Serve Trip Report: Rio Bravo
It was a challenge to effectively articulate and capture how God made our Serve Trip to Reynosa such a success in so many ways. We had 27 team members on this trip, with 21 men and 6 women, 15 first-timers, and multiple family units: two married couples, a father and son team, a father and daughter team, and a set of five adult siblings. Sharing data points like these are, to me, a gracious mental image of how the ministry of Cornerstone continues to grow and God continues to expand our team and impact.
Originally we hoped to bring 45 volunteers on this trip, but ended up with only 27. We thought we had done a poor job recruiting as we wanted to take a large team to accomplish a bunch of projects. But, lo and behold, our team of 27 was amazingly skilled and efficient - the amount of work accomplished was truly supernatural.
The team at the Blue School installed over 300 sheets of drywall and taped and floated three classrooms. Another team knocked down multiple walls to make bigger classrooms and fell trees to make space for a sports area to be installed at the Blue School. The painting team didn’t stop from the moment they arrived. Five classrooms were left looking warm and inviting, and we literally had to pull them off the ladders for meal breaks. The office-building team was led by Buck in construction but John in the DJ department! Our team of guys was singing and dancing all day long, but we did manage to get some work done - completing the build of three principal’s offices from start to “ready for paint” in 2.5 days.
In all of those projects, our entire team was dedicated to doing high-quality work. Our building team adjusted for an uneven floor to make the walls straight and upright even though it took extra steps. Our painting team went the extra mile to make sure each classroom didn’t have even a dot of old paint showing. Our drywall team at the Blue School worked tirelessly in the heat all weekend with no complaints.
Accomplishing all of that, with a bar of excellence, and with our team of “only” 27 people was humbling. It reminds me of the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes to feed the masses but instead, God supernaturally multiplied our time, our strength, and our hands to meet the need.
The staff at Rio Bravo was abundantly grateful for our work, which they said would have otherwise taken them months to complete. They are well on their way to starting a new school year at Hope Christian School. They will accept students K-12 at the Hope Christian School and high school students at The Blue School, both in beautiful, welcoming environments after their year of remote teaching and learning.
If you are interested in joining us for our next trip to Rio Bravo (October 7-10, 2021), click here to read more or to register.
Rio Bravo Ministries is a faith based ministry located in Reynosa, Tamalupas, Mexico, directly across the border from McAllen, Texas. Their focus and core belief is to become a “Bridge of Hope” that connects the local needy Mexican community with the wider network of resources of American Christians. Rio Bravo Ministries supports Casa Hogar Rio Bravo (Rio Bravo Children’s Home), Colegio Puente de Esperanza (Hope Christian School) and The Blue School.
