Update from Bob & Gwen Wenberg

Keep up with our staff missionaries as they update their supporters about Casas por Cristo and their work here!

Gwen and I will be completing our eighth year with Casas the first week in June. We thank and praise God for how He has provided for our needs.

We want to thank the people of First Baptist Church for your prayers and support.

God has brought Casas through another year.  I would like to update you on some of the things that are happening in our ministry.

In 2012 we built 183 homes in Juárez and Acuña, México, and San Raimundo, Guatemala.  We are off and running this year.  There will be 40 homes built in the month of March. This is a busy month because students are celebrating Spring Break. In Guatemala there will be 8 homes built, 22 in Juárez, and 10 in Acuña.

According to the Mexican authorities there is 78% less violence in Juárez this year. I believe that it is because of these statistics that the amount of teams coming to build is increasing.

Casas’ family news. Our Casas family is increasing in size.  This is happening in more ways than one.  We have an intern and an apprentice missionary that are hoping to become full time missionaries with us when they finish their requirements for staff. Their names are Jessica Selburg and Rachel Weller. A former Casas missionary, Ryan de la Pena, is returning with his family to El Paso and is coming back on staff in the middle of February.

Three of our missionaries, the Laffan’s, the Kirklin’s, and the De la Pena’s will be having babies in the near future.

Casas Por Cristo has reached another milestone in the life of this ministry.  Brandon and Heather Culp have moved to Guatemala to become our first full time missionaries outside of the continent.

Please continue to pray for more teams to register, for the safety of our missionaries and the teams that are building. Pray for the new missionaries and their efforts to raise support so that they can become part of Casas’ family.

Gwen and I want to thank our church family for their support and encouragement as we work at Casas as missionaries.

Continue to pray for our Mexican nationals, David Quiñones and Miguel Flores, who work for us in their native country.

With all our souls we praise the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, in how he has watched over us. 

In his service,

Bob and Gwen Wenberg

Update from Rachel Weller

Team Casas and
Spring Break Prep

This past weekend I got to help lead a Team Casas build with two other staff members. Team Casas builds happen periodically throughout the year and are for those who may not have a team to come down with. Team Casas builds are definitely a unique dynamic where most people on the team have never met anyone else before that week. However, some of my closest relationships I've made through Casas have been on these builds. Within two and a half days, strangers became family as we all worked together to build a home for Berta and her family. Berta was a single mother struggling to make ends meet since her husband was killed two years ago. It was such a blessing to be the hands and feet of Christ to provide for her in difficult times. It was also good for me to go out and build because I had forgotten some aspects of the construction process and I need to be ready to lead teams on my own by March. 

One night we got back from the worksite early so we went for a walk to try to find some hamburguesas (this is the Mexican version of a hamburger typically with ham, avacado, sliced hot dogs, and other toppings depending on who makes them). No hamburguesas were to be found but we did come across a fruit and drink stand. Jorge (one of the team members) bought a Sodasrusa (Russian soda). I can't tell you everything that went into this drink but it was so fun watching them make it. She poured tons of chili power in it so I passed on trying that one as I am not a fan of chili powder mixed with fruit.  Right next to the Sodarusa stand was a coconut and pineapple stand. The woman who owned the stand would take the coconuts off to the side and hack at them with a machete until she had made a small hole in the top. She then squeezed a bit of lime into the coconut and placed a couple straws in the hole to drink the juice out of the middle. There is nothing like walking down the dirt roads of Juarez with people drinking out of whole coconuts. It was one of the most fun expeditions I've had in Mexico by far!

 

Now I'm back in the office for the next two weeks preparing for the craziness of spring break around here. We currently are planning on building 39 houses in the month of March, which has some staff out building for 4 weeks in a row. I'm planning on leading two builds in Juarez so far with a potential third to be added this week. I definitely cannot be a procrastinator anymore with how the next couple months are looking. Thankfully, I found a little netbook on clearance two weeks ago and have been able to be super productive with writing papers and getting ahead in classes on my weekends and days off of work.   

I'm continuing to raise support to be able to officially go on staff. My awesome supporters are helping to give $575 a month out of my $2,000 per month goal and I thank everyone who has supported me financially, emotionally and spiritually thus far. Support raising is a period that can become very frustrating but I'm choosing to trust that God will continue to provide if it is His will for me to serve him with Casas por Cristo. 

If you wish to help support me in my ministry with Casas por Cristo, you can do that through our GIVE DIRECT site and choose 5472 Support: Rachel Weller in the Program area field. Checks also can be sent to PO Box 971070, El Paso, TX 79997 with my name in the Memo line.

As well as e-mail updates, I'm going to be posting stories and pictures on facebook, twitter (@rachelmweller), instagram (@rachelmweller), and will be using my blog at http://rachelweller.blogspot.com/ (I promise the blog will happen... 10 page papers come before blog posts right now)

Last but not least, I LOVE hearing from you! It has made the distance much easier seeing valentine's day cards in my mailbox, sitting in Starbucks having skype dates (we don't have internet at our apartment so I'm the awkward girl chilling in the corner of public places talking to my computer) or getting encouraging facebook messages from friends. - Rachel

Keep up with all of our staff missionaries as they update their supporters about Casas por Cristo and their work here!

