Due to technical difficulties, it’s been a while since our last blog. We are now on laptop number three as once again our computer has been sent back to the States for repairs.
Two weeks ago a team of four men (Jack Justus, Tom Fox, Gary Achey, and Steve Berg) from First Baptist Church of Bethlehem joined us for one week. David Reed and I [Mark] traveled with the team to a small city about 7 ½ hours north of La Paz called Santa Rosalia. A mission of the First Baptist Church of La Paz there, named Mahanaim, is situated along the coast of the Sea of Cortez and has been the victim of an encroaching sea, especially during hurricane season. A couple years back the church lost its kitchen as hurricane Marty ripped it from its foundation. Our mission was to help erect a sea wall large enough to protect the church from future storms. None of us quite knew what to expect.
We arrived in Santa Rosalia in the early evening hours and were greeted at the church by Pastor Ruben and a couple of the members of his congregation. Pastor Ruben showed us around their humble facility, and then took us around to the back of the church to show us exactly what we would be doing. A front end loader had already removed a swath of beach about 75 feet long and 15 feet wide. The 6 of us looked at each other rather overwhelmed recognizing the scale of the project we were recruited for. Oh, yeah…did I mention that the wall would reach about 12-15 feet high?
Our only consolation was knowing that another team of men from the First Baptist Church of La Paz were also on their way to aid in the project. I can’t speak for the whole team, but I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard in my life, mixing cement, moving sand, and harvesting over 7 dump trucks worth of rocks and boulders from a nearby mountain. The team worked like champs!! We put in four ten-hour days at the worksite working alongside our Mexican brothers on this enormous project. .
At the end of the week the wall measured 75 feet long and about 7 feet high! That is a lot of rock, cement, and pain relievers. Although we did not see the wall to completion, the mission in Santa Rosalia is committed to finishing the project. It was great having the guys from FBC here with us in Mexico. They definitely came to work! The Saturday before they left we even put in a couple of hours mixing more cement and moving more rock to add to the foundation of Mary and Raul’s new home in La Paz.
The following is an excerpt from a journal entry from Joyce Reed on how God spoke to some of our team:
Gary: I live on a farm and began to build rock walls around my property. I just kept building and building. People would ask, “Why are you building all these walls?” And I’d reply, “I have no idea.” Finally, when the boundaries were enclosed, I stopped. I said, “I’m not touching another stone or rock again!” And then the chair of our Missions Committee came to me after church one day and told me about this project in Santa Rosalia. The mission needed to build a rock wall to protect it from the ocean. And I thought, “I think I know what God has in store for me!” Coming to Mexico and meeting brothers in Christ from different areas, seeing us bond together as we built this wall--rock by rock, this is what drove me all week.
Tom: God could have sent an angel and built this wall in an instant.
But he didn’t. Instead, God wants us to build each other up in Christ. This is the way God works: he puts us together to be a family. There is no East, West, North, or South. No United States or Mexico. That’s what happened as we built this wall. We built each other up in Christ. It just swells my heart to see the power of God come together when we unite as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Mark: It’s amazing how God speaks. I’ve never seen a burning bush. I’ve never been swallowed by a whale. I’ve never met a giant like Goliath. But I have experienced God speaking to me in a small, still voice. Sometimes I focus on the task at hand at the expense of my relationships. So I was putting all my energy into building this wall, and God would whisper in my ear, “Get to know the people working beside you. Open up your heart. Can you hear me now?” God showed up in a powerful and mighty way. He renewed, strengthened and united us in Christ.
Milton: I live in La Paz and am part of the English-speaking church Crossroads. I was on my way home from a trip to San Diego and pulled into Santa Rosalia on Wednesday night, found the guys, and bunked with them at the hotel. The next morning, I had coffee with them, and then hit the road. I was several kilometers outside of town when God said to me, “Where are you going?” I countered, “You don’t need me, God. They have enough help. I want to go home.” I kept driving a bit further. Then it was like, “Oh man! I can’t do this!” So I listened to God and turned the car around. Did God need me to finish that wall? Not really. But it wasn’t about finishing the wall, was it? It was about building relationships. It was letting God use me to build up his kingdom.
The last day, as the men were gathered at the work site, a ten-year-old boy named Victor walked over to the church. Victor’s dad ran a road-side flea market across from the church. Everyday Victor would come across the street and see what was going on. This particular day he walked up to Mark and Tom. He motioned to Tom to set down his cup of coffee. He motioned the same thing to Mark. Mark and Tom looked at each other, trying to figure out what Victor wanted. After the coffee cups were out of the way, Victor grabbed each of their hands. He indicated that he wanted the other men to join them. So, in a few minutes, this little boy had all the guys joined in a circle. And then Victor began to pray for them. This wasn’t a short prayer. This wasn’t a “God bless you and have a safe trip,” kind of prayer. No, this was a passionate prayer. Full of conviction. Full of the Holy Spirit. Full of love. It went on for several minutes. It was God blessing the hearts of adults through the faith of a child.
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