Church World Service and Week of Compassion provide blankets for refugees, others suffering severe winter conditions in Rio Grande Valley
The mother and her 11 children were freezing. The icy weather that crippled Texas and most of the nation in early February hit residents of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley particularly hard.
The average winter temperature in February in the Valley is 74 degrees. When an ice storm hit the Brownsville-McAllen-Harlingen area and high temperatures did not make it out of the 20s for several days, the climate created an emergency crisis for families who live in substandard housing or lack winter clothing.
Thanks to the Week of Compassion, the disaster relief and humanitarian assistance program fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada, and Church World Service, a long-term partner in ministry, Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries received 1,000 blankets to distribute to mother and her 11 children and dozens of others like them who had no heat in their homes.
“Church World Service’s Blankets+ program allowed us to serve refugees and others who were struggling so much against the cold weather,” said Feliberto Pereira, executive director of SWGSM, which worked to house families in heated church buildings during the worst of the weather. “Words cannot describe the gratitude the people expressed to me in receiving blankets to help them stay warm. On behalf of them, I thank Church World Service and Week of Compassion for their assistance during this emergency.”
Best wishes for a joyous year 2011!
Dear Friends,
In this season of reflection and renewal, I thank God for your prayers and gifts of support.
As the year 2011 begins, we covet your prayers for the work of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries. The poor economy continues to challenge our ministry, as we strive to meet the increasing needs of the refugees and poor we serve. We draw strength and inspiration from the words of Jesus in Luke, Chapter 7: So he replied to the messengers, Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
This new year, our ministry will work more diligently to share not just the needs of our ministry but the success of our collective efforts, which are made possible by your gifts and God’s grace. For we know this from Psalms, Chapter 28: The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.
God Bless each of you this new year!
Sincerely,
Feliberto Pereira, Executive Director
Thanks to Your generosity, these pictures are possible!
Your generous gifts made these new chairs in the chapel possible. We were able to purchase enough chairs and had funds left over to purchase three round tables for work and study. Your gifts made this project possible, and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!
Mike's Kids, the annual toy and clothing drive for the poorest of the poor along the U.S. border at Brownsville, Texas, is in full swing across North Texas
Since 1987, Mike's Kids has collected new toys and clothing from churches of the North Texas Area of the Christian Church (DOC) from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Without the generous support of these churches, many of the families served by Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries would have no Christmas otherwise.
Approximately 23 churches are participating in the collection for refugees and poor and abandoned children on both sides of the border.
Mike’s Kids was founded by a young man with a big heart named Mike Slaight who wanted to make a difference. When Mike learned about Feliberto and his ministry to "the least of these," he drove a van full of new toys that he had collected to Feliberto just before Christmas so the poorest children would know someone cared for them.
After Mike passed away, the program continued under Mike Slaight’s father, Hank, for more than a decade and became known as Mike's Kids. Today, the program is overseen by Mike’s children, Mark and Christina, and a small army of volunteers.
One of the volunteers, Marvin Carter, has delivered the signature banana boxes to the participating churches in which the gifts are packed and eventually loaded onto a semi-trailer that will arrive in the Rio Grande Valley just before the Christmas holidays. Toys and clothing are distributed by local churches and organizations to the neediest families.
"Mark and Christina have continued the legacy of generosity begun by their father and grandfather, both of whom would be so proud of them," said Feliberto. "Given the poor economic conditions in the Valley, these gifts are much needed, and will have an enormous impact on the lives of the children and families who receive them. Thank you in advance to all of our generous givers. God bless you!"
Items Needed:
New or Gently Used Clothes and Shoes.: Most of the refugees helped by SWGSM are small in stature with small feet. Therefore, we request that you do not send large-size clothing. Please send only clean/practical/usable clothing—save us the time and trouble of tossing away inappropriate or worn out clothes. We cannot use items that are stained, torn, or suitable only for evening wear.
- New Undergarments
- New or Gently Used Clothes or Toys: Please make sure the toy is in working condition and has all the pieces
- Bicycles
- Kithen Utensils
- Canned Goods
- Monetary Donations through www.swgsm.org
For more information on Mike's Kids, visit www.mikeskids.org
A special message from Feliberto Pereira
As winter draws near, will you please consider a gift to help us meet the growing needs of the poorest of the poor?
