getting started

Today we got up early, loaded up the vans and headed toward Galveston.  We picked up supplies at Lowe's on our way into Galveston and were ready to work!  We shared breakfast with the other 3 groups we are working with, got a quick orientation and got to it!  

We got the chance to work with many of the different groups on different worksites.  One group went to deconstruct, insulate then reside the house of a church member.  Another group headed inside the church to clear all the nails from

 the studs so we can start putting up sheetrock later in the week.  Yet another group began tearing the siding off the church to be replaced.  And of course, it wouldn't be an FCCBRLA mission trip if George Rabb wasn't called upon to do some plumbing!  

After a delicious dinner of fried turkey, we shared a hilarious game of Pterodactyl...ask a missionary about the game...it's hilarious!  We worshiped, we sang, we shared communion, then we hit the road back to Texas City.  We are VERY sleepy tonight!  After much needed showers, and a quick devotion (hear that A-Pack...QUICK) we'll hit the hay to start again tomorrow morning!  

Keep on checkin' in on us!  Who knows what tomorrow will bring...

See Michael, Andrew did do some work today...he even got a battle wound to show for it!

Is that George doing the plumbing or the wicked witch of the east?...

Amy tearing siding off a house...or wielding her battle sword?

Meet the interns, Day 2:  Joel

Joel is from Indiana (hooray, a fellow Hoosier!), however, he will be a senior at TCU in the fall (Go Horned Frogs).  We have discovered many of Joel's hidden talents, but the most impressive is his ability to sing (while accompanying himself on air guitar) obscure Nickelodeon TV show theme songs...Hey Dude!  :o)

Last but NOT least...HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY BLAKE!!  No pinata this year...however, clad with his cape, crown and scepter, he was dubbed king for a day!

Packman's Ready for Bed...

We have arrived!!  Our group arrived in Texas City, TX about 4:00 this evening, met the interns, toured the mission station and settled in.  We are sharing the mission station with a wonderful group from Albuquerque, NM and Odessa, TX!  We are excited to get to know them and work along side them!  Since today was all orientation, and there's not much to report, we'll give you a little history of Galveston...

Galveston, TX is an island.  Most of their economy comes from tourism.  Around the 1900s, a hurricane devastated the island, wiping out almost everything and killing thousands.  Lesson learned, they build a seawall.  Fast forward a century, Hurricane Ike descended on Galveston.  While the seawall held, the back end of the island (the part not protected by the seawall) got hit pretty hard and much of the island was flooded.  There was anywhere from 2-10 feet of water covering the island.  

Starting tomorrow, we will be putting up sheet rock and replacing siding at the Central Christian Church in Galveston and helping to replace siding for members of the church.  

This evening we are getting ready to have a quick devotion and head to bed.  It's going to be an early morning!  

Stay tuned, work starts tomorrow... 

(1)  Our group, clad in red for Pentecost, outside the Disciples Mission Station in Texas City, TX...this will be our home for the week.

(2) Meet the DHM interns #1:  Will hails from Minnesota, and is a student at Cheryl's alma mater, Eureka College in Illinois.  (yay!)  

 Andrew isn't the only one is ready for bed!

Galveston...here we come!

It's that time of year again!  It's mission trip time!  We have a gret group from First Christian Church (DOC) in Baton Rouge, LA heading out to Galveston, TX on May 31.  We will be helping in the clean up/rebuilding effort from Hurricane Ike.  We'll do our best to keep our blog updated while we're gone again so you can keep tabs on us!  We will be commissioned on Sunday, May 31 at the 8:30am service at First Christian Church before we hit the road.  Join us for worship and to wish us farewell!  :o)

Home again, home again...

We are all back safe and sound in Baton Rouge!! The trip was amazing! It was truly life-changing! Ask any of us and I'm sure we'll talk your ear off! I am going to add some more pictures to the blog, but between George and I (Cheryl, by the way) we took almost 1,000 pictures! And there were a lot of other who had cameras!!

Pictures:
(1) Kenny kept us in stitches all week! A hard worker and a crack up!

(2)Amy hard at work with her hammer and brain bucket

(3) Cheryl helping roof the house

(4) Matt trying out the new doorway!

(5) Daniel taking a mandatory break (I think one of the Garza girls took this one!!)

(6) Michael looking manly working on the roof

(7) Blake...with a power tool... :o)

(8) Brad getting the roof ready for the tin

(9) Judy chatting with a Cuban refugee

(10) Lindsey checking out her handywork

(11) Elise was our window expert!

(12) Andrew...who knows...

(13) Barb putting up some trim on the house

(14) Amanda cleaning up the windows

(15) Lucy taking some time to pose

(16) George taking a quick break once the plumbing was in

(17) Tom and Mickey putting their heads together...it's a good thing they have their hardhats on or that might hurt!

(18) Hollie playing with the Garza girls...they ABSOLUTELY loved her...we weren't suprised

(19) Dustin making sure the door works

(20) The Garza girls were singing Josh a song...how cute!!

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Literally…these things literally went into the Garza family’s house.

Today we had a lot to do in order to finish on time. We split into teams to divide and conquer. One group working on plumbing, one on electricity, one on the roof, the interior walls, put up the trim, build the wheelchair ramp and a million other “little” things. It amazed us when we stepped back at lunch time to see how much we accomplished that morning.

The previous days we left the job site around 2:30, but today we didn’t leave until we were finished. This meant we didn’t leave Matamoros until 7:45pm!!

I could go into deep detail about how Cheryl almost fell off a ladder (don’t worry mom, I’m ok!) or how Andrew tried to talk politics in Spanish or how we smuggled Kenny across the border…but I won’t. What we really want to convey is what happened when the house was finished.

