SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
So that...God's ways may be known on Earth.
"So That" is an FBC Boerne podcast focused on what God is doing around the world with missions and through FBC Missions partners.
SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
Episode 92: Shauna & Claire Mexico Interview: Pizza, Puppies, And A Jungle Dirt Road
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A dirt road through the “jungle,” a church plant filled with new faces, and an 11-year-old discovering she can communicate love without fluent Spanish. We’re sitting down with Shauna Verrett and her daughter Claire to tell the real story of our family mission trip to Mexico in the Cancun area, where First Baptist Church partners to serve communities beyond the tourist version most people picture. If you’ve ever wondered whether missions is only for seasoned travelers, this conversation gently challenges that assumption.
We talk through the first-day rush of inviting neighbors to an afternoon gathering, the awkwardness of a language barrier, and the surprising way kids lead the way through play, laughter, and bold invitations. Shauna shares the values she repeats at home, faith, kindness, and love, and how those simple words hold up when plans change and you can’t rely on translation apps. Claire reflects on the joy of connecting with other kids through jump rope, games, and creativity, and why she now wants to go again.
Then we move into the heart of the trip: serving at Kingdom Academy by painting walls and supporting Vacation Bible School, plus home visits where families open their doors, share meals, receive practical gifts, and invite prayer into very real struggles. You’ll hear why coming back home can feel hard, how missions can slow your pace in the best way, and what next steps look like if you’re curious about joining a future trip.
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Visit our website at www.fbcboerne.org for more stories, information, and service times.
Welcome To Sew That Missions
SPEAKER_01Well, hello. Welcome to today's Sew That Missions Podcast here at FBC. My name is Brittany Holland, and thank you for joining us. We know you will enjoy today's episode with Shauna and Claire, who recently went on the family mission trip to Mexico.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to FBC Missions Sew That Podcast. This is an encouraging place to hear how God is working in and around us. We know that He blesses His people so that they can bless the world around them. Join us as we discuss how to join God and all that He is doing. Why is God working in our life, church, and community? It's so that through us the world will know that He is me.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, hello, listeners. I'm so excited. This is Brittany, and today in the studio with me, I have Shauna and Claire Verrett. And we got to know each other, like we'd seen each other at church, but we got to go to Mexico together. So we're gonna talk today about our the family mission trip. But before we do, thank you both for coming in. Um how are y'all doing today? Good. Thank you for having us. Yeah. What about you, Claire? Are you having a good day so far?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, pretty much.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we just got through with church. Uh great day here at church, and even some rain and Bernie today. Thank goodness we need it. Um, but thanks for taking a moment to pause in your in your day to come in. Um, I'm really excited and I'm so grateful that I got to meet both of y'all. I'm already thinking about memories from the trip, um, you know, of getting to have conversations and even painting with you, Shauna. Those big walls. Those really big walls. So we'll talk about that. But before we do, Shauna, I wanted to start with
A Serving Heart Built Over Time
SPEAKER_01you. Um, will you tell us a little bit about your history with missions, um, like how many trips you've been on, and just your heart as a mom for going on mission with your daughter?
SPEAKER_02Yes. So this is actually our second mission trip. Um, Claire's first. My son and I went last year on the same mission trip. And uh while I've never been on an international mission trip before, I feel like it's important to spread God's love and um just see what he's doing in our world as a whole, not just where we live here in Bernie. Um, but I do serve outside of that, right? Like in our community, I serve. I love, I've always had a serving heart, whether it's with nonprofits for animals or taking it to the streets, or just, you know, seeing somebody in need on the streets and taking care of them in any way that I could. Um, it's always been my mission to just to serve uh God's love to everyone.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Now, okay, so there was a lot in there. Last year was your first international trip, and you've already been serving for a long time here, and it sounds like you've always had a heart. The Lord Lord has always served your heart or stirred your heart for serving. Where did that come from? And and when did you start serving in capacities such as that?
