Cozumel Family Mission Trip
Family Mission Trip
August 2012 will hopefully see 15 to 20 of the Howell church's members heading to Ciudad de Angeles (City of Angels) in Cozumel, Mexico. The goal of our 5 day trip will be to minster to and encourage the children at the Church of Christ children's home there and to experience another culture, both its challenges and its inspiration.
Ciudad de Angeles is a special home for orphaned and unwanted children of Cozumel in which the children are housed in group homes (6-8 children) with a Mexican "mother" and "father" who live with them. The children are given a home there until they are 18 and then have the to option to go on to further schooling or to a job. Each child is sponsored by 1-4 American families who have a much closer than usual relationship with the children directly, with the American family participating in the children's lives as much as possible and even going to visit them if they can. The children in the home come to rely on the love and support of their American families as well as the families they form at the home.
Ciudad will have 13 mission teams next summer from churches in Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and of course, now, Michigan. Many of the teams are high school and college groups, but at least one is a family team comprised of all ages including a toddler. Our team from the Howell church will be over half adults and
many of our middle schoolers and a few high schoolers.
We will spend 3 full days with the children teaching bible lessons, reviewing English they have learned, playing and interacting with the kids, helping with upkeep projects on the campus, and being immersed in the culture and language of Mexico. Much work will have to be done by our team to learn as much Spanish as we can and to memorize our bible lessons in Spanish so that they can be taught to the Spanish speaking children. We'll be having preparatory classes for all those attending so that we have our hearts and minds ready for what God wants us to learn as we attempt, with His help, to serve others.
It will cost about $700 per person. We have been actively fundraising since August with can and bottle drives but we are also looking for financial support in other ways. If you can "employ" any of our younger participants, they will be able to earn money to go. Letters will be going out asking for sponsors to help with expenses. You don't have to go to Mexico to make a difference in the lives of the children living there and in the lives of our young people who are eager to go.
Ciudad de Angeles is a church of Christ sponsored home and I (Paige) thought it was very exciting to make connections with the other church teams that are going in our fellowship. Local missions and international missions are so important. Blessing others with the blessings we've received is our aim. I was personally changed when I went on a mission trip to inner city Pittsburg (The Pittsburg Project) when I was in High School. Meeting people who didn't look like me or live like me but who were loved by Christ was an eye opener for me and gave me a new perspective. That can happen at any time in our lives, but especially when we are young and forming our understanding of who we are and where we fit in the world.
Our prayer as a group is that God will work in and through us to glorify him in our plans. We've been blessed to be a blessing with enough to give enough for the greatest in His kingdom Is the servant of us all.