John’s Story: Grace like a Freight Train
My first introduction to Cornerstone Restoration occurred when I was invited to their Launch Party, which took place at Foster Village, in Dripping Springs. I was invited by a friend and mentor of mine that just so happens to also be the leader of my Bible Study group. My first impressions of the mission as well as everyone I met there who was associated with Cornerstone were very good but if I was to be candid with you, I did not feel the Lord clearly pressing on my heart to jump in and volunteer, at least not as much as my wife did, who was also at the launch party with me.
I never had any idea that once I took that small step and agreed to join them for a few days in Reynosa, Mexico, just how much of an impact and influence Rio Bravo, the children, the community, and more so, the Lord would have on me.
It all started with a simple invitation to join by who was not then, but is now, someone I consider a friend and brother in Christ, Paul Rudzitis. My initial reaction was “I’ll pray about it” - which was partial sincerity but also one that offered me the opportunity for that coveted “way out” if I decided otherwise later. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we need to pray for every decision in our lives no matter how big or how small they might be, making sure that we keep our attention on the Lord and keep our focus on His will and our will aligning as much as possible. But in an effort to be as transparent as possible, when I said I would pray about it in this circumstance I was also looking for additional time to make a decision and I was almost immediately feeling convicted when I replied in that manner.
Let’s be honest here and consider for a second exactly how that prayer might have been executed:
“Lord, please make it clear to me and give me your direction and counsel if you want me to go and help your little children and those less fortunate than me by offering my time and resources for a few days, while also fellowshipping with your church and your community that you are changing hearts and lives in, and growing closer to you during all of this…….or Lord, would you rather I stick around the house and do nothing that fulfills your will and glorifies you!?”
Yep, that’s why it was so convicting! So nonetheless, He gave me my answer before I could even ask the question, and He not only answered me beforehand, but He convicted me to the point that now I felt like the Lord was asking (or demanding) me and not someone else, to go on this trip.
Once I committed to the Lord that I was going to go, there was, of course, no backing out then. Funny thing is, I seemed to get more and more excited about it and I could tell that He was changing my heart so that I was looking forward to the trip and I was longing to love others and love Him through service. This was and is a new feeling for me in my walk with Christ…. I had to share how excited I was with this opportunity, so I did, and that sharing turned in to not only me and my wife attending this trip to Reynosa but also my brother and my two sisters feeling led to serve with us as well. Now it was real, the Lord had put my soul on fire in anticipation for this trip and the opportunity to glorify Him and that fire was beginning to spread like a wildfire!
So the day comes, and we leave for Reynosa early in the morning, and it didn’t take but a couple of hours to know for sure that the Lord was with us and that this trip was His grace manifest. We couldn’t even make it to Mexico without the fellowship in the truck turning in to His discussion and sharing of His testimonies. He was with us (as He always is) and His intentions were to move hearts and change perspectives, and let me tell you something, He did not disappoint!
When we arrived, my initial impression of the Rio Bravo Ministry was about what I had expected it to be, that is, until we got in the gate! It was BIG, and beautiful, well maintained and just overflowing with an unmistakable, powerful LOVE! But there was time to take all that in later. We were also there to work and that’s what we did, in a BIG way! We got started that afternoon and spent the next three days fellowshipping in labor! That sounds like a not-so-big deal, but it was GREAT! I won’t bore you with all the sweaty details of the work itself, but I will say in three days our group managed to build three rooms, including running electricity and network; put up something silly like 250 sheets of drywall at the Blue School (which is a whole other location but still associated with Rio Bravo Ministries); paint numerous rooms in numerous buildings; and perform demo at a couple locations. Let me correct something I said here: WE didn’t do anything. It was the Lord that did it ALL. Not only is there no way that we could have accomplished that much in that timeline, but there is definitely no way that we could have done that much without experiencing, feeling, and drinking in His grace throughout the whole process…..so much Grace and Love that I can’t even put in to words.
I honestly feel that the Lord blessed me more in those couple days than I could have ever offered them by means of my help. During the days, we would fellowship with each other and work hard and then we were blessed with the opportunity to share in meals and spend time with the young ones whose lives are being changed by what the Lord has done within those walls at Rio Bravo. More so, what the Lord is doing outside of those walls, in that community as well as in our hearts. I was also blessed with the opportunity to meet a couple of young men that had grown up at the Rio Bravo Children’s Home who were in their mid 20's, both of them having finished high school there at the Children’s Home, then went to University and then, one stayed in America and has a great job there but the other......he came back to Reynosa and was actually the Principal of the Blue School! He told me how hard it was at first, how they brought the kids in at the Blue School and taught them how to wash their hair and their feet, and their hands (they had never been shown that before) and how to take care of the basics, and then they were able to start teaching them as children should be taught. It was just so humbling and powerful, all at the same time….so impactful.
It was just so amazing....I was actually witnessing the Glory of Christ right in front of my own eyes! Just as we do every day but are just too blinded to see or accept it….you couldn’t miss it this time. These children, just as their parents and the parents before, have been raised and brought up in this community and culture of poverty with the Devil lying to them that there was and is no way out and that nobody loves them and that the only option is to join organizations that hurt and kill and do the Devil's bidding....but they were being shown and it was being proven to them from one of their own, that they are more than capable and have the opportunity to escape those chains of bondage and can overcome that lie that had been keeping them in that relentless rotation of poverty for so long!
For me, I could look around and see the change and see the change that was to come. I could embrace it, and for anyone that thinks our God is nothing more than words written on paper in a book, or a thing of the past...... this was unmistakable proof that He is a living and breathing God right here with us, that He is alive and doing His work in and around us all the day long! Not only could I embrace it.....but I wanted to scream it from the rooftops - maybe that's why I am sharing this with you. Or maybe it's just my way of re-living it, feeling His awesome grace again, or, who knows why, but for whatever reason He has pressed it on my heart to share this with you and I am 100% positive that He is not done using me, or you or anyone else that He calls.
One thing is for certain….I never saw it coming but I was hit by His grace.... like by a freight train! I could go on and on, doing my best to share with you how impactful and amazing that experience was and will be again. But I think that the best way for you to understand is to get out there, join us, and feel it first hand as the Lord fills you with His awesome Love.
Can’t wait to see you there and fellowship in the Lord’s Radiance with you.
“Faith Working Through Love” Galatians 5:6
In Him,
John O.
