Building the Kingdom one block at a time

Our last day began with a devotion by Brian on one of our newly poured slabs that focused on the question "Why are we here?" using selected passages from Romans. It is easy for us to fall back into thinking that our good works are the basis of our salvation and that if we just go on enough mission trips and help enough people that God will surely see us as good people. Of course, Paul's letter to the Romans makes it very clear that that is not the case at all. So, if we are not saved by our works, why do we go and help these people? Paul's answer is that in response to God's love for us, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices and that we are under a constant obligation to love our neighbors. Our prayer is that through our work we have shown God's love to the people of Escobedo in a very tangible way.

The last day of work is to lay the first row of blocks on each foundation with input from the homeowner about the placement of the doors. A simple task if you have concrete blocks. Since construction materials have a way of sometimes disappearing from the job sites (just like in the U.S.), we don't have them delivered in advance. The plant that makes the block we use is not very close to the job site so it takes a while for the delivery truck to get to us. So we waited. And we waited.

Unlike Tuesday, Wednesday was a very clear day and getting hotter by the minute. Providentially we had some blocks left over from last year's construction that were stored at the site of one of this year's houses. So, we put the pickup truck to good use and started moving block to the other sites so the teams could get started. Our theory was that once we started to actually move the block that our block delivery truck would show up. Well, it did, but not till after we had moved enough blocks to get started on two sites. These are heavy blocks and it takes about sixty to do each house. That doesn't sound like many unless you are the one actually moving them.









It takes two trips for the delivery truck to bring us all the blocks for the seven houses. We urged the driver to hurry back with the second load and he said he could be back in about two hours. Of course, that turned into about three hours and we ended up moving block for the last two slabs with the pickup truck. It didn't appear that it was the driver's fault for the delay and we gave him a tip that was graciously received. None of us who moved the block will need to do any bicep curls at the gym for a while. :)

By about 3:30 PM we had finished all seven houses and started cleaning up to go home. We took pictures with the future homeowners. There were many heartfelt expressions of gratitude from them, and some tears of happiness as they realized that their promised house was one step closer to becoming a reality. The father of Alberto ( who has MS and is in the wheelchair in the photo) was particularly expressive in his gratitude for our work. We now understand better the message of Genesis 12:2 where God tells Abram that he will be blessed and that he is to be a blessing. It was a very humbling and spiritual experience.











Well, we packed up all the tools ( or most of them anyway - a few got left behind) and loaded up into the van and pickup truck and headed back to our home away from home, Hotel 88. Everybody was in good spirits, hot and tired, but with a great sense of satisfaction. Twelve of the guys were in the van, and Brian and Howard in the pickup truck. Brian had just turned on the main road back to town ( a four lane affair) when one of the local transito policmen waved Brian over. Despite Brian's and Howard's excellent command of Spanish ( in other words almost none) and the policeman's excellent command of English ( in other words none) it quickly became apparent that Brian had been going too fast through a school zone. The policeman didn't have a radar gun, he just judged that Brian was over the speed limit. Now understand that Brian has driven that road a lot of times and never noticed it was a school zone much less ever seen a school anywhere in the surrounding area.

After Brian gave the policeman his drivers license (wondering if he would ever see it again), the policeman proceeded to explain that the fine for speeding in a school zone is $ 70 USD. Brian quickly considered his options. 1. make a run for it and get out of the country as quickly as possible, 2. pay the $ 70 fine, 3. try bribing the policeman - when in Rome do as the Romans do, or 4. call his lifeline Marcos. Just as Brian was frantically dialing Marcos' number and the policeman was preparing to write the ticket, Brian's phone rang. It was the rest of the guys in the van. They had stopped in a nearby service station to buy gas and witnessed the pullover. Brian quickly hung up on them so he could call Marcos.

Thankfully Marcos answered his phone and Brian handed the phone to the policeman and said to the policeman ' Mi amigo' while pointing at the phone. After what seemed like an eternity, the policeman closed the phone, handed Brian his license back and said he could go. Marcos had explained to the policeman that we were doing social work and told the policeman that we were probably dressed in dirty work clothes and had a truck full of construction tools. That description fit us to a 'T'. Marcos is definitely our guardian angel.

Meanwhile the guys in the van had been trying to decide what to do. Apparently there was some division as to whether to stop and offer help or to get as far away as fast as possible. Reports have it that six wanted to stop and help and six wanted to flee the scene. Since they quickly left Brian and Howard to fend for themselves, is is obvious who yelled the loudest. So, after the policeman let Brian go, Howard called the guys in the van and told them that Brian had been handcuffed and taken to jail. They actually seemed to believe it for a while. Later interviews with the twelve in the van revealed that each claimed to have been one of the ones that wanted to stop and offer assistance and that none would admit to abandoning Brian and Howard. :)
It was very funny. (at least after it was over)



We had a fun dinner at Chili's on Wedneday night and all flew home on Thursday.

We appreciate your prayers for our work. Please support the Mexico Mission in any way that you can and buy as many blocks ($ 10 each) as you can. Keep the Senior High Youth and their advisors in your prayers as they prepare to finish the work that we have begun.

The Mens Monterrey Mexico Mission team: Rolando Perez, Howard Swinford, Allen Hirons, Mark Thompson, Bill Claxton, Tom Steele, Bob Petersen, Bob Sabin, Rem Bennett, Jan Milligan, Phil Brand, George Childress, John Wells and Brian Wright