Dear friends,
Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting two Cuban refugees at the ministry-a mother and her 9-year-old son. Like all refugees, they arrived in the United States with very little clothing.
I invited the mother and the young boy, who was very quiet, to the room where we keep the clothing your gifts provide. After we located some clothing for both of them, I said to the boy, "Winter will be here soon. Let's find you something heavier to wear."
As I opened a container of childrens' coats, great joy suddenly came upon the boy's face. His smile lit up the room. This quiet boy spoke words that really touched my heart. "I've never had a coat before," the boy said. "I've always wanted one."
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that when we serve "the least of these," we serve Him. When we, with your help, provide a coat to keep a refugee boy warm in the winter, we do it also for our Savior.
The tough economic times that we are facing are particularly difficult for those who have so little to begin with. These days, hunger is a daily presence for hundreds of families near our ministry in the Rio Grande Valley. To help this situation, we have provided family-sized servings of rice and beans in quart-sized resealable bags to local pastors for distribution to the poorest of the poor. The demand for our services-such as emergency food, clothing, shelter, health and legal services-has increased along with the rate of poverty we are experiencing in the Valley.
My friends, as winter draws nearer, I am writing you to ask you to please consider making a tax-deductible gift to the ministry-to help us provide coats for refugees, to help us feed the hungry, to help us meet the needs of the poorest of the poor. Your generosity makes it possible for us to be the hands, feet and heart of Jesus in one of the most economically distressed places in our nation. Your financial gifts help us put a winter coat on a refugee boy.
You may donate online or send your gift to:
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
28259 Pereira Compassion Rd.
P.O. Box 273
Los Fresnos , TX 78566
Our ministry is possible through your generosity. In this Season of Thanksgiving, and in His service, I thank you for all of your support.
Sincerely yours,
F. Feliberto Pereira
Executive Director
P.S.
We are deeply grateful to you for your recent gifts, which enabled us to purchase the needed chairs and tables for the chapel.
A special message from Feliberto Pereira, Executive Director of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
Dear Friends,
Our blessings overflow at Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries.
This spring and summer, we had the privilege of hosting 24 mission work groups comprised of 508 participants from eight states.
We also hosted seven retreats, involving 305 participants.The Texans who were with us came from 14 different cities.
The work accomplished by these groups included the construction of 12 new casitas (small shelters) for poor families in Matamoros, Mexico; preparing bags of beans for the hungry; making home repairs (including a new floor) for a poor family in Los Fresnos; and the construction of a new water purification system for Casa Bethel Orphanage in Matamoros.
In addition, mission groups provided and installed window decorations and coverings for the sanctuary windows at Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer in Los Fresno, where group members also painted and re-shingled dorm rooms and cleaned and painted the kitchen and other areas of the church.
Mission groups worked so hard to complete many needed projects at our Bayview campus, including placing new tile in the waiting area of our dental clinic to be open later this fall, as well as accomplishing many cleaning and painting projects; Groups also installed new fencing around a playground for the children and mothers who are with us weekly in a life-skills training program we sponsor called Lilies of the Valley; constructed a new outdoor platform and cover for the outdoor worship area at Bavyiew; and installed and painted hurricane shutters on all the buildings at Bayview.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank all those who participated with us on these mission trips, financially supported or prayed for mission group workers and prayed and supported our ministry. It is impossible for me to express the joy in my heart for all these accomplishments to help God’s neediest ones. Your love, prayers and support enable us to accomplish what we do.
I also wish to thank the many of our supporters who have contributed donations toward the purchase of 150 chairs for the Slaight Chapel at Bayview, to replace the worn-out church pews that are also damaging the chapel floor. We have received funds and pledges for all 150 chairs! These chairs will not only allow us to better serve our mission work groups but also participants of the many church retreats we are blessed to host during the fall and spring. We will have these chairs purchased and in place in early September.
Thank you for your continued prayers as we seek to be God's helping hands in the Rio Grande Valley! God bless you!
