So Josh, Dwayne, Jenette, and I were in Mexico January 15-31 for a mission trip of sorts:) We went for the purpose of visiting two missionary families, Johnny and Marta Pinkham and Dennis and Machelle Bender, and to serve them in any way possible, including spending a lot of time praying for them and their mission... I'll post pictures, and talk about em as I go:)
We left our place about 4 o'clock Saturday morning, and headed for the Cleveland airport. From Cleveland we flew to Detroit, then to Monterrey, and then to Chihuahua...
Our longest layover was in Monterrey, so that's when we got out out cameras:)
walking out to our last flight to Chihuahua
Chihuahua airport:) because of all the hiking we had to do, we took backpacks, and because of the loose straps we duct-taped them:)
Albert Overholt and his two oldest, Veronica (she stayed with us the whole week!:) and Morgan, picked us up in Chihuahua and introduced us to the city:) we stopped for some supper, walked around town, and then headed for our hotel.
Sunday morning we left for Alberts House in Creel, about a three hour drive.
breakfast:)
Albert's house
After we got there, we went up on the mountain behind their house and spent some time praying for Creel etc, the walked around the town and watched a soccer game:) back at the house we had soft pretzels and just hung out:)
the city of Creel
Bullet holes from a shoot-out between two drug cartels... Mexico is practically run by drugs/druggies
Monday morning Albert drove us about 2 1/2 hrs to Samocheequie, where Andrew Yoder
was gonna pick us up and take us the rest of the way back to the copper canyons. There's a small hospital in the town that he had brought some patients to. so we had a bunch of time to kill while waiting on news from the hospital. We visited the town store, loaded up the vehicle, did some laundry for Andrew, and explored the area...
hospital patients
beans we back-backed in for the natives
their explanation for this pic was that they were getting their muscles
ready for all the uphill climbing they wud hav to do:)
love this pic:):)
#selfie:)
Finally we learned that the patient cudnt go home that night, so we headed off on
another 2 1/2 (approx) hr drive to upper coyachiquie.
we drove as far as possible, and then hiked another hour to our final destination... it was simple hiking... all downhill... probably the easiest hiking we did the whole trip:) only thing was that it was fairly steep with lots of loose gravel, and it was after dark:)
back at Johnny's we hung-out, ate supper, and headed to bed pretty quickly:) Tuesday we did some odds and ends around the place... the boys built some bird cages, and us girls sorted meds in the clinic... we also sorted and cleaned some corn, and picked out fabrics so the natives cud sew us some tribal clothes:)
we did school devotions one morning.... did the skit of the Good Samaritan
He was annoyed at the mule:)
umm... horse manure.... had to hav a pic cuz i wud nvr hav dreamed i wud do it:)
Jenette trying her hand at patting tortillas... its not as easy as it looks!!!:)
Wednesday we hiked about 8 hours to Ricomachi, where Johnny's summer house was....
it was a hard hike!:) mostly uphill and fairly rugged...
that lowest dip is where us girls hiked thru...
the dip was too steep for the horses to cross, so the boys had to take an easier,
but longer route... we met up at lunch time.
never knew cold beans and hard-boiled eggs cud be soo delicious:)
Johnny and Georgie... he's the only one of the children that got to come along:)
walked that lower ridge, was def the easiest part of the journey
We got there about half an hour before dark, n jus hung out and rested till supper, n then spent more time resting around the fire... the days were beautiful - bright and sunny and hot, but the nights got quite cold at times... Monday we sorted and shelled corn, and cleaned beans.
Friday we headed the 8 hrs back to coy... it was a lot easier cuz it was
mainly down hill, but it was still a long day...
Saturday the others went to a town called wamiavo to pick oranges... it was a two hour hike, completely down hill on the way, and a 5 hour hike straight up on the way back... since im not the strongest physically, i stayed behind and helped with baking, laundry, getting ready for a birthday party, etc.. it was a stretching, but interesting day:)
Beautiful oranges!!!:)
resting:) Johnny and his oldest, Moffat
Sunday was a relaxing day... Got to experience a native church service:) it felt long - hard seats and not being able to understand anything, but it was interesting:) then spent the rest of the day jus relaxing and hanging out... in the evening the four of us hiked up above the village and spent time praying for it and the natives... that was really awesome:)
oh, and we got our native clothes:)
Monday we got up around 3:30 so we cud be hiking by 4:00... our first flight had to leave at 7:00 (the closer to sunrise we fly the smoother the ride) and it was about a 2 1/2 hr hike... it ended up taking almost 3 hr, but we got there in time:) the view up top was amazing!!!! almost cud imagine we were in Africa:) haha:) the plane cud only handle 2 passengers at a time, so Jenette and i went first.... while the guys waited on us they did some exploring:)
had to get a group pic up there:) was extra cool that our plane was in the background:)
the guys blowing some time:)
our plane!!! aint it jus a gorgeous pic?!!!
inside the plane...
