(click green icon to share) I departed on my 23 hour journey to Del Rio Texas / Acuña,
Coahuila, Mexico on Thursday, March 9. As is my custom, I traveled to the home
of my parents in south Alabama and enjoyed an overnight visit with them on day
one. On Day 2 of travel I journeyed through west Alabama, across the
Tombigbee River, through central Mississippi and Louisiana on U.S. Highway 84, eventually turning toward the southwest through Alexandria, Louisiana, joining Interstate 10 in Lake Charles. A full day of
travel takes me to the Houston area, and I enjoy dinner with missionary friend
Carol Sanchez who likewise often journeys to Del Rio / Acuna to serve there,
but not this time. I lodge in an Air B&B in Katy, TX.
Day 3 is a six-hour drive through San Antonio and westward on the beautiful U.S Highway 90 through Castroville, Hondo, Uvalde and
other small towns, arriving at the missionary host compound of
Ms. Bondred
Derr, “Granny B,” in Del Rio by mid-afternoon. Having communicated in advance
with mission facilitator
José Verastegui, upon my arrival on Saturday, he
invited me to dinner with a visiting group of college students from Asbury
University in Kentucky. We enjoyed a great time becoming acquainted.
Mission Mexico, under leadership of
José and Olga Verastegui,
organizes cross-border mission projects on an ongoing basis. With a home base
in San Angelo, Texas and a supply warehouse in Del Rio, Mission Mexico
organizes monthly and sometimes weekly transports of bulk food, equipment and
supplies to needy families and children in Acuña and other cities. José and
Olga serve as facilitators to assist many individuals, church groups, and
service organizations on both sides of the border to conduct special events share the love of God in concrete ways, often
partnering with Power Ministries to construct buildings for churches and
schools in Mexico.
Day 4: Sunday: José and Olga invited me to join them, along
with the student group from Asbury University, to attend
Iglesia Palabra de Vida (Pastor Lorenzo Ramírez) in the northern residential section of Acuña. There we enjoyed inspiring worship,
testimonies, and lunch with an enthusiastic congregation that included approximately 50 people from
the emergency refugee shelter in Acuña which hosts about 400 people. After the
congregational meeting, we divided into groups of 10-12 for conversation and
lunch. I enjoyed conversation with a group of refugees from Honduras.
Later in the afternoon I drove over to
Albergue Centauro Residential Shelter (FB: Albergue Centauro Sifuentes Pagina de Apoyo) for the elderly and mentally ill to look at the building that our team would
work on during the week. I enjoyed a reunion with several of the residents that
I remembered from many past visits, including Reuben, Maria, Arturo and
Ricardo, along with one of the directors,
Mayra Ochoa. In the evening I enjoyed
the Sunday night Service with Pastor Carlos Rodriguez and the Centro Vida
church.
Iglesia Centro Vida is a beautiful spirit-filled congregation in the
south part of residential Acuna.
Pastors Carlos and Kina Rodríguez lead the
Rhema Escuela de Ministerios training center for ministry leaders. Pastor Carlos and his family are
always working with different churches and ministries and travelling deep into
Mexico to support other congregations. I was happy to be welcomed there with
love on my very first visit to Acuña in 2019.
Day 5: I met with the volunteer team offering their services
to the Albergue Centauro hostel for the installation of a ceiling in the men’s
dormitory. This team included Pastor Ricardo Murillo López of the Iglesia Altar de Adoracion
Jehova Elohim, Pastor Miguel Hernández Covás of Iglesia Vino Nuevo, and other
volunteers including José Aragon, Christian Delgado, Angel David, Antonio
Marizcal.
This group was organized by
Armandina Alfaro, a dedicated supporter
of the hostel. After a survey of the project, we drove to three hardware stores
in Acuña to purchase the supplies including sheetrock and compound, metal
framework, metal sheeting, wood trim, fasteners and energy efficient L.E.D light fixtures. We were able to have all of
these supplies delivered to the worksite on Monday afternoon. The project
budget for these supplies was a total of $500 or about 9,000 pesos. After
shopping for supplies, I was very happy to travel to Pastor Murillo’s church
and to Pastor Miguel’s church to see their facilities.
These young pastors have started churches in the growing edge of the residential expansion of Acuña. Families and children from large apartment neighborhoods flock to these churches even as the church facilities are in a state of construction. People are eager to experience the love of God through the teaching, outreach, and generosity of these congregations. And the young men volunteering their time to work on the service project for Albergue Centauro are the same young men playing the instruments in the church worship band.
