Dia Seis

Well everyone, we are sitting here in the McAllen airport waiting to board our flight back to St Louis. We first want to apologize for not updating the blog until now. The internet at the hotel was spotty at best, and when it did work, Mr Stewart's computer would not connect. We had a great week--everyone worked very well together, and all of our houses got built, decorated, and dedicated on time.

Randy Pausch, who gave the "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon, said that brick walls show up in our lives so that we can prove how much we really want what is behind them. Being here this week, coming on this trip, amid the many walls placed in front of us made us know that it was all worth it. Being here taught us that hope and love are stronger than fear and hate. Trust in the people who care about you is more valuable than the cynicism and doubt so prevalent in our country and especially in our media. Seeing the brightness of the smiles of beautiful Mexican children, and the tears in the eyes of their moms as they entered their homes for the first time dispelled any darkness that worried us before coming.

It is our hope that through this experience, minds have been changed and hearts have been moved toward peace, truth, and love. We pray that we can have the courage to return to our lives in St Louis remembering Reynosa--not just in our minds and hearts, but through our daily actions. Through being generous as the families in the colonia were generous; being patient as Roland and his staff are patient; welcoming others with the awareness that we are all brothers and sisters.

Louie said that this trip is not about building houses, but rather building relationships with people. It is about realizing that our world does not merely consist of the events happening around us, be it in our school or our city. The world consists of people living in many different places in many different ways, but are basically the same. People all over the world have hopes and dreams, stories to tell, histories, and friends and families they share their lives with. We are grateful to be able to fulfill some of those hopes and dreams, but are more grateful and humbled to become part of their story, their history, their friends and even a part of their family. The back of our t-shirts have this quote: "Where charity and love are found, God is there." This trip demonstrated this in a tangible way, but with a twist. God was not there because of the charity and love we brought with us, but with what we found already there.

Dia Uno

We arrived this morning at Lambert to learn that our flight had been cancelled! Most of us took a bus ride back to SLUH, where we had a nice pizza lunch and hung out. Tonight, we will bask in the lavish accommodations of the Comfort Inn St Louis Airport, hopefully well-rested to board our 0600 flight tomorrow morning. We will keep you posted of course. Keep us in your prayers meanwhile.

The Night Before

"For God so loved the world that He sent his only Son so that those who believed in Him might have eternal life."
These words from today's Gospel echo strongly in our minds and hearts as we prepare to head to Reynosa tomorrow. God sends us to the people of Reynosa, and God sends the people of Reynosa to us. In sharing our stories with each other, we make present the presence of Christ. We will build houses, but more importantly, we will build bridges--bridges between cultures, languages, and classes. We are excited to be able to show you these bridges we will be building (in addition to the homes) through this blog. Let us know your thoughts as we progress throughout the week. Each night we will post something to keep you informed and present to us while we are in Mexico. Pray for our safe journey and for a meaningful experience.

Good Luck All

Dear Mission Mexicoians,
Good luck down there this week boys. It will be an awesome life changing experience and I wish you all the best. I will send some prayers your way and I have very close ties with the big guy in the penthouse (GOD) and I am sure he will shower his blessings on you all. Give it your all and I promise you will all get so much out of these next six days. You are truly giving these people a gift from God. Let them see God through you this week and seek God in the people you serve.
I love you all,
Louis and Ben you are OK guys and I guess have done great work this year,
Stew, show everyone what the good word is,

Your friend in Christ,
Eric W. Lampe
Class of '08