The "4th of July" team from Orangewood Presbyterian Church, Orlando, landed in Mexico at the end of May (they came earlier than usual) for the eleventh annual visit to work with Armonia. The team came to help work on the new floor extension upstairs at the Jalalpa community center, to teach art and literature appreciation to children and parents, and, most importantly, to help prepare the Santa Cruz community center for the "Celebration of Youth" party being held at the end of the week.

On Thursday (the day before the party), they joined the team of parents from the Christian Transformation Course at Jalalpa for a special day at the Pyramids at Teotihuacan north of Mexico City. The day was a great learning and bonding experience as the group shared food and, on the bus home, joined together in a communal sing-song.

Despite all the work they had put into the party, the team had no idea of the scale of importance of the "Celebration of Youth" party the following night. 350 community members met at Santa Cruz to see these seven young people celebrate one of the most significant events - their coming of age. In Mexico, this is reached at age fifteen, but as many of the children hadn't had the chance to celebrate it at that age, some of them tonight were celebrating it on their 16th, 17th and 18th birthdays.

After a very formal opening ceremony (in which Saúl talked on the importance of respecting your parents), the Orangewood team handed over gifts and a Bible to each young person. The young people then joined together for a dance that led them from the stage down to the games court where they began dancing with their parents, their grandparents and others in their family to symbolize their joining their families as adults.

The formal part of the party finished, and the food and refreshments and music started flowing, and kept on flowing until the early hours of the morning, when the party ended with a prayer of thanks to God for the great time everyone had had, without the alcohol, drugs and violence that so often mar these kinds of celebrations.

This evening was far more than "just a party". It was an opportunity for these young people to celebrate one of the most important stages of their lives with their friends and families in a safe, loving, Christ-centered context. Thank the Lord for his grace and generosity for allowing all of us, as members of His family, such a great time together.

For the full story of the "Celebration of Youth" event, plus more details of the Orangewood visit, click here.