Power Ministry

Started the day at Border mission. I was astounded to hear that about 100 pastors a week come to Border mission to get food and supplies tor their Mexican congregations. It was so quiet and empty while we were there, it was hard to imagine the amount if food that passes through the place. Power Ministries has a warehouse on the compound that they make great yuse of for staging supplies for building projects, festival supplies etc.
Another great worship and devotional after breakfast. We all appreciate our worship leaders: Door Wible, Dan Careno, and Cody Gibbs. Even though the acoustics weren’t that great, we raised the roof on Our last song, How great is our God.
Doug Husen referred to James 1:2, “Brothers to count it all joy when you encounter variuos trials.” Just a note on Doug–it is pretty easy too imagine him taking everything in stride, and being joyful always. His presentation of the word this week was impactful and fun. I love getting out to projects, and understand the time crunch, but I just want to say that I would have been happy to have longer devotion times.
The part Doug shared about the conflict between God’s promise of great nations coming through Isaac the son of promise, verses God’s test of obedience when he asked to sacrifice that same son was POWERFUL. And Abraham believed God, exercising complete faith despite this incomprehensible command.
We left for Senda de Vida where we would work on some dormitories for single women with children. It’s exciting to hear that there will be homes for these broken families and that some kids will have a real place where they can call home and just be themselves. Children can add so much life and vitality to a place. I hope and pray that this will be a place of blessing, not only for the families that will live there, but for all of Senda de Vida and the surrounding neighborhood.
Hector Luna, the faithful man of God who started Santa de Vida, gave us a condensed version of the story of how Santa de Vida started, How the police said he had to move out, and how he stayed (under threat of prison time). God moved in the heart of the mayor who saw the true goodness in Hector and what he was trying to do and instead of evacuation, the city government got behind Hector and has supported him in many ways over the years basically giving him the property that is currently Send a de Vida.
I, like most of the Power brothers had heard the story before. We make the excuse that we make Hector tell it again “for the new guys”. The truth is, we were all hanging on every word and I doubt there was a dry eye in the crowd by the time Hector was finished. I think may be It’s one of those stories that gets better and better every time you hear it and there is much, much more to the story than what we heard today. I wonder if we have the full story on our website?
Had the chance to visit some more with Pastor Mario of the Alianza Cristiana church during our lunchbreak at Senda de Vida. I didn’t realize their church has a school with about 350 students. That’s really cool. They are training up a future generation of godly men and women.
I got to work with Pasor Mario and the Alianza feeding crew for the afternoon where we visited the poorest of the poor on the streets of Reynosa. I was glad to be able to feed them, but they need so much more than food. It was a disturbing, heart wrenching experience. I don’t know what else to say. Some of the people were thankful, many had blank expressions on there faces that spoke of misery and lack of real hope. I think I heard that the Alianza food bus makes it out there every day. What a witness of God’s love and faithfulness.
As always, the 3-4 hour van ride seemed to fly by, mostly due to the excellent conversations that happen. Sometimes I think It’s crazy all the driving around we do, but there is purpose in it. Another late night to bed followed by a 6:00 morning.
Whew…looking forward to catching up on sleep soon.
Dan Commins

Today we hurried off to the Allianza church in Reynosa for a mega-church service, Mexico style. The church had a greeting party waiting to greet us with much fanfare and many handshakes and God bless you’s. In Spanish, God bless you is “Dios le vendiga”. This is a very important phrase for anyone doing mission work in Mexico, and at least for me, one of the hardest to pronounce. When the local Mexicans say it, it rolls off their tongue, but it comes out wrong every time for me. Later on, after many failed attempts at “Dios le vendiga”, my interpreter Juan was getting embarrassed for me I am pretty sure, so he told me it would be ok if I just said God bless you in English. After the greeting we were herded into a building next to the Dome church building, where we were given our marching orders followed by morning devotions. My very own pastor from Newport, Oregon First Baptist church led us in communion. The combination of taking communion with all my Power brothers, combined with pastor Glen leading the ceremony is a definite highlight for me.
The church service at Allianza did not disappoint either. Our Power team got to help with the service in various ways. Doug Husen gave the sermon, some were ushers and greeters, a few guys gave testimonies, one of which was Pastor Marcus from my church, and we got to go up front to help lead worship. None of us get too excited about getting up in front of close to 1000 people, but from what I could tell, the Power guys did a great job singing our Spanish song ” Eres tu Amigo fiel”. At the end of the service, Pastor Mario gave an alter call and wanted the Power men to pray for those that came up. That was an awesome, POWERFUL and tearful experience.
