First Night at Rosa de Saron we cooked a dinner to fuel us for the next day. We sang together in worship and Todd Frisbie did an amazing job exploring the gospel and led a wonderful worship that prepared all of our hearts and minds for the task ahead.
Day 1
The roosters
wanted to make sure they didn’t miss the sun, so they began crowing at 4 in the
morning. Don’t worry, a good pair of ear plugs made sure that they didn’t keep
us awake. Day 1 marks the beginning of a new day, of a new work week, of a new
house for a family so desperately in need. We started out the day with the
breakfast of champions, egg(whites) and bacon, along with some fruit, yogurt,
oatmeal and cereal. After that we headed to meet our families for the day. Team AC was building a house for a single mom
with five children who did not have a home of their own, they were currently
living with friends. They had a plot of land right behind their family’s home
and that is where the day began. The morning was spent preparing for the
concrete slab. Normally, we use a pumper truck to get the concrete into the
form. Well, have you even been part of an assembly line carrying back and forth
buckets of concrete? After this trip, most of us can answer yes to that
question. Since the site was up a hill, it required the good old method of
muscles and teamwork. The whole entire family helped us out, even the little
ones were running empty buckets back down to the truck and we got some help
from team Gordon. God provides in so many ways and with so many hands-on deck
we were able to knock it out. Our truck was supposed to be at 11:00 am, but
because it came at 3:00pm, we were able to receive help from the other team, a
huge blessing and reminder that everything is done in God’s timing, not ours. The
best part about day 1 was the home cooked meal our family prepared for us, and
it was absolutely delicious. At the end of the day we had dinner at the church
and worship together. Worship consisted of Brigham Dion doing worship and then
telling us his Casas story.
Day 2
Day 2
started with sore muscles and a desire to never see buckets with concrete ever
again. Both teams walked a little bit slower to breakfast. Day 2 is the day
where a concrete slab became the frame of a house. With most of the walls built
the night before, we completed a couple more walls and then stood them up on
the concrete slab, squared them up, and secured them into the concrete slab. We
now had a house. Next came the blackboard and then the fun part, the chicken
wire. Want to know a Mexico Mission Trip secret? Emily Knuckles is the resident
chicken wire expert and man does she make that stuff look good. She led the
chicken wire team wonderfully, and we all worked so well together. At one
point, Emily was on the floor pulling the chicken wire as tight as possible to
avoid bubbles. The Delta ladies Bethany, Laura, Debbie and Jane knocked out a
wall, and Lily and Ashlyn took out other parts of the chicken wire. Meanwhile,
there were men on the roof and boys running around getting them things. Day 2
saw amazing team work and amazing progress. Day 2 also saw a lot of Disney
songs, especially the favorite of our Casas leader Brigham, Let It Go from
frozen. Lunch was again home cooked by the amazing family, and it was just as
good as the day before. After a long day of work, we went back to the church
and ate a good supper prepared by the dinner crew and worshipped together. Blake
Trim did an amazing job preaching the gospel and capturing the attention of
everyone there and then Zach Bryan shared more of his story with us, adding
onto what we were told last year.
Day 3
The last
and final day. The day that finishes the house that has been started in the
name of Christ to spread his name across Juarez, Mexico. Like Brigham Dion our
casas leader told us, day 3 is when adrenaline stops pushing you forward and
character becomes the thing that fuels you. That day I was amazed at how strong
the character is of every single person on our team and our casas leaders
Brigham and Zach. Both teams worked so hard and we were able to dedicate two
houses to two incredible families in the name of Jesus Christ. Dedication day
saw a lot of happy tears and prayers. Day 3 also saw some amazing Vacation
Bible School programs at both work sites. Team Gordon had three different stations
set up for their kids to participate in different activities and they had a lot
of kids from their neighborhood show up. Team AC had some vacation bible school
time with the kids of the family and their friends. Time was spent reading from
La Santa Biblia and the kids loved reading the word of God, eagerly wanting to
be the next person to read a passage. After Vacation Bible School the magical
word was said: ¡futbols! The kids got so excited about the soccer balls. Some
of the members of team AC had the chance to play with the kids before the
dedication; those kids are fast and really good at soccer. Before dedication
the family of Team AC sang us some beautiful songs in Spanish, and then we surprised
them with a song in Spanish as well. Day 3 saw so many things and it was such a
good day full of smiles, laughter, and happy tears from both the teams and the
families. To end the day, we went back to the church once again, had some
dinner and worship. Keith Sennate explored the gospel with us with a message
about the importance of flexibility on short term missions.
Words
cannot describe how thankful each and every one of us is for the support we
receive from the congregation here at Vista Grande Baptist Church. Without the
support of this congregation we would not have been able to build two houses
for two amazing families. Thank you for supporting us and allowing us to travel
to Juarez, Mexico with Casas Por Cristo not only to build homes, but also to
spread the name of our savior Jesus Christ. This mission trip is a life
changing experience for every single person who embarks on it. ¡Gracias para su
ayuda! Galatians 6:9-10 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due
season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let
us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of
faith”. 
