PCA has been sending grade 12 students to Mexico since 2001 to build houses with Mexican Caravan Ministries. To date we have built over 35 homes in Tijuana.

This May, we will be building 6 small houses for underprivileged families in Tijuana in partnership with Mexico Caravan Ministries.

Mexican Caravan Ministries (MCM) was started in 1984 when a missionary, David Burdette, was approached to help a young mother in need. She had acquired a piece of land, but was going to lose the land if she did not construct a house on it. Dave was able to enlist the help of a youth group from San Diego to help construct a small home for this young mother. And thus the idea for MCM was born.

MCM facilities the construction of small 12x12 shelters for those who don’t have adequate shelter. They host teams that come to help build the shelters and minister to the locals in the area. All materials are purchased on the local market.

For more information on MCM, visit: Mexico Caravan Ministries.

As Christians, our service to others is always a response to God’s act of service to us through the death of Jesus on the cross. We love others because He first loved us. Our grad trip seeks to highlight this reality by providing an opportunity for our students to discover the joy of serving those in need.

PCA and Mexico Caravan Ministries (MCM) have had a long partnership together. Since 2001, we have sent teams of students to Mexico to work with and learn from MCM. We have found that the greatest benefit of the ministry of MCM has been for graduating students. This is due to the fact that MCM provides very meaningful and challenging teaching to students about their personal involvement in world missions and evangelism–aspects of Christian discipleship which are central to PCA’s philosophy.

We did not want to neglect the reality that our students are also social beings–not just spiritual. Therefore, along with the service aspect of the grad trip, they will also be provided with opportunities for bonding, reflection and celebration during their time in San Diego.

Because this is a graduation trip, students cover the cost of their own travel and expenses. The only component they fundraise for is the cost of the building material they need to build the 6 small houses.

Dear parents,

By God’s grace, we have safely arrived at the dorms of Mexico Caravan Ministries. The students are starting to get tired. It’s been a long day of travel and the three hour time difference is beginning to catch up.

After a brief orientation session, the team loaded the trucks with materials for the builds tomorrow. They are worked well together and are now having some free time. We will head out to their first Mexican taco stand for dinner soon.

We are thankful for you, our families, and pray that all the mom’s had a nice Mother’s Day today.

Blessings,
Team Mexico

Dear parents,

Our day began at 6:30 AM with a full morning.
Students said they were pleasantly surprised at how well they slept last night. We did personal devotions at 7AM, had a simple breakfast at 7:30 and then started our morning session at 8AM. This will be our schedule for the entirety of our time at MCM.

During the morning session, we had the privilege of spending time in worship and then hearing from Brooks Buzer, the president of Radius International, a missionary training school here in Tijuana. Brooks shared about his incredible journey as a missionary to an unreached people group in Papa New Guinea. He outlined four reasons why people become missionaries and challenged our students to allow God to use them in missions during the years of their youth. He left the students with much to ponder and digest.

We loaded our trucks with tools and headed with our teams to our two worksites. The MCM interns patiently guided us in building our first structures. For many students, this was their first time hammering, sawing and putting material together. The work was tiring but they thoroughly enjoyed the process. Before raising the roof, we stopped for lunch, which is generally provided to us from the Mexican family receiving the structure. This lunch will often cost them more than a week’s worth of wages and we enjoyed every bite.

The afternoon was spent painting and nailing down tar paper on the roof and after praying with the families and giving them a housewarming gift, we headed back to the MCM dorms. Since it was such a warm day today, the students got treated to some
Mexican popsicles and ice cream, which was much appreciated.

We are heading out to dinner now and the students are looking forward to some more authentic tacos. We have been so well fed thus far.

Everyone is healthy and happy. We can hear their laughter throughout the building.

Gratefully,
Team Mexico

An update written by some of the students:
Dear Parents,

After consuming some cereal with milk and/or toast with jam with a side of bananas and sliced oranges, we headed to the meeting room to hear from Eddie Passmore. Eddie is the senior director of MCM, who has faithfully served here for more than 21 years.

Eddie shared about three keys ways to live like Jesus and encouraged us to have the passion that Jesus had for the lost and to be like Jesus’ disciples, who dropped everything to follow him. We pray that our students will take these points to heart.

Next, we went on to build our next set of houses. In general the teams were more familiar with what they needed to do and progress was much quicker today. One team was even an hour ahead of where they were at lunch time yesterday. The students are certainly gaining confidence in their skills and familiarity of what to do next.

We ate at the dorms tonight and had roasted chickens with tortilla wraps and salsa chips. The students enjoyed their meal. To end the night, we met with the MCM interns and listened to their testimonies.

Tired,
Team Mexico

An update written by some of the students:

Hola,

Today the green team beat the purple team. (this is definitely biased). In all seriousness, the last day of building was amazing. We started off with a great breakfast, devotional time, worship, and a speaker, and we were quickly off to the build site. The interns had to leave earlier, so we were all working really hard so that we didn’t have to do anything on our own (because that’s when it all goes wrong…). It was extremely rewarding to finish off tacking the roofs all by ourselves with no help by the experts (well, we think we’re experts at this point). Then the highlight of the day: the showers!!!! We raced to make it in time, and finally got to soak in boiling hot water and wash off the last three days of hard work.

We’re heading off to dinner now. Adios!
Team Mexico

Dear Parents,

We attended our last morning session with Spencer, the director of MCM, recapping all of the messages the group heard this week about following Jesus and reaching the lost for Christ. He ended by asking us: What part will you play in global missions?

After a one hour drive, we arrived at Casa Hogar, an orphanage where we would spend the day. The students quickly connected with the children there through sports, bracelet making and simply playing together. Our goal for the day was to love on them so that they can experience Jesus love for them. We made and provided them with a simple lunch of hot dogs, watermelon and snacks. Though what we were able to bring was so little, the children were grateful.

One last ice cream stop seemed appropriate for our last day of service in Mexico. The students thoroughly enjoyed the unique flavours.

After spending some time tidying up and packing for our departure tomorrow, we debriefed in our teams and had a very meaningful time sharing about the many thoughts that we are processing resulting from our experiences in Mexico and at MCM.

The students have been thankful for the opportunity to serve in such unique ways here in Tijuana. The experience has been, as one student put it, very satisfying, especially on the days when at the end of the afternoon they can see the product of labour in the form of a tangible shelter.

Please pray that these young people will continue to allow the Spirit to stir their hearts towards Jesus.

Team Mexico

Dear Parents,

By God’s grace, we are settled in at our hotel in San Diego and the students are finishing their small group debriefing and starting to get ready for bed.

Our day began with our usual routine of wake up, devotions and then breakfast. Except today, it was followed with cleaning the MCM dorms before heading out to cross the US border.

The wait at the border was unusually short and we were back in San Diego much earlier than expected.

Thankful,
Daisy

Dear Parents,

I apologize the late night messages. We have had many full days and I often don’t have a chance to get to writing these update until the students are settled in their rooms at 10PM.

The students had a wonderful day of celebrating the end of their grad trip together by exploring the San Diego Safari Park, where they got to ride a tram through an African safari and visit animals from around the world. Next, they enjoyed chicken burgers from
Chick-Fil-A as we headed to the La Jolla Cove beach. They spend time playing in the sand and stepping into the cold ocean water.

After cleaning themselves up, we headed to a fancy restaurant, on the water, for their final grad dinner. It was the perfect way to cap off our week away.

We will be flying home tomorrow morning. Please remember to check on the flight status before heading to the airport and budget some time for us to pick up to our luggage. See you soon!

Satisfied,
Team Mexico