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, I think from a young age, like I just I'm an only child, first of all. And so um always being around an older crowd, my cousins are older than me. I was like one of the youngest. And um just watching my parents and their take on people and serving others and just being really friendly, like that, it kind of fed over to me, right? And so um it was my al I always strive to be kind and helpful and um just meeting people where they were and you know, what their needs were and never being judgmental about it. And um so it always, you know, put myself in their shoes, like what would they need, and then always been an animal lover. So then the mission of helping the nonprofits as I got older, of you know, serving the animals that were in need that were at the kill shelters and stuff. So from animals to humans, you know, spread God's love all around, right? And so that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01I'm thinking about you said um, you know, love, kindness, you said help. I'm thinking of goodness. I'm just the fruit of the spirit is like coming forth to my mind. And as I watch you speak, um, I have the privilege of getting to be here in person with y'all, our listeners. Sorry guys, you can only hear them, but I get to see y'all light up, and especially like the way you lit up when you were talking about serving and being having that example as part of your life early on with your parents, it sounds like they just had really generous hearts and hearts of love for anyone, no matter what.
SPEAKER_02They did, and I hope to spread that to my children too, right? Like our three words in our house are faith, kindness, and love. And I always tell them if you do it with faith and you do it with kindness and you do it with love, you can never go wrong, right? And so, um, well, you know, we have our days and stuff. It always I those are the three words I always go back to, and I always try to remember or remind them of that, especially at school as they're going through their day, and if they're having trouble with friends or anything, just like show faith, kindness, and love to everyone. And um, you can always feel good and you always know that God's, you know, they're with you and you can always look back at that.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And you know, Shauna, what I love about that is as parents, we're on mission, mission really every day in our homes. Um, and it's not always easy. Our our kids often show us um firsthand where we can be a little more like Jesus. Yes, they definitely show us our weakness. So, Claire, that's so cool.
Claire’s First Trip And Courage
SPEAKER_01Early on, your mom um has been caring about people, wanting to serve people. And so, Claire, will you introduce yourself to us? Will you tell us um how old you are and what some of your favorite things to do are?
SPEAKER_03So I'm 11 and my favorite things to do are like ride horses and dance with my dad.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's awesome. What kind of dancing um do you like to do with your dad?
SPEAKER_03Whatever he learns in classes on Monday. So cool.
SPEAKER_01You go to dance class?
SPEAKER_03No, he does, and then he likes to come home and show me what he's done.
SPEAKER_01Country dancing.
SPEAKER_03That's so fun.
SPEAKER_01And you ride horses? Yes. Tell us about that. What what's your favorite thing to do with your um when you're riding your horse?
SPEAKER_03Uh I kind of just like to go free and feel like I can do whatever I want.
SPEAKER_01Oh, do you like to take off and like run with your horse?
SPEAKER_03Oh yes. On the trails we have a really long, like just runway, so I will always like take my horse down there and I'll just run whenever I need it.
SPEAKER_01Away from the barn, right? Not towards the barn. Yes. I learned that I learned my that lesson the hard way growing up. I once let the horse run back towards the barn and I oh got a little more than I bargained for on that ride home. Well, cool. So you're in fifth grade.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01And you saw your mom go with your brother last year to serve internationally, and then this year was your year. Where you tell us how you felt about that.
SPEAKER_03I felt kind of excited to like see what it was like there and just like experience it for my own self.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Ah, I can't wait to hear more. And so you already shared this, um, Shauna, but you really wanted your kids to experience going and serving. It sounds like as a family, you'll already probably do things here as opportunities arise, but you wanted to take it to the next level.
SPEAKER_02I did. And um, we don't actually go as a family. Um, I felt it was more important to take them individually and let them experience individually by themselves so that they were spoken to different each differently and we could have that bonding experience and talk about it. And so, like I said, I got to take Jack last year, Claire this year, and then Luke will be in the next year or two, depending um on our schedule. But uh, I really just wanted them to just see what how God spreads his love. And he went before us and did the work before we even got there. And so we just we were able to walk into those communities and just spread the love and just serve with them. And uh, I just wanted them to have it in their hearts to just see it with for themselves and with their own eyes and not have the perspective of the whole our whole family there together just yet. So I think maybe one day we'll all go together. But I think having them go individually, you know, once a year is really important.
SPEAKER_01That's so cool. And so did you feel like it was mission accomplished? Did you did you get did you feel like what you had hoped to accomplish was accomplished?
