|
by Monica Evans-  When I arrived in El Paso, Texas on Friday, I felt excited about what adventures awaited us. Our group was made up of sixteen people from the Seattle Church and Spokane Christian Church, led by Jermaine and Stefanie who have been doing this for about six years. The ages of our group ranged from 13 years old to 67 years old, and I was grateful I knew over half of the team members. I was also a little fearful. Would I be able to handle the heat? Did we have enough people? Would I remember how to speak Spanish? How dangerous would this be? But I was also eager to see how God would move through this mission trip. For most of us, it was our first time. I prayed that my eyes and heart would be open to whatever I needed to grow in through this opportunity to serve the poor.  The first two days were spent meeting together – eating, preparing us for the build and the area, and going to service with our sister church in El Paso / Las Cruces. It was during this time I learned more about the crime in Juarez and the high murder rate; I began to understand more about the fear that kept people from joining our trip. The fear I sensed in the voices of others who lived in the area started to affect me. After talking to another sister about it, I decided that I would just pray and not discuss it further. It was a time to trust in God and follow the guidelines from Casas por Cristo that would keep us safe – always stay with the group, absolutely NO going out after dark, etc.
Entering Mexico. The big day arrived to cross the border, move into the church where we would stay until the home was completed, and start the build. We met Jason from Casas por Cristo, our foreman at the build site. He was to guide us from that time on until we returned to the U.S. In Juarez, we immediately set out for the outskirts – far away from much of the drug-related violence. The presence of the Mexican army was very evident. Trucks full of soldiers carrying large automatic weapons were visible throughout the region. The area was like a desert, and we could see many homes that were made up of pallets, a blanket for a door, and a dirt floor. Pastor Raul welcomed us to his church building, where we would stay while in Juarez. After dropping off our things, we left for the build site.  The build site. This location was much larger than the usual size (as I was informed) and was very close to the main road. We were very grateful that the neighbor next door had electricity and permitted use of their restroom when needed. We immediately met Alma for whose family we were building the house. Her husband, Jesus (pronounced "he-SUS"), was at work. Alma was there everyday with us and often helped us when her two-year-old son, Antonio, wasn’t with her. In the days that followed, her parents, brother, and friends would come to visit. It was great to get to know them and build a friendship with them. Alma was so grateful to the team. It took a long time for Jesus and Alma to save money to buy the small piece of land. It can take years. But after doing so, many people have no money leftover for a house, hence the typical house we see. But she told us that even if she had had the money to buy the materials, they did not have the skill to build it. So for families like theirs, a mission team like ours coming to build them a house is literally a dream come true. They sign up at a local church and then wait and hope.
Building the house. We started each day with a prayer and immediately set to work. All of us followed the directions to prevent dehydration, sipping water often and taking breaks when needed. We generally tried to work 4-5 hours in the morning, go back to the church for lunch and a siesta, and then return to work about 4 hours until about 8pm. Back at the church, we ate dinner, relaxed, and met for a devotional. Stefanie provided us with great meals. One day, we even had a surprise visit from a truck full of soldiers from the Mexican army. They checked what we were doing and left happily having been given Nutrigrain bars by Jermaine. The house we built was simple - two rooms with electrical and no plumbing. It had one door and two windows. Aside from clean-up and some touch up, we completed the house in 2.5 days! Amen!  The orphanage. Having finished the house by Wednesday, we were able to devote most of Thursday to the orphanage ("orfanato"), which we were fired up about. They didn’t know we were coming, and we didn’t have their phone number, so we just showed up. Cesia, who was in charge, recognized Jermaine right away from meeting him last year and welcomed us all inside. Jenny and I translated. We were so excited to meet them all and find out what they needed, so we could shop for them. We had $1000 from last year’s special mission’s contribution. About four adults work at the orphanage, and as of that time, there were about 25 kids ranging in age from two months old to about 13 years old. About half of the kids lived at the orphanage and the other half came just during the day (reasons varied from problems in the home to no supervision at home). The two buildings had been built by Casas por Cristo volunteers and were bursting at the seams. The kids slept in bunk beds, and the adults slept on mats that were rolled out on the floor. But no matter how full they would get, they would never turn away a child who needed help.
