Christian Youth
Mexico Mission Trip

My Mexico Missions Trip
to Cacalchen, Mexico

Even though I now attend Moore's Chapel UMC, I went on a mission trip with a group from my former church, the Korean UMC of Greater Washington. This year’s mission trip to Cacalchen, Mexico was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and it will stay in my memories forever.  I not only bonded with the entire team, but I truly realized the spiritual battle between Satan and us.  When we were leaving for Mexico on July 8^th, the few that had gone the year before (including myself), were excited and looking forward to having a good time just as they remembered.  The new youth were just as excited to have a great time as everyone described it to be.  Little did we know that Satan would push our team to its limits…

            We arrived at Merida, Mexico at exactly 12:37 a.m.  All of us were exhausted from dragging our luggage around, and were relieved to finally get on the bus we rented.  It was about 1:30 when we arrived at the mission center (where we would live for the time there).  Along with the youth team were the adults, who also happened to be doctors, dentists, teachers, and hair stylists!  Among them was an elder named HongChul who happened to be a singer (who had one of those opera voices that could break glass).  He warned us that we would have to be up at exactly 6:00 a.m. the next day, and that he would definitely wake us up.  I had learned from last year’s experience not to underestimate that man’s voice, so I set my alarm to 5:50, stuffed my ears with tissues, and began to wash up.  Just as he promised, at exactly 6 a.m., Mr. HongChul began to sing. I could still hear him through my covered ears, but it wasn’t as loud as it was going to be for the new people.  I stepped out of the bathroom while brushing my teeth, and started to laugh as I saw the boys stumble out of their room yelling for the noise to stop.  It was that loud.  Unfortunately, for those who were not morning people, the “wake-up team” began to grow with other adults; so much that everyone got up 10 minutes earlier and did the exact same thing I did on the first day.

            At 6:45, we had morning devotions and service that lasted until 7:30.  We finished breakfast at 8:00 and loaded onto the bus at 8:10 each day, to get to the plaza where we held actual missions and vacation bible school by 10:00.  Since it was a Sunday, we only visited the place to set up, and then proceeded to go to a church.  Praise at the church was very uplifting, and even though most of us didn’t understand the message, the service was very nice.  After the service ended, we went out to evangelize and invite people to come to the plaza the next day.  Our day passed quickly, and soon, it was the first day of missions. 

Our leader, Jonathon Chun was very stressed because we did not have enough translators for VBS, but that worry was soon replaced with the all the hectic hours of helping the adults.  From 10 a.m. to 12 a.m., we helped out the adults with check-ups, haircuts, school, and optometry.  It was hot, sticky, and not that many people were in happy moods.  The translators kept on leaving their posts, and the youth became angry – only to let their frustration out on each other.  It was the most hectic day of our missions’ week.  To begin with, all of the youth had been assigned to a certain field before leaving for Mexico, whether it be eyeglasses, dentists, or washing hair, but all of the schedules became mixed up and no one knew where to go.  In my case, I was supposed to help out at the hair salon, but at the last minute, the adults sent me to English school.  There was a lack of teachers, and they needed someone extra to take care of 20-30 boys.  The children were from different ages, grades, and I was clueless.

            Thankfully, a lady handed me a sheet of what I could start teaching them.  They were simple phrases, such as “What is your name?” “How old are you?” and “How are you?” I had the greatest time being able to teach them.  Their minds were so open to everything, and we moved on quickly.  We moved to days of the week, months, seasons, numbers, and weather.  Truthfully, I believe they taught me more Spanish than I taught them English.  In addition to being their teacher, I earned their respect and became very close with all of them.  There were moments, still, when they were out of control and couldn’t be calmed down.  On the second day, when they began to know me better, they started to take advantage of my friendship and were reluctant to learn.  They would shout at me in Spanish; then laugh with each other.  I let it go.  They became worse, began to jump around, and insult me.  One boy even punched another and made him cry.  My temper boiled over, and I began to yell at them in a mixture of English and Korean.  I regained control of my class again.

From that point on, I had the best mannered class, and the boys never ceased to amaze me on how bright they were.  I realized that though I had my doubts, language was no longer a barrier for me.  I simply expressed my feelings through smiles, frowns, and candy.  I will never forget any of them, and hope to meet them again next summer.  After working in the fields were two hours, all of us had our lunch break for 30 minutes until VBS started.  During our free time, we played basketball and soccer with the little boys, or made up games with the girls.  It was a lot of fun, but by the time VBS began, all of us were exhausted soaked with sweat because of our clothes.  The dress code for Mexico was a Mexico Missions T-shirt, long pants (for guys), and skirts that went down to the ankles (for girls).  VBS was held outside of the plaza, and we slowly went through all of the nine Spanish songs we learned with the children. After praise, the pastor came out and gave a 5-minute sermon to the restless kids.  Then, arts & crafts began…

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