• Spirit of unity and plenty of smiles
• Bible, pen or pencil and notebook
• Documents for border crossing: a photo ID and your birth certificate
  • If you are under 18 on the day the trip begins, your parents must sign the permission document in front of a notary public.
• Work gloves
• Waterless hand sanitizing lotion
  • Brands include Citrus II, Coleman, Dial, Mediderm, Purell and Safehands.
  • Be sure you get the waterless, alcohol-based lotion rather than just antibacterial soap. Waterless hand washes can kill 99.9% of germs in 15 seconds of hand contact.
• Wet wipes (to be used, for example, for cleaning up)
• Diarrhea and upset stomach remedies like Imodium or Lomotil
• Aspirin or your preferred headache and pain remedy
• Decongestant
• Dramamine, if you have problems with motion sickness
• Personal hygiene items
  • Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and other personal toiletries
  • Electric razors and hair dryers from the U.S. can be used as electrical current in Mexico is 110 volts, 60 cycle.
• A water bottle to refill at the hotel each day and to use at the job site
• Money for tips. Tips at the hotel are not included in our package. If someone has help carrying a suitcase to their room, they need to tip for that. The waiters at breakfast and the maid are others to be considered for tips.
• A supply of your favorite packaged snack foods
• Missionary Laura Sylvester liked to say: "The UNO game is always fun in two languages."
• Small Spanish/English dictionary
  • Harper-Collins has an inexpensive paperback one. If you cannot find it at your local bookstore, click here to order it.
  • Another great Spanish language learning book is Barron's Spanish Visual Lanuage Guide. To order it, click here.
• For tool suggestions, click on the "construction" page [ tools flyer ]

• Treats for VBS events (balloons, pens, bags of candy, etc.). For information on balloon animals and balloon sculptures, click on the "evangelism" tab. Click on the "advice" page tab to see what previous participants suggest that you bring.
• Small tools (tape measure, screwdriver, hammer, masonry tools)
• Clown suit and/or puppets
• Boxes of crayons, scissors or other craft items for VBS events
• Socks -- particularly children's sizes -- to give away.

Forbidden items

• Alcohol, drugs and tobacco. This is a Nazarene Work & Witness event. We are a drug-free, total abstinence community of faith.
• Fireworks. Every New Year?s eve, Mexicans get injured and killed with fireworks. For safety reasons, SNU -- as well as Work & Witness -- has a "no fireworks" rule on this trip.

What should I wear?
You will need work clothes, plus something to wear for the evening church services. See Jamie Baldwin's note on the "advice" page about wearing warm clothing to church.

The nights are cool and the days are warm. So, bring clothes that are suited for both temperatures. Want to check out the weather forecasts for northeastern Mexico? [click here ]

Choose clothing that will keep people's eyes on Christ and not on you. Remember that our personal witness for Christ is far more important than for us to feel "comfortable."

Men: Cutoffs or tanktops will not be allowed because it gives the impression that we are crude. Suits are not required for church services, but you should wear slacks and a sport shirt.

Women: Slacks/jeans may be worn while working or sightseeing but not in church services. Please do not bring shorts with you.

Need more information?

E-mail us: spiritualdevelopment@snu.edu Call us: 405-717-6216
Write us: Commission Unto Mexico, Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th, Bethany, OK 73008

"Left my heart"

"I left my heart in Mexico." -- Jennifer Branigan