If you build it . . .

Terence Mann: "Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come"


Take me out to the ballgame . . .

Mountain High

Montana















Tennessee













Colorado















My soul longs for the mountains, for living in the midst of God's grandeur and glory as expressed in his creation. I've been to two of these places (TN and CO), I want to make it to all three within, oh, the next year. Let's make that happen.

Back Home Safely

Well, I am back home in Oxford, Ohio safe and sound. Yesterday was sort of a whirlwind. We decided to try staying up all night, since we had to be in the hotel lobby at 5 AM to catch our shuttle to the airport. Well, we made it to about 230, at which point Adam Jacob and I were so tired we just wanted to pack and get a quick power nap. Well, I packed, Adam decided to wait until 4:30 to throw everything in, or at least that was the plan. He set his watch alarm and set up a wake up call, neither of which worked. Eric Albers fortunately called us at 5:03 to see if we were ready, and Adam packed as fast as any person I have ever seen. We made it to the airport, had a sweet conversation w/ the driver about OSI and what we do.

So, left Mexico City at 745 AM, arrive in Chicago about four hours later. Ate a big American Bacon Cheeseburger, and then waited three hours for our flight to Cincy. That flight was uneventful, got into Cincy around 6:30. Then three good friends picked me up from the airport, and from there we went straight to the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, where we dined in the German Fashion. Then I picked up my car, drove back to Oxford, and slept, hard. So from 7 AM Friday morning, I served at a church, played Goliath, died, did more interviews, loved on some kids, repacked the OSI warehouse, ate dinner, wandered around Mexico City, tried to stay up all night, took a 2 hr. power nap, caught a flight out of Mexico, slept 3 hrs. on the plane, chilled in Chicago, flew to Cincy, then did some German dining, then home. I'm not even sure how I'm awake now come to think of it.

Anyways, the picture is from the Bonita Vista, where we served the last two days. It is a partially built structure next to the two pastor's houses, and I think it is going to be their church given the cross they have put on the top. It currently has a floor, almost completely walls, spaces in the walls for two windows and a door, and is probably smaller than my living room in the house I live at in Oxford. I love those people. I love Mexico City. I hope in 50 years, God willing, I'll have had kids and maybe grandkids, and have taken them all there multiple times. But whatever course God takes me, I'll always feel a pull south, and can hopefully share the experience with great people in my life.

Only four pictures today, because we were at the same location, so it will pretty much all look the same. This is the soccer field we played on for almost two hours. Children's ministry is a bit broad in scope, when you consider that people up to 18 or even older need something to do. So, today, we decided to take some of the older ones down to play soccer. Face painting and balloons just don't seem to hold the same appeal for them! who knew. This is one of the physically worst fields I have ever played on, but the view MORE than made up for it. Not to mention these kids just love to have someone to play with.


This is a picture I took while we were singing simple children's songs in Spanish. The man in the blue shirt is one of the pastor's in the area trying to reach this community. He was passing out little booklets to every kid called "El Mejor Regalo", which means the Great Gift. These kids were so eager to sing and praise, it was awesome.








These next two pictures are of a skit we put on to tell a story from the Bible. I'm sure you don't need too long to guess who my character was, given my enormously large size advantage over these children. You might even say that to them I appear about nine feet tall. Every single person there ended up watching the performance, mostly to see what this ridiculous American was up to. The second picture was after David hits me in the head with a "stone" aka wiffle ball, and the kids got a real big kick out of poking the dead giant. I should also probably mention that when I
came out and roared, then chased the children who were playing Israelites, I made two little girls cry. No big deal. I felt really bad, and we paused the skit to pull down my beard and show her I wasn't a horrendous monster.

One More Picture

At the request of mi madre, here is a picture that includes me. These kids are absolutely in love with digital cameras, because most of them rarely if ever see a picture of themselves. These two saw I was taking pictures, and instantly wanted in one with me. I didn't know their names, or anything about them, but we look like right ole chums in this pic.

Mexico City Pics Day 4

So, in an effort to provide more and better pictures with a smaller email, it has been brought to my attention that a blog is the perfect way to do this! So, without further ado, the pictures.


The first is of a small room in one of the houses, where the church served us lunch. We rotated through as soon as we arrived, mainly because we were so late. It was absolutely one of the most fulfilling meals I have had in awhile. It was a simple meal, chicken, potatoes, rice, sauce, white bread, bananas, water, and grapes the size of a golf ball, but it felt like a feast because I was so satisfied when it was over and could literally feel the love and devotion and care and appreciation that was put into serving us. I sometimes wonder if we are called on such mission trips more for an impact on the people we serve or the way God moves in our own hearts and lives.


This next picture is of this tiny little girl that spent a lot of the day in our children’s area. Just for reference, the girl painting her hand is 13, from Alaska, and significantly smaller than me (although that applies to a lot of people anyways). This Mexican child is tiny compared to her, so when she put her hand in mine, it hardly even knew it was there. She was so cute, couldn’t hardly speak any Spanish, carried her little espada (sword) around everywhere. It is so encouraging to know that this small life will be growing up surrounded by people completely dedicated to living out and spreading the gospel of Christ.


This picture is the view from out in front of the two homes the church currently meets at. As far as they eye can see, it's dirt roads and cinder block homes. We are technically outside the boundaries of Mexico City here, and into the State of Mexico.










The last picture is the dirt road we set the tents up on. In the forefront is the children's area, with registration behind and left, medical behind and right. Directly to the left of the children's area is the room the church set up for counseling.











Well, that's it for today's pictures, I don't want to put too much in here, or else it would take forever to get through, and if you 've made it this far, you've already invested enough time reading my email!

--MCP