Power Ministry

Its 9:59PM in Rio Bravo. The Week Two team has arrived from Riverside, Ridgecrest, South Carolina, Idaho, New York, Oregon, and even South Dakota.

Not everyone endures travel with the same level of energy. As seen in this photo, Ezekiel Alejandro hits the rack first. He is probably the smartest man alive, because when the rest start falling asleep, the noises men make, will prevent the late comers from getting any sleep at all. This is real genius at work! Congratulations Ezekiel.

We begin tomorrow from our launching pad at Faith Mission International in Rio Bravo. Our ministry will take us across the border to Cuidad Acuna where we will be building churches for Pastor Hugo and Pastor Juan Guillen. A house will be built for Vicente & Cecilia Casas (no pun intended). As usual, there will also be unexpected surprises and opportunities to love people in Jesus name. Pray for us.

Today, we left Rio Bravo for the Dome Church in Reynosa. Projects started at the Rio Bravo Ministries orphanage will be completed by the Week 2 POWER team, arriving in Austin and San Antonio Wednesday. But there is still a lot to do today.

The Dome Church is an amazing sight. It can hold upwards of 2,500 people or more for a service. With two services, now on Sunday, we were looking at as many as 1,700 worshippers, when the POWER team arrived to give their testimony and sing (that’s right, sing in Spanish) for the church.

Pastor Willy, who has been with us all week, is at home here. This is the same place, where just yesterday, hundreds of kids and their parents and family attended the carnival under the Dome. Now, everything that made it a festival has been packed up and moved out. No more bouncing games, puppet ministry or cotton candy.

But it’s still a lot of fun! The church has a great band. The musicians play contemporary Christian music, and they were having a very good time. The worshippers sang in Spanish of course, but the POWER men recognized several melodies that are also popular back home.

All the POWER men wore collared, red shirts today, and marched onto the stage, filling almost every open space across the back. Doug Wible, trip coordinator, was introduced, and led the congregation and the POWER men in song, praising God. During a break between songs, Doug introduced two of the first-year rookies to share with the congregation how the experience had been this week: Gregg Francabandera of Long Beach, CA and Mark Haverdink of Maurice, IA. Both shared their experiences for the week, and the impact it had on their lives.

Mark shared about how connected he felt with the people of Mexico through his experience at Magdiel this week, and how this experience would help him as a pastor. Gregg talked about his family and his marriage, and how it’s important to be a Christian husband. Later, Pastor Willy asked the men in the congregation to come to the front, and the POWER team to leave the stage to pray with them. It was a powerful moment for the church, and when it was over, one of the men in tears told Gregg that he was about to divorce his wife and leave his children, but God had touched his heart, and changed his mind this day.

Two more songs and two more testimonies from third-year POWER men, Ron Kiefer of Rome, GA and David McKnight of Riverside, CA. David talked about how the experience over the last three years showed him that the POWER men were truly his brothers and that the Dome Church was his family in Christ. Ron brought POWER verse Acts 1:8 home to Reynosa: “But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive POWER and will tell people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” He said that those locations point equally to Reynosa, the colonias and the neighborhoods. He encouraged them to share the Good News with their neighbors.

After services and lunch, the POWER team started the long drive back to San Antonio, to get ready to head home the next day. It had been a great week, and the men began to think about debriefing the next morning. What was the take away value for them? How had God spoken to them? How would they put this experience to work in their lives? A lot to think about…

Others on the construction team headed back to Del Rio to start the cycle again for the Week-2 POWER team arriving Wednesday. Construction Director David McClellan of Riverside, CA, Project Coordinator Brian Albright of Ridgecrest, CA, Project Leader Cody Gibbs of Bellevue, ID and Handyman/Lead Utility David Haefele of Ridgecrest, CA, all looped back to get projects ready for the next team.

Today was split between the orphanage at Rio Bravo and the Dome Church, both hit by light to moderate rain, which made walking around, and picking up mud pretty common. The POWER team met at the hotel in Hidalgo this morning for breakfast, followed by worship and devotions. Buddy Sliva of New Castle, WA shared his testimony and the impact that family health issues have on one’s faith. He talked about the importance of family, and shared some examples of how long-time POWER leadership team member Louie Davenport of Gooding, ID was a tremendous support and an example of Christ to Buddy and his wife, Louie’s daughter.

