May 23 - A large collection of photos from the trip are now available, BY CLICKING HERE. Enjoy.
April 29 - The team is back! All are in good health and spirits.
The medical team served 130 people the first day, 170 the second day and with some creative "marketing" from the team, 130 the third day.
When they arrived at their location to hold the clinic, the neighborhood was not aware that they were there. For $5, a man who was selling oranges from his car drove around the neighborhood with a loudspeaker to announce the clinic and 130 people responded!
The construction team completed the concrete roof on the church school building.
More pictures and stories to come, but we praise God for the team's safe return and for the positive news we are hearing of results from the trip.
April 25/26 - Pam Barlage called in Friday with this update from Reynosa...
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The construction team got a lot of sun and has sore bodies after the first day! There was a minor accident, someone fell off some scaffolding, but they are fine.
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The medical team served 130 people at their clinic.
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Pam and Tracy gave out some talking Bibles and one of the recipients was a blind woman that Pam met in 2003, the first year of Cornerstone’s Reynosa medical/construction mission trip!
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The weather is very hot and muggy.
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Pastor Ken is surprised by how very good the food is!
Pastor Ken is leading worship on Sunday morning at the church. Let's keep them all in our prayers through their last days on the trip.
I'll try to update when I hear news, but I (Bob Brenzing) will be further from a computer over the weekend than I thought. The team flies back into the GR airport Sunday night at 11:00pm.
April 24 - They've arrived in Reynosa! Praise God for smooth travel, no lost luggage and no bad weather!
The team picked up more medical supplies while in Texas and then crossed the border into Mexico. They did some exploring and found the church school building that they will be working on - pouring a concrete roof! That should take most of their construction time...
(Photo is from the actual building project, sent to Cornerstone before the team arrived.)
The Medical Team will be conducting three clinics in three days in three different locations throughout the city of Reynosa.
Everyone is in good spirits and ready to put their skills to work! Stay tuned...
April 23 - We'll they're off! The teams left this morning at about 5:30am with a flight from Grand Rapids directly to Houston, TX. From there, it's about a three hour bus ride to McAllen, TX where they will cross the border to Reynosa, Mexico.
View Larger Map
(Now for some strange reason, when I embed the above map, their route changes to a detour to San Antonio. That's not right. Not sure what's up with Google Maps on this one!)
Anyway, we'll let you know when we hear from the team on the ground. Stay tuned and keep praying for safe travel and good health.
The Reynosa, Mexico Missions Team 2008
The team - Jim Applegate, Kathy Applegate, Pam Barlage, Bruce Beukema, Sheril Billings, Tracy Bowers, Kevin Heemstra, Rob Kruisenga, Nancy McPherson, Ken Nash, Dan O'Malley, Ilse Place, Steve Place, Gloria Santos, Kathy Seese, Ben Statler, Kellie Sweitzer, Teresa Wainscott, Emily Watkins, Ken Watkins, Shelly Watkins, Tom Watkins, Rick Westers and Jan Wiebenga
April 22 - The team is ready! Actually two teams - a medical team and a construction team. The medical team will provide a clinic in a different colonia each day. The construction team will install a concrete roof on an area church building. The team leaves at 4:00am on Wednesday, April 23 and returns on April 27.
They request prayers for their trip:
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For the people of Reynosa to see God's love for them.
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For each piece of luggage to arrive with the team.
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Safe travels and safety while in Reynosa.
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Good health for each team member.
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Praise that God has assembled this team to serve.
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That God will keep the rain away from the construction site.
Blogging from Mexico will be difficult. We'll provide updates as best as we receive them at the church.