Spring Break in Eagle Pass . . .
This week we're partnering with Baylor University students and leaders, engaging in literacy missions ministry in Eagle Pass, TX. The Baylor crew of 20 caravaned to the border community on Saturday.
After connecting with families of host church Primera Iglesia Bautista and others in the community at a cookout Sunday afternoon, reading to children has been a top priority. The students have interacted with kids through books each day at the local H-E-B grocery store and at the Nick Carr Youth Center.
Sophomore Derek Byrne of Kansas City, MO, said, "It has been a great experience to show that reading is fun. It's not just reading to them, but saying, 'You are important.' It's about empowering and encouraging them for the future."
Derek and the others have done that in creative ways, reading to the kids and helping them to craft stories of their own. On Thursday they'll pull out all the stops, conducting a family reading fair at the Nick Carr Center. The event will celebrate reading, and result in many of the invited families obtaining their very first Bibles, books, and bookcases. Baylor Ministry Associate for Urban Missions, Carole Meriwether, and Coordinator for Missions, Holly Widick, began planning the mission trip soon after school started in August. In addition to the literacy emphasis, the week includes painting and construction projects, and assistance at a food pantry.
Another important element has been an Eagle Pass education for the Baylor students. Monday they were given a tour and briefing by a border patrol agent, and Tuesday they heard from a Wesleyan nurse about some of the unique health challenges of the community.
"The city and culture are different than I expected," Derek Byrne observed. "This has been a really great experience."
It has indeed been a great experience for children and families in Eagle Pass, for the Baylor students and leaders who will turn tiredly toward home Friday, and for one particularly proud dad.
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Father and daughter on mission together
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Lester Meriwether, Executive Director
4802 Highway 377, Suite 14
Fort Worth, TX 76116
817-696-9898
Pam Moore, Editor
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Trivia Challenge
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1. POW tap code united strangers and comrades alike in Vietnam amid horrific circumstances through creative use of the English language. The two-note response to Shave and a Haircut, tapped out to distinguish friend from foe, represented the word(s): a) All done
b) So there
c) Two bits
d) Amen
2. The U.S. is the world's leader by far as a destination for immigrants, with a total of 40.4 million legal and illegal in 2011. The country with the next largest number, 12.3 million, is:
a) Russia
b) Australia
c) Canada
d) New Zealand
3. To be knackered in Ireland is to be:
a) beaten soundly in a soccer match
b) famished
c) exhausted
d) filled to bursting with stobhach Gaelach (mutton stew)
Problem accessing the answers? Reply to this email and we'll shoot them your way.
These instructional links may help:
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