BSM UTPA Missions Blog 2010

Thank you for all of your prayers! We got here safely and hit the ground running. We left McAllen at 6:15 PM on Monday, June 22nd, landed in Houston around 8 PM and were welcomed by Belinda’s family who then took us to eat dinner. We left Houston at 11:59 PM and landed in Caracas, Venezuela around 6 AM on June 23rd.

We visited the Mision Ultimo Frontera – Caracas (M. U. F.), a ministry for college students that meets in what used to be Figuras (a women’s gym). They took us to visit the Universidad Central de Venezuela (the oldest university in Venezuela) where we prayerwalked the campus. Keila sang and played guitar while we distributed tracts with information about M.U.F.’s activities to students who came to listen. After lunch, we talked with a group of college students who are looking to start a Christian ministry on their campus. Several of our team members talked about Free Lunch, Choice, Campus Outreach, and other BSM activities and we answered the many questions they had about our ministry.

We then drove to Valencia, about 180 km (112 miles) away and ate dinner at Iglesia Bautista El Trigal, where we met our host families.

Today, we are at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Valencia, where we met with a group of about 20 young musicians, shared a devotional with them, and then talked about the essentials of being in a band. Although the “talk” ended about 45 minutes ago, there are still students talking to the band members about music and their instruments! =)

We are now preparing for the three concerts in which the band will be performing tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday evening. The concerts make up La Semana de la Paz y de la No Violencia, sponsored by the Convencion National Bautista de Venezuela, The Union Nacional Bautista de Jovenes, the M.U.F. de Valencia, and other Christian groups. Given the current political situation, the organizers changed the band’s original name of Red Door to “Del Valle de Texas.” We’ll try to post up a picture of the posters soon.

Please continue praying for our team and our ministry.
Pray for:

-Our team’s health (6/9 of us are sick)
-Venezuelan Christian college students (There is a lot of political unrest happening on the actual campuses.)
-The MUFs in Venezuela (who are actively seeking to reach college students with the Gospel)
-La Semana de La Paz y de La No Mas Violencia (We’ll be at the Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia tomorrow and Thursday)
-The college students we will be sharing the Gospel with these two weeks

We’ll post again soon.

Many of you have heard about our Valley Summer Project Students. They are all part of the BSM here at UTPA. They all love God and they all believe in making a difference in this world. This group is a picture of what the students at our BSM are all about. I don’t say this because I am their campus minister, all the people in the places they serve tell me that they have never seen such a dedicated group serve others in God’s name.

Today I also want to point to you to 2 more students from our BSM: Suheily and Jessica. They gave their lives to Jesus about two years ago and today they are strong followers of him. Right now they are serving in Kenya, Africa for the entire summer. They are working in an orphanage loving children with all their heart. I still remember the day they came into my office to pray and seek God’s direction for their lives this summer. ” We don’t want to tell God where we want to go, we want to go where He wills.” Well, we prayed and all the doors opened to go to Africa. At first they were scared, but little by little their fear became dependence on God and now they are doing things for him they never imagined they would do. This is a picture of one of them, her name is Suheily, her major is journalism and her passion is to serve God. At our BSM she is the one that washes dishes after an event, cleans up, shows up early and leaves late. Right now she is not doing something different than what she already does here at home. That is what I love to see in our students, when they do on missions they do not change what they already do, they simply change the  location of their service.

Update on Venezuela Team. They arrived today in Caracas and they are doing well. They are currently visiting a university and will be giving a conference this afternoon. Please pray for all these missionaries serving so faithfully.

It’s been quite the long weekend but things have finally calmed down a bit for us this morning. Praise God that we have had the energy for everything He has called us to do so far and for the rest He gave us on Monday.  So, what have we been up to that has caused this little break from blogging? It was Manifest Hope Camp.  On Thursday morning, we headed to South Padre Island to begin the camp. Months of back planning had been going on before we even knew about the camp. They had been setting up hotel reservations, scheduling our speaker, and getting a lot of other planning, event scheduling, and graphic work done. When we arrived at La Quinta, where the event was to be held, our team quickly unloaded our very very very packed bus and had everything including a full sound system set-up well under the time constraints we had. Students from all over the Valley soon started arriving and registering and we started to see the faces to the hearts that God would soon touch. The event started, we played some games, the band played, and Gabe Salazar, our guest speaker, spoke. We had no idea that in that first night, we would see lives touched. As Gabe finished his sermon with the invitation and the band began to play in the background, students began to come forward crying, happy, broken, and changed. For the next three days we saw this time and time again. By the end of the weekend, it seemed as though every young person that came realized something different was in store for their life. The three days were also filled with fun and excitement for all the youth and our group as well. We had some beautiful sand castles built including a huge whale, a very happy group of six youth that won a volleyball tournament, and plenty of quick games to get the blood flowing before the main sessions. Gabe Salazar even taught our group a new game called “Ninja.”  (Ask any of us about it and we will show you how to play.) Overall, through sleepiness, sunburns, and sand, God moved in ways we never could have expected. Sure, we expected a couple people to cry here and there, maybe someone to share a testimony about how bad they were before they met Jesus, but the overwhelming response from the youth that came forward really opened our eyes to how much God can do when a few of His servants get together to do His will.

