The year is young, yet visiting teams have built eight houses. The coming weeks will be busy as well. Here’s an update on Faith Ministry’s work along the border:

Construction

Working with the families themselves and Mexican volunteers, teams have built five houses in Reynosa and three in Miguel Alemán. Though the weather is just now getting hot, the work is hard. One team member taking part in the “bucket brigade” that funneled concrete to a roof for pouring calculated the roof required more than 2,600 buckets! Of course, the work is also rewarding, as evidenced by the friendships begun on the worksites. God is indeed at work! Several teams also provided activities for the children during the weeks they visited, teaching about God’s love while they also demonstrated it.

Showing off an almost completed wall of a house in Mexico

Dedicating a house for a family in Miguel Aleman

Kids from a mission work group with David and Omar in Mexico

Safety

There’s been a recent uptick in incidents of violence against soldiers in the border region, but in Reynosa, where our all teams will be working through at least autumn, they’ve remained well-removed from our worksites. Staff and board members have in place procedures to ensure safety.

Dentist Visits

We’re happy when doctors, optometrists and dentists can visit the Faith Ministry Betty Clinic in Reynosa and treat families who otherwise wouldn’t receive care. Early this month, Dr. Dwight Lee from Indiana provided dental care to 30 patients per day.

A dentist seeing patients at the clinic in Reynosa

Sprucing Up

Building houses is hard work, and Faith Ministry wants our visiting teams to be as safe and comfortable as possible, so we continue fixing up our facilities in both Reynosa and Miguel Alemán. This month, we added a ramp so everyone can have access to the Miguel Alemán church. With Benito Chavez leading the congregation, it continues to grow and is itself working in the community.

Building a ramp for the church in Miguel Aleman

Needs

We thought for awhile we were going to need to replace a cement mixer, but now it appears it can be repaired. We do need a new pickup truck in Miguel Alemán however. We also want to provide meals for children more days per week, so we hope many team members will consider giving monthly to the ministry. Signing up for a monthly draft is easy; you can do it quickly online here, and gifts of even $5 per month help in our work with children, the clinic, construction and churches. Please also ask your church to put Faith Ministry in its mission budget. There is much work to do together!

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