Category: Archived Posts – 2007-2016

Today, we got up to a chilly morning in Laredo, Texas. Our day would include a bilingual church service, loading and unloading blankets, packing gift bags, and many other exciting events in preparation for our trip across the border as a group tomorrow.

Let us introduce our guest bloggers, Meagan from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, Rachel from Saraland, Alabama, and Gary from Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

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Wow. What a day! I’ll start off by telling everyone what a blessing it has been to be a part of Give Me Shelter Ministries and the mission to Mexico. Today I saw first hand how God uses everything and every part of your life to reach others for him. I also saw three separate churches today merge together and become one body for Christ.

We began our day by attending the service that our host church has. It’s a bilingual service and even though I don’t speak a lick of Spanish it’s just great to be in there listening to God being praised in both Spanish and English.

After the service the real work began. We took blankets over the border to Mexico and a group stayed behind to prepare Christmas and hygienic bags to pass out. We tried to take the trailer full of blankets over the previous night and were turned away at the border. But we had a thousand blankets that needed to get to Mexico so we tried again this morning. We took all the blankets out of the boxes and stuffed (and I mean really stuffed) them in the back of two vans. Many trips were needed to get them all over. I got to go on the second trip across. We were blessed that we breezed through the border with absolutely no trouble.

We unpacked all the blankets that we had taken in that load to Felipe’s church to store until we pass them out tomorrow.

After that we went to three of the previous homes that Kenny and his teams have built. On our way back we hit some traffic. But I love this group because of our key word is “flexibility” and we are definitely flexible when we were stuck at the border for two hours. When we got back we spent the rest of the evening bagging cookies and bread to pass out when we feed the masses tomorrow in Nuevo Laredo. We begin bright and early and prayers are needed.

Meagan

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Finally, after a 17 hour drive in 15-person capacity church vans from Saraland, Alabama, our crew of 16 unique individuals reached our destination of the Primera Iglesias Bautista Church in Laredo, Texas. Coming here, I had no idea of what to expect and of what would be expected of me. But as soon as we arrived after receiving the key to actually get into the Church, I could explicitly see what God was about to bring over the next 4 days.

First thing when we arrived at the Church around 6:30 pm, we began by unloading our trailer of luggage and moving our bags into the Church building that we would be sleeping in. Surprisingly, as soon as we put our stuff down I was energetically greeted by my two newest Fort Walton Beach, Florida friends, Emily and Rachel, and then moved onto meeting the others that would be joining us on the Mexico mission.

Taco Palenque would be the lucky destination that would be graced by our presence for dinner, so after receiving a full meal of one-of-a-kind grilled chicken, rice, and mashed potatoes, we trucked on back to the Church, showered, and went to sleep.

Next morning we woke up at exactly 7:25, got ready for the day, and went to the main Church building for a breakfast of banana bread and chocolate milk… yum. For the next few hours as some of the group went ahead across the border to deliver blankets, I got the task of making gift bags for the children and adults that we will hand out tomorrow. With our professionally organized assembly lines rolling along, we were able to put together hundreds of bags filled with coloring books, toothbrushes and toothpaste, candy, stuffed animals, soap, etc. When the second group returned from Mexico, now it was my turn to cross the border into a world completely different from what I know as my day to day life.

After loading the green van with about 60 blankets, we quickly and easily crossed the border and reached the church in the community of the people that we will be serving. Next we unloaded the blankets, visited for a few minutes, and then began our way to the hour and a half long wait to get back into the US (which provided a good nap time for me).

As soon as we arrived back after enjoying a quick game of Catch Phrase with our new crew, we shoved some Dominoes pizza down our throats and continued onto the next task of filling plastic baggies with cookies and bread that we will hand out tomorrow. After finishing what we thought could never be done, we rested for a while, and now here I am. Looking back on the day now, although I am exhausted and ready for a hot shower, I consider this day extremely successful. We prepared all of the food, supplies, and blankets that we’ll be handing out tomorrow, and now I have a much better idea of what the next couple of days will hold.

I think we can all agree that God’s about to really impact some lives. One of my new acquaintances from Florida told me today how their old youth pastor used to say, its not about what we do and what we bring, but its about the care, love, and kindness we show that’s going to make the biggest impact on the people we will be helping. And this experience not only affects the people that we will be helping, but it equally impacts each of us as we see how fortunate we really are. I don’t know about everyone else, but I know that even in this small amount of days that this is truly an eye-opening experience.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, or what may happen, but I know that all of these loving people here that are so willing to do whatever it takes to help others are going to make a huge impact on everyone around. And that’s really the goal, isn’t it? So, tomorrow as we stroll across the border and do what we can for others, all we can do is hope that what we are here for, will help spread God’s influence and kindness to the people who are most in need.