The church provided numerous beautiful people (young men and women) to interpret for us during our time at Alianza to help us communicate with others and to answer any questions we had. It was a good opportunity to work on my Spanish as well.
Of course it wouldn’t be a Power trip without great food. Today, Alianza provided lunch for us including chips and beans, rice, tomales, fried chicken(Mexican style), Chile reyenos and some amazing looking pastries for desert. Best Chile reyenos I can remember eating.
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FESTIVAL AT REFUGIO INTERNACIONAL DE NINOS:
Power Ministries along with a few of the Refugio staff and some winter Texans (a group of mostly older folks, who live renin Texas for the winter months and help with different missions) puts on a pretty amazing festival with hot dogs, popcorn, all kinds of games and prizes, lots of suckers and even cotton candy. It’s a really fun way to show the love of Jesus to many, and I learned that it is special in another way because many of the parents will have a rare moment of fun time with their children. The games area is kind of like a concrete basketball court in size with a 4 to 5 ‘wall around it and a few openings for access. It was full of kids ranging from babies to teens, with many parents as well. There were around 500 people counting the parents from the area around Refugio who came to the festival. Praise God.
I had a good time working with Glen Small doing the corn hole toss game. We decided to make the game a little more interesting by making them use their feet. There was one teenager who kept saying it was impossible to make it in the hole and we really did’t want him discouraging the other kids from trying so Glen got right out there to show him how it was done. Glen’s first try was way off the mark, but he didn’t let it bother him. He got the next bag out stuck it on his foot and I’m certain he said a quick prayer because that next kick went right in the cornhole . He strutted back over to where I was standing, subtly pointing up to heaven and saying thank you Jesus.
At the end of the festival, we were cleaning up and a little girl came up to Glen with puppy dog eyes. We had one large, grand prize dog left and the girl asked him if she could have it. As he started to answer there was something inside him that new he was going to give it to her, but he couldn’t just give it to her. There had to be a reason to do that so he asked her what her name was to start with. Donna was her answer. Glens wife’s name is Donna. So you know the rest of this story. An example of just one of many unforgettable moments.
I will tell you though, playing with these kids for 3 hours is a lot of fun, but that was the most exhausting afternoon of the whole trip.

Had a great night of rest in a non-snoring room last night. It’s a little hard to describe, but Stepping Stone at Laredo just has a comfortable, homelike atmosphere. I could definitely stay there again.
The day did, however, start out on a somewhat stressful note. I was the first or second one out of bed this morning and I didn’t want to wake anyone up, so I got ready with my trusty headlamp that has a red light setting. Everything was going smoothly as I collected the necessary items for my morning shower. The last thing to grab was my to well which I had left on the vacant bunk above me on top of the extra blankets. I stood up to grab the towel but was dumbstruck to find that it was gone. I wanted to ask around to see if anyone had any idea where I could get another towel, but much to my disappointment, everyone that was up and around seemed to either be praying, or had their nose in the Bible. I just couldn’t bring my self to interrupt my brothers time with God, so I went to the bathroom anyway determined to get a shower even if I had to drip dry. Fortunately there were a couple guys in the bathroom that didn’t seem to busy for me. It was Howie, my good friend and fellow Power class of 2016 van crew brother who gave me some hope that I might not have to drip dry. I hopped in the shower exercising much faith that by the end of my shower I would have a towel waiting for me. Of course Howie did get me a towel. Thanks brother.
You might be asking, What is the story behind “Power Class of 2016? I picked this up today from Brian Albright. He, Scott Thon, Barry Olsen and Ronnie Eubanks are Power Class of 2004…aka “The Dirty Dozen” These 4 guys have gone on a Power trip every year since their very first time with only one exception when Ronnie couldn’t make it one of the 15 years.
We had another great time of worship this morning. Singing the Spanish version of I am a friend of God is just awesome, especially with Pastor Mario leading. He is one of those people who has a countenance that constantly exudes joy and peace. I have had a couple of opportunities to talk with Pastor Mario the past couple days. He is very approachable and also gracious with my broken Spanish. I was a bit confused though about the Spanish wording of the song we were working on; “I am a friend of God”. In Spanish we sing “Eres mi amigo fiel” which literally means ” you are my friend faithful. I even like the Spanish version better now. God is truly a faithful friend isn’t He.
