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SUNDAY, JUNE 14
 The Sunday morning sunrise found the construction crew back on the jobsite. After a brief poll on Saturday evening the crew came to the realization that “the ox had fallen in the ditch”. We felt a strong urge to finish what we had begun. Once again the peace and quiet of the dirt road circle of the construction site was interrupted by the buzz of saws, the banging of hammers and the sound of commands being issued from the roof.  The goats across the road and the rooster in the distance didn’t seem to mind the early morning interruption. We hope the human neighbors were as forgiving with the knowledge that a new house and, hopefully, a renewed home would be returning to the neighborhood. With three crews on the roof and two people on the ground, the metal roof began to materialize in the blissfully cloudy morning. Several from the VBS/community center augmented the construction crew this morning to begin the site clean up. As we drove from the spruced up jobsite we were all able enjoy the sight of a fully framed and sided house with a beautiful, highly reflective roof fully covering a place that only four days earlier only held a concrete slab.
 As the construction crew worked frantically to finish the siding and roof on the house, the VBS/community center crew had a somewhat more relaxed morning of packing and preparing for the journey home. The vans were loaded and pulling out of the hotel parking lot only a few minutes later than the 10:40 goal. Our final destination for this trip was to worship with the local Baptist church in the Pueblo Nuevo community. We were greeted at the door with a warm welcome and handshake from one of the local members. Erin was invited to say a few words and, with the help of a translator, thanked the congregation for welcoming us to worship and for the opportunity to serve in their community.  Our 40+ number more than doubled the size of the worshipping congregation. Although the majority of our group were greatly disadvantaged when the Spanish-only sermon began, the language barrier did not prevent two groups from worshipping one God together in this place. All of the faces welcomed us with eagerness and smiles and some of the faces welcomed us with recognition as well. We saw faces of children who played, ate, laughed and learned with us this week at the community center. The joy and welcome in their eyes was enough to know that this trip was worth the time and effort of all involved.
John 6:1 – 13 reminds us as we return to our homes in the Houston area that we cannot solve the hunger, the homelessness, the troubles we found in Eagle Pass, but we can bring what we have and allow God to take it, bless it, divide and multiply it so that He might be known in this community. We are reminded by the faces of these children that what is most needed by even the poorest of God’s children is to know that they are loved. As we return safely to our homes we are reminded of the many blessings we each receive and our need to share all that we have.
Bill Moore
SATURDAY, JUNE 13
 It was easy for the construction crew to forget that a tornado had caused all the destruction to the tiny community near Eagle Pass, not the searing heat. With temperatures hitting 104 degrees, a few comparisons came to mind.
It’s hotter than a Billy goat in a pepper patch.
It’s hotter than a pipe wrench left in the sun.
It’s even hotter than a stolen tamale.
Indeed it was so warm the team is offering itself up for a sequel to a Tennessee Williams favorite. This time call it “Herding Cats on a Hot Tin Roof,” directed by Tom Ehlers, a master craftsman, leader, and teacher.
“None of us are professionals but Tom, but it’s going to be a solid little house,” said “Steady” Sam Swart, who sawed the gable ends and built key structural pieces for the 1,200 square foot home. It started with a bare concrete slab. By Sunday there were four walls, windows, doors, and a roof.
Blessed with breezes, camaraderie, cool mornings and even cooler tempers, the walls were raised in no time, then paneling, rafters, decking. Piles of lumber and plywood were measured and cut with one instruction from Tom: “It’s better to be long than wrong.”
 “All-in” Amy Grizzle and “Mighty” Melissa Carty, a new member at South Main, did quality control on the lumber, helped tack up siding, tarpaper and trim. Also part of the cast was Bruce “Almighty” Elsom, who, from under a little shade of a cowboy hat, was a rooftop regular along with Jesse “Stretch” Bogan. Randy “Hercules” Nonhoff, the former University of California at Berkeley lineman, did high-placed nailing, set windows, and held a massive beam overhead while it was secured in place. Anthony “I’ve-Got-You-Covered” Holder, with gravity against him, kept the roof crew supplied with sheets of plywood, nails, saws and Gatorade. He also made several cuts that were hard to reach. Borden “The Bounty” Thompson, a mission veteran, was like a cat in the rafters and another precision cutter. So was Cleavy “The Cleaver” McKnight.
Then there were the “Three Wise Men,” Clyde Schneider, Don Ikard, and George Richeson, of the First Baptist Church of Brenham. Picked up on the way to South Texas, they were aces on siding and brought a bank of seasoned hands, minds and jokes.
Team captains Steve “Rafters” Rader, “Beaming” Bill Moore, and Erin “Confidence” Conaway boosted morale, where go-to guys for the custom work, while Charis “Mother Hen” Smith kept the construction machine fueled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The team was puzzled by the timing of the job, but it didn’t really matter. Bruce Elson, who found a small crucifix buried in the dust of the backyard, didn’t let the heat rob the blessing. “It’s a good thing we didn’t wait until next week,” he said. “It’s when summer officially begins.”
