Today, our mission team hosted the first day of a two-day retreat for Horizonte’s staff. In attendance were:

• Martin, Horizonte’s Pastor
• Mayte, Martin’s wife & Head of Production
• Izamar, their daughter & a teacher in WaumbaLand (kids’ ministry)
• Edith, Head of Family Ministries*
• Sarita, Pastor’s Assistant
• Justin, University Student Ministry staff
• Lluvia, Justin’s wife & University Student Ministry staff
• Phil, University Student Ministry staff
• Ricardo, High/Middle School Ministry staff
• Ana, Ricardo’s wife and Host Team staff
• Job, Production staff
• Juan, Facilities/Maintenance & Children’s Ministry staff

* – Edith was also very helpful in assisting our team as we prepared for the retreat.  Muchas Gracias, Edith!

Horizonte's Staff & Buckhead's Team

The day’s events were designed so everyone could get to know one another, to establish connections, and to demonstrate love to one another.  Fun events included a questionnaire game and the first ever Horizonte Christian Olympics (almost as exciting as the Beijing Games).

For the Olympics, we split our groups into two teams, Uno and Dos (who says we’re not creative?).  The first of three events was a water balloon toss.  Liz & Martin pulled off a win for Team Uno in a sudden death tie-breaker against Team Dos’ Mayte & Julian.  Team Dos came back in event number two with a win in a water tray relay race; we literally had a photo finish in that contest.  At this point, athletes on both sides were in need of food and rest, so we had a relaxing lunch beside the hotel pool.  It was a relaxing place to continue conversations and share our faith.

Team Uno Celebrates

After lunch, we set up a quiet prayer room in our meeting space, our idea being to create a place where we and our guests could pause and reflect about God.  Jennifer & Natalie created a calming environment with candles, cushions, and soft music.  We also set up two areas in which one could cast his burdens and share your thanks.  For the burdens, we set a basin of water with rocks all around it; by placing a rock in the basin, you symbolized that you were giving a weight up to God.  In the “Thanks” area, we provided Post-It notes that could be placed up on the wall with one’s blessings written on them.  A very simple way to give thanks.

Burdens & Blessings

Later that evening, it was time to determine who were the true champions of the day’s Olympics.  Our two teams were given 40 minutes to develop and perform a 3-5 minute skit using randomly selected details.  For Team Uno, the challenge involved Batman…in ancient Egypt…writing a hit song; Team Dos’ was just as wacky:  Cupid…at the beach…planning an invasion of the moon.  Wish you had been here for this, don’t you?  We don’t think either skit will be nominated for a short subject Oscar, but we had lots of fun and laughs doing it.  Cupid won out over Batman, and Team Dos was crowned the day’s champions.  Congratulations to Mayte, Natalie, Edith, Job, Phil, Ricardo, Justin & Julian!

Team Dos, Horizonte Christian Olympic Champions 2008

After all this excitement, we broke for the day.  Some folks stayed at the hotel to watch the Olympics (we just couldn’t get enough), while others went to Taco 57 for a well-deserved dinner.

Thanks for keeping up with us and continuing to pray for this trip!

Today, we had breakfast at Horizonte Church which is always a treat.  We continue to enjoy spending time as a team as well as with our new friends at Horizonte.  After enjoying another great meal we split off on our own to find a quiet spot on the church property to do our daily devotional.  These devotionals have been a great opportunity for each of us to spend some quiet time with God and reflect on our trip.

After the devotional, we were all excited to find out that we had some free time.  While a few of us went shopping for Mexican pottery others headed into town.  Eventually we all met up for lunch and to discuss the plans for the next few days.  Lunch was an experience and although Julian had us all worried that the restaurant we selected might not be safe, so far so good – we’ll keep our fingers crossed.  After lunch it was time to head back to the hotel to greet our guests.  The staff and volunteers began arriving and we had a nice welcome before settling in for some conversation. 

Tonight was an emotional night for all of us as many opened up and shared both personal and professional burdens.  We decided to end the evening by praying in small groups.  It was a great way to end the day.  I think our team has been touched by the strength and faith of these wonderful people.  They have taught us a great deal in these past few days as we’ve gotten to know them better. 

That’s all for now; tomorrow will be a big day as we plan to celebrate Mexican style!  I know the team is looking forward to a friendly game of football. 

