Believe it or not I am writing this blog from the home of one of the seminary graduates. Mercy Barnes said Alma will be the first woman ordained from the school. She runs a little internet business on the side. Like so many of the people down here in Mexicali, she and her husband run this business to supplement their income. He is a police office and works with the DARE Program. His is one of two units outside the United States.

On Tuesday we set off from Norwich at 5:45 a.m. and made it to Bradley airport in plenty of time. David Warfield arranged for our boarding passes and we flew right through the security checkpoint. We lifted off at 8:30 a.m. and after a lay over in Chicago, we made our way to San Diego.


Mercy Barnes met us at the gate and we took the two hour ride through the mountains to El Centro, the border city. After dinner, we headed across the border and made our way to the seminary. We were immediately struck with the poverty that the people here face. It is so evident everywhere you look.

We arrived at the seminary at about nine thirty and were met by the Director, who is also Pastor of the church we are working at. We recieved a brief orientation and then headed to our rooms. The accomodations sent most of us into culture shock. But after a good night's sleep, we were ready to go.

On Wednesday and Thursday morning we worked at the Church and did all kinds of prep and painting. Andy Scheuerman replaced a toilet, June Deptulski cut tiles and I made the coffee, cleaned the kitchen and ran out for doughnuts.

On Wednesday night we helped out at a special vacation Bible school and our ladies led the craft time. They made a banner and the kids got very excited. We will hang the banner tonight and everyone is excited. The theme is "Jesus is our friend."


On Sunday Sheldon and I will be preaching. He is taking the morning service and I will lead the evening service. (He is older after all!) The truth is that all of us feel blessed and although each night we return home tired, we have all seen the hand of God at work here.

I don't know if I will be able to blog in again before we return. So many of the things we take for granted, like television, newspapers and the internet are not easy to find. None-the-less, life is good. We miss you all but we will be back with lots of stories to tell.

Cal