Inviting A Neighborhood Without Words
SPEAKER_02I do. I think it I think it was a con I think I we accomplished it. I it was really nice and wonderful to see walking out on those streets and we had that language barrier. I mean, we we kind of, I mean, as you know, we were that first Sunday, we had no idea we were gonna go into this little community and have a Bible study and um get pizza and and serve there. And it just was how God worked to make everything come together. We, you know, we were thrown into this community and we're like, oh, we're walking these streets. Here we go, let's do it. And we split up in two different groups. And as we're walking down the streets, I'm over there doing like sign language because I can't do, you know, speak much Spanish. And then, you know, I think um, was it I forgot, somebody's dad was speaking a little bit of Spanish. We didn't have we were trying to do Google Translate, but the word the phones weren't working. So then the kids started talking to the other kids like with, you know, let's kick a ball. And they were just, it was really neat to see how God worked in that community and with us, and um were able to just uh communicate, like come with us, come come serve, or you know, come do Bible study and eat with us and um be present with us. And um, they were just they were the community was so open to it. They were so open to they were hungry for God's love, right? They were hungry for this interaction, and it was just so neat to see them all show up and with smiles, and even though we had that language barrier, it it didn't really matter. It didn't.
SPEAKER_01It was so cool. And so I want to like I'm thinking about our listeners, and they're probably getting in their head um like some images of us. So the streets that we were walking down. Um, Claire, do you remember the streets that we were walking on when we went out to that church? What were they what were they like?
SPEAKER_03Um they were like they weren't like cement and everything, it was more like dirt and gravel and then some plants on the side with like there's a lot of puppies and dogs everywhere. But a lot of the houses they had um fences that were like either trees that they had cut down to build them, or like they were building their house and like they were outside playing, and so it was a lot of fun just getting to like go out there and see them and try to get them to come with us to go to back to the church to help us praise.
SPEAKER_01Did you, Claire, did you find yourself like really hoping someone would want to come and play?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, a lot of the times like we would go out there, we'd ask, and they'd go back inside to ask their parents, and then we wanted to see them, so but we went to a lot of houses, and then a lot of the houses that we went to, like they all came back to that one church with us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I don't know, in our van, so I think there were we left, we went to church that morning, and there were four vans taking all of us, is that right? I believe so. There was four vans, one went to Costco. That's right. One went to Costco to get the pizza, and then the rest of us, I don't know if y'all got these directions, but on our way out, they said, like, we're going to the jungle, or maybe they told all of us this that morning before church, but like we're going in the jungle. Don't go out into the jungle, stay on the street. And by street, Claire, you you just painted a great picture for us by street. It's it's a dirt road. It doesn't look like our streets here in Bernie with concrete and sidewalks and pavement. It's it's in the middle of a jungle. And so we were walking around, and I remember I stayed back at the church, and I was helping kind of move chairs and get things ready. And I remember a bunch of y'all went out, and I remember one of the things y'all said whenever y'all got back is man, the language was hard, like we couldn't talk, but we but we were and y'all were so excited. You're like, but we invited a bunch and we figured out pizza is a universal word. Yes, yes, everyone knows what pizza means. And clearly y'all did a great job because initially two little girls walked up with y'all. Right. Um, but then all of a sudden, more and more and more people started coming. And how did that feel, Claire, when you saw all the kids coming that maybe you'd seen in the neighborhood or seen in the jungle?
SPEAKER_03It was kind of exciting just to watch like all of the kids that we had asked actually like understood us to come to the church at a certain time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I just think, I don't know, Shauna, I like thinking about our kids going out and having an opportunity in a place that's very unlike where we are, and getting to invite people to come to a church and seeing the fruit of their labor produce. It was awesome.
SPEAKER_02It was, it was. It was the smiles on their face, the interactions that the kids were having. Um, I think I felt like this year I kind of sat back a little bit more and just like took it in. I took it in and just watched and like it was just an amazement of I mean, a simple ball being thrown back and forth at each other and the smiles and the laughter, and they didn't even have to communicate with language, it was with the smile and the gestures. Um, the other part was the jump rope. I I don't know if you I think you probably made it out front, but everybody was jump roping. And it's fun because even as parents were jumping in there and doing the jump roping and stuff and counting how many times we could jump rope, and it was just the pure excitement of us being there and interacting with them, and that's all they wanted. They just wanted that interaction. Um you saw the joy like firsthand. Yeah, it was just the joy in those little kids, and you know, and then of course there were all the little puppies there. So we did we did feed some of them those pizzas. That's a universal language for the animals, too.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. I remember too, um, just I feel like that's worth saying, I remember there was this one group of kids, I cannot remember, but they were clearly like siblings, and they ate, you know, the pizza and the juice box and they did some of the crafts, but it sort of broke my heart. I don't know for sure, but I assumed that maybe um food was scarce in their house because they were taking as many extras and leftovers and like if they were served two pieces, I noticed that they put one piece back. Did I don't know if y'all saw that?
