Category: Archived Posts – 2007-2016

Nathanael is special to Give Me Shelter Ministries.  He is Pastor Felipe’s and Anna Hernandez’s son, and he has witnessed much of the work we have done in the Colonias since he was a young boy.  Now approaching 16 years of age, Nathanael is studying English in the hopes that he will be a translator for English speaking missionaries at local churches.   Continue reading “Help Us Sponsor Nathanael”

Give Me Shelter Ministries will sponsor two teenagers for a wonderful mission October 2 – 9 with Beachside Community Church. Called “Multipliers,” this mission trip will take teen-aged youths from Casa Hogar Elim orphanage on an airplane to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Continue reading “Sponsor a Teen with GMSM”

Kenny is returning today to Mexico to complete this month’s mission.   He will meet teams from Beachside Community Church and Shalimar United Methodist.  They will build a home for Sanjuana Monreal Trujillo, pictured above.  The group will also minister to children at Casa Hogar Elim orphanage.  Ft. Walton Beach Dentist Tony Clark will do a weekend dental clinic.  We thank all of you who continue to contribute to this work being done in Christ’s name in Mexico.

Give Me Shelter Ministries completed our first July mission with a finished home for a young family in Pastor Felipe’s church. We will return later this week… more info tomorrow.  Thank you to all for your support!

Special thanks to all our guest bloggers this mission trip.

Brad Maillet

Today the water in the Rio Grande the water was flooding the border and the border was closing so the whole day went very quick. The trip to the orphanage in my eyes was a success, the children made bracelets and fans but since we were in a hurry we left their lunches there so they could distribute them themselves. When we went to the colonials the building crew was there cooking the hotdogs and hamburgers under the tent because it had started pouring rain, so the rest of us went into the church. In the church we did the crafts and waited for the food to finish cooking and we “talked” sort of with our Mexican amigos. When the food had been cooked we served the kids and while they were eating we decorated the picture frames for their pictures we had taken of them earlier this week. Then we gave them to the pastor and his wife to give to the children because we had to leave because everything was almost under water at the border. When we walked out of the church there was mud everywhere and we tracked mud onto the bus which was nasty, then we had the left over hamburgers and hotdogs on the bus. Arriving at the border we looked at the river and it was about 5 ft. away from being in the streets, but the line was short so we had to wait a little bit but other than that we got home safe. From that experience basically what I learned is that when things do look good or go as planned God provides and as far as the day goes everything we had planned was accomplished and we had fun doing it.

Cole Whitfield

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Praise God from whom all blessings flow. As I looked out at the colonias this morning and saw the possibility of a complete wash out my first prayer was God please do not let it rain because we need to get the roof on this house. We could have finished the house yesterday but it was so painfully hot that the shingles were melting in our hands and the nails were going right through the them. So we decided to get a very early start. Crack of chicken early. So after my selfish prayer of no rain I soon realized that God knows what his world needs better than I could ever know. The rain did hold off and the weather was cool so the finish work on the house went smoothly. We went to Felipe’s to wrap up VBS and cook out hamburgers and hotdogs. The rain started, the rivers were rising, the bridges were closing and we were about half hour to forty five minutes away from the border. We did make it across. Bridge one was completely under water and more water was expected. We finished our day with Lydia’s piano of fire. Tomorrow we head for H-Town for some R&R and then home to get ready for a turnaround trip.

Todo Paqueteria
Kenny GMSM

I praise God for allowing me the opportunity to join Give Me Shelter Ministries and the Westside Baptist Church group on the Mexico 2010 Mission Trip. I spent the last several months praying for God to use me somehow on this trip to spread His love. I tried to pre-plan how I would fit in with this group, contribute to the ongoing work here, and just serve God. However, all my pre-planning went out the window as soon as I met the wonderful people of Nuevo Laredo. God immediately impressed upon my heart to lay down my plans and allow Him to show me His love. The people we have met here are unbelievable. Experiencing their joy in the midst of such hardship puts things into perspective. My life is forever changed. I am the one who has been blessed by this trip.

I see my Savior’s face in each smiling child here.

