Cy-Fair Youth Outreach

So, we just finished up a great team that came down from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX! This is the same group that arrived the same day as I did last year when I first moved down here, so it was extra special for me to work with them again this year. Just another way of remembering and celebrating all the Lord has done in my life this year! Anyway, this team was STELLAR! It was such a blast to work with them, and they came down raring to go! Our youth LOVE this team! They had been looking forward to their arrival for months, and especially after the youth leadership conference in February, which was led by the two pastors who come down with this group each year. And from what I can tell, the outreach as a whole lived up to the expectations!

Of course, they too worked on the construction of the new church facility, and man did they WORK! They poured the ENTIRE SANCTUARY FLOOR in four days...actually, in 8 hours total if we want to be really accurate. They worked about 2-2.5 hours each morning on a different section of the floor. In addition, some friends of Dave and Kathy's (a father and son team) came down from Canada to help with this project because the father is a concrete expert! So, not only did this team get it done fast, but they got it done well. It's truly beautiful to look at! Anyway, this is such a feat because this floor is slightly larget than a full-sized basketball court, and it will serve not only as the floor of our sanctuary but also as the site of various sports activities: basketball, soccer, volleyball, relay games, etc. (Yes, we are also installing soccer goals and basketball hoops, which means the ceiling of this structure will also be a gigantor project!). Anyway, like I said, they worked hard and they worked well, the end result being a beautiful sanctuary floor!

An areal view, from the roof of one of the storage rooms next to the platform.

Corner to corner (diagonal). As you can see, this floor is so big, I can't get the whole thing in a picture!

For their outreach, this team focused on our youth once again. The first day of activities, Sunday, they were all divided into four teams, and everyone played get-to-know-you games. Monday, we played more games but in the direction of team building games, including a huge human Sudoku game. For this game, we actually sketched out four huge Sudoku cubes and the kids had a game printed on paper that they had to solve and then transfer to the chalked games on the soccer court. This turned out to be a very interested experience because each team consisted of both Mexicans and Americans, which caused a language barrier, and many of the Mexicans didn't even know how to play the game. Despite these barriers, two of the teams (one girl, one boy) worked well together as a team, overcame their barriers, and finished well. However, two of them did not, and the overall result of this experience provided some extremely useful and practical life examples of what it means to be part of the body of Christ and function as one! Some really great discussion came out of this, and it was only the precursor for the next day's activities!

Tuesday, the kids participated in a mini-Reto (which means "challenge"). This was something like what we do here in Cofradia in our youth ministry during the month of September each year. This was one basically a mini-Amazing Race set-up, and the end goal was that each team was to find the necessary things in order to make hand-made tortillas, which they later had relay races to eat! The cool thing about this is that in Sudoku, the Americans had the chance to teach the Mexicans something (the game!), and in the mini-Reto it was the Mexicans' turn to teach the Americans something (how to make tortillas by hand!).

The RED Team!
These girls called themselves the Amazons and painted one cheek with something girly, and one cheek to represent the warrior inside of them!

The ORANGE Team!

The YELLOW Team!

The BLUE Team!

So, here's how it worked. At the beginning of the race, the first activity had them divide their teams into four mini teams that consisted of at least one Mexican and one American each. Then those four mini teams were given clues to the next location they had to find and the acitvity they had to do there in order to win what they needed for their end project. The four teams were "firewood," "water," "flour," and "griddle." Those were the things that they had to find and then all meet back up at a final location to actually make the tortillas by hand, each one having to measure exactly 13 cm in diameter: any more or less and they didn't count! They had to make 2 per person on the team. In order to win their prizes, teams had to do stuff like clean a yard (with machetes), wash dishes, sweep, mop, play another sudoku game, push a truck around a baseball field back to home plate, and some other fun activities.

The catch in all this, however, was that this time they had to do it all with NO TRANSLATORS! And all of the clues had key words in a mixture of Spanish and English so that no one nationality knew exactly what was going on..they had to figure it out TOGETHER. While the immediate goal was to make tortillas and be the first to eat them all, the overarching goal was for them to learn what it meant to put aside their differences, work as a team, and aim for the very best for the team rather than the individual, just like we have to do in the body of Christ! And let me tell you, it was a very effective activity! In debriefing the teams afterward, by a landslide the most common lesson learned was what it really meant to be part of a team and to leave the individual behind. They learned that their differences didn't make as big of a difference as they originally thought, that they didn't have to speak the same langugage to communicate and work as one. They also learned that if they were just thinking of getting the thing done and finishing first that they fell apart as a team, but if they were thinking of each other and making the team the first priority, then they found it became much easier to reach their goal, and much faster at that! In addition, many of the girls in my group, Mexican and American, shared that before this experience they had never really been able to trust other people when something had to get done or when something important was on the line. But through this, they didn't have the choice, and they learned that trusting other people and allowing themselves to let other people play a part in the thing made all the difference in the world and created an intimacy and unity that all of them admited that none of them had ever experienced before! Praise the Lord for these practical lessons that He puts in our lives in the most surprising ways! Where would we be without them!

