Spare Change July 2018
Texas Mission Trip Report
Our mission trip to Texas took us to what is known as the Golden Triangle, which encompasses several cities in the Beaumont and Port Arthur area. This region was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey last year. It was amazing to see all the work that still needs to be done, so many people are still not back in their homes almost 9 months later. Many people didn’t have flood insurance, since they were in areas that were previously not in flood plains.
We partnered with First Baptist Fannett and their Pastor, Scooter Wenner. They have just recently completed their flood renovation on their sanctuary and began worshipping in it in early May. They are still working on completing other areas, like a fellowship hall and Sunday school classrooms. Pastor Scooter was able to get our teams plenty of work projects. We have five teams that went out for the week. Team 1 helped a small church in Stowell, TX with their VBS. Their church was full of sweet people that loved on our volunteers. That team was overjoyed to be able to connect with local kids and help this church. Team 2 helped a lady named Creedean whose house had been flooded last year. She needed help installing doors and trim. Our team knocked it out in three days. Team 3 went to a lady named Vicki’s house where they hung drywall all week. Team 4 went over to Trinity Baptist Church in Vidor and helped them with painting, hanging shelves, and caulking. They were a huge blessing to this mostly elderly congregation. The church showed their appreciation with lots and lots of good food. Team 5 was led by me and helped Pastor Scooter’s church by hanging trim, cleaning, organizing, and painting.
Our teams stayed busy all week and worked very hard. I was so proud of all the students, they didn’t complain; they just jumped in and did whatever they needed to do. They were willing to listen and learn from the adults, so they could learn some new skills to complete the projects. I was also struck by how faithful and joyous all the Texans were. The joy of the Lord was present in all the people we interacted with. Even though they had been through such a devastating tragedy they were encouraged by the Lord and by people like us helping them out. Personally, I was encouraged to see faithful churches that were reaching out to others for the sake of the gospel. Pastor Scooter has been at his church for 18 years, faithfully preaching the word. He saw this tragedy as an opportunity for the Lord to do a great work. Not only did their entire church get updated and renovated, he has been able to send groups like us to represent them into the community.
I was also encouraged by the sweet spirit our group shared during the week. Any time you get a group of people together in close quarters for a week you will have people getting tired and grumpy; however, for the most part everyone was so nice and kind to each other. Everyone had a great attitude and was focused on helping others; I was so proud of all the students and adults that went. We were well taken care of by Rick and Cheryl Rollow, who supported our teams with lots of good food. We also had a very gracious host at the Shepherd’s Inn. This former nursing home is a ministry that temporarily houses people that come from all over the nation to visit loved ones in one of the seven prisons in the Golden Triangle area. They allow mission teams to stay there during the week in the summer. They were a huge blessing to us.
We loved getting to see that part of Texas and serve the local churches and people there. As usual, they were a blessing to us as much as we were to them. Please pray for continue helped for the people in this area, there is still much to be done. Also, pray for the churches as they reach out with the hope of the gospel.