Nineteen

There are 19 families that have been on our waiting list to receive a home from Casas por Cristo for more than four years. Nineteen families that each have five or more members and are waiting for a three-room home that we call a “double.” These families have made their houses out of the same cardboard that we use to pack our belongings. They pray that their homes will weather the storm and long for the one that Christ will provide one day.

These families have been waiting since 2008. Since before the drug war began. Since before all the four-year olds in the world were born. Since before some of our college interns were old enough to drive. Since before many of these families’ own children were born. They have been waiting and hoping and praying, because a prayer is all they have.

If we continue at the present rate, these families will be waiting another two years before they receive a home. Children that were 12 when their parents applied for a home will be 18 and moving on, never seeing their prayers answered. Every day we meet countless families in desperate need hoping to be added to this list, yet are denied because our list is already too long.

People ask our ministry all the time, “What are your greatest needs?” Right now our answer is…

Sandra Almanza

Maria Cristina Reyes Hernandez

Ricardo Aguirre Hernandez

Santa Carrasco Aburto

Rocio Landa Martinez

Roselia Garcia Valdez

Luis Manuel Hernandez

Jaime Cueto Escanuelas

Emilia Mancinas Lopez

Maria Luisa Ramirez Macario

Jose Manuel Flores Leos Gabriela Espino

Marlit Ortiz Reyes

Maria de Jesus Rodriguez Tena

Amalia Gomez Ramos

Alberto Carlos Garcia Vazquez

Graciela Sierra Cana

Pedro Valenzuela Moralez

Francisco Trejo Juan Paulo

Perla Valverde Solis

...and their families are our greatest needs.

These are not just names. Together they represent over a hundred men, women and children in houses that are not fit to be called homes. They are mothers and fathers that want to provide for their children but can’t. These individuals have spoken up on behalf of their families and asked their local church for help; for our help. Theirs are some of the countless prayers around the world, crying out to God in need. Their prayers are not just open ended words spoken into the night sky, these prayers represent names, faces and lives that have now been brought into your life and ours.

Without teams stepping up to build these homes, these families will continue to wait and wonder. 

Will you help us change their future? 

Will you organize a team to build their home and answer their prayers?

Register Today

Need: 18-25 people per team

Where: Juárez, México

Cost: $7000 per home

Check out our full Beyond Building magazine here

HOME 4000

On May 18, 2012 we dedicated Home 4000 for Sandra Gutierrez, Alfredo Perez and their six children. Their family had been anxiously waiting and praying for this dream to come true since April 2008. In celebration of 4000 homes, this build was funded entirely by our supporters and built by our staff, pastors and interns. Home 4000 was truly an example of what has made the previous 3999 homes possible – God’s provision, partnership and YOU!

Check out our full Beyond Building magazine here

Everyday Mission

Are you changed? Really changed?

Did the trip that you took for that one week change your life? Is it still changing your life months or years later?

It did change you. It made you feel alive. It taught you about abandonment and selflessness and maybe even helped you see for the first time what really is important in life. It reestablished the belief that life, true life, is not found in things, but in relationships and in Christ. It is in giving ourselves away that we find ourselves. It is the way that we are created. And for one week, you were reminded of that truth. But how do you bring that home? How do you keep it going?

One of the biggest struggles with a short-term mission trip, is so often we don’t know how to transfer what we learned and experienced on our trip, back into our lives when we return home. We don’t know how to bottle it up and bring it back to our everyday lives.

But what if we did live every day like we were on a mission trip? What if we lived every day with intention?

You planned your trip for months. You packed bags, raised money and traveled to a new country to share the love of Christ and serve a family that you had never met before. For one week, you left your life, your job, your school, your spouse, your friends or your family behind to simply GO.

What if you lived with that same intentionality the rest of your life? What if you got up each day knowing that your main goal, regardless of the form in which it presents itself, (classroom, office, construction, etc.) was to work at whatever is set before you, with everything in you, sharing His love in the process? What if you were as aware of every action that you took, as you were when you were building that home; knowing that your example, whether good or bad, will be the example of Christ himself to those around you?

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for men." Col 3:23

What if you woke up and went about your day with the same selfless purpose that you do on a mission trip? What if you put yourself aside and set out with others in mind, thinking of what you can give, rather than what you can receive?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” Phil 2:3

What if you were as adamant about sharing what you have seen Christ do in your life daily, as when you were preparing for or returning home from your mission trip?

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” 1 John 1:3

In Bob Goff’s book, Love Does, he says this...

Jesus’ disciples never said they were on a mission trip. I think they knew love already had a name and they didn’t need a program or anything else to define it. We don’t either. The kind of adventure Jesus has invited us on doesn’t require an application or prerequisites. It’s just about deciding to take up the offer made by a father who wants us to come.

We are offered this opportunity every day; to serve, to love, to give, to share Christ in the same way that we do on our mission trips. It doesn’t take an airplane or leaving your life behind to find it. It just takes a choice to live it.