Please join me in continuing to pray for the people of Nuevo Laredo and for the wonderful work being done by Give Me Shelter Ministries. I can tell you first hand that Give Me Shelter is about God’s work. This is a kingdom expansion ministry. Nothing else matters.

Damon

Westside Baptist Church

This morning we went to the orphanage and listened as one of the older girls that lives at the orphanage told the story of Joseph. Then we helped them make “saddle bags” and gave them lunch. It’s always a pleasure to see all the kids and know that they remember who you are. Then we got on the bus to ride over to the colonials, where we do VBS for kids in the community. Today they learned about Zaccheus and afterwards they made cows out of toilet paper rolls, we painted their faces, and then they had a water balloon fight. WE GOT SOAKED!! Then we got on the bus and went to the famous chicken place, and it was good as usual. Next we had to hurry to the border since it closed at 6 today because of the flooding of the Rio Grande. When we made it back to the church we all took showers and prepared for the next day. Tomorrow is our last day going into Mexico and we are sad to leave this place but we will be back in December!

The Rachels (Stanford and Phillips)

Praise God for guest bloggers. This has been such a blessing to have people step up and help with all the updates for this trip. Caise has been outstanding in playing the role of computer dude. It gets me to bed earlier. We did have another great day on the house and all is going scary smooth. All we have left is to throw up some shingles. One of the best ones yet. VBS is running at 50 plus kids and the leadership has been great.

Tomorrow we have a VBS cook out. Yahoo!

Kenny

GMSM

This morning we went to Casa Hogar Elim and we did a craft where we made snakes out of wooden spoons. After we left the orphanage we went to the colonials to do VBS. When we first got to the church in the colonials, we gave each child and their parent a sack lunch. While Jose was telling the children a story about Joseph, Rachel S., Rachel P. and I were preparing bracelets for the girls.

While the boys were outside playing soccer, the girls were in the church making wallets. The boys also made wallets while the girls were making bracelets. After each child finished making their wallet, we gave them two pesos. I am very glad that I came this year because this has been my first trip to Mexico and my first time out of the country as well. The trip has been very fun so far and I can’t wait to come back next year or over Christmas break.

-Elizabeth

Once again we were late to sleep and early to rise. Of course I like getting up early, getting a good start and beating the sun. Yesterday we made so much progress on the home that today we got started on the roof and rafters. It is so cool to see the progress on the home each day and see that pile of lumber become a young couple’s future home. Miriam was close by today and I could see her smiling as we started on the roof decking. Actually, she seemed to be smiling almost all day long. Once again God provided us with wonderful weather. Because of the constant cool breeze, I almost forgot how hot it was last year.  Hopefully the weather can hold out two more days and we will be finished. I am really looking forward to the home dedication.

Yesterday we came across the regular Nuevo Laredo crossing and pulled into a major traffic jam. Today we decided to drive down to the Columbia Crossing. Other than the 5 of us in a small truck, the crossing went a whole lot smoother. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us tomorrow.

Jay

Westside Baptist

Two homes were built and beautiful orphans were served this summer in Mexico thanks be to God and for your support.  Please read about all our missions in our blog.

(July 3)

You know trials and tribulations are supposed to be one of those things that keep us sharp and on our toes. We are to persevere through all. At least that is what the scripture says. With that said then why do we have such a hard time dealing with all of life’s ebb and flow. With all that said, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. As we headed out from Ft. Walton Bch. with the FBCFWB in tow we headed to meet our brother and sisters in Ponchatoula, La. I know that God is in total control of GMSM and I hope and pray that never changes. I also know that God will continue to provide and allow us to keep doing what He has laid before us. We are truck and trailer poor and will eventually have to make a move to prayerfully consider what we need to do. It has become an issue with the fact that we are down there so much and haul so much down there. With a flat tire on the church bus and a 3 hour delay on the interstate and $650.00 later, a borrowed trailer with no tail lights, no tag and no registration and a borrowed truck with no registration we will truly need Gods favor to pull this off. We did make it to Primera Bautista and all is good to this point. Tomorrow will be interesting as we begin the prep work to gather our chum.