 We had a blast shopping for them! We broke into teams and shopped at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and whatever other stores to find what we were looking for. We bought everything from food, to shoes, to electronic keyboards. Then of course when we returned, it was like Christmas! It was exciting! Despite the language barrier, our group bonded with the kids and adults in a very short time.
Dedication ceremony and community feed. We went straight from the orphanage to the build site. It was awesome to see people there ready and waiting. Jesus and Alma’s relatives and friends were there AND disciples from Juarez were there too! This was the first time in six years that Jermaine and Stefanie had been able to hook up the volunteers and the families with disciples from our sister church in Juarez. Communication was not easy in regard to contacting disciples there (many of whom did not speak English) and connecting them to our mission team location. We are very grateful to the brother from Las Cruces who made it happen. Since our return, we have heard from a brother in Juarez sharing good news that Alma’s family, neighbors, and a family that Jermaine and Stefanie had previously built for ALL attended service!  Although we were only gone a week, it had felt much longer, since so much was done in such a short amount of time. We built the house in record time and were able to be a miracle for Jesus and Alma and everyone around them. I loved translating with Jenny. I was so grateful that I did remember a lot of Spanish and was able to use it for God. For future trips, I would love to help facilitate more of the team learning to speak Spanish, so that they can communicate more. I grew to love and respect every member of our team at a much deeper level. One morning when I had woken up early, I had meditated on the kind of fellowship we were experiencing – being together constantly – working hard, eating, serving the poor, and serving each other. I imagine maybe that was what it was like with the first Christians in the book of Acts.
|
What: Men's Retreat 2009 (Bible Study, Discussion Groups, frisbee golf, kayaking, flag football, basketball and more!)
I write to you with the utmost joy in the Lord. The Spokane Christian Church got together a few days before for Pre-Camp Training Session. The enthusiasm was truly amazing. The Church took some time to pray together for all that would attend the camp. It was like a family getting ready to host a big family reunion. Because of the convictions and sacrificial heart of the parents their children were able to experience one of the greatest camps ever. The ministry leaders throughout the Northwest worked hard to raise money for their youth ministries to be able to attend. It was certainly a collective effort. I think about the story of Sacramento raising $5,000 in car washes! I think of the story of the Anchorage Church raising money for over 20 teens to fly over to participate in camp. I get inspired when I hear of the Christian parent who sacrificed so their child’s friend could go to camp…story after story.
The Lord tremendously blessed our time at the NW Youth Camp. The ministry staff and parents would be so proud of the youth. Last year total of 167 campers and camp staff, this year God has grown us to 276 in number. Last year we had three ministers stay the entire week, this year we’ve had 15 ministers. Last year we had two church leaders preach, this year God has used 10 Church Leaders to serve at camp, visit the camp and preach God’s word with great authority. The Spirit of God hovered over the camp and moved in a powerful way. The first night, the camp had a worship service with the Spokane Christian Church; there were almost 400 in attendance! 
The counselors and ministry leaders served nonstop and planted seeds that will last an eternity. The lessons were all about Jesus, ministers throughout the Northwest preached the Word with great zeal and conviction. The youth had all sorts of activities, sports, bon-fires, videos, paintball and good ol fashion discussion groups. Many youth made the decision to start studying the bible to become Christians, many younger youth made the decision to read their bible daily. 
We are off and running on our summer campaign entitled "Summer Blockbuster." Jermaine and Stefanie Peacock kicked it off by doing a workshop for us on Saturday and Jermaine preached on the title, "Summer Blockbuster," on Sunday June 14th. Our goal was to have a standing-room-only service. We have 50 chairs in our church and we wanted a blockbuster turnout. God blessed us with 51 in attendance! Jermaine did a fantastic job and really helped our church. 
Now we are having "blockbuster week." Each day we have a different evangelistic challenge and then are meeting together in Bible talks for 30 minutes of prayer every night. This Saturday we are going to have an 18-mile long prayer march from Ashland to Medford to pray for our valley. Please pray for us. We have a number of new studies and six baptisms so far. We are praying to grow to 30 disciples by the end of the year. To that end, we will be praying in pairs every day for 30 minutes for the next two months to grow to 30.
Chris Schwartzenberger, our campus minister, is doing a fantastic job spearheading our evangelistic effort. Please pray that God will bless our efforts and prayers.