Don’t let this be a trip that changes 4 days of your life. Let it be one that changes the next 40 years.

So, let me ask you again, “Are you changed? 

Really changed?”

Live every day on a mission.

Check out our full Beyond Building magazine here

Opportunities to Serve

Every week of the year we have opportunities for you to be involved in our work in México and Guatemala.  However, we know that you don't always have the time or the commitment from others to create a team and organize a build on your own.  For that reason, we want you to know of other opportunities that you have to serve with us throughout the year.

We have trips scheduled in every city in which we build, specifically over long weekends or holidays, so that you can come as an individual and build with a team that we organize. We cover the details of food, transportation and everything else that you need.  All you have to do is get to where we are.  Those trips are called Team Casas. We want you to know our schedule for 2013 so that you can plan to join us throughout the year!

2013 Team Casas Schedule

February 15th-18th | Juárez, México

  June 10th - 14th | Juárez, México

  June 23rd - 29th | San Raimundo, Guatemala

  June 30th - July 6th | San Raimundo, Guatemala

  August 30th - September 2nd | Acuña, México

  October 14th-17th | Juárez, México

  December 27th - 30th | Acuña, México

  December 29, 2013 - January 4, 2014 | San Raimundo, Guatemala

We also provide opportunities throughout the year for internships.  This is for anyone that has come on a build with us and wants to take it a step further by learning to lead teams and build homes in México or Guatemala.  Right now we are still looking for interns for Summer 2013! For more information, check out the link below.

Intern

When: May-August 2013

What: Leading teams, building homes and office responsibilities

Where: San Raimundo, Guatemala or Juárez & Acuña, México

Who: Anyone 20yrs or older that has been on at least one Casas build

Application Deadline: April 1st, 2013

Check out our full Beyond Building magazine here

Thank You God, Thank You God, Thank You...

Words that I have uttered over and over again in my life. Words that I have uttered after witnessing God do the impossible in someone else’s life. Words that I have uttered in response to Him answering the earnest cries of my heart. Words that I have uttered when I have realized that God has always been right there with me. He has not abandoned me. In fact, He’s been there through it all and pulled me through even when I didn’t know that I needed Him to. However, these words fall so far short of what I actually want to say to Him.

How can I ever truly thank Him for His incredible faithfulness to the ministry of Casas por Cristo? In October we entered our 20th year of ministry and in September of 2013 we will officially celebrate the completion of those 20 years (watch for details throughout the coming year). One thing that I have been able to look back and see throughout those years is God’s amazing faithfulness.

God has been faithful to us by providing us with YOU! Throughout our history, you, our supporters, have been right here with us. You helped a struggling little family ministry get off the ground and begin to realize her vision of changing people’s lives here in the desert surrounding Juárez, México. You have sent your sacrificial support. You have come and built homes and relationships with families in need. You have covered us with your prayers.

When we shared with you our desire to expand this ministry into Acuña, México, you were right there alongside us. You provided the funds so that we could begin ministering with new pastors, to new families, in a new city. You came and built the first homes with us. You listened to God’s call on your heart and YOU were faithful.

When we shared with you our huge goal of expanding this ministry to another country, you didn’t balk. Once again, you were right there along the way. You prayed with us as we sought discernment on which country to expand to. And when we chose to grow into Guatemala, you made it happen. Your prayers paved the way. Your gifts provided the resources, the building materials and the tools that we needed. When we needed to secure vehicles in order to be able to get out and minister with these families, once again you were there to answer the call.

God provided YOU!

Along the way, God has been faithful to us as we have continued to minister in Juárez. In fact, He has been more than faithful. Throughout the turbulent drug war that has been raging, God has allowed us to continue spreading His hope, His love, His mercy and His grace with a community that most of the world has given up on. Over the past four years we have facilitated over 12,000 volunteers crossing into México without any adverse affects from the drug cartels. Our people have been safe and the families that we minister to have been more receptive to the Gospel than ever before. Families have seen strangers leave the “safety” of their homes to step into the “hopelessness” of their world and shine the love of Jesus into their lives. How could they not respond to Jesus after that?

The homicide rates topped 3,600 in 2010 and the media coverage was intense. However, God has been faithful and we have seen peace returning to Juárez. At the end of September, the homicide rate was below 600 — rates that are more in line with those before 2008.

I want to do something that I haven’t done in four years. I want to boldly invite you to come back to Juárez. This community that so many have given up on is ripe for the Harvest. God has prepared these people to be very open to His message of love and grace that He chooses to share through YOU.

God has been so faithful to us over the years, and He has done so through each one of you reading this article. Your prayers…your support…your involvement…your commitment have kept us going. So I say, “Thank You,” and once again, I find my words to be lacking.

You are going to read some articles and some stories in this issue of Beyond Building that scream of God’s faithfulness. In the process, I pray that you will feel encouraged…that you will feel appreciated…that you will feel challenged…and that you will feel motivated. And that maybe as a result, you will join with my inadequate words and cry out….

“Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you...”

David Robertson

Executive Director

Casas por Cristo

Check out our full Beyond Building magazine here