Today, we left Rio Bravo for the Dome Church in Reynosa. Projects started at the Rio Bravo Ministries orphanage will be completed by the Week 2 POWER team, arriving in Austin and San Antonio Wednesday. But there is still a lot to do today.
The Dome Church is an amazing sight. It can hold upwards of 2,500 people or more for a service. With two services, now on Sunday, we were looking at as many as 1,700 worshippers, when the POWER team arrived to give their testimony and sing (that’s right, sing in Spanish) for the church.
Pastor Willy, who has been with us all week, is at home here. This is the same place, where just yesterday, hundreds of kids and their parents and family attended the carnival under the Dome. Now, everything that made it a festival has been packed up and moved out. No more bouncing games, puppet ministry or cotton candy.
But it’s still a lot of fun! The church has a great band. The musicians play contemporary Christian music, and they were having a very good time. The worshippers sang in Spanish of course, but the POWER men recognized several melodies that are also popular back home.
All the POWER men wore collared, red shirts today, and marched onto the stage, filling almost every open space across the back. Doug Wible, trip coordinator, was introduced, and led the congregation and the POWER men in song, praising God. During a break between songs, Doug introduced two of the first-year rookies to share with the congregation how the experience had been this week: Gregg Francabandera of Long Beach, CA and Mark Haverdink of Maurice, IA. Both shared their experiences for the week, and the impact it had on their lives.
Mark shared about how connected he felt with the people of Mexico through his experience at Magdiel this week, and how this experience would help him as a pastor. Gregg talked about his family and his marriage, and how it’s important to be a Christian husband. Later, Pastor Willy asked the men in the congregation to come to the front, and the POWER team to leave the stage to pray with them. It was a powerful moment for the church, and when it was over, one of the men in tears told Gregg that he was about to divorce his wife and leave his children, but God had touched his heart, and changed his mind this day.
Two more songs and two more testimonies from third-year POWER men, Ron Kiefer of Rome, GA and David McKnight of Riverside, CA. David talked about how the experience over the last three years showed him that the POWER men were truly his brothers and that the Dome Church was his family in Christ. Ron brought POWER verse Acts 1:8 home to Reynosa: “But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive POWER and will tell people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” He said that those locations point equally to Reynosa, the colonias and the neighborhoods. He encouraged them to share the Good News with their neighbors.
After services and lunch, the POWER team started the long drive back to San Antonio, to get ready to head home the next day. It had been a great week, and the men began to think about debriefing the next morning. What was the take away value for them? How had God spoken to them? How would they put this experience to work in their lives? A lot to think about…
Others on the construction team headed back to Del Rio to start the cycle again for the Week-2 POWER team arriving Wednesday. Construction Director David McClellan of Riverside, CA, Project Coordinator Brian Albright of Ridgecrest, CA, Project Leader Cody Gibbs of Bellevue, ID and Handyman/Lead Utility David Haefele of Ridgecrest, CA, all looped back to get projects ready for the next team.