“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Galatians 6:9
Though it may have been the final work day for the men of POWER, it lacked not for intensity. All of the construction projects were completed speedily, the joy tour bore great fruit, and the festival at Rio Bravo was extended due to an outpouring of popularity.
The day started with a powerful devotion at Border Mission. Pastor Doug Husen challenged the men to care for the world, then the workplace, and then the most for our family. In this, we must ensure that while serving the Lord, we are not neglecting our families.
Following that, we split up into different groups for our projects. The work crews, despite being weary from days of work, managed to exceed expectations. The group that stayed at Border Mission for a demolition job finished their work quickly and found themselves at Refugio Orphanage, helping to complete the shelving project for the LMD warehouse, named after Louie Davenport, another founding father of POWER Ministry. Speaking of that job, the shelving was completed and the warehouse left more organized than before. Another group went to Rio Bravo orphanage to help set up the festival which was to take place later that day. The final work crew was building walls for classrooms at Kaleo. Dave Buncher exceeded the expectation of lead Cody Gibbs by completing all of the walls earlier than expected, over 150 feet of wall!
This author was sent on a joy tour. At first, I was dismayed as I was hoping to do more logistical work for the trip. No doubt, leadership was considering my recent hand injury when assigning this job. Yet, my disappointment did not last. During an event held in a nearby park in Reynosa and run by Pastor Jose Angel of Casa de Fe church, we prayed with a passion that could only be attributed to the Holy Spirit. Many locals came forward to receive God’s grace and we were able to be part of their release from feelings of guilt, addiction, or depression. The Holy Spirit moved; and through fearless faith, we prayed without inhibition for them. Perhaps the greatest moment for this writer was to see three young men drawn to the park near the end of the event. We prayed for their salvation and though we do not know if they accepted, a seed was planted. What made this moment great was seeing their reticent, hard hearts soften to us as we prayed. We pray God that the seed did not fall on solid ground. After the event, the group went to Casa de Fe church to pray over it and Pastor Angel in another intense, spirit-led moment.
Following a most successful morning, we finished the day with a fun festival at Rio Bravo orphanage. Each of the men were given a job to either run a small game or a food concession. With the assistance of translators from Allianza Church in Reynosa, we were able to give the locals a fun afternoon of games filled with prizes, fun, and the love of Christ. The whole event was free of charge and produced more smiles on people than we could possibly imagine. May the imprint we made draw them to a local church and in turn, the arms of Christ.
It was a long day and very taxing, but one in which we can all be rest assured that were we to be measured by this day alone, God would speak the wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Pray that tomorrow God will put a fire in our bones to speak to people during street evangelism and that no one will be too shy.