From northern Mexico to northern Bryan, volunteers unite to reach the Brazos Valley_82304

Posted: 8/20/04

As part of the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis, volunteers from Mexico joined churches and ministries in Bryan. Above, left,, children make crafts during the Kids Quest Bible study, while girls study the Bible in a park at right.

From northern Mexico to northern Bryan,
volunteers unite to reach the Brazos Valley

BRYAN–Volunteers from a Baptist church in Piedras Negras, Mexico, spent six days meeting needs and sharing their faith in the Valley–not the Rio Grande Valley, but the Brazos Valley.

Primera Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras worked alongside four Bryan churches and a Bryan-based community ministry as part of the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis.

Leaders of the Bryan churches and Save Our Streets Ministries wanted to combine efforts to share the gospel with their closest neighbors–people living in areas immediately surrounding their north Bryan churches.

A local man is getting his teeth cleaned by one of the health team volunteers.

“Our mission field begins in Bryan-College Station,” said Tim Owens, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bryan. “We will continue to strengthen our Texas, North American and international missions partnerships. However, we are learning that there is something wrong with our mission vision if we go across the world to share Christ and yet ignore the unreached people in our own community.”

Other Bryan congregations joining First Baptist in Reach Brazos Valley were Primera Iglesia Bautista, Shiloh Baptist Church and Emmanuel Baptist Church.

And as the idea for the missions outreach took shape, leaders at First Baptist contacted Pastor Israel Rodriguez and invited him to bring a group from Primera Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras to Bryan. Volunteers from First Baptist have made two mission trips to Piedras Negras since last December, establishing a partnership with the Mexican Baptist congregation.

“It is very common for an American church to go to Mexico, but that an American church would invite our church to do mission work in America is very different,” said Faustino Gutierrez, a member of the Piedras Negras church.

“This is simply opening the door so more churches will follow our example.”

The mission trip also offered Rodriguez, vice president of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico with responsibility for seminary education, to meet with leaders of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

First Baptist in Bryan is one of the institute's teaching churches. Rodriguez explored the possibility of Primera in Piedras Negras serving as host to one of the institute's teaching centers.

During the six-day Reach Brazos Valley missions project, 10 ministry teams served in four Bryan parks, leading morning and evening outdoor Bible clubs for children and adult Bible studies, youth sports clinics, English-as-a-Second-Language classes and life-skills courses.

Kris Erskine, Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, Bryan speaks at the REACH Music rally; the combined church choir/band is setting up in the background.

Health teams provided free services, including eye tests, back examinations and alignments, dental cleanings and basic health screenings.

Construction teams repaired more than 25 homes.

A special-events team coordinated rallies featuring drama, puppet shows, testimonies and music performed by a choir comprised of singers from the participating churches.

An evangelism team started work a month before the six-day emphasis, distributing Bibles and flyers promoting the Reach Brazos Valley special events, and a prayer team spent the week before the emphasis praying for specific needs in the community. A follow-up team helped set up Bible studies for people who accepted Christ as Savior during the week.

Organizers of the six-day event plan to continue ministries in the community, and they plan to invite other churches to participate in a Reach Brazos Valley week in the future.

“This is the beginning of something greater,” said Julian Silva, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Bryan.

Based on reporting by Anne Wiman and Gene Kornegay.

Children from north Bryan make crafts during an outdoor Bible club held in a park during the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis.A Reach Brazos Valley volunteer cleans the teeth of a north Bryan resident at an outdoor health clinic.