By a little after 8:00 AM, and with the box truck being left on the Texas side of the border, everyone held their POWER bags in vans for the trip into Reynosa. First stop was Rio Bravo, where work projects awaited, and where the team would later spend the night.

Teams were split up into roofing, painting and building pews and beds — a lot of activity in a small area, but the projects only lasted until lunchtime, since the second half of the day was devoted to the festival at the Dome Church.

Rain continued steadily through lunch, and there were concerns about turnout for the festival, which was being held entirely under the dome because of the weather. When the puppet team started, the crowd was a little small, but before long, the church was full of kids and families, singing songs, playing games and glorifying God, who made sure everyone who was supposed to be there was.

Dinner was back at Rio Bravo, followed by a discussion of Rio Bravo’s history by its founder, Ray Hansen. After that, “court” was in session as Tim Morgan of Rome, GA donned a white wig, and became The Judge. First POWER fine of the night went to… Larry Johnson, also of Rome, who as the bailiff, introduced this as a 2010 session of court. Without even waiting for the judge, he opened his wallet, and added a donation to the POWER bank. There were a LOT of “fines” assessed (along with a large dose of good-natured ribbing), and we’ll have to see how this stacks up against prior sessions of court.

In the morning, it’s back to the Dome Church with several of the POWER men giving testimony to the congregation during second service, and then it’s back across the border and on to San Antonio.

Has this really been five days? So much work being done, and so many early mornings and late nights, the days start blending together. About 9 PM CT, the POWER team rolled into Hidalgo, TX, just across the border from Reynosa, home of Pastor Willy Perez’ domed church. While 9 PM may seem like a late arrival, it’s actually one of the earlier ones. In every case so far, arriving in a new town happened after 11 PM — with days starting just a few short hours after the last person climbs into bed. More often than not, that last person has been a member of the POWER leadership team, who spend countless hours planning, organizing and coordinating activities in nearly a dozen cities this week.

The POWER men started their morning more than 16 hours earlier with breakfast at Luby’s in Brownsville, where the crew opens the restaurant early, just for POWER. After breakfast, Mark Weber of Cedar Creek, TX, Eric Yakura of Westminster, CA and Jim Runyan of San Bernardino, CA added their guitars and pocket trumpet to the singing voices of the POWER men. Then Jim Saiz of Moreno Valley, CA offered his testimony to the team. Jim, an avowed adrenalin junkie, who jumps out of planes for fun (with a parachute), shared how important it is to keep your family a priority. “I’ve got a lot of money in toys,” Jim said, “but I’d trade it all in for a redo on family.” You can lose the chance once children are grown and left home. Like these last five days, years will zoom by if you’re not keeping an eye on them.

After devotions, vans loaded up, and headed for the border. Next stop: Magdiel Bible Institute in Matamoros. No construction projects on the schedule today, this visit was all about teaching and receiving the word of God. Magdiel will graduate a new generation of church leaders in Mexico. Assignments for today were to classrooms.

POWER men and Magdiel students were paired, and given a chance to learn about one another. Julie, a second year student from Michoacán, was paired with Jim Saiz and David McKnight. Working through the language barrier, they learned about favorite foods and hobbies, and then shared the information with others in the room. Among other things, Julie learned that Jim was a sky diver, and when Larry Johnson came by to introduce his student, all learned that Larry was a pilot. He pointed at himself, and said in Spanish, “piloto.” Then he pointed to Jim, and said “loco!”

A highlight for the students was when Pastor Willy (who has been with the POWER team all week, working with them on all the same projects), spoke with them about being constant and diligent in their relationship with God through prayer and reading God’s Word, and in the relationship with their future congregations through teaching.

Following lunch, everyone headed into the chapel for music and special presentations. The students put on a skit about giving everything to God, and recreate an encounter with Jesus. “Should I give Him my cell phone?” one of the students in the skit asked aloud. “No, I need it more than God does; I have to call my girlfriend.” Instead, the character offers Jesus his tie, representing something of little value. When the last student wants to give up his cell phone, he says it’s not enough, and gives Jesus his heart. Point taken.

The students, teachers and administration at Magdiel have a special relationship with POWER, and hugs and handshakes were passed all around, ending with a lively game of soccer. With about 16 men on one side from POWER, and about nine students on the other, it was clear that these unbalanced odds were unfair. Magdiel should have had fewer students on their team.


