I returned Friday from leading FBC Crawford in a mission trip to Peñitas, Texas with the help of Buckner.

How can I summarize this trip?  It’s hard.  Yet, a team member summed it up well while debriefing on the way home:  “I saw God in Peñitas, Texas.”

I will devote a number of posts to discussing the trip but let’s get started.  Here are the 39 team members:

Here is the group plus Sam from Buckner:

The group of 39 was comprised of 4 teams:

• Construction Crew
• Empowerment Team
• Food Distribution Crew
• Equip Camp Team

Each team will get highlighted in future posts but let’s start with the Construction Crew.  Here is the Rodriquez family:

The Rodriquez qualified to receive a home after completing case management with Buckner.  Hector and Maricruz have four children.  Hector has a stable job and Maricruz provides income by selling hair bows (a skilled she learned from Buckner).  As part of their case management the family has been through Fatherhood initiative, nutritional class, Paz Financiera, leadership development, and more.  Hector and Maricruz’s daughter, Ilse, received a Buckner scholarship and is attending college.   All of that to say – they are excited to receive a home and will thrive when the home is completed.

Here is a picture of their current home and the site of their new home:

Here is one of the best aspects of the story: The Rodriquez family, once the new home is completed, is donating the materials of their old home to those in need.  How awesome is that?!

After a hard week of work, here are the 17 members of the construction crew standing in front of the new Rodriquez household:

A group from South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Texas arrived the day we departed and will finish the house.  The goal is to have the Rodriquez family living in the house next week.

Numerous team members shared with me the emotional prayer that Hector offered to God after the completion of the work.  On top of the prayer he told the group, “I can’t repay you for what you’ve done – but God can.”

I could not be more proud of the construction crew and the work they did in the name of Jesus Christ.