June 23, 2003

TJ Team 2003 Wrap Up

On the first full weekend of June, a team of 29 ABCers caravanned to the border, and crossed into Mexico, for a housebuilding missions trip. Eleven teens, three children and fifteen adults made up the team, half of them first timers.

Three housing projects awaited us. One was the usual 12'x12' starter home. The second was a little larger, 12'x16'. And the third was a puzzling challenge to elevate an existing home to the upper portion of the lot, moving three walls vertically 10 feet and horizontally 20 ft, rebuilding one wall and the roof.

Three families benefitted from our efforts. Ferman, Norma and their daughter, Paula have been in Tijuana for several years. Paula has a birthmark on her face that needs treatment, something which would have been taken care of immediately on our side of the border. Ferman works in a factory making furniture.

Irma and Guadalupe's family is grown and gone. Guadalupe is a knife sharpener, so his team enjoyed sharpened saws, a luxury which caused some envy on the part of the other teams. Guadalupe also enjoys playing music for tourists.

Antonio, Laura and their daughter, Jasmin had part of their home burned down in a fire which started on a vacant lot nearby for the purpose of burning garbage. We saw several of these fires throughout the day. This particular one got out of control and spread to three houses nearby.

As usual, some of our crew got lost. This time is was the car of Dale McCall, Paula, Bill and Albert Lebsch. They wandered in the dark, in the rain, in a foreign country for a few hours before finally arriving at the dorm well past midnight.

We had a couple of firsts. Our first potentially serious accident involved Tianna Van Alstine (10) and Lauren DeVaughn (8). The two were holding a wall between them that had been partially propped up. When the wall started to lean, Tianna courageously leaped behind it to hold it up, only to have the wall fall completely on her. Fortunately, a boulder bore the brunt of the weight, and Tianna walked away with little more than a scratch. We also had our first case of vandalism—a broken window in one of the vehicles.

Lorraine Solis earned the nickname "The Communicator" for her great job in connecting with two of the families that we built for. Brian Sharry, self proclaimed "picky eater," worked on the project where nopales (a dish made with cactus) were served. He ate, but didn't taste. As he described it, "I put it in my mouth and swallowed it without chewing." Others in the group who did chew said it was good.

Our purpose was to build muscle, character and faith. We had plenty of opportunity to work on all three as we dealt with tiredness, poverty, deprivation, etc. But the lessons learned will last longer than our sore muscles; lessons of gratitude, stretching ourselves out of our comfort zones, and becoming more like Christ. This was our challenge as we left, and we pass it now on to you:
"Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always prayerful. When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out…Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible." Rom 12:12-18

–Pastor Connie Larson DeVaughn