When people ask me where I went for Spring Break, my response of “Mexico” receives raised brows and knowing looks. They assume I went to an infamous resort town like Cancun or Acapulco and spent my time relaxing on the beach and going out and “partying” at night. Instead, I burst their bubbles and tell them I went on a mission trip to Alta Cima and spent a very productive, not self-indulgent, Spring Break.
Alta Cima is a very small village located 8 and ½ hours south into Mexico in the eastern Sierra Madre Mountains. The closest “big” city to Alta Cima is Ciudad Victoria, which is about four hours to the north. The people of Alta Cima have very little money, but they are rich in the sense that they have their own houses and land and beautiful nature all around them. They are actually much better off than the family I saw living in the Matamoros city dump who had garbage strewn across their dirt front yard and no clean water to drink.
There was one particular family our group met that really became special to me. This family consisted of Manuel, the father in his late twenties, Yolanda, his wife, and their children Manolin (8) and Jeni (4). Manuel acted as our guide on our way up the mountain to his village of San Jose. His wife killed one of her chickens for our group’s lunch, which I chose not to eat since I could see all the “lucky” chickens still running around their yard. Jeni was the group’s favorite, though. She had been born with a deformed right ear and couldn’t hear very much out of her left ear either. She was very sweet and somewhat shy at first, but our group roused her interest by showering her with attention. She turned out to be the most photogenic person I’ve ever met. I even taught her to play jump rope and then do the limbo with a stray piece of rope I found in her yard. Before we left we gave Jeni a special osito (teddy bear) and a child’s silver cross necklace.
On our third day in Alta Cima, we held our devotional service for the people. Pastor Morfitt, who is a bilingual pastor in Brownsville, Texas, conducted the twenty- minute service to an estimated group of sixty women and children. The men did not attend because many were up in the mountains collecting vegetation that could be sold in Ciudad Victoria for medicinal and nutritional purposes. After the service, we handed out the items we had collected and brought down in our crowded sixteen-passenger van. There were over three hundred beanie babies donated so each child received at least three apiece. Packages of combined hygiene products, towels, pillows, school supplies, beans and rice were received with smiles of gratitude and many replies of “muchas gracias.” Despite the language barrier, we all were able to communicate our friendliness and gratitude through our genuine smiles.
After the last family had left with their newly acquired belongings, our group of amateur missionaries was feeling quite satisfied about our good deeds. However, someone wasn’t going to let us feel too smug. About ten minutes later, while we were milling around talking about our impressions, a family who couldn’t make it in time for the service came up to us wondering if there was anything left for them. Pastor Morfitt had to tell them that they were too late and everything had been given away. It was very humbling to witness the family making their journey back home empty-handed. It reminded us all that yes, we may have helped some people, but there were still many others out there that we weren’t able to help.
My mission trip was very humbling. I learned to appreciate the great opportunities I’ve been given in my life due to being born in the United States and growing up in a church that has treated me like family. I greatly look forward to returning to Alta Cima next year so I can repeat my mission experience.
My Favorite Things About Alta Cima
