MyLife

• It was my first mission trip ever, so that in itself made it special.
• Here's a picture of a cloud on the flight to Mexico. Doesn't it look like a mushroom?!?!
• The next morning, I was greeted with mountains looming on each side of me. It was truly an awesome site.
• There was an orphanage called Douglas that we served at on Saturday, and I will never forget it. A lot of things happened there, but I'll probably only share a few things. One of things that was cool was they had a concrete slide. Yes, let me repeat, a concrete slide. That did not require in cardboard. Or carpet. It was pretty cool Here's a pic:

• Also, the church at Douglas is up on a hill (near the top of the slide. So yes, you could technically get out of church, jump through a window, and slide down the hill.) Anyways, on Sunday, we went back to Douglas, and we worshipped at this church. It was interesting, because I had never heard a sermon that used a translator. What was also cool was the view out the window. Here's two pics:

• On Monday, we went and painted at an orphanage, and we also met pureNRG that day, but I didn't get any pictures. Do any of you know who pureNRG are? If not, they are a pop-singing group around my age, and they came down to Mexico to help us out with the orphans. It was fun to get to know them, and to see them perform up close. I had seen them at "Winter Jam" which toured and came to Atlanta, but when I was watching them at Winter Jam, I would never have thought in a million years that I would meet them in person. It was really cool. During the concert, they had to use a translator, which was very neat. It made me see that to worship God, you don't have to speak a certain language.
• Short story: on the first day at Douglas, my brother Michael and I were playing with the orphans, and one of them asked what my brother's name was. He said Michael, and the kid replied, "Jackson?" Me an Michael looked at each other, puzzled. Michael looked back at the kid, and said, "No, Michael." And the kid replied, "Michael Jackson!" Me and Michael looked at each other and burst out laughing. The kid began to jump around and skip, smiling and laughing saying, "Michael Jackson!" It was very funny. Michael was called Michael Jackson the rest of our time there at Douglas by the kids. What was really funny, was on the last day, the kids were sitting all around us, and one of the kids asked another kid something in Spanish, and then pointed upward. Unfortunately, I don't speak Spanish, so I didn't know what he had asked. The other kid replied "No..." and then pointed downward. The other kid laughed and then said, "Michael Jackson," and pointed down. I realized they had been arguing over where the real Michael Jackson went. I guess I didn't have to speak Spanish after all! lol. Here are the two kids that me and Michael "adopted" for the time we were there (Michael's kids is on the right, my kid is on the left):

• The first part of Tuesday (the last day) was very humbling. We went to a village on a river, and on the bank of the river, there wass trash. EVERYWHERE. The kids that live there hunt through the trash, looking for things to play with, keep, or possibly even sell. The kids have to cross the river and walk 45 minutes to get to school, but in the rainy season, the river will rise so much that they can't get across the river. And when they can walk to school, they might not have very good shoes anyways. Here's a picture of the river:

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  And, here's a picture of some kids climbing through the trash, climbing like it was an everyday thing (which it probably was):

• After seeing all the trash on the river, we went into a church in the village, and began washing the feet of the children. The feet were so dirty, the water that we were using began to turn black. But the smiles on the kids faces when they got the new shoes made my heart soar. It was an awesome sight. What was really cool was Jordan, the guy in pureNRG, couldn't find a good pair of shoes for an orphan, so he took off his own shoes and gave them to the orphan! I don't think a lot of people will ever know what he did. But I did, and I was truly blessed to witness it.
• The saddest part about the whole trip was the last part of Tuesday. All the orphanages we had visited came together, and Michael, my sister, and me, were in the crowd of orphans from Douglas, letting them sit on our laps, playing with them, and trying to communicate with them the best we could. I felt like we had known them forever, and they felt like family to me. When the concert that pureNRG was performing ended, Michael called me over and asked me to get s translator (Michael's "adopted" kid was trying to ask him something). I quickly got one, and when she heard what the kids said, she looked up at us with a pained expression on her face. She translated, knowing full-well the answer: "When will you be coming back to my children's home?" I felt like I had been punched in the stomach when I heard those words. Suddenly, he had to leave (we never answered the question). I quickly ran over to my adopted kid and said "Adios" and gave him a hug. He smiled, walked a little, waved back at me, and walked into the crowd, probably not realizing we'd never see each other again. I hugged some of the other kids too, but more subconsciously. I turned away, and slowly walked to the back of the room, and (I'm going to be honest) tried not to cry. I know I'm 15 (almost 16) but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but think, "What will his future be? Will he become a Christian? Will I ever see him again? Is that even possible???" I quickly called my sister over to tell me some jokes to cheer me up (she's a funny girl). Honestly, I didn't want people to see that I was on the verge of a sobbing spree (especially pureNRG). After a while, I felt a little better, but couldn't help think (I know, this might sound stupid) of Narnia. When they came back from Narnia, the characters might have had the same thoughts. "Will I ever go back? What will their futures be? Will I see them again?" (Of course it's fictional, but role with it...) My mind suddenly thought of the song "The Call" in Prince Caspian, and a line in it: I'll come back, when you call me. No need to say goodbye. I couldn't help but pray that one day I might come back.
• On the plane ride back, I took pictures of the sunrise. It reminded me of one of my favorite verses.

Hey everyone! So, down here in Atlanta, a storm/more-like-a-monsoon hit us. Hard. Here’s some before and after pictures of where I live:

Thankfully, we’re completely fine, and our house didn’t like slip into the lake. lol. Anyways, I’m excited about today because:

1.) No school/college because of the floods.

2.) Today is the first day of autumn! (Which btw is my favorite season.)

To celebrate, I'm going to go have a cup of hot chocolate. And, I'll probably read a book...

I hope everyone has a great day!

Jon

P.S. I just heard my sister tell my mom, "Oh, our poor garden!" It's officially gone. Whoops... I guess no green beans or anything. "Bummer"... : )

P.P.S. This is a really odd post, especially when it comes to commenting, so if no one comments, I understand. It's like, "What do you say? 'Oops?' " lol