We will be returning to Juarez, Mexico on March 21 - 27, 2010 to build homes with Casas por Cristo.  Cost of the trip will be $225 per person, or $300 for youth who do not have a parent going (to cover travel meals).   Upcoming meetings will be held on November 1, January 24 and February 28, all at 3:00 pm.  Trip deposits of $75 are due on December 13 and January 24, and the balance is due by February 28, 2010.

We are currently accepting donations to cover the cost of building materials.  Please mark your envelope "Mexico Mission".  All donations go toward materials - individuals who go on the trip pay their own way.

Our team met Brittany Girle, Team Coordinator with Casas Por Cristo, during the mission trip in March, 2009.  In her Spring Newsletter she wrote about working with our church.  Brittany has given us permission to include her newsletters on our website so you can stay in touch with the work she is doing at Casas Por Cristo. 

Brittany Girle Newsletters (PDF files)
Spring, 2009

 

Mexico Mission Trip Report by Rev. David Boncler
March 22 – 28, 2009

Vista Grande Baptist Church, along with a few members from Fountain Valley Baptist Church and Anchor Way Baptist Church, sent a team of 64 to Juarez, Mexico to build 3 houses for families in great need of a safe place to live.

This is what our week looked like:

• We left Sunday morning, in order to get halfway there.  Everyone was able to get a little extra rest on this night, as rest would soon become a much needed thing!
• On Monday, we arrived, picked up our food for the week, and then met up with the Casas Por Cristo team who would be serving alongside of us. We crossed the border, got our tools, and unloaded at the church we would call home for the next 4 days.
• Tuesday--all 3 teams headed to their sites.  A concrete foundation had to be formed, poured, set, and secured.  Others spent time cutting wood to build the frame.
• Wednesday---the walls go up, the roof goes on, insulation gets placed, the outside wall gets prepped for stucco, windows and doors get set, and if there is time--some sheetrock goes on some walls.
• Thursday---The sheetrock gets completed, stucco goes on, and the roof is completed.  THEN---the house is dedicated.  This is a very special time as everyone realizes the fullness of why we came.

For more pictures, click here.

The witness of people coming to serve... and the families having a complete house DONATED to them is a blessing beyond imagination.  Many families are overwhelmed with the great love and sacrifice of those coming to serve.  This year, it was especially powerful as the families questioned how much we knew about the violence that was going on in Mexico.  When they learned that we were aware, it had that much more of an impact.

Every day, each team was able to have interaction with the communities we were serving in.  All teams had backyard bible clubs with children.  The evangelism this brought about was a great new addition to the ministry in Mexico!! 

God's hand of peace and protection was clearly over us.  It felt more peaceful than any of the other years we have gone.  Many from the team continue to express the impact this mission had on their own lives.  

Prayerfully consider how you can be involved with us for 2010.  Maybe you will have a desire to go.  Our first meeting will be in August.  Maybe you will have a desire to help gather materials we can use to evangelize with.  We start collecting Bibles, soccer balls, candy, coloring books and colors, and other various items next January - March.  Maybe you will have a desire to help fund the houses.  We try to raise funds continually - each home costs approximately $4,300 to build.  This is a great way to help because every dollar counts.  And maybe you will have a desire to partner with us in prayer.  Knowing we have strong prayer support back home is POWERFUL!

We appreciate so much everyone who is a part of this trip, both those going, and those who serve alongside from other areas in Colorado.  This trip is definitely about the body of Christ serving together.  All ages from 9th grade through senior citizens travel on this trip, while people of ALL ages help prepare the way.  Thank you to all who are involved in one way or another!!