The first interns have arrived, and we’re eagerly awaiting volunteer work teams to begin this summer season’s house building.
Here’s the latest news:
Construction
We’re excited that more than 20 teams will be arriving this summer to build 23 houses in Reynosa and Miguel Alemán. More than 40 families are waiting for homes, however, so there’s much work to do!
Meanwhile, the floor is nearly complete on the new medical clinic under construction in Miguel Alemán. We hope to begin laying block in a few weeks. There have been a few houses completed this spring as well, and the busy season hasn’t even begun.
Couldn’t Stay Away
We couldn’t do it without our volunteer interns. They’re the folks who spend the summer to help visiting work teams with logistics. We’re expecting up to 10 this summer, and the first six have arrived. The first two, David and Kate, said they just couldn’t stay away:
“¡Hola! We are David Baker and Kate Weddington. We are from Charlotte, N.C., and are students at Davidson College. We first came to know Faith Ministry through our church, Myers Park United Methodist, when we came for mission trips as high schoolers. Last summer, we decided to come as volunteers and stayed nine wonderful weeks, mostly in Miguel Alemán. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to create friendships with our Mexican brothers and sisters and helping teams from the United States to do the same. This summer, we came back because we couldn’t imagine doing anything else. The place that Faith Ministry holds in our hearts is not so great because of our love of cinderblocks and cement, but because of the rich partnership we experience in the process.”
Safety
The flu scare has long subsided, and it’s otherwise quiet in the areas where Faith Ministry works. The violence of drug cartels has been limited to distant parts of Mexico in recent months, so we’re optimistic that life is returning to normal, and we continue to believe our work teams are safe. But we urge teams, as always, to keep safety a priority.
Celebration
Faith Ministry founder Deantin Guerra and his wife Lidia are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on June 20. They’re asking friends to forgo the giving of gifts and instead consider a donation to Faith Ministry.
Overcome (by Heat and Love)
Pamela Ackerman is a volunteer who last year returned to Miguel Alemán for her fourth mission trip. The first day of that week was a hot one, and she writes about the experience of finding God’s grace and that of people too:
“On Thursday, Ministerio de Fe holds a house dedication service where the families are given the chance to speak. For most, this is the culmination of years of praying for a home, and it means everything to the families involved. I had had conversations with different workers during the week who, with tears streaming down their faces, told me that without our help, they would not have the homes that they do. I hugged them and explained that it is because of God and that we just want them to know how much God loves them.
They think we are coming to give, and we do serve in the name of Jesus. But we get so much more than we give. The Mexican people have an amazing contentment with what they have. I remember the day that I was overtaken by heat, and I was talking with one of the Mexican ladies under the blistering sun. Her home was not far from the clínica, and she said that, so far, they have no electricity. So, in the unbearable, sweltering heat, they could run no fans in their home to escape the heat. That fact didn’t bother her though. She dreams of a day when the clínica is done so she can walk to work and when her neighborhood has electricity so she can run a fan. When we are typically looking to own the latest thing or spend time trying to find ways to not be bored, such deep satisfaction with life is rare.”
