Power Ministry

by Terry Hickey
After an early breakfast at the hotel we set off at 7:00am for worship and devotions in the Chapel at the Border Mission in Hidalgo, Texas. Prior to our devotion time we heard from the director of Border Mission, Jerry McBright, who explained that Border Mission is a non-denominational ministry that has been serving the physical and spiritual needs on both sides of the Texas/Mexican border for the past 58 years.
During our devotion time Pastor Rick focused on Romans 12:1-2; which calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. We were challenged to live in a way(s) that would glorify God; in what we do (Hands), where we go (Feet),what we say (Tongue), what we view (Eyes), what we listen to (Ears), what we think (Mind). Going out to a mission work site today was to be our act of worship … what a blessing!
Today we concentrated on three construction projects; a second story dormitory room for a small orphanage, a school house at another orphanage, and a storage building for Power Ministry supplies. The van to which I was assigned traveled a long distance to an outlying area of Reynosa, Mexico, where we worked on constructing two walls and the roof trusses for the second story of a new dormitory for the small orphanage run by Aroldo and Xochil Rios. They currently care for twelve children, but could increase that number when the dormitory is completed. This new structure will be air tight, warm and dry; which will be a big improvement over their current quarters.
By the way I do ascribe to the measure twice, cut once school; I did it many times today (!), as I again helped with the measuring and cutting of the lumber. I actually did use my hammer today(!), to bend over a nail that was sticking out of a scrap block of 2×4 (we left all the scrap ends to be used by the children as play items after we are gone).
Speaking of children at play … that pretty much sums up our afternoon at Rio Bravo Ministries, an orphanage and school, that currently cares for 52 children in the orphanage and 180 children in the school. Today we, along with a group of men from the Texas Power Ministry put on a carnival for over 700 children and their parents. Three hours of non-stop activity with over 15 games, many inflatables, family portrait opportunities, hot dogs on the grill and probably 2,000 or more little prizes for participating in the games …. did I mention lots of cotton candy! It was a blast watching children of all ages having fun, and parents being free to be childlike!
I mentioned above, that it is a blessing when we live our lives as a sacrifice to God, worshipping him through everything we do …. well today, I’m not sure who received the bigger blessing … the people we served, either in the morning or at the carnival … or the men of Power … IT WAS A VERY GOOD DAY worshipping the Lord … can I get an Amen!!
 

by Terry Hickey
 
Steak dinner Thursday night = steak and egg burritos Friday morning! ( in God’s economy nothing is wasted … not our time/talents … or last nights left-over steaks!
During morning devotions Pastor Rick Chobolla reminded us that being able to love others requires humility on our part … to put the needs of others before ourselves … that he who loves God must love his brother also.
That encouragement proved to be just the right charge for the day as the vans rolled out to continue work on the construction projects, and to set off on a Joy Tour tour to a local men’s prison. I was assigned to the Joy Tour van. After arriving at the prison and going through a security pat-down, we personally greeted the nearly 100 in the small prison yard. The yard is a stark concrete surface surrounded by high walls, crowned with twisted razor-wire. While the area was imposing, the men were remarkably friendly! The gospel message was presented through testimonies by two of the Power Team men, Missionary Mike McGee, Pastor Pat Schmeling and two very dynamic women from Pastor Pat’s church. Praise God, nearly two-thirds of the men responded to the invitation to accept Jesus!
After praying with many men who indicated that they had special needs; hygiene items, denim jeans, and lollipops were handed to the men along with handshakes and hugs. While these men did not look like the image you might have of a hardened prison inmate …. they certainly looked less so with cheeks bulging from lollipops!
Great progress was made at the two construction sites where the framing of three structures and exterior sheeting were completed; as well as the Faith Mission where many maintenance repairs and improvements were completed!
After lunch we were blessed to hear from Allen Ehlers, who with his wife, Charlene, had established Faith Mission International in 1962. They had met the physical and spiritual needs of the impoverished people living along the Texas-Mexican border in the Del Rio/Acuna area until 2004! Their story of faithful obedience to God’s calling is one of selfless hard work, supported by God’s miraculous provision! Pastor Pat Schmeling and his wife Sandra have continued the work of Faith Mission since 2004.
At 3:00PM we set off on a six hour caravan of nine vans, three support vehicles, and a semi-truck loaded with rice and beans … destination McAllen, Texas; our new home base for Saturday and Sunday’s work in and around the cities of Reynosa, Hildago, and Rio Bravo.
 

