Oh Mexico

I think I may have traveled the farthest of anyone I know for a Spring Break trip this week...and it was maybe the shortest trip to boot.

I went to San Luis Rio Colorado south of the border from Yuma, AZ with  Zion Hill Baptist Church.  I was the "Camp Pastor" for the trip.  I had a blast getting to know some of the students from ZH.

We left last Saturday morning at 7 am and arrived in Yuma about 10 am the following morning.  We met our host missionary and then drove across the border arriving at our host church before noon and just in time for morning worship.

We spent the rest of the day overcoming the "van lag" and acclimating to our new environment which included another worship service that evening and a late dinner.

On each of the next three days we spent the mornings in team devotionals and free time followed by afternoons of preparing give-away bags of Rice and Beans.  Later in the afternoon we canvassed neiqhborhoods, prayer-walking and passing out invitations door-to-door to invite everyone to a free movie that evening.

The movie was a very effective film version of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames.  The neighborhoods were very poor, one of them a simple squatter village on the outskirts of a town whose infrastructure was struggling to keep up with growth.

Our host Pastor and his church members were very effective at gathering information for follow-up purposes.  It was a joy to work with them.

Following our third (and biggest night) we packed our trailer and crossed the border knowing that it would take 4 hours or more if we waited until the morning.  We finally crossed the border just after midnight that night and decided to begin our drive back to Mississippi arriving back in Wesson at 8 am Friday morning.

Now that's a crazy trip!

And the best part of it was that there were more than 250 decisions made and seeds sown among hundreds and hundreds of people.

March 12- 5 Years Later

I've been thinking about this week, well, all week.  The other day, I thought about how 5 years ago, on Wednesday, March 8 Kim's parents took her to Ochsner Hospital for what I thought would be just another regular check-up.  Her health had been pretty poor in the weeks leading up to that appointment so we knew they would admit her- give her some fluids and antibiotics- just like always, right?

There were two big differences I guess.

About 3 weeks prior to that appointment we had seen the doctor and for the first time he mentioned that we should consider getting on "the list" again- the list to receive another set of lungs.  (Kim had received a Double Lung Transplant the summer of 1998).  Kim flat refused to go on the list again.  Her main reason was that she felt like she had had her chance and someone else deserved to have theirs as well.  Secondly, at that point she really wasn't healthy enough to undergo the procedure.

I remember being really shocked that day.  I mean, we both knew the day would come.  But when we were told to consider getting another transplant; it hit me.  Still...I was thinking we'd get another year together.

Later that day I asked her if she was afraid to die.  She said no.  Unequivocally.  I asked her if she was afraid of anything and her answer was stunning.  She told me she was afraid she'd die before school was out that Spring and worried what would happen to Anna in that case.  (Anna was a high school Senior that have moved in with us after Hurricane Katrina).  I was stunned at realizing that Kim was worried she wouldn't be around another 3 months.  I wasn't prepared for that.  (For the record, I was not all that surprised that she was concerned for someone other than herself- that fact, plus the fact that I didn't care less what anyone at church or in town thought of me having a high school senior girl living with me prompted me to invite Anna to stay in Gulfport until I left at the end of the year).

The other big difference that day- March 8, 5 years ago.  It was a Wednesday.  Normally our appointments were on Monday or Thursday and I'd take her.  Wednesday was "Church Night".  I let her parents take her to the doctor that day.  So I was in my office preparing for 605 that night when her Dad called me late that afternoon to tell me not only had they "admitted" Kim- which wasn't unexpected...but that the doctor had said it would be her "last" admission.

Looking back on it now, I realize I went into some form of shock right then and there.  A normal person would have dropped everything and took off to New Orleans.  Me.  I calmly wrapped things up.  I made arrangements for that night.  In fact, I waited till 6 pm to let everyone know I was going to New Orleans (but I didn't tell anyone how grave the situation was...I'm not sure I really "got it" myself").

So I arrived at Ochsner around 8 pm with one of Kim's favorite foods- Chicken Strips from Canes and I got to spend about 30 minutes with her while she was still cognizant.  We had short conversations.  We kissed and said we loved one another and then she got increasingly agitated at the I.V.'s which was absolutely not like her.  Being a Nurse made her a model Patient!  They sedated her to keep her from pulling out the I.V.'s and from there on it was a waiting game until about 1:30 am the morning of March 12.

I was also thinking this week about where I've been and what I've done since then.  Here's the journal:

• March 2006- this is what I wrote on my "then" blog- Xanga:   http://cwhitedog.xanga.com/456640078/item/
• March 2007- I spent a long, lonely day on a bus from San Salvador to somewhere in Nicaragua:  http://clintonwhite.theworldrace.org/?filename=welcome-race-fans&bookmark=true#comments
• August 2007 I wrote about missing Kim during her birthday:  http://clintonwhite.theworldrace.org/?filename=feeling-old-and-missing-someone
• March 2008 I finally took off my Wedding Band:  http://ministryhappens.blogspot.com/2008/03/empty-handed.html
• March 2009 I was in Ukraine:  http://ministryhappens.blogspot.com/2009/03/day-that-was.html

Last year I guess I didn't have internet.  I think I wrote something on a computer journal but I don't know where my back-up is.

Today marks 5 years.  As you read this I'll be in a van on my way to Mexico for the week.

Life goes on.  I wish it could go back.

Monday Musings

I really should write more regularly.  As in...at least a specific day each week.  Might as well be Monday huh?

In less than a week I'll be in Mexico, south of the border from Yuma, Arizona.  I'm going with my friend's church- Zion Hill Baptist Church, in Wesson, MS.  This is the first time I've gone on a mission trip with them.

Why is that a big deal at all?  Well- I'm going with my friend Stik.  He went with me to Ukraine.  And to Belize- twice!  And to Chicago.  And to Pikeville, KY.  And...I can't even remember if there are others.  Stik's an Engineer.  He has ADD but he's blessed with lots of Common Sense and Genius.  He's just the kind of guy you always want with you on mission trips.

And so now I get to go with him somewhere instead of vice-versa.

I'm not crazy about driving all the way out there.  Back in about 1990 or so, Stik, his cousin (and my college roommate) Richard and I rented a Cadillac and drove to Yuma to be in a friends wedding.  It was a classic Road-Trip.  With two Vans and a trailer in tow, this will be a little different.

I've been asked to lead the nightly "Devotions".  Unless the Lord gives me something else I intend to flesh-out the 5 Objectives of a Mission Project that Adventures in Missions uses:

Listen in Prayer
Share Your Faith
Build a Meaningful Relationship
Meet Felt Needs
Debrief and Respond.

And I probably won't have a "Monday Musing" next Monday.  I don't think I'm taking the computer on this trip.