I got to the site where a team was working about midday one hot summer day near Ensenada. As the team was getting ready to help the pastor on the weeklong Vacation Bible School, this other guy was on his knees digging in dry hard packed rocky soil so he could set a post for a small project.

Back then Adventures had a way we worked.

We had what we were doing and just asked everyone to fit themselves into our mold. Looking back, while our brochures said we customized every trip to your group, and to some extent we did, it was understood throughout the missions world what our objectives were. It was all about building and outreach. And hopefully you could personally fit into that mold.

That’s where we begin today as I think about what’s up for Adventures in 2026. 

So let’s get started…

Happy Monday!

It turns out the guy who was digging in the dirt was a top building contractor in Oregon. In fact, he’s done work on the houses of some of my friends in the Portland area. Once I knew what he did for a living, we began to talk about how the skills God had given him could be used for the Kingdom.

There’s a couple of questions I put in front of every group of college people who serve with us. How, I ask them, will the degree they are seeking enable them to better serve the Kingdom? How do they see themselves using that degree to help people come to know Jesus?

The answers are not easy, because thinking like this is new to many. Some of those college students have changed their majors over the years to something more Kingdom useful. Others challenged me, stating that God could use them regardless of their major.

While what those dissenting students believe does have truth to it, I believe if someone has a specific trade, ability, gift or skill we can use directly in the field, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to do so. A good example is the team of photographers who have worked alongside us since 2010. 

Their team is called Mission Focused.

This man, who Mission Focused photographed in 2015 in San Dionesio Ocotepec, Oaxaca, had never seen himself in a color photo before.

What they bring to Adventures in Life is amazing. Sure, I could’ve used everyone of those photographers helping our vision team dispense glasses. They could mix concrete as well as anyone else. And some of them are probably pretty decent with a hammer and maybe as puppeteers in an outreach show. But nothing they could do outside of the realm of photography would have the impact they bring with their cameras.

I’ve seen grown men cry looking at the first color photo of themselves. I’ve seen faces light up when we’ve given them printed photos of their family. I’ve walked into homes in Oaxaca and seen photos the Mission Focused team has taken displayed prominently on walls and refrigerators.

And I’ve watched the numbers soar into the thousands as people online watch our videos from camps, builds and medical clinics.

All of this is because a group of people decided to serve Jesus with the skills God gave them.

Here's a video made for my home church The Rock LV about our recent Health & Medical Clinics. Thanks Mission Focused for helping make promos like this happen.

Right now we are already scheduling eleven weeks of ministry opportunities in 2026 along with a summer long internship of six weeks.

To staff that, we are going to need people. But not just any people. The right people.

Men for our Men’s Ministry Week. Bi-lingual people to translate. Nurses for our Health & Medical Clinics. Teachers for our Discovery/Vocational Camps. Young people to hang with students and kids at camp. 

In short, people who want to make a Kingdom difference in Mexico and can help us, along with our local partners, reach our collective goals.

For some, that simply means hard physical workers. For others it means a specific ability, maybe to shoot photos or teach photography. On the medical side, it means someone not intimidated working around a bunch of doctors and dentists.

But in everyone, we need an attitude, essentially the attitude the Mission Focused team has brought over the years… a willingness to use God given gifts and abilities however Adventures needs, for Jesus.

Can you do that? Can your friends, family or a group from your church? 

Because we’re going to need some help in 2026 as we continue to support our local churches across Mexico and make a Kingdom difference.

So often tragedy can seem faraway, not really connected to us. Today as a massive hurricane approaches Jamaica might be one of those days, so I want to connect you. Joe, Michael and Dan have all served with and support Adventures in Life Ministry.

They have a ministry base of their own in Jamaica. Will you take some time to pray for their ministry and local leaders who will undoubtedly be facing a long few days from Hurricane Melissa?

Thanks for reading and don't forget, we need you in 2026!