Changing Lives in 15 Hours - Baja Build Recap

The next thing I wanted to share is about Malibu Presbyterian Church in Malibu, CA, and some of our partners from there. Ephesians 2:10 states, "We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good deeds that He has prepared in advance for us to do." God has destined us to meet certain partners to carry out His plans to execute His good deeds and His great commission to disciple the nations. Members from Malibu Pres are some of these in whom we have a lot of history and can see some of God's interweaving clearly. The way God is working behind the scenes and how they have responded to setbacks is encouraging. How they endured the loss of their church building in the recent California fires yet didn't shrink back. How the fire didn't stop them from being the Church. How they pressed on beyond the walls to do ministry and give even though logic might say, "Save and pull back, focus only on rebuilding for now." This story in the LA Times gives some backdrop.

Tim Jones, Director of Mission & Outreach Malibu Presbyterian Church writes, "Serving in Baja has always been a privilege and honor for Malibu Pres. But after having our church burn down in October last year, the building up in the lives of the impoverished peoples of Baja has taken on even more purpose and meaning for those who are a part of our community. Just three weeks after our building was destroyed, God resurrected a new home for a beautiful family through the hands and hearts of our members. While our building was no more, a new building - this home - was now standing, a testimony to the redemptive power of our gracious God. In that process we found hope and continue to find hope. And we think of only the Mexican family benefiting from such Kingdom-work! Recently, Malibu Pres traveled once again to the dust-filled canyons outside Tecate to build three more homes, this time carrying three nails from our burned church. As each home was framed, a nail from our church found it's way into the frame of this home, perhaps temporarily binding pieces of lumber together, but eternally binding one part of the Kingdom to another. We take no pride in this glory or the adversity we have faced, but our hope and life breathe through the ashes of fire, and the hopelessness of poverty to form a new kingdom, built not with nails but by the blood of the carpenter. We are always building. Not programs, budgets or saints. But the Kingdom of Heaven. What a mighty, humbling and grace-filled work Baja Christian is doing in these dusty canyons. We are humbled and honored to take part."

Just weeks after the fire they followed through with their plan to build a home for a needy family. Tim Jones and Phil Dunn brought down a good size team to build a home for a family that didn't have a roof on the shack they were living in. They finished the home about an hour before the rains came down as we were leaving through the Tecate border.

On the next trip down Tim Jones and Phil Dunn led another team building three homes and one of them was with Dan Cislo, a long time partner and a member of Malibu Pres. This time Dan brought a number of employees of his law firm, Cislo and Thomas, to fund and build a home. Here is what Dan has to share as we see how our great God has brought us together through divine arrangement, but in a different way than you might think, for His wonderful purposes: 

Dan Cislo writes, "My wife Lisa and I, and all of our four children have been greatly blessed by our partnership with Baja Christian Ministries over the last 15 years. By chance, my wife and I went down to Mexico to minister to the poor with food we had purchased at Costco. We had no idea where we would stay or who we would meet, but were moved by an article we read in the Los Angeles Times. It was about a pastor who ministered to the poor of Tijuana and about the plight of the people. The Lord moved in our hearts and Lisa's folks volunteered to watch our little ones for a Christmas weekend for our adventure. We never found that pastor, but we found Bob Sanders and Baja Christian Ministries. We also coincidentally ran into some people from our new church (Malibu Pres) making a hot dog dinner and handing out Christmas presents to hundreds of children. Ever since then, we have supported Bob and the ministry financially and in service. Although I say this, it really is not true as we have always felt that we have been the ones who have been supported the most. No matter what is going on in our lives and what problems seem to be confounding us, we find a sense of spiritual refreshment on our journeys south of the border. Watching God work through people making a difference in somebody else's life changes everything, and it always seems we experience little miracles of God's grace along the way. We look forward to seeing what God continues to do through Baja Christian Ministries and the beautifully colored homes that now dot the landscape giving hope to the destitute. Praise God for he is good and his mercy endures for ever."

The next story is about a dear friend and partner, Phil Dunn, an elder at Malibu Pres who never stopped believing, encouraging, and supporting us even in the hardest days of this ministry when I often felt like hanging up the cleats. Phil kept on encouraging! Phil has a short testimony to share, but to more fully understand what he is speaking about I need to set some back drop. BCM is only 16 years old. For your info, I had also co-founded another ministry with Eric Brockhoff called Mexico Inland Mission before BCM. This ministry had a water well drilling part of it. Along with donated well drilling equipment and hands on service from Randy Fain of Escondido, CA, another Malibu Pres member, Paul Shoop, also helped us spear head this water ministry. So when Phil mentions water well drilling that is what he is speaking of:

Phil Dunn writes, "It was just about twenty years ago that I first went to Baja with Bob Sanders. We were drilling water wells in remote areas where no fresh water was available. As we approached the well I noticed several women walking on the side of the road carrying large bottles and then as we got to the site I knew why. There, out of the ground came an endless fountain of pure water, and all around the women were filling the bottles to take home to their families. It was there and then that I committed myself to Baja Christian Ministries and the Christ-like leadership of Bob Sanders. For me there was no turning back, and for Bob there was no surrender, though at times it seemed we would never make it. That is about a thousand homes ago, and how many more thousands saved. God is faithful."

Please allow me to give you a small peek into Phil's life in another way he is serving the poor and those who have no voice (Prov 31:8-9). He has a law firm called Dunn and Sanderson and practices criminal law as a defense attorney. Two people were killed and the murder rap was pinned on an innocent man who was thrown into prison for 4 years in Pelican Bay. Phil knew he was innocent through evidence withheld and other sources and took Efren Cruz's case knowing he would do so without any financial compensation. The case dragged on for a long time draining their human and financial resources. Yet Phil didn't quit, and against almost insurmountable odds, won the case and Efren Cruz, an innocent man condemned for life, is free today and doing very well. I encourage you to view this short 2 1/2 minute video about this good news and great victory God orchestrated through Phil and his team.