God is here

One day Jesus and his disciples bump into a blind man.  His disciples say, “Is he blind because he sinned, or was it his parents?”  Jesus replys, “It’s not that at all.  This man is blind so that a mighty work of God might be displayed in his life.”  (John 9: 1-3 para.)

I found God this week.  Actually He’s been in right in front of my eyes the whole summer in the humble offering of hospitality from families that can barely feed their kids, in the bright smiles of kids that don’t have Xbox’s or iPod’s, in the simple beauty of a Mexican border town.  But this week I felt His presence within my hands and my words.  More than the Holy Spirit, God showed up in a life He made new.

What started out as a normally powerful dedication took a turn for the amazing when Ener, the son of the Mexican foreman Jose, announced that he had excepted Christ as His Lord and Savior.  Now, Ener has worked with Gateway for four years and is married with 3 kids.  Jose, in tears, said that he’d been praying for Ener for years and that the joy he felt was greater than anything he’d felt before.  Pretty quickly Dan was mopping his own tears so that he could translate, and I found myself wiping my eyes.  I was close to the Father then, but what happened later that night was even more spectacular.

After each build, we had the Mexican staff over to the compound in Juarez for steaks and basketball.  During dinner, Hector, another Mexican builder, leaned over to me and told me he had one question that he couldn’t get off his mind.  He asked, why do these American kids come down in spite of the sun and the blisters.  And why do they work so hard for no pay and why do they always smile about it?!  It’s because they love to serve God and the families here in Juarez, I told him.  He didn’t believe me.  He told me to grab a couple of girls from the team and ask them.  They said the same thing.  It’s so much fun to be down here helping people that really need it, they said.  Finally after interrogating several others, Hector looked at me with a smile and said, I believe you.

And finally I realized the reason why my heart jumped every time we pulled up to a blank slab and started a build.  I realized why I loved to sweat and deal with kids who’ve never done manual labor in their life.  I realized why I could laugh at being the lowest on the staff totem pole.  And I realized what it is that makes me want to come back next year; or rather, who it is…God is here doing a mighty work in Juarez! 

El Paso Adventures

After building for three straight weeks, my body was telling me it needed a rest.  In a normal Gateway summer, the interns work two weeks on, one week off.  Because so many teams cancelled this summer due to border violence, we were asked to work for a month straight and then head home.  So after three works in a row of builds in Juarez, we had one more project, removing the roof of a large storage building at the Gateway Mission Center.  Admittedly, demolition was a nice change of pace, and we were working out of our house.  Having air conditioning, TV, and coca-colas close by made the days a little less stressful

So after the last rafter was pulled down, we got our weekend of rest.  It’s a good feeling to do manual labor for a month.  I think God wired men that way.  It certainly makes the shower feel cooler and the dinner taste better.  And I guess we all caught the itch because we had been relaxing for less than 24 hours, when Adam and I decided to go mountain biking.  We had a great time going downhill, but the uphills were not quite as enjoyable. 

It wasn’t long after we licked our wounds from the cacti and mesquite bushes we encountered on the bike trails, that we decided to go hiking.  It’s the only good reason I know for waking up at 5:30 am on a Monday morning!  Daniel, Adam, and I trekked up Franklin Mountain.  It was a challenging climb, but the view from the top was well worth it.  Who knew El Paso, TX had such beautiful mountains?

The last adventure of the week took me to a distant galaxy aboard the starship Intrepid.  That was reality as far as the 4-year old kids knew it   For the past week, I have been serving as Captain Scott for the VBS at St. Clement’s Church here in El Paso.  Although our Navigator put in the wrong coordinates and steered us into trouble in Sector 22, we were able to save the day and our ship by thwarting Virus’ evil plan to destroy all the Bibles in the universe!  The kids seemed to really enjoy the drama, and hopefully they learned something about the importance of the Bible as well.  As for me, I loved it!

Well, the other interns, David and Daniel, flew home on Tuesday.  I decided to stay on for one more build the first week in August.  Adam and I will be leading a group from Conneticut.  Please pray for travel safetys for their team, and God’s provision and protection for us while in Juarez.  As I approach the end of my work here, I feel God pulling in my heart, but I’m not sure yet exactly where he’s taking me.  Pray for openess to the Spirit’s leading and humility to follow God anywhere.  

Thunder and lightning speed

For the third week in a row I found myself waking up early Monday morning, lacing up my workshoes, and buckling my tool belt.  But the excitement of providing another family with something they really needed made rolling out of bed before 7 am doable.

We had the pleasure of working with Cornhuskers this week.  The small team, 3 adults and two college students, from Nebraska proved to be determined, experienced workers.  They were tough, too!  The first night we were in Juarez, the team leader, Mike learned that his younger brother had passed away unexpectedly.  He got a ride back over the border the morning of our first build day.  And then there were 4.

