South of the border

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the San Quintin area of the California Baja in Mexico. My hosts were Rob and Brenda Wall, founders of One Life One Chance, a group that works with the poor and forgotten indigenous people of Mexico.

Brenda and Rob Wall, One Life One Chance Ministries

Through the efforts of their amazing staff at their mission base, Los Olivos, they host multiple volunteer teams each year who come to build a home for those in need.

The first two days of my visit were spent working on such a house. It was a fun (but hot!) time working alongside the group from Pacific Community Church in Cloverdale, BC. It was also very humbling to see how our relatively small efforts were making such a huge impact in this Mexican family's life.

Lunch break: me, Rob Wall, Pastor John, Tyler

Day 3 for me began the task of checking out the potential training opportunities - the real reason I had come to Mexico. I worked alongside Isaias Vasquez, who is not only the caretaker and manager of the Los Olivos base, but a local pastor as well.

Pastor Isaias' car, like so many others in this dusty place, needed a lot of repairs. We spent 3 days either working on vehicles or looking for parts. It was quite a challenge!

The bottom line is that there's a real good opportunity for Mercy Tech to work alongside One Life One Chance in this needy area. The Los Olivos base will provide a solid location for us to start a skills training program, and the folks here already have a list of young men that would like to be trained. 

So stayed tuned - and start practicing your Spanish! We might be going "south of the border" in the very near future.