Church Planting and Church Building

The month of February has been very busy, with activities at the new mission, and with preparing the foundation and floor for the new Santuary. Third CRC Denver will be here the 9th - 15th of March to frame the church building. The floor, however, had to be done early because of the activities on February 16th and 17th. Both outdoor activities took place on the new slab.

First we had to fill the area with fill dirt, and compact it. Then came the job of leveling the area. Finally the forms and rebar had to be put in place and tied in. The on Monday February 11th the pad was poured. About 40 men, and women, from several churches and the rehab center showed up to help with the work. This time we ordered the cement from cement trucks. The cement was supposed to arrive a 7:30 am, the first truck arrived at 10:45. So, we had breakfast before the work.

After all the trucks had delivered their cement we were still about 6 sacks short, so the men got to mix the last little bit by hand and deliver it by wheel barrel. Scott, Paulino Luna, and another cement mason stayed to finish troweling the cement.

We still have to lay two rows of bricks on the outside of the foundation, and then we are ready for the group from Denver!

For more pictures, lots more, check out the foundation for santuary photo album link on the right hand bar.

Evangelistic Campaign

The men from the Rehabilitation Center, Forjando Nuevos Destinos, hosted an Evangelistic Campaign on Sunday February 17th at the "Agua Viva" mission. They plan to have a campaign at each of the churches and missions in Tijuana during 2008. The praise band from "Cristo Arca de Salvacion" Church played, and their pastor, Armando gave the message. Several men from the rehab center gave their testimonies as well. There were several new families from the community that attended, and three families accepted home Bible Studies. They also sold food, Bibles, and plaques to raise funds for the rehab center.

Youth Outreach Event in Agua Viva

For several months the youth from the Reformed Presbyterian Churches in Tijuana have been planning an outreach event at the new mission "Agua Viva". The theme of their last camp was service and this event was a followup, allowing the youth to put in practice what they had learned. They organized three puppet shows, a clown show, a time of singing, a class for children and adults, and they collected toys and food to give out. Saturday, February 16th was the day of the event. The theme was God's Love. There were about 180 children who attended, and 80 families for a total of about 300 people. James Lee also took family pictures which will be available this Wednesday at the Bible Study. Twenty three people signed up to have someone visit them in their home for a Bible study. Pray for us as we begin the follow up with these families. We are thankful for all of the hours of planning and hard work the youth dedicated to this project. Melissa and her friend Lesly were in charge of the children's class and Karissa was in charge of the puppet shows. If you would like to see more pictures of this event click on the link to the Servicio Evangelismo Juvenil album.