Traveling and Our First Day

June 30^th – Monday

                I started the day with a little later start than I had been planning due to some complications but I still was on the road at a decent hour (6:30am). The drive to Oliehurst was uneventful and I made it around 1:30 pm. I spent some time with the family and finished a few last details for Arielle. While we were eating dinner the topic of passport expirations came up, and there had been a slight mix up (minors expire every 5 years) and Arielle’s passport will expire while we are in Mexico. We started frantically searching the internet and contacting Joy to see what if any options were available. Eventually we learned that if the minor is traveling by land in an organized group with adults then they just need a birth certificate and ID to get back into America. After that round of fun we all headed to bed. Arielle’s and I had planned on driving straight to Rio Rico, 15 hours, the next day. But we knew we were going to have to wait in the morning for a call from Joy who was contacting the border to confirm all that was found. With all of this in consideration we decided to split the trip into two days, just make sure we were in Rio Rico no later than 10 am on Wednesday.

July 1^st – Tuesday

                We waited on pins and needles for the call, if the border had said no then we would have had to leave Arielle, In America, or figured out a way to get her picked up early. The call came and the border said that she was fine traveling with her birth certificate and ID they also said they would let her back with the expired passport. So with all that sorted out we jumped in our already stuffed car and headed out around 9 am. There is not a lot to say about the trip, it was a lot of desert, angry water related billboards and semi trucks. On a down note USA lost and are out of the World Cup but they at least made it to the group of 16. We decided to call it a night a little after 8 with just under 4 hours of driving left. Then began the hunt for a place to sleep. We eventually found a town, Tonopuh, in Arizona that had a clean Hotel.

July 2^nd – Wednesday

                We were up bright and early and on the road by 6 am. The travel was fairly uneventful. When we were within a couple mile of our stopping point, had just pulled off the interstate and were starting the neighborhood search, the GPS just shut off. I had mapquest directions but they were to the other peoples house. We were about to call Joy when Del, her husband drove by and guessed it was was, two girls in a car with OR plates, he let us follow him home. At long last the three Gerkins were all in one location! Joy was working on preparing a lunch to take with them to the women’s prison. We jumped in and in no time the lunch was ready to go. We then transferred the 8 garbage bags, 3 boxes and 4 balls that people had donated to the orphanage into their van, oh we also transferred our clothes, water and food. Then we were off to the border, the crossing was uneventful, we went with them all to the women’s prison and helped out with the ministry there. We had a great time eating with and then sharing some of our story with the ladies. The ladies then all shared their stories and some of their heart and it was very touching to hear what God has been doing in all their lives. Be praying for all these dear sisters in Christ who are in the middle of the justice system here. Once we had finished at the prison, Del and Joy drove us all to the orphanage.

                Lilia and her husband run the Emuris Kid’s Kingdom, there are currently 25 children here mostly teenage girls. They seem like a very nice couple and I look forward to getting to know them better. They have provided us with one of the dorm rooms. It is spacious and nice. After we unpacked everything and discussed a few details, us Americano did our best to play games. It was always funa dn enjoyable but also slightly confusing. We never were sure what was happening when we started a game, they would all just have a conversation and then split us up and point at where they wanted us. But we always figured it out! First we were all taking turns shooting on the goal, then we switched to kickball and lastly we played a small futball scrimmage. After the kickball the girls all decided to set to on fixing Arielle’s hair, they worked on it for at least a half hour. When they finished she had a lovely mixture of cornrows and braids.

                It was now a little after 6 pm and we had Wednesday night service at 7 so we all decided to go put our room in order and freshen up a little bit for the service. The service seemed really good, it was all in Spanish so I’m not sure what was being said, but it was great to be able to worship with brothers and sisters in Christ in another place. There is something special about being able to see the love that others have for Christ. When the sermon started they asked us Americanos to take the little ones outside. We had a great time playing with the children. Although from the American perspective it was slightly scary because we never were sure how many children we were suppose to have and communication was a challenge. But we al, children included,l had an amazing time. At one point the children were using the monkey bars while sitting on our shoulders it was hilarious how tangled up we all could get! Eventually service ended and we all had some rice pudding and lemon bread and headed for bed.

                On a funny note when I went to use the restroom the faucet is a PVC concoction. Well I got it turned on just fine but it didn’t seem to matter how many times or ways I turned the switch I could not get it to stop. One of the girls came in and I tried asking how to turn it off and showing that I couldn’t. I tried using my hand to stop the water I tried staring it into submission but it was not working. Eventually she showed me that you have to push down on the PVC faucet and have the knob just right and it will turn off.