Laredo, Texas Missions Trip: Rio Grande Missionary Helps Tour

Sorry that it's taken so long for me to post more pics and stories from my missions trip. I finally have a new computer cord! Now I have the power to give y'all a little picture tour of the mission.
Back in 2000, Brother Waldrop started building on the land that was the future home of Rio Grande Mission Help Center. Now all the buildings, except for one, that were in Brother Waldrop's vision of the compound are all standing because of God's grace and the many, many volunteers that have helped build the compound. Here are some pics of the compound. Enjoy!

The Gate 

The Dining Hall 

The Shepherd's Inn 

This inn has 11 rooms that are furnished with one big bed and 2 or 3 twin size beds. This is where they put up the people that come to the Jubilation and others that need a place to stay.

Here's the inside to one of the rooms.

The Dorms

Here's the inside of the girl's dorm.

The Open Tabernacle
This is where we had all the Jubilation Camp Meetings.

Brother and Mrs. Waldrop's House

The Trailer House

And last but certainly not least, Our House.
This is where I lived for eight days while at the mission.

 This was my corner of the living room.
The door behind my bed is another bedroom that has never been finished so we just partitioned off part of the living room and made it into "my room."

 Our Kitchen

 Our Living Room

This is the view from the front door.
(And yes, that is three cases of vanilla. And no, Mrs. Zupan and I didn't buy it all for ourselves.)

And...these were our next door neighbors.

Again, I apologize for how long it has taken me to blog about my missions trip. Now that I have a computer cord, I will, Lord willing, be doing at least 2 or 3 more posts from my trip. So keep checking back!

Laredo, Texas Missions Trip: Jubilation Camp Meeting: Monday

Monday morning Mrs. Zupan, Miss Nancy and I spent the morning doing the last minute cleaning in the Shepherd's Inn and the Dorms before the speakers started coming for the meetings. Then around 5:00 that evening, the three of us helped make supper. We had taco salads and brownies with sweet tea and unsweetened tea to drink. There weren't any services tonight, it was just a meet 'n greet to get to know everybody.

For many years whenever the Wings as Eagles Ministry takes a work crew to go work on a church or minister somewhere, before every meal they sing the song He Paid A Debt.

He paid a debt He did not owe, 

I owed a debt I could not pay. 

I needed someone to wash my sins away. 

And now I sing a brand new song, 

"Amazing grace" the whole day long. 

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

It's just amazing to think that Jesus Christ was willing to pay the price for MY sin! Why would a perfect, amazing God be willing to send His only Son to die on the cross for such a wretched sinner as I? I will never be able to wrap my little little brain around why He would love me so much! My "good works" aren't any better than filthy rags! We serve a wonderful God!

Laredo, Texas Missions Trip: 3-Day Ride Down

Hey y'all!! Sorry it has taken me awhile to update my blog. I got home last Saturday and my room looked like my luggage exploded. But now I've finally had time to start updating the blog with stories and lessons from my wonderful trip. I had a ton of fun with all the people down in Laredo and I learned a lot from the sessions. There just isn't anything like Southern Hospitality. So I will start the stories and lessons with the trip down.

We left Thursday, October 9th at 7 am. We spent the first night in St. Joseph, Missouri. Friday morning we got up bright and early and headed for Texas. Around 11:30/12:00, we had to stop and pay toll and our VSC, trac-off, and check engine lights came on, we were about 100 miles from Oklahoma City. Mrs. Zupan called the Toyota dealership in Ladysmith and the guy said that it might just be our gas cap (if it's loose, it will set the VSC light off because it is leaking air). We stopped at the Toyota dealership in Oklahoma City to see if they could just quick check it out...they wouldn't be able to look at it for at least another 2-3 hours. We couldn't wait that long so Toyota sent us over to Pep Boys and they ran the free diagnostic test. That came back as what they thought was one part but they wouldn't be sure until they did the other diagnostic test which cost $50 and if it was that part they would have to order it and that would be about $600. They said that the van was still drive-able and it wouldn't affect anything except for our gas mileage. So Mr. Zupan decided that we would keep going. This whole thing set us back about 45 minutes to an hour. Just as we got into Texas, those three lights went out! We were shocked! We couldn't figure out what was going on because normally the lights don't go off until the problem is fixed. Mrs. Zupan made the comment, "I wonder what God is protecting/keeping us from." That night we stayed in Jacksboro, Texas. When we got to the hotel, the parking lot was a mess and there was hail on the ground. When the Zupans went in to pay for our room, the receptionist said that they had just a horrible storm about 45 minutes before with hail, rain, and 100 mph winds...there were vehicles being blown across the road and everything, our room door had leaves plastered up on it from the storm. If the Lord hadn't turned the lights on in our vehicle, we would've been driving right through that storm and who knows what damage would've been done to our vehicle. God's protection over our lives is just awesome!!

This is the hotel in Jacksboro where we stayed. 

You can see all the leaves in the parking lot from the storm.  

 If I remember right, this was in Mineral Wells. 

 Some of the beautiful scenery in Texas. 

Isn't God's creation just absolutely gorgeous!?!

This morning Mr. Zupan had me read Psalm 91. Verses fourteen and fifteen stuck out to me, especially after we got to Jacksboro and heard about the storm. They read, "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him." Just to think that because we, as Christians, love the Lord He honours us is just mind blowing and uncomprehendible. Why would God honour a poor wretched sinner as I just because I do something as simple as love Him?

We serve an AWESOME God!!!

I Can't Believe It Is Finally Here!!!

I can't believe that my missions trip is finally here! It feels like I have been waiting for forever and then all of the sudden, BOOM, it's time to pack up and leave! I am so excited for this wonderful opportunity that God has given me to go and serve down at the Rio Grande Missionary Helps. I can't wait to share all that God teaches me and all the pictures that I'll have once I get back.

Cookies baked. 

 Everything all packed and ready to go. 

P.S. I'm not taking my computer with me so my blog will be quiet for the next 2 1/2 weeks but once I get back I am planning on updating it with all the pictures and stories from my trip. 

See ya in a couple weeks! 

~Ruby James Mikula