Susquehanna Conference Team from Central PA:  
October 8 - 17, 2010  (10-Day Team)
Team Leader: Rev. Marian Hartman

 

Brentwood UMC Team, Brentwood, TN: September 10 - 19, 2010  (Ten-Day Team)
Team Leader:  Mr. Dwight Armstrong

MY  MEXICO  MISSION  TRIP  EXPERIENCE –  SEPTEMBER  2010

As I prepared for a recent trip to Tlancualpican, Mexico I was filled with both anticipation and some apprehension.  I was traveling to the Tree of Life Center run by missionaries Terry and Muriel Henderson.  I had learned in some preparatory meetings that their program Give Ye Them to Eat (GYTTE) centered on meeting the physical needs (health, agriculture, hygiene, etc.) of the people.  Spiritual activities seemed to be only one small part of the overall program.  This was contrary to my fundamental belief that missionary programs should focus on spiritual development and other needs should be handled by others.  I was in for a real eye opening.

While the GYTTE program is VERY successful in addressing the physical needs of the people, there is NO lacking of the spiritual.  In every aspect of the program the love of God and the examples of Jesus are found.  And, I have never been around a more Spirit filled group than the Hendersons and their staff.  They are also heavily involved with two churches, one in Tlancualpican and the other in nearby Don Roque.  The Christian love their members shared with us was more evidence of the successfulness of Terry and Muriel and the GYTTE program.  I have returned home changed and enlightened in many ways.

Jim Zeigler
Brentwood United Methodist Church - Nashville, TN

 

 

Chapelwood UMC Team:   July 30 – Aug. 8, 2010  (Ten-Day Team)

Team Co-Leader: Matt

Co-Leader: Tim Roth

Impressions from Young Adults from Chapelwood UMC in Houston, Texas
in the GYTTE [Give Ye Them to Eat] Experience in Tlancualpican, Puebla in Mexico
July 30 – August 8, 2010
I have learned about the many seeds that GYTTE is planting for the Mexican people.  After learning from and living among the people, GYTTE is teaching innovative ways to make their life easier, richer, and healthier.  I am leaving having learned how to truly love as the Bible says, how to give of myself in a way that helps them develop without any credit to me, but only to them and God.  KJ

I always thought that I knew the Mexican people, but I had no idea how gracious and friendly they are.  It breaks my heart to leave such good people!  CJ

God is truly in this place.  Through work with the community and worship with fellow brothers and sisters, I have felt God touch my heart.  The work/study of GYTTE has pushed me to grow in my faith and understand the true way of helping others.  I have made friends for a lifetime and seen a very special way of how God works in all of our lives. KB.

This AWARE Experience has opened my eyes to a way of life very different from that in the U. S. and has made me, again, thankful for what I have.  Communication with persons with very little English knowledge, and for me with very little Spanish, was much easier than I anticipated.  But through God we were able to communicate.  Once again, like most other mission trips I’ve been on, the people we came to serve ended up serving us much more than we served them. GM

My experience at GYTTE has helped me to understand Christ’s love for us on a new level!  I came here to serve, but am leaving feeling that I have been ministered to by everyone here, especially the workers, in a way I do not deserve, just as none of us deserves Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.  MD

The GYTTE program at the Tree of Life Center is a positive break from everyday life as you and I know it in the States.  The Center has opened my eyes to what amazing things God can do through his people and with prayer.  Come see how God is working in this place and you won’t look at your life and the world in the same way again.  I had a great week!  BB

There are no words that can describe   the experiences of this week in Mexico!  The witnessing of God’s messages to me are powerful and abundant.  The things God has placed on my heart now are a testimony and example of God’s message to the world. AS

GYTTE’s mission and the fruit it is producing are one of the most powerful ways I’ve seen Jesus’ command for us to make disciples of all the world realized in such a powerful manner.  The AWARE experience develops people by integrating the grace of God into people’s lives as well as develops their missional hearts.  RM

This has been such a great experience!  The best part is the relationships formed with the Mexican people.  We have experienced what the Kingdom of God sounds like when we all sang “Come, Thou Fount” in our own languages.  It is awesome to know that even though we can’t always fully understand each other, we know that we all believe in and love Jesus. SS

This week at the Tree of Life Center has been amazing!  We have all grown together as a group and also individually.  Also, I have felt how tremendously hard life is for the Mexican people and will hold them in my heart.  They are wonderful, loving and kind.  I pray this center continues to flourish and help the community of Tlancualpican and all of Mexico; and I will tell everyone at my church and in my life about this experience and how it has changed my life.  AR

This week has been an amazing experience!  I am so grateful for the people on the GYTTE staff and in Tlancualpican for welcoming us with open hearts into their homes and lives and making us feel a part of it.  My eyes have been opened to the struggles of life here, and the need to use resources with consideration of our roles as stewards of the earth. SL

The GYTTE program is unique in that it focuses on relationships and education rather than just doing things for people.  The week I have spent at Tlancualpican has been intense, but profound and meaningful.  I have seen firsthand the positive impact that the program has had on the local people and it has inspired me to do more mission work when I return home.  This past week I have given a lot, but I feel like I have gained even more because I have experienced God’s love through the wonderful people at GYTTE.  LM

This week God has made me AWARE of my materialism, and has revealed to me my sinful desire to accumulate ‘stuff’!  Further, God has awakened a desire in me to do justice.  I’m not sure how that desire will blossom but it has been instilled within me.  And finally, God has shown me that His plan is the only plan that matters.  I need to set aside “my plan”, full of pride, desires and will, in order to let  God’s plan unfold and become my plan.  JS

This was an incredible week full of many surprising blessings from and encounters with God.  Learning about and from the Mexican people has opened my eyes to better see that we not only—as Americans—share a border, but we also share an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.  I am so thankful  to have had this opportunity to serve Christ through learning and making new friendships, and I look forward to seeing the impact I hope this trip will have on my life when I get back to the U. S.  JM

 

 

Evansville Team, Evansville, IN:   February 5 - 14, 2010  (Ten-Day Team)
Team Leader:  Mr. Maurice Hahn

 

 

Tabernacle UMC Team,Fredericksburg, VA:    January 1 - 10, 2010  (Ten-Day Team) 

Team Leader:  Mr. Gary Gross

 

 

Central PA Conference Team:   October 9-18, 2009  (Ten-Day Team)
Team Leader: Rev. Marian Hartman.

 

Brentwood UMC Team, Brentwood, TN:    September 12 - 20, 2009  (Nine-Day Team)
Team Leader:  Mr. Dwight Armstrong.

Old Mission UMC, Fairway, KS:    February 7 – 15, 2009 (Nine-Day Team)
The Kansas mission team worked on the construction of the new dorm as well as the planning for the roofing system and plumbing for the same structure.  Besides their many others projects around the Training Center, some team members worked with local Methodists to excavate a cistern for the Gethsemane Church.

 

Combined California-North Carolina–Virginia Team:  Jan. 10 – 18, 2009 (Nine-Day Team)

Methodists from three different states came together to serve at the “Tree of Life” Training Center. They came together to serve Mexico by helping to us move forward on the construction projects at the Center. The Tof L Center is used to host training events for villagers to train for change back in their villages where they return as resource people to assist their community to progress.