The
Lopez family, retired
farm workers, live in San Juan, Texas. Their house
was selected for rehab - paint the exterior,
re-tile interior floors and replace the front
porch and ramp access. CUPS volunteers from
Northwood Presbyterian Church in Houston joined
Proyecto Azteca employees in this effort. The
family, just like in Mexico, not only thanked them
with words but also with home-made Mexican
lunches.
 |
| Lopez
Family |
The
Alegria family is an
example of loving help even for those outside
program requirements. Their home burned in early
June. They were homeless. CUPS volunteers from
Spring Branch Presbyterian Church and Bethel
Presbyterian Church, W. Columbia took the first
major step, demolishing the burned house. They
were joined by hardworking ladies and gentlemen
from Project Arise, South Tower Rd in Alama,
Texas. The Alegria family was in their "new
house" in less than 6 weeks because there was a
house available to move on to their lot and -
equally important - were the hands that
helped tear down the burned up house and
professional volunteers who donated their labor
for electrical and plumbing work.
 |
| Alegria Family in front of
their burned home |
Thoughts
after a week of Mission Work in Valle Hermoso,
Tamaulipas, Mexico
By Chris Friedersdorf, CUPS Board
member and June 2011 mission team
participant.
Our combined First Presbyterian
Church of Kingwood and Hope Presbyterian Church
(Austin) mission trip the last week of June 2011
was a roaring success. Three cases of Bibles
were delivered to project communities during
this trip. The number of CUPS volunteers
willing to travel south of the border
has dwindled dramatically in recent years,
prompting CUPS to re-invent itself. This
re-invention has included, among other things, an
increased emphasis on donations of medical,
religious, and educational materials by those CUPS
supporters unable to participate directly in a
mission trip, the offering of mission trip
opportunities in the Rio Grande
Valley area of Texas north of
the border, and even the offering of a Virtual
Mission Trip, where volunteers make a donation to
a project in Mexico that is executed
solely by CUPS employees and community volunteers.
Virtual mission trip members receive daily
progress reports and photos via email during the
execution of the project.
 |
| Christina and
Olanda with their new
bibles |
Despite these new measures, CUPS
is determined not to lose focus on the communities
in the northeastern part of
Tamaulipas where it has historically
done most of its work, ie. the building of medical
and educational facilities for the most
impoverished of communities in the area. CUPS has
forged alliances with communities and their
leaders in northeastern Tamaulipas, and this
alliance has persisted over 20 years. Put
simply, our Mexican partners in this alliance are
still counting on us.
To see the entire article, click here.
