ConcreteforChrist2009 - Evangelical Covenant Church of Wausa

CONCRETE FOR CHRIST 2009

MISSION TRIP

Plans were well underway, and we had a team of about thirty people planning to participate in the 2009 Concrete for Christ winter missions trip to Reynosa, Mexico. We knew the projects we were planning to work on, finances continued to be coming in, people were praying in advance for our trip. With only about two and a half days until our scheduled departure day of February 20, we got a call from a concerned friend who lives on the Texas side of the border and who wanted us to be aware of increased drug-related violence and various protests occurring in the Reynosa area. Upon receipt of this information, we immediately contacted all of our prospective team members, to be sure they were aware of the situation, and we let them know that we would be in touch as soon as we knew more about the situation.

Dennis Kronberg, as project co-ordinator, made a call to his lifelong friend, Bob Kracht, from the Rio Grande Bible Institute, to see if there might be an alternative plan for our winter missions trip. RGBI is a Spanish Bible Institute and Language School in Edinburg, TX.

Within twenty-four hours of that call, we had two predominantly Spanish speaking churches on the Texas side of the border definitely interested in having us “switch gears” and come to their churches to work instead of crossing into Reynosa to work there. A former team member let us know of yet another church that she had worked with previously on a missions trip, and they were also interested in having us come to work. With just a few more calls and emails, we had a church where we could both work and stay, since they had classrooms where we could sleep and shower and kitchen facilities for us to use.

Our team verse this year was Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation). For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. God apparently had a different set of good things for us to do than what we THOUGHT he had planned for us. We were ready to follow where He was continuing to lead us.

We emailed and called our team members Wednesday evening and within two hours, the entire team had responded to let us know that they were ready to leave Friday morning, Feb. 20, for South Texas.

We arrived Saturday afternoon at Maranatha Bible Church in McAllen, TX, where we would be staying. Franc Ortega, a graduate of RGBI, is the pastor of this church. We looked at the proposed work projects of the Maranatha Bible Church, then we went over to the Valley Community Church to see what work they needed to have done. Salvador Bahena, also a graduate of RGBI, is the pastor of Valley Community.

Sunday morning we worshipped at Maranatha Bible Church, then we went to the Mission Mennonite Brethren Church to look at their proposed work projects. The pastor of the Mission Mennonite Brethren Church is Moises Tagle. Sunday evening, we joined the worship service with the praise team from the Maranatha Bible Church and shared special music with them. We had a team meeting to plan what work projects we would be able to tackle, and which team members would work on which projects.

Monday through Thursday, we split up into four project locations. Work accomplished during the week included:

1. Maranatha Bible Church, where sewing projects would be done, and where storage racks for folding chairs and folding tables were to be built. Also to be completed at this church was repair to the church’s baptistry, construction of a lockable storage unit for sound equipment, air conditioner repair and some electrical repair work.

2. Luis Alcocer mobile home. Luis is a member of the Maranatha Bible Church, and his home was badly damaged in last year’s hurricane. Luis and his two little girls live alone since his wife was killed about a year ago in a car accident. Repairs included replacing a good portion of the flooring due to water damage, repair to the roof, and repair to the shower in the bathroom due to storm damage. Curtains were also sewn for the girls’ bedrooms, Luis’ bedroom and the living room.

3. Mission Mennonite Brethren church, where the very small kitchen and an old bathroom were demolished and the wall removed between the two to make a new, larger kitchen facility. The area was completely gutted, and new walls built, wired, sheetrocked and plumbed. By Thursday evening, the kitchen sink was temporarily re-connected, and there were 13 people working together in the kitchen, which formerly could only have about 3 people working in it.

4. Valley Community Church, where projects included painting of the kitchen and fellowship area, as well as a hallway. In the kitchen a new exterior door was installed and some finish trim installed as well. There was some electrical repair done and new plug-ins installed over the countertop area. We cleaned and repaired two air conditioners and installed two hot water heaters. Four picnic tables were refinished.

Tuesday morning we took a break from our projects to visit the RGBI campus and participate in morning chapel. We ate our noon meal on campus in their cafeteria.

Each evening a different church hosted us for the evening meal, and we enjoyed a wide variety of Mexican meals. A highlight of the week was Wednesday night’s praise service at the Valley Community Church. We thoroughly enjoyed joining with the praise team singing praises to God and giving and hearing testimonies of God’s working in lives.

We left South Texas Friday about noon and arrived back in Nebraska by Saturday evening. What a change it was to leave Texas in upper 90 degree temperatures and go to church Sunday morning in sub zero temperatures with several inches of new snow!

Participants in this year’s team from the Wausa area include Dennis and Kay Kronberg, their Chinese foreign exchange student Bob Sui, Cheryl Wamberg, Joy Nelson, Roger Donner, Julie Joyce and Jim Raabel.

As a team, we are very thankful for those of you who prayed for us and donated to our fundraisers. Our project money was used to pay for materials needed for our projects, as well as to send cash to the Reynosa churches we originally planned to be working at and to the Pilar de Esperanza orphanage which we always work at. Once again, God was faithful to provide work and workers and finances for the projects He had planned for us. We can hardly wait for next year. If you would like to consider being a part of the 2010 Concrete for Christ mission trip, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at kronberg@gpcom.net or 402-586-2139.