Mexico Church Plant — September 2019

Hello, First Baptist Church Tulsa! We are excited to bring you another update from your church plant Iglesia Bautista Bethel Santo Domingo in Mexico. Although they have experienced almost constant rain in their community, they are making good progress on construction. Twenty-six adults and 150 children regularly attend church! Thank you so much for your prayers and generous support of this church plant which is a beacon of hope in an impoverished community.

Construction Progress

We have made good progress, despite the constant rains in the community.

• There is already a roof in the halls.
• We completed the main nave.
• We have begun with the excavation and with the construction of the bathrooms.
• We have 50% of the kitchen constructed.

We hope that this September we can move forward with 90% of the total construction of the entire property. The Church has managed to build the fences and roof of the halls, temple and bathrooms. We have worked to install the electric power, as well a rainwater collection system, and we are working on the foundations and walls of the kitchen.

Challenges

It has been raining a lot because it is a mountainous area, which stopped the supply of construction materials. This has prevented us from making more progress in construction. The challenge we have is to conclude this month with 90% of the construction and to be able to finish the construction at the end of October.

The government of this community allows us to use the sports fields to have activities with the children while the construction is ongoing. This helps us to protect the children from the rains and the sun, in addition to avoiding diseases.

During this process we learned that we cannot depend on a single materials store and at this moment we are looking for an alternative closer to the community.

Next Steps

It is expected that this month we can conclude with 90% of the construction, since that was our goal as a church. We hope that suppliers can come up with the materials to this community, because there are obstacles that sometimes get in the way of this, due to the heavy rains. We have completed 85% of the construction and in the next 30 days, the process will be completed.

Recent Church Activities

The pastor has supported us the throughout the construction. His commitment to the parents of the children is that the church will have safe and comfortable facilities. The community and the parents of the children have stated that they are in the best disposition to be able to support what is required, and they have agreed that on the day the inauguration of the classrooms they want to participate in being able to help in the preparation of the food.

Testimony of Impact

One of the mothers in the community was skeptical about the church construction. She told the people of the community to take care of their children, so that bad people couldn’t take them abroad because they were going to sell them there. As time passed and she heard the pastor and leaders speak, the mother saw everything differently.  Now she attends the church and supports the ministry, and gives thanks that a church is being planted for the community and for the children.

Praises and Prayer Requests

• Pray for God to renew the workers
• Pray for the pastor and the committee that was assigned to the construction of this property
• Pray for our community
• Pray for our authorities in Unión Juárez
• Pray for our children, that they may know Jesus as their Savior and that we can transform lives.
• Pray for God to show His glory in parents

The church plant sends you thanks and a prayer. “Thank each one of the donors for this church plant, may God bless their lives, as well as all the staff working in the offices of Compassion Mexico. Thank you for the effort and dedication to this ministry and may God pour out His grace and favor in each and every one of us who participated in this construction.”

Photos of Progress and of the Community