Quest: April 16 - 23

A spirit of unity and cooperation flowed throughout the week as 12 guys from Quest broke all prior records of pouring cement, erecting a new roof and painting the church in Chalam, Chiapas, MX. Quest is a men's ministry of the United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, TX that is responsible for a tremendous amount of support with the missions endeavors here in Chiapas. Chalam is one of many villages that has been conducting worship services in a small wooden building that is typical to the area.

The American team blessed this group of believers with the finances for a block building and spent this past week working along side the local members to complete their project. The old wooden structure is now the new kitchen and ¨fellowship hall¨. Each work day the women of the local church prepared lunch and put forth a special meal to show their gratitude. These people are so extremely poor it was difficult for our American guys to eat food that was prepared and served with such sacrifice. Yet that is one of the ways which allows the believers of these types of villages to express what is in their hearts. Meals were shared together as the men from Quest were humbled and moved to tears by the kindness shown to them. And if freshness is a high priority, then this was the place to be! In fact the meals are so fresh that on some occasions, the guys witnessed live chickens in the church yard waiting to be part of the noon blessing.

Additional work that week was the painting of the interior and exterior of two other churches. One in Xunuch and the other in Linda Vista. Its not like you can drive straight to the church parking lot for some of these sights. In fact it was quite a walk to Xunuch carrying several 5 gallon buckets of paint and other supplies. The guys quickly adapted an Old Testament means of transporting and converted their paint roller poles into devises that enabled the load to be more evenly distributed on their shoulders.

After the completion of a church, it is always customary for the American team to join the local congregation for a time of celebration and prayer of dedication for the very special gift that was provided. Last Thursday prior to this service, the team did last minute touch up painting, installed electric lighting and carried in 20 new benches that were built during a few spare minutes of time in Chenalho. Thanks to Ed, the church has electricity. David , we enjoyed the laughter and excitement in the voices of each person from Chalam when they recognized their own picture from the slide show on your lap top. Thanks guys for sharing in song during the service. Pastor Alex shared the Word of the Lord, followed by Pastor Jose´s words of kindness and appreciation that touched us all. He said the blessing of the new building was more than they could have ever imagined! A prayer of thanksgiving was offered to God along with prayer for the American team and our home churches. We prayed for the sick and for Pastor Mariano and his wife for wisdom and guidance for the local church. All the team was moved by the hand made bags that were distributed to them at the conclusion of service as another expression of gratitude. They were told that the people didn't have much to give them, but this was a small gift of love for them to take home. It didn't seem small judging by the tears we saw these grown men shed. So if any of you see men in The Woodlands carrying purses to church, you will know a little about the love from a simple people with big hearts that it represents to them. Both men and women carry these in the mountains of Chiapas.

So much happens in one week, it is not possible to record all of the life shaping experiences on paper. The actual construction work takes most of the time, but it is such a small part of the work that takes place in our hearts. Each member of this team kept records of his own stories. These men from all different walks of life couldn't wait to write in their journals each evening. Gary´s journal was simply incredible since each page was illustrated. It was fascinating to everyone. What a gift!

As each evening continued and the work of another day was complete, we returned to our small home next door. We were comforted by the singing and praying that was heard coming from the mission facility. These men came seeking God, and we feel certain they left having found Him in a new way during their mission experience. They also prayed for one of their own, Jed, who was diagnosed with cancer right before this trip. Please keep him in your prayers as well.

Muchas gracias!

To all the first time team members, Kevin, Gary, David M., Ewan, Jed, Ted, David H., A.J. and Pastor Howard, its great having new friends! To Pete, Ed and John, we are honored you returned. Thanks guys for loving the people of Chiapas as your own family!

A special thanks to all the men of Quest who contributed in any way to this week´s endeavors. Pastor Rob, thanks for viewing this work in Mexico worthy of the men from Quest staying so involved. We appreciate you encouraging teams from this men´s group to keep organizing new trips.

And to John Hull, the missionary director at TWUMC, there are not enough words to thank you! It is rare to know someone who so completely understands the working of the ministry on both sides of the border. Your prior years as a missionary to México make our weeks with your teams run incredibly smooth. You exemplify Christ´s compassion to every man, women and child you encounter. Surely you make God smile!

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big thanks to Rick Hemphill for designing the new Mexico Outreach logo. looks great!

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.