Baja Youth Mission Trip 2023

PMTSD

We just returned from a week that was packed so full, in your memory it probably feels more like a month than a typical week. That’s usually what happens with mission trips.

Whether this was one of the greatest weeks of your life, or was a week you’re deeply relieved to have made it through (or both), we experienced a lot together! We saw Jesus working through us in dozens of ways. We connected with people who speak another language and live across an international border.

Good, bad, exciting, tiring, memorable, and all of it – here’s what I’ve seen happen before: it’s a sensory overload. And now you’re home. You’re back to the ordinary. Probably having to do chores and clean things and take care of stuff that didn’t get done while you were gone. The people at home don’t always understand the experiences you had last week. They expect you to focus on washing the dishes when you just want to sleep in your actual bed. For you introverts, your family expects you to talk to them when you want to hide in your room. Extroverts, your family will expect you to hang with them when you want to go PARTY WITH EVERYONNNNE. It’s a struggle.

I call this PMTSD – Post-Mission-Trip Stress Disorder. Yes, I made that up, but it’s a real thing. You’ll likely feel a letdown, and even feel depressed. You’ll wonder if the experiences you had last week were really Jesus working, or if it was all kind of a dream.

Let me tell you this. The same Jesus who brought us through last week and got us to the airport on half a dozen Ubers – He’s with us today. Here at home. Doing chores and dealing with annoying siblings. Going to our ordinary jobs, practices, summer weights, all of it. He’s with us.

I’m so deeply grateful for all of you, and for the way we served together. Let’s humbly serve Jesus here. And through His strength, let’s serve those around us – in the ordinary, boring, and even annoying ways we have in front of us this week.

Love y’all.

(P.S. If you’re super bored, contact Miss Tessie and offer to help with VBS setup this week!)


ARCHIVED OLDER STUFF:

Download a 1-page PDF with essential trip info (phone numbers, addresses, itinerary)

Download the daily schedule and info about the pastors/churches where we’re serving

Spanish Language Worship Songs Playlist

Songs we should be learning from the above playlist (tap each for a PDF lyrics and chords sheet):
- Anastasis (Spanish version of, uh… Anastasis) (YouTube link)
- Tu Gran Amor (Spanish version of North Point - Love Come Down) (YouTube link)
- La Bendicion (Spanish version of Cody Carnes/Kari Jobe/Elevation - The Blessing) (YouTube link)

PACKING NOTES:

PRAYING PELICAN PRE-TRIP GUIDE INCLUDING PACKING LIST:

CLICK HERE

Main Trip Itinerary

(flight times will likely change by a few minutes in either direction before then):

Saturday June 3:

Be at church at 6:30 AM for a 7:00 AM departure.

MCI (Kansas City) to SAN (San Diego) - Saturday June 3 departs 11:10 AM Central time, arrives 12:35 PM Pacific time (duration 3 hrs 25 mins). (We need to be at the airport by 9:10 AM that morning.)

Drive to Ensenada, arriving at lodgings (Pastor Candelario’s church - Roca de Salvación) late evening. (NOTE: if you click on the Google Street view of that church, you’ll just see the empty lot before they built the new church building. Don’t freak out.)

Sunday June 4:

Split group, attend church at Pastor Omar’s church (El Buen Pastór) and Pastor Cande’s church (Roca de Salvación)

Afternoon and evening ministry activities

Monday thru Wednesday June 5-7:

Split group in daytimes for ministry, back together in the evenings for hangouts and team devotionals

Thursday June 8:

Ministry, and Team recreation day

Friday June 9:

Depart early morning to drive back to San Diego. Border crossing takes 2-3 hours. Arrive San Diego around midday.

Free evening in San Diego, all students with at least one adult leader in groups of three minimum.

Stay at HI San Diego (we’ll have all our rooms to ourselves - don’t freak out because it’s called a hostel. No weird European peyote smokers will be sharing our bunk rooms.)

Saturday June 10:

Leave lodgings for airport at 5:50 am to arrive at airport 6:15 am

SAN to MCI - Saturday June 10 departs 8:15 AM Pacific time, arrives 1:25 pm Central time (duration 3 hrs 10 mins). (We need to be at the airport by 6:15 AM that morning.)


MEETING RECAP of April 30 meeting: CLICK HERE

MEETING RECAP of April 2 meeting: CLICK HERE

Frequently Asked Questions


Q: Where are we going?
A: To Ensenada, a Pacific coastal city in Baja California, Mexico. We’ll get there by flying to San Diego on June 3, and meeting our guides from Praying Pelican Missions there. They’ll take us across the border in their vehicles, and we’ll travel through Tijuana and down the coast to Ensenada. There, we’ll meet with a local host pastor and church, with whom we’ll be working for our week of ministry. We’ll be back in San Diego the evening of June 9, and fly home June 10.


