Hola from Layne

Today I had the privilege of going with a team of people to the Reynosa Brethren in Christ (BIC) Church. We accomplished a good bit...putting legs on all the pews in the church that were previously supported by stacks of cinder blocks and painting iron window guards on the outside of the church...but the best part for me was connecting with the pastor of the church and his nephew.

Francisco has been the pastor at Reynosa BIC for 9 years. The church has 80 adults and 70 children...very large for this town, and they´ve made a lot of physical improvements to the building over the past couple of years. The sanctuary is small by our standards... a room that holds approximately 20 or 24 pews, but they´ll be hosting the BIC Mexican General Conference in April with 400 people in attendance...they´ll definitely be packing them in like sardines.

It was great to talk with Francisco about his church, through the interpretation of his nephew Edgar, and to tell him a bit about McBIC. We also found that we both know a number of missionaries like Mike and Sherry Holland, Leroy and Judy Eberly, and Nate and Cathy Bert. One of my favorite parts of missions trips is connecting with the pastors. There are so many awesome men and women serving God as pastors in challenging situations all across our world. I´m always impressed by their radiant joy and faith and their generosity...in spite of the fact that they usually have very little materially themselves. As we left the church we gathered in a circle, held hands, and prayed a prayer of blessing over Francisco, Edgar...he´s waiting for his immigration papers to go through so he can return to Texas, and the church.

Our team is doing well. We´re accomplishing a lot of tasks here at the orphanage and building great relationships with the children. Tomorrow we plan to help move their classroom equipment from one building to another, and we´ll be visiting a colonia or two later in the morning or in the afternoon.

These days have been kind of tough on some of the kids...the heat, the work, uncomfortable travel, new sleeping quarters, etc. To my knowledge, we´ve been spared stomach problems, but a number of the kids have been struggling with fatigue and some asthma-allergy issues. We would welcome your prayers for health and strength for our kids.

It is such a blessing to know so many of you are faithfully praying for us! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again and to sharing with you about our trip.

Blessings,

Layne