by Pastor Phil Huber
Inlet Community Church will host a celebration of their spring break mission trip to Mexico on Sunday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to hear group members share their experiences and to see slides of our trip to Mexico on March 19 through 26th.
We were there to help build an orphanage—an orphanage that is being built completely through volunteer labor and donations.
When the drug war was at its height, work on the orphanage slowed to a crawl due to the violence and danger in the area.
American work teams were reluctant to travel into this war zone. Volunteer labor and donations dried up.
Only recently has the work begun to pick up again.
Effects of the drug war are everywhere you turn—poverty and devastation. Many buildings are vacant and reduced to shells. The ones that are inhabited look little better.
In preparation for the trip we raised $4,000 to use for a food distribution day. We went to an area that is between Juarez and Guadalupe, where many people fled when Guadalupe was most rife with violence.
Pastor Steve Brewer, founder of Tapestries of Life Ministries, told us that he had done a distribution there recently and promised he would return soon because the need was so great. We were that return trip.
The day was extremely windy. As we drove, gusts of wind picked up sand, making it difficult to see. We wondered how many would show up for the distribution in such harsh conditions.
We turned a corner and were surprised by the hundreds of people there anxiously awaiting our arrival.
Over the next couple hours we shielded our faces and did our best to protect ourselves from the elements as we gave bundles of food to over 350 families.
Children were given cookies and candy and wooden toy cars as a special treat.
Smiles were abundant, as were expressions of gratitude.
Afterwards we gathered in a local church to wrap things up and pray—our team and a few dozen Mexicans.
Pastor Steve got our attention and shared with us that one of the local women was so grateful after the first food distribution a couple months previously that she brought burritos for each of us as an expression of gratitude.
It was a memorable moment, receiving a burrito from a woman we had come to help feed.
I think you go on a trip like this thinking of what you can contribute.
We gave time, money, resources, and energy. And we were able to accomplish a lot.
But you discover that on a trip like this you receive more than you give.
An unexpected burrito becomes an object lesson that God uses to teach you perspective, gratitude, and generosity.
We gave so much and then were surprised to receive even more in return.
Join us this Sunday evening to hear more stories of our time in Mexico. Inlet Community Church is located at 12 South Shore Road in the village of Inlet.