Day 4

It's day 4, and things are moving quickly and smoothly...

We began the day at Sparks colonia, in southern El Paso, where the team from FBC Memphis was leading Vacation Bible School (VBS). We've partnered with the Sparks Community Center and the Mision Bautista Tierra Prometida to provide VBS for the children of the area. While Daniel and his team lead VBS inside the small church, Brandie, Mario and I helped coordinate the distribution of nearly 450 pairs of shoes to the children and parents of the community. To see the looks on the children's faces as they put on their new shoes (or cried because Mommy wouldn't let them wear them until school starts) was worth any and every amount of sweat we dripped during the 2 1/2 hours inside a metal building :)

While we were at Sparks, work continued fast a furious in Fort Hancock, under the direction of Brian Hill and his team from FBC Levelland. half of the roof is completely shingled, and the other half awaits shingles (it has been felted) tomorrow morning. So tomorrow, my plan is to go to Fort Hancock, climb up on the roof of that new church building, and nail some shingles up on the roof.

Concurrent with the construction project, the team at Fort Hancock also conducted a Soccer camp. 50 children came to the soccer camp, braving the heat and dust that surrounds that little church building! What a blessing!

After all of the activities were over for the day, we met up with our leadership team for dinner. With us we Jorge and Rosa Zapata, Cheyenne and Priscila Solis, Dorothy, Jessica, and Mario. We drove across the Americas bridge into Juarez, Mexico. Once we arrived, we had the privilege of meeting Hermano Francisco. Francisco is the Vice President of the Mexican Baptist Convention. After leading us to several restaurants which, unbeknownst to Francisco, are closed on Mondays for maintenance, we went to a neat restaurant called Ajuuva. We sat, laughed, ate, and talked. A quite aggressive female mariachi sang to (and flirted with) us, as we just enjoyed one another's company, talked about plans and dreams for the mission in El Paso, and cast a vision for how we could join what God is doing in El Paso. All in all, it was a great day.

Kirby, Colton, and Cooper -- we love you, and can't wait to pick you up on Sunday when we get back. Be good for Lin lin and Poppa, and enjoy your swim lessons today!!!

Tomorrow -- Fort Hancock!

Grace and Peace,
Ken Noles