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries Celebrates 25 Years of Service
In 1980, Central America stood in chaos—a region wracked by war, civil strife, and widespread human rights abuses. Violence had driven hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children through Mexico and across the border to the Rio Grande Valley—a migration of mass proportion that the United States had never seen at its border with Mexico before. What began as a trickle of refugees, arriving in 1979 from El Salvador, turned into a torrent a year later. The tidal wave of fearful, hungry, thirsty, and emotionally wounded refugees overwhelmed public agencies, charities, and churches in the Rio Grande Valley.
"I saw these brothers and sisters in bus stations, in airport parking lots, in our parks and orchards" recalled Feliberto Pereira, a local minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in San Benito who was a political refugee from Cuba before he received a Freedom Flight to the United States in 1969. "Driving home, I found needy men, women, and children crowded near our church doors and, eventually, at my front door. In all candor, I was initially at a loss as to what I could do for these strangers seeking protection from the violence in their homelands. I must confess that I saw them as foreigners. We should be visiting them as missionaries, I thought, not hosting in our country without an invitation. Overwhelmed, I pondered, “What is my responsibility to these strangers among us?”
The answers came to Feliberto loud and clear in a calling from God. He would step up and coordinate the many splintered efforts among churches in the Valley to serve refugees in whose shoes he once walked. But by the mid-1980s, it became clear that a more formal approach to the myriad efforts to help resettle the growing population of political refugees streaming across the border was required. He would give up his church in San Benito and serve refugees fulltime. With the assistance of Jennifer Riggs, Director of Refugee and Immigration Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and David Vargas, President of the Division of Overseas Ministries and Co-Executive of Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the founders established, the Good Samaritan Project, a name suggested by Vargas. Feliberto was named the organizations Executive Director, the position he holds today.
"At first our volunteer efforts were limited to helping refugees with immediate and basic needs—food, clothing, legal assistance, and spiritual guidance and counseling. But the refugees also needed a place to stay—besides my living room couch and floor—while their cases for political asylum were processed," Feliberto said. "I did not want them to endure immigrant detention centers. Refugees are not prisoners. Since our founding in 1986, our mission has remained the same over the years—to provide assistance to the thousands of needy refugees in the Rio Grande Valley, especially Central American political refugees and others who legitimately fear persecution in their homelands."
Since 1979, what is now Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries has assisted some 20,000 refugees from more than 40 countries—Muslims, Jews, Christians, and atheists. Refugees and those who serve them are welcomed at a five-acre facility donated and built by volunteers called Casa Compasión—"House of Compassion"—located three miles from one of the U.S. government's largest immigration detention centers, from which detained refugees are released to Pereira's custody. Once there, and in partnership with sister organizations, refugees are offered food, clothing, shelter and counseling while their applications for asylum are processed, an often long and demanding procedure. Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries also hosts offices for Church World Service chaplains who serve detainees at the Port Isabel Processing Center (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), outside Los Fresnos, Texas. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security routinely calls on Feliberto to assist with the settlement of Cubans seeking asylum at the International Bridge at Matamoros/Brownsville.
The ministry's mission has expanded to include many programs to assist the poor in the Brownsville-Harlingen-Reynosa area of the Rio Grande Valle and the Matamoros area of Northern Mexico. With the assistance of hundreds of volunteers across the United States from many faith backgrounds the ministry has grown to include an emergency food supply program (Disciples Rice and Disciples Beans); a toy and clothing drive for impoverished children and families in the border region; support of an orphanage and colonia in Matamoros; Bible Institutes in Monterrey and Matamoros; classes that teach young single mothers life skills; and dental and eye-exam clinics.