Anyway, Wednesday of that was a free day, and the boys went off to play sports in the afternoon while the girls hung out in Cofradia and did crafts! They all had such a good time making picture frames. The team had brought down simple, undecorated wooden frames and unimaginable amounts of decorative papers in all shapes and sizes and patterns, foam sticky shapes, wooden shapes, ribbons, sayings, inspirational words defined, verses, etc. It was a crafter's paradise! And we had a blast! When we were all done, they played a dance game called Little Sally Walker, and while the Mexican girls seemed very shy about this, in the end they were having as much fun as anyone else! It was a great time of fellowship and fun!

Our picture frames! Aren't they GRRRREAT?!

Mili, Sarah, and Cecilia playing one of the group games played after finishing our craft!

Thursday was the culminating event: the Oscars Banquet! And how cool did that turn out! Last year was the first year they did this particular activity. Our cooking staff whipped up a fabulous feast that was given for the Mexian youth, to honor and love on them, by the American youth. The Americans decorated the church in Arrayanes with white tool and candles, white silk flowers, white christmas lights, and just made it all so elegant and beautiful. It was even complete with red carpet for the entrance! When it was time to open the doors for the Mexican youth to enter, all the staff and American youth and leaders lined the red carpet and cheered as each one walked the red carpet and stood for pictures. Man did were those flashes going! It seriously felt like being at the Acadamy Awards (as if I'd know what that actually feels like!)

It was a candle light dinner during which the Americans served and the Mexicans and the missionary staff ate while a slide show of the week played in the background for all to enjoy. Then to end the evening, we presented awards to the Mexican youth for their progress in several areas over the last year. The team had brought down trophies that were similar in style to the Oscars statuette, and they had had them engraved with the winners names (though the winners did not know ahead of time that they were receiving the award). As Steve presented each award, he took time to talk about each youth and their progress over the year and why we decided to give them that particular award.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

The Hospitality Award-- No Winner This award is given to the youth who is consistant about going out of their way to make teams that come down feel welcome, whether that be awaiting their arrival, visiting them during the week, comeing to say goodbye, helping clean to prepare for their arrival or after their departure, etc. We did not award this one this year, though we do have a statuette for it, because we did not see anyone showing hospitality on a consitant basis over the last year. However, Steve told them that we would have this trophy in a very visible place throughout the year to remind them as teams come and go to work towards this particular manifestation of Christian brotherly love.

The Most-Improved Band Member Award: 2 Winners!

Jose Luis (Fursio) received this award for his improvement as a drummer. He typically plays drums both in the morning and afternoon at the services in both Cofradia and Arrayanes. He comes on his own during the week to practice his drumming, and has improved significantly over the last year through his committment to do so.




Jose Angel (Chupa) also received this award for his improvement as worship leader in Cofradia. Steve began training him as one of two youth worship leaders a year ago, and Chupa has grown immensely as a leader in worship as well as a sinSger.





The Spirit Award: Claudia Claudia received this award because she always has a smile on her face and participates in whatever is going on without ever complaining. She never moans and groans if something seems hard or disgusting or unpleasant. She just does it! She has definitely set an example in the last year for what it means to do everything with joy and enthusiasm as though working for the Lord!



The Braveheart Award: Sandy This award is given to the youth who has taken the biggest steps in their Christian walk over the last year, and Sandy has definitely earned it this year. Sandy has shown over the last year an unrivaled willingness to do whatever it takes to follow her Lord and allow Him to mold her for. She has grown into a woman who loves the Word and stands firm on it in the face of strong and intimate opposition, and it has been incredible to see how the Lord has changed her as she has submitted herself to His Potter's Wheel.




The Servanthood Award: Martin Martin has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year as well in His relationship with Christ, but we chose him for the Servanthood Award because of his unequaled willingness to do any task asked of him no matter what it is. He serves always with a smile on his face and a willing joyfullness in his heart that challenges all of us in our own hearts as to having an attitude of servanthood and not just moments.


This week of outreach had some pretty profound effects on our youth, and I believe on the American youth as well. I'm sure many of them don't even realize yet the depths to which this experience has affected them and will continue to discover those effects for years to come as they grow and mature and submit to the Lord's work in their lives. Please continue to keep them in your prayers: for deeper, more intimate relationships with Christ and for more willing hearts to get out there and take the risk of serving Him with their ALL!