by Terry Hickey
Awaking to our first day of actual service seemed to have come almost before I fell asleep! After breakfast our day continued with worship and a devotion by Pastor Rich Chobolla. Pastor Rich challenged us through, Psalm 51:10-17, to consider what David discovered; that we need to surrender anything that we are withholding from God (or others) to fully serve and worship God … that God desires our broken and contrite hearts. Applying this revelation to our trip, we were encouraged to set aside any personal agenda/expectations about this trip; and surrender to God’s will for our role on this trip.
The first half of the day I felt more like a fish out of water, as I found myself on a van heading out to one of the two construction sites. Fortunately, my tool expertise was not challenged to any significant degree(!); as I fell into a more comfortable role of hauling lumber, and measuring lumber for cutting into appropriate lengths to be used by others to magically be transformed into an impressive structure. (I had to reflect that God is good and his timing is perfect; as I had recently undergone a minor laser eye procedure that allowed me to actually see the tiny markings on the measuring tape!)
After a great fried chicken lunch I had the privilege of accompanying about a dozen men on a Joy Tour; which involves taking food,clothing, toys, treats, and the Good News of Jesus to the Mexican neighborhoods. Our group traveled to a remote neighborhood clinging to the side of some very rugged terrain. Within about 15 minutes of having arrived, we were excited to see about seventy-five men, women, and children gathering to see what we were going to do. Pastor Patrick Schmeling served as our interpreter as three of our men gave testimonies to the power of Jesus in our lives. Mike McGee speaking in fluent Spanish told the people about their need for a relationship with Jesus; followed by Pastor Pat preaching and giving an invitation. Our team was blessed to see about a ten people come forward to accept Jesus as their savior. The blessings continued as we handed out all the clothing, rice, beans, flour, toys, and lollipops to these very grateful people. Before we left there were many opportunities to pray with individual people who had expressed needs to Pastor Pat. I took the opportunity to play soccer with several of the young boys; which was great fun!
Our evening back at Faith Mission included a fabulous steak diner, followed by ice cream treats for dessert. (FYI … the Power Ministry Team is feeding us like kings … I don’t think you are supposed to gain weight on a missions trip …. just saying, is all!!)
It is very encouraging to know that as I am writing this blog, preparations are underway for our activities of tomorrow; not the least of which is the evening prayer group …. bathing the next step in our week in reassuring prayer!
 

by Terry Hickey
Have you ever felt that “christian coercion” (let’s leave it at good natured persuasion!) to do the right thing? How many excuses did you create in your own mind, as to why you shouldn’t/couldn’t comply with that great opportunity to follow the Lord’s leading? Well the excuses finally evaporated, and I found myself waking up at 3:15AM today to catch a 5:53AM flight to San Antonio. Nearly 22 hours later I find myself in the midst of nearly 70 men of Power Ministry at Faith Mission, Del Rio, Texas; literally on the Mexican border ( that would be the very tall and substantial metal fencing at the side of the entry drive to the Mission!)
Within minutes of having arrived at Faith Mission, our home base and staging area for the first several days, instructions and directions were given and the months of advance planning by the Power Missions Team was launched into action. I quickly realized that I am part of something strategic and amazing. Seemingly chaotic, perhaps at first; but unbelievably well thought out and organized. In the midst of the flurry of assignments called out, I found that I had been assigned the duty of journalist … or blogger, to chronicle the daily activities of our group. So, I hope to provide you with a view of our week in ministering to the impoverished Mexican nationals along the Texas/Mexico border.
God is good (all the time) … as I was en route today I jotted in my prayer journal that I needed to trust that God will take care of all that I had left back home (family and work responsibilities) … all the excuses that I had been rationalizing as impediments to participating in this mission trip! At our first group gathering upon arriving at Faith Mission Mike McGee encouraged all of us to turn all of our concerns about daily life back home over to the Lord … to allow ourselves to focus on serving fully and completely (that’s confirmation!). Please keep all of the men in your prayers to this end!
 

