Tallowood team helps build church in Mexico

TETULA DEL VULCAN, Mexico—There’s a new lighthouse of hope in Tetula del Vulcan, Mexico.

Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston joined with members of Fork Hill Baptist Church in Heath Springs, S.C., and Carmel Baptist in Charlotte, N.C., to build Primera Iglesia Bautista there.

After five days of work, the new chapel already had become the reference point for that part of the city. From a distance, steam could be seen spewing gently from the volcano that has not erupted for close to 100 years, but a new energy seemed to be brewing.

“They loved our logo, and it is now painted on the front of their building,” said Eddy Hallock, minister of missions for Tallowood. “This group of faithful Christians has met in a small wooden building with compact dirt floors, whose interior is lined with plastic to prevent water seepage. Frankly, it was sad.”

A teenaged girl told Hallock, “Since I was a little girl, we all dreamed of having a nice building where we could worship the Lord.”

Her dream now has come true.

“It was a beautiful sight to see over 200 people present for their dedication service,” Hallock said. “Many people were outside the new building because there was not enough room on the in-side. Better than the building it-self was the fact that several gave their hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ and believed in him as Savior and Lord. Others re-dedicated their lives to Christ, while some came forward at the service asking for prayer.”

Mission trips where a chapel is built have some very interesting aspects to them, Hallock pointed out. In addition to the almost-instant camraderie among participants, the rapidity with which the building is built commands the attention of the people of the neighborhood, who walk the streets and stop to look at the new construction on a daily basis.

“This is an obvious opportunity to ask people if they have seen it and begin to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and the difference he can make in our lives,” Hallock said.

It was not just people at the construction site whose lives were changed, however.

“The first day we arrived, I gave a young man who managed our hotel a New Testament. When I came in that afternoon, he was reading it. The same thing happened the next two days. On Friday evening, I asked Jose Rivas from our Hispanic church to go with me to talk to Julio and Delfina. We witnessed to them, and at the end, Jose led them in a prayer to receive Christ as Savior and Lord,” Hallock said.

Missionaries Pam and Pablo Gomes, sent out from Tallowood, have been mentoring Pastor Julian Bello and his wife, Ariceli.

“They talked to me a few years ago about building a possible chapel in this place. God provided the funds through a special gift, and the building was made possible. For less than $14,000, we built a 20- by 40-foot building that housed 166 people on the day of its dedication,” Hallock explained.

The construction of the church made a big impact on the local community, he continued.

“The local people and workers cannot believe Americans, men and women, would build a church for them at no cost,” Hallock said. “The testimony of the Christian life and how it should be lived in action and attitude are evident through our people.”