SPEAKER_02I saw I saw a little bit of that, but um I didn't see too much. But I I think what what got me was we would had gone to one house and it was a a teenage daughter, I think, or maybe you know, early teens, and then two little kids, and I think they were home alone. And we were like, Aki, Aki, come, you know, come on, come with us. And they they talked to us for a moment and then they went back inside, and then they showed up after we'd started everything, they showed up and the dad showed up and he was like, We can't stay the whole time. He spoke a little bit of English, but he was a taxi driver. And so I think they went inside and he came home and he picked them up and he brought them up there and he stayed with them for a little bit so that they could be there. And so, um, so while initially we thought, oh well, they're just going inside, like we're not gonna see them, they did show up and he brought them, and once we were done, he took off on the taxi and they walked home. But it I thought that was neat to see that, like, they really wanted to be there, and so dad actually made it happen that they could come up there and and and worship with us.
SPEAKER_01Isn't that amazing? Because there were, I think, 43 on our team, and we all saw different things and had different experiences. Like, I didn't see that, but I saw this, these children making sure to take food back home for their parents, and I was like, wow, I mean, that's what I'm assuming they were doing. And then, like, I even noticed how some of them um people said, Well, they weren't wearing that, they they got really dressed up. Like, I noticed a lot of people got dressed up to come too for this afternoon BBS and and worship, kind of praise and worship and singing and dancing, and it was just so cool. Okay, so that was day one. Yes, that yeah, that was only day one. Um that was day one. A few more days to talk about. We have a few more days to talk about. Um,
Kingdom Academy Painting And Play
SPEAKER_01so after day one, we went to a new church plant. That's what day one was. We were just encouraging, creating excitement in the community and putting on an afternoon BBS. And then day two, we got to go to Kingdom Academy, which is a school that our church um has been supporting. And we've talked about that on some of the other episodes we've already recorded for this mission, this family mission trip. But um let's talk about our days at Kingdom Academy, because we were there for three days. And so, Claire, I'd like to start with you if I can. When you think about the days when we got to go to the school, I'd love to hear like how you served at the school and like what what will you not forget about serving at Kingdom Academy?
SPEAKER_03So I got to help with like painting all the school walls, and and then when we were playing, I realized like even though there was that big language barrier that God's love wasn't just through the scriptures that everyone preaches, it's also through the smiles and laughters and interactions you have with other people.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Oh my gosh. That is so beautiful, Claire. Like that is so true. God's God doesn't just speak through scripture, he speaks through our interactions.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's awesome. So you painted at Kingdom Academy, you also played with the children. Is there any particular relationship or friend that you made at the school that like really stood out to you or you won't forget?
SPEAKER_03Well, there was a couple of girls, like a lot of them, they just wanted us to come and have like fun and jump rope with them. And then after we finished doing that, they would go and they would teach us one of their games that they have at the school. Like there is one game called Tops that this little boy played, and so a lot of like the dads there bought tops just to play with the little boy.
SPEAKER_01Jacob, right? Yeah, we were all trying to be as good as Jacob at Tops. Oh he was so cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's awesome. And you painted, and then you also helped with the vacation Bible school that we put on.
SPEAKER_03Oh yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_03Um, so there was a lot, like m most of the events were like crafts and arts. And so just watching the kids like be creative, like it really showed like personality. A lot of them, like all their work was really beautiful, and it just showed me that even though they're different in their own ways, they can all like be amazing.
SPEAKER_01That's such a beautiful picture, Claire, of like all of God's people, because God has a heart for every person, and He made us all so different, right? Like you if you think of you and your brothers and sisters, or you and your friends at school, even the people in Mexico. We all have such different things. I mean, with different eyes, different hair, different interests, different likes, different passions. And what's so cool is that at your age, age 11, you were sitting there noticing all the cool things and all the differences. And what I mean, just I'm amazed at that. Like what a beautiful heart you have. Have you always been that way?
SPEAKER_03I don't know. Your mom was saying yes. I probably was a little bit more passionate than I usually am when I was on that mission trip just to watch the kids and how they learned to speak a little bit of our language during the VBS.
SPEAKER_01I love that. When you say you were a little more passionate, it then can you tell us a little bit more about what you were a little more passionate about than maybe how that looked some other time? I'd love to hear more.
