Day 5

Last night's Juarez dinner did a number on my stomach. Let's just say that Montezuma has had his revenge on me all day :(

This morning started with a trip to Fort Hancock to help with the construction of the church building. By 8:30, the temperature was already in the 90s. I had the privilege of getting on the roof of the church with Brian Hill , Kirby (a volunteer from FBC Levelland), and Jeff, the Student Pastor at FBC Levelland. My job was to roll out the felt that serves as the foundation for the roofing shingles. While Kirby and I rolled out the black material, Jeff came behind us with the nail gun, and secured the felt to the decking. once the felting process was complete, Brain and his crew came behind us, quickly putting shingles on the roof.

At about 11:30am, a semi arrived at the church building, loaded down with nearly $5000 worth of sheetrock, doors, and insulation. We helped unload the trailer, making sure everything is where it needed to go. Meanwhile, the volunteers inside the building continued their projects, comleting the framing for walls that extend from the tops of the office and classroom walls to the ceiling level. And again at the same time, the students from FBC Levelland were leading the children in a sports camp.

I love it when God gives us new ideas, and we have the flexibility to make them happen at the spur of the moment. Yesterday at dinner, I was sharing with Jorge Zapata about the demographic research I had been doing on the Sparks colonia where we are working this week. My research uncovered that 75% of the residents of that colonia are under the age of 18. Jorge and I both have a heart for children, and so this statistic struck us very deeply. I also shared with him about the skateboard park that has been built beside the Community Center in Sparks. Moved by compassion for these children, Jorge decided that we need to throw a block party for the Sparks community tomorrow night. So, I met him at Wal-Mart today, where we bought 20 brand new skateboards to give away as door prizes tomorrow at 6:00 during the block party (which we just scheduled a few hours ago) at the Sparks Community Center. I'm boiling over with anticipation of what is going to happen in that community as God gets a foothold there!

Tonight, our leadership team felt it was imperative that we come together and pray. We needed to pray for the mission, yes, but we also felt it was important that we pray for ourselves personally. Each of us, to a person, has been distracted by "life back home" this week. Jorge has been sick for a week, Brandie and I are dealing with family issues, as is Dorothy. Jessica is struggling with decisions about college. We all have needs that we must lay at the feet of Jesus. So we did that tonight. As a result, I believe that God is about to pour out His Spirit on the El Paso / Juarez / Fort Hancock area in a way that has yet to be known in the state of Texas. We prayed, and believed God, that El Paso will be the epicenter of a mighty move of God's presence. We prayed for revival, which we know has already come. And we will continue to pray for revival! Why do I say revival has come to El Paso already? Today at Vacation Bible School in Sparks, 6 precious young children exchanged their lives for the life of Christ!

Thank you all for praying for us... Please don't stop! Your prayers are being heard and answered, as God's Holy Spirit covers this place!

Grace and Peace,
Ken Noles