BRODHEAD - A team led by United Methodist Churches in Brodhead and Albany has returned from a mission trip to Mexico, where pastors and lay persons from the churches assisted in construction of a Christian elementary school in an impoverished area.
The team included the Rev. Steve Groves and three members of the Brodhead United Methodist Church and the Rev. Pat Soddy and four members of the Albany United Methodist Church. They were joined by two UMC members from Colfax, where Groves formerly was pastor.
It was the Brodhead church's fifth mission trip to Mexico, but the first involving a school project. Past mission teams had built houses for residents of Nuevo Progreso, about five miles south of Mercedes, a city near the southern tip of Texas.
Surprises awaited the team during last month's nine-day trip to Nuevo Progreso, more than 1,500 miles from Green County. One of the first confronted them when they set foot inside the school building, which was then just a shell. Goats and sheep from the region apparently had found the cool shade inside the open doorways to be an ideal place for a siesta, said Paula Gritzmaker, parish nurse at Brodhead UMC and one of the participants. Team members had to clean out the animal litter before proceeding with construction.
Despite heat that one day approached 90 degrees, team members patched holes and spread stucco on walls and laid a 90-foot sidewalk along the building - mixing concrete on the ground and hauling the mix by wheelbarrow.
The team came back impressed by the efforts of Pastor Ruben," Gritzmaker said; referring to Ruben Hudtler of the local Methodist Church. Sensing the need for improved educational facilities in the impoverished region, Hudtler spearheaded the effort to build a school building for neighborhood children. The school is to open this fall, receiving its first class of kindergarten-age children.
Why would members of three churches in Wisconsin give up the relative comfort of home to engage in labor 1,500 miles away?
Answering, Groves recalled a thought from the book "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby: "Take a look at where God is at work, and go join him," Groves said.
Besides Groves and Gritzmaker, team members from Brodhead UMC were Shawn and Jodi Olson.
Members from Albany were Pastor Soddy and her daughter Callie, Dan and Linda Weber and Dave Pluss. Joining the team from Colfax were Ken and Kathy Tape.
The team included the Rev. Steve Groves and three members of the Brodhead United Methodist Church and the Rev. Pat Soddy and four members of the Albany United Methodist Church. They were joined by two UMC members from Colfax, where Groves formerly was pastor.
It was the Brodhead church's fifth mission trip to Mexico, but the first involving a school project. Past mission teams had built houses for residents of Nuevo Progreso, about five miles south of Mercedes, a city near the southern tip of Texas.
Surprises awaited the team during last month's nine-day trip to Nuevo Progreso, more than 1,500 miles from Green County. One of the first confronted them when they set foot inside the school building, which was then just a shell. Goats and sheep from the region apparently had found the cool shade inside the open doorways to be an ideal place for a siesta, said Paula Gritzmaker, parish nurse at Brodhead UMC and one of the participants. Team members had to clean out the animal litter before proceeding with construction.
Despite heat that one day approached 90 degrees, team members patched holes and spread stucco on walls and laid a 90-foot sidewalk along the building - mixing concrete on the ground and hauling the mix by wheelbarrow.
The team came back impressed by the efforts of Pastor Ruben," Gritzmaker said; referring to Ruben Hudtler of the local Methodist Church. Sensing the need for improved educational facilities in the impoverished region, Hudtler spearheaded the effort to build a school building for neighborhood children. The school is to open this fall, receiving its first class of kindergarten-age children.
Why would members of three churches in Wisconsin give up the relative comfort of home to engage in labor 1,500 miles away?
Answering, Groves recalled a thought from the book "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby: "Take a look at where God is at work, and go join him," Groves said.
Besides Groves and Gritzmaker, team members from Brodhead UMC were Shawn and Jodi Olson.
Members from Albany were Pastor Soddy and her daughter Callie, Dan and Linda Weber and Dave Pluss. Joining the team from Colfax were Ken and Kathy Tape.