When we reconvened, we dug a little deeper into the burdens on our hearts.  Without going into much detail, suffice to say, we’ve all got issues.  They affect our souls, our families, our friends, our work.  And it can be incredibly difficult to place those burdens before God.  But one thing that came out of the discussion was that, regardless of our nationalities, we share similar problems & fears and can always turn to Christ for grace & mercy.

For our next activity, our team again counted on Christ, taking a page out of His playbook.  Silently bringing the Horizonte staff into our meeting space, we individually washed their feet.  How remarkable and wonderful!  Both groups were deeply moved by this event and many tears were shed.  We finished by gathering together in a circle and praying to/praising God.

After a short lunch, the Buckhead team started preparing for a Horizonte volunteer event that evening.  In addition to uniting with the church’s staff, we wanted to encourage their key volunteers as well.  Brief social time was followed by the wackiest, zaniest photo scavenger hunt you have ever seen.  Teams of volunteers, staff, and missionaries were tasked with taking various photos throughout our hotel.  In all honesty, Jim thought the Camelinas’ management might have us removed from the hotel, but they seemed to take our craziness in stride.  We guess that it’s just how they roll down here.

More events tomorrow…stay tuned, friends.

We believe that God was there with us last night.

Blessings.

Our team arrived at the Atlanta airport with plenty of time to spare.  There were no complications on either flight, first from Hartsfield (ATL) to Bush (IAH), and then from Houston to Queretaro.  Upon arrival in Mexico, we were greeted by Whitney, Martin, and Edith, each of whom had driven to the airport to provide us with transport to the city.  Our team jumped in to three cars, and the trip (journey) began in earnest.

We have been blessed with outstanding accommodations at the Plaza Camelinas and although we may feel somewhat over privileged we are quite close to the Horizonte Church itself.  The eight of us, along with Whitney, ventured out for a sabroso meal of tacos and then went off to bed.

After a good night sleep we convened on Monday morning and headed over to Horizonte.  For most of our team, it was our first time there, but those members who had previously visited were amazed by many of the physical improvements which had taken place.  We were taken on a full tour of the grounds. By Edith before enjoying breakfast together this had been prepared by Yolanda with help from Eduerdo.  The team then studied a devotional from Liz and were given further cultural do’s and don’ts from Julian.

From the church, we headed out for a PLUNGE (scavenger hunt) activity.  We hopped aboard a bus and headed to the city center.  Those who had not been to Queretaro were appointed leaders and given a guide for a tour of sorts.  The trip took us through several places, by historical buildings and beautiful fountains, as well as giving us the opportunity to sample some helado and experience a market, where vendors prominently displayed knock-off designer handbags and chicken heads could be found for purchase by visitors. A not so short bus/taxi ride returned us to the church.

After another delicious meal – tortilla soup and chicken with poblano pepper sauce – the team met in the office to discuss/plan the objectives of our trip.  Through conversation with Edith and translation provided by Julian and Jeremy, it became apparent that the members of the church are fatigued and feeling over burdened.  A retreat where we might instruct or advise them would likely be of little value in meeting their true needs.   As a result, we spent most of the afternoon discussing ways we might encourage them or give them a chance to have fun and relax (i.e., ways to love on them, which seemed to be buzzword phrase of the day).  Ideas and activities were white boarded, with the bulk of the details to be nailed down tomorrow.

After a respectable rainstorm half the team headed to dinner with the other half following behind shortly after David was able to put together a cool video for the team blog.  Our statements were filled yet again and it was off to bed to rest up for tomorrow.

Blessings!

Many of you have wondered what exactly, we’ll be doing with Horizonte Church.  As we’ve noted before, we’re going on a “Connections” trip, one designed to strength the bond between Buckhead Church and Horizonte.  For this mission, we’ll assist our friends in Mexico with three main activities:

• A staff retreat
• A gathering for key volunteers
• A congregation-wide prayer event

Much like Buckhead Church, Horizonte has grown impressively over the past few years.  Martin Macedo, the church’s pastor, has added both services and staff to keep up with this expansion, and now wants to evaluate how things are going.  Our staff retreat will focus on this task, as well as re-energizing his people around Horizonte’s vision.  We are currently preparing discussions and team-building activities around this end.