Confession time…. I guess the distress of the missing towel this morning could be to blame, but as an experienced Power trip participant I should remember that on a project day, you don’t pack your tools in the luggage bags. Oops! God is faithful though. His provision often exceeds my expectations. I envisioned scrounging around for a spare hammer or an extra tape measure. Instead, I was privileged to use Loren Vanderscaff’s contractor grade belt with suspenders and everything I needed for the house project I was assigned to. Loren, by the way, is another man who the more I get to know, the more I admire.
The house we built in a poor community on the outskirts of Nuevo Laredo was a simple, one room 12X16′ structure with a concrete floor, two windows, a roof and a door. One really cool aspect of this particular job was that with the exception of the concrete, our two teams finished building a house in one day! Unless you were there, you couldn’t imagine the gratitude that Karen, her 3 children and her mother showed for their brand new house. I hear the ceremonial giving of the keys to Karen was a special experience. David Burkett and the crew spent some time praying a blessing over the family in the new house, and the Holy Spirits` presence filled up that 12X16′ room and touched Karen in a special way.
David and his wife Amy work with Faith Missions to get the good news to many people in various places in Mexico, including Nuevo Laredo. They also help out with missions groups like Power Ministries on border. One thing I picked up on being around David for a little bit was that he is a man of prayer, and I don’t know how else to describe it, but he prays it is moving and powerful.
While one crew was working on the house today, there were 5 other crews doing projects in and around Centro de Refigio. The list of projects included:
1) building pews
2) making bunk beds
3) installing flooring
4) making storage trunks
5) making sloppy Joes for lunch
It was an awesome experience.
Crossing the border at Nuevo Laredo was quite the experience. There was a long line of traffic moving at a snails pace and vendors everywhere. Some were selling statues of the crucifix or Mary, bobblehead dogs, other yard art, food, cheap musical instruments, and there was a nice statue of a 4 point buck deer. They even had a couple venders selling windshield cleaning. The border crossing must have taken about 3 hours. It must have been close to 9:45pm when we ate dinner, followed by the long drive to McAllen where we would spend the next 2 nights. I ended up climbing in bed at 2:30am, but that,s OK because we get to sleep in until 6:20, and we eat again just in case anyone is hungry.
Good night, It’s been a long day.

I woke up bright and early this morning feeling a bit stiff and a little short on sleep but still excited to see what was in store. The accomadations here at Faith Mission may not quite be what we are used to, but I sure appreciate the hot, hot shower.
Oh, by the way, the accapella snorus did not disappoint last night. If you go to bed with the right attitude, this is actually a pleasant experience akin to listening to a running river or maybe more like an ocean. I know you snorers out there get a bad rap most of the time but if you are part of the snoir thanks.
Breakfast was very good and I am thankful for the guys who get up early to prepare breakfast. Mikah Davenport is our fearless leader in the kitchen this week. I had the privilege of working with him and my Power brother Moose on lunch crew today. I hadn’t seen Moose since my last Power trip two years ago, but we picked up where we left off two years ago. Good times and great fellowship.
I may be somewhat unique in this, but in my day to day job, I rarely see anyone. I do get to take my dog Sadie to work with me most days, but once she gets a good scent trail, she is off on her own for up to two to three hours at a time before she checks in with me. So I get plenty of alone time. I really don’t mind that aspect of my job as a timber cruiser, but I think for me these Power trips satisfy a need to do something with other men. Working with my Christian brothers on these projects is just plain healthy for me; mentally spiritually and emotionally. I have no doubt that anyone who reads this that has been on a Power missions trip would say amen.
After having lunch together at Faith Mission, Allen Ehlers, the founder of Faith Mission gave us some really good reminders of Gods amazing faithfulness. Please keep Faith Mission in your prayers. If it is to continue on, they’re really needing someone(s) to take over running the place.
We left for Laredo Stepping Stone. It was a long drive, but the time always flies by when you have half a dozen Power brothers to share the trip with. Due to the hard labor of holding the van seats down for 3 hours, we arrived at Luby’s restarant ready to conquer another huge plate of really good food….Which never seems got be a problem? My theory is, we eat more to make up for our lack of sleep.
