When we look back at our week in Yucatán, it's hard to believe how much happened in just a few days. We went with a schedule and a plan, but some of the most meaningful moments were the ones we couldn't have planned. Throughout the week, God opened doors to encourage women, share the Gospel with men in recovery, spend time with children in an orphanage, encourage a hurting friend, and deepen relationships with churches we've come to love. Here are some of those stories.

 Two Roofs, Two Families

One of the major projects of our trip was building roofs for two single mothers in Dzununcán, Margarita and Teresa. What began as a construction project quickly became a lesson in perseverance and God's provision as our plans had to change and our team worked through unexpected challenges.

[Read the full story of the roofing project →]

 Two Days in Izamal

Our time in Izamal was filled with kids' clubs, house visits, conversations with church leaders, and opportunities to encourage new believers. We also helped the El Shaddai church think through their vision for a future care facility for abandoned and vulnerable elderly people, and witnessed God use one of our team members' personal testimony in a powerful way with the youth.

[Read the full story of our two days in Izamal →]

An Evening With Women in Mérida

Monday night, we gathered with a group of women who serve as leaders in churches throughout Mérida.

Nicki Day helped organize the evening, bringing together women from several local churches for dinner and fellowship. The setting was beautiful—a restaurant that was closed for the evening, with our group gathered outside on the patio. The fans were blowing, the evening air was cool, and it gave us a wonderful atmosphere for conversation and connection.

But the evening quickly became about much more than dinner.

What Will Your Legacy Be?

Haley shared her testimony and talked about how the first three Beatitudes had played a significant role in her own healing and how God had used them to change her life. Jackie then shared the story of Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, from Acts 9. Tabitha was known for making clothing for people who were poor. But Jackie pointed out something that stood out to her: Tabitha didn't simply make whatever clothing was necessary. She made beautiful clothing. She didn't have to. She chose to put extra effort into giving people dignity. Jackie turned the question toward the women:

What is the one sentence that sums up your life?

What will your legacy be? The women paired up and talked about the kind of legacy they wanted their lives to leave behind.

Standing on the Promises of God

Shelli had barely arrived in Mérida when she joined us for the evening. In the days leading up to the trip, she had repeatedly woken up around 3:40 in the morning with specific Bible verses on her heart. Night after night, she felt God giving her verses to share with the people she would encounter in Mexico. She brought those verses with her. Her message focused on standing on the promises of God—how God's promises give us strength and protection, how we recognize when we have stopped relying on them, and how we return to them. It was interactive and personal. And then we ended the evening by pairing the women up again to exchange prayer requests and pray for one another. The evening wasn't simply about us speaking to them. It became women encouraging women.

 Motul: God's Plan

The next evening, our team split into three groups. One went to the men's rehabilitation center. One went to an orphanage. And Haley and Shelli traveled about 40 minutes outside Mérida to a church in Motul for another ladies' night. We had originally planned to give essentially the same presentations we had given the night before. But as we prayed and talked about the evening, we felt led in a different direction. Instead of giving the prepared talks, we gathered the women into a circle. We shared our prayer requests with them.

They shared theirs with us. We encouraged them, and then we handed the microphone to them and let them encourage one another—and encourage us. We wanted them to know something very simple:

We are here with you. We are your sisters.

There were about 20–25 women there, and the evening was filled with worship, prayer, encouragement, and conversation. When it was time to leave, the women came up to Haley and Shelli one by one. They hugged them. They prayed with them. And they didn't want to let them go. Afterward, we shared a meal with the pastor, his wife, their two daughters, and a visiting missionary who was originally from Ukraine. Sitting around the table and getting to know them was just as meaningful as the formal ministry itself.

 Where Life Begins

While Haley and Shelli were in Motul, Roger, Chris, and George visited a men's rehabilitation center in Mérida known as the annex, or “Where Life Begins.” They brought pizza, soda, and chips to share with the men. Some of the men were there voluntarily, while others had been committed to the program. The men who were there voluntarily were generally more willing to interact with the team. Roger and Chris both shared their testimonies.

For Chris, this was a major milestone. He had never been outside the United States before, and he had never shared his story in this kind of setting. He had prepared for the trip by learning how to tell his testimony, and now he had the opportunity to use it. Chris shared about the way his experiences with his parents had shaped his understanding of himself and his view of God. He talked about how God had helped him forgive his parents, rescued him from some very dark places, and taught him to see himself and God differently.

Roger also shared his testimony. He brought special coins from his men's group at home. The coins depict the different parts of the armor of God and serve as a reminder to remain faithful and spiritually prepared. The men loved them. Roger also shared the Gospel and encouraged the men that God can redeem broken stories.

 Casa Hogar Moisés

Another group spent the evening at Casa Hogar Moisés, an orphanage where the children are primarily teenage girls, along with two seven-year-old boys. Jackie, Beatriz, and Juanita spent time with the children, sharing our Faith Over Fear curriculum, teaching a song based on 2 Timothy 1:7, leading a dance, and playing games. There was a lot of laughter.

The girls giggled and played. They listened, learned, and participated. And our team came home excited—not because they felt they had completed everything they wanted to do, but because they realized there was so much more they could do. The team left already thinking about what curriculum they could develop specifically for these girls next time. Many of the girls have very limited opportunities to leave the orphanage or experience activities outside of it. We want to give them something to look forward to. We want to build relationships. And we hope this visit was only the beginning.

 An Unexpected Visit With Dani

Some of the most important moments of the trip weren't on our schedule at all. During our communication with Pastor Mauricio before the trip, we noticed that his wife, Dani, wasn't saying much in our group messages. We assumed she simply wasn't much of a texter. When we arrived, Mauricio told us that Dani had been sick. As we talked more, he shared that she had been struggling with severe depression and had spent approximately 15 days unable to get out of bed. We were deeply concerned for her. Mauricio was clearly worried too. We asked if we could visit her.

On Wednesday, Shelli, Beatriz, and Juanita spent about two hours with Dani. They listened.

They visited. They encouraged her. They also brought resources that connected directly to the work she does with vulnerable children. Dani's full-time job is with a nonprofit that serves children who have experienced abuse and other at-risk youth, so the team was able to give her additional children's curriculum resources. They also shared the Freedom curriculum and its accompanying online resources with Dani and Mauricio, with the hope that they would be able to work through the material together. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

 A Wednesday Night With Friends

Wednesday night took us to a church in Mérida where we spent several hours together—from approximately 7:00 to 10:00 PM. This church had been praying for us throughout the months leading up to the trip. We had shared prayer requests with them, and they had faithfully prayed for our team. We had also been praying for them. By the time we arrived, there was already a sense that we were catching up with family. Haley, Beatriz, Chris, and Roger shared testimonies and messages. We spent a long time worshiping together.

We prayed with one another. We caught up on what had happened since our last visit. And then Armando, Nicte's husband, shared a closing message with us. Eventually, we sat down to a big meal together.

We ate.

We talked.

We laughed.

We caught up.

And we enjoyed the kind of fellowship that only comes when relationships have been built over time. We already knew many of their needs. They knew ours. And we left reminded that the relationships created through these trips continue long after the plane ride home.

We are grateful for every person who prayed, gave, encouraged, and participated.

Thank you for being part of what God is doing in Mexico.