During the Easter holidays I travelled out to Mexico for the annual Urban Saints ReBuild Trip with 5

others from my home church in a small Kent town making us a small, select group. We knew before

we even left that we were going to be teamed up with a group from Middlesborough (somewhere up

north) but had never met the group or even had contact with them. We met them in the early hours

of the evening on Sunday 27th March (Tijuana time). From the moment the groups met there was a

click and we all got on awesomely. Joel and Michael Dickinson told us to think of a team name and a

chant in our initial build team meeting. There were a number of suggestions one being "Wonderwall"

due to an obsession with the Oasis song a number of the Middlesborough group had (don't ask). This

name was dismissed quickly and we decided instead to mash the names of the Middlesborough group

with that of my youth group...original right?! This was the first of many laughs on the trips and the

beginning of some amazing friendships.

So the house. We knew very simply we had 5 working days to build a house for a family. Other than a few leaders from the Middlesborough group had been before the majority of the team has no idea how to turn a pile of concrete, some bags of cement, lots of wooden timber, thousands of nails and some waterproofing material into a house. We knew from the start it was going to be a challenge. To add to the complication of building a house with very limited instructions our build site was on a 15foot (ish) drop down from the current home. When we arrived in day one there was no access. To get around this we had to tie two ladders together with an old electrical cable...did I mention one of our leaders is a Health and Safety officer?

We built the house using manual tools meaning a lot of work went into building the house, the only electrical tool used was a drill to install the lock on the door. We were always on our feet and there was never a dull day on site. Urban Saints provided us with a timetable of what should be completed on each day however due to our site bringing its own complications, in reality it looked a little different. This is what our week actually looked like

Day 1 (Monday): Levelling the site, building the frames and moving concrete from the top of the site to the bottom.

Day 2 (Tuesday): Mixing the concrete with cement, water and fibres and laying the slab.

Day 3 (Wednesday): Assembling the walls of the house and some of the wiring to hold the frames tight.

Day 4 (Thursday): Writing words of encouragement on the frames, finishing the wiring and papering the walls. We also started the roof.

Day 5 (Friday): All hands on deck for the finishing touches! Finishing the roof, installing the doors and windows and applying 2 coats of stucco (a cement based mix).

On Friday evening we had our evening worship like we had done for the whole week but then split into our individual groups for some team time. we were each given a bracelet with Ramirez written on it as this was the name of the family which we built for. We were also given a key necklace each to remind us of the time in Mexico. The one thing that sticks out to me more than anything else when thinking about this evening is what Mike said to me when he handed over my key. He told me that I was a "Little man with a big heart". Whilst I kept my cool in front of the team time I broke down in the bañoon the evening. This really moved me. The campfire time made us all realise how lucky we are to have the things that we have at home and I feel now I have been back home for a week I would rather be in Mexico. The families there have so little but are all so full of love and joy. I think that is something that we all need to learn from them. On Saturday we returned to the build site but not to add anything to the house but to hand the keys over to the family. We gave them a blanket which we bought in the Amor store at the campsite

and provide a Bible. In return for this they cooked us a selection of Mexican dishes. Handing over the keys was hugely

emotional but it was amazing looking back on it to see what we achieved. After handing over the keys we travelled back

to the United States and had some time off in San Diego relaxing by the pool and going to the shopping mall. Most

people tanned but I forgot my sunscreen and burnt my nose resulting in me looking like Rudolph for the remainder

of the trip! It was amazing to see the group that just 10 days ago didn’t even know each other getting along so well.

We built a house but we also built some of the most amazing friendships. The picture to the right (or at the bottom of the

page if you're on a mobile device) is an example of the amazing friendships made. This it Kirsty (one from the

Middlesborough group). There was an on going joke between us through out the week that we were twins. Yeah I know

what you're thinking...you look nothing alike! This is true, I have brown hair and she has a light ginger or as she will tell you

"strawberry blonde"! We had a laugh and a joke right from the beginning of the journey but at the same time she was

always there for me and know that I could trust her with anything. I miss her lots but unfortunately for her she isn't getting rid

of me anytime soon so sorry about that sis! 

ReBuild Mexico was one hands down the most amazing experience of my life. It was amazing to be a part of a group of

young people (and some not so young people) who all wanted to make a difference in people's lives. I enjoyed every

moment of the experience from the flight from Heathrow to LAX, which also happened to be my first flight, to the

mixing of 4.5 tonnes of cement, to the handing over the keys and a small bible and a blanket to the family.

The house was built out of materials that the British would typically use to construct a garden shed but this little house

was much more than that. This is a home for a family and it couldn't have been built without teamwork, encouragement

and support from home, help from the Amor team and of course our Father in heaven. I would definitely recommend the

trip to anyone and strongly believe that we should all do whatever we can to build more Amor houses for the people living

in extreme poverty in Mexico. I look forward to going again in the future and to doing anything else that God has planned

for me. 

That’s all for this post but I'll keep you updated on more things that are happening.

# BelmontBanter #JesusLoversAndOthersInACircusTentInADesert #ReBuildMexico

Toodles :)

Sam.