Before I get started on today’s story, I need to tell about something that I forgot to mention yesterday. While I was talking to one of the dinner guests last night, I discovered that not only does the POWER Ministry build things, visit prisons and orphanages and do street evangelism, we also give out a lot of Bibles during our trip. The Hildalgo Ministry received 1000 Spanish Bibles from us this trip, which they give out to the teenagers that they minister to. I also learned what I suspected- Louie was still carrying beans and rice in his big rig on the trip down to Brownsville. He delivered it to another ministry that Power support. Pat Pace has a ministry to Mexican fishermen at a small group of islands in the gulf south of Brownsville. He spent 36 years working with those men as a fisherman and has spent the last 12 years feeding them and taking care of their needs as much as he can. They live in a very isolated spot and he has to travel some long bumpy dirt roads to get to them, past the Cartel lookouts. But thanks be to God, they leave him alone. They know he is taking care of those who have no other safety blanket.
We also learned at breakfast a little about a long time director of the Instituto Biblico Magdiel, an Assembly of God Bible College in Matamoros, Mexico, that we visited today. Reverand Ray Morlock, who died in 2009, originally came from Riverside, CA., and was the inspiration for the start of POWER Ministries. It is his memorial fund that helps provide all the Bibles that we distribute.
We were able to spend a good part of today at the Instituto Biblico Magdiel, visiting with the current students and staff, and then celebrating communion with them in an inspiring worship service. The students that graduate go to all parts of Mexico to spread the gospel. Many of them struggle to find the finances to pay for their education, so POWER Ministries contributes what we can to help with their needs. The young men and women were truly happy to see us, and we were truly blessed to spend time with them. The weather was cold and blustery, but hearts were warmed!
We left there, made it back across the border for the last time, and are headed on the long trip back to San Antonio for a final debriefing tomorrow morning, then back home.
 
 

Our morning devotion that was shared by Pat was from Nehemiah, chapter 1. The story was about the cupbearer for the King, and the message was ‘greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world’. John from our church was chosen prayer captain for his van again. After praying to get across the border safely again, all vans reached their destinations in Mexico successfully. In the morning our group went back to the Hepburn’s ministry in the Colonia, where we worked non stop installing drywall and insulation on the ceilings and walls of the new fellowship hall. In spite of warnings about the devil attacking our work this last day, we had a safe and smooth operation, with everybody pitching in. Some locals brought us sweet yam filled tacos just before we left, which were a hit.
At 12:30 pm, everybody hopped in the vans to meet back at the Alliance Church for sloppy joes. Another orphanage joined us for lunch. Some of our group took them to the local zoo in the afternoon. The groups were juggled again, and our new group went to Hector’s homeless shelter by the border crossing at the river. We installed insulation and metal roofing over the outdoor pavilion that had been erected earlier in the week. I got the job of painting the wood beams around the perimeter. The wind starting picking up late in the afternoon, but there were no incidents. It was another good day.
Jumping back in the vans, we made it back across the border in record time, getting through the checkpoint at a little after 5:30 pm. We rendezvoused at a Border Mission in Hildago where Louie had left his big rig. After all the vans arrived, the POWER trailer was loaded with all the ladders and tools, and David and a few others headed north to unload in Del Rio, then prepare to drive back to California the next day. The rest of us went to eat dinner at Rudy’s restaurant, where we were joined by the Hepburns and another group from Hildago that helps youngsters from Central America. The Hildago group educates and shares the gospel with teenagers that the U.S. Border Patrol catches after they have ridden on the top of trains across Mexico, seeking a better life here in the states.
After another game of musical seats and musical vans, we headed south to Brownsville, Texas. We arrived at the Comfort Inn at 10:45 pm and got our room assignments. Some went right to bed, but a lot of us stayed up for late night prayer group, and others went on the nightly gas run and restocking of the vans.
That is all for now.
 

