Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, She's Off to Mexico!

This is Julie writing today... Carly will most likely be out of touch for another 10 days or so, so I figured I'd fill you in.

Well, the last few days were crazy for Carly--trying to get some schoolwork done while wringing the last bits out of her time in California. She hasn't sent a blog update, in spite of my nagging and begging. I'll nail her down when she gets home to go back in time and recap the last 2 weeks in CA.

In the meantime, she has traveled the length of California with Dave Burdette, a friend and mentor of my brother's. When Jake (my brother) was in college, he started working for Mexico Caravan Ministries (www.mexicocaravanministries.com) as the site manager in Tijuana, Mexico. He coordinated and facilitated visiting churches who came to TJ for week-long mission trips to build small, chip-board houses for women who had acquired land in the fast-growing outskirts of TJ. Jake would get the materials to the work site, then supervise/train the church groups on how to build these small buildings in which the women and their families would live.

Jake was with MCM for over 3 years, and it's where he met his wife. Dave was instrumental in Jake's desire to live a servant lifestyle, and Dave performed J&M's wedding. Dave is held in very high regard by our family, though most of us hardly know him!

MCM has grown over the years, and now has a handful of staff on site in Tijuana.

In the 90's, a man gave Dave a building called the Castillo (the castle) that was being built as a residence. For some reason, the building became available, and the owner asked Dave if he could use the facility in ministry. Dave formed a team of qualified people and they started up the Baja Bible School (www.bajabible.org) in the Castillo--it's a BIG place! They are a small bible school, and have added a dorm to the property for their students. BBS is run by a group of 10 or so American and Mexican national missionaries, and has several dozen students (I think it's around 50).

So, Dave drove Carly from Santa Barbara to Tijuana yesterday (Sunday the 21st). It's about a 7 hour drive, and when Carly called, it was after 9pm, and she sounded drained. She'll be in TJ for 8 days, helping at the Castillo, MCM and visiting a local orphanage. She's not in the touristy area of Tijuana... much of her experience will be in Third World conditions and SERIOUS poverty! Imagine a family of 4, 7, or even 12 living in a single room, 12'x12' chipboard shed with a tarpaper roof and no windows save the hinged plywood cut out from the wall! These people don't have running water, reliable electricity or indoor toilets. They live on the steep hillsides outside Tijuana, their mud roads gouged with ruts 18 inches deep after a rain! It's amazing to experience, and Carly will have an eyeful of how most of the world lives.

She is staying in the dormitory at the Castillo, so she is safe, warm and fed, and is being looked after by the staff at Castillo. Dave plans to go down a couple times to spend time with her, taking her to some of the more important places and introducing her to some of the people that will impact her during even the briefest visits.

Keep Carly in your prayers! I'm not worried about her physical safety, but she will have a lot to process during this week. I expect it'll be a week that will impact her life in ways she won't even recognize till she's older. We couldn't have asked for a better situation for her! Dave is a wonderful mentor and will see to it that Carly gets the most out of this week.

More later!