You may or may not be familiar with Mexico's random system for choosing who they search at the border or who they wave through. When it is your turn to cross the border, you hit a button and if it is green, you walk or drive through. If it is red, you will be searched.
Missionaries Brian and Rob needed old Bertha to pick up supplies at the US Home Depot before bringing her into Mexico, so the team left the van with them. The plan was to walk across the border, do a bit of "tourist shopping" and then meet up with the men for the ride to the hostel. Nina, Brian's wife, had previously discussed our arrival with the border crossing officials, and it was deemed that we had to go IN through the EXIT line in order to bring our luggage through. So the 17 of us paraded upstream through the flow of people leaving Mexico, with all our luggage in tow and Nina at the helm.
It was Nina's job to hit the "search" button for the group. RED! We stood there in dismay thinking about the ordeal that lay ahead for us. However when Nina asked them if they really wanted to check 17 pieces of luggage, they had a short discussion amongst themselves and then waved us through. When our church prays for God to be with us on the border crossings, we do not take that for granted.
While waiting for the men to get back with Bertha and the construction supplies, the team explored the shops and stalls close to the border crossing - touristy stuff.
The men with Bertha were supposed to contact us by cell phone when they were back in Mexico to arrange a meeting place. But this day the cell phone service was not working in that area. We weren't really sure how we would manage to find each other. When the men came through customs with the van a couple hours later, they got a green light, so none of the totes had to be searched, and they didn't have to pay duty on all the construction supplies. Yay God! They drove into the market area and found a place to park, wondering as well how they were ever going to find us. But God had it all worked out. They had chosen a parking spot right across the street from the cafe where the team had decided to stop for some refreshments and we spotted them through the windows. Isn't God awesome?!
