I am sort of winging it tonight, as it is 11:45 pm, and we just arrived at our hotel in McAllen, Texas, after a 6 hour drive from Del Rio. It was a good day, starting out as usual with singing, a devotion, and prayers before we headed out across the border. Jay, one of our members who lives in Laredo, Texas led us in singing, then Dave Barnes continued his devotion on Phil. 2:3-4. He emphasized that it is important for men to have understanding and be willing to take correction. When we got our van assignments, I was excited, because for the first time I got to drive one of the vans. We drove to the outskirts of Acuna, Mexico, where we were helping a new pastor build his church & house. While on the way, Mario (the pastor from Reynosa) shared that there are about 100 US factories in Acuna. I knew that Reynosa had a bunch of them, but did not realize there were very many in Acuna. We passed by many identical housing units that had obviously been built for the factory workers.
I got to paint today. When we left at noon, both buildings were substantially complete, and we prayed with the pastor for his church and it’s impact on the community. I guess that I passed my driving test, as I heard no complaints from the leadership, other than to tell me to drive faster on the way back to lunch (which I ignored, as I was driving on a street with a lot of pedestrians, taco stands, and store fronts, and traffic coming out from side streets). During the meeting afterwards back at Faith Missions, we discovered that the church that I had helped at yesterday had a dedication, including ribbon cutting ceremony, that numerous members of the congregation participated in, along with the POWER members who worked there today. It was a very moving event that brought tears to many.
After taking up a collection for Pat & Sandra to help them with their move to South Dakota, we loaded up the vans again, and took to the highways for McAllen, stopping in Laredo for dinner. Tomorrow we get to drive to the Bible College across the border from Brownsville, Texas. Signing off for now.
-Doug