Late night prayer: Every night we have the opportunity to join with whoever shows up for a 30 to 45 minute time of sharing personal prayer needs and then praying together. This week the average attendance has been around 15 guys. Tonight was my first time at a prayer meeting and it won’t be my last. I just love praying together and sharing our burdens and praise reports. There is no pressure to pray out loud, which is always a difficult thing for me. Is there a better way for us to truly exercise our faith than to spend time before God in prayer, trusting the only one who truly sees all our problems, knows what is best, and has the power to answer. Speaking of faith, Doug Husen shared an acronym for faith that struck a chord.
F. Forsaking
A. All
I. I
T. Take
H. Him
Let that sink in for a while….
After prayer, I wandered around Stepping Stone in search of a good place to spend some time working on the blog. The problem is I kept running into guys that I couldn’t help but engage in conversation with. One of these guys was Marty Read, our operations manager. In my mind, the trip experience wouldn’t be the same without him(actually there are a number of leaders and others that really make this trip what it is). I was blessed to be able to share on a deeper level with him for I think might have been over an hour, maybe even an hour and a half. As bossy and bristly as Marty comes across when barking out intructions over the radios as operations manager, he is really a softy, with a heart for men to get their acts together and walk uprighly before God. I am honored to be a recipient of his counsel.
I think it is only fitting that I close todays blog with the classic Marty Read qoute.
“THAT IS ALL!!!”

We started the day early around 6 am to give everyone time to get some breakfast and some good strong coffee. Unless you have a good nose or some one is kind enough to share the top secret information, you have to be pretty persistent when it comes to getting coffee. The coffee pot is hidden around the corner of the south entrance to the kitchen…..shhhh. Not having a real good sense of smell, I had to ask and was given directions to the coffee.
Worship started at 7 am. I love it when Doug Wible leads us in the freeing practice of releasing all our cares to Jesus and then recieving His grace, peace, mercy and joy.
We do this in a physical sense by:
1) holding hands out in front of us, palms up representing the burden s we carry.
2) turning hands over, palms down, representing placing it all at the feet of Jesus.
3) turning hands back over palms up, we pray to be filled with God’s grace, peace, love and
joy.
After this, we were privileged to be able to worship the Lord in song together. Even though it is still early and some of us aren’t completely awake yet, this group of men really know how to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. What a great way to start our day here at Faith Mission in Del Rio. We sang “Open the eyes of my heart Lord”, “Come, now is the time to worship”, and the great Hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty”.
Doug Husen led us in morning devotions. He shared a couple very real stories about God speaking to him and prompting him to do something that didn’t make any sense at all until later on. Without going into all the details, God made it clear that when we listen and are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading He will use us in unexpected ways to impact the world around us. It may be a simple matter of packing an extra pair of underwear in your bag, or stepping out in faith to fix something that you know relatively nothing about, God will use us if we step out in faith.
POWER OF FAITH. Doug touched on the verse of the week–1Jn. 5:4 and also pointed us to two other “Faith” verses. Galatians 5:6 “Faith expressing itself in love” and Hebrews 11:1. “Faith is the assurance or confidence of things hoped for and the evidence or conviction of things not seen.”
CS Lewis defined faith as “the ability to see something that I cannot yet see.”
Lastly, Doug reminded us of a key goal for these ministry trips: For men to grow in their faith.
The 4 work projects in Acuna MX for today:
1) Pastor Julios Church roof truss installation
2) Sister Blancas House–roof removal and replacement.
3) Jose Morales Church–building and setting up trusses
4) Pastor Casios House–framing and siding
I had the pleasure of working with Loren Vander Schaaf and Scott Anderson this morning at Pastor Casio’s house. It was cold this morning, but fortunately most of us were able to get the blood moving by moving stacks of lumber from the nearby church building to the jobsite. A good percentage of us guys don’t always have a clue as to how to do many of these projects. We rely on the patient leadership of experienced contractors like Scott and Loren. I am really thankful to learn some of these very practical skills. One thing I love about working with my Power brothers is how gracious everyone is when I accidentally mess something up. We work really hard, and even though we end the day tired and sore it’s a great feeling to know we accomplished something important–not just in the material, but for eternity.