As we mentioned before, Mr. Garza is in a wheelchair so the last thing we did was build a concrete ramp for him. Once that was completed, we helped he and his family into their new house. The girls had already been in the house because they couldn’t wait! In fact, they had already danced in their room (they have never had a room all their own!) and tried teach Andrew a song in Spanish (which failed). We all gathered into their new house where they were greeted by a “welcome home” sign.

We spent a few very touching moments with the family as Michael (through Erick) tried to explain what this experience has meant to us. We then presented the family with a framed photo we took of the entire group with the family earlier in the week. We prayed a blessing on the house and shed a few tears. The family shed tears as well. They were very appreciative. Mrs. Garza’s comments thanked us saying “who comes to build a house for strangers?” It was our pleasure.

Yes, we may have been a blessing to them this week, but they were a blessing to us too. We learned so much on this trip and we will never be the same again.

We slowly headed to the vans with the girls trailing after us for multiple hugs. They even ran down the street as we drove away. We will keep in touch with this amazing family who has become family to us.

We returned to the SWGSM for a late dinner and some awards…

…And we closed with worship…

…Now it’s time for bed and while we’re anxious to see all of you at home, we’re equally as disappointed to leave behind such a wonderful adventure…

Okay, new pictures are up:

(1) Blake helping make sure the Garza's had power in their new house

(2) Dustin amazed us all with his electrical skills...he deserved a break!

(3) Elise finishing up the windows

(4) See...girls can install plumbing too!!

(5) The doorway on the left (where Mickey is standing) is the girls' room and the room on the right with the toilet...well, I think you know what that is :o)

(6) The Garza family inside their new house for the first time!

(7) Judy was a rockstar working on that ramp! Now Mr. Garza will have no trouble getting into his house!

(8) Mickey and Daniel getting the power turned on

(9) The side of the house finished!!

(10) The front of the house finished!!

Un Dia en Cielo

Un dia en Cielo…

Today (Wednesday) was a very special! The house is really starting to look like a house and we are coming down to tasks that take a few people (like putting up the trusses for the roof).

We decided to divide and conquer first thing in the morning. One group went on to Matamoros and the job site while the other stopped at the Home Depot for some supplies. Once we were all there, the working was in full swing! There was, of course, more painting and lots and lots of hammering. Today we had to secure the siding to the house at all of the studs and install the windows. We had to put up the trusses for the roof. We also had to start laying the pipes for the plumbing. All of this was done with the usual joy.

What made today so special were the things that happened in between the work. One at a time, a few of the local children starting making their way down the street, probably hearing that we had a soccer ball and candy! They were very excited to play “futbol” with the Americans and more than happy to take the candy off our hands. We chatted with them about their favorite “futbol” teams and school. They were great!

In the afternoon, Krista took us in two groups to “Casa Bethel.” Casa Bethel is commonly called an orphanage, but in reality it is a home for children. The difference being that the children living here have not lost their parents, their parents simply can’t take care of them. Some of them have been removed from their homes and some have been sent there by parents who don’t have the means to raise their own children. Many of the adults who work at Casa Bethel lived there as children. Unfortunately when we went, the children were still in school so we did not get to meet many of the 50-some children who live there. We did get to met Ricardo who is a deaf and mute. He was extremely sweet and very excited to show us his room and dance with Kenny!!

While at Casa Bethel we had some enlightening conversations with Krista about the Mexican culture and immigration issues.

One member of our group pointed out last night that we work hard all day long, but when it’s time to leave the Garza family for the day, we tend to slow down a bit. We are trying to savor every moment we have with them. Even the girls try to slow us down when we start cleaning up. Ashley and Leslie have discovered out cameras and want to take a lot of pictures! I went to get my bag and Leslie had taken it. They are also trying to savor the time we have together. As we prepare for our last day with the Garza family, we struggle with how to leave them. We can’t just pack into the vans and drive off….

Check back for an update on our last day…

Con la paz de Jesucristo…

(pictures to come later...)

Feliberto Pereira

This evening we had the pleasure of hearing Feliberto Pereira tell his amazing story. Feliberto was a Cuban refugee from Cuba. Feliberto has an amazing story and we'd like to share the highlights with you...

Feliberto was lucky enough to be one of the last to graduate from a Cuban seminary before Fidel Castro closed all religious institutions. Feliberto was told that he was not allowed to leave the walls of his church. He was called a parasite because he was not working for the Communist government. He was forced to be a teacher and he was told he had to sign a paper renouncing his faith and saying that he was an Atheist. Additionally he had to take classes and read books on being Communist. After all of that, he refused to sign a paper saying he did not believe in God. He was sentenced to 2 years hard labor. He faced death many many times. He was caught trying to give scriptures to another pastor also imprisoned and was accused of working for the American CIA.

In November of 1969 Feliberto was granted Political Asylum in the United States. By a miracle from God, he escaped with the help of a guard who not actually a Communist and made it to the United States. He was lucky enough to get the chance to bring his wife and two small children with him.

Feliberto ended up in South Texas helping other refugees like himself. Over the years he has taken in many, many refugees. He helps them get political asylum and other things they need while in the United States. We had the opportunity to meet 3 of these refugees. They are from Honduras, Columbia and Cuba. They each have amazing stories which we'll be happy to tell you if you're interested!!

Feliberto is an amazing man who has an amazing ministry. The Casitas project is only one of many branches of his ministry! They have a rice and beans ministry for families in the area who can't afford to put food on the table and a children's home called "Casa Bethel."

We were all extremely inspired!! Most of us have his book, if you ask, I'm sure someone will lend it to you! :o)