Texas Mission Trip 2015

June 29, 2015

Texas Mission Trip 2015

This past week has been unbelievable. It will be impossible to put everything into words because I would need all day to do that, but I'm going to share a little bit about what we did.

Here's a little bit of backstory... This was my 8th trip to Texas/Mexico and I can honestly say that this trip was most definitely different than any of the others I've been on. Unfortunately, going into Mexico this year was out of the question because of the danger from the drug cartels. This made a lot of people think twice about going at all. Naturally, going to Mexico sounds much more flashy than going to do mission work in Texas, but, truth be told, Texas needs just as much (if not more) work done as Mexico does. The living conditions in Mexico are not the best, but the spiritual conditions are pretty good. The living conditions in Texas are better than Mexico (not by much), but the spiritual conditions are awful. Weslaco, Texas is a dark, dark place. It is full of gangs, cults, and broken people. There aren't many places that you can go to in America where someone has never heard of Billy Graham or in the local Walmart there are books with 7 steps on how to overcome Satan's hold on your life. There is an oppression there that you can feel very deeply. These people desperately need someone to put their hope in.

Our plan for the week was to do three VBS' a day. The first one would be at 10 in the morning at a local housing project. Jason and Katie advertised about the VBS in the project before we came. The second VBS was to be at 2 in the afternoon at another apartment/housing project just down the road from the first one. The third VBS was to be at 6 o'clock at North Bridge Elementary School that we have been working with for the past couple of years. On Monday we went to our first site at 10. We knocked on some doors, but no one showed. Mondays on mission trips are always chaotic. You never know what you're gonna get. Thankfully, one family did come out and so we did our VBS with them. It was small, but it worked. We went to the 2 o'clock site next. The place that we had planned on setting up our equipment was under water from the recent flooding so we had to change our plans a bit to find a place to set up. We went and knocked on doors, but there wasn't a lot of interest. We waited around for a while, but no one came. By then we were all getting a little worried about what we would be doing during the day for the next three days since people weren't showing up. Gotta love mission trip Mondays! ;)

After we packed up and were planning on going back to the mission house and trying to figure out a plan, one of the ladies on our team suggested that we go and sing to the people at the rest home that was directly across the road. We went and sang some hymns to them and it was such a rejuvenating time for all. After being down because of the unsuccessfulness of the day, that visit to the rest home was just what we needed to lift our spirits. Unexpected blessings are the best blessings.

By bedtime on Monday night a new plan was forming. We decided to keep going to the 10 o'clock site since people had come and send a few people back to the 2 o'clock site just to see if anyone showed and then send the rest of the team to the school at 2 to have VBS there. We decided to come back and pick up all of the kids at North Bridge school at 5:30 and bring them back to the mission house for supper and lessons and a message at the end of the night. Tuesday was full of transition, quite a bit of chaos, and a few "What have we gotten ourselves into?" moments, but it worked!

We have known most of the kids that come to the North Bridge School site since the beginning. Some of the older boys and girls started coming to our VBS' when they were 7 and are now 14 and 15. We have gotten to watch them grow up! It was so awesome to get to spend so much extra time with them. We were truly able to show them that we were there just for them. Most of the kids that have been coming all of these years to the Church of No Walls have parents who aren't christians. These kids are so burdened for their parents. We got the names of some of the parents and wrote them on the white board in the mission house. We decided to pray diligently for these people and that they would come to the Church of No Walls with their kids. During the week some of the family members and parents did come! God answers prayers! That is one of the main things I learned while in Texas. Diligent prayer is the one thing that can turn any situation around.

These children are so precious. Jason and Katie have done a great job teaching them the Bible and showing them love. They are just so in need of someone to care and love them. I can't count how many times I thanked God on the trip that Jason and Katie are there to help these kids. They finally have a steady place to go to get love and encouragement. So many relationships were formed and made stronger this past week. It was so encouraging to know that when you left, they have Jason and Katie there to continue this work.

There was one story that I specifically wanted to share in this post. Taylor Parker and Kirstyn Shew taught the older girls this year and I got to sit in and listen to some of their lessons. Taylor and Kirstyn are awesome teachers and people in general. They truly were the dream team! On the last night of VBS they showed Colbie Caillat's music video for her song "Try." They had white roses for each of the girls. Before they handed them to them they said something that they like about each girl whether it be a physical attribute or a spiritual one. The girls were moved to tears by what Taylor and Kirstyn shared. I had never seen these girls react this way to anything. They are always so solemn and stoic with a wall built around their emotions, but on that night, they broke. I just sat in the back and cried as I watched it all unfold. God was in that room. I know that each and every one of those girls will never be the same. I won't either. They were shown that they are all truly beautiful and made perfect in God's eyes. It was an unbelievable night.

The Church of No Walls is bursting at the seams. I know God has great things in store. Please pray for Jason and Katie as they continue to try to reach the adults in the community. I am so excited to see what God does in Weslaco, Texas. He has already started a great work!