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries believes that Jesus teaches us what the response should brothers and sisters in need in Matthew 25:44–45:
. . . Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
We are also to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, whose story is told in Luke, Chapter 10:
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then, he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
Reflecting on the 25 years of service provided by Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries, Feliberto said: "It is a privilege to serve those who come to us in search of love, understanding, and assistance. I am ever mindful of St. Paul’s message to the Ephesians, . . . You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Let us carry this message to all who will hear. For we, the people, are America. And we, the church, are America’s conscience. I pray that you will see the poor as members of God’s family and pray for them. In the same manner, I ask for your continued prayers that God will give us the strength and undivided commitment to continue serving “the least of these.' "
SWGSM Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Special luncheon and worship planned on May 8 as part of the Southwest Hispanic Convention Confraternidad (Fellowship Gathering)
Refugees find help and hope in 2009
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries provided assistance to 178 refugees in 2009. The ministry provided housing, clothing, food, medical and legal assistance, travel funds and relocation assistance to refugees form nine countries. The nine countries and the number of refugees served from those countries, include: Cuba (76), Mexico (56), Guatemala (4), El Salvador (12), Columbia (5), Honduras (12), Nicaragua (11), Dominican Republiand Panama (1). God receives all the glory for so many who make these services possible.
We're often asked: "What does the Ministry need this year?"
We're thankful for your continued support of our ministry to refugees and the poor. If you or your church or group wishes to contribute a gift, please consider these list of needs for 2010.
HEALTH KIT:
1 bath towel
1 hand towel
1 comb
1 metal nail file
1 nail clipper
1 bath size bar of soap
1 toothbrush
1 (4-7 oz.) tube of toothpaste
1 small pkg. band-aids
SEAL ALL ITEMS IN A ONE GALLON ZIPLOCK BAG.
SCHOOL KIT:
1 pair of scissors
4 pkgs. of ruled notebook paper (1/2")
3 pads of art paper (blank)
1 (30cm/12 inch) ruler
1 hand-held pencil sharpener
1 box (12) new pencils with erasers
1 large pink eraser
1 pkg. colored construction paper
1 box of 12-24 markers (crayons MELT)
1 pkg. of colored pencils
1 (12" X 14") cloth bag with handles and closure of Velcro, snap, or button
PACK ALL THESE ITEMS IN CLOTH BAG AND SECURE CLOSURE.
NEW UNDERGARMENTS:
All sizes for both boys and girls up to 18 years old
All sizes for adult females
All sizes for adult males
CLOTHING:
Good, gently used warm weather clothes for children, teenagers, and adults.
TOOLS:
We would ask for good, used tools if you are coming to work with a Mission Group. Upon leaving, you may consider a gift of leaving the tools with us for others to use when they come. We need: shovels, hammers, fiberglass step ladders, folding sawhorses, heavy duty extension cords, all sizes of drill bits (5/8" and 1" auger bits), 7 1/4" circular saws. Please call the office before coming with your group, and we can be more specific of our needs.
BEANS and RICE:
We would ask you to bring bags of beans and/or rice; all sizes can be used-from 1 pound to 50 pound bags. If the large sizes are brought, groups can re-bag them into freezer strength ziplock bags for easier distribution. If these items cannot be brought to SWGSM, you may send a check or donate online and designate rice and/or beans.
SCHOOL TUITION and UNIFORMS:
Students in Mexico have need for tuition in order to attend school. Tuition varies for elementary, middle and high school students and students must wear uniforms. College tuition also varies based on classes taken. In making donations online or by check, designate the gift on the memo line for either "tuition" or "uniforms."
NEW Bedding for Dorm Bunk Beds:
Twin bed/mattresses are needed along with twin sheets with fitted bottom and flat top sheets. Pillows and pillowcases are also needed.
WINDOW UNIT AIR CONDITIONERS:
Six (6) new window unit air conditioners are needed. The units MUST be 110 electrical with a regular plug. Dorm rooms are not equipped with 220 electric lines.
PORTABLE GENERATOR:
A generator with 5500-6200 watts is needed. If one is available, it could be used as power supply for tools while building casitas in Mexico.
In making donations online or by check, please designate in the memo line what you would like your gift to purchase. For more information concerning specific costs or other matters, please contact the SWGSM office, 956-233-5198.
Border safety concerns addressed
In recent months, our ministry has been asked this pointed question: Is Mexico a safe place for mission trips?
News stories have suggested that Mexico may not be a "safe destination" for U.S. citizens to travel, whether as tourists or as mission workers and volunteers. Stories have surfaced about violence along the border areas, such as gun battles on the streets of Mexican cities and outright war between the large drug cartels and government soldiers and police. So the question is raised: Is it safe entering into Mexico and, specifically, is it safe to plan a mission trip into Matamoros?
