Youngsville Baptist: March 29-April 2, 2005

What an incredible week! Our group of 13 left Youngsville, LA (near Lafayette) at 6:30 Monday morning for Monterrey. Most in the group had never been to Mexico or on a missions trip. It is always an honor to host groups and to be a part of what God is doing in their lives. Never is ministry given out to those in Mexico without us being the recipients of wonderful blessings in return. We so appreciate Pastor Paul McDaniel and his wife Kimberly for having a mission's heart and leading their congregation in this way. Great things happen within a church when the vision for missions and reaching out to others with God's love becomes a real part of who they are! A special thanks to Roxanne Thomas as well, who has been with us in Chiapas many times in the past, and has shared her experiences with her pastor and the congregation. Because of this an 11 year old boy named Will was moved to tears and told his mom that he had to go to Mexico. Needless to say he didn't have difficulty raising his funds for the trip, and we will probably be seeing more of Will in the future.

Our border experience went very smoothly. We found out later that our host pastor in Monterrey, Pastor Humberto, was up at 5:00 AM praying for us. Since we were loaded down with extra clothing and toys for the poor, it was nice being waved through both check points. Our only obstacle was having to pay $20 a person for being a religious group. The principle of it can be aggravating, since we were only charged after the immigration worker saw the groups T-shirts with John 3:16, but we gladly paid $20 each to be a witness for Christ.

Leaving temperatures in Youngsville of 46 degrees was quiet a contrast to the 102 temperature of our arrival in Monterrey. Maybe it is dry heat, but that is still hot, especially to do the kind of work that awaited the group. Evenings cooled down though, and the weather was pleasant at night.

Our contact in Monterrey is a dear friend named Cesar. We were friends from earlier years during our Atoyac days, and he is responsible for teaching our son Jordan to play drums. He will always be special to us. It is one of those relationships that you know God has ordained. We met his pastor and the church family through him. We felt God directing us to encourage this congregation in their own attempts to reach out to the community and let them know we appreciate their hearts of complete dedication to God and serving others. What a reception we received! We were treated royally and left that placed having put on a few pounds from some of the most wonderful food we have ever eaten. Our group left Monterrey having a new revelation of what serving is all about. When we asked some of our American youth what impressed them the most about their trip, the overall answer was the servant's heart of the Mexicans they were with. The outpouring of love to us was amazing!

We were told that a ranch house would be available to us during our stay. Not having seen the place previously, we didn't know what to expect, but it was very clean and comfortable. It saved quiet a bit on hotel cost as well which greatly helped with the budget for the trip. The only thing is that we didn't have much time to sleep in the beds since our days didn't end until way after midnight, and we were up before 5:30 each morning. It was supernatural strength to keep a schedule like that.

Two opportunities were available to us to share with the congregations of Shekinah International Center. Our Youngsville group had prepared several songs in Spanish for the children to learn, but the adults enjoyed it just as much. It was a perfect way to unite our hearts, and we know God was smiling! Thanks Yonngsville for all the times you meet prior to your trip and prepared through learning these songs and praying for your week in Mexico! Kimberly, you did a great job putting this together! And your Spanish was a big help as well.

Our group was prepared for hard conditions, but besides the lack of sleep, the hardest part was the heat and the work. And work they did! Our construction project consisted of pouring a second story roof. Now those of you who have been to Mexico before know that you don't call the cement company to come do the job for you. It is all done by hand and each bucket of cement was brought up one at a time through an assembly line and the buckets were then returned down through another line of workers. This would be considered work standing flat on the ground, but keep in mind each bucket had to be lifted above the person's head and handed to the next worker. To fill each bucket, someone had to shovel the cement into it. Wow! You should have seen Ms. Susan and Pastor Paul shoveling to fill hundreds of buckets. The youth, the women and the 2 eleven year olds out did themselves. One Mexican lady from the church told us that she had such respect and admiration for the way the Americans got out there and worked so hard. I think it made a lasting impression on many.

So much happens during a week like this, and it is impossible to put into words all that needs to be expressed, but we know we were exactly where we needed to be last week and that God had gone before us. Thank you Pastor Paul, Kimberly, Susan, Will, Melissa, Lisa, Delayne, Lyndsey, John, Jamie and Hailey. It was a glorious week! We want to thank all of your friends, family members and the congregation of First Baptist in Youngsville, LA as well for their outpouring of love and financial support to make it possible for so many to go. The group was God's representatives to Mexico last week, and it could not have been done without you. In addition we appreciate the generous way in which our expenses were covered as well. It is such a privilege to serve God in this capacity, and we are here to serve you in the future in any way we can help you.