Mission Trip: Day 5 (Final Day)

The mission trip is over. Everyone packed their bags and went home. But not without a lot of things happening first. Here is a list of things that happened that I can remember off the top of my head (in no particular order):

• A baptistry was built in the church (well…it is 90% done and will be finished by Friday). That means they cut out a wall, built a base for the pool to sit on, built a wall back behind the pool, installed plumbing, built step and a platform, mudded/tapped/floated/bedded the wall, put up trim, electrical work, drilled and cut things, and generally got dirty!
• Flower beds were put around the outside of the church.
• We installed some outside lighting.
• A refrigerator was fixed.
• Several Sunday School rooms were painted inside the church.
• F.A.T. Awards were given.
• “New” furniture was brought for those rooms.
• Two ambulances and a firetruck pulled up to the church with firemen dressed in a full hazmat suit to “dispose of properly” a small propane tank found outside. Yep…that is what happens when we let the youth call the fire department!
• Toilets were fixed in the restrooms.
• Pictures were hung throughout the church.
• The stove got new burners.
• The kitchen got new utensils.
• A tire was blown and trailer stranded.
• Trash was dumped!
• They got new water hoses.
• Lots of trash/junk was taken to the dump.
• One permanent basketball goal was installed and half court lines were painted.
• Two portable goals were put together and left for the church.
• Vacation Bible School for grades 1-6 took place on Sunday-Monday and in total 50+ kids learned about God.
• Faces were painted, bubbles blown, and candy eaten.
• Sports camp had kids every day where 8 children prayed to accept Christ on the first two days.
• Dozens of sports balls were given out to children at the camps.
• And new hot water heater was bought and installed to replace the old broken one.
• Hundreds of pounds of food was given out to people in the neighborhood in need.
• New chains were put on gates to replace the rusted ones.
• Old chains in peoples lives were removed as 30+ people accepted Christ as their Lord and savior.

Across the street:

• The outside of the house was scraped and painted with several coats of paint.
• Holes and boards were fixed that were loose or missing on the outside of the house.
• The front porch was repaired and painted.
• Plumbing was fixed inside the house.
• Smoke alarms were installed.
• Respect and self worth were in a small way restored for a family as people cared for them and built relationships while tending to their needs.

In the neighborhood teams went out each day ministering to people they saw. They passed out flyers, prayer walked/drove, gave out surveys and tracts, brought people food, and helped a church become a place of light in an area that is full of darkness.

Here are some pictures for you to look at from today. Click them to see larger images.

As you can see the baptistry area has a few things still to finish. Mainly…it needs to be painted!

Just some pictures from the day. A happy cook makes yummy food!!

Pictures from the house across the street. This is the fixed and painted front porch.

Sports Camp Pictures.

VBS Pictures.

The first ever semi-annual F.A.T. Awards. (Faithful, Available, Teachable)

This weekend we experienced and saw so many things. People coming to Christ, people resisting Christ. A drunk women came by for monetary help, an addicted man came to give his drugs and alcohol to God. Kids came eager to learn, asking questions, and wanting to know more about Jesus. And kids came to disrupt and cause problems among the group. There will be many more stories told about this trip from varied perspectives.

It is hard to share the experiences that are so unique with others who have not shared them with you. So it will be hard to tell you about this trip. But I would urge you to do this. Do not just ask someone “How was the trip?” What you will get is the same type of answer you get when you ask “How are you?” Fine, great, good, etc. It is impossible to share in simple sentences about the trip. Instead ask, “What did God do on this trip and how was your life changed?” “What ways was the neighborhood impacted?” “Where is God leading Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Paz?” If you really want to know about the trip ask the real questions. Dig deeper than just the surface. Spend some time talking with any of the 45+ people involved on this mission trip. Ask about what God is doing in the lives of the people in the neighborhood and in the lives of the Tallowood people.

I want to thank all of you who faithfully prayed for us during this trip. Your prayers were needed and felt. God provided for us in many ways. I want to thank everyone who donated food, sports equipment, and money for Worship In Action:Houston. Without you we would not have been able to do the things we did. Continue to pray for this church and the work they are doing in East Houston. And pray about your involvement in going on future trips. We go to Romania in July and would love for you to come with us. I hope to have more pictures and a final video in the next few weeks for everyone to see. So check back soon!

Mission Trip: Day 4

Tornadoes, large hail, straight line winds, severe thunderstorms!!!

Today started with lots of possible weather problems. The sports camps are outside and part of our construction efforts are on the outside of a home. Rain, hail, and the possibility of a tornado also make people stay inside. But our God is good. Over here on the East Side we didn’t get all of that doom and gloom. As a matter of fact, we only got a half hour of rain late in the afternoon. Sports camps were able to go on outside as planned with not a drop of rain in sight. The youth and a few others painted most of a house across the street. The baptistry progressed and is starting to look like a real baptismal pool! We didn’t have quite as many people as yesterday at all the events, but we had who God wanted us to have.