We want to be clear in our answers and honest in responding to any concerns:
- Yes, there is an increase in violence, but the over-whelming number of violent incidents are in the cities further West along the Mexican border—cities such as Laredo, Juarez, Nogales and Tijuana. The violence is among drug dealers and law enforcement authorities.
- Matamoros, the border city with Brownsville, Texas, is the least affected of the larger border cities by this recent violence. In fact, it appears that Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, or Austin could be labeled as much or more "dangerous" given their current rate of crime. Mostly, we want to share that, in all our years of service to the poor of Matamoros, including about 60 groups who have shared there in the past 18 months, we have not had even one incident of concern about safety with our groups. We visit and work during safe hours and in safe locations. All youth workers are carefully supervised. Our ministry depends on volunteers knowing that we would never put these groups in circumstances which might lead to harm.
Please plan to join us on Saturday, May 8, at our Bayview, Texas, facility for a 25th anniversary celebration of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries.The celebration will take place during the Southwest Hispanic Convention of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which begins at 10 a.m. Feliberto Pereira, SWGSM Founder and Executive Director, will speak about the ministry’s 25 years of service to refugees and the poor. A special luncheon follows at noon. Tickets to the lunch are $10 each, with all proceeds going to the ministry. At 1 p.m., David Vargas, president of the Division of Overseas Ministry and Co-Executive of Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), will speak at a special worship service of the Southwest Hispanic Convention in the Chapel of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries. The Rev. Vargas is the person who suggested the name “Southwest Good Samaritan” when Feliberto first felt called to start a ministry devoted to refugees and the poor in 1985. All are invited to attend this special day of celebration. RSVPs are needed for the lunch. Please call Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries at 956-233-5198.
A Special message from the director of SWGSM
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS --- 2009
“For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son.” (John 3:16)
Jesus Christ is the Spirit that shapes Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries. Christ is born again and again bringing gifts of hope, joy, peace, freedom, healing, dignity and love! Through His Spirit, we are ever thankful for the helping hands, generous donations, and loving angels who have been sent to assist God’s work at SWGSM in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Christmas happens daily at SWGSM.
In 2009, for all those who share in the work and witness of SWGSM—the staff, the 559 mission group volunteers, the Board members, the congregations, the districts, the areas, the regions, the national church, the faithful who have sent financial support, and the prayer warriors who have kept us in their prayers, we truly know that Christmas comes each and every day. All volunteers and recipients have been blessed, and there are no other words than to thank our Lord for the generous blessings of this year. The Lord has sent His angels, and many people [the homeless, the hungry, the refugee, the victims of loss, and the needy children] have benefited. Humble and grateful are the two words that come to mind for Christmas.
JOY is in the writing of this Christmas greeting as there are so many stories of love and sharing as follows:
- There were 23 families in Matamoros, Mexico, who received the gift of a completed casita during 2009.
- Over 152 refugees began a new life in the United States with relocation to family and legal assistance.
- School tuition, uniforms, and supplies were distributed to the Casa Bethel orphanage in addition to weekly
- gifts of food.
- 100,000 pounds of rice and 2,000 pounds of beans were donated and distributed on both sides of the border.
- Clothes, furniture, and donated items were shared from the Ride for Refugees and distributed where needed in
- October.
- Clothes, toys, and food are present and given from the Mike’s Kids’ Project during December/Christmas.
- The Dental Clinic with donated materials and equipment is being readied for use in 2010.
- Week of Compassion and Church World Service are assisted during emergencies.
As the end of 2009 arrives and the 2010 begins, we ask for continued blessings on all who have assisted SWGSM. Such glory is God’s work now and in the future.
Blessings, honor, and glory at this Christmas season to all who are our “angels”,
Feliberto Pereira,
SWGSM Director
Bluebonnet Area’s The Chalice spotlights Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
The October newsletter of the Bluebonnet Area/Lower Rio Grande Valley District of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) carries two wonderful articles on the work of our ministry. Our dear friend Rudie Stallings tells a wonderful story about the members of First Christian Church of San Marcos who generously “opened their hearts and their wallets to fill a trailer to overflowing with new and used clothing and school supplies for delivery” to our ministry for distribution to the poor and needy school children on both sides of the border. Another newsletter article tells how to order the new DVD program called The Many Faces of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries. A big thank you to the Bluebonnet Area/Lower RGV District for all you do “for the least of these” our brothers and sisters! Click here to read the complete October issue of The Chalice.