We gathered for lunch at 1pm at Pastor Julios Church. We ate some authentic homemade tacos provided by Pastor Julios church. We were blessed to be able to meet Pastor Raul and Pastor Julio and some of their family as well. They both got up in front and shared using a translator. Pastor Julio has recently lost his wife and things got a little emotional as he shared a bit from the heart how she must be overjoyed as she watches the transformation of their church from a little tin and cardboard shack to a 30 X 60 building.
I got to work on the Pastor Morales church in the afternoon with Brian Albright We had a good sized crew and all of us got a real good workout loading the trusses (in very organised fashion) onto the roof. I can’t wait to see the finished product on that one. Keep up the good work Brian.
Whew…bedtime. It’s about 11:20pm. and almost everyone is settled into bed. There should be a nice chorus (snoring) in the sleeping porch to sing me to sleep. I might break out the earplugs. Looking forward to trying on the Marine Green shirt in the morning.

Great to be a part of something much bigger than I’m used to. There were some delays and unexpected scheduling issues with air travel for some people, but as best as I can tell, everyone one made it. I was excited to see some of the brothers I met a couple years ago, but it wasn’t until actually seeing them face to face and exchanging hugs and handshakes that I realized “this is why I am here”. Despite feeling sleep deprived and a little out of sorts, I am reminded of the bond we share, that I belong here and we are about something big…something POWER full.
Our verse for the week is 1 JOHN 5:4. —POWER of FAITH—
“Because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This victory that has conquered the world, even our faith”.
In light of this, brothers, let’s believe God for good work this week and may our faith and works result in all kinds of good fruit.
We enjoyed a wonderful meal at Chopsticks. Rumer has it that one or more of the restaurant employees were ministered to during our time there. This is nothing out of the ordinary though for a Power trip. It’s amazing the multiple ways that Power Ministries is able to shine the light of Christ on a trip like this. Thank you Jesus.
We are getting settled in for the night at Faith Mission in Del Rio. Everyone who has specific tasks to complete before bedtime is diligently about their business….Starting to feel like a well oiled machine.
Can’t wait to sport the Trophy Gold tee shirts in the morning and get to work.

POWER TRIP 2018 …. WEEK ONE/DAY 6
It Was A Good Day Serving the Lord …. No Hammers Needed ….Being Available Required!
by Terry Hickey
Tuesday, January 17th, day six of the Week One Power Trip … our last day to cross the border into Mexico. After breakfast and loading our luggage in to the luggage van, morning worship and devotions took place in the hotel conference room.
Pastor Brian concluded his series on Faith indicating that while faith is based on fact, we need more than a head knowledge of our faith to really walk with the Lord. He helped us to understand that faith can not be based on our feelings, circumstances or situations; but rather on God who never changes. Inasmuch as faith is a fully persuaded belief in God, it should affect how we live our lives. For many our faith in God starts and stops with head knowledge; which limits our faith walk to what we are able to control through our own understanding, abilities and strength. When we surrender our hearts to the Lord and submit to his authority in our lives, our faith will be based an unchanging, promise-keeping God.
We traveled from McAllen to Brownsville, Texas, crossing the border into Matamoros, Mexico …. destination, Magdiel Bible Institute, a three year bible school. Magdiel has for the past 76 years trained young Mexican men and women to serve as pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and teachers throughout Mexico and beyond.
The purpose of our visit was to interact with, provide friendship and encouragement and prayer support to the students. We gathered in their worship auditorium for worship in song, testimonies from students, and a great time of “ice breaker activities”. Pastor Brian shared a story from his days as a bible school student as an encouragement to the Magdiel students …. once God had captured his heart, he began to fully trust God’s plan for his life.
Following Pastor Brian’s words, Pat Schmeling led the large group of students and Power Men in an ice breaking activity. All the Power Men were instructed to sit next to a student, with no Power Men being permitted to sit next to each other. Single sheets containing five questions were handed out to the Men. Each question was written in English and Spanish, with the goal of breaking through the language barrier to find out information about and provide a means of interacting with the students. After about fifteen minutes the Men were instructed to move to another student and repeat the question game. The nature of the questions was both informative and silly …. The third question asked, “Would you rather give up taking a shower for a month , or give up the use of your cell phone?” … Antonio and Sauel both chose their cell phones … I on the other hand chose showering for the month … go figure!
Mario Perez, the long time Pastor of the Alianza Church in Reynosa, and a member of our Week One Team, shared a with these future pastors, evangelists and teachers a very heartfelt and encouraging message about serving God in ministry, and about the ministry of being a pastor.