Jesse Bogan
FRIDAY, JUNE 12
I was almost finished painting over a patch of graffiti this afternoon when the man walked over to me. He was well dressed, in nice slacks and a bright blue shirt, and the silver car he had driven up in looked out of place in the poor neighborhood where the community center is located. I felt a little apprehensive, because the others who had been painting with me had gone inside out of the heat, and I was by myself.
“Are you with the church group?” he asked.
I told him I was, and introduced myself. He extended his hand, and I shook it, hoping I wasn’t smearing white paint all over it.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you are doing here,” he said. “I’m the County Commissioner, and I want to thank you for all your good work.”
I was hot and tired, and his words were so unexpected. I didn’t know what to say. I remembered a sermon Steve preached once after he had returned from a mission trip to Peru, how instead of “gracias” people there would sometimes say “para servirle:” I am here to serve you.
I didn’t feel comfortable using the Spanish, but I tried to put the same thought into English. “We’re happy to be able to do something helpful.”
“You are,” he told me. “You are angels.”
Then he walked back to his car, climbed in, and drove away.
I felt like God had delivered a message directly to me. Yesterday was hard and discouraging for me, and I hadn’t felt like I had accomplished much. But here was a brief but heartfelt expression of gratitude that confirmed that what we are doing really makes a difference.
When we arrived, a number of walls in the complex of buildings that makes up the community center were covered with gang graffiti. The picnic tables next to the playground had obscene words and pictures scribbled on them. Several of us spent part of yesterday and today going over as much as we could with white paint.
On the wall of a small storage building that faces the street, which used to be defaced with blue spray paint scrawls, we created a mural. We wrote “The Children of Pueblo Nuevo” in big letters in the center. (Pueblo Nuevo is the name of the neighborhood the community center serves.) In groups of twos and threes we brought out each of the kids attending our VBS, painted their hands in bright colors, and helped them mark their handprints on the white surface.
Maybe, as we hope, those who paint the graffiti will be reluctant to mark over something their little brothers and sisters helped create. But even if not, we’ve done what we can to deliver the message to the children and adults of Pueblo Nuevo that God cares for them and we care for them.
Everything we’re doing this week – all the silly songs, all the peanut butter sandwiches, all the work in105 degree heat, all the nails driven and games played and paint splattered – is meant to carry that message. Just as the County Commissioner told me, we are angels, because we are God’s messengers.
Angela Holder
THURSDAY, JUNE 11
 Today our group was split into two groups. One went on the construction site and built on the house, while the other group went to the community center in Pueblo Nuevo and taught VBS.
The VBS group was mostly youth and children with some adults who helped with planning. When we first got here, the sky was cloudy and a breeze made the morning a little cool, so we did recreation outside first. We came in and cooled off while Kevin and some of the youth led an interactive skit about Adam and Eve. Some of the local children played the animals that Adam named. Rachel led everyone in enjoyable songs that had motions. We moved to craft groups and made masks.
 The children who came stayed all day, so we all stopped for a pb&j lunch about noon. The construction people joined us for a break from the heat. When they left we played board games and watched Veggie Tales until it was time for an afternoon snack. We handed out friendship bracelets that Dulles High School students made as a present to the children. It was really awesome to tie the bracelets around their wrists, giving them something special to remember us by. At the end of the day three youths spent time painting over graffiti on an outside shed.
Today we accomplished our mission of meeting the neighborhood kids and showing to them the love of Christ.
Riley McGann, Grace Swart, & Anna Rader
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10
 South Main's multigenerational mission trip to Eagle Pass, Texas began with the verb "Go" from the Great Commission. Actually the trip began on Tuesday when Erin Conaway, Bill Moore, Tom Ehlers, and Sam Swart came early to prepare the way. The rest of us met at the parking lot this morning. We are a group of families or parts of families, some teenagers, and some singles. We range in age from Lauren Rader to Clyde Schneider, a former member who came with two friends from Brenham. We brought luggage, games to play with new friends, musical instruments, and a snowcone machinel From Houston to Eagle Pass took most of the day; it was a safe trip, but a detour and food stops extended the travel hours.
 A Buckner/CBF partnership helped us plan the trip. They identified the area of Publo Nuevo as one that needed our help. This area has had two major hits from tornadoes in the last two years which destroyed an elementary school and several homes. The construction component of our group will help begin the rebuilding of one home. The partnership is coordinating two other groups who will come in July and August to finish the project.
In a time of worship after supper, we began building the faith moments that will undergird what we do these days. We sang, prayed, and prepared for tomorrow. The construction team will leave at 7:00 to work in a slightly cooler morning. The VBS team will leave at 7:30, so we can be ready for children who are eager to come at 9:00. We are eager to move to the next verb: by actions and deeds, we want to "Tell.""
Charis Smith
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Missions Blog - Eagle Pass 2009