Previous trips to Mexico had provided the author with wonderful relaxation and a toasty-brown tan but it was her first mission trip to "the Colonia" that most affected her. At initial glance, the settlement in the industrial city of Reynosa had a gray hue. Everywhere she looked, at the dusty-rutted roads, piles of gravel, and stacked concrete blocks, it was so gray. As she worked, ate, sang and laughed alongside other volunteers and Mexican families though the true colors of the Colonia came into view.