A very powerful prayer time for the students ensued, with the Men of Power gathered across the front of the stage. The students were called to come up and stand in front of the Men. The Men placed hands on the students and began to pray for the students out loud and al at the same time. This prayer time could only have been described as noisy and confusing (a spiritual cacauphony!) if you had walked into the room unaware of what was happening …. but to the Lord it had to be a sweet and pleasing melody! The placing of hands on the students led to reassuring and calming hugs and embraces by the end of the this very spirit led and emotional time of prayer.
At the end of the service the Power Team provided hoodies with “Magdiel 2018” imprinted on the front. The fun part of this distribution was that the Men had to go to the students, with whom they had connected in the Question Game, to find out what size hoodie they would need. Then the Men had the fun of handing out the hoodies to their new friends. The students all immediately started putting on their hoodies … and then the cell phone cameras appeared and many pictures were taken!
A lunch provided by the Power Team followed; which provided even more time to connect with the students! Much more “conversation” broke out, often with the aid of various cell phone translation apps. Personally, I had the benefit of being aided in the conversation by David, who spoke good English, and was very patient in helping me to speak with Antonio and Samuel, as well. ( If I had to rely on the translation app, we may have not made it past “Hello, my name is …”, before it was time to head back to San Antonio!)
We departed from Magdiel about 3:00pm and headed back across the border to begin our final long road trip back to the Power Trip jump-off point in San Antonio. Our Week One time will conclude tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 1/18) with a debriefing/sharing time. This time is one of the trip highlights, as the men are provided an opportunity to share something about the trip that really impacted or touched them in some way.
Signing off (for the final time) from the far back seat of a fifteen passenger van ….It has been a VERY Good Day …. with language barriers and other “comfort zone” issues cast to the side …. in serving the Lord!!
Lessons learned this week …. Place your Faith in the Lord, only …. Trust the Lord as you step out of your comfort zone …. Make yourself available ….. serve the Lord! It is always our choice ….

Faith Based Ministries … Who/What is the Target of Your Faith?
Morning worship and devotions took place at Border Missions, a non-profit, non-denominational ministry located in Hildalgo, Texas just across the border from Reynosa. For the past sixty-one years Border Missions has used the distribution of food and clothing to reach the lost along the border for Christ. They serve 300 per week in their hot food program, and up to 500 attend their weekly worship service; and serve up to 2,000 people overall. Power Ministry and its predecessor ministries have been providing beans and rice to Border Missions for 40 years.
Pastor Brian challenged our group to consider the question of what is the target of our faith. Do we place our faith and trust in other people, places or things? He reminded us that when God tested Abraham by instructing him to sacrifice his son, Isaac; Abraham did not hesitate to obey. Abraham had faith in God, faith that he would provide despite the impossible request. Abraham’s faith was not based in the Law or his ability to keep the law, but in god alone. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus said “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move this mountain”. The target of our faith must be Jesus … Faith in Jesus and his power to be at work in our lives. Pastor Brian challenged us to consider what mountains exist in our lives that we tend to try to resolve under our own power. He encouraged us to pray for the strength and faith to turn these mountainous problems over to Jesus.
Day Five of our week was extremely busy, as four construction projects, a prison tour, a hot food delivery program were on the agenda. A substantial amount of the framing for the walls and painting of the exterior siding panels for an apartment building was accomplished at Senda De Vida. The apartment building will provide small individual apartment spaces for mothers with children that need housing. A crew worked at the Big Heart Orphanage constructing interior framed walls that will be used for additional classroom space. This space will be finished off with drywall and electrical in the next two Power Weeks.
Crews worked with Bruce Hepburn to construct a house for a family in a remote area of Reynosa. By the end of the day the house was framed, sided, roofed, and finished off with the setting of the door and windows. While the structure is very simple, it will provide security and protection for a family in great need. Bruce Hepburn’s ministry, Mexico Missions, Inc. has built over 200 homes since moving to the Reynosa area in 2007.
Another Power crew worked with the Hot Food Ministry of Alianza Church; which serves 1,000 hot meals each day in the city of Reynosa! Our men helped on the bus that drives around the city handing out the meals to the homeless. The delivery crew would stop on the street hand out the meals and pray for the men and women …. meeting the love one another command of Jesus in a very real hands-on manner.
