The 2014 Mexico NBYG Lipdub

Here it is. The 2014 Lipdub. It was blocked and shot in a whirlwind couple of hours and tells the story of our week, from our immigration adventure to house-building.  It's all in.

Enjoy, just follow the link below. And, if you'd like to go back and witness other lipdub's we've done, go to the column on your right and scroll down to the links for them.  51 weeks everyone (actually, now it's more like 50.)

The 2014 NBYG Mexico Mission Trip Lipdub

Friday -- The Long Trip Home

We were up at 6 a.m. to get ready for breakfast and to board the bus for the first leg of our journey home. But...

It seems that the Vice President of the United States made our long trip even longer by tying up the Nashville International Airport and delaying flights for several hours. Then there was an equipment problem. In the end, we wouldn't be back in our home state until nearly 2 a.m. Then there was the drive to the Boro. We longed to be home. But we know even with all the delays, there is a home waiting for us, warm and inviting with people there who love us and care for us.

We can go home. The children we have been blessed by and been blessed this week to serve cannot. But, thankfully, there is a place in this world for them and people who love and care for them.

Thank you, Lord, for the City of Children. Please bless its staff and its many, many children. Help the kids to feel the love that surrounds them every day, help them to know you and never feel alone.

Lord, we know your work in their lives isn't finished. It's not finished in ours. We can't wait to see what you have planned.

And now it's back to the 51 weeks that this week has prepared us for.  And not the other way around. The huddle is over.  Time to play the game. 

Until we huddle again in Ensenada, God Bless.

Thursday -- A Day of Dedication and Raising Stones in Memory of What Happened Here

What an incredible week. Can't believe it's coming to a close. We got to know so many children, ourselves and the Lord better.  We stretched ourselves and got out of our comfort zone to bridge culture and language and age. Well, we didn't do any of this really.  Our daily devotionals emphasized that this week wasn't about doing our best. It was about giving up and giving in and letting Christ live...in us. 

Jesus again rose from the dead this week in a small port town on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico in the area surrounding Ensenada and Maneadaro. In this place, hundreds of children laughed and were loved and learned that God isn't finished with them. He has big plans for them if they'll just be still and allow Him to do His work. Twenty families were given food boxes that will feed them for many weeks.  Several hundred hotdogs were served and consumed in the shadow of a small church on a dusty dirt road that stands ready at all hours to feed the soul of all those who enter in. A home was built and the keys given to a young couple pregnant with their first child. If only the walls could keep record and speak to us, what an amazing story they would have to tell us years from now of a house built and given in the name of our Savior, the risen, living, laughing, loving, healing, child upon his knee, unfettered by convention, undimmed by the decades Lord Jesus.  The toys and cloths you collected were distributed.  A Gaga Ball Court was raised and played in.  Puppet shows performed, coloring pages filled, Lego cakes and Minion Twinkies decorated, crafts created for the Mamas and coffee brewed for the Papas, gifts given to the staff, soccer balls kicked, games won and lost, scripture read, all in the name of Jesus. 

On Thursday, there was still much to do. The lipdub was practiced, filmed and debut to an exuberant audience of hundreds.  The young men dressed up and honored the women of our team and of the City by serving them dinner. The final presentations were made to Ricardo and Patty and Tom. Our new Mexican teen friends, who we now know by sight and name, were hugged goodbye. The mideano boys and girls were tucked in for bed. Then we walked to the amphitheater to offer the week up to God, uttering short phrases, just a few words to capture significant moments from the week, some funny, some heart-wrenching, some shared by a few, some shared by all, the little and the big -- all the moments God smiled and interacted with us on this 52nd week of last year and the first week of our new year.  Ask a teen.  Ask an adult.  Ask anyone who went what their memories of this trip are and let them again raise up a few memories, stacking them before you like the stones stacked in Bible times to mark a place and a moment as special and to remind the people for all time that God did something speacial here.  And so here we raise our Ebenezer.

