Annual Trip to Anapra, Mexico

I’ve just settled in for the evening as it is the night before we will head into Anapra, a neighborhood in the city of Juarez, to build two homes. This is our eighth trip into the Juarez area to construct homes, and I’m amazed at the impact we have had in these neighborhoods. So many men and women have teamed up with us through the years to help make this happen. I want to say “Thank You”! Whether it was gathering clothes, food, candy, and toys or giving funds, everything you’ve done has made this all possible.

This year is special because we’ve never built two homes during one trip, so we will be able to impact two families this year. I’m often asked why we continue going to an area that so many are afraid of because of the violence that is often highlighted in our news. My answer is that after you go you see how big the need is, and we can’t help but go back to reach out with the love of Christ.

Our trips have really changed through the years, and those who have traveled with us can testify to that change. In our early years it was all about the build. Get there, build it, and head home. Our third trip put us in a neighborhood where there were a lot of children, and the men had so much fun playing with the kids. I’ll never forget thinking that someone was going to die because Jim Sharp had started playing baseball with the kids using a shovel as the bat. I could see the shovel hitting a kid because they were too close to the batter. Thank the Lord, the best result of the play time was a lot of happy kids!

Every year we’ve expanded our outreaches, and we plan on impacting over 400 individuals with the gospel message this week. Not only have we expanded our outreaches during our builds, but we also have men and women who make trips throughout the year to go in and minister to families.