-Brian Martinez

Whew!  This week has been quite an adventure!  The entire team is exhausted, but  more importantly, we are really and truly joyful for all that we have seen God do this week. 

In the past week, the Valley Summer Project Team has:

-Led a 12 year-old boy to Christ! =)
-Prepared for and led two four-day Vacation Bible Schools at Primera Iglesia Bautista, Hidalgo and Iglesia Bautista Cristo El Rey in Mission, respectively
-Led a two-day Kids’ Rally at Buckner Children’s Home in Mission
-Helped organize shoes that have been donated to Buckner’s Shoes for Orphan Souls program
-Red Door, our BSM band has faithfully practiced in preparation for leading worship at Manifest Hope Camp at South Padre Island
-Prepared a seminar, teambuilding activities, media, music, volleyball and sand castle-building tournaments, and helped with many administrative tasks that needed to be completed for Manifest Hope Camp

These are just a few of the things we have accomplished this week.  What has amazed me the most about this entire process is our team’s willingness to do whatever it takes to serve. 

During our second day at Buckner Children’s Home, several members of our team saw that there were more volunteers (13 from our team plus 30 from a local church) than children that day.  Instead of standing around keeping to ourselves so as not to overwhelm the kids, our team went and asked if there was anything else that we could do to help; a representative from Buckner told us that the only thing they needed help with was in the warehouse, but said that it would probably be too hot for us to work.  We told him that we would serve wherever we were needed, including inside the hot warehouse.  God used the short time it took for the seven of us to finish that  project to allow us to be a part of His plan for the children who will be receiving those shoes.

Honestly, we had fun serving God in the hot, dusty warehouse.  We knew that God was there with us, just as He was with the rest of our team ministering to the kids.  What God really impressed upon my heart that day was the fact that as servants of God, we must be willing to be hot and sweaty, freezing cold, smelly and dirty, etc. in order to share His love ith those around us.   Little did we know that God would use our running around playing tag with 8-10 year olds, dressing up as a bunny for preschoolers, or re-stacking big boxes to show us that what He is really looking for is a willing heart.   God gives us the opportunity to choose whether or not we want to serve;  He has proven and continues to prove to our team that choosing to serve is far more rewarding than being comfortable could ever be.

The chorus of the song “Little is Much” by Downhere sumarizes something that God has been revealing to our team these past two weeks:

“Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow”

Lord, we pray that You use the seeds we are sowing to change the world. 
We’re ready to work.

-Ali Cepeda

The Manifest Hope Camp has officially started.  It is awesome to be serving together with our BSM UTPA students.  They are an amazing team. They love God and are fully committed to seeing His name glorified. Sharon and I are privileged to serve alongside this team. They make us proud and show every day a love for God that is going to fuel them for the rest of their lives.

So our hearts and gratitude go out to these college students. You guys rock.  They will be posting more on the camp they have planned and are now serving at.

Robert

Friday, June 5, 2009:

We traveled to Weslaco to scrape paint and begin re-painting a woman’s home.  We even got to meet her!  She was so grateful, but really it was a blessing for us to be able to serve her. 

Saturday, June 6, 2009:

We went door-to-door inviting kids to Vacation Bible School at Iglesia Bautista Cristo el Rey in Mission, TX and then hosted another Block Party at One Way Road to Heaven Church in Donna, TX.

We’ll be working on mid-week photo recap.  Look for it coming soon!

Thursday, June 4, 2009:

We met with Robert & Sharon for lunch and hosted a block party at One Way Road to Heaven church in Donna, TX. Check out the puppet Robert is holding; the twin-ish moment was NOT planned. =)  -Ali

Wednesday, June 3, 2009:

We finished painting the interior and exterior of the semi-trailer/classroom, cooled off with delicious paletas, led the Wednesday night service at Memorial Baptist Church in Edinburg, TX, and prepared for our first block party on Thursday.  -Ali

The first week of missions has come to an end. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Many things occurred during this period and He provided the strength and perseverance to complete them all. The team painted a semi-trailer, prepared for VBS, hosted block parties and later painted a house, amongst other things. A few accompanied Robert to North Carolina and served the Hispanic youth. Indeed, all things are possible through Christ.

Week 1 was very encouraging altogether. Though we encountered trials since the beginning, we had the victory day after day. Praise God! Communication and a strong foundation in Christ has made the 2009 team strong and united.

I urge you to maintain this team and missionaries around the globe in prayer that we may continue to claim victory. We will fight back. We shall not yield.

Thank you,

Att. Martha Altamirano