There were many more stories of God’s grace and provision from everyone today. One story from today is a significant one. Around 4:45 when most of the group had gone to the hotel to clean up before dinner and the Revival a man came by the church. This man came by to speak with the pastor. He said that he wanted to give up the drugs, the alcohol, the addictions that are controlling his life. He wanted to give them to God. This story is significant in its own right, but especially in the fact that this is the first time someone has come to this church for something like this. This is the first time that someone has sought out this building to seek the face of God and his freedom. This is the first time that someone has come to this house purposefully to leave with a new start. The Pastor said that he has always had to go out into the neighborhood to seek others. Now this place of worship is becoming a presence in the neighborhood. It is a place that people are beginning to see as bringing truth and light. It is a place of beginning and finding the Lord.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

This is the house before today.

An army of people worked on it all morning and part of the afternoon (before the non-existent rain and hail)

This is the house after the day.

John and Eddy fixing a window.

Jim and Paige Tidwell have been wonderful cooks!

The sports camp went well today.

Here are a few VBS Pictures. Click on each of them to make them larger.

Several more people became Christians today, it was a wonderful day.

I know everyone wants to see pictures of the baptistry…but they are on another camera. So tomorrow I will try to show you start to finish! Check back then.

Mission Trip: Day 3

Today was a wonderful day once again. There are so many things that I could share with you about today that I don’t know where to start. From the three people who came to know Jesus as their savior at the sports camps, the VBS, the baptistry getting set into place half way finished, the house across the street the youth worked on, and much more. But all of it pales (sort of) in comparison with the Revival tonight. Rather than tell you about it I thought I would just show you.

This is Eddy preaching towards the end of the evening.

And this, minus the 8 Tallowood members praying with the group, are the people who prayed to accept Christ at the end of the night!!

Like I said…it was a wonderful day!

Mission Trip: Day 2

Today was a wonderful day. Things did not happened as we had planned but according to God’s timing instead. This morning we had a worship service and began our VBS. The worship service started an hour and a half late and only a handful of children came to the VBS. A far cry from the 80 we have been planning for. However God proved faithful. Two people prayed to receive Christ this morning. It was a wonderful time of worship. Tomorrow we expect many more children to come.

After lunch everyone put together sacks of food with all of the food items that Tallowood has donated over the past few weeks. There were sacks of food filling the church. We split up into four teams. Two teams went door to door into the neighborhood passing out flyers describing the sports camp, VBS, Revival, and telling them about the food distribution. Another team meet with people at the church doing evangelism as we passed out food. And the fourth team stayed at the church to finish painting the Sunday School rooms and help out where needed.

The food distribution and evangelim started fast but died just as quickly. After an initial full line of people in the foyer no one else was there to receive food. We had only given out 10% of the food we collected and shared Christ with a few people. Many had been praying that people would come to the church to receive food and give us an opportunity to witness to them. As the two teams in the neighborhood spread the word people began to come to the church. Our prayers were answered and people were lined up outside the church for hours. So many people came that I had to send them home until tomorrow. In total today 16 people prayed to receive Christ as their savior. As Pastor Brooks would say: “God is good, all the time.”

There were many stories of God’s blessing, provision, and timing from today. God is working in this neighborhood and we have been blessed to be a part of that work. Please check back tomorrow for more updates. I apologize for the lack of pictures today and will have some up tomorrow for everyone to see. Please continue to pray for us.

Mission Trip Day 1

Just a quick update from day one of the mission trip to East Houston.

We began the day at 7:30am loading all of the supplies and equipment for the week and ended our day after the revival playing games at the hotel. We have almost 50 people on this trip and everyone was busy the entire day.

Everyone worked hard today getting ready for the rest of the week. We cleaned out the empty lot for the sports camp. We put together three basketball goals. We painted a basketball court. We prepared VBS supplies and crafts. We painted rooms, tore down walls, trimmed trees, planted flowers, fixed a fridge, move furniture, loaded and unloaded, and generally got ourselves very tired!

Here are a few pictures for you to see, click on each picture to see a larger image:

 

 

Christopher (Christobal), which you can learn more about from the WIA Houston Video, was at the revival will be back during the week.

Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to reach the lost for Christ. Pray that people here would be freed from their bonds and chains. Pray for us as we continue to work the next few days. And pray that people would come to the sports camp, VBS, and the revival. Thank you for praying for us. Check back tomorrow night for more pictures and updates.

WIA: Houston Final Update

Friends, once again you have given in abundance!  Thank you for your generosity and your consistent desire to invest in God’s kingdom work both in our own city and around the world.  We have met and surpassed each of our goals for our current emphasis.

