Pedernales!

We are back from two weeks in Pedernales! A city on the coast and last year’s epicenter for the earthquake.

We were there partnering with Deer Grove Covenant Church from Palatine, IL and Iglesia Maná from Pedernales.

While there, we were able to help with the construction of the Maná Covenant church, as the previous church was partially destroyed from the earthquake. Wow did we sweat and did we sweat! It was a lot of digging through brick and clay, and cement-mixing. But wow, what an encouraging group of people to work alongside! That week, I really learned the power of encouragement and care. How important it really is to encourage one another daily!

Along with the construction we partnered with a sport’s camp and VBS. We’d load up a pickup truck each day with around 60 children and adults and head to the field to learn, play soccer, and sweat some more. 🙂

One of the really powerful things that happened during our last meal together with the church leadership was hearing the story of God’s faithfulness in providing new land for the church to be reconstructed on. A week before the team was going to arrive, they had no land to build on, but through the support of IPEE and the Swedish Covenant church they acquired the land days before the group arrived. We had a powerful “laying the first stone” moment and were able to join the pastor and leadership in prayer; blessing the new site, the church body, and the community.

As we were driving one day, we passed a building with this sentence spray-painted across it in bold letters:

“Pedernales, we will stay, we will rise again”

After spending two, intense weeks there, that was exactly the hope we felt, especially through the connections that were made and the many stories that were heard. God is alive and working and we had the beautiful privilege of joining him for those two weeks and seeing firsthand the power of his hope, solidarity, and his kingdom here on earth.

Love,

Richard and Liz