Power Trip 2012 Week 1 Day 2

As Much As We Can
“This might be the only mission trip some of these guys ever go on,” said Mark LeDuc last night — early this morning, really — before we hit the sack. It was about 2 AM, and the IHOP bible study group hadn’t returned to their dorm beds yet. There were three or four of us in the main meeting room still. Mark was talking about why the POWER leadership team was so driven to get in as much during each week along the border.

There is very little down time during the annual POWER trips. In fact while most of the guys started the trip yesterday in Del Rio at Faith Mission, an advance team has been here since January 5. Concrete foundations don’t just appear magically. Building materials have to be brought in and delivered to each site — and not just in Acuna; all along the border where each project site is located. 382 miles between Del Rio and Brownsville, TX.

Welcome to Day 2. “It’s dark outside, but there is plenty of light inside,” said Doug Wible as he kicked things off with the group this morning. Assignments were announced, and the vans took off. And before you knew it, ten hours had passed, and the crews were back at Faith Mission, eating dinner.

What happened during those ten hours? A lot! 
Cases of English and Spanish language bibles were palletized for distribution to missions along the border. Damon Nevatt of East Hills described the work that was done today. POWER has distributed thousands of bibles to the border communities since starting these trips.

When asked the progress on his project, Ray Hahn of Sandals Church said, “done!” They had started a house for Christian and Yazmine Viegas. “It’s coming along great. The guys all got together, and knocked it out, and we’re way ahead of where we should be.”

Scott Anderson of New Day Christian Fellowship talked about how far along they had gotten on building a house for Pastor Armando. Walls and siding were up. Roof and ceiling joists in place. “A lot of neighbors ended up showing up in the afternoon — they were kind of amazed at what took place today,” he said.

Cody Gibbs of Calvary Bible Church and Pat Schmelling of Faith Mission described the Youth Center being built in Acuna. Schmelling talked about the core group of Christian teens who would be ministered to through the center.

But that wasn’t all: there was a visit to a large group of men in a local prison, resulting in thirty or so coming down for prayer lead by the POWER team that made the visit.

There was a JOY tour visiting local kids, passing out beanies and gloves and candy, followed by a visit to an orphanage.

“That’s what happened today; the FIRST day,” said Wible. “So you can see when men unite for one reason and one purpose, we send them to so many places — and look at all the good that was done.”

Written by David McKnight
Pictures provided by Chis Cho, Micah Davenport, Eric Yakura & Daniel Balboa

Power Trip 2012 Week 1 Day 1

This morning, men from ten states rolled out of bed with a single objective: make their way to San Antonio, TX. They started in Rome, GA and Riverside, CA; Oklahoma City and Maurice, IA. There were veterans and first-timers, all with a similar expectation of God working in big ways over the next week.

A couple of us, leaving with the Southern California contingent out of Long Beach, weren’t sure we’d make it. Bobby Biber and David McKnight were met with “you’re not on our list” from the Jet Blue counter agents. But Mark LeDuc, Power operations, came to the rescue; how could we have doubted? It’s clear God is in charge, here, not Jet Blue.

Those flying into Austin met the groups that came in to San Antonio directly, climbed into nine vans, and headed for dinner (chicken fried steak), then the 2 1/2 hour drive to Faith Mission in Del Rio, TX.

10:30 PM, guys grabbed their bags off the vans, claimed beds in the bunk house, and gathered for a general meeting to talk about tomorrow. “Before we get started,” Trip Director Doug Wible said, “let’s put the road blocks behind us.”

Men broke into prayer groups in areas where they had concerns: health, employment, marriage, family, spiritual renewal, addictions. “Take that burden, and fire a fast ball right to the wall,” Doug encouraged the guys.

Power’s Financial Manager Bob Krull stood up to talk about van driver responsibility. “How many of you guys,” he asked, motioning around the room, “are fathers of kids at home?” A lot of hands went up. “Van drivers, you just got an idea of the value of the cargo you’re carrying.”

Personnel Manager Marty Read (who headed off this evening for a Kmart run and late night bible study at the local IHOP) talked about being prepared tomorrow. “You’re 1700 miles from home,” he said. “If you miss the van, it’s a long walk.”