Two months ago we asked you to partner with us in helping a new Spanish-speaking congregation on the east side of Houston, Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Paz, reach its community.  We asked you to give $4000 for construction projects around the church, including the installation of a baptistry in their worship center.  You responded by giving over $5000!  This will allow us to take on even more projects at the church.  We also asked you for 75 new basketballs, footballs, or soccer balls to give to neighborhood children at our sports camp.  We have received 98!  Finally, we asked you to give non-perishable food items and you gave a mountain of canned goods that will go to needy families in the area.

We praise God that in His goodness he has bestowed upon us the resources that will allow us to help others in need.  Thank you for being faithful to His call!  Continue to pray this week for the mission team that will begin work at Fe y Paz this weekend.  Over 55 people have signed up to help  in some capacity!  Pray for good weather that will allow many of the planned projects to be completed, including the sports camp, door-to-door evangelism, prayer walks, and outside construction projects.  Pray for the children that will be attending the sports camp and VBS.  Pray for the families that will be attending the evening revivals.

Stay tuned for further updates from the mission trip!

We Have Reached Our Goals!

God has blessed the first few weeks of Worship In Action: Houston. We wanted to raise $4,000 for construction projects and collect 75 sports balls to give out to the children. After just three weeks the construction and the sports ball goals were met. To date we have received over $4,800 for construction projects, which will allow us to take on additional tasks. We have also received over 90 sports balls allowing us to give one to every child that attends the sports camps. Thank you for your generosity on this project. Please continue to bring non-perishable food items for us to distribute to the neighborhood.

Tallowood’s Involvement in Houston-area Ministries

Tallowood has a number of ongoing ministry partnerships throughout the Houston area.  From Street Reach to prison ministries to the Baptist Mission Centers there are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved right here in Houston.  Street Reach ministers to the homeless in our city.  The Seafarer’s Ministry reaches out to the sailors from around the world who enter the Port of Houston each day.  TELL teaches the English language to immigrants from across the globe, and the Baptist Mission Centers care for the poor and needy in our neighborhoods.  To find out more about how you can be involved in these and many other ministries click here.  We hope you’ll consider putting your worship into action by being part of one of these ongoing ministries at Tallowood!

WIA: Houston Launch Video!

Worship In Action Launches Emphasis in Houston

Our new Worship In Action emphasis is underway!  This weekend we launched a partnership with Pastor Jose Flores and Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Paz, a new Spanish-language congregation on the east side of Houston.  The story of this church is one of incredible faith in the midst of great trials.

Just a few years ago the original church had dwindled to just one member, a woman who paid the mortgage on their empty building for two years until it was paid off in November of 2007.  Last year her faith was finally rewarded when Jose Flores agreed to move his family from Argentina and accept the call to rebuild the congregation.  Two churches had promised to support Jose when he arrived in the United States, but when Jose came to Houston he was informed that they would be unable to fulfill their financial commitments.  Still Jose persevered and began the process of renewing the church by going door to door in the neighborhood and inviting people to church.

As Jose began to learn about the needs of the neighborhood he quickly understood the desperate need for Christ in the area.  Just outside the church drug dealers set up shop at the corner of Avenue K and 74th Street, and many people in the area struggle with drug addiction.   Directly across the street is a local psychic medium, and the neighboring house is a place where drug use is rampant each weekend as local youth gather to listen to a heavy metal band.  Jose and the church have been reaching out to the neighborhood by establishing relationships, providing for physical needs, and even lending music equipment to the heavy metal band.  Now the local youth gather to listen to the church youth band as well.

In November Tallowood began to sponsor Jose and his family so that he could continue his work at Fe y Paz, and in January the BGCT also began to financially support the church.  Now we want to continue our partnership with them through Worship In Action.  On March 15-19, the first half of Spring Break in many school districts, we will be taking a mission trip to Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Paz.  Our three points of emphasis will coordinate directly with this trip.

First, we plan to help Fe y Paz with some construction projects.  These include flooring needs, replacing broken windows, cleaning the lot, and building a baptistry inside their worship area.  We estimate that the total cost will be about $4000, or $8 per gallon in the baptistry.  Let’s fill the baptistry with 500 gallons.

 We are also providing a sports camp for children and youth in the neighborhood.  This is a great way for Fe y Paz to initiate relationships, and may be the first time that many of these children encounter the Gospel.  In an effort to attract as many children as possible, we want to provide a basketball, football, or soccer ball to each child attending the camp.  We want to collect a total of 75 new basketballs, footballs, or soccer balls.

Finally, we want to help provide for some of the physical needs of people in the area.  Many people in this part of Houston lack the money to properly feed their families.  Some of these families come to Iglesia Bautista Fe y Paz, but many others could be reached by a simple food basket.  We want to provide non-perishable food items for the people in the neighborhood that are most in need.  Click here for a suggested list of items.

As always, you can bring your donations each weekend to the Re:Action located just outside the enterChange worship area.  Help Pastor Jose Flores and Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Paz as they labor to spread the light of Christ in the darkness.  This is Worship In Action!