Celebration Covenant Church July 22 - 29

The group of 29 enthusiastic youth and their leaders from Frisco, TX arrived in Tuxtla on Saturday. Their group is called Excel, and they did just that all week! We drove directly to Chenalho and the following morning attended service with Pastor Alejandro and his congregation. The worship team from Excel ministered so beautifully in song and their missions director shared an encouraging word to the congregation. Sunday afternoons are quiet since we don't start our work projects until Monday, so the group shopped in San Cristobal.

Monday morning the group drove 1 1/2 hrs to Chicit. We divided into 2 teams where one team built benches and the men and children of the church painted them. The other team painted the doors, windows and the interior and exterior of the new church. It was wonderful to leave the church completely painted with the new benches. The people of the village of Chicit were so excited and thankful.

Praise Report: For the past few weeks we painted several churches. It rains very hard almost everyday during this time of the year in the mountains. On the days that we schedule painting of a new church, the Lord would hold back the rain until we finished and were ready to drive away. It became very obvious that the Lord controlled the weather for us.

Each evening Excel would meet together and discuss how their experiences from the day touched their lives. It was very moving to hear the reports of God at work in their hearts and their openness to share with one another. As the week progressed it became very evident that all their hard work in raising funds to make their trip possible and the level of difficulty of the work in the mountains all week was very worth while. One evening Pastor Tad stated that it was one of the most memorable days of his life. It is a great privilege God has given us to host teams from the US who greatly bless our dear friends of Mexico, but also we are thankful that the US teams have life changing experiences that they will never forget.

Excel worked hard all year to raise the funds to build a new church and pay for their trip to Chiapas. Locations are not always easy to get to or convenient for the US groups that come, but the decision is made according to where the need is at the time. This was the case of the village Paraje Tzumjak, in the municipal of San Juan Cancuc. It took 4 hours to finally arrive in the village which was very remote and primitive. Once again we had two different work projects. Part of the team helped to erect the metal roof and the rest of the group shoveled sand and gravel into sacks and carried them to the job location to be used for the cement floor on Thursday. The automobiles and the location of the sand was at the bottom of the mountain. The group had to carry each sack of sand up the mountain throughout the entire day. Each sack was filled according to how much a person could carry. The Indians of this village are Tzetal. Prior to our arrival to help them with the work they had already hand carried all of the block for the church, iron for the metal roofing, 2 tons of dry cement and several yards of gravel up the mountain. The sacrifice of these people wanting a church building was an example to all of us to work harder to get the job completed.

Due to the 4 hour drive back home and a very late evening, we worked closer the next morning in Tojcholic. We painted the new church, and it turned out beautifully. That afternoon the group attended a church service in Tzabalho. We are always excited to be with this congregation of people. When the music began, a group of women from the local church began to worship the Lord with tambourines and dance. Excel did 2 dramas which the people of Tzabalho loved and the worship team sang so beautifully once again. Several of the youth shared testimonies which are always encouraging to hear. Since LeeRoy speaks fluent Spanish, he was able to do an excellent job sharing the Word of God. What a wonderful alter service that followed! The Lord really ministered to the local people and touched us as well. After service the ladies of Tzabalho gave our girls a quick lesson on how to be a tambourine choir. A wonderful meal was served to us while different groups from the church and some of our Americans sang and provided wonderful fellowship for us all. It was a time of great joy!

The following day we returned to Cancuc to assist the local people in pouring the cement floor in the new church. The group placed a Bible in the floor as it was being poured symbolizing that the church was being built on a solid foundation of the Word of God. Many toys and gifts were brought to the village. Some of the girls enjoyed playing games with the children.

On Friday we returned to Tuxtla and visited Casa Hogar Alegre and toured the facility. The children of the orphanage joined us in the chapel for a time of singing, drama and testimonies. We listened to some of the children´s personal testimonies where they were rescued from terrible situations and brought to this Christian orphanage. We certainly feel that God used Excel´s youth to set a comfortable atmosphere where the children were free to open up and share their own stories. There were a lot of tears shared by our American team, but the orphanage is properly named because this is definitely a happy home for the children who live there. Excel´s day concluded with the river boat ride and a evening meal together.

We thank you all for such a wonderful week together! Special compliments go to LeeRoy for doing such a fantastic job in organizing the team. Even though you were one of our larger groups to host, the week went very smoothly. All of you helped out so much, and everyone carried their share of the work load. Pastors Tad and Gina, you are obviously doing a marvelous job all year long ministering to these youth. It is so moving to see young people with such passion and dedication to Christ. To Kim, Tracye and Ashley, thanks for all you did to make it a great week. And a special thanks to Erin, Brittany D., Rebecca, Andrea, Keela, Megan, Melissa, Amy, Karlee, Brittany S., Ashlyn, Tyler, Calvin, Chris, Garrett, Paul, D'Mitri, Zach, David, Kyle, Tiny, Trey and Tre. You are incredible!