Q: Who is going?

A: Youth group students who will have completed grades 6-12 in May of 2023. Parents are also invited to come along! Sorry – this trip is not designed to accommodate younger kids. (Exception: students completing 5th grade in May are invited, as long as they have an accompanying parent.)


Q: How much will it cost?

A: As of now, it looks like the cost will be $1295 per person (sorry – no family discounts!). This includes airfare, ground transportation, accommodations (we’ll be sleeping on air mattresses on floors, but we will have showers available), clean food and water, ministry project funds, and insurance. You’ll need to bring your own money for things like souvenirs, etc. Also, if you don’t have a passport, you’ll need to pay to get one.

We realize $1295 is a scary amount for most teenagers to think about raising. You should raise as much of your trip cost as possible by the classic underrated method of working to earn the money! But we get that you’re not all working high-paying jobs. We’ll do a few fundraisers together as a team. If God wants you to go on this trip (I hope you’ve prayed about that), the money will come in, but you’ve got to be willing to work hard to get there.


Q: What will we be doing?

A: There are many possible ministry tasks, chosen mostly based on the needs of the host church and the skill set of our team. Basically, we’ll be serving a local pastor and church together, mostly in the poverty-stricken areas of Ensenada. Possibilities include kids’ ministry, music, construction, food distribution, medical help, and youth group partnering.


Q: Is Mexico safe???!?

A: Generally speaking, Tijuana and Ensenada are very safe for visitors. Violence against foreigners is rare. Ensenada is a large city, but not nearly as large as Tijuana. Our Ensenada partner pastors describe their city as “chill.” Local residents take general precautions like locking things up to prevent theft– but there is not a heightened sense of security precautions taken or even a significant police presence. Most of the “drug wars” violence is currently in the hot spots of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua. Here in Missouri, we live closer to the gang violence of East St. Louis than our Ensenada host pastors do to the “drug war” areas of Mexico.

Any travel involves a degree of risk. You take a risk any time you go to Branson. But we’ve done this trip before, and feel confident that we’re using good wisdom regarding the safety of our students. There are no guarantees - you can be unsafe sitting on your couch at home if a big enough tree falls on your house - but we’ve done our diligence here. We draw on years of experience traveling internationally with teenagers and take careful safety precautions.


Q: Can I drink the water?? Can I use the bathroom there???

A: You’ll have plenty of clean water to drink; just don’t drink out of the faucet. Yes, you can use the bathroom. We’ll have showers at the place we’re staying (which you should use daily please), and laundry is possible (at a laundromat) if the need arises.


Q: What will we eat?

A: The best food. Seriously. People from the churches we’re serving cook us incredible homemade meals through the trip. Fresh Mexican food made by church ladies is some of the best food you’ll have in your entire life. For real. And if you need some American snack food (Doritos, Oreos, candy, etc) that’s available too, at lots of little snack stands and shops.


Q: Can I take my PHONE???!?? WILL I LOSE MY STREAKS????

A: You seem a little anxious. Take a deep breath. You good? Okay. Yes, you can take your phone, though your data and text plan may not work in Mexico (some networks work seamlessly, some charge you extra, and some don’t work at all). Several of the trip leaders will have phones that do work for the entire trip, so emergency contact is not a problem. Wifi is available occasionally in spots, but not reliable. We recommend mostly leaving your phone in airplane mode (your battery will last forever!) and using it as your camera and portable Bible. You can also download an offline version of Google Translate’s Spanish translation to use if one of the interpreter staff isn’t available.

You might lose your streaks. That’s possible. Has God called you to go on this trip? If so, decide how important streaks are to you.

We challenge you to do this trip mostly phone-connection-free, even if your connection does work well in Mexico. If we’re on our phones the whole time, we’re tragically missing the point.

 

Q: Do I need a passport?

A: Yes. You’ll need to start this process ASAP. You can get the cheaper passport card (instead of the full passport booklet) since we’re entering Mexico by land and not by air. BUT I highly recommend going ahead and getting the full booklet, because you never know when you or your child will have an opportunity to go on another international mission trip or do international study in the next few years. (Ask Darrin Griffin!) The best way to get a passport around here is to go to the Nevada Post Office, and get the paperwork. They can do the photos and everything right there all at one time. Your total cost for this should be $65-160, depending on options. (EDIT FOR 2023: the Passport office is running very behind this year, so the cost goes up. You’ll need to expedite this, which will cost an extra $100.)

 

Q: How do I sign up?

A: Signups are currently full. To be added to the wait list, contact Pastor Jim at jimpurtle@yahoo.com