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DPP10- How these ladies make me smile! We celebrated a new house with praise and son and tamales and tres leeches and a piñata and MUCH thanksgiving.

The house started as a dream. Really, not even that. Tim remembers when Isaac suggested living in a room basically a size of a closet in the outbuilding of the mission church. His wife (and me too) quickly dismissed that idea. But then we did some research and learned more. Dreams became a vision for the future, and a vision became a plan, and a plan became hope, and hope is now reality. 

We should probably count how many people worked on this house. It was quite a few. That first team who came down from Maryland and encouraged us and twisted wires and tied rebar so we could pour a foundation... The next group also from Maryland- they laid block and mixed and mixed and mixed cement. And then the teams from Nebraska and San Antonio who patiently persevered through flat tires and blown tires and border inspections and hot days to lay tile and stucco walls and paint and paint. Our Mexican foremen who treated us as apprentice crew. The pastors who rolled up their sleeves to join us. The church members who gave more to the project than we did. The New Living Translation of 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, "All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it." We needed every single one of you.

And as each of those teams loved the church through their labors, they also loved the church through their words. After construction in the mornings, they would participate in Vacation Bible School activities in the late afternoon. Their puppets told the stories of the Bible and of our hope in the life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. They loved on kids with zeal. They ran with kids with balls and hoops and water balloons and they played soccer on the dustiest of Mexican canchas. They built a house, but they also built trust. Tonight as we celebrated, members still remembered names and silliness and faithfulness. We rejoice together.

We are excited for the future in Colonia Expo del Sur. We are excited for Isaac and Marilyn to be in the neighborhood of Misión Emmanuel. We are excited for Misión Emmanuel to have Isaac and Marilyn in the neighborhood. And we are excited to see what our Lord has next for this body. 

In Laredo- Redeemer PCA, San Antonio

This week my family is over in Laredo, Texas with BEAMM, working with a couple of short-term missions teams that are down to serve the local church, Iglesia La Vid, and the community.

Thanks to the youth from Redeemer PCA in San Antonio, Texas, who put in a hard week's work, and welcomed my kids onto their team, besides. These guys were out in the Laredo sun doing landscaping at the church for a few days. They did projects around Laredo Stepping Stone, including cleaning, property maintenance and painting. They passed out hot meals for homeless folks in Laredo one evening. And they completed a couple projects for a disabled neighbor, fixing a hole in his trailer floor and constructing a shelter for his water pump.

The team also had a great time in fellowship with the youth from La Vid who joined them every day, and in activities in the evening, including a couple of intense games of "water polo."

We waved goodbye this morning, and this evening a new group arrives. We're eager to see what the Lord has in store for us in the week ahead!