Here is the thank you note I'm sending out to all who helped support us on this trip.  Thank you to all who were praying!! 

 Thank you so much for your support for our trip to Mexico.  We had an amazing time, and we learned so much.

Our team was comprised of 43 people, with less than 15 of them being adults.  The majority of the team was made up of college students or younger.  Our son, Grant, was the youngest, at 7 years old.  The youth were wonderful! In fact, the whole team was wonderful.  It really felt like we were being Christ’s hands and feet. 

 In Muzquiz, we teamed up with a pastor who lives there named Pastor Juan Antonio.  He is an accountant, but him and his wife and children have taken their free time and extra income to start a church for the children in this very destitute area filled with government housing.  Many of the children come from broken homes, with non Christian parents.  He has started a church, and also provides the children with things they need physically.  Our church has donated a little red bus for him to pick up the children and bring them to church as it isn’t safe for them to walk there.  We were able to come alongside Pastor Juan and the church “La Gran Comision” and be involved in these children’s lives.  We did this by bringing them some new swings for their playground (a cement slab and a dirt, rock filled field that was filled with broken glass and big rocks along with thorny brush)  In the past our church has built a small playset, but the swings had gotten stolen.  The children loved the new swings, and played on them all week when we were there.  We also did crafts with the children, put on skits, music, and just put an arm around them and showed them Christ’s love. We provided gift bags with small toys, toiletries, etc for them and the parents that came with them.  We also visited with children from an orphanage, and took them to a McDonald’s style “playland” which was a big treat for them.  They don’t get to leave the orphanage often, and they had never been to this place, so they really loved it.  We also brought gift bags of toys and food to the orphanage and made picture frames with them containing their picture and a Bible verse telling them at Jesus loves them. 

 We also teamed up with another church and put on a parade in that neighborhood, handing out candy, small gifts and an invitation to church that evening for a special outreach event.  It was amazing to see so many people from this rough neighborhood come outside to see what was going on.  They were greeted with the smiles of children on our team, handed candy, a small gift and an invitation to church.  Even gang members were approached and prayed with and shown Christ’s love.  Because of this event, at least 12 new people came to church for an outreach event with music, dramas, and a showing of the movie The Nativity Story. 

 One of the drama’s that was done on the trip, by the youth, including our 13 year old daughter, Morgan, was the drama to the song Everything by Lifehouse.  If you’ve never seen it before, you can see it done on Youtube.com if you search for Everything by Lifehouse.  Morgan played the main girl in the skit, and it was a VERY powerful drama.  The people applauded when she (Morgan), had fallen away from God by being enticed by the things of the world, fought to get back to Him.  They applauded when God stepped in and protected her.  Even though there was the language barrier (although this skit has no words) you knew the people there got it, and it gave us goosebumps and brought many tears to our eyes.  They were touched and hopefully given some hope in a world that is filled with such harsh realities. 

 Lastly, a small team of people visited a nursing home that Pastor Juan helps support.  This was one of the saddest places.  It was a beautiful building that must have been built on donations, but it was very cold and dark. The home is run by donations and volunteers, so it felt very understaffed with only one person working there.  All of the residents were too cold to get out of bed to come and visit, so we went to their beds.  We sang songs, and visited with them as much as we could, although none of them spoke much English.  There were no shades open, so there wasn’t much light, and it was very chilly in there.  There wasn’t a lot of food there, either, so we brought gifts of food to them.  Heidi and Hannah had the unique privilege of praying with one lady (although all of the residents were prayed over by the team) and although this special lady didn’t understand our words, it brought tears to her eyes and it felt like God had spoken to her thru our prayers.  He certainly spoke to us thru her tears.  

 Throughout the week, many games of soccer were played with the boys in Mexico, songs sang, crafts done, and lives and hearts touched.  Another team from our church will go there in the summer and again next Christmas.  It’s our family’s desire and hope to go again next Christmas.  It truly felt like a gift to spend Christmas this way.  And it wouldn’t have been possible without your prayers and support.  We thank you from the bottom of our heart, and hope we can convey that it wasn’t just hearts and lives in Mexico touched.  It was also our own. 

 In Christ’s service,

Roger, Heidi, Morgan, Hannah, Ethan and Grant Prahl