SPEAKER_03So, like I mean, like when I'm at school, like I have friends that like speak my language and so like we interact, but at the school they wanted to play and have a lot of fun even though we couldn't talk. So it was a lot of fun just trying to understand what they were saying even though we couldn't like speak each other's languages.
SPEAKER_01So that's so cool. It sounds like you were challenged in a good way to connect with others. Yeah. Where here it's a little bit easier, it's kind of the same routine every day. You you know how to talk to your friends, you both you all speak English, but there it took a little more effort to connect. Yeah. But it was really worth it. It sounds like you had a blast.
SPEAKER_03I did. Yeah, it was a lot of fun there.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's cool. Do you want to go on a mission trip again?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there's like a youth group one, and so I want to convince my mom to let me go next year.
SPEAKER_01I I think that I think for that trip you have to be in sixth grade, finish sixth grade, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So the age will be there now. It's like, okay, mom, am I am I able to go? Right? Yeah. That's my kids are my kids are thinking the same thing too. And that was part of our heart as well, is let's go, kind of like you were saying, Shauna, like let's go and really be intentional to be there and to see how it it goes.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then maybe they can go on their own. That's that's our hope as well.
SPEAKER_02So I don't know if I'll let them go alone. I'm going with them.
SPEAKER_01I know, I know, me too. I'm like, where are you going? I want to go. I I always I never have a hard time going. I always want to go. Yeah. I have a hard time coming back. I know. That okay.
Why Coming Home Feels Hard
SPEAKER_01Tell us about that. Because I've experienced that so much after going on a mission trip. You get back and well, so you get back.
SPEAKER_02I mean, first you you get there and you're just like, okay, we're here, we're gonna do this mission trip, and like we have all this planned. And you get there and you just you get submerged in it, and you just you start doing the work and you start seeing the interactions of the kids, and you just like the delight that's there. And um the the the families are just so thankful, they're just so happy. They they don't have a lot, they're underserved, and they don't have a lot, but they're just so grateful for what they have, and they will give you their last meal because they are so thankful you're there. And um and it's just it's just this slower pace. This they take it all in, they accept it how it is, and um, you know, we come back. I mean, we're fortunate where we live, you know, we're fortunate for what we have, and we have you know we have so much, and like we can still be ungrateful for it, whereas like you're there, and it's just like you take it, you take a step back. You can slow down. You can just be in the moments and you can just relish in all of it, you know. Um so when we come back, not that you feel guilty about coming back, but it's like, man, I wish I had that slowness again. I wish I had all of that to take in again and just be, you know, just be with them and and slow down because they don't have the fast-paced life like we do. They don't have the next thing that we have to run to, the next this that we have to do. They just, it's, you know, it's their community, it's their family. Um, and I really feel like that's what we miss out on a lot here now is just that family time of just the slowness. And so it's hard to come back sometimes.
SPEAKER_01It is hard to come back. I agree. I think that when as you were talking, I was when you were just saying just be, be present. And I think that's what's got God is always calling us to. He's calling us to be with him. And we don't realize it, but we get so discra discreet distracted. And even, I mean, I you know, I will I a few years ago I started being really mindful about like when someone asks me how I'm doing, I don't want to say I'm busy because I don't want to take that on and be so distracted and so driven by being busy because I have been most of my life, and I want to just slow down and like be aware and be. And when you go on a mission trip, he does that for us. Yes, it's uh it's like our heart longs. And there's a verse in Ecclesiastes, it's um I'll just paraphrase because I I began I struggle to memorize, but it's 311 and it talks about that God has played an eternity in our hearts, and we heard that today even in the sermon, how when we do God's work, we're working for eternal purposes. And I think of our trip, and it's like we didn't like we were working hard every day. Like we did a lot of work, and we didn't get paid, but we were storing up our treasures in heaven. We were doing this eternal work by being there, being present.
SPEAKER_02It was awesome. Yeah, that was amazing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01As you were saying that, that just was all coming to my mind. And it that is, it's the it is the gift of going. And so as we start to wrap this up already, which is crazy. My this time always goes by. We were laughing about that before. Like, are we gonna have enough to say? Well, yes. We have plenty. And like before we wrap it up though, you touched on something.
