Club Dust

This guide is meant to offer you lessons learned from over 29 years of experience. The Club Dust trips have a unique flavor or style. We believe that ministry should be fun, exciting, and involve everyone. Yes, everyone, young, old, male, female, Spanish speakers, English only speakers, no one is unqualified. We love to share with them the real life application of Christ's work through us. We also believe that as a Christ-centered ministry we can welcome non-Christians. Our interaction together is good for all involved.

We are very clear in our charge as Christians to serve the poor (James 1:27). We just think it is great to have everyone and anyone join us in doing it. We think it gives everyone a great picture of practical Christianity in action.

The concept of serving both the homeless in Mexico and our own team members is important at Club Dust. We strive to dig deep into the experience of service and learn how it affects our lives by participating. Each team member will have a different experience and we encourage discussion and dialog at our group get togethers. We plan many fun activities where people can meet each other and learn from various viewpoints. These are an important part of our trips and we encourage you to consider this for yours as well.

We hope these notes are valuable in doing your own Christ-centered adventures. We encourage you to follow the Holy Spirit in creating your own service groups. You are welcome to use any of our ideas or contacts. We guess that you will find ways to do certain things better than we have. Please share your own experiences with us. That way we can continue to help others in the future. This website is a living document and will improve as it is added to and modified over the years. Your input and ideas will be helpful.

Transportation
We recommend using Fuller Ford in Chula Vista or ASAP in San Diego. You must reserve vans at least 4 to 6 months in advance, as they rent out quickly. Fifteen passenger vans are great to transport people, but cargo vans (with no back seats) work best for transporting tools, ladders, etc. They also have 12 passenger vans which do a little of both. Fuller Ford has all 3 van types available. Every designated driver has to show their license before renting. Make sure to buy the maximum Mexican insurance. Also, make sure to check each vehicle thoroughly before driving off the lot. You'll be charged for any unstated damage upon return. Gas is OK to buy in Mexico. Pemex is the most prominent gas company you will see throughout Tijuana and Tecate. You can pay with U.S. dollars.

The best place to meet is the McDonald’s at the Otay Mesa Border. Ray Meltvedt or Hector Perez can usually meet you at McDonalds to show you around the area for your first trip. Once you are familiar with the show you can drive solo, but a guide makes things a lot easier at first.

For the Tecate border there is a Payless Shoe Store on the right hand side of the road leading to the border. Verizon cell phones work fine there if you need to make contact with your group. the Ranch in Tecate also has wireless and a good Verizon signal.

Be sure to understand Mexico's laws on bringing in donations. It is changing constantly. It is currently prohibited to bring used clothing and items which might be sold at a flea market. Permits to import are available but you will need to do advance planning to bring things in with a permit. We minimize the hassle by buying most of our supplies and donations in Mexico. It also helps to support their local economy.

A couple of great ideas for donations are to encourage your group to leave their sleeping bags at the end of the trip. These are most valuable to the families trying to keep warm during the cold winter months. Some of the groups have left as many as 50 sleeping bags that made the trip back home a little easier and less bulky.

Once in Mexico follow all traffic rules to the T. Using strong walkie-talkies or Nextels between your caravan vehicles will help you to stay together. Maps of Mexico are marginal, as street name signs, do not exist in most areas. Your best bet is to note where your guide takes you and make notes, including your own maps. The roads during winter can be almost impassable after a rain. A good tow-rope is probably a standard winter necessity (although it is illegal to tow another car on paved roads with a rope). The dirt roads to the building sites are fine in summer.

If you need help hiring the local bus company please send us an e-mail and we can help with that.

If you get into an accident, move everyone away except the driver, translator, and yourself if necessary. Contact the Mexican agent on your insurance form before crossing the border. Your Guide can help too if he is with your caravan at the time of the accident. Your other team members should drive away to a pre-established meeting site. This will avoid them being involved in the legal hassle with the Mexican police.

Crossing back over the border can take up to 2 hours. People should have their own baggage with them in their van. Answer any questions the U.S. Immigration officers ask with very straight responses. Do not joke around or try to hide anything. Souvenirs can be bought from vendors approaching your vehicle, while you are waiting in line at the border crossing. Fireworks, knives, etc. are illegal and can cause big troubles and many hours delay if caught at the border crossingg. If you have foreign exchange students and anyone not having a U.S. passport needs to have correct permission to re-enter the U.S. Contact U.S. Immigration for details. We have dealt with this area and just needed to get the correct paperwork before the trip.

Entertainment
Evening get together's are a great way to keep people entertained at the ranch during the evening. This reduces trouble or possible accidents in taking groups into Tijuana, Tecate, or Rosarito in the evenings.

A great M.C. should be selected far in advance of your trip. He or she should be well prepared with clean fill-in jokes, routines, skits and or props. You should notify your group through the advance mailings so they can prepare for the talent show. We at Club Dust normally have a theme for each trip and it has worked out great over the years with lots of families having fun together building during the day and laughing together each evening back at the ranch.

During or before the talent show do a team icebreaker. The purpose is to get to know everyone on your team. If your group has divided into house building teams, you can enter them as a group for the talent show night. These teams should compete in the talent show with either a group skit or their best representative.

Building
Each trip should have a construction supervisor. He or she is the person responsible for the completions of all the houses. Each individual building team which is responsible for a house has it’s own 'Housemaster' and an understudy.

Have building plans distributed to team leaders three months in advance and give one set to each supervisor, which details the building process systematically. Go to www.teamcasa.org for house plans and other useful tips.

Additional building questions can be directed to: Randy Strong at randy@clubdust.org or Dave Bower's web site at www.teamcasa.org

Food Supplies
Ernie McCoy complies together a shopping list for Costco. There is a few items that can be bought locally and it helps avoids a possible hassle at the border. If you would like help planning your group's menu, please send an e-mail to ernie@clubdust.org

We encourage you to speak with George Saba regarding the meals that can be prepared at the Ranch. That would eliminate your shopping or most of it. They can provide breakfast, lunch and dinner and is very tasty! George can be reached through the ranch website shown below.

Water and Ice: Rancho La Paloma property managers can also help you in supplying water and ice if needed. Please contact them directly for details. The web site is www.rancholapaloma.org

Additional suggestions: each person should bring water bottles. Have a 5-gallon water bottle, Gatorade, toilet paper, and a first aid kit at each work-site.

The biggest health problem that can occur on trips is dehydration. We encourage groups to provide both water as well as Gatorade or Cytomax. The energy drinks provide both calories as well as sodium & electrolytes. For people that get sick from "Montezuma" or dehydration you can also get help from the local Red Cross in Tecate, Mexico.