Papa Joe spoke to us, the elders surrounded Skid and his daughter Daisy in prayer and we circled in a final word of thanksgiving for our week.  And then we all left the hilltop to head down to the heart of the City and clean up, put in order and make ready the place we called home for this week to be home to another crew of Americans and their service to the children and the people of Ensenada.

Thank you to our family, friends, sponsors, workmates who made donations, prayer warriors who got down on their knees to lift us up from ours, all of you behind the scenes who made this week an extraordinary witness and masterpiece completed by the hand of God.  

Men Serving the Women of Our Team and the City

Celebrating Relationships in Christ

Here's to Ann and her new son Kevin and the amazing relationship they forged in a few short days and without the benefit of knowing the others' language. They were an inspiration to all of us.

Here's to friendships strengthened and renewed.

 

Here's to the many parents and children who came to serve together. What an amazing gift this is to work side by side.

Here's to the parent and child relationship undimmed by the years.

Jeff McClain's grandson Caeden decided because it said Mexico on it to give one of his favorite toys to Skid to give to the children without any toys in Mexico. So Caeden's Rey Mysterio boarded a plane and made the trip to the City of Children.

Look, Caeden, Rey Mysterio is in Mexico with some children who love him just like you did. They all wanted to tell you thanks so much for sharing with them.

Here's to the City on a Children. "Your are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14

Thursday -- A Special Thank You to Our Kitchen Crew

They get up early before the rest of still sleep and prepare each meal. And work late into the night in preparation for the next day. They pack the lunches that the building crew take for their day in the field. For most of each day, they're confined to the kitchen, chopping, mixing, cooking and cleaning. And the food isn't just filling, it's delicious. How good is it? Well, let's just say it's a little embarrassing to come home from a mission trip...and discover you've gained wait. Thank you, Kitchen Crew!

Thursday -- A Few Hours in Ensenada

After dedicating the house and before lunch and the evening's lipdub, we squeeze a few hours in to see Ensenada. For many, this was there first trip to Mexico. We don't spend much time in town, much of our work is done in the surrounding dusty and poor outlying areas where the people who pick the fields live and work.

From Justin Bieber to the Madonna, you can get anything you want on the streets of Ensenada. If they don't have it, you don't need it.

A fitting tribute to our Tennessee team.

The three heads of patriots in the Ensenada Plaza, a frequent source of humor in our skits and pranks by Pilar.

Thursday -- Dedicating the House and Welcoming Its Family

Miguel, the son of the preacher in Maneadaro, and his wife who is expecting their first child -- the proud recipients of the home we built this trip. Lord, please watch over this house and this young family.

North Boulevard Elder Sam Bagwell prepares to present the keys to the house to the young couple that will be its new family.

Danny Alexander, one of the leaders of the Building Crew, presents the new home owners with a Bible.

Carol Lowe, as has been her tradition, gives the couple a box of flowers to decorate their new home.

The 5 Elders on our trip stand with our new home owners.

Gathering to pray the Lord's blessings on this home.

Thursday -- The Lipdub and Saying Goodbye

The lipdub is one of the last activities that we do with the children. It's content is a collection of many of the things that happened to us during the week -- from the immigration official who delayed us at the border to one team members extraordinary precautions to keep water out of their mouth while showering. It's all there. Skid and Luke plot out the various scenes from the week and where they will take place. It's all filmed in one long cut so there's no room for error. We did it in only two takes. You'll see the result here after it's debuted for the NBYG. So stay tuned. In the meantime, here are a few shots from the filming. It involved a large cast and minions of, well, minions. 

Yes, we had a YMCAA scene.

Thank you, American Director Tom Begin and your capable staff of minions...I mean, interns.

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The Presentations after showing the lipdub. 

 

Like the stacks of stones raised in the Bible so that the people remembered what happened in a certain place, the NBYG raised up a Lego replica of the City of Children's front gate so that Ricardo and Patty might remember what happened here.

See you later...but not goodbye

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Our last devotional together at the City of Children. This one is under the stars.

Thank you, Jesus, for watching over us. We had a great week.