Between the team, the three build interns, one build leader, and 4 Mexican builders, our crew totaled to barely over ten.  Building a home in 4 days with ten people had me a little worried, but God has a way of making our fears and doubts look silly.  I’m still not really sure how it happened, but the end of the first day came and we had the entire house framed and erected, and multiply up on the entire house.  And we finished work at 2 pm, an hour early!

This trend continued with each day going quickly and problem free.  Day 4 came and the house was stuccoed and all the electrical completed before lunchtime.  Glory goes to God!

One of the most satisfying experiences of the week was working with the family.  Rosalina and Roberto had 4 kids.  Their two youngest sons, Roberto, 5, and Angel, 3, were perfect for spontaneous laughs.  Also a lot of extended family members came out to help.  I got to work with the teenage sobrinos, Ivan and Chui (pronounced Chewee like Han Solo’s hairy sidekick in Star Wars).  They got a kick out of me addressing Chui with the classic weowkie call.  The Nebraska team really enjoyed interacting with the family, and it was certainly a blessing to have extra hands!

For me the most challenging part of the week was leading large tasks.  The build leader, Andrew, handed over to me responsibilities each day to lead framing, or J-channel, or stucco.  Having to remember the construction details as well as teach the skills to Americans and Mexicans was a challenge.  I enjoyed the opportunity to lead and learn along with the ones I was teaching

 

I read an encouraging verse in the middle of the week.  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” Colossians 3:17

And did I mention it rained!  It was a rare blessing to have a thunder storm bring some moisture to the desert.  It was really beautiful in that the storm rolled in right as the sun was setting.  God is amazing!

 

Things are heating up

After a few days back at the Gateway Mission Center, I was ready to head back across to Mexico.  Our second group for the summer was from St. James  up north in Kent, Washington.  Their group of 10 high schools guys and 4 adults thought they had a pretty good idea of what to expect as half the group had built in Juarez before, but there was no way they could have forseen a week straight of +100 degree weather and very rare cloud cover.  I thought I had adjusted to the oppressive heat of high desert, but this seemed like a whole new level of hot.

This build was more of the Gateway bread and butter as compared to the church build last week.  The Gateway gameplan is to frame the house the first day, roof and start wiring on the second day, dry wall on the third day, and stucco to finish the house on the fourth day.  The house has standardized dimensions and details, and so the Gateway house, if all goes as planned, is reproduced about 20 times each summer.  Much like putting together a bicycle or model, we have instructions and diagrams (blueprints).  The build leader’s job is to direct the interns and Mexican staff who direct the team in each step of the process. 

Of course there are some unavoidable variables.  Sometimes the wrong materials are delivered, and sometimes the site is squeezed in between two existing structures.  Sometimes the family wants to help, and almost all the times there are little kids who want to play with the friendly Americans.  Most of these things added challenges to our build, but God took a couple of potential difficulties and turned them into needed help. 

Nemecia is the 30 year old mother of two teenagers, Jose, 16, and Luz, 13.  She and her husband, Francisco, have wanted to provide a home for Jose and Luz for a long time because they have all been living crammed together in a very small, dilapidated home since forever.  So when we showed up on Tuesday morning they peeked out of their home to give us a cursory lookover and then piled out ready to help us in any way they could.  As we started the framing, they saw we needed shade and using a tarp that had covered the plywood, they build a makeshift awning.  The next day they had set out chairs and even a carpet in the sand for us to sit on.  By the third day they had scrounged up a box fan and beat-up recliner.  They were also eager to help in the construction process.  Jose jumped right into the group and worked the whole week side by side with the team.

The most challenging part of the week was keeping the team on task.  The heat was so brutal, water breaks every half hour were the bare minimum, and some of the team members had to sit in the shade for hours.  Also the neighborhood ninos loved to come out and play.  They would run out to the fan each morning as we pulled up ready to toss a ball or be tossed in the air.  After spending half the week barking orders to the guys to keep with a job, I realized that a huge part of the work God is doing is through love to the Mexican people.  How better of a way to show a kid you love them than to play with them. 

By far the most satisfaction came the morning of the house dedication.  As we turned the keys over to the family and prayed blessings over them, the father began to cry.  He said that we had provided something for his family he could never have given them.  He saw God in us.  Hearing a man in Mexico cry is a powerful thing.

God taught me this week to have patience and love for the American teams.  Sometimes it is easier for me to love the poor in Mexico than the rich youth from the States, but God loves us all the same.  And he gives heavenly joy based not on socioeconomics or religiousness, but instead on faith and hope.  The kids from the neighborhood had it.  The family had it.  And the team from Washington had it.  They were all equally rich. 

I would challenge you then to look around you for pure joy.  Contentment, peace, fulfillment, happiness are all indicators.  Find that joy, either in yourself or your family or coworkers and investigate it.  Play in it and praise God for it!!  Whatever you do don’t ignore it or even try to quench it.  That’s what I did for the first part of this week, and I missed out on the holistic plan of God the joy-giver. 

God thinks BIG!!

