Texas Baptist Men build home, faith in Chile

NIPAS, Chile—Volunteers from Texas Baptist Men traveled by truck through foggy mountains for hours to reach Nipas, a small town almost 300 miles south of Santiago. There, they worked more than two weeks to help a local pastor get back on his feet.

Nipas is one of many Chilean towns suffering from destruction caused by the February earthquake. Ricky Null, pastor of Travel Center Family Ministry, a truck stop mission of First Baptist Church in Terrell, and his team of four recently returned from a 17-day trip where they worked to rebuild one of 10 parsonages in the area that were destroyed.

Null’s team worked on the home of Pastor Eliseo Avila. When the team arrived, Avila was living in one of the four Baptist churches he serves as pastor.

The weather was perfect for pouring the concrete foundation and framing the house. They were also able to install plumbing, electrical wiring, insulation and a roof.

Null and his team bought the necessary tools once they arrived in Chile, including a circular saw, a drill, a combination miter box and saw, an air compressor, a nail gun and other equipment. The team brought filtration systems from the United States to distribute to people without clean water.

“We didn’t get to purchase as much as we wanted, but God stepped in and we got everything we needed,” Null said.

In the end, it was a blessing that they couldn’t afford to purchase multiples of each tool. When they finished loading the truck with what they had, it was completely full.

One part of their mission was teaching locals to use the tools. Several Chileans helped with the building effort, including pastors, a deacon and two young men who hitched a ride from their hometown 150 miles away.

“They learned all of (construction), from the foundation up,” Null said. “We took time to teach them every part of it.”

Pastor Raul Ruiz was left in charge as the overseer and master builder of the project when Texas Baptist Men left.  Null said Ruiz was impressed by how much the younger men learned in such a short time. He wanted to keep them on his building team for as long as they were willing to stay.

Building God’s kingdom was the other order of business for the team. They had the opportunity to witness to many Chileans during their stay.

Texas Baptist Men team also brought filtration systems from the United States to distribute to people without clean water.

“When I go on a trip like that, I don’t go sightseeing,” Null said. “I don’t go shopping for my wife, children, or grandchildren, because I focus on the mission at hand. We worked, went to church and ministered to the people about Jesus, to anyone who was available in the restaurants, on the way to church or at the job site.”

The construction site provided good opportunities for witnessing to people in the town, where most homes are 10-feet by 10-feet with one bedroom.

“Ours had two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room and porch,” volunteer Roy Campos of Terrell said. “I heard from some people walking by the street that the house would have taken seven to nine months to build, whereas we did it in 13 days. We were able to tell them that God was responsible; it was God doing the work.”

Campos told Pastor Avila he would have liked to have more time in Chile to visit people in the community. Pastor Avila had a 30-minute radio slot each week on the local station and offered it to Campos.

“I got a chance to pray for the whole city of Nipas,” Campos said.

The radio station manager, Sergio, requested more recorded sermons and prayers to air on his station.

“I don’t believe the pastor had really talked to him about accepting Christ,” Campos said. “We talked to him about salvation and we didn’t have enough time with him, but at least it got to the point where the seed was planted.”

The team was blessed to see their host couple develop a personal relationship with Jesus.

“I could tell our landlady needed God just by looking at her,” Campos said.

During their time in the house, the team’s joy and peace was a testimony to God’s presence in their lives.

“Mario and Elena accepted Christ as their savior on June 8 at 8:50 a.m., five minutes before we left her place to start heading back to Texas,” Null said. “She told me that when we met her the first time, she felt that God sent us there.”

“We gave Elena the plan of salvation and she said, ‘I’ve been waiting on that.’ This woman was in her mid-60s but to see her face transform into Christ’s likeness, I could tell that she belonged to God.”

Null and his team left encouraged. The parsonage was near completion and the Chileans they worked alongside had the newly acquired tools and knowledge to finish the job.

“God has blessed me once again in allowing me to be a part of his work,” Null said.

To support Texas Baptist Men's ministry in Chile, visit www.texasbaptistmen.org or send checks designated “disaster relief” to 5351 Catron, Dallas, 75227.