Rachel

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Well, what would be a Mexico mission trip without transportation issues? God did provide, as he always does, safe passage all the way here for the FBC bus and four other vehicles, mostly all pulling trailers full of blankets, cooking supplies and some Christmas and goody bags from a number of different sources.

Long story short around our favorite Texas stop, Bucee’s, we noticed a noisy belt, but did not notice any other apparent issue and then after arriving in Laredo and going to dinner a major serpentine belt had come off and the alternator was no longer functioning because of the lack of the belt. This morning we began the process, thanks mainly to one of our good friends from Saraland, AL, of trying to figure out the possibility of repair and after much “soul-searching” and a couple of visits to our favorite 24-hour Autozone we figured out that a bracket holding the belt and many extraneous crucial engine components had four bolts and three of them were broken.

We were able to replace only one, but were able to crank and
move the bus and then proceed to contacting folks to find a permanent repair situation in the days to come.

We were able to meet throughout the process many interesting individuals, minister to some and some ministered to us, including the Laredo Baptist mission ministerial Association Director who offered his assistance. Thanks for your continued prayers and support throughout this mission and our God is very faithful!

Gary

Update… the actual number of meals delivered was over 32,000! Praise the Lord!

Dec. 3, 2009 :
God has been so good to GMSM through the involvement that He has allowed us to be in with Feed My Starving Children. This is the 2nd time that they have delivered food for us to be distributed in Mexico. Same as last time the food was dropped off in Los Fresnos, Texas at United in Christ Worldwide Ministry Worldwide, Inc. I flew into the Laredo airport via Ft. Walton Bch. My cool bro Jose Martinez was there to pick me up. On the flight down I sat by a trucker who was headed to Laredo to pick up some trucks to deliver somewhere in the states. I was able to share with him about GMSM and the work across the border. Although he had a different agenda in life he was receptive to what God is allowing us to do.

Once in Laredo and cowboy dude preacher (Jose) lassoed me and my baggage up, we headed out the airport door, once outside I could see why Jose was bundled up. It was freezing cold. He had spent the night out in the colonias at Felipe’s house and said it was very cold. Felipe is blessed to have a roof over his head but there is no insulation or heat whatsoever. The forecast is to get colder and maybe even snow 1 or 2 inches. I know it has to be just miserable out there. With all the new blankets we will be bringing down at Christmas they sure could use them now. We left Laredo and headed east for the 4 hour drive to Los Fresnos to meet up with the food. We stopped on the way for some elote asado “roasted corn”. Good call on a frigid day. I felt like Nacho Libre.

We arrived at the church where the food was dropped off. We are staying at Brother Richards’s house an elder of the church. We went to church for worship and then ate a killer meal that was prepared for us. Tomorrow we will start working the food across the border weather permitting and we are not snowed in (hahaha). My heart is heavy at the thought of how cold the people are. Tomorrows temps in Laredo are a high of mid to upper thirties. Praise God for His sufficient love for us.

Dec. 4, 2009 :
After a fairly good night’s sleep we got up early and loaded the church van and Jose’s truck up with the food boxes from FMSC. The weather was rainy and very cold. We chowed on some breakfast at the church and headed out across the border. The first place we stopped was the men’s drug rehab center in Matamoras. We dropped off 10 boxes of food which will be split with the women’s drug rehab center. That is roughly 1080 meals. The need is so much in this center. It is clean but it is very cold. The next stop was Chihuahua Soup Kitchen which also doubles as a fellowship of believers. We left 7 boxes for their use and we left 7 boxes for the Zacatecus ministry that is interior Mexico. Christ United will take those down soon. We headed a little further deeper into Matamoras where we dropped off 14 boxes for two soup kitchen ministries.

Once we were finished with the food distribution in the city we left south to the island of Mano Deleon where the village of Mesqutal is located. We visited the pastor and his family and left 12 boxes of food to be portioned out to the villagers as needed. It was so brutal cold out there and I know the food will only last a short while. I pray that God will keep the door opened for us to continue a good working relationship with FMSC and more food will be available for us to continue this ministry down here. We will leave about 17 boxes at United in Christ Church for other ministries. A total of 67 seven boxes were distributed in this area of Mexico, which is a possible 14,472 meals, PTL! Tomorrow we will load up the other two and a half pallets of food and head up the border to Nuevo Laredo for our next food delivery adventure.

Dec 5, 2009 :
Once again the weather is very cold. Most people do not associate cold weather with Mexico but along the border they receive the same types of weather that we do. So we loaded up Jose’s truck with the remainder of the food boxes (68 total) and headed towards Nuevo Laredo.