Our men also visited a prison in the Reynosa area, handing out toiletry items and slightly used blue jeans and new socks that had been donated by the men of our group. The prison visits also provide a time to meet with the prisoners and share a message about Jesus, and an opportunity for some of our men to share testimonies about how a relationship with Jesus has changed their lives. These visits provide an opportunity to provide for the physical needs, as Mexican prisoners are not provided with much in the way of clothing and personal care items; while providing a very targeted message about their need for a relationship with Jesus.
On a personal note I actually had an opportunity to use my hammer today (briefly, however not particularly effectively). As I was pounding in some framing nails, I could hear several teen-age boys directing their comments in Spanish toward me … and snickering! It turns out that they had given me the nick name, “One Who Bends the Nails” or “Hammers At An Angle”! (Editors Note: That did not really happen …. The Spanish Name thing, I mean …. The bent nails part did actually happen, frequently!)
Today was our last construction day, as tomorrow we head out to the Magdiel Bible School in Matamoros for a visit to interact with and encourage the bible college students in the first half of the day. Following our visit we will start the long road trip back to San Antonio to conclude our week.
Signing off from the far back seat of a fifteen passenger van …. today would have been a really good day to wear a helmet in the van, as we spent about half of the miles travelled in the air in between bumps and dips in the road!!

POWER MINISTRY 2018 ….. WEEK ONE/DAY FOUR
Now is the Time To Worship ….. Now is the time for a Festival!! by Terry Hickey
Sunday on a Power Trip week is a day for worship and to conduct a community festival, as opposed to day of construction …. but it is hardly a day of rest (at least not the take a nap Sunday afternoon type of rest! Following breakfast at the hotel headed over the border into Reynosa, Mexico. Thefirst stop of the day took us to Sende De Vida (The Path of Life) Mission. Sende De Vida, under the direction of Hector Luna, is located on the side of the Rio Grande River at the site of a former dump for waste construction materials. This ministry provides food, clothing, sleeping quarters, and most importantly the message of God’s love to homeless and recently deported persons. Hector Luna’s ministry has become a life saving resource for many who have been essentially dumped at the side of the road by the established medical and welfare systems. Power Ministry has been connected to this ministry since 2007, and constructed a building to house elderly homeless men in 2012.
Patrick Schmeling led a communion service at Sende De Vida after a moving praise time. He shared with us the significance of phrasing in John 13:31 where it references “the one cup” and the “one loaf” that had been shared during the Last Supper; indicating that it speaks directly to the unity shared between Jesus and the disciples. He went on to remind us that the scripture says, ” That by this (and no other thing) shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”. This love for one another should be so obvious, that it attracts attention.
Following our time at Sende De Vida we travelled across Reynosa to Alianza Christiana ( The Dome Church) for worship with Pastor Mario Perez’s congregation. this is one of the highlights of the week as Power Ministry is so enthusiastically welcomed. A tradition had been started last year which includes the Power Men serving the congregation by acting as greeters, ushers and collecting the offering at the 11:00 service. In addition the power Worship Team joined the Alianza Worship Team in accompanying the Power Men who gathered on the platform to lead the congregation in several worship songs. Three Power Men gave brief testimonies of God’s work in their lives, including a testimony by Vance Luke, a ninety-nine (99)year old dynamo from Rome, Georgia!
Pastor Brian Park gave the message based on the Old Testament account of Caleb and Joshua; recounting how they had complete trust that God would help the Israelites defeat the “giants” that had been reported to be living in the land that God intended them to conquer. Pastor Brian challenged the congregation to have faith and trust that God would also help us to conquer the giant-like problems and concerns which we face every day.
Apparently, the leadership of Power Ministries did not grow up with the tradition/custom of taking a leisurely nap after Sunday dinner … or at least that doesn’t fit into a Power Trip schedule! We spent the afternoon at the Rio Bravo Orphanage holding a festival for the community surrounding the orphanage. Hundreds of children, parents and grandparents showed up at three o’clock for the fun and games. The Power Men manned a variety of games, pony rides, inflatables and bounce hoses, made cotton candy, popped popcorn, cooked hotdogs, and took and printed off family photos.
The festival continues to be a great opportunity to interact with the children and adults in a fun loving atmosphere that clearly leaps over the usual language barrier. Providing these families a couple of hours of fun, laughter and food is a great way to share the love of Jesus!
