Friendship Baptist Church

PUEBLA 2020: ‘PoPo’ The Volcano Is Quiet Today But God The Creator Is Not

People living in Puebla respectfully call the nearby 17,000 foot-high volcano Popocatepetl “PoPo” and when it erupts, everybody, including folks in Mexico City some 83 miles northeast of here, can hear, feel and smell the explosions.

PoPo is not erupting today, though, as you can see from the photo above, its typical grey smoky plume is clearly visible. Despite the silence, everybody knows that just below the crater, pressure and heat are building for the inevitable next eruption.

God is like that, at least in the sense that He is constantly at work beyond our awareness implementing His will for this world. We often don’t hear God in action, but for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, He is constantly working. Continue reading “PUEBLA 2020: ‘PoPo’ The Volcano Is Quiet Today But God The Creator Is Not”

PUEBLA 2020: It’s All About Christ, Cranes And Cows On Day Two

Turn on a cable TV reality show about home remodeling, customizing cars or rescuing animals and odds are good there will be an episode that revolves around having to get something done by a deadline.

The first of 40 heavy roof panels is lifted to the third floor of Hananeel Baptist Church on Day Two of Puebla 2020.

Miss the deadline and bad things will come to pass. It’s all faux drama, of course, using a corny plot device to, hopefully, keep viewers’ attention focused on the program long enough to impact ratings and advertising sales.

Here in Puebla, Mexico, on Day Two of the 20th annual Friendship mission trip week, there was genuine drama with a real deadline and costly consequences for failing to get a crucial task done within the available time.

That crucial task was moving 40 insulated panels, including 18 that were 40 feet in length and 12 that were 22 feet long, from the street level courtyard of Hananeel Baptist Church to the top of the third floor for subsequently being moved into position to form the roof of the main sanctuary building. Continue reading “PUEBLA 2020: It’s All About Christ, Cranes And Cows On Day Two”

Sunday Breakfast In Puebla

It’s Puebla Week for 2020, so I and a bunch of fellow believers from Friendship Baptist Church in Sykesville, Maryland, and a bunch of other places from around the country are here for the week to do construction work for Hananeel Baptist and to share the Gospel with the people of this beautiful city.

I’ll be posting reports here on HillFaith each day to share what’s happening. We will be erecting a roof on the third floor of Hananeel’s main building, starting tomorrow, plus assorted other carpentry, electrical, etc. chores.

Today, though, a bunch of us will be in the worship service at Hananeel, and others of us are heading over to a church plant in a distant suburb where Friendship’s Senior Pastor, Mark Massey, will share a message and I will talk a bit about how the Lord has blessed me.

It’s going to be a great week, so stick around for each day’s reports, plus lots of photos. And all prayers are appreciated!

PUEBLA 2019: Our Mission Is Now Completed And We Are Heading Home Tomorrow

Hananeel’s new courtyard received its last paver early this morning as the Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) mission completed its work and then took off for the downtown Plaza.

We have to leave very early in the morning to catch our return flight to Houston, then back to Dulles where a church bus will be waiting to haul our very tired selves back to FBC and home.

Continue reading “PUEBLA 2019: Our Mission Is Now Completed And We Are Heading Home Tomorrow”

PUEBLA 2019: Three Amigos At The Well And Pavers Corner Reached

Thursdays in Puebla for the Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) mission team are always the last full day we have to complete our week’s work, so it typically becomes the busiest of our time here.

Today was no exception on either our construction work projects or our visitation and evangelism efforts. It was easily the most exciting and productive day of our week. Here’s why:

Continue reading “PUEBLA 2019: Three Amigos At The Well And Pavers Corner Reached”

PUEBLA 2019: Hump Day At Hananeel Is Always A Tough One

Remember that GEICO commercial with the camel strolling through the office asking everybody what day it is until a lone exasperated employee finally says the magic words? You know, “Hump Day!”

Wednesday is Hump Day because it’s between two sets of two workdays each. It’s the same for the annual Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) mission team to Hananeel Baptist Church. Continue reading “PUEBLA 2019: Hump Day At Hananeel Is Always A Tough One”

PUEBLA 2019: A Beautifully Paved Courtyard Is Taking Shape At Hananeel

Tuesday, day three, at Hananeel Baptist Church in Puebla, Mexico, is a beautiful, bright, comfortably warm day and the Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) mission team is making good things happen.

Check out, for example, the progress being made in turning that construction staging area seen in Monday’s post into a beautiful, peaceful courtyard that will become a place of serenity and prayer in the midst of the very busy streets of Puebla.

Continue reading “PUEBLA 2019: A Beautifully Paved Courtyard Is Taking Shape At Hananeel”

PUEBLA 2019: A Monday Journey Way Out, Including A Taste Of Cactus

Workday one in Puebla, Mexico, for our band from Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) fell on February 3, which also happens to be the national holiday celebrating adoption in 1917 of the country’s current constitution.

Fireworks are a big deal in Mexico and a major battle of the revolution that lasted from 1910 to 1920 was won by the constitution forces here in Puebla. So the celebrations in this region are much like re-enactments in the U.S. of battles from our Civil War. Continue reading “PUEBLA 2019: A Monday Journey Way Out, Including A Taste Of Cactus”