laughing too hard to complete their events.  So we settled on games like the Javelin bendy-straw throw, so our soccer playing skills will remain un-photographed.

Olympic Supplies

Anyway, for the last several weeks she has been asking fellow team members for goofy games, browsing the web, and buying fun game supplies at the discount stores.  It has been years since she has had the chance to shop for sidewalk chalk.  We plan on giving each of the kids a medal pinned to the end of a yellow ribbon.  Sadly, Naperville is now nearly ribbonless.  Beth bought out all the yellow and gold ribbon at 5 different stores, including Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and JoAnn Fabrics yesterday.  My contribution?  I intend to be wacky.  I have no doubt pictures will follow.

Oh, this blog?  How does it work?  While we are on the trip, we plan to write a couple posts each day, to let friends and family know what’s up.  So turn your browsers here and please feel free to post comments.  As we have time, we will read comments to the entire group (about 30 of us) and respond.  For the tech savvy, you can subscribe to this RSS feed (that means you will be automatically notified of any new posts to the blog).  To do that, click the little orange icon in the top right corner of this page.  Or, just check back to this page once or twice a day for updates.

If you have any fun game ideas, please post them in the comments section!  I plan on teaching the kids Poppity Pop Pop — A game that works in every language, and with every age.  It’s easier to describe with a video, so stay tuned.

-Pete

Ellen Wightman: Wow. It’s hard to believe that in 24 hours we will all be gathered at the airport.  And God willing, after that, we’ll be pulling into the Emmanuel Ministries driveway.  I have been looking forward to this trip ever since I head it was a possibility (as I’m sure the rest of the team was too), and now that it’s finally here I think I might burst with excitement.

With emails shooting back and forth between the team members, we are finally getting the last details intact before we leave.  Speaking on the Wightman’s behalf, I know we are still doing last minute packing and scrambling around the house to fill our suitcases.  It’s easy to worry about the details and wonder if you’ll have enough clothes to last you the week, but I have to keep reminding myself that it’s all in God’s hands and He’s ultimately in control.

A few things I’m personally excited about is our planned “theme nights” for the kids.  Our team decided to do an “Olympic Night” and “Water Night” with the kids.  I can’t wait to be there with the kids and interact with them.

We won’t only be helping with the kids, but also be working on electrical, computer cables, and of course anything other jobs Emmanuel Ministries requires of us.

My prayer is that we will all be a light and encouragement to the kids and staff at Emmanuel Ministries, as well as others on the team.  It would be easy to go to Juarez, go through the motions, and not have out hearts set on serving.  I’m looking forward to having a fun time, but most importantly to see how God can speak to me and use me during this week.

If you would please pray that our hearts would be set on Christ and that we are willing to do whatever God wants us to do while we’re away.
Also, if you could pray for safety, that would be appreciated.

In God’s loving grasp,

–Ellen Wightman for the entire Naperville Mexico Team