West Texas churches bring exotic Christmas fare to Border families

SAN ANGELO—Several Concho Valley Baptist Association churches, along with one from Lubbock, united to share the love of Christ and Christmas with families in need in Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

For their “Taking Christmas to the Border” mission trip, the team partnered with La Esperanza Community Church in Del Rio, where Jim Wilson is pastor, and First Baptist Church in Eagle Pass, where Jeff Oliver is pastor. In Del Rio, the group lodged in dorms First Baptist Church furnished.

Volunteers from Concho Valley Baptist Association churches prepare meat from wild game bound for families in need in Del Rio and Eagle Pass.The 62-member mission team distributed food—about 1,800 canned goods, 1,000 pounds of flour and 800 pounds of sugar and miscellaneous items—donated by Concho Valley supporters.

In addition, the group delivered about 800 pounds of ground venison and 200 pounds of ground zebra. Jim Roche, one of the leaders of the mission group from Glen Meadows Baptist Church in San Angelo, is a hunting guide, and trophy hunters donated the meat.

Many of those hunters from around the country not only donated venison, but also provided money to pay the way of people who wanted to go on the mission trip but could not afford it.

Director of missions Jeff Box ground some of the meat.

“I already had made plans for the weekend that I couldn’t change, but I wanted to be involved,” he said. “It’s exciting to see them doing things like this. It’s exciting to see different churches coming together and participating. Our goal for the association is all of us coming together and joining hands where we can to build the kingdom. That’s the attitude of the churches in Concho Valley—they are willing to work with anyone to build God’s kingdom.”

Perry Rollins, a member of Glen Meadows who has his own ministry providing venison for a number of Mexican orphanages, recalled giving a package of meat to a man last year.

“A little man was at the church, and he was barely getting around with his cane,” he recalled. “I handed him a package of meat out of the freezer, and he took his cane and hooked it over his arm, took the meat in both hands and lifted the meat up in the air and said, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’

“I don’t care how much effort you have to put in it, it makes it all worth it to see the gratitude and the need of the people you are helping.”

Trophy hunters from around the country donated meat for the project.The team also held a concert, cookout and a gospel crusade twice Saturday in Del Rio—at the city amphitheater in the afternoon and at La Esperanza that evening—and again Sunday at a block party in Eagle Pass.

Organizers wanted to provide families food for Christmas Day, “and at the same time, give them the gospel, give them some hope. Let them know that people care and that there is a church where they live that wants to help them,” said Adam Rodriguez, youth minister at Oasis Baptist Church in San Angelo.

All remaining food was donated to Loaves and Fishes Food Bank directed by Gisela Lenz, which feeds more than 1,500 families a month.

The Texas Baptist Men disaster relief food-service unit in San Angelo provided all the paper goods for the cookouts, as well as the use of their trailer and a case of chili for hot dogs.

Randy Balderaz led a group of university students from Alliance Baptist Church in Lubbock, who provided the contemporary music concert. Youth team members also painted faces, incorporating a gospel witness to their artwork.

The group delivered 1,000 Bibles—400 of them in Spanish.

And since it is Christmas, they brought toys for the children.

“But our purpose is to share the true meaning of Christmas,” Roche said. Every event included invitations for people to give their lives to Christ.

About 800 pounds of ground venison and 200 pounds of ground zebra were handed out to families in Del Rio and Eagle Pass.Scheduling the events at the churches was intentional, he added. Organizers wanted local residents to meet the pastors, enjoy spending time with lay people and become comfortable at the churches.

“Hopefully, it will also give the churches a little bump,” Roche said.

Organizers also expected the trip to make an impact on those who ministered, he added.

“We’re so blessed that we don’t know what it is to be hungry,” Roche said. “You go down there, and you will see the face of hunger. You will see the faces of children who are scared because they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from.

“The people who go with us—especially those who this is their first time on mission—you will see their hearts being massaged by God, softening them. It absolutely changes their walk with the Lord. It becomes one of doing and not just sitting and talking—action-oriented. They are living out their faith, sharing their faith and loving others. You can’t go on mission and remain the same.

“We’re just going down to support what God is already doing down there, but we’re the ones who get such a blessing from it. We are blessing those people, but we get so much more ourselves.”

Scott Weddell, a deacon at Water Valley Baptist Church in Water Valley, agrees. His great-niece recently was baptized, and he saw transformation begin when she served in the ministry last year. The first year they went to the border, only three volunteers from his church—he, his wife and great-niece—participated. This year, eight from the congregation of about 30 planned to go.

David Deanda, pastor of Oasis Baptist Church, said his challenge to his church has been straightforward: “When we come back, what are we going to use the four weeks of training we went through to learn share our testimonies to impact our mission field, the Concho Valley?”