Many of you know that 20 of us from New Life (Actually 17 from New Life and 3 from Crossway!) participated in the Community and Family Mexico Mission Trip to the Tapestries of Life Orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico from July 4-11th. Here are a few updates from the week:
- 13 young people from the Bethany Presbyterian Church (Bridgeville, PA) that teamed with us responded to the call to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord at the close of Pastor Steve Brewer's message on Thursday night! (They had 31 team members in all, so our work team consisted of 51 Pennsylvanians!)
- We all got to participate in a display of "fuegos de pyrotechnica" (fireworks) on July 4th at the orphanage in Guadalupe! (By the time the fireworks were over, the border at Fabens had closed so we had to drive to the Zaragoza crossing in Juarez/El Paso to get back to Fabens, which meant a LATE night for everyone.)
- We worshiped in El Paso and Guadalupe on Sunday, and experienced God's Spirit working in very different ways!
- 11 of our group were new to the TLM missions experience and each one contributed greatly to the team both in the work they completed and in the way they interacted with one another and with the total team!
- SOMEONE wrote "Go Pens" on the floor of the "Red Wings Room". (Each room in the orphanage has a "theme") Alas, when the floor is tiled that message will be lost!
- We witnessed the "waterfall" at the center of the cross in operation! When the orphanage is completed the waterfall will not only provide a beautiful aesthetic element, but will add humidity and cooling properties to the building, which is located in the Chihuahua Desert.
- We heard many amazing accounts from Pastor Steve of miracles that God has provided along the way as the orphanage has been constructed! These came during the morning and evening devotions!
- A great deal of work was accomplished on the orphanage as several rooms received floor tiles, electrical wiring was extended throughout the building, the trim work was completed around the top of the center of the cross and around the waterfall, more drywalling and painting was completed and several more of the themed rooms received individual murals to fit their theme!
I will be adding some additional specific accounts from the trip in upcoming posts, and I'm sure that you've already heard some of them, if you're part of New Life, since the team returned to PA yesterday. Please, pray that God will lead this week of study leave ahead, and that He will continue to conform me more and more to the likeness of Jesus that I may return this Saturday renewed and better equipped to serve as Pastor of New Life than ever before!
