Day One… and it begins

After talking about this trip for the last 7 months, our team finally traveled by bus into Mexico.

As we drove through Reynosa, the kids and first time adults were amazed at the range of economy and poverty alongside each other. And difference in language was apparent. Some of the kids made a game out of guessing what the different stories might be selling based on the words and pictures. One of the kids said that some of the signs were in English. When I asked her what she meant, she said “I saw it on a restaurant… it was nice of them to use the English word for taco and burrito”!

This year, we are working at a neighboring colonia alongside Pastor Valente and his Missions Church. This colonia is up on a slight hill, and has very little around it. The bright blue church that has been planted, built, and grown in four short years. Amazing how God has allowed a Pastor with no regular income to not only pastor his own church, but plant another one on a grander scale!


Our team stopped at the church to meet Pastor Valente and his wife, Grace. We were amazed at how beautiful the inside of the church is with newly lain tile and new paint on the walls. The majority of the construction of the church has been done through volunteers on short terms missions trips like ours.



Our team then split into three groups to start the home construction. Site One is adjacent to the church. There is a small house on the property now, and a tin chicken coop that we are building the new home next to.

At this home, the father seems to have car that he uses to be a taxi driver, and several kids that in the afternoon do their homework sitting in the back of the car.


Site 2 is a short walk away. The site has an adjacent area next to it that is empty, but the house we are building has to fit it in a narrow area. This house was intended to be built last summer, so the mother has been storing the wood for the past 10 months. For various reasons, God was saving the home build for our team.

This site has several energetic and friendly kids. One boy evidently won an award at school today for a science project involving a small fan. The older girl of the family entertained the team by singing several Spanish versions of Children’s Christian songs.


Site 3 is a little bit further away, and is on the outside edge of the colonial.

[site 3 start] The site has several properties next to it that are owned by the extended family of the mother we are building the home for. She has a 2 year old daughter, and a 1 ½ month old baby. The team at site 3 has the youngest members of our team… nice pairing God!



Today the team worked at each site to construct the floor and frame several of the walls. Everyone jumped in, grabbed a hammer and got dirty!




The temperature was well over 90F… some 75 degrees warmer than when we left Essex. Plenty of water, lots of sunscreen, and a break for lunch kept us going.


Tomorrow a little more than half the team will spend the morning at the church leading our children’s program. Those not at the church will continue the wall construction, and then in the late morning and afternoon the teams will get a little more dirty painting! But the real work is getting to know the families we are serving a little more. The people here are very friendly to initial greetings, but take a little while to share more about their lives. And of course it takes us awhile to learn how to communicate with them through our “broken” Spanish.

We did have one member of the team who was unable to join us today in Mexico due to being sick. She is feeling much better tonight… but please pray for all of us to stay healthy as the long trip and the intense heat is taking a toll. Also pray for us to better understand the language (both spoken and cultural) as we serve these families and kids.

Thanks for your prayers! God's Blessings!
-Mike