Ten months ago we left Cozumel, Mexico and our ministry there to move back to San Clemente, California. Our gym, that was supporting our ministry in Cozumel, needed to be sold. It wasn’t something that we wanted to do,  and at the time we really didn’t understand why God didn’t bless the gym when we were during His ministry on the island, but as always, God has His ways. They say hindsight is 20/20 and indeed looking back now, we can see God’s hand in the entire event. We needed to grow, trust more, and wait upon the Lord, while the Lord worked in the lives of the people on the island.

Returning to San Clemente, California had its challenges.

The year and a half in Cozumel, serving at the orphanage and squatter’s village opened our eyes to a different world. An impoverished world. A world where needs outweigh wants.

So, as you could imagine, returning to Southern California where there is an abundance of everything – money, food, clothing, clean streets and people attached to their cell phones and selfie sticks – it was a shock. I still remember walking into a church during Christmastime and looking at the decorations, beautiful as they were, and thinking,  “I wonder how many people we could reach for Christ with the amount of money spent on these decorations.” Needless to say, it was hard for us. But, God is good, and we came to understand we cannot judge others for things they haven’t seen. Don’t get me wrong, we were blessed in many ways too. We got to reconnect with our home church, friends and family. We were able to attend our son’s college graduation from UCLA,  and then give him and his fiance an engagement party. We even spent many happy days bodyboarding the waves at some our favorite beaches in San Clemente.

So, it’s been 10 months since my last post. I wanted to wait until we got back to Cozumel before writing again. We knew the Lord would bring us back here. He is always faithful to His word. One of my favorite verses is Psalms 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” And indeed He has.

During our first stint in Cozumel we were green. We came eager to volunteer. Any door that opened, we jumped through it, thinking it must be God. We gave it our all and we are happy to see the people who gave their life to the Lord despite us. This time, we hope we are a little wiser, a little more mature. We have been here a few weeks and Eric has been asked to speak 3 different times at 3 different churches. This time we pray, and wait upon the Lord. Our mission is also different this time. More refined. We are still working with the children at the orphanage, teaching sustainable agriculture and loving on the kids. But our real goal is to create a training center for missionaries to learn sustainable agriculture, aquaponics, water purification and beekeeping. The vision is to have short term groups and long term students come volunteer, work at the orphanage, senior’s home, schools,  library, etc. We want to train them in all aspects of service, from the biology involved in agriculture, the language and culture of Mexico, even the basic things like machete work and using a hammer, so that they can go out to other parts of the world, take what they have learned here and make a difference. Most of the teams that have come down are woefully unprepared. So much of the training should have been done at home.  What we are seeing is a different generation of not only young people, but of leaders. The leaders have hearts and desires to serve, but they have never been trained adequately. Therefore, we see teams repainting buildings or doing poor work.  Our goal here is to create a different training and experience, one that excites people for service, gives them an impetus for change and is truthful on what their impact is and can be.  We want to work side by side with the different cultures, teaching and learning from one another, as true friendships do. With this in mind we are creating a school of service. A three month term will provide you the tools to make an impact for Christ, not only spiritually but also meeting people’s basic needs of food, water and shelter. We are still in the beginning stages. Our chickens are small, our plants only seedlings, but if you are interested, please contact us at ericwlucy@yahoo.com. We are always willing to host people who have a passion for Christ.

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. If you would like to make a donation towards our mission, you can do it by clicking on the link below. paypal.me/7dayheromexico

This month we will donate a beehive, aquaponics tank or chicken in you name when you donate to 7 Day Hero, Mexico Mission!

Aloha ke Akua      Via con Dios  In His Service