Tomorrow we head into Reynosa on project work, and also for the annual children’s carnival. This should be a blast!

PS – Larry Johnson says hi to everyone, especially his POWER buddies in California, who will be out next week.

Laredo Stepping Stone was a quick overnight stop. The POWER team was back up and on the road early with work projects at Faith Mission in El Cenizo today. David and Amy Burkett have dedicated their lives to serving God through the people in colonias on both sides of the border. Last year, the teams worked in Nuevo Laredo. This year they worked on the US side of the border at the El Cenizo mission center.

The largest project today was building dorms, starting with a base of an existing mobile home that had been donated to the facility. A raised floor was positioned right next to one side of the mobile home. Walls went up, and then roof trusses — right over the top of the old mobile home. This was one building project few on the team had seen before. When next week’s team arrives, the trailer will be the foundation of part of the building, but it will no longer look like an old trailer sitting on the lot.

Another transforming project today involved painting the church. It’s amazing what a little paint can do. Just ask Sam Hieronymus of Riverside, who ended up himself coated in paint. “They said we were going to paint the church,” he said, “and, hey, God’s people are the church!” he laughed. Other projects, today, included drywalling a bathroom, and building an interior wall.

After lunch, David Burkett introduced the team to Raul Reyes, mayor of El Cinezo, who along with the City Council proclaimed January 13 POWER Ministry day in the city. Mayor Reyes, the youngest mayor in the state of Texas, told of growing up in a Christian home, and the impact that made on his life. After the proclamation was read, the POWER team prayed over Mayor Reyes, and then the young mayor had his photo taken, flanked by the youngest member of the team at 18, Harrison Freedman of Long Beach and the oldest  member at 92, Vance Luke of Rome, GA.

With projects completed for the day, the POWER team made the long drive south to Brownsville. Tomorrow they make their way across the border to the Magdiel Bible Institute in Matamoras. This will be a day of spending time with the student, who are the future leaders of the Christian Church in Mexico. And if it’s not raining, there will be an opportunity for the POWER team to prove itself on the soccer field! More on that in tomorrow’s blog.

Tomorrow the team heads across the border.

Day three was a challenging day with wind chill starting in the teens, and a lot of the men wishing they had worn their long underwear before heading out in the morning. It didn’t seem to warm up much through the day, but when you’re doing God’s work, you don’t think about the cold much. Building projects wrapping for the day in Acuna – and waiting for the second week crew to complete – included two churches and a house. Actually, not a house. “It’s a home,” explained Doug Wibble of Riverside, POWER Trip Director. The Casas family really appreciate what the men are doing for them. When the second week crew comes in, they’ll put on roofs for the churches, finish the work started, and maybe even begin new projects. David McClellan, also of Riverside, and POWER Construction Coordinator, has been here since early in the month. “Everything is right on schedule,” he said.

Buddy Sliva of New Castle, Washington worked with Martin Foster of Rome, GA this morning, siding Pastor Hugo’s new church building. By the end of the day, all the buildings were enclosed and secured with windows and doors installed.

But it’s not all about hammers and nails, sometimes the building and repair work involves souls. This afternoon’s JOY (Jesus, Others, You) tour of Acuna included a stop at a prison. Gregg “TwoGee” Francabandera of Long Beach shared his faith and his testimony with these forgotten men, standing in a very cold prison yard. Miguel Pascual, also of Long Beach, interpreted in Spanish, and then a few minutes later prayed with one of the guards, who told him he would have be worshipping and praying with the team and the prisoners had he not been on duty. God was really working there.

As we leave Acuna and Del Rio, pray for this prison ministry, and for Faith Mission and its work in Acuna, and keep them in your prayers through the year. Next stop: Laredo Stepping Stone.

6:45 AM Central Time, and 65 men gather in the bunkhouse common room for breakfast, devotions — and project assignments. There are two churches being built, and what the crews this week get started, the crews next week will finish. Pastors Juan Guillen and Hugo and the local worshipers will have two amazing new buildings in which to gather and pray. And in Mexico, there is a tremendous need for prayer.

