Church makes impact in Mexico
Many spend Spring Break taking a trip. Nineteen members of Impact Christian Church took their own trip to Juarez, Mexico and built a small structure for local pastor, Juan A. Reyes Ramirez, who plans to turn it into a soup kitchen.
Mike Galvin, mission team leader at Impact, met up with the building ministry in El Paso, Texas in 2001. The ministry, Casas Por Cristo (Houses for Christ) has been building homes since 1993 with over 4,000 homes built to date. When Galvin got involved with Impact Church, he proposed the idea to Scott Park, pastor and this is the sixth house Impact members have built.
According to Galvin, the people who get the houses are sometimes living in makeshift shelters of pallets and cardboard. When the team builds them a house, they get a secure three-room structure that is fully insulated and has electricity.
“I really love doing this and it’s a good way to put my faith into action,” said Galvin.
Besides leading the Mission Team at Impact, Galvin is a firefighter/paramedic and also runs an excavation business. He coordinates the trip to Juarez and works with the ministry to coordinate the logistics of the build. The ministry provides a team leader, to help even the most inexperienced people build a home. It takes around one week to make the trip and build the house. Much of the funding comes from individuals making the trip. They get family, friends, and others to donate money and the church also conducts fundraisers.
Another activity the church is a part of is a group called Kids Against Hunger. The church sets up an assembly line and puts together food packets providing 10,000 meals. These meals have been formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed by a malnourished child’s body and mind. The food also accommodates to the broad diversity of ethnic tastes and religious differences around the world.
This year, a college ministry packed another 25,000 meals, which the team gave as a blessing to the new soup kitchen. Each bag contains six servings of the dehydrated food, which has a shelf life of at least three years.
Some of the food packets were given to Antonio Castaneda Tarin, Local Pastor of Mexico Missions in Juarez and Durango (Mexico). Galvin met Antonio in 2002 when the team he was with built Tony a home, removing them from a pallet home with a plastic roof they lived in with their one-year-old son. “Tony and his family have become an extended family of our forever family here at Impact Church,” said Galvin.
Another bonus donation came from Little Chapel Food Pantry in Divide. They donated shoes that were also distributed to the needy in Mexico. While the donated sandals may not be as useful in Teller County, they served a dire need for footwear in Mexico.
A question Galvin says they are often asked is if recipients of the houses are Christian and he explained the only stipulation is that the people must own the land where the house will be built. It’s a free gift, just like the free gift we can all receive from Jesus Christ. The family usually helps with the building and there is a Christian dedication when it is complete.
“It gives us an opportunity to spread the love of Christ, bless others and share the gospel of good news through action and relationship with families,” said Galvin.
The family has to apply through a church, but other than owning the land there are no requirements.
“When the home is dedicated and the keys to a free home are handed to the family, the blessing and love of Jesus Christ cannot be denied by the family or the team members who are equally blessed by getting the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus,” he concluded.
If anyone else, a church or organization in the area would like to learn more about these home building missions or how to set up their own trip, you are encouraged to contact Mike Galvin through Impact Christian Church for more information.
Juarez pastor, Juan A. Reyes Ramirez looks into the building just built, which he plans to use as a soup kitchen.
Young women look over the shoes donated by Little Chapel Food Pantry in Divide and one little boy got an extra “friend” with his.
Children being given the food packets.