The volunteer gathering will be an abbreviated version of the staff retreat, with one key addition.  Thursday night, we will split into groups of 8-10 people to conduct prayer walks around Queretaro.  We’ll go to relevant parts of the city to pray over its people, its issues, and its health in general.  Will we be on street corners telling people to repent?  Probably not.  But we will get a first-hand glimpse of the things our friends are dealing with and have an opportunity to ask God to intercede as He sees fit.

Finally, on Saturday, we plan on inviting the entire congregation to come to Horizonte and be prayed over.  We hope to interact in smaller groups with our friends and help them bring their issues before God.  We may also have stations highlighting the use of different senses (sight, hearing, touch) in prayer.

So, in a nutshell, that’s our trip.  Not a traditional mission trip in the sense that we’re building something physical, like a home or an aqueduct.  Instead, we’re building something spiritual and relational.

Please pray that its amazing. 

A Special Thanks

Whitney Krevere, former long-term missionary in Queretaro and wife of Julian, has been invaluable during our preparation for this trip, serving as an unofficial member of our team.  She developed the budget, kept us in touch with the Horizonte staff, and coordinated many of the activities discussed above.  Honestly, we couldn’t have done our mission without her.

Whitney will be in Queretaro with us for part of next week, but is returning home to help her daughter Micaiah with the first day of school.

Thank you Whitney!

Profiles

Jeremy is incredibly familiar with Queretaro, having lived there between 1997-2001.  He is fluent in Spanish and has a deep affection for the Latin community.

• Has several friends living in Queretaro, whom he hopes to see while we’re there
• Actively volunteers with North Point Ministries, where he has attended about 1 1/2 years
• Spends his spare time playing & watching sports, travelling abroad, and being with family & friends
• Attended Furman University in South Carolina
• Works as a seller with Grainger

Our August trip will be Jim’s second mission to Horizonte Church and third trip overall.  He looks forward to reconnecting with the friends he made in November 2006 in Queretaro.

• Engaged to Toni with a wedding date on January 17, 2009
• With his fiancee, has two households full of animals (two dogs, four cats)
• Has attended Buckhead Church for four years
• Graduated from the University of Michigan and is a huge college football fan
• Enjoys watching & playing sports, movies and reading 

Please keep us all in your prayers, especially over the next 10 days.

Blessings.

Speaking of spiritual exercises, each missionary has prepared a daily devotional for the team to do while on  the ground in Mexico.  Much like here in the States, we will take time each morning to worship.  Rather than doing an Oswald Chambers or Beth Moore-type devotional though, we’ll be praying around a topic prepared by one of us.  Perhaps it will be prompted by a song, a particular reading, or a piece of Scripture.  Developing something personal was our only guideline in completing this task.

Our last bit of “homework” has been the cultural assignments, brief overviews on a variety of Queretaro- and Mexico-centric topics.  Basically, just a few important facts regarding our mission destination.  Look for some of them in upcoming blogs.

Profiles

Natalie is a native Atlantan, and has attended Buckhead Church for two years.  After working in Waumba Land (Buckhead Church’s childcare ministry) and being active in small group, she decided to embark on her first mission trip this year.

• Was baptized in November 2007
• Has a younger brother, who also lives in Atlanta with his wife & dog
• Travels extensively to Mexico, although this will be her first visit to Queretaro
• Loves college football, especially the University of Georgia
• Spends her downtime reading, socializing with friends, & playing tennis

Another first time missionary, Dave has a huge heart for volunteering, both locally in Atlanta and abroad.  His participation on our team was prompted by a sermon on the impact Global X & North Point Ministries are having around the world.

• Has been an active member of two small groups at Buckhead Church
• Is an uncle to two wonderful boys, Jacob and Christian
• Cites his evolving and growing relationship with Christ as the center of his life
• Works and volunteers in the video production field

Our upcoming trip will be Liz’s second mission with Horizonte Church.  Originally from Massachusetts, she now calls Atlanta home and regularly attends North Point Community Church.

• Has two beautiful twin nieces, Myla & Jacqueline
• Cites John 14:2-3 among her favorite pieces of Scripture
• Loves to travel, especially ocean cruises
• Leads a small group and teaches seminars with the Fellowship of Christian Airline Personnel
• Works for Delta Air Lines

Please keep Natalie, Dave and Liz in your thoughts and prayers over the coming weeks.

Blessings