Teamwork!

Unity is so important in the Body of Christ. As we Christians work together in harmony, the Lord is glorified and our testimony is strengthened. As we each use our gifts, skills, and abilities, the results are beautiful!
In February, the missionaries pulled together and held the dedication for Taylor Community Center. We even had the blessing of having 5 people from our WGM Headquarters in Indiana travel down to help us out and celebrate wtih us!
It was a team effort and we had many committees leading up the event to help with preparations. The food committee did a phenomenal job of planning the menu, buying the groceries, and preparing the spaghetti dinner that was served to 120 guests!
The decorating committee planned, shopped, and transformed the TCC gym into a beautiful banquet facility!
Everyone worked hard, using their gifts, to make the evening special for all our guests.
Many wore several "hats," pitching in wherever needed, giving selflessly when a need arose. . . even if it was for another committee!
It took everyone. Some gave by building a stage. Some gave by donating sound equipment. Some contributed by setting up tables, chairs, and multimedia for the presentation. Everyone pitched in and gave of themselves to see Christ lifted up!

What a joy it was to see Helen Moon honored for her and her late husband's contribution to seeing TCC finished.
What a challenge to hear retired WGM missionary Tim Hawk encourage us to invest in eternity.
What an inspiration it was to praise God through special music.
My prayer for the evening was the God would be glorified and that everyone would feel His love as we served them and worshiped together.
I believe the Lord honored our united spirit and answered abundantly! Praise the Lord for His goodness!

Unusual Tools

Through God's faithfulness and the generosity of His children, we now have a beautiful soccer field on World Gospel Mission property here in McAllen!
The spring soccer season has arrived and Gerson is in his element coaching. He is overseeing 4 teams who are using our soccer field to practice. Games will begin on Saturdays in a few weeks. Currently two teams practice on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. The other two teams use the field on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
What a joy to see the "cancha" filled with kids playing soccer!
The community has responded with enthusiasm and the are made up of children from 3-12 years old. Some of these athletes are from Taylor Christian School. Some are home-schoolers. There is also a number who are from our very own neighborhood and community.

Many of the kids are not from Christian homes. They are looking for hope, purpose, love.
And Gerson's primary goal is to show them Christ's love and train in the His Word as they also play and learn the game of soccer.

Do we use unusual tools to evangelize? YES! But need is great. The response is enthusiastic. The work is hard with long hours. And we do it because we know the ANSWER to the kids' needs and questions.We also know it is WORTH IT ALL.
Will you join our prayer team? Pray for Gerson as he works with the kids almost every afternoon. Pray for us as we try to connect with the parents who come and watch the practices, hear the devotions, and sit on the sidelines for 1 hour and half. We are hoping I (Betsy) can begin building relationships with the mothers who stay during the practices. Pray for us as share the Gospel using a simple soccer ball.

TCC Moon Chapel

What have been up to during the month of February? I assure you, we have not fallen off the planet. Rather, we have been busy preparing for the dedication of Taylor Community Center. One part of the dedication was the dedication of the our chapel, which we have named "Moon Chapel" after Bill and Helen Moon. (Helen is pictured above with Gerson.) Bill and Helen were instrumental in the construction of TCC. The chapel always held a special place in Helen's heart. She desired that it would be a place of prayer.
When Helen retired from World Gospel Mission about a year ago, the chapel was pretty bare. It had the basics: chairs and a borrowed podium. Helen wanted to see the chapel have an altar and look like a prayer chapel!

The Lord provided! He sent Mike and Jan Cummings (who happen to be related to my father) from Southern Illinois. The arrived in the Rio Grande Valley for a month-long stay. We put them to work! While they were here, Mike made an altar, a podium, and a cross for the chapel. What a blessing!
While Mike did amazing things with the wood, Jan was his handy helper and stained it all. She was also an extra set of hands to hand him tools and help in whatever way her husband needed.
Meanwhile, Mom and I began working on making the chapel look warmer. After brainstorming, we decided to make banners based on the Fruits of the Spirit. We designed the banners on paper, then began looking at fabric and putting the banners together. Thanks to my mom's expertise with a sewing machine, the banners turned out fabulously!
Love ------ The greatest sacrifice and example of love --- Jesus dying for us on a cross.
Joy ---- Based upon, "Joy comes in the morning."
Peace --- "I've Got Peace Like a River!"
Patience --- We're all under construction. Praise God He's not done with us yet!
Kindness ----Eeveryone united to help one another, regardless of race, age, or economic status.
Goodness --- Comes from pure motives from a pure heart.
Mike installed the altar and the cross and moved the podium into place.
Then he hung the banners on the wall. Now the chapel looks like a prayer chapel! What a joy it was to see Helen see the chapel for the first time and realize her dream of a quiet place to pray had become a reality!