This all started from a friend (Judd) in Ocean City, Maryland, at a place called Son'Spot He invited me to come on a mission trip to Mexico. I said I don't know too much about missions. He said we are going down there to help work on an orphnage. That sounded good to me. He was going to be with a group called YWAM He was in a division of YWAM called Surfers for Missions International. Judd told me just fly into Mexico City and catch a bus out to Puerto Escondido. Well little did I know that Mexico City was huge. They have 4 bus stations. And to top it all off, I don't speak Spanish. So I asked a person in the airport where the bus station was and headed over that way. So I was at the bus station asking, in spanish the best way I knew how, where's the bus to Puerto Escondido? So... with the Lord's help I found one to Oaxaca City. They said I would find a bus to Puerto Escondido from there. Well I want to tell you that was the worst bus driving I have ever seen. Oh you should know that I caught this bus at 11:00 pm. While on the bus people were trying to talk with me. They had a good time and a good laugh of it I tell you. I just told the Lord "well I'm here and where ever you send me that's where I'm supposed to be." Well it was an experience. It took 13 hours to Oaxaca City. But I got to see Mexico. At that point I found the bus to Puerto Escondido. Between both buses we got pulled over 3 times by police/guerillas, who knows. They had machine guns and wore regular clothes. They wanted to see if we were drugdealers I guess. I finally got to Puerto Escondido right on time. The Lord worked it all out just right, as He usually does. I met Judd on the beach there. We went to the orphanage and settled in. The next day we did some things around there like... paint, fix holes int the walls, put a toilet in (which had to be fixed :) ), and other constuction projects. Puerto Escondido is called "The Mexician Pipeline" cause it has huge waves. That is the reason YWAM choose this spot for one of it's stops. They set up surf camps and contests to bring people to the Lord. Me, being a bodyboarder, tried the waves out. It about killed me, but I have to say it was fun. They were what I would call 10 ft waves. But they said they were only small 2 ft waves. But while I was there I could see the Lord's work going forth. I was there to let this place bring forth the message of Jesus. That makes me a part of the people giving their hearts to the Lord.

This was a trip set up by a church in Texas. We flew out of Dallas, TX. We landed in Huatulco, Mexico. This is where we were going to pick the truck up to Puerto Escondido. This trip was set up for building. We built out in the back of the orphange a retaining wall. This is my specialty, my job in the US. I'm a stone mason which I love to do. The wall was about 18ft tall and about 70 ft long. We worked hand and hand with the Mexicans. This wall is important as they have lots of hurricanes. Puerto Escondido is on the west coast down near the bottom of Mexico. The orphanage had a big storm that washed much of the land behind them out, so we had to build the wall to support the building. It also kept the dirt from washing any further. It was a fun time and I met some new friends. Oh and yes I did go bodyboarding on this trip too.

This was the account of my third trip. I decided that I would get a group together to go to Puerto Escondido. So I planned a trip with several people. When it was all said and done everyone cancelled. Oh well, those are the breaks. So I decided to go anyway with just me and my cousin (Joe). We left Washington to Mexico City, where we had a day layover then caught a small plane to Puerto Escondido. While in Mexico City we toured around looking over the sites. The part where we stayed was old, but full of history. We checked out some old churches, but didn't do a whole lot since we only had a part of a day there. Then we went out to Puerto Escondido where we built another wall in the far back where they plan to build another building. And of course I bodyboarded. This was a fun time. We had no translators so we had to communicate the best way we could. I found myself babysitting so the couple could go out. This was great, it gave them a break. It gave me a chance to see how the leaders felt. While there I felt I could spend some time there with my family as missionaries. My wife Pam didn't think to much of the idea :). So we decided that if I learn spanish, she will take a trip down there with me. I'm now taking spanish lessons from a lady in our church. Maybe when we get down there we will stay for a while .... who knows only the Lord.