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On a separate weekend from the pre-fab build, a team of 12 to 25 people are assigned to each loft house to assemble it in a village, just outside of Ensenada. These teams can be comprised of entirely different people than assembled the panels, therefore widening the participation of your congregation. Charge for accommodations ranges from $18 per adult to $50 depending on booked facility.
Typically, early on a Friday, flatbed trailers loaded with the homes are ferried by drivers from your church to the Mexican border. Hands of Mercy facilitates the crossing through Mexico Customs with required paper work. The rest of the construction team caravans down Friday evening to rendezvous with the trailers and stay overnight at our camp facility (Rancho Casitas) or at a local hotel or other ministry's host facility (YUGO's Ensenada Outreach Center http://www.yugo.org/ministries/ensenada.htm ). The following morning after a prepared breakfast and logistics meeting, the teams go out to the villages to assemble the panels into a complete home in just one day. The team then prays for the family, dedicates the house and hands over the keys along with a Spanish bible.
Once finished, the teams may go out for tacos at a local eatery or return to Rancho Casitas for an authentic Mexican meal. After dinner, groups can choose to have a time of worship and debriefing to process what the experience has meant to the team. After breakfast on Sunday morning, some teams elect to worship with a Mexican congregation in a local village, go sightseeing and then head for the border. Travel time home can be considerably longer because of delays at the border and the time it takes to wait in line for U.S. border security. To check border wait times (returning from Mexico to the U.S) see this link. http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/index.asp
ID for Crossing Border
As of this writing, passports are still not required by U.S. custom agents for land border crossings into the U.S. This requirement has been postponed until the summer of 2008. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html However, U.S. border guards may begin to require proof of citizenship (birth certificate) and adults should carry government issued photo i.d. and parents should carry certified copies of their children's birth certificates. Minors raveling without their parents need a notarized permission slip. See form on our Nuts & Bolts page. Notary Parent Permission for HOM
Parties who all possess valid passports usually have the quickest screening times at the border and rarely are subject to secondary inspection. If you're serious about Mexico ministry (or future world travel and ministry) invest in a passport. Learn about beginning the process here.