We left the hotel at 7:15 am, heading across the border to Mexico. Several men are fighting a flu bug, but didn’t want to miss this day, where we attended church and then set up and helped run a large festival at an orphanage. We came to the dome church where we had one of our building projects, and had our POWER devotions in an upper room at the church, where Pat shared from Matthew 28:19. He challenged us to go out and make one disciple every year, which if followed faithfully, will greatly multiply our faith in Jesus. Afterwards, we attended a church service with over 1,000 people, where we were asked to come to the front of the church. It was a very moving experience which brought tears to my eyes. We were served a great lunch at the church. The servers went out of their way to make us feel at home. All of them spoke good English, which is something I was not expecting. This church also had 3 of their members travel with us all week as part of our group. A couple of them did not speak English, but were a big help to our outreach.

 After lingering at the church (they had a little gift shop/library), and taking a group picture, we loaded up the vans and headed out to an orphanage to set up and help run a free festival for about 800 kids and their parents. Several POWER guys told me that this would be a tiring day, but I did not experience that at all. Interacting with kids is always a joy for me, and the afternoon went by quickly. We all had tasks to do for the festival. Chuck and I ran a little ball drop, where the golf balls bounced around until they fell into slots at the bottom of the box, where we set out little prizes in each of the slots. One of the slots was empty, but if they got the ball into that slot, they won a baseball cap. This was the big prize, and kept a line of kids in front of us until the hats ran out. Other games were a basketball shoot, a soccer ball goal, a bowling ball game, a hockey game, a bean bag toss, a ring toss, and several other games. Almost 700 hotdogs were grilled and served up. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, both for us and for the families that attended! We actually made it back across the border at a decent time today, had dinner at Fuddruckers, and came back to the hotel to prepare for our final full day of building projects.

After breakfast at the Super 8 Hotel, we traveled across the border, and stopped first at a shelter right across the border, where a guy named Hector has dedicated his life to ministering to the Mexicans who for whatever reason got stuck there, with no money and little hope. He has built a church and lodgings where there used to be a dump by the Rio Grande River. He relies on prayer to supply the needs. POWER has been a major contributor over the years, both in building projects and providing food. After we sang a few songs acapela, and Pat preached on Philippians 3:7, we went off on our different ways. My group drove to a little finger of land between a large drainage channel and a slew, where several hundred Mexicans (squatters) have made a home. The living conditions were terrible, with their sewage being dumped into the slew right behind their houses, with a long bumpy dirt road for access. Bruce Hepburn from Chicago, and his family, gave up all that they had in Chicago to come down to minister to these people. He had been coming down with his church for several years, and made the decision to dedicate his life to serving here. He drilled a deep well, and installed a PVC water line to provide clean water for all the houses. He has built about 20 new sturdy houses over the past 7 years. We were helping him build a fellowship hall. We also witnessed his wife Paula and helpers passing out food and clothing to about 100 people. The Hepburn’s also rely on prayer for all their needs!

We left for Alianza Christiana, known as the Dome Church, for lunch, then guess what, we switched projects again. I am beginning to think that there is a plan to this madness. We are learning that it is not about ourselves, but God! We are learning to be humble, which is hard for a lot of us. Our group stayed at the large church, and continued working on a second floor addition. I got the task of cutting fiberglass insulation, which was then installed in the walls and ceiling. Another group of guys were putting on the metal roof. We all kind of hung out as the day was drawing to a close at the church, and were joined by most of the other vans. Unfortunately we got stuck at the border crossing by not leaving early enough, so it was an hour wait to get through to the good old U.S of A. I am getting to learn more names. I might even challenge Marty to a contest to call out everybody by their name.

That is all, gentlemen (and others). (I added gentlemen) (that’s an inside joke).

