My youth group in San Diego built a hospital, down in the heart of Baja, California, near the town of San Quintin. This was not a state-of-the-art building. It did not have any of the modern features we see in the States, but it was a place where folks could come to receive care that had previously been denied because of their place in society. You see, the people served at this facility were the itinerant farm workers and their families who came through the area to work the crops when they were in season.

These folks were the poorest people I have ever met. Their living conditions at the “camps” where they lived while they harvested or planted were three-sided corrugated tin-walled huts. They slept on pallets in the dirt. Some had wooden structures they used as tables, but there were no doors, floors, bathrooms, or kitchens. The water came from a communal well in the middle of the “camp.” They went to the bathroom in holes dug out beyond the crude huts where they and their families lived. Babies did not have diapers. Women had no privacy. Garbage became toys. It was hard to see people, much less families, living in such conditions.

Building that hospital is one of the best things I have ever done. Our yearly Mission Trip for eight years from start to finish, we would spend Holy Week (back when schools allowed Spring Break to coincide with Easter) building until it was finally finished. I did not do it on my own, and our church worked with other Christian groups to finish the project. Once the hospital was completed, doctors and nurses would volunteer their time, sleeping in the dorms we built alongside the surgical rooms, exam rooms, and kitchen. The doctors and nurses would come at the same time as the workers, so there did not need to be staff the entire year.

It was a labor of love which continues to provide care to this day, and it would not have happened without the Body of
Christ. Brothers and sisters working together being the church. I was reminded of this when I read this quote from a book I was reading by author Julie Klassen: “A solitary soul can do little. But together…what lasting beauty we create.” One of the greatest joys of holy community is the miraculous work that can be accomplished when, out of
love, we decide to make a difference. It is powerful. It is significant, and it is one way the darkness of this world is
dispelled.

On Palm Sunday this year we are bringing back The Resurrection Project. Our art show and fundraiser will be held in Ransdell Hall following worship on Palm Sunday, April 2nd. We will be raising money for our 2023 Mission Trip to Baja this summer. The theme of this year’s event is “Faith, Hope, and Love.” Please consider contributing a piece of art toward the show and silent auction. Please consider joining us for our Mission Trip working with orphans and teaching them the love of Christ by building relationship and creating sacred memories. It will take all of us together “being the church” to make this year’s trip a success.

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the
people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)