My home church,
Catedral de Fe in Athens, GA
(Pastor Hugo Zaldaña) generously donated a 14 channel Yahama
powered mixer, a 50 foot 16 channel audio extension cable and two video projectors, equipment not currently used by our church. These items, seen in the background of the photo, were given to
Iglesia Altar de Adoracion Jehova Elohim.
Pastor Murillo later informed me that he was able to gather his
worship team Monday night to try out the new equipment, and another church
member informed me that they had been praying for the projectors.
After
shopping for supplies and visiting with the volunteer group, I drove to Iglesia
Centro Vida to attend an evening dinner meeting with
José and Olga Veristegui and the student group from
Asbury
University (and their hosts Professor
Glenn Harden and
Chaplain Art Mavrode)
to share insights about mission and humanitarian work in the border area. This university class is spending a week in the border region for an eyewitness experience and to gain perspective through face-to-face interaction with individuals residing there. We
enjoyed a beautiful meal provided by
Centro Vida and a visit with
Pastor Carlos
Rodríguez and his wife
Kina Picon and daughters
Pastor Keila Rodríguez and
Sofia Rodríguez.
Day 6: Tuesday was a long day of hard work for our team of
seven men and youth. We used the material we had purchased along with some
supplies left over from the previous ceiling installation that had fallen due
to water damage. About a month before our project, spay insulation had been
applied to the inside of the roof and walls to provide a thermal barrier from the
outside heat and cold. Our team worked together with great cooperation and
teamwork to install most of the sheetrock. We enjoyed a delicious meal provided
by one of the volunteer families. After ending our workday around six in the
evening, the border cross for me was a little tedious on this day due to the
border being completely shut down for over an hour during rush-hour for a
“security situation” or for a drill … we were never sure which story was true.
Due to the style of framing available for the ceiling installation, we used a combination of sheetrock and metal sheeting to reduce the weight load. The pastors suggested that we add energy-efficient LED lighting to save on electricity and these were added to our project.
Day 7: For Wednesday our team was motivated to complete our
installation by mid-afternoon to be available for other Wednesday night
activities for their churches. Completing the sheetrock late in the morning, a
few of us went for additional supplies and for lunch, “Burger King” whoppers
for everyone. By late afternoon we had installed the sheet metal, light fixtures and wood trim
and the youth had begun applying sheetrock joint compound. Finish work and
paint will be a task for the next team.
Albergue Centauro Sifuentes Y Amios de Corazón was founded as a Christian and
humanitarian act of love by
Victor Sifuentes. It serves as a safety net in the form of permanent
shelter, food, and medical care for approximately 100 elderly and / or mentally disabled men and women, many of whom
were rescued from the streets of Acuña residing without a home. These life giving and life saving services are provided on
a very limited budget with generous donations from people and organizations.
Often there is not enough money to pay for electricity. Many of the furnishings
are worn and need of replacement –
we are currently asking and praying for 100 new
mattresses.
It is a financial challenge to purchase the medications needed by many
residents. I am inspired by the great love and commitment represented in the
staff and volunteers of the Albergue. It is the first priority of my
semi-annual travel to Acuña to ask them to identify a specific need that I can work on. Every time I visit Albergue Centauro I am blessed
and encouraged. For contact with the leadership of Albergue and for donations and material support, please contact
Mayra Ochoa via Facebook (
FB: Albergue Centauro Sifuentes Pagina de Apoyo or
grupo a.c. centro de ayuda psicológoca siquiatra y addiciones). A second location of the organization, under direction of
Yaneth Berumen, operates on a fee basis and serves men dealing with addiction.
Day 8: The agenda for travel day included a list of projects
around the missionary compound operated by Bondred Derr, affectionately known
to all her guests as “Granny B.” I always ask for the chore list and this day
included installing temporary covering on the roof of a dorm restroom under
construction, carpet cleaning, making adjustments to heavily used washer and
dryer, and scrub-down of the carport and entry way after a dusty and stormy
spring. By mid afternoon I was packed and on the way to Houston, the first stop
on the return journey.
Bondred Derr hosts mission travelers continuously throughout
the year in her home in Del Rio, TX. Groups from all over the United States
have lodged with Granny B as part of their work on the border and in the state
of Coahuila, Mexico. For her it is a labor of Christian love, and an ongoing
miracle of the provision of God in support of people who themselves feel called
to share God’s love with heart, hands and feet.
On my six trips to the border, I have met fellow travelers from many
places, and the last few times I have enjoyed the fellowship of teams from
Lighthouse Church in Waller, Texas. Each evening, mission travelers share meals and chores
and daily devotions together, and an occasional season of worship with the
acoustic guitar. This place of love has been for me a respite from the turmoil,
a shelter from the storm, and a home away from home.
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