Update From Mexico - Building More Than Houses

These past three days have been filled with plenty of cement, sheetrock, and brotherhood! So far we’ve helped build homes for four families in poverty. A mission trip before us built frames and we’re putting up the walls. It’s quite satisfying to see the progress. We still have plenty to do, but so far so good!


A major part of this trip is the brotherhood the men on it get to build and share. Most are missionaries with Saint Paul’s Outreach; one is working as an engineer; and one, Preston Richter, is a student at the University of Central Florida. It’s great to see these men, hailing from seven different states in the U.S, bond so well after only a few days. The work fosters this; two men hold the sheetrock over their heads against the ceiling, one man drills, and another gets the screws. The end of the day rolls around and all of a sudden you can call the man next to you your brother. When this change happened no one knows, but it certainly did. 


Preston shared this word from the prophet Isaiah with us earlier today, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isa 43:19). Preston, like the prophet, did not have in mind a physical desert (though Agua Prieta would fit the bill) but a spiritual one.

My perspective is limited but, from what I can gather, Agua Prieta is a dry place spiritually. One indication for me was the sparse attendance at Sunday and Daily Mass. My heart breaks at the spiritual poverty  in this city. Spiritual poverty is hard to notice, but the effects of it come out in different places.



It’s not much - perhaps just a drop in the bucket - but I’m sure that our work and our prayers will contribute to this revival that the LORD desires to see in this city and in this country. Please keep this country, city, and mission trip in your prayers as well!

In Christ,
Br. Ray

MORE PHOTOS FROM MEXICO