MOVE Ministries performs work trip to Tijuana
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The six MOVE workers are (L-R) Toby Williamson, Creston; Scott Mitchell, Afton; Luke Still, Mount Ayr; Rev. Al Rusk, Mount Ayr; Steve Johnston, Creston; and Mike Avitt, Mount Ayr. All members of the Shannon City Community Church.
by Mike Avitt
On October 19, MOVE (Men Of Vision Evangelize) Ministries arrived in Tijuana, Mexico for a one week mission trip. Shannon City Community Church was well represented on this trip with six members aboard: Rev. Al Rusk, Scott Mitchell, Steve Johnston, Toby Williamson, Luke Still, and myself. We stayed at a facility called Puente de Amistad, which means Bridge of Friendship. Puente is a mission base of Open Bible Churches, headquartered in Des Moines, and built by them in the late 1990s.
Puente de Amistad is what I would call a compound. It has sleeping for about 75 people, a mess hall, assembly room, bathrooms throughout, and even a gift shop. The facility is well protected with concrete walls, barbed wire, and a steel gate. The onus of protection falls on the property owner in Tijuana.
Puente is directed by Travis and Heater Hunsaker and their children Wesley and Mya. There is also a staff which includes cooks and housekeeping, but I was more aware of the construction crew employed at Puente. Marcial, Pancho, Fernando, and Armando man the construction team that I believe one or two are part time. This was not my first time at Puente de Amistad.
In May 2021, MOVE Ministries came to Tijuana to build a feeding kitchen (it might be called a soup kitchen in the US) for a church called Christian Mission Peniel. Pastor Abelino Jacome’s wife Maria, and her friend Erika, started the feeding kitchen, which was designed for feeding children, in their church years ago. A lot of about an acre and a half became available and the feeding kitchen was moved there. Rev. Rusk, Scott Mitchell, and I were on that trip and the condition of the feeding kitchen was very primitive. Clean but primitive.
MOVE Ministries built a frame kitchen and dining hall 24 feet by 40 feet, I’m guessing. It had electricity, running water, and an equipped kitchen. It was one story but it was constructed so that a second story could be added soon. And it was. The facility was now called Con Ganas de Seguir which translates into Wanting (Eager) to Continue.
The upstairs was built by a church group whose name I do not know, but this became the living quarters for Erika and her husband Leandro. I would call Erika the coordinator of the feeding kitchen.
MOVE was quite grateful for the opportunity to serve God at Con Ganas de Seguir. It was clear to see God’s blessings on Pastor Abelino’s ministry and Maria’s and Erika’s effort to feed hungry children.
Armando was there in May 2021, but Al, Scott, and I met him before that, in Costa Rica 2020. Right before COVID shut everything down, MOVE built a church outside Upala, Costa Rica and Armando was on the crew serving as translator as well as construction duty.
Now back to 2024. We ate breakfast at Puente de Amistad every morning before taking two vans and two pickups to the job site, Con Ganas de Seguir. It was a 30 to 40 minute drive through congested traffic. Our job was to expand the kitchen by 12 feet and the same for the dining hall. In other words, we added onto each end. Our crew was made up of about 24 men from the US, plus Armando, Fernando, Travis, and other local help. We were up to the task and completed the job with praise, gratitude, and thanksgiving.
I was greatly impressed and inspired by what I found at Con Ganas de Seguir after being gone three and a half years. There was a completed shower house, complete with boys and girls restrooms, on the property separate from the building we erected. The shower house was 12 feet by 20 feet and had a washing machine in it. Those of us who were there in 2021 remember very well the lone outhouse that served all who had a need. So, the new restroom facilities were a most welcome surprise. Armando told me a Canadian group put up the money for the facility and Puente built it. Also, the parking lot had been graveled. Tijuana was dry as a bone both times I was there but Armando said it rains in December and January and things stay muddy for quite some time.
There was another building on the property referred to as a “medical building.” I went in only to find it being used for storage. I was told it will converted in the future. And I believe that. This building was constructed by another church in Iowa. God’s blessings are very evident at Con Ganas de Seguir.
There is a fence around Con Ganas de Seguir with a locked gate. This is a rough neighborhood and theft is a big problem in Tijuana. The appearance of Tijuana is dry, dirty, and congested. It is overpopulated with a high crime rate. But, miraculous things are happening because of the entities and people I just mentioned. And the reason there is success here is because we do these things in the name of Jesus.
Puente hosts many different church groups who come to Tijuana to build houses for the homeless or whatever God calls them to do. It’s also very likely every Christian denomination has a presence in Tijuana serving as they have been called. Now, I’ll share with you a few things that aren’t well known about mission trips.
Probably the most important thing that happens on a trip is the relationships that take place. Our relationship with Christ is strengthened when we serve in His name. We develop relationships with each other and those we serve. Lifelong friendships are established between MOVE members as many of them go on a trip every year. We keep in contact with those whom we’ve been called to serve through social media.
Those MOVE members on their first trip (we call them Rookies) are seeing and hearing things they have never experienced before. How will this affect their walk with the Lord? Shannon City Community Church sent six men on this trip, three of them rookies. And I got to be a part of that blessed event. And the other rookies, how will God use them in the future?
MOVE Director Pastor Aaron Keller and MOVE Construction Supervisor Dave Bethany are just as concerned with building men in Christ as they are with putting up buildings. After supper each night and before work each day, we share our testimony, our hopes, and our concerns. We take turns praying over meals and praying for healing for those who are sick. It is a mission within a mission.
I have had various and multiple revelations from the trips I’ve been on. At some point you realize God is using you in an answer to someone else’s prayer. Not because I’m talented, or wise, or special. I’m used simply because I said “yes.” On this trip a rookie said to me, “‘I’m not like these guys that grew up in the church. I’ve only been going a couple of years.” I believe it doesn’t matter where we are in our “walk.” It only matters that we are moving forward and that man is moving forward.
And, you know, there are little treats on a mission trip. Fernando, our van driver, would stop at a churro stand or ice cream shop on the way home from work. I really appreciated this, not just because I love churros and ice cream, but because Fernando wanted us to enjoy ourselves while we were there. He wanted this experience to be rounded and enjoyable. And he succeeded.
A waitress at my favorite restaurant suggested we were akin to heroes. I don’t feel that way. We were there two weeks in a three and a half year span. The heroes are the ones who are there every week, securing, preparing, and serving food. Then cleaning up the mess. The heroes are the ones who labor for the Lord every week in a dangerous neighborhood. The heroes are the ones who nightly got on their knees praying that their service would enrich and enlarge the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. And because we went on this trip, we had the honor and pleasure of serving those heroes.
