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TechnoratiHundreds of American teens trekked south of the border last week to pound nails, paint walls and show the love of Christ to poor shanty-town citizens of Baja, Mexico.
(Photo: Baja Christian Ministries)The Global Tribe of New Zealand team of volunteers at Baja Blast 2007 in Baja, Mexico July 24-29, 2007.
For six days, July 29-Aug. 3, a crew of some 740 teen volunteers recruited by the popular Teen Mania/Global Expeditions (GE) ministries built 22 homes and engaged in mass evangelism as part of Baja Blast – a massive outreach hosted by California-based Baja Christian Ministries (BCM) that involved home building and evangelism activities in Baja.
This year’s Baja Blast was said to be one of the largest outreaches – if not the largest outreach – in the 15-year history of BCM.
“The youth from Teen Mania are always fired up for the Lord and ready to serve, evangelize, and love in the face of challenges … such as the language barrier, hot climate, and exhaustion,” recalled Lindsey Killebrew, who served as a translator for the group of teens.
“I love the enthusiasm that everyone brings to this project and soul harvest. All of these people associated with Teen Mania, Global Expeditions, and Baja Christian Ministries have such a love for God,” noted Killebrew.
The volunteer translator, who has participated in Baja Blast for three years in a row now, added that the love exhibited by the Christian homebuilders is contagious.
“What’s more, the Mexican people respond to this love with love, and that is when God really demonstrates his mighty power,” she said.
Overall, this year’s Baja Blast brought together Global Tribe of New Zealand, Teen Mania/Global Expeditions, various church groups and big-name bands Newsboys and Skillet in an effort to build 28 homes and a classroom in nine days – July 26-Aug. 3.
Newsboys joined Global Tribe of New Zealand for one day on July 26 while Skillet lent a hand to the Teen Mania team.
“When they see Americans coming down giving up their money, their time, their love and their resources – it is very much a shining light,” reflected BCM founder Bob Sanders to The Christian Post during a previous trip.
“It really helps us break ground in the hearts of the people that are seeing the Gospel in the face and eyes of the workers,” he added. “So when we communicate the Gospel, they are wide open.”
Evangelism activities for the outreach included open air preaching, house-to-house evangelism, and mime and puppet outreaches in the poor villages of Baja, where the majority of homes are dilapidated make-shift shelters.
“This trip over the past several days has perhaps been the most interesting and revolutional experiences of my life. I’ve never seen first-hand these depths of poverty, yet at the same time happiness,” said Teenmania participant Dale Pereira of Ottawa, Canada.
“We could take a lesson from the simplicity of these people’s lives,” Dale added. “Hard work has never been so rewarding as when building a house for this family. Honestly , I love it.”
Baja Christian Ministry was founded in 1992 by Bob Sanders who had been ministering to the poor in Mexico since 1984. The Christian organization is dedicated to serving the physical and spiritual needs of the impoverished in Mexico in the name of Jesus Christ. BCM has provided over 1,000 homes to families in greater Tijuana, Mexico.
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