Feliberto Honored by The Daughters of the American Revolution
Founder and Executive Director Feliberto Pereira has been honored by the Daughters of the American Revoultion with a prestigious Americanism Medal. DAR Americanism Medal recipients must have demonstrated the outstanding qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism. They must have actively assisted other foreign nationals to become American citizens or displayed outstanding ability in community affairs, preferably with emphasis on the foreign-born community. The Medal presentation was made on Sept. 11 in Whitney, Texas, by the Fort Graham Chapter of the DAR, which arranged a ceremony at Whitney High School. Feliberto's national recognition was the subject of a news story by KUVN-TV (Channel 23), the Univision affiliate in Dallas. The story may be viewed here
Please consider our ministry for your Outreach efforts
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries offers life changing opportunities for adult and youth Mission trips. Our ministry relies on “angels” who are able to raise funds for needed building projects, such as casitas for the poor who are eking out a living in the colonias of Matamoros, Mexico. We also seek support for our many other ministries.
As your church or group considers Outreach budgets for next year, would you please consider underwriting support for a project or a ministry with Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries?
We’ve prepared a presentation for you to review and share with your Outreach department or group. Please contact us if we can provide any additional information. Thank you for your consideration!
Download here (Requires Powerpoint)
Order your copy of the documentary on Feliberto's life and ministry
More than 125 people attended the premiere of a new video documentary entitled The Many Faces of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries on Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Indiana Convention Center. The half-hour program, shot in high-definition, tells the inspirational story of Feliberto's life and those served by Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries.
The video presentation, produced by Dallas Digital Studios of Dallas, Texas, debuted during the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Individuals, churches or groups may order a copy of the documentary on DVD by sending a $10 check (to defray shipping and production costs) payable to:
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
28259 Pereira Compassion Rd.
PO Box 273
Los Fresnos , TX 78566.
Please be sure to include the address where the DVD is to be sent.
Casita program reaches milestone
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries has completed 50 casitas (small wooden homes) for families living in the colonias of Matamoros, Mexico. The 50 new casitas milestone was reached at the end of July. Three additional casitas are scheduled to be built by work groups this fall. Our goal is to build 25-30 new casitas in 2010.
“The ministry will continue to build casitas as long as we have groups and funds to build them,” said Les Hodson, moderator of the Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries board of directors.
Volunteer construction leaders are being sought to oversee construction of casitas, which provide clean and newly constructed shelter for extremely poor families who are now living in shelters made of tin, plywood, roofing paper and cardboard. Construction leaders should be bilingual self-starters in good health who have construction skills, budget management experience and able to drive stick shift vehicles. A valid passport and driver’s license is required. Recommendations will be required. Please contact us if you are interested in serving in this vital role!
Groups interested in raising funds and constructing a casita will find helpful information in the Plan Your Visit area of the site.
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries launches new Web site
Welcome to the new online home of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries! The mission of our new Web site is to teach the love of Jesus Christ by building a renewed sense of wholeness and dignity for those who are broken, especially refugees and asylum seekers and others who are disenfranchised and displaced. We pledge to share the latest news and information about our ministries on our Web site as we, together with you, strive to share the good news of salvation to all persons. We accomplish this primarily through service to “the least of these” as Jesus tells us in Matthew 25.
We need your assistance to make our site a true success. You can:
* Sign up for our newsletter -put newsletter in the subject line
* Contact us if you wish to visit us for a mission trip or volunteer assignment
* Share your mission trip photos in our online gallery
* Consider hosting Founder and Executive Director Feliberto Pereria for a visit to your church
* Support our ministries with a financial gift through our secure online donation site
Our new site would not have been possible without the generous support of Bill Anderton, a member of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Dallas and president of TeleWorship, which provides virtual worship technologies for churches, and The Kelley Group, a professional writing and communications consultancