Mexico Missions with Bruce and Paula

MEETING THE NEED

Our faithful partners in the colonia Carmelo and Ruth have always expressed a desire to visit Carmelos family in Southern Mx. Carmelo hasn't seen his Mom in 10 years and Ruth has never met her Mother in Law, and Mimi and Caleb have never met their Grandparents, so we bought them all bus tickets to make the 24 hour drive. They returned last Friday full of joy and gratitude for the blessing. They had a great time and took some awesome pictures of the beauty of the area. It really blessed us to make it happen for them and it just affirms the fact that God wants to always use us to be a blessing to others, no matter the cost. Carmelo and I will start a foundation today for a single Mom and her two children that have no house. Their father and husband fell victim to the violence in Mx. A few of our faithful friends from Moraine Valley Church in the Chicago area will be here at the end of the week, and we look forward to a great week with them. Larry Peterson is also making the drive from Az. to join us. I remember the good ole days when there were as many as 60 people that would come to Mexico and build houses, but the numbers have sure dwindled since 2007. We have to rejoice in the fact that we have built almost 100 homes despite the small groups in 4 years. Please pray for the family that wants to buy our house in Pharr, that they sell their house quickly and buy ours. We took the house off the market several months ago and have been trusting God to bring a buyer, and as always God has a plan.

THE IMPERFECT STORM

Two weeks ago a huge hail and thunderstorm destroyed thousands of roofs, cars, windows, store fronts and killed thousands of birds nesting in the trees when the storm hit. I have been doing some roof estimates for a friend and getting his crew some much needed work. Two weeks ago they were thinking about moving to find some work and now they are working twelve hour days. The storm blessed those needing work and yet the devastation and hardship caused by the storm is a trial for those it effected. We just had small hail at our house, but in McAllen just a few miles west, the storm just sat there and pummeled the area for over an hour. A few people from church has David doing their roofs and windows.

TIME, MORE PRECIOUS AS WE AGE

I spent the better part of last week in Colorado visiting Kelly and Ryan at their place in Breckenridge up in the mountains. Although most of the surface snow is melted, the ski hills are still busy even in the warmth of spring. A few more weeks and most of the resorts will close down. Kelly and I stayed at a friends condo up on the mountain and had some awesome Daddy/Daughter time. Tears fill my eyes even now as I type this. We prayed, and talked and cried and shared with each other and even took a 400 mile one day road trip to visit the sand dunes in southern Colorado. Just me and Kelly. While the dunes were cool to see, the time we spent driving there and back was better. The kids hit a little bump in the road as life seemed to push their relationship with Jesus to the back burner and Ryans Dad Jim and I dropped everything and went to them to see if we could help. All I know about this life is that Jesus is the answer to all of life's questions and all we could do is point them to the only ONE that could meet every need and fill every void,JESUS CHRIST, THE PRINCE OF PEACE, THE KING OF GLORY, THE GOD OF ALL CREATION, OUR HEALER, OUR PROVIDER, OUR LIFE, OUR COUNSELOR,OUR REDEEMER,OUR FRIEND, AND OUR SAVIOR AND SO MUCH MORE. We left on Thursday and as we drove to the airport I couldn.t help but to Thank God that He has given our Kids the opportunity to be all God wants them to be and to fulfill their God ordained destiny, as they learn to keep God first place in their life and everything else will flow from Gods hand into their life. Our God is indeed the God of second, third and even fourth chances. How about you? Do you need another chance with God? I know I left there committed to seek God more than I have and to expect God to show up and do great things as I do. I had left my truck and trailer at the airport in San Antonio and upon returning there, I drove 3 hours north to pick up about 5000 pounds of food grade corn to feed the hungry,that had been put in 5 gallon buckets and then drove all night to get home to see my bride.A great time In Colorado and time well spent with part of the family, I'd say it was a priceless time!

A FULL HOUSE

As we circled the kitchen to pray,we extended around the entire floor with our friends from Chicago. The Ruiz, Simeon and LeMay families surrendered a week of their lives to help the poor in Reynosa. As you can see in the photos, they built a beautiful home for the Reyes family and the dedication day was a tearful, heart changing experience to say the least. Having had a chef on hand all week, made the dedication meal the best ever. Thanks to Trophy and his heart to cook all week and Chase for the delicious meat. We gave out gifts to the kids after the dedication and the Chicago team had plenty of water balloons and a three person sling shot to launch them down the dusty road in the colonia. Hearts were changed forever as the team portrayed the life of Christ to the poor and to Paula and I as we watched these godly families live and serve together. Each family has a goal of inviting and bringing more families next year as they share their experience this past week back in Chicago. Our cats sure miss the attention the kids gave them all week, they almost forgot how to walk. Today we gave out food to about 150 families and shared the word of God from 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 about being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Another great week in the life of Bruce and Paula. Please pray for a friends father that had a heart attack, some of you may know Lisa Kincaid, another missionary family here in Texas and her Father is in the Chicago area, and she is there with family.

MARCH 27, 2012

HIS STORY IN OUR LIVES

We moved to the TX/MX border in the Fall of '07 from Chicago, IL. We had been coming to Reynosa on short-term missions trips for over 10 years. Each time we left a little bit more of our hearts behind. Thru the circumstances of life Paula and I both agreed that now is the time to do that which gave us meaning and purpose in life. So we sold our home and came to the Rio Grand Valley at the southern most point of Texas. We have since joined with Mexico Missions Inc. to assist them with their childrens backpack programs in Mexico. Our mission is to reach the poorest of the poor in Mexico. We build homes, offer food and clothing to those in need, but most importantly we share the love and hope that is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Living radical lives has expanded our vision and ministry from feeding hundreds of families to thousands.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP US REACH OUT TO THOSE IN NEED

Our ministry is totally supported by people like you.Since we did not raise our needed support before entering the mission field we continue to walk by faith that God will speak to the hearts of those of you reading our blog and joining us on short term trips to Mexico to help us help our brothers and sisters in Reynosa. If you would like to contribute to us personally, sponsor a child to attend school, give to the building of a home for a needy family, or even have us facilitate a food outreach, contact us via E-mail or send checks made out to MEXICO MISSIONS INC. and mail to our new address, P.O. Box 68 San Juan, Tx. 78589. If you would like to support us personally, put B&P in the memo column. If you would like to sponsor a specific outreach, list that as well in the memo column. All gifts are tax deductable. Child school sponsorship $400.00 per year per child, a newly designed home can be built with some help from the people in Mx. for a gift of $3800.00 or any portion thereof until enough money is raised to build one. Many houses could just use new roofing and some other fixes to make them more habitable. God Bless You as you give.