Canyon Del Oro Bible Church

We have arrived in Houston and are settled in at our lodging church. Our PPM staff led us through our orientation meeting, and we are looking forward to an incredible week!

This morning we served at the Faith Center. This center is a place full of resources for those in need of food, clothes, and household goods. 

We served, organized, and packed clothes, nonperishable food, and frozen food. The food center serves hundreds of families a week. 

Some of us cleaned and reorganized the toy supply closet in the gym of the church. Memorial opens it's doors to so many in the community, and this closet houses many of the tools used for outreach. The gym is used by basketball teams for practice, for the community for a weekly basketball tournament, for children's ministry, football practice, cheerleading practice, and more. We were able to clean the area and make it more effective for their incredible outreach efforts. 

Some of us helped sort and pack bags that we will give to some of the homeless community later this week. The bags are packed with toiletries and essentials. The bags themselves were made by the women's ministry at the church. Aren't they lovely?

Homelessness is a huge challenge in the Houston area. Food insecurity and hunger are also overwhelming needs in this city. We hope to meet some physical needs as well as meeting spiritual needs as we minister. 

We ended the day with a fun game of whiffle ball. Team Mustard beat team Ketchup 12-11! 

At our team meeting, we worshipped, debriefed the day, and were encouraged through a devotional.

We were up and eating breakfast at 6:30 this morning so that we could serve with Impact Houston at 7:45. It's an incredible ministry and church that serves all ages in a variety of way. 

The food distribution is done by loading a lot of food into each car trunk. Impact Houston serves around 500 families each week. It was an honor to serve alongside them and help in their ministry. 

The Houston humidity caught us off guard this morning compared to our dry Tuscon heat. We powered through and had a great time!

We ended the evening by sharing our life stories in small groups and spending time praying for one another. We learned a lot about each other and gained confidence in sharing our own stories. Sharing our testimony is a powerful way to encourage believers and show the Lord's power to 'not yet' believers. 

The other part of our team went to Impact Houston to work in their warehouse. They have a huge warehouse that houses clothes, furniture, household goods, and more for those in need. We were able to sort 4 pallets stacks with bags and bags of clothes this morning. We sorts according to whether it was men, women, or children's clothes. We also sorted through accessories. 

These clothes will go to families needing them. We pray that each person who is blessed with them would know that Jesus knows and loves them and that they experience His salvation. 

This afternoon we went downtown to minister in one of the tent city areas known to be a place where those who are homeless stay. We took the hygiene bags we packed earlier this week with us to give out to those we met. The bags served as a prop to start conversation with those we met. Our goal was to have real conversations with anyone we encountered, share about Jesus, pray over them, and spread joy. 

Spending time on the streets stretched some of us, challenged some of us, fueled some of us, and impacted all of us. 

This morning we served with the Galvatron Bay Foundation. We worked at one of their nature preserves called the Turtle Bayou and helped clean up the area. We filled bags and bags with trash that we picked up from the trails and around the river. 

What an incredible week! We're packed up and heading out for some Houston fun before boarding our plane this afternoon. 

Thank you CDO for an amazing week! You served and loved well! Thank you for being uniquely you!