MBA Church Newsbreak
February 16, 2003


Mexico mission trip to El Oasis orphanage (Part I - February 09–12)

Hello Church Family,

Sam emailed me from Mexico today to ask me to forward to you Jason Mustard's update on the MBA Mission Trip to Baja.

I'm presently snowed in near Washington, D.C., and can't get out to go to Pittsburgh for the North American Division's ASDASA Conference. So you can see that this message is coming to you via a circuitous route!

Blessings,
Marilyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buenos Tardes, (Good Afternoon)

I am writing to you today because your friend, family member or loved one has embarked on a great adventure, MBA's third annual mission trip to the El Oasis orphanage in Baja, Mexico. I know that it's already Wednesday and I apologize for not writing to you sooner, but that's because we've been so busy helping out here at El Oasis. What matters now is that I'm writing to you and I've got lots of great stuff to fill you in on. I've been keeping something of a travel log on our journey and that's what I'll be sharing with you.

Sunday, February 9, 2003
It was one of those mornings that reminds you why MBA is such a special place. Clear blue sky and ocean, with students basking in the warm sun on our green lawns. The start of another beautiful week on campus and the group headed to Mexico was busy gathering their last few items for the trip (mostly CDs, candy and tearful hugs with boyfriends and girlfriends). We were scheduled to load at 11am and leave by noon. Well, at 11am, only Kenny Channer was at the bus with his gear ready, the rest of us slowly but surely got our stuff on the bus or in the 15 passenger van and we got on the road by about one in the afternoon (not too bad for Adventist time). I was ready for a loud, bouncy bus ride, but was suprised to see most of our group of 23 students sleeping soundly on the bus as if they had already spent a day on site hauling building supplies. We made our way down the 101 to Santa Barbara where we made our first stop at the home of one of our school board members, Dr. Ramona Clark. Dr. Clark and her husband, also Dr. Clark, welcomed our group into their wonderful home and treated us to a dinner all set up in their manicured backyard. It was here we picked up a few more members of our group, including an MBA mission trip veteran, Jeff Richardson '02, who decided he had to make it three years in a row to El Oasis. After we were all stuffed we made our way to the Escondido Academy Gymnasium floor for a cold night's rest on gymnastic mats (and the guy next to me snored loudly...the sacrifices we make).

Monday, February 10, 2003
Day two of our mission trip and we're off to Mexico. First stop was a trip to the Longs Drug store and Albertsons for some last minute supplies (too many guys drying off with paper towels). Then on to the border and a big mystery as to how long we would be stuck there. We all took turns guessing whose bags would get searched and if any of us would end up being detained. As our caravan of three vehicles pulled into the border checkpoint, Tim Kubrock (our fearless leader) and LeAnn Morales '03 (the interpreter) went to check in with the border officials and show them our letter from the orphanage. After about 10 minutes of waiting on the bus, we were all shocked to hear Mr. Kubrock announce that we had been cleared to go right on through, no bag checking necessary.

"We didn't have to unload a single suitcase at the border and that was really a blessing," Kubrock said. "They just waved us on through. That process could've taken us hours to get our group of 50 people through inspections. God was really working for us from the start."

Once we crossed the border we made our way straight to Ensenada, where we would eat our lunch and spend a couple hours shopping for gifts for all of you (notice: if you do not get a gift, I am not responsible). It was fascinating to watch the students react to what they saw all along the Mexican countryside though. We witnessed the sprawling poverty of Tiajuana in stark contrast to the beauty of the coast and the fancy resorts with golf courses and condiminiums just a few miles down the road. For several of the students it's their first time beyond our border and their learning experience hasn't stopped since we left California.

We made it to Ensenada around 11am and our big group quickly became several smaller groups of students eager to find trinkets and items that will no doubt become what my dad calls "future yard sale items." Still, that's a joy of travel right? Several students realized before very long that many stores sold the same things and almost all of them ended up buying the same thing--a $5 Mexican blanket (I bought one too). Quite a few of the girls ended up with their hair in braids too and most of them are still braided. We'll see if those braids last...

As with any trip the real fun was getting to feel a bit of the local culture and color. "My favorite thing about Ensenada was the cool little bum that sang to me," said Kenny Channer '03. "He told me that Jesus loved me and I said 'he loves you too.' He was pretty cool."

After we had taken lots of pictures in front of three enormous busts of Mexican presidents and a huge Mexican flag, we started to load up the bus for our final three-hour drive inland to El Oasis. We had to make our way around the ladies trying to sell us bracelets and necklaces (they followed us around most of the day), but we all made it on board and were soon on our way. We arrived at El Oasis in the early evening and realized what a difference a month makes. Last year the trip was in March with sunny skies and weather suited for tanning. This year we are experiencing the last lovely weeks of winter and we immediately donned our sweatshirts. We quickly got situated in our house, boys on one side, girls on the other and settled in.

Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Our first day on the job. Let me begin today with a description of El Oasis. The orphanage is located three hours inland in Baja, Mexico in a valley surrounded by mountains. The landscape looks something like rural Arizona or the tehacipi range of mountains you would drive through to reach Los Angeles by Hwy. 5. There are no grand green forests or snowy peaks. Instead the terrain is rocky scrubby bushes and lots of fine, sandy soil. It is beautiful in a very rustic way, with hills and mountains silhouetted against each other with the backdrop of an ever-cloudy sky. We are a long ways from pretty much everything and the only reminder of an outside world is the occasional car or truck passing by on the little highway just beyond the orphanage fence. Suprisingly, despite the 50 or so children that make their home here, it is very quiet, peaceful and soothing. The Orphanage itself is operated by Seventh-day Adventists who work for International Children's Care Ministries (ICC). There are about 21 people who work here with the children, many of them in four different houses where 12 to 15 children live. The goal of the orphanage is to create as close to a family atmosphere as possible. The kids go to school, have chores and attend worship services on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Adoptions are very rare. One girl, Beth, who is taking a year out as a student missionary here told me that there has not been an adoption in the time she's been here, since September.

We began our work from the start, focusing on two major projects while trying to get to all of our side jobs as well. Our main goal is to get as far along as possible with the new home for the Administrator of the oprhanage. MBA has put a lot of work into this home over the past two years, putting up walls, pouring concrete slabs and whatever else was needed. This year we're installing the ceiling, electrical wiring and insulation on the home. Today we have nearly finished the framework that will hold the ceiling together. "I liked shooting the nailgun," Taskforce Dean Nathan Henderson said. "It was cool because I was shooting nails right into the concrete walls."

The second main project that has taken a lot of time is the playground assembly. Several large sets of playground equipment have been donated over the years, but there are no instructions, only pictures of what the equipment looked like when it was set up before. so Jim Grossman, a contractor from Sonora, California took a crew of students and set to work figuring out what goes where and how it all fits together. "It's so much fun working with Mr. Grossman," Luis Soto '04 said. "He really knows what he'd doing. I'm just having a blast."
"I think that it has been awesome to see people working as a group," LeAnn Morales '03 said. "The coming together has been great. It's really exciting to see what we can accomplish as a group."

Beyond the two biggest projects, there are several things students have kept busy with. Every morning groups of students have gone to the different orphan homes to help the house moms with laundry, organizing, cleaning and even painting. Some MBA students, like Adan Gonzalez, have already become attached to the kids here and spend every spare minute they have playing soccer with them or just talking with them.

"The kids here are really nice," Gina Alvarado '05 said. "One boy even let me borrow his brand new bike that he had received for his birthday. The kids here are so generous, even though they have so little."

While most of us only finished our first day on the job a little sore and tired, we did have one small accident. Drew Maddox '03 took a spill off a ladder at the end of the day and fell a few feet. He has some scrapes and had a headache, but other than that he was fine. "I didn't really mind getting a little banged up," Drew said. "Because I liked all the attention I got after I fell. All the girls wanted to hear my story."

Pastor Sam led us in our evening worship and a big group of us played hackysack in our house until bedtime. We're not all that great at the game, but Annie Woods kept us entertained with her unique style of play that includes throwing the hackysack at random. Before too late, we were all tucked in.

Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Today we all started off a bit slower but we made it to breakfast and to our worksites pretty much ontime. By lunchtime we had the framework ready for the ceiling in the house and more than half of the playground ready to go. Eva Ortiz '04 and Alicia August '05 spent the morning painting one of the homes and managed to get some paint on each other as well. Adan went back to his kids and Drew managed to stay on the ladder all day. Mr. Dunn and Bobby Koorenay spent the morning wiring the house. "It's going good," Mr. Dunn said. "We've almost got the whole house wired and we're going to get as much done on this place as possible."

As usual, the food at lunch was oh so good. We had grillers, potato salad, chips, carrot sticks, juice and cookies (some of us had more cookies than others). The kitchen crew, Mrs. Kubrock, Mrs. Dunn, Mrs. Neal and Mrs. Witzel are keeping us all very well fed and have already had several offers from MBA students to come and work in the cafe. I should tell you too that we've got some families that have come along to make this trip a success. Eric Neal and family have come to do their part. Eric's a diesel mechanic from Lodi and spends his time here fixing up all the orphanage's vehicles. Jim Grossman and his wife are here from Sonora helping out with whatever's needed. Evan Witzel and his family are doing the same. Evan is a building contractor from Middletown, California and he's been overseeing the work on the ceiling, making sure it goes up good and even. The Kubrocks, Dunns and Kaligithis are here (sans Rowena) and Dean Ruth brought her sister Niva along for the good times. Tomorrow I will try and include a list of all the students on the trip so that you might pray for us if you get the chance. More exciting than anything, of course, is the opportunity our students are getting to share their faith, and spread their spiritual wings. "I see a very positive spirit and a spiritually seeking group," Pastor Sam said. "I think we're going to have a great time." And we already are...

Sorry for the length of this letter. I will try to write more concise emails whenever I can during the duration of this voyage and even attach a few pictures if we can work out the technology. God bless you all and please keep this group in your prayers.

Much Love From El Oasis,

Jason Mustard

__________

If you are not yet subscribed to this newsletter, please send a message to newsletter-subscribe@mbachurch.org or contact Marilyn Eggers <marilyne@mbachurch.org>.

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: newsletter-unsubscribe@mbachurch.org


© 2003 Monterey Bay Academy Seventh-day Adventist Church. All rights reserved.