Home in Pennsylvania
The 2007 CEFC Mexico team experienced a very different trip when compared to years past. Aside from the work being done on the roof at Cristo Victorioso, the team set out in small groups of 3-5, to work on projects at four different homes of single and widowed women at Cristo Victorioso.
Antonia
Antonia is an elderly lady from Cristo Victorioso who has been a widow for many years. She lives in a small, but comfortable home for Mexican standards. One thing that had been missing on her property for a long time was a wall and a gate, to keep out intruders and stray animals. A group of 5 worked at Antonia’s for 3 days, constructing the wall, rerouting electrical wires and preparing an opening for her new gate, that was made and installed before the team left.
Antonia also prepared food for her workers, providing an open door to fellowship with her and her extended family members who came to pitch in.
Antonia's home (before), and new wall and gate (after)
Ruth
Nearly 20 years ago, Ruth fell in love with a man whom she married and had a son with. During her pregnancy, her husband abandoned her, leaving her to raise her son alone. But by God’s grace, she received love and aid from her mother-in-law who, while extremely ashamed of her son, had compassion on Ruth.
Working six days a week, Ruth does all she can to pay her bills and her son’s educational expenses in a country where even public education is not free. She has a small humble home, well kept and painted, with electricity and public water access. For years, Ruth had been filling up about 10 large buckets of water every Thursday (the only day that the city water was flowing). The water she paid for was only accessible from a small hose connection at the sidewalk in front of her home because she never had the money to build a cistern. She would use these buckets of water throughout the week to wash clothes, bathe, etc. The team spent nearly four days at her home digging a 2000 liter cistern, pouring its walls with concrete, and putting a concrete “lid” on it with a trap door. We were blessed with some extra time and funds to be able to install the plumbing which included a direct connection to the city water, a float valve, a brand new Siemens water pump, and a 750 liter holding tank on the roof of her house to provide constant water pressure throughout the week while the city water is not available.
Ruth provided meals for the team just about every day, which pleased her and gave us even more time to spend time with her. Even her son, who has been quite a handful over the years, stopped by each day to see how the work was going and see a refreshing new glimpse of the love of Christ at work in his mother’s life.
Ruth is very pleased. She now has running water in her home, making her life a little more easier, allowing her a little more time to fellowship with her neighbors and continue to be a light for Jesus Christ in the city of Puebla.
Dug by hand, poured in the pouring rain, and finished a day later
Martha
Martha is a not technically a single lady, but since her husband is a truck driver in northern Mexico and southern Texas, she only sees him once every few months. Suffering with diabetes, which has contributed to the loss of her eyesight, Martha spends most of her time home alone during the day until her youngest son, Dan, returns home from work in the evenings. We worked at her home on Saturday morning finishing a “half-finished” security wall that closes in her property. It was work that needed to be done, and it gave us the opportunity to step into her life and try to be a light and an encouragement.
She prepared a wonderful meal for us of a traditional Pueblan favorite called “mole-Poblano” (pronounced moe-lay). As we were eating with her and her son (who took off work that day to help us), one of our team members, Gregg, presented her with a gift that the Lord put on his heart to bring down, even before he knew who he would be giving it to. It was a 6 disc, Spanish NIV Bible, with a portable CD player, a perfect gift for her because she is almost 100% blind. Between the work, the fellowship and the audio Bible gift, it was about 5 hours of shear joy on a very special Saturday morning.
Juvencio and Len raising the short wall up to a secure height
Maria and Juana
Maria and Juana are sisters who live together and faithfully attend Cristo Victorioso. A group of four from our team worked on painting their home for two days, transforming what looked like an unfinished work project into a pleasant, clean, bright interior. Four rooms were painted light shades of green, cream, and beige. To the sisters’ delight, the team even had time to paint a flower stencil on the wall of one of the rooms, giving it a pleasant creative touch that many Mexican homes lack.
They also prepared food for their workers, and two times prepared food for the entire team! What a delight it was to be able to bless these two sisters in the Lord by brightening their home to which they so often invite family members, neighbors and brothers and sisters in Christ.
The flower stencil
Juvencio’s
An added blessing to our trip was to have time to go to Juvencio’s home to help them pour the concrete floors in their home. This was not part of our plan, but since the Lord blessed us with hard workers who finished all the jobs ahead of schedule, it left us time to help at their home, too. Juvencio and José had not only helped us every day that the team was there, but worked for months beforehand, along with my good friend and brother Efrain, preparing the walls and rebar beam structures so that it would be ready for the team to set and pour the roof structure. Without Juvencio, José and Efrain, we never would have accomplished what we did, making it even more of a pleasure to pitch in at their home when we had the time.
Half the team worked at Juvencio's while the rest poured the church's roof
The Roof at Cristo Victorioso
The majority of the team worked day to day at Cristo Victorioso. We began with 34 heavy, prefabricated rebar and concrete roof beams to set, followed by filling in with a hollowed out, lightweight cement block. This was then braced underneath with dozens of wood posts to bear the weight of the concrete poured on top until it hardened. The team worked tirelessly with the Mexican brothers, setting beams, tying and bending rebar, completing the electrical installation and so forth. The culmination of all our work was on Wednesday, two days before the team’s departure, when we poured the roof with the aid of 3 concrete trucks and a large crane pump. It took 2 hours to pump all 15 cubic meters onto the roof and another two hours to finish it smooth.
If it weren't for the pumper truck, we would have poured by hand with buckets
Now that I’m home
I’m looking for a job… imagine that Many people have asked me how the transition has been going. It has been very strange because I find myself lacking emotion. I’m neither sad, nor happy. I miss the people there, but find it hard to picture them or think about them. Although there are a number of things that I miss about Mexico (i.e. the people, the church, the climate, the food, the relationships), there are also things that I don’t miss (i.e. the traffic, the pollution, the road hazards, the dogs, the mosquitoes). All of this sort of blends together and adds to the “overloaded” but peaceful feeling I’ve been going through. I am a guy who feels a bit lost in his own country, dreaming at night that he’s everywhere but where he really is, while trying to figure out what’s next.
Ok, obviously, it’s impossible to put into words (I think I just succeeded in proving that), but no matter what time of day, situation, thoughts or feelings, I am constantly reminded of the grace, peace and love that I live through Jesus Christ. That’s the only way. If not, I would be a wreck. How great it is, in a sea of so many unknowns, to find peace in the knowledge of the control that God has over all things… the known and the unknown.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.” -Jeremiah 33:3
Prayer:
Especially for the Lord’s direction regarding work. I have been sending out resumes, interviewing and researching in the fields of construction and engineering. I won’t make a solid decision until after returning from a weeklong Crossworld “re-entry” program in Philadelphia (July 22nd – 27th). Please pray for guidance and direction during this process.
I am quite “out of touch” as far as American culture and the things I need to adjust back to again. Pray for grace and patience to transition back into life here in the States.
Please continue to pray for Cristo Victorioso. Many of you know people there that you can pray for specifically. Others know those whom I have written about. I care about all the brothers and sisters there very much, and sincerely appreciate your prayers for them.
Christ’s Love,
Jon
PS: Please make note of my new email address jon.mountz@gmail.com