Cancun!!!

First off, my apologies for not updating sooner.  We have been busy since we've been in Cancun and I haven't really been on the internet very often.  Also, I've just been plain lazy with it too.  Anyways, we are in Cancun.  I'm gonna give you a list of some of my initial thoughts of our first week here.

- It's hot and humid - I was expecting this and it actually hasn't been as bad as I thought.  I think my body has adjusted to the heat.  We have fans in our rooms so that helps for sleeping.
- Mosquitoes - I think this is the headquarters for mosquitoes.  During our first few days, I think all of us had at least 15 bites or more on our legs.  We're constantly putting on bug spray.
- Bugs in general - We stayed at a hotel for a few days and the bugs were terrible there.   The first night I killed at least 6 large spiders and a cockroach in our room.  By the end we also had a lizard hanging out in our room.
- The people are warm and friendly - It's very typical of the other Latin American countries I've been to.
- The majority of Cancun is not paradise.  It's only along the beach.  Outside of that, it looks like a poor Latin American country.  Since we're 20 minutes away from the beach, we're definitely in the poorer part of Cancun.
- We are very blessed to have such good housing - We are staying at a place called Campamento Vida (Camp Life).  It's a former table dancing club that has been turned around into a church/retreat center/medical camp/probably more good things in the future.  It has 20 bedrooms.  Rachel and I are thrilled to have a bathroom.  The showers are cold which is fine because it's hot here.  The toilet doesn't flush so well but it goes down eventually.  The bed is extremely comfortable and it's a queen.  Honestly, I think for us the facilities here are better than in Denver.  It's not a huge room but it's nice. 
- They love to dance here - We had a great dance party Sunday night and even thought I looked terrible, it was a lot of fun.  We even did the limbo and I shocked many people with my flexibility on that one.  I think growing up Mennonite has definitely hurt my chances of ever being a good dancer.

When we got here, our main job was cleaning the place.  We arrived Monday evening and started work the next day.  We passed out flyers for the next 3 days in the morning to tell people about a free medical clinic that the camp was having on Friday and Saturday.  The rest of the time, we cleaned and practiced our dramas.  When the clinic started, we were basically the entertainment for all the people waiting.  We did a program of dramas and puppets.  Then, we would take all the kids and do various crafts and balloon animals with them.  One of the girls on our team cut hair for people during both days.  We couldn't do much to help the doctors but we did whatever we could with keeping the place clean.  The clinic was a huge success and from what we heard, the doctors were very blessed to have us there.  They did this once before and they said it was not nearly as good as this time.  Some of the doctors weren't Christians so it was definitely a great witness for them.  On Sunday, we hung out with the church that meets at the camp and then got ready for a fancy dinner that night with the doctors.  All of the doctors had gone to the beach that day so when they got back we had this fancy dinner.  We actually didn't eat until well after 10 pm.  After the meal, we were all saying goodbye to them and our leader, Carl, said we were leaving in 5 minutes.  Probably an hour later, we finally left after the dance party. 

The next day, we had a much deserved day off which we spent at the beach.  It's been a long time since I've been at the beach and I forgot how nice it is there.  Rachel is now at the point where she wants to go every day.  That's probably not going to happen.  We're about 20-25 minutes away from the beach so I think if we get there 5 times, it will be good.  Obviously, that's not why we're here.

Yesterday and today, we went to a distribution center for the poor.  We helped do a bunch of stuff that they didn't think they would ever get done.  The pastor here at Camp Vida, Manuel, has been wanting to partner with them because they're the only church in the city that's doing anything for the poor.  It's a Catholic church.  Anyways, the people were so impressed by our team that it was really easy for them to partner with him.  So that was pretty cool.  Last night, we went to a park and did some dramas and Carl preached.  We hung out with some of the kids there and played a little soccer afterward.  Tonight, we plan on going to another park and ministering there.

Somehow I got a cold in the midst of all of this.  It seems ridiculous that I got a cold in the summer, but I have it.  During the medical clinic, we moved to a hotel that had air conditioning.  I think the drastic change in temperatures contributed to it.  Hopefully no one else on the team will get it from me. 

So this is a really long update but I wanted to let everyone know that we are doing well.  We miss all of you guys back home but we know this is where God wants us right now.  He's doing some cool stuff here in Cancun. 

Randy