Both the service of the Power Men at Alianza Church in the morning and the festival in the afternoon brought to life the message that Pat Schmeling brought to the men in the morning communion service … to express our love for one another in the name of Jesus! That is the whole purpose of the Power Ministry Trips … to demonstrate the love of Jesus through a variety of Love One Another actions and projects!
Speaking of projects … Tomorrow we return to construction projects in the Reynosa area!
Signing off from the far back seat of a fifteen passenger van with only short jaunts across the border tomorrow and prayerfully no big bumps in the road!
 

POWER MINISTRY 2018 … WEEK ONE/DAY THREE
“Get Out Day … We’re Going On A Road Trip”
See You Next Year Acuna …. Work continued in Acuna and at Faith Mission during the first half of the day. After lunch all of our personal gear and the Power equipment were loaded into the vans and trucks and we headed off on our six hour road trip to McAllen, Texas.
Without the need for traveling at the end of the day most of the men got a decent night’s sleep …. after having been forced to eat a steak dinner cooked by the day’s Food Crew, including a baked potato, green salad (fancied up with strawberries, dried cranberries, and candied pecans), and a choice of several desserts … it really is quite a sacrifice being on Power Trip!!
During our morning devotions Pastor Brian talked about Faith leading to Assurance; acknowledging that stepping out of one’s comfort zone to serve the Lord, or to tackle anything in life, can result in anxiety. He reminded the men that God’s word says to “cast your cares (and anxieties) upon the Lord”. He encouraged us to pray for the Faith it takes to cast out, throw off (kick to the curb) any worries or anxieties we have and step out in Faith and serve the Lord … whether in Acuna, Reynosa, Matamoros, or in our daily lives back home. Pastor Brian stressed that it is a choice to “cast our cares upon the Lord”.
While the Men of Week One are stepping out of our comfort zones this week, clearly the local missionaries, such as Pastor Morales and Pastor Julio that are serving in Acuna at some point made a major choice to cast aside their fears to serve in very impoverished neighborhoods of Acuna, and continue to live by faith in overcoming daily challenges! By God’s grace the projects in Acuna this year week will ease the daily anxieties they encounter in serving their flocks.
As we leave Acuna this afternoon we are excited to report that the walls were erected at the Morales Church, including cut outs for the doors and windows. In addition more of the roof trusses were constructed in anticipation of completing the roof by the Weeks Two and Three Teams.
All thirty-nine of the trusses needed for Pastor Julio’s Church were completed, as the Men of Power worked side by side with men of the nearby community. ( As a side note … After having spent nearly four hours bent over applying glue to the joints of the trusses before applying the plywood gussets, and several hours yesterday afternoon stapling gussets to the truss joints, I think I might benefit from a truss of a different definition!)
All the roof trusses were completed for Sister Blanca’s house. I am sure that sister Blanca will appreciate the new roof, as it will provide protection for her family of fivr children and several nieces and nephews that live with her, as well.
Another crew stayed behind at Faith Mission to assemble packets of Spanish Gospel Tracts. 75,000 tracts were assembled into packets for distribution to local missionaries along the Texas-Mexico border over the next year ….. perhaps a tedious job assignment, but vital to the ministry of spreading the gospel message!
One highlight of the day was the Joy Tour; which involves taking a crew of men and a van stocked with rice and beans, clothing items and toys and candy for distribution in a very needy neighborhood. The Power team go door to door inviting the men, women and children are invited to come to the van. Approximately 200 people gathered around the van where Power Team member Ernesto Criollo shared in Spanish about Jesus, his sacrifice for us, and their need to accept Him as their Savior. Praise God about twenty people came forward to accept Jesus! One of the Power Team, who does not speak Spanish said that even though he did not understand the words spoken by Ernesto, he was brought to tears by the sight of the people intently listening and then coming forward … it was a good day to serve the Lord!
Welcome to McAllen, Texas ….. Reynosa, Mexico!
After leaving Acuna and Faith Mission we headed off to McAllen, Texas our home base for the next two days, as we serve in Reynosa and Matamoros, Mexico.
Signing off from the second row seat of a fifteen passenger van …. one too many bumps on the very rough Acuna roadways, while in the far back seat of a fifteen passenger van can result in an unacceptable contact between one’s head and the ceiling of the van! I’ll be back in the far back seat once the swelling goes down (Note to self … next year pack a helmet!).