This has been a tremendous week at Buckner. I had the privilege of travelling to El Paso and New Mexico this week with Arnie Adkison, Director of Church Relationships and Jill Varnell, Gift Officer with Buckner Foundation.
Arnie and I caught an early flight on Tuesday to El Paso and met Tommy Speed and a group of Pastors: Walter Mueller, Del Sol Church; Mike Woods, Coronado Baptist Church; and Wes Phillips, Horizon Baptist Church and Terry Valdespino, Minister of Missions at Del Sol. John Roman, pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Church and Interim Director of Missions was there to host us as well.
We shared lunch and talked about the Buckner mission. The group was greatly interested in KidsHope USA, Kidsheart-El Paso, and the possibility of beginning a Community Center in El Paso through a collaborative agreement with the El Paso Baptist Association. John shared how Shoes for Orphans Souls was helpful during Opportunity Camp, a week of camp for intercity children at Aspendale Baptist Encampment. John talked about how the kids were overjoyed to receive new shoes.
Next, we travelled to Las Cruces to meet with another group of pastors convened by Ruben Ortega, pastor of Sierra Vista Community Church. Ruben convened a group of pastor from different denominations such as Max and Darla Perkins of Temple Baptist Church, Pastor Olivas and his wife from Gethsemane Church in Anthony, Pastor Juan and Elsa Tovar from Emmanuel Church in Santa Teresa, Pastor John Picket and his wife from University Presbyterian Church. We talked about what Buckner does and there was immediate interest in Shoes for Orphan Souls, Mission Trips, Community Ministry, and several other programs that we provide to keep families healthy.
This was Tommy’s first week in New Mexico after having moved to Albuquerque. Already he has begun to work with churches in several states to assist a family in Vado to reconstruct a house. We talked about establishing a KidsHeart Las Cruces. John Powell, manager of Moody Affiliate KMBN and pastor of First Evangelical Free Church offered to provide support for another shoe drive and support for Buckner programs in the area. Tommy talked about ways Buckner is responding to people affected by the hurricane last week in the valley of Texas, the Las Cruces area, and in Guatemala.
The next day Jill and I spent time with friends of Buckner at Stahmann Farms. We toured their business and met the staff. I was very impressed with the operation but what really made my day was meeting the staff who conducted a shoe drive last year. When the shoe drive was mentioned they each lit up with a big smile and told about how grateful they were to participate. They could not wait to do the project again. I explained how shoes benefit children all around the world. We got to sample the milk chocolate that is used to make pecan clusters and we sampled the finest pecans I have ever tasted. It was an incredible day. Bucker’s mission to make life better for at-risk children, orphans, and families is alive and well at the intersection of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico.
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