Close neighbor, America’s third largest trading partner, Mexico is described by many as a third world country. Where many US citizens may see pristine resort areas and sandy beaches, the POWER teams see extreme poverty, mixed with a dose of Hope. Gregg Massie of Riverside almost missed the trip this year. But God had other plans. Some of them included a JOY tour of Acuna with Faith Mission Director Pat Schmeling. “It was the best,” Gregg explained as he told the men in an after-dinner meeting about his experience.

A stop at an orphanage included a soccer game with the kids. Then the men drove through an area Pat has trouble getting local pastors to visit. Crime and drugs make it an unpopular, but important destination. “Just honk,” Pat said as they drove through a neighborhood. Residents gathered and heard testimony from several of the men, including Miguel Pascual, a first-year from Long Beach. Pat located a family he’d been looking for, and the team prayed with them, while offering knit beanies and blankets.The mother was so touched, she covered tears with a beanie pulled over her eyes.

Jeff Camire of Riverside worked the afternoon at one of the church builds, and talked about how they ended the morning behind schedule, but by the end of the day, God had made a way. The church was framed, the building of trusses finished and installed in short order. Many of these little miracles happen throughout the POWER trips. It will be interesting to see how God handles the rest of the week. Wednesday night after dinner, the team heads for Laredo.

It’s January, and from all over the country men have traveled to Del Rio, Texas for the first of two POWER trip weeks, working in neighboring Texas and Mexico communities across some 380 miles of border.There is the contingent from Rome, GA, including Tim Morgan and Larry Johnson, who caught the last flight out of Atlanta before weather closed it down Sunday night. They were waiting for another inbound group traveling west from San Antonio and Austin, catching the BCS championship game, and rooting for Auburn. There were the men from Southern California, flying out of Long Beach into Austin, making the four hour trek in light rain to meet up in Del Rio.

The kick off point is Faith Mission, and from the highway, you gaze through the border fence and across the Rio Grande toward Acuna, where the real work begins on Tuesday. Rookies like Lincoln Ye of Broadview Heights, OH and Eric Yakura of Westminster, CA hear stories from trip veterans as they clean the vans, getting ready for the next day. Some have trouble getting to sleep. There is tension and excitement and expectation. Tuesday is going to be a very good day.

I first heard about Power Ministry when a friend of mine, Adam Othman, said the Lord had put it on his heart if I would consider coming on a trip to Mexico with him. When I asked him about the trip he told me but he also said “the trip” was really too hard to put into words. The tone in his voice made it appealing. And the look on his face made it even more appealing. What little I knew of Adam, I had just met him at a church Bible study, was that he was very passionate about serving the Lord and serving other people. Especially the weak and needy. So I went on the trip. I am on the 5th day today. I am tired, sore and ready for some rest. I’ve heard of men talking about their families, their lives and their struggles. From the strongest to the weakest in the group, and only the Lord knows who those people really are, they all have a growing passion to glorify the Lord and make their lives count for His Grace. I knew there was going to be construction and ministering to the needs of the people. But I was surprised about how much prayer went into the preparation and implementation of every decision and every move. Other than the chances to minister to others and a chance to fellowship with the guys on the trip I guess what I would say has most impressed me—and there is way too much to share in this brief amount of space—is the quality of people that Power Ministry “partners” with! I just spent today with a man named Pat Schmeling ministering to the prisoners and the poor of Acuna. He is a man who will, and is, paying whatever price is required to reach another soul for Jesus and be used by God to bring all who want to into His Kingdom. The other is a pastor named David Burkett. He is definitely a man who is, and will, greatly impact the people of Nuevo Laredo Mexico. I would say of all the people I met on trip he was the one my heart resonated with the most. He has a South Carolina accent and speaks fluent Spanish. But his vision for what he sees the Lord doing, and preparing to do, in Nuevo Laredo Mexico is really challenging. Not in a condemning way but in a godly way. In a way that makes you want to see the Lord do the same things in your own life. And that is what I am leaving this trip with (I still have two more days to go): I have seen what the Lord can, and is doing, through a remarkable collection of believers. But I am wanting to see the Lord do the same things in me. Not for my glory—but for His! It is requiring me to get out of my “comfort zone” and “stretch muscles” that I haven’t used for a while. But being around these men has showed me a new way of looking at things … people … and the whole world around me! It is definitely going to require more of the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life and probably more time working with the Power Ministry!