Vicente Guerrero, Mexico - A short write up by Charles Roberts

Vicente Guerrero is about 200 kms south of Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula, in Mexico. Mexico Mission is sending 30 youth and 10 leaders to help an organization called the Erma Funnel Foundation. Erma is originally from Penticton and has been working with people in need there for over 20 years! She is 75 years old and has continued her work there even after her husband passed away five years ago. She is well established, well known and well respected! (There is an attached flyer with more info on Erma and her work in Vicente Guerrero)
While in Mexico, our team will be building two small houses for people that Erma has selected. These families are in a desperate need of basic shelter. These homes will be 11' X 22' and consist of three rooms. Plumbing will not be installed as there is no hope of running water coming to these areas. We would like to run electric wires in hopes that in a few years they will have some access to electricity. We would also like to do a bit of renovation work on Erma's house while we are there. She is so busy giving and giving, that her own needs often get neglected.
The people that we are going to be building homes for are caught in an unfortunate system where there is no hope for decent paying jobs. It is not that these people are lazy or just mooching off of Erma and her organization; these people have NO opportunity and are stuck where they are with absolutely nothing. In the pictures below, you can see a family that we built a house for in August 2003. The gentleman that we gave the keys to just cried. He was 78 years old and had never lived in a home that had anything other than a dirt floor! When we gave him the keys, he did not even know how to use them because he has never had a door to lock before! In this home now live grandma and grandpa, their children and some of their grandchildren! All of them were extremely thankful!
A few of the biggest reasons that we organize trips like this are to help people who are less fortunate than we are and to expose our youth from Penticton to how the majority of the world is forced to live. In doing this, these young people come home with a new appreciation for their country, their community, their families and for all the things that they are blessed to have! It also gets them thinking outside of our community and they begin to develop a worldview that is not selfish, but rather, realizing that life is about giving and helping!

In today's Canadian culture, it is so easy to get caught up in the `rat race' for personal success that we never stop to consider anyone else. People often don't see anything other than what is right in front of them and what could be theirs! Isn't it sad that worldwide 29,000 children die every day from starvation and diseases related to malnutrition, but here in North America 75% of our dogs are over weight! Isn't it sad that all these people are dying every day, but here in North America, one of our big struggles right now is obesity and a lot of our best selling books have to do with dieting! North America has the resources right now to stop world hunger if we wanted to... but we are just too caught up in ourselves and ignore the problem, or maybe some are just totally ignorant to what is really going on in the world around us.

In order for a culture to change, we here at Mexico Mission realize that the youth of today need to be impacted in a powerful way! They will be our leaders soon and they need to see first hand how people less fortunate than them live every day! I believe that when these youth come home they will pour into our community in ways they never considered before as well as catching the passion for people all around the globe who are in a desperate state of need. The youth that come on this trip will see their own hands giving, their own bodies sweating and working hard, their own efforts making a HUGE difference in the lives of people there. They will realize that THEY CAN make a difference in this world even at their young age! They will come home motivated and ex-cited, and with an attitude of selflessness... and these are the people who will CHANGE THE FUTURE!

Mexico-Mission.com will become a part of Global Youth Impact in 2006.

Objective:

To provide people with an opportunity to experience first hand a needy environment where they can practically serve other people. This will be accomplished by providing humanitarian aid and relief to people and communities in need.

Who are we?

Mexico-Mission.com (Global Youth Impact) started out as mission trips with the youth department at Bethel Church in Penticton, BC, Canada. It is developing into an exciting adventure of helping the poor of the world, specifically Mexico, and changing the lives of teens in North America.

Where do we go?

Vicente Guerrero is about 200 kms south of Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula, in Mexico.

Why do we go on mission trips to Mexico when we can be helping people in our own community?

We have chosen to go on mission trips out of our community for several reasons. Firstly, there is a need for aid and an effort to relieve poverty with the people of the Baja Peninsula. We have chosen Mexico and the Baja because of its proximity, the desperate level of poverty and relative safety for taking teens.
We are fortunate to live in Canada and have a responsibility to our global community to do what we can. In giving to people who are less fortunate than we are exposes our teens of the Okanagan to how the majority of the world is forced to live. After participating in this mission, the teens come home with a new appreciation for their country, their community and their families.
The teens that participate in a mission will see their own hands giving, their own bodies sweating and working hard, their own efforts making a HUGE difference in the lives of people in need. They will realize that THEY CAN make a difference in this world even at their young age! They will come home motivated and excited, and with an attitude of selflessness... and these are the people who will CHANGE THE FUTURE!

What is the future for Global Youth Impact?

It is our dreams and our goal to set up a base in Vicente Guerrero and host teams coming from Canada and the US year round, making a huge impact on the lives of the people in the Baja.
These teams are not restricted to youth groups. We want school groups, adult teams, family groups and whoever else wants to make a difference in the lives of people who need basic living things such as houses, clothes and food. We are not restricted to building houses; we also do ministry work, feeding programs, cloth distribution and put our hands to serving the people of Mexico in whatever way we can.

Do you want to book a trip with Mexico-Mission.com(Global Youth Impact)?

If you have a group and are interesting in going to Mexico for a life changing experience for you and the people there, please click on the Contact link for our information. This experience will benefit the poor and needy of Mexico as well as you.

What can you do to help?

If you would like to partner with us with prayer, click on the Prayer Needs link for a more specific list. Your support in this way is immeasurable.

If you would like to donate money to Mexico-Mission.com (Global Youth Impact), click on the “To Donate” link for detailed information. With your help, we are making the world a better place, one family at a time and one community at a time.

We make a living by what we get.
We make a life by what we give.
-Winston Churchill

Top Links	Informational	Fun Stuff	Misc.
Corporate Sponsors	Erma Fennel Foundation	Pictures!!	T.V. Interview
To Donate	Mexico Information	Forum	Videos
Special Projects	Maps	Chat	New Bus Pictures
Prayer Needs	Parents Corner	Resource Links	Homepage
Contact	Packing List	Guest Book