Group photo of the Esperanza Mission Trip 2019
We are getting ready to head back to Tijuana for our Esperanza Mission Trip 2020! Our trip this year is March 7-14, 2020.
As he is packing for the trip, Steve Schroer has some pre-trip thoughts:
On this cold rainy March morning, I started packing for our
mission trip to Tijuana. I’m excited to
go! I love getting off the airplane in
San Diego to the warm southern California sunshine and working all week in the
nice weather along the Pacific Coast of Baja Norte.
I can’t help tearing up a little as I think of old friends
that I’ve met on past trips and the ways the country has changed over the
years. I am Steve Schroer and my first trip to Esperanza International was in
1998. That was before the Posada where
we will stay was built. We stayed in an
old house where we all slept on the floor.
There was a bathroom but the shower didn’t have a showerhead and we all
brushed our teeth in the driveway then spit in the drain. Accommodations are luxurious now in
comparison.
Each year brings new adventures and new stories. I am sure that you will each bring back some
treasures of your own. For me the people
I’ve met have made the most impact on me and keep me going back. They are simply beautiful and need a sense of
hope that we bring. On the other hand, I
think that they give me far more than what I offer them.
I remember building Israel’s home up on the hillside beyond
the Posada by the big cemetery. He
appeared very old to me. He was from the
US but moved to Tijuana to take care of his family and see that they had a
home. We still drive by his home
sometimes, if we do this year I will point it out. He has since died of cancer. I remember Christian’s family. His mom walked
over a mile in the pouring rain through mud that was ankle-deep to invite us to
stop after work in order to see her finished home and share a Coke. Then there was Grandma’s house. We had to bucket the cement through her son’s
kitchen to pour the floor and walls in her home. She took care of her two grandsons and had affection
for one of our group members, Clete. In the following years, he always took socks and new underwear for her grandkids.
Clete is my inspiration.
He was from Tiffin, Ohio; a diehard Roman Catholic who you either loved
or hated. I loved him. He was a crusty old man 80+ years of age when
he first went with us. He made us carry
his luggage and devote an entire evening to him so he could tell us stories of
the nuns in his school and of his college escapades with his twin brother
Clem. He also had the biggest, softest
caring heart. One time he went to the
school and tried to teach the kids how to brush their teeth. He couldn’t speak a word of Spanish, but
language was no barrier. The teachers
probably thought he was nuts.
Then there is my amigo Eduardo. You will meet him Monday morning. He started at Esperanza the same year I
started going. I can’t imagine not
seeing him. He makes the work fun and he
shares his love for his country every day.
Over the years we‘ve watched his children grow and celebrated with him
life milestones such as his graduation from college. I’ve confided in him and vice versa. He truly is like family to me. He gives me hope.
I am excited to go! I
can’t wait to see the sunshine and the green hillsides. It’s a Wonderful World,
….I see friends
shaking hands saying, “How do you do?”,
They’re really saying “I love you” I hear babies cry I watch them grow,
they’ll learn much more than I’ll never know and I think to myself…What a
wonderful world. –Louis Armstrong
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