Tuesday in Acuna is shaping up to be quite a day.

Written by David McKnight
Pictures provided by Daniel Balboa






Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 7

Magdiel and Matamorros… a big finish to the week two mission trip!

Today we crossed the border from Brownsville to Matamoros on the gulf coast. The tropical weather, warm sun and cool breeze was a perfect backdrop to the day of encouragement and ministry.

We entered Magdiel Bible College that prepares young men and women through an exhaustive 3 year Bible training program to change the world for Christ through prayer, social, worship leading and pastoral ministries. The students have an excitement and seriousness about their studies.

Damon expressed joy and a sense of pride as he talked about seeing Mireya who will graduate in May. He has known her and encouraged her in her schooling the past 3 years of mission trips.

Our group divided and spent a couple hours playing games and getting to know the students personally in their classrooms. Together we shared where we were from (using a giant map), our favorite foods, all about our families and our “suenos” (dreams)! During the time together in the classrooms we read scripture and when we read Romans 10:15 “how beautiful are the feet of them who bring good news”, the students were instructed to take their seats and our men proceeded to present a brand new pair of Sketchers / Converse shoes. They knelt down and fitted them to the “beautiful feet” of each student and laced them up and blessed them. The students were thrilled with the thoughtfulness and recognition that what they are doing (preparing to share the gospel) is the most important job they could ever do! Then the pizzas arrived and the students ran through a cheering Power Ministry gauntlet as they entered the lunch room.

Our afternoon began with worship in both English and Spanish. Then it was time for our annual “schooling” on the soccer field. The Magdiel students ran circles around us and managed to score 9 goals to our 3. Hey, that’s not bad for us! Time seemed to fly by and it was 4PM. Hugs were exchanged, and time for our journey to San Antonio, where I sit writing this summary. Our prayer team just completed a time of praise and prayer and now our pillows await our heads. Thank you for praying for us.

Week #2 Attendance Stats

Debriefing and Travel

This morning is our debriefing. This is where we try to express to one another in words what God has done in our midst and in our hearts. It’s a touching time of hearing men express their love for Jesus and the privilege of serving Him in this way. There are stories of people we met in the Acuna neighborhoods, pastors whose churches were built, families too. And the joy of blessing the children in the orphanage and students who will change the world for Christ.

In addition, commitments will be made public. Friendships new and old will be valued. And the leadership of Power Ministry will again see how vital it is that we do it all again next year, with new men… echoing our cheer of JOY = Jesus, Others and You, POWER!

While POWER is based in Riverside, CA, a look at the Week #2 roster tells a story of diversity:
63 people
21 different churches

(top attendance from Crossroads Community church in Ridgecrest, followed by East Hills in Riverside, CA)

24 cities
7 states

Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 6

Border Mission, Hidalgo… is a staging area for distributing Bibles, rice, beans to Reynosa. Our assignment was to “demo” (demolish) a large structure. This can be a lot of fun, since we get the opportunity to swing sledge hammers, and use skill saws and sawsalls to break things.

The job was more difficult than expected. Why? Like ogres and onions, this building was layers upon layers. Just when we got the roof off, another previous roof was exposed. Over and over, then finally pay dirt… we reached the travel trailer inside, that the entire structure was built around.

Kyle and Peter worked ferociously and suffered minor injuiries from nails in their feet. “I am 24% there” says Peter Manley who served God and ended up with a nail in his foot. Jokingly he said “Just three more trips and I will really understand Jesus”.

In the end all hands helped bring the project to the point where the trailer could be removed. Two haul away dumpsters were filled and enough material to fill two more. Wow!

Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 5

Sunday, on the Power trip means worship in Reynosa at the “Dome Church”.

What a joy to sing songs in Spanish from the stage and hear testimonies from two of our men. Then, Pastor Willy began to describe how real Christian men are not whimps… but like Power Ministry, they go out and serve, take risks and proclaim the gospel.

Then it happened… imagine hundreds of men from the church streaming forward for prayer and to pray with our Power Ministry men, literally making the commitment to be a Man of God, to share their faith and love their wives and children. Our reaction to this privilege and awesome movement of God is summarized by retired fighter jet pilot, Lance Floyd who said of the experience, “it was difficult holding it together”. We were all blessed and grateful to be part of this great church.