Kenny

GMSM

(July 4)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. What a difference a day can make. After the day before and trying to make it through all the craziness that the world can dish out we prepared to face the new day with the Lords blessings. We got up early and headed to Lowe’s to get all the building supplies for the new house our group will build. Lowe’s can always be a trip in itself especially in Laredo. At check out I was shocked at how much the cost of material has gone up. They were pretty cool and had enough sympathy to give us 15% off the total to keep it around $2100.00. As we left and headed towards the border all we could do was to pray that God would allow us to get through without any hassles. WOW! We got straight through with a green light and not even the slightest hint of a problem. It is always very cool to not have to pay duty or try and explain why we do what we do to people who could care less. Once through we dropped off all the supplies at Pastor Felipe’s house. It is always good to see one of my favorite families.

After our visit we headed back across the border for a cook out at Primera Iglesia Church provided by the great and talented Wormy. AWESOME 4th food. It would be good to say at this point that my riders for this adventure were me, Jay, Mike and Damon. A very dangerous combination for the faint of heart. I came close to dying laughing but the Lord spared me. Tomorrow we start building for this young family. The rest of the crew started prep work on tomorrow’s VBS stuff and made lunches.

Kenny

GMSM

Wow, What a day! Today we had a day of preparation for the week to come. We started the day off with a quick breakfast, and then we were off to Lowe’s. Speaking of Wow, you should have seen the look on Kenny’s face when he got the price of the building materials. Now I know what sticker shock looks like. But the Lord is in control and his patience paid off. The Lowe’s guys decided to give us 15% off and that really helped with our budget. After loading up the wood on the trailer, we were off to grab a quick bite to eat, pray and test the ever-changing border. I will first say how Great God is. I told Damon that this will test our flexibility. The boarder is sometimes crazy and you never really know when you are going to get pulled over. Carrying the amount of wood that we were carrying, we thought for sure we would be asked to pull over and probably pay duty. The duty could be $500 or maybe even more. But the Lord went ahead of us and while everyone else was getting the red light and pulling over to be checked, we got a green light and passed right on through. Truly, at least 6 straight vehicles got the red light and us, with all that lumber, we just went right through. One guy was asked to sit on a bench and they took his vehicle. I told you what a Wow day it was. We then were truly blessed by getting to visit Pastor Felipe and his wonderful family. Because the boarder went so smooth, we got a chance to have a nice long visit. Being there with Kenny, Mike and Damon was great. We really got a chance to talk and joke around, mostly joke around. Damon maybe the funniest guy alive, he had me laughing the whole day. The end of the day was just as good because we got to eat Wormy and Brads BBQ. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I know it is going to hot, but I also know that I will truly be blessed beyond what I can imagine. Tomorrow we get to start on a new home for Miriam and Emillio. Can’t Wait.

Jay

Westside Baptist

(July 5)

I often wonder why God continues to bless and use me in this ministry that He allows me to be a part of. He continues to place beautiful people in my life and in the field with me. This trip is no exception. The 1st day of VBS at pastor Felipe’s church ran smooth and from what I could tell was perfect. The 1st day on the house in Los Artista colonia was also a great success. We accomplished more on this day than any other mission trip while building a traditional framed house. God really put together a killer team between FBCFWB and Westside Baptist Church in Ponchatoula, La. The young couple, Miriam and Emilio hung around most of the day and you could see how stoked they are. This will be a new beginning for them and their new baby. My prayer is that they would seek out the true foundation on which they may make their stand (Matthew 7: 25). Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

This is my fourth time coming to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and every year there are always new and great things to learn from ministering to and fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ down here. Today was the first day of this year’s mission trip and as usual we got up early to pack the bus and travel across the border to the church in the Mexican community where we put on a vacation Bible school. We arrived at the church to find very few kids there because evidently school is still in session down here and most of the kids were still in school. We went ahead and did a full vacation Bible school for the kids that were there complete with craft time, recreation time, songs and Bible stories. We then had lunch and a break while we waited for the rest of the kids to come from school. When they did we started all over again and this time had a much larger group. I was placed in charge of recreation time for this trip and today we came up with a horse racing game in which the kids raced around the yard on stick horses. It was very popular and all the kids were laughing and having a good time. It is always hard to communicate the rules of the games to the children because of the language barrier, in fact it is difficult to communicate at all but one thing that is easy is the ability to show love and caring and just spend time with them. I spent the day running around on stick horses, playing soccer with the boys and having the kids steal my hat but it was all fun and amazing just to be able to be a part of their lives and spread happiness through God’s word and fellowship.

