This weekend we took our kids to a construction site and put them to work.

Yes, they are both under three years old.  Yes, they largely played (and got covered from head to toe) in dirt, but they also hung out with us and got loved on by dozens of other people, of various nationalities between the ages of 8 and 60-something.  And while our children got dirty and built connections with others we did as well.

We spent Saturday and Sunday in La Purificacion, a tiny town about an hour north-east of Mexico.

Why, you ask?

Well, just outside of the Mexico City lies Chimalhuacan and the largest slum in North America.  Approximately 4 million people live within the slum.  Within Chimalhuacan is Conexion Mosaico (Mosaic Conexion), a community of people working and living in the fight against urban poverty.  These individuals and families from around the world live in the slums and seek to promote change through education (mental, physical, emotional, sexual, economic and spiritual), environmental stewardship, recovery and support groups, church development, civic engagement, youth empowerment and equipping, micro-loans and entrepreneurship training.

As you can imagine, this type of work is both incredibly rewarding and quite taxing.  Burnout among those working in the slums can happen very quickly.  With this in mind, Conexcion Mosaico has purchased a piece of land in La Purificacion and begun work on a retreat and training center, Centro Renovar (Renewal Center) for these workers along with others ministering throughout Mexico.  In addition to the retreat center there will be a home on the property where our good friends James and Erin and their two children will live and head up Centro Renovar.

So, we went to La Purificacion this weekend to soak our kids and ourselves in dirt while working alongside about 40 other individuals from Mexico and the U.S..  We went with a vision to be a small part of something that can make a difference in the lives of many who are impacting their world for good.

This was our second time assisting with this project and we hope that we will be able to do so many more times during our time in Mexico.  Our kids do not yet understand the larger impact that they are a part of simply by playing in the dirt, but I hope that, even at this young age, they will soak in just a little bit of the hearts of those with whom they spent the weekend – humble, hard-working, God-loving hearts.

If you are interested in learning more about Conexion Mosaico you can do so by clicking this link.  In addition, they are looking for several more teams to come and continue work on Centro Renovar.  If you are interested I would be happy to connect you with the right people and hopefully even come work alongside you.