On a side note. 2 weeks will put some real wear on some guys.

Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 4

Today we spent the day with Pastor David Burkett and his wife Amy (and their 5 children) of Faith Mission in El Cenizo, Texas. We were continuing projects begun by the week 1 Power Team… primarily building the large Dormitories to be used by visiting groups that will help them in the ministry to Mexican families in Nuevo Laredo.

The family felt so encouraged and thrilled that our teams combined for 200+ man hours and built this structure one day last week and another today!

At the same time, two homes were built for families nearby… Each a very unique and special story and blessing.

What really touched our hearts was when David expressed how proud he was of his oldest son Joshua who was leaving Monday for one year of ministering with a drama group called 99! They will be sharing God’s love by acting out a powerful drama about domestic abuse, suicide, as well as alcohol and drug related deaths among teens. They expect to share and counsel upwards of 10,000 a month.

For me, listening to him praise his older daughter who lives in San Antonia and her ministry, then his joy over Joshua, and then about each of his children and he embraced them before us, and kissed them and spoke about their unique giftedness and heart for God. This is how a man of God blesses his family.

Then we gathered and prayed for them as only Power Ministry can! (followed by our cheer: Jesus, Others, You = JOY POWER!)

Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 3

Today we started our morning with the Acuna “Joy Tour” with Pat who leads the Faith Mission outreach work in Acuna. Our first stop was the store to buy 36 dozen fresh tortillas and beans. While my preference is the flour tortillas, the fresh corn ones were delicious. We drove through several poor neigborhoods that are known for drug activity and finally stopped in a place where Pat has just begun to reach out and begin a relationship with the people. We formed teams and went door-to-door and inviting people to receive rice and beans and gifts for their children.

The distribution was fun. Kids received candy and beanies knit by a wonderful group of women from Ridgecrest. The men and women formed a line 25 deep. After a brief testimony, we were invited into homes to pray with people, encouraging them to live for their Christ. We visited a very generous family that served several of us hot chocolate and crackers. The father shared that his name is Noe. We met Ysenia his 16 year old daughter. As Pat asked each about their relationship with Christ, Ysenia didn’t know the Lord. After a long conversation about salvation, Pat felt compelled to talk to Ysenia about purity and remaining strong against the temptations of youth. Then during prayer, she confessed that she was already pregnant. We affirmed God’s love for her and that she will need the love and forgiveness of her family too. Ysenia received it as she shed tears. We hugged each family member goodbye, and Pat plans to start Bible studies in the homes after such a great reception.

Power Trip 2011 Group 2 Day 2

With so many things that happened the first day I want to focus on an event that happened during our Joy Tour. (Jesus, Others, You- J.O.Y.)

The Acuna “Joy Tour” is our opportunity to drive a special van into the neighborhoods and bless people. We are led by Pat, the director of Faith Mission. Our hope is to open doors for sharing the gospel and future church work.

After “stocking up” with fresh tortillas (some 36 dozen), we visited a neighborhood that is known for drug activity. Going door to door, we invite people to come out and prepare to receive rice and beans and gifts for their children. Two of our men share a testimony, then the fun begins as children are giddy to receive “paletas”… lollipops and also stuffed animals. The men and women line up 20 deep for the food.

After a brief prayer together, our teams are invited into homes to pray with people, speaking a blessing upon them and encouraging them to live for their Christ. We visited a very generous family that served several of us hot chocolate and crackers. The father shared that his name is Noe. Pat used the opportunity to talk about Noah of the Bible. We met Ysenia the 16 year old daughter. As Pat asked each about their relationship with Christ, Ysenia didn’t know the Lord. After a long conversation about salvation, Pat felt compelled to talk to Ysenia about purity and remaining strong against the temptations of youth. Then during prayer, she confessed that she was already pregnant. We affirmed God’s love for her and that she will need the love and forgiveness of her family too. Ysenia received it as she shed tears. We hugged each family member goodbye, and Pat plans to start Bible studies in the homes after such a great reception.