-Caisson

July 3 – 10, First Baptist Church Ft. Walton Beach and Westside Baptist of Ponchatoulas, LA will join Give Me Shelter Ministries to build a home, conduct Vacation Bible School and food distribution in the Colonias. We will also spend time in Casa Holgar Elim Orphanage. Continue reading “New Home in Mexico”

What a blessing it is to be able to receive food from Feed My Starving Children. This is such an extension to His ministry that allows us to reach further out and meet the physical needs of His people (Matthew 9:36).

One of the true blessings that God has done through this ministry is the partnerships and friends we have made along the way. One such friend is the Guillot family, who have been so encouraging through prayer and their friendship when things can get tiresome. My bro Jay Guillot was able to accompany me on this FMSC food delivery and supplied us with much needed physical and mental strength. We could not have done this with out him.

With the food delivered to Los Fresnos, TX, I headed out to Ponchatoula, LA to rendezvous with Jay. After a killer meal at their home we loaded up his chum and took off towards the food. Our agenda was to get to United in Christ Ministry to see Brothers Mark and Chacho. This is the spot that we always have the FMSC food delivered to. In this area we get food to two drug rehab centers, several feed houses and the fishing village of Mesquital. From there we load the rest of the food up and drive it four hours west up the border to Nuevo Laredo. We were blessed with 5 pallets of food which translates to about 35,000 meals. We loaded up two pallets for the ministry work in Matamoras and did what we always do, pray for safe delivery and safe passage through the border.

The border is a funny place. I have been crossing that border for eight years now and still do not understand how it works. The Mexicans do not even know how it works. They make up the rules daily and they seem to change them daily. This day would be no different. We have never had any problems with this particular border crossing but that would soon change. As we crossed over we were asked to pull over which is a normal request. They looked inside the van took the van keys and the game was on. They said come with us. I really do not know why or what the the hassle was all about only that they were very serious about what they were about to do. Chacho is Mexican and is a naturalized citizen of the USA. He speaks perfect Spanish and has been working this border for ten years. He also was totally confused. No one ever gave us any reason for what was going down. They confiscated the food, the van and shoes that were collected to give to children. We kept asking why and all they would say was we did not go through the proper procedures. When we asked what the proper procedures were they would only reply “we are only doing our job.”

We were detained for about eight hours with no clear reason why. We were basically arrested for bringing food to children in Mexico and they did not dig it. We were eventually given two choices, we could leave the food and the van and get out of the country or we could leave the food a pay a heavy fine for the van and leave the country. I asked about the food and they said the food would not be released back to us. I asked about the shoes and they said they would burn them because they did not want their people risking getting disease. These were 95% new shoes. Of course my diplomatic reply was, OK you do not want your people to risk getting some sort of foot infection but it is OK for your children to go without food. That would have made a great Master Card commercial because when that was translated to them they freaked out. It was priceless.

From that point we refused to talk to them anymore because they were basically ignorant to the true needs of their country. So we worked our way up the superior ladder only to find they were clueless also and they all practiced the same lines, “you did not follow proper procedures,” and “we are only doing our job.”  We had to pay a fine to get the van back. They kept the food and the shoes and no one would or could ever give us the instructions for the “proper procedures “. We know God has a plan for this food and hope and pray that it finds the people who need it most. Trust me there is more to this story I just do not have the patience to type it all in. Call me and I can fill in the rest.

We did get the rest of the food delivered to Nuevo Laredo, where we should have been hassled because that is the place where we always seem to have trouble. Piece of cake. We got food to Casa Hogar Elim orphanage and to the feeding house out in the colonia where Mission Bautista Comino Nuevo Iglesia is. News spread quickly about our problem and a lot of people on both sides of the border are expressing their concerns. Praise God from whom all blessings flow even through the trials and tribulations from man we kept our groove on and never gave anyone any reason to think we anything other than a follower of Jesus and a child of God. God is good all the time. Amen. Thanks Jay for your perseverance and standing by me.

Kenny

GMSM