Today was split between the orphanage at Rio Bravo and the Dome Church, both hit by light to moderate rain, which made walking around, and picking up mud pretty common. The POWER team met at the hotel in Hidalgo this morning for breakfast, followed by worship and devotions. Buddy Sliva of New Castle, WA shared his testimony and the impact that family health issues have on one’s faith. He talked about the importance of family, and shared some examples of how long-time POWER leadership team member Louie Davenport of Gooding, ID was a tremendous support and an example of Christ to Buddy and his wife, Louie’s daughter.
By a little after 8:00 AM, and with the box truck being left on the Texas side of the border, everyone held their POWER bags in vans for the trip into Reynosa. First stop was Rio Bravo, where work projects awaited, and where the team would later spend the night.
Teams were split up into roofing, painting and building pews and beds — a lot of activity in a small area, but the projects only lasted until lunchtime, since the second half of the day was devoted to the festival at the Dome Church.
Rain continued steadily through lunch, and there were concerns about turnout for the festival, which was being held entirely under the dome because of the weather. When the puppet team started, the crowd was a little small, but before long, the church was full of kids and families, singing songs, playing games and glorifying God, who made sure everyone who was supposed to be there was.
Dinner was back at Rio Bravo, followed by a discussion of Rio Bravo’s history by its founder, Ray Hansen. After that, “court” was in session as Tim Morgan of Rome, GA donned a white wig, and became The Judge. First POWER fine of the night went to… Larry Johnson, also of Rome, who as the bailiff, introduced this as a 2010 session of court. Without even waiting for the judge, he opened his wallet, and added a donation to the POWER bank. There were a LOT of “fines” assessed (along with a large dose of good-natured ribbing), and we’ll have to see how this stacks up against prior sessions of court.
In the morning, it’s back to the Dome Church with several of the POWER men giving testimony to the congregation during second service, and then it’s back across the border and on to San Antonio.