We always anticipate the potential hassle that the border guys can give us. Sometimes they make us pay duty on what we bring across and sometimes they don’t. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the way things are done along the border going into Mexico. I only know that God seems to always work it out for His glory. This crossing was no exception; we made it across without incident and did not have to pay duty on the food, PTL. Most of the food will be distributed out through the Mission Bautista Comino Nuevo Church under the guidance of Pastor Felipe Hernandez. This food will be dispersed through out the colonias. We also took 15 boxes to the boy’s dorm at Casa Hogar Elim orphanage where they operate a feeding house to the local people around the facility. Jose and I spent the night in the colonia where Felipe lives and I preached at his church on Sunday morning. God truly blessed this trip and many families will be touched by the ministry that Feed My Starving Children has and what they are doing throughout the world. I praise God that he has yoked us together.

This is the day that always seems to be the best for me, the day of the house dedication ceremony. I will admit it is very difficult for me emotionally. Knowing the appreciation of something so simple that we as such a fortunate country take for granted. I will always wonder why God chose me of all people to taste the true sweetness of His grace and mercy through what He allows us to do through GMSM.

As we arrived to the new home of the Quientero’s Pastor Felipe was already waiting. We kind of just hung out for a few minutes as we waited for all the players to show (Felipe’s family and the Quientero family). Even Juan the neighbor showed up for the gig. This is the guy I shared with a few days prior. As Felipe read from God’s word to dedicate this house as a light to Colonia Artista I could not help but reflect on why some people refuse to understand or accept what we do. The pure joy to serve God and to see the stoke on the faces of this family, I wish all believers could experience what God has allowed us to be a part of this week.

After the dedication we presented house warming gifts along with a cool toy for the little dude. With many handshakes and hugs everyone started to disperse. Once again at the nudging of the Holy Spirit I felt called to share a little more with Juan. In the presence of Felipe and Jose I told Juan all I could and then just turned it over to the Lord and my two compadres. They spoke a few words and he indicated that he was ready for a true change in his life. We prayed with him and he prayed for Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

The harvest is many but the laborers are few. Praise God for His harvest. Felipe and Jose will continue to disciple Juan and train him in the ways of God. Great trip with many blessings! The Kingdom was expanded which is the true essence of what we do.

Kenny

GMSM

It never ceases to amaze me how God can use a few kooks like us to accomplish beautiful things. We completed the house in two and a half days. Not that we were trying to break any records or going to fast, it is just that God assembled a very good team. It also allowed us to take time and reflect on the Goodness of the Lord. The Quintero family has so much excitement and anticipation in their eyes. He has been busy today doing little extra things in his new home. He even built a clothes hanging area. I am not sure but I think he is a laborer of sorts and his wife works in a Sony factory.

As always will buy a house warming gift for the house dedication tomorrow. So after we cleaned up the job site we headed back to the orphanage got cleaned up and did what any good gringo would do, go to the chicken place. After eating we experienced worship with the kids and went house warming gift shopping at the Soreana.

I am so excited for this family and at what God has allowed us to be a part of. It is such a blessing and even for me it is hard to put into words. All I can say is praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

GMSM

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. What a great day the Lord gave us. The house work is going so smooth and good. The guys are working together with such unity. We as the body of Christ should take a hard look at these kinds of things and model our relationship with Christ’s church in a way that has one common goal, kingdom expansion. It has been so cool so far how God has orchestrated this team. We all have certain levels of talent, yet each one compliments the other. Kind of like when Paul tells us we need the whole body not just pieces and parts of it. It takes the whole thing to work proper. This has really given me the opportunity to soak in all the goodness of the Lords plan through this project. I am usually the one that has to spearhead the whole process of the house building. Although everyone seems to look to me for direction, I can let go and distribute the work out and the guys just pick up and go with it. These men could probably do this on their own without me but for some crazy reason God has put me in the leadership role of His ministry, GMSM. We have in the past had some teams that just did not mesh together. Some with their own agendas and some teams that flat out had too many chiefs and not enough Indians. I wonder sometimes what truly motivates man. I guess that is one thing I really do not have to worry about. My focus is on trying to be the example that God wants me to be. So with all that said, praise God for this wonderful team God has assembled. After only two days we are 90% complete.

Today a neighbor named Johnny came over to see what all we were doing. He is a super kind dude. This cat kept an eye on me and soon enough we were joking around and he began to really help us out. Johnny and I just seemed to mesh. As the afternoon wore on I felt the Lord leading me to talk with this dude about spiritual things. We worked till almost dark today and after all was cleaned up I just had to share Christ with him. He was very receptive and said he was Catholic but know one had ever said things to him like that before. I asked if we could talk more tomorrow and he said that would be cool. I thanked him for his help and told him that I thought God brought him over today for a different reason other than to help on the house. All I did was share about God’s grace and mercy through his son Jesus. I did not ask him to make a “decision”. God will take care of the rest. Praise the Lord for this team working together well that allowed me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. After all are we here to build houses or the kingdom.

Kenny

GMSM