Roswell, New Mexico

Well, we certainly expected more when we entered the little town of Roswell, New Mexico. Since all we hear about is aliens and spaceships with the word “Roswell,” we assumed we were walking into serious warfare. We learned by just one drive through the city that the hype has been gone for several years, and save a little café and a few small shops and museums, no one really gives much thought to the aliens anymore.

We were blessed to stay with Justin Smith, the youth leader of Calvary Chapel Roswell. We arrived on Monday evening, and went to youth group with Justin, where we shared about Mexico and about missions. The youth, who were all from this little ranch town of Roswell, had no idea what an inner-city ministry resembled, so we briefly skimmed our past missions in downtown ministries and focused on missions in Mexico and the U.S. Several of Justin’s students are very mission minded, and they were really excited that we had come.

We immediately plunged into work on Wednesday, and worked through Friday: We cleaned a home for an older woman and repaired her sagging fence gate and replaced a few broken pickets. Then we built a fence addition for the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Jim Suttle. We dug holes for the posts of the fence, applied the pickets, and built the gate. We also covered the permimeter of the yard with chicken wire, staked into the ground, to keep the dogs from digging under the fence. Needless to say, our backs and arms were aching by Friday night.

It is now Saturday. We have woken up leisurely, and will pack and leave for Las Cruces, New Mexico, which is only about 3 hours away. It snowed last night, so we are giving the roads time to melt. Please be in prayer for us as we head to Las Cruces.