Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas! May you be blessed this season as we celebrate the birth of our savior!!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

One

Thoughts from a local El Paso volunteer....

Greetings from the dusty streets of Juárez! This March I had the opportunity to be part of a mission trip without spending hours in a van or catching a flight to a distant land. Granted, I did leave the country and the life I am accustomed to, but this dramatic change was less than a fifteen minute drive from my home. I had the honor of being part of a Casas por Cristo build for a young mother and their three small children in Anapra—a small suburb of Juárez. Yesterday I worked with an international team from as far away as China and as close as El Paso, Texas. 
This team met each other for the first time in the early morning darkness at First Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas. As the volunteer team leader, I had assembled a team of many good and close friends. I invited a number of dear friends from Canyon, Texas to travel from the grasslands of the Panhandle to join us on this project in the desert. These friends once called me their pastor, and the bond between us runs deeper than blood.

Joining them were a handful of veteran Casas por Cristo builders from First Baptist Church of El Paso. There was A.J., the former Navy Seal who led by example. Dick, who used his saw to craft the lumber with masterful skill. Jackson, whose smile and positive attitude made any job, whether large or small, enjoyable.  He invited his close friend Bill to add an extra pair of hands to the job site. And finally, there was, “Yooper Bob” who left his home in upper Michigan to live the life of a Casas por Cristo missionary.  He blended skill, experience, and a tearful story to inspire the team to work together for the glory of God.

By my side most of the day were my beautiful daughters Kalie and Jamie. Neither one had ever really been on a job site but they pitched in like they knew what they were doing.  Leading our team was David and Rachel, interns from Minnesota, and the rolling hills of Indiana. Our team was rounded out by a graduate student from UTEP who made his way to our fair city from mainland China. 
This team of strangers soon became family and worked together like a well-oiled machine. Guys who barely knew each other worked together like brothers who had known each other their whole lives. It was a miracle of sorts. But really it was an answer to prayer—not my prayer but the prayer of Jesus. 
Jesus prayed in John 17: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

This week the world saw a glimpse of the glory of Jesus by watching a team working together as “one.”

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

From Purdue to CpC

Rachel Weller, a summer intern from 2011, is leaving friends, family and familiarity behind to come on board as an apprentice with Casas por Cristo. Her university newspaper wrote an article about her decision to leave Purdue to come and serve as a missionary with Casas por Cristo. Read more about our newest addition and get to know Rachel a little more before her transition to El Paso at the beginning of the new year! 


Senior plans move to Mexico, citing love of culture

(article originally posted at http://bit.ly/TIscSJ)
By BRITTANY HERRIN Executive Reporter

After helping build more than 20 houses in Mexico for the less fortunate, a Purdue student said she still cries when she hands the house keys to the family at the end of the week.
Rachel Weller, a senior in the College of Science, vividly remembers the last day of her first trip to Juarez, Mexico, when she was in high school.

“Initially I completely hated it,” Weller said. “It was hot, it was hard work and I had never done construction before.”
Weller said the turning point was when her group of 15 saw the family’s faces when they revealed the new house.
“That was definitely when it was all worth it,” Weller said. “And that feeling comes every time we build a house.”
Weller has visited Mexico multiple times since and is now preparing to move there for good next semester to work as a missionary. She will be the team coordinator for the short-term missions foundation, Casas por Cristo.
Bryson Maikranz, a senior in the College of Engineering, has built houses with Weller in Mexico and said it was an amazing experience to go to Mexico with her.
“When it comes to interacting with the people, especially the family we are building the house for, Rachel takes time out of personally working on the house to get to know them and spend time playing with the children,” Maikranz said. “Rachel knows that the most important thing that she can build for them is a relationship.”
Weller said one of her fondest memories was talking to a pastor’s wife in Juarez. She thanked Weller’s group, started crying and said she was glad people still care about them.
“That was definitely heart-wrenching,” Weller said. “But it’s times like that when it’s all so real and I realize how thankful some people are for what we’re doing.”
Weller said that on her first trip, she thought it seemed impossible to build a house in just under a week, but was surprised with how little they needed for the house.
“Everything is much more simple there,” Weller said. “They don’t need indoor running plumbing, they’re OK with not having kitchen cabinets and they really just need a solid, sturdy house and a roof over their heads and they’re happy.”
She said this idea of simplicity can also apply to other aspects of the culture in Mexico.
“It’s a very chill and calm atmosphere,” Weller said. “We’ve had a concrete truck show up 28 hours late and it wasn’t a big deal. People just go with the flow there and although there are schedules, it is a lot more flexible than here.”
Adjusting back to her
self-proclaimed city-girl lifestyle when she comes back is always a culture shock, Weller said.
“Anyone who knows me can see the difference when I come back,” she said. “I long to be in a culture that places importance on loving one another (but I) have to come back to the fast-paced life of school stuff and appointments.”
Although she enjoys the culture and job in Mexico, Weller said, she is sad to leave Purdue.
“I had wishes and hopes for my last semester at Purdue,” Weller said. “But as much as I love to be here, I feel called to be there and it’s really hard to leave – but I think once I get down there, I’ll be fine.”
Araminta Brooks, a senior in the School of Management, has known Weller since they were both freshmen and said it will be hard to see her go.
“I’m going to miss being able to call her up for coffee, going on runs together, everything,” Brooks said. “I’m so thankful for her and the step that she’s getting ready to take in her life. It takes a lot of faith and love to do what she’s about to do. I’m so proud of her.”

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Commissioned


We had a commissioning ceremony today for Brandon and Heather Culp at our pastor's meeting in Júarez. Our pastors and staff came together and prayed over Brandon and Heather, as they prepare to move their lives to Guatemala to work full time for the ministry of Casas por Cristo in San Raimundo. As we laid hands on our friends, the walls of the church echoed with our prayers and praises sent up to God in two different languages.    

It was a beautiful ceremony, but more importantly a reminder of the call that has been placed on each of our lives. Every single one of us claiming to follow Christ has been commissioned to go out and preach the gospel. Although for missionaries, we often have a ceremony or are presented with a certificate when we are sent out to distant lands to follow our calling, the reality is that we have all been called and sent; we have all been commissioned.  

The definition of commission is this: "The act of granting certain powers or the authority to carry out a particular task or duty." Perhaps it adds some sort of validity to our lives and our calling when our friends and family gather around us and reassure us that we have been called to go out and serve our God, but truly, this validation is already ours. Maybe we just need to take hold of it. 


Mark 16:15 tells us, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Matthew 28:19 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 


As Brandon and Heather move to Guatemala, they remind us that we have all been commissioned. We are all called to go. We do not need a ceremony, or a certificate, we need to take hold of the calling and responsibility that has been placed on each of our lives with authority and share the gospel with others each and every day.