What do three new interns, 5 middle school girls, and the congregation of an Anglican Mexican church have in common?  They can be molded together by the hands of God to do His work (Isa. 64:8)!  Over five days, our unorthodox team built a church outside of Juarez for the praise of a very gracious and mighty God.

For years the congregation of La Iglesia de Santa Maria Magdelena prayed for a new building.  They had worshipped in a plywood lean smaller than a standard American bedroom.  The congregation of 40 had long outgrown this building and they knew God had big plans for them to reach the growing community around them.  Father Dan , the director of Gateway, heard this story and following God’s lead drew up plans for the largest building Gateway had ever built.  When the Canadian team defaulted on coming down last November, Dan nearly gave up on the massive project.  But God isn’t stopped so easily.

Who would have thought God would pick out a team of middle school youth group kids to build his temple in Juarez?  It’s hard to not recall the story of Gideon’s “mighty” army of 300 rejects (Jdg 7:5).  How could God build this church so much inexperience and youth?  We still aren’t sure how it happened, but God did a great thing through us!

We started out with huges stacks of 2×4′s and 2×6′s and multi-ply and ended up with a 2400 sq. foot church building.  For perspective, we could have fit 4 of the normal Gateway houses into this church.  Maybe you can understand Father Dan’s anxiety over how exactly we would lift the beams 10 feet into the air and then get a second set of beams on top of those!  Well, we did it…with a lot of help.  The congregation showed up in droves on the first day to help with the framing, and then they stuck around for the entire week!  Jose hired 3 or 4 extra hombres to help out besides the usual suspects (Hector, Ener, and Danielle).

The most challenging part of the build for me was the combined pressure of leading and working on the more technical tasks.  All of us interns were practically thrown into leading groups of youth or mexicanos.  Some of the kids had never used a hammer or tape measure before.  Then we were assigned to work together as interns on the tasks such as setting cripples for the door frames or wiring the church for fans and outlets.  I learned to have lots of patience with the youth as well as with myself.  I managed to hit 3 of the five fingers with the framing hammer over the first two days of the build. 

There were lots of satisfying moments throughout the week.  David and I ran the electrical for basically the entire church.  Also all the youth were hammering like pros by the last day, and one of them even said that hammering was his favorite part    By far the most worthwile moment of the week was seeing the youth choir lead alabanzas (worship songs) in the church on our final day.  Even though my Spanish isn’t good enough to understand their worship, I think that’s a little taste of heaven.  All nations worshipping God in their own tongues. 

God taught me contentment this week.  At times I wanted to move faster or do things my own way.   I wanted to make a bigger impact on the effort.  I just wanted more.  But the problem I wasn’t stepping back and seeing that God was building a church, and He was inviting me along with Him on the ride.  At some point during the week I decided to just let God work.  I decided doing my best and not letting the moments to teach and learn pass by was what God wanted.  And what do you know, another stalwart of his kingdom was built!

Hurry up to slow down

Last memories of Oklahoma for awhile. I love my mom

Kissing Pops goodbye

So far so good as 4 days have gone by here at the Gateway Mission HQ here in El Paso.  Not too much has been going on since I arrived Saturday afternoon.  Daniel the gap-year intern got back in Sunday from teaching English classes in Juarez, and David, the other summer intern, made it in from Chicago Monday afternoon. 

This is Build Leader/Cook Adam

We have been taking care of some preparations and generally tidying up the place this week.  As you can imagine, house chores don’t keep 5 college-age guys busy for long, so we’ve been exploring El Paso, cooking, and watching movies.

 

 

Training starts tomorrow and we’ll be picking up materials on Friday for the church build which starts Saturday for us.  We’ll be putting together the laminate roof beams and getting everything ready for the El Paso team which comes down on Sunday.

 

 

Be praying for continued growth and a charging of our batteries as a hectic month and a half of builds starts this Saturday!  I have had a good amount of time for prayer and Scripture, and I’d like to share a short verse with you.  Matthew 4:19:  “And Jesus called out to them, “Come and I will make you fishers of men,” and they immediately dropped their nets and followed him.”  This was a one time call for the disciples, but I think this can be a daily choice for us.  Follow Him and see what happens!

The adventure begins in 5 days!

Welcome to the journal of my adventures in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. A city where the violent drug cartel is battling the government and the children smile and play in the dirt streets. I am working in Juarez with Gateway Missions, whose greatest purpose is to serve as an intermediary between Americans and the poorest of the poor in Mexico. For a week, a team of American students or adults can build a wood-framed, roofed, insulated home WITH ELECTRICITY for a family who would otherwise be living in a shack made of cardboard, crates, or if they’re lucky pallets.

The need is great, and there is no way we can build a home for every needy family, but we will spread God’s love and amazing grace as far we can. And along the way the builders might just find themselves changed by God.

Please continue to keep up with this post and keep me in your prayers. I will do my best to post every week. Love you all!

Austin