Home Visits, Prayer, And Shared Meals
SPEAKER_01You you talked about how even though they don't have a lot, they would give us their last meal. So we show up with all these people, we go to that first um chur newer church, we serve that day, then we go to the school for three days, and then we got to go on home visits. I would love to hear about the home visit that y'all had and the people that you encountered, and just you know, a little bit of what you shared. That that also came to mind as you were sharing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I um I think that's my most favorite part. I think the home visits are by far my favorite. Um, just going out into the community and and being welcomed into their homes. Uh, we did get to go to Joshua's home. And you did. Yes.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if I realized that.
SPEAKER_02Um, yes, we got to go to Joshua's home and his brother had a broken arm, and so he hadn't been at school. And uh we he's sponsor his brother is sponsored by somebody here at our church, and so we were able to deliver the shoes that they had bought for him, and he was so thankful. Um but his, you know, they're always doing work on their houses and more because as you go out in these communities, these they're not just they're not houses like we live in. And I think that's something that Claire experienced and Jack definitely experienced last year. Um, some of them are just like bamboo or tin walls or you know, trees that make the walls of their house. It's not a a concrete building with a roof and a floor, you know. And so um the kitchen's outside and they're cooking in a little corner with a little fire, and um so they don't have closets, they don't have living rooms necessarily.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's just so different.
SPEAKER_02Right. And so Joshua's family is actually fortunate that they um they lived in, you know, mom has one little area and then um grandma has another little area, and she was just able to build an actual brick house or cinder block house. And so she was waiting for the floor to be done so she could move from her little bedroom that's outside covered by 10 and you know, bamboo walls into this, into her little house. And so we got to see that, and that was nice. We helped her. I think Claire, you said her her tacos were your favorite, weren't they? Yeah, they were really good. Um, we helped her, you know, prepare the lunch and stuff, cut up some onions and lime, and it was just it was so good. And she, you know, they'd gone out and gotten that for us, and you know, we don't know if that was all they had, but they made us fresh tortillas and we shared lunch with them. Yes. And um, and so we actually had the privilege of going to two houses, and so I cannot remember the second house that we went to. I can't remember. Do you remember his name?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it well, I don't remember the name, but I know it's like that like it looked like a big hotel, and they lived upstairs on the top floor. It was the apartments, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So um one of the men in the community, from my understanding, um, owned this like apartment building kind of, and so he had built it up and stuff, and then in that family, she was really nervous for us to come because they did live a little bit better than everybody else in the community. They still didn't have a lot, but they lived a little bit better than everybody else in the community. And she was really worried about us coming because she was actually um a little embarrassed that they lived better than everybody else. And we uh we reassured her, like, hey, like we're supposed to be here. And in that um, in that family, the aunt was there and the aunt was going through a divorce, and so we were able to just pray with them. And um, the mom in that family had already gone through a divorce. She was with this the new her new husband. And so her son from her first marriage didn't really know if he um was accepting of the Lord. Like he he knew about him, he knew about God, and he he'd started, you know, believing in him and said things were getting better, but he hadn't actually been accepted. And um, we actually went with the Strombergs, and so they were with us, and so it was really nice because Mr. Stromberg got to pray with him while Lindsay and I prayed with the mom and the aunts over them and their situation. And um, but just having that personal, real personal connections with both families and just being in their homes and being accepted and praying with them and sharing a meal with them and and uh just having a personal connection and just being there was I think my most favorite.
SPEAKER_01That is so cool. Um, and isn't it interesting too how we will not feel I mean, that's like human nature. Like we cannot feel good enough if we don't have much or if we have too much. I mean, it's so interesting how we do that, but then that human connection breaks it down and brings about opportunity to love one another, to see one another, to experience one another. And I I thought it was really cool when we the houses that we went to, one of the and one of the neat things was that we all got to take something to them. Yes. And they were so grateful, like you know, our bags had broken and like we're just like hauling all this this food and eggs and pineapples, and you know, we're taking these things, and then and then it's so reciproc reciprocated because then they're doing something for us. And right, you know, it's just like that deep desire as a human to connect, to love one another. Um, I love what you said at the at the start too. You have that faith, like you're you're there because you love the Lord, you go in kindness and you show love, and um, you said nothing can go wrong, and that's so true. I mean, how y'all showed up that day, they had these thoughts about, oh, we, you know, they shouldn't come here, or maybe that they're gonna think this or that, but it sounds like it just turned out to be just for that nephew and speaking into him and being there. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_02Well, and it, you know, you have to have faith in all this, right? Because we go in there and it's like it's a whole it's a different country. Like we don't want to drink the water because we don't want to get sick. There's certain things, and so you know, when they're serving you their food and their, you know, whatever they've cre made for us, it's like just have faith, it'll be okay. You can eat it, you can drink it. Like they've taken the precautions of you know, making this so that we won't get sick, right? And so uh Jack and I got really sick last year. Did you really what happened? Um, we is I don't know, we just got really sick as as most of the trip did, I think, from last year. But I don't really know if that was waterborne. I think it was more of a some foodborne illness. Something going around. That uh that flight home was not fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, so this trip, this trip was it really is a very, very special trip because it gives opportunities for a mom and a daughter in y'all's instant or a mom and a son or a family. Um, just I I think it really provides opportunities for younger ones to go. But again, you are leaving the country. There are things that are not like what we're used to. It is a step of faith any way you look at it.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01It is a big step of faith.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think the God is in every detail, right? Because you and your whole family went. Yeah. But like I left my part of my family here, right? So it's like the logistics of dad working and kids are home from spring break. So who's gonna take care of you know these kiddos while we're gone and who's gonna take care of the animal? And so it's just like all the logistics that go into it, that it he's in every detail of it because yeah, there's nothing I can do from over there.
