Thirty-four members of the congregation of the Grace Baptist Church in White Salmon, Washington traveled to Tecate, Mexico on a service and cultural immersion trip to build a home for a family in need.
The 34 members ranged in age from 15 to 68 years old. They spent 10 days building a residence for a homeless family.
Acting as the leading organization, and in partnership with Amor Ministries and Horizon Christian School of Hood River, Grace Baptist and its volunteers traveled to Tecate, on the border between California and Mexico. They also spent that time learning about the impact of the immigration crisis and talking about Jesus to the residents of the town.
Austin Bell, a member of the CBC congregation and one of the leaders on the trip said they combined cultural immersion to their mission project to be more effective in their witness since they were working directly with the family in need.
He said a lot of the people who volunteer to go on mission trips don’t know each other. So, they spend the travel time getting to know each other and sharing their stories. “By the time they got back, everyone felt a sense of team spirit because they’ve had this amazing experience together.”
This is the third time Bell and his family have participated in a trip. He says what makes this trip different from others is you can go back and see how the families’ lives have improved since having a home built.