Category: Local & International Missions

Son: Peyton, Age 9

Peyton: “Mom, we should do missions every time we are on a break from school.”

Me: “I’m sure we can do a mission project on our breaks”

Peyton: “No Mom, I want to go back to Monterrey on fall break, Christmas break, spring break, and summer break.”

Daughter: McKenna, Age 12

My picture of the week was seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when we played and talked with them every day!!

Dad: Tim

A phrase repeated throughout the week…“Wow, it is so difficult with the language barrier…
So many times “barriers” stop us.

Language barrier didn’t stop us from time spent seeing progress on placing and connecting water, gas, and sewer lines.

Language barrier didn’t stop us from time spent seeing progress on painting a kitchen, bedroom, and outside walls.

Language barrier didn’t stop us from time spent seeing progress in tearing down a wall to make a doorway for new caregiver’s room.

Language barrier didn’t stop us from time spent seeing smiles, hearing laughter, and having purposeful playtime with the children.

Language barrier didn’t stop us from time spent seeing tears from caregivers as we prayed over each child, each bed, and each caregiver.

You see we feel a barrier sometimes when it comes to language, color, race, geography, or whatever else we use as an excuse.

Jesus reminds us in Luke 18:27 (NASB) that… “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

God did not remove barriers, but God made possible what we thought was impossible by accomplishing great things while in Monterrey, Mexico!!!!

Day 5 began early for as we had a full day of construction ahead of us. We had breakfast and share time from the previous day and then headed to El Higuito church the location that we did the clothing ministry earlier in the week.

Today we helped the church pour concrete behind the church so they have a place to teach the kids. To begin we had to pull 80lb sacks of mortar out for mixing. Ms. Lisa jumped right in to assist the guys. And Becky helped too. We had to clean off the grass so there would be an area to mix the concrete. And we had to shovel gravel into the area for the concrete to go over. Unfortunately our time was cut short as there was not enough gravel to cover the floor, we have more coming later today and will finish up the project then. Roger also helped Christian with the being able to share the plan of Salvation with others.  It was a great time doing work for the church.

We love and miss you all.

The Packett Small Group

Monterrey, Mexico was the first mission trip that my son and I had ever been on. I was nervous about taking him because he’s 12 and I honestly had no idea what to expect or if he would be miserable. As soon as we arrived, all of my anxieties were gone. He and I instantly saw the love for orphaned children that the Back2Back ministry staff had, and we were thankful we had chosen this mission. We absolutely loved playing with the children, working on projects at the orphanage and connecting with our small groups every day.

Logan connected with several orphaned children and came home feeling thankful and blessed for all that he has. My favorite part of the trip was praying over all of the children’s beds and their caregivers at the orphanage. We made some awesome new friends who encouraged us every day to continue seeking God, spreading His word, and being the hands and feet of Jesus. What an incredible week!

By: Denise Rowe

This was my fourth trip to Monterrey, Mexico. I always enjoy going but it seems before every trip I expect the same things. I always expect the long plane ride, the sleepy bus rides, and seeing the same kids, but why do I think that?

Every year all of that comes true but none of that is what makes the mission trip special or different from the other times. In all the mission trips the best part is always the new friends you make, the kids who you hang out with no matter if you knew them before, or if they are new to you, and the new group members that come on the trip with you.

I love to go to Monterrey, Mexico every year,  but not because of the long plane rides, the sleepy bus rides, the fact that the same kids are there. NO, I never go there for that! It is always for the new friends, the kids you get to hang out with whether you already knew them or not, the new group members that come, but really I ALWAYS learn something as well. About me. About others. About the trip itself. So yeah that is why every year I WILL ask “Can we go to Mexico this year?”.

By: Daisy Kercher, Age 11

While on the 2018 Monterrey, Mexico mission trip, I served by reading to the orphans in Douglas. I have advanced my reading in Spanish and I learned how to communicate with the orphans after taking three years of Spanish.

Betty, the leader of Douglas, complimented the way I read to the orphans. She told me that the older kids do not like reading that much, but I encouraged them by reading to the younger kids. (Randy read to the older kids too.  Even though the books were silly kids’ books, they seemed to like it.  Also, they wanted to try to take the books and show Betty they could read them too.)  I received a Douglas shirt after she said that I was important to her and (the orphans at) Douglas.

Before I received the shirt, I was at small group learning about God’s mercy and grace. I was told that grace is getting more than what we deserve. Even though Betty told me why I got the shirt, I saw being the only person who got the shirt FAR more than what I deserved.

By: Randy Kercher, age 15 (Mom added in a little)

There’s an old question that people ponder:  “What would a person do in a crisis situation?”  It’s felt that how people respond in a crisis reveals who they truly are.  I’m not sure I love that old question, but I’ve learned of a different question during this mission trip to Monterrey:

What would a Christian do without all the day-to-day busyness?

On this mission trip, I saw a lot of Christians unplug from their normal lives, focus on Jesus, and serve orphans, caregivers, and local volunteers.  God blessed the dedicated time.  I was blown away by the people serving on the trip with me.   We worked hard fixing up the orphanage in very hot conditions.  We loved those orphans with love and patience.  We connected with caregivers and volunteers despite the language barrier.  We prayed powerful, honest prayers for the caregivers and orphans.  We had small groups and “daily debriefings” where we opened up about what we loved each day and what we were struggling with in our normal lives.  When we had personal problems (and we did), we worked through them.

And it amazed me to see it in our children.  At home, I typically can’t get my kids to truly work hard outside the house for a full hour.  At the orphanage in Monterrey, I saw our kids work hard in the blazing sun with sweat dripping off them.  I saw our kids play for hours with orphans who haven’t yet learned to share, have patience, and take turns.  The kids understood why we needed to work so hard and love so selflessly, and they did.  God blessed and empowered our kids to serve amazingly.

And I saw God’s love and grace.  Orphans receiving and feeling genuine love, support, and attention from us.  Caregivers feeling appreciation and recognition that their work was truly God’s work.  And we missionaries being loved back from the orphanage.  Through this experience, God gave us insight into our daily lives and healing for our daily struggles.

This is what Christian life looked like in Monterrey this year… with a week devoted to following Jesus and to serving at an orphanage.  God blessed us like crazy.  I am so glad that my family went.  I’m so thankful to see my kids love selflessly and work hard in Jesus’ name.  This trip was absolutely priceless to me.  I saw the God-blessed best from a great group of people, who now are more like extended family.

By: Andy Kercher