by Stan Ewing

Sunday, March 16
This being Sunday meant that the familiar Army format was followed-heading off to the morning meeting after breakfast. Except in this case, breakfast was at 7 a.m. and the meeting started at 8. Colonel Gruer led the meeting, and the CSB ensemble provided accompaniment, traditional and contemporary, along with other items that added to the service. Testimonies from two of the young people were enjoyed, as well as one from Jeremy Avery. Valerie Moreton led the worship choruses, which were available on-screen through PowerPoint slides in Spanish, and Colonel Gruer gave a challenging address to the young people entitled “The King Enters Jerusalem” (this being Palm Sunday). Of particular interest was the enrolment in the meeting of three new senior soldiers-lovely young people beautifully presented in their Army uniforms. It was most encouraging to see.

We then proceeded to our first band class. Since most of the young folk had never played before, it was impossible to do an evaluation of their musical abilities, so instrument selection was like a dignified candy toss! At the signal, they all went up and grabbed a particular one that caught their eye. Somehow it all worked out, although a few minor adjustments were made after a day or so. The bands were led by Valerie Moreton, Bob Gray and Brian Burditt (later in the week Cameron Rawlins), with the rest of us helping out. The opening notes from the band, where I was present, sounded like the first band practice from the scene in the musical Glory! Some of those old battered instruments were a real sight to see. It was quite a conglomeration, with trumpets, cornets, E-flat mellowphone-style horns and baritones, and an old J. R. York E-flat tuba, which I think Jeremy Avery was interested in taking home as a collector’s item! However, it was great fun, and the kids enjoyed their first experience at making a sound on a brass instrument. By the end of the class, most were getting a grasp of a low C. Onward and upward.

Sunday evening was “Contest Night” led by Captain Isaac Olvera. We had six teams playing a game not unlike Family Feud. Captain Olvera was the M.C. and did a fine job, à la Richard Dawson, in keeping everyone interested. Two teams at a time competed, the Canadians joining in with translation help from Colonel Gruer, my daughter Emily who had travelled down with us for the week, and Pepé Sanchez.

Monday, March 17
Monday morning it was early rise and shine again with breakfast at 7 a.m. and the first band class at 8. The weekday format was three band and theory classes, a morning Bible study led by Colonel Gruer, vocal group, electives and workshops (which included timbrels, mime and worship band). At the school we met up with a Swiss Salvationist, Rebecca Zund, whose parents are currently serving in the U.K. territory. She had been working for The Salvation Army in Mexico for about a year and was a good help with the camp activities.

When we left Canada, we wondered about the food and water. We soon found out that they seem to eat more meals and snacks than we do! The meals were fine-Mexican fare, as one would expect, but very well prepared by the willing kitchen staff, and none of us had any issues of the gastronomic kind! Bottled water was readily available for those concerned.
By the end of Monday afternoon, the three bands were getting comfortable with their first complete tune, Hot Cross Buns, so good progress was already being made on the band front. The evening activity was a campfire led by Captains Josúe and Elizabeth Mojica. Isaias Cerezo provided accompaniment on guitar. Again, various games were enjoyed. In one, each team was given a garbage bag and each member had to contribute one shoe to the bag. When the signal was given, the team captain emptied the bag and the first team to get all the correct shoes back on won. Major Elizabeth gave a challenging devotional message to the students. She didn’t pull any punches when talking about the importance of right relationships and the dangers lurking in our society, such as drugs, pornography and gangs. She stressed the point of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. To conclude, we all stood in a circle around the fire, holding hands while a beautiful Mexican benediction song was sung, “United in Jesus Christ, united.”

Part 3 - Coming April 23rd.