Our first full day on the Mexico border area. I started out early, waking to a few others rousing up at 5:30 am, and saw Pat Schmeling starting to cook bacon in the kitchen. He was in there by himself, and seemed kind of lonely. I had not yet helped out any in the kitchen in my previous years, as there was always a group of guys who were very dedicated. I asked him how I could help, and he immediately put me to breaking eggs into a pot. Another POWER helper showed up, and I could sense that Pat perked up. As others showed up to help, I left, wanting to get my bag of tools ready for the day. Little did I know that I would be assigned to the food crew for the morning, which was also new for me. More about that later.
After breakfast, we had singing and devotion at 7 am. One of the songs brought back good memories for me of a dear friend who loved to play guitar and lead singing at a small men’s group in Temecula. It was a song that he loved to sing. His name was Best Gonzales, and he went to be with the Lord early (and unexpectedly). However, I know that he was smiling down on our group singing ‘his song’ today. Dave Barnes shared a devotion on Phil. 2:3-4, talking about being honorable men and witnesses for the Lord. He recently has struggled through a worksite discrimination lawsuit, and he told of how he has been working through it with the Lord’s help.
After praying for the day’s projects, families back home, missionaries, and world leaders, we got our van assignments. The food crew that I was on took a trip to the local supermarket, bought the food for lunch, then came back to the Faith kitchen to prepare it. After a LOT of slicing and dicing peppers & onions for the bratwurst that would be barbecued later, then chopping a LOT of fruit for fruit cups for the guys, we hopped into the 2 vans, with all the food, and drove across the border to one of the project sites. A barbecue had already been set up, and we proceeded to hook up the propane and cook the bratwurst links. All the other vans showed up at 1 pm, and we served lunch for them along with several nationals who had helped out as translators on the Joy Tour. The young pastor, his wife & 5 little children shared with us their story. He had been a student at a college in Texas on spring break, and took a wrong turn while coming down to Mexico to party. He ended up a church, where he met his wife, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
After lunch, I got to go with another van out to another project, where we were building a church building for another young pastor. I got the opportunity to install the door knobs and dead bolt on the church doors. It was somewhat of a challenge, as for once I discovered POWER did not have the tool needed to finish the job. We had to scramble, and the pastor drove with a POWER van driver to a hardware store to buy a drill bit. I also got to work with a POWER member from Texas that I had never met, and quickly realized that although I thought that I could do the job on my own, he was a big help. The rest of our crew painted the complete siding on the church, and got the last of the metal roofing in place.
These are real people that we are helping, who are doing the Lord’s work here in Mexico. I also found out today that Pat Schmelling & his wife Sandra were the ones who searched out for the ones who truly needed the help, and then turned the projects over to POWER to complete. In our night meeting back at Faith after dinner, Al Uhler, the founder of Faith Mission, gave a talk, and told us that on Feb. 6, Pat & Sandra will be leaving Faith to step out in faith in South Dakota. That will leave a huge hole at Faith Mission, and we need to lift up Al (who is 80 years old), who will take over management at Faith (again) until another couple are called to minister here. But as he shared with us, he has never stopped believing in God, and knows that He has a plan. When he first showed up here at Faith 55 years ago, he had $25 in his wallet, and 4 flat tires. That is all for now. More to follow tomorrow.
Doug