Friday was an easier day, and the POWER group seemed like it is starting to gel into a cohesive group of men. I am impressed by the number of father/son combo’s, and the number of men who have been with the program for many years (many from the beginning in 2001. The messages were inspirational, from the story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-34), to the message from the founder of Faith Mission, Allen Ehlers, at lunch (a 53 year long ministry), and finally the story of the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4:8) after dinner. The last message by David Burkett was in a parking lot in Laredo, and as the temperature was dropping, the preacher’s voice was rising!

Our group visited the Acuna jail first in the morning. Pat brought his boom box and played Spanish Christian music as we met with about 70 inmates. After 4 Spanish speaking members of our group shared their testimony and Pat preached, several of us attempted to keep up with the inmates in a spirited soccer game inside of the enclosed concrete courtyard. After giving out soccer balls, some blankets and clothing, some of our group were able to share with the inmates. Jay related to me that he had met with a man named Jose, who had been pulled over by the police and thrown into jail after being beaten by them until he had admitted to a trumped up charge. Pat confirmed that the inmate was a past volunteer at the church, and he knew him to be an honest man. Pat gave him some money that unbeknownst to Jay had been donated by another POWER group member for providing specifically for a prisoner’s. The money will go towards providing for his young son’s needs. Jay relates that the prisoners have to sleep on concrete floors in the jail with no blankets. The temperature has been dropping below freezing this week!

 After the jail visit, Pat took us to do some street evangelizing in another part of Acuna. We gave out toys, clothes, backpacks and blankets to a crowd of about 50 adults and children. The sun started to come out, and one of the residents invited us into his home and treated us to tamales and sodas. He has a home business of making tamales and selling them at factories across the border.

We finished out the day by climbing into the vans again and driving 6+ hours to McAllen, Texas, with a stop over in Laredo for a pizza dinner. We arrived at the hotel at 1 am, and pretty much crashed in our rooms. It was a long, but satisfying day.     

Reflections of a first timer on the Power Ministry trip, week 2:
Days 1 &2- 88 guys from about 10 different states, all-coming together for a week of intense outreach. Purposeful outreach with eternal results=POWER MINISTRY. I wasn’t sure what to expect. After a circuitous route getting here (I am sure everybody has a story to tell about the trip to San Antonio), we all came together for a meal, then hopped in the vans for the 3-hour drive to Del Rio, Texas.
We were warned numerous times to wear earplugs when we sacked out in the dormitory rooms at the church in Del Rio. Now I know why. A chorus of snores in our room of bunk beds would not let me go to sleep. Then a tapping on the window sometime after midnight- the van cleanup crew was locked out. I guess I drifted off to sleep, because when I woke up around 5:30 am, I didn’t feel too bad.
The first day in Mexico was a whirlwind. After a morning devotion, we all got our work assignments, and navigated through Del Rio, across the bridge on the Rio Grande River, and with prayers made it past the guards on the Mexican side of the border. Once in Acuna, we all separated to different locations for our projects.
My van, along with another, spent the morning manually setting wood trusses at a church that was established by staff from the church in Del Rio. Oh, and it was a good thing that we worked our butts off, as the temperature was in the 40’s, with a 15 mph wind blowing in across the plains. The skies spit at us, but the rain never materialized. We stopped for a welcome lunch inside the church, eating tortas cooked up by our Mexican hosts. Then new work assignments.
I got in a van with a different set of guys, and drove a short distance to one of the faithful church families, where POWER MINISTRY was building an addition to their house. I put up wood trim on the outside walls with another volunteer and a couple of young Mexican kids trying to help. Then the drywall crew needed help inside. Then I climbed up on the metal roof to help finish screwing it down. We stopped at 3 pm for more prayer. The day was long, but before we knew it, we were packing up to get back across the border before night fell.
Another group of POWER MINISTRY men spent the day ministering to the local Mexicans, sharing the word, and praying for family members. With more prayer, we made it back to the USA, and back to our dorms and a dinner and hot showers. Wow, truly an incredible start to our week serving those across the border!