Baja Missions Trip 2023 - Day 5 "Fiesta Time"

Thank you Lord for your provision today! I started the day not feeling optimistic at all about the day, I wasn't feeling well and the taste of yesterdays "Sabbath" was still in my mouth. 

Delicious burrito's this morning supplied by Kevin and his wife Isabella. McDonald's cant even hold half a candle to these homemade burritos. Freshly made tortillas, fillings of sausage, bacon, or chorizo, with potatoes mixed in, cheese, and eggs, add in the freshly made conchas from a local bakery, we were fueled and ready to go!  

After a filling and delicious breakfast we piled in the van to make a quick stop at the "bodega", the building where BCM stores all their tools and food supplies. We loaded up the necessary supplies and drove an hour to the Fiesta site. As we were leaving Rosarito the skies were sunny with a slight breeze. But the closer we got to the Fiesta site the skies began to turn grey and it started to rain. The van's atmosphere shifted from excitement to dread. Would the fiesta be a bust? If it's cold and rainy people might not be willing to leave their homes to come join us. 

When we arrived there was still a slight drizzle but it seemed like it would let up by 11AM when the fiesta was scheduled to "start". The fiesta was going to be held in a park that was in the center of a gated community. When we arrived a tent company was already setting up a rented tent in preparation for the fiesta, and stacks of chairs were being offloaded off the back of a beat up F150. 

It was time to divide up into groups to tackle the various tasks that needed to be accomplished. One team would be prepping food bags to give to the people who would be showing up to the fiesta, one team to start setting up tables and chairs, and the last team would be going around door to door and inviting the community to join us at the fiesta. 

Nacho, Squeaky, Stefan, Lucia, and Josh all joined the door knocking team, one interpreter and one to invite. There were 5 people who stepped up to the plate but they were supposed to go in pairs so they needed one more. Nobody was stepping up to be the last person, so Cory asked another member of the team if they would like to go with that team, but they declined. The tension was palpable, it was clear that we needed one more person to step up, and I was resolute that person wasn't going to be me. 

As a very strong willed child I had had my fair share of "donkey" moments. My mom even had me read a book growing up called "Not My Will". I say all that to paint for you a picture of when I make up my mind, it's very hard to sway me from that point of view or decision. It's funny sometimes how when our will clashes with God's there can only be one clear winner. I had been resolute that I wasn't going to be on the door knocking team, but my hand went up none the less. 

I got paired up with Nacho, he would be interpreting for me as we were going door to door. I was incredibly skeptical, how many people would answer their doors, would I have a door slammed in my face? But Nacho has the ability to make any task seem less daunting. We divided up the few streets in this gated community and got to work knocking on doors! The community had about 50 houses in it and in about 45 minutes the team had knocked on all the doors, and only a small handful hadn't answered! What favor! I would later find out that a pillar of the community, a woman who had invited us to throw the fiesta, had used the Nextdoor app to message everyone and tell them we were coming. When we are faithful and say yes to Jesus, even when we don't want to be, he has already paved the way! 

Once we were done knocking on doors Nacho and I headed back to the fiesta. By the time we made our way back the clown Lalo had showed up and was setting up. Lalo was going to be the main source of entertainment during the fiesta, he and his family travel all around the world putting on their show. As someone who doesn't really like clowns and can find them creepy at times, I was skeptical about a clown being the main act, but that was not a decision that was mine to make. 

We very quickly found out that this community had been without running water for the past month, which threw a bit of a wrench into our beverage plan. Nacho would not be thwarted and went to the house of the woman who had helped coordinate the outreach and began painstakingly boiling water. All told it took him an hour a half to make the drinks including some delicious hot chocolate, which unfortunately I only heard about, it was gone before I had a chance to try it.  

It was all hands on deck to assemble the food bags that we were going to be giving away to the families that came to the fiesta. 1 bag of veggies with onions, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, etc, and the other bag had dry goods, beans, oats, flour, rice, etc. Giving the food bags isn't something we had to do, but feeding the physical need is important alongside the spiritual food. 

All that was left to do was wait for people to show up at 11AM, but more realistically 11:45-12. Eric, the director of BCM, had taken a truck over to some of the nearby squatter communities to bus people over to the sight for the Fiesta. Slowly but surely people started to trickle in, and once we had critical mass the show could begin! 

I mentioned earlier that I was skeptical about a clown being the main act, but clowns in Mexico aren't creepy at all! It is better described as a comedy act where the comedians dress up, very physical with their jokes, using mirrors, ladders, and balloon animals as props. They performed for about an hour, and at the end there was a Gospel presentation and we saw about 20 kids go up to the front to receive prayer, it was an incredibly moving sight to see so many children respond. 

I needed to get it together though because Stefan and I were up next to share our testimonies. I went first, Stefan went second. It's a challenging experience sharing your testimony in 3-4 word chunks since you have someone interpreting for you, and not every word you say is an exact translation. Jorge translated for both Stefan and I, and he did an awesome job, but you could tell how difficult it is to do in real time. 

Between Lalo, and our testimonies we saw 20 children and about 10 adults receive prayer. After the sharing of our testimonies was done a local Pastor came up to invite the people to join him at his church and to commit to studying the "Purple Book". Which is a Bible Study designed to dive into the life of Jesus for about 6 months, about 73% of people who complete the Purple Book accept Jesus as their Savior! There is going to be a lot of work in the coming months for the local pastors to follow up with these people and get them plugged in. 

We ended the formal gathered time together by offering prayer for anyone who needed it, so many people came forward. Some were praying for their ailments, some for their families to come to know Jesus, among many other things. It was a powerful and moving time. 

The hotdogs were ready, and the people were ready to eat. They began lining up, and the children got to go first. My job was hading out the chips (pepitas), asking them "Que quieres?" What do you want? The kids pretty much wiped out all the spicy chips, flaming hot doritos, the spicy cheetos. All that was left for the adults after that were the regular chips. Even the way they let their kids go first in line moved me. 

After the bulk of the people were through the line I got tapped on the shoulder to start making balloon animals. Flowers (Floras), Dogs (Perros), and Swords (Spanish word I can't remember). I had a girl ask me for a purple duck which was not on the pre-approved list, so I failed to deliver. I would later find out from Lucia that she wasn't asking me for a purple duck, but a purple dog. I did the balloon animals for about 45 minutes, and my fingers were sore and raw from tying off a bunch of balloons. But it was worth it to see the kids faces light up. 

Most of the people had moved on and were heading back to their homes which meant it was time for us to also pack up. Lucia was finishing up henna art on people while others packed up the trucks and vans. Haliah (Hu-lee-ah) and her mom Hoku (Ho-coo) were the last up at the henna station. I spent time talking and joking around with them. Haliah who is 15 has been doing this ministry with her dad Jorge and mom since she was 9 years old! 

All of the BCM team is amazing, but Hoku and Haliah both made a huge impact on me, they are amazing people. I hope to meet them again. 

It was a very fulfilling day. My heart is full, and I'm overjoyed that the spiritual attack I was experiencing didn't stick around! Lord help sustain me through the rest of the trip.