SPEAKER_01And so it's just like throw your hands up and go. And he shows us time and time again his ways are higher, his ways are better, his ways are not like our ways. Yeah. Oh gosh.
Take The Leap Of Faith
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, y'all aren't gonna believe this, but we have we we we have like hit our time. There we go. We weren't sure if we'd have enough to talk about, but we could actually keep going. We could. There would be more to say. So as we start to wrap it up, um, both of y'all please be thinking if there's anything else you want to share. But I will just share, listeners, um, this trip is really special here at First Baptist. Um, you can go back in previous episodes and you can hear um where James Smith has shared how we even got there as a church. There's there's multiple partnerships. First Baptist does a beautiful job of supporting churches, Vita Life, um, Kingdom Academy, all in the Cancun area. And like we talked about on previous episodes, we're not talking about Tourist Cancun. We're talking about the outskirts of Cancun, getting to go and s and really serve, um, serve God's people, serve the kingdom, interact, and just experience things that we haven't experienced it. And it is such a blessing to go forth and make his main name known and it just helped um people become disciples, become, you know, by his hands and feet. So it's a really cool trip, a really cool opportunity. And I would just um circle back right now and just Claire, Shauna, what else, if anything, is coming to mind right now, or what else would you like to add about your time in Cancun on this family mission trip? Do you want to go first, Claire? Is there anything else you have to add?
SPEAKER_03Not that I can think of right now, but I bet once this is over, I'd be like, dang it, I should have said this.
SPEAKER_01Well, you have done a great job, and I'm so grateful that you came in. Claire, I will tell you that as as a mom, um, getting to see, you know, I'm not even your mom, but getting to see you in action there, watching you do the work. You know, you would come over and help us paint and do things, and then just seeing you act with the kids, it's awesome. And now getting to hear you talk about it, I'm like, that's super cool. So well done. Well done, well done. What about you, Shauna?
SPEAKER_02Um, I think if I mean if you have it anywhere on your heart to do this, yeah, just take that leap of faith. Like just do it. Um, especially this year is a little bit scary of like everything that was kind of going on in our world.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And so um you just had you had to have that faith. You had to have that faith of like it's all gonna be okay. And um just do it. Yeah, you're it's it's gonna be scary, it's gonna be it's all unknown, and but you are taking care of God, will take care of you through all of it and just keep your eyes up.
SPEAKER_01I love that. And thank you for sharing your three words as a family. Um, when you talked about faith, kindness, and love, and you can never go wrong, and and y'all did a beautiful job of sharing that, and I know the Lord was glorified in your service.
SPEAKER_02So thank y'all.
SPEAKER_01Thank y'all for going. Thank you for representing our church, and thank you for coming in today's.
How To Get Involved Next
SPEAKER_01And listeners, if again, if you have any questions or you're wanting to know more about this trip, um if you have a kid in the the kids um building, you can definitely talk to Teresa Mowen or Stacey Thompson. And if you have a youth, you can definitely talk to Pastor Garrett or Andrea over in the youth building because there's great opportunities early on to start helping our kids to be involved in the Great Commission. So thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_00We are so thankful that you joined our podcast today. We would love to hear any feedback you may have from us. Remember, Psalm 67 says make them be gracious to us and love us. Make it crazy to them. Don't forget one.