Dennis Bender and his children picked us up at the airstrip... we jus waited there for the guys, it was about 2 hours... Back at their house we ate lunch and then played some games and relaxed... i was tired, so went and laid down for an hour or so... didnt end up waking up till like 10:00 :) so that was monday:)
where we stayed:)
Tuesday we went to the nearest town, about 3 hrs away... but we never went over 20 mph, and the average speed was 10 mph:) the roads were really bad:) we picked up a few things and got some snacks... there was a bunch of ppl that followed us around and would pass us like every minute:) it was interesting:) when we got back to the house us girls and Machelle went and visited some natives... that was fun:)
Wednesday the guys helped a neighbor hang drywall (on his ceiling of all things:) and us girls hiked an hour and a half to the next village to visit more natives. on the way back we stopped at a small creek for a snack:) did some laundry when we got back... every evening after supper we would jus hang out, chillax, and play games... was a lot of fun:)
Thursday was fun:) very relaxing and low-key... the guys did some work on the spring, and a native girl came over to teach us how they make tortillas... its a lot harder than it looks:) but it was a lot of fun trying, and we gave her a couple laughs:) late afternoon we walked about 10 min to another natives house to have a lady's Bible study...
Friday the guys went to help drywall mud the same place they had hung drywall, and us girls did some work around the house... in Mexico they sweep their yards instead of mow it:) so we raked and swept, and i made some cakes. after lunch we went and visited a lady who hurt her back. she was bending down to get water, and a rock fell on her:/ so we got to sing for her and pray with her, and i think it encouraged her a lot:) that was cool... back at the house we hung out, took pics, ate supper, and played games. it was fun, but also a little sad, knowing we were leaving the next morning... around 11 o'clock that night after playing games, we decided we were hungry. so we mixed up some tortillas and fried them with cinnamon and sugar:) was really good:)
the store:)
Cinderella... shes the one who helped us make tortillas:)
Lady's Bible study
late night snack:)
Had to get a group pic... i luv this one:)
Saturday morning the guys flew out first, so us girls slept in a little, ate breakfast, and hung out. we left for the airstrip around 10:15, and flew out around 11:00. because it was a lot later in the day, the ride was a lot rougher... i dont get sick from turbulence, but i did on that ride:) but other than feeling sick it was fun, the scenery was beautiful!... i dont know actually how rough it was, but our pilot said that the plane can handle 10 knots of wind, and during landing it was 15 knots. but landing felt really smooth compared to the rest of the ride. so i dont know what it actually was:) Alberts picked us up at the airstrip in Cuauhtemoc, and we made a few stops and got some lunch from a tiny little roadside restaurant. Then we headed for Chihuahua where our hotel was, and where we'd be flying out of the next morning. we got settled into the hotel, then went out and did some walking:)
we left the motel 6:45 sunday morning and headed for the airport. Other than some confusion because of being by ourselves and not understanding any spanish, everything went really well:) actually, the whole day went really well and everything flowed smoothly... it was rather uneventful:) dad picked us up at the airport and we got home around 12:00... Hung out for a little, ate some Stromboli, and headed for bed:)
and here's some random pics of the scenery and of people...
Monday morning we got up late, ate breakfast, and then showed our pictures... The others left around 2:30. It was sad:( I had to shed a few tears:) So glad i had the opportunity to go with them on an adventure like this! and sooo thankful for them:) Luv them lots:)
p.s. all pictures are unedited except for the one of the bush plane in the tall grass:)
Wow! So interesting! The pics are gorgeous and i MIIISSS Brooke and Lydia!!! :) Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting of of this! It was so fun to relive it. You guys were the perfect group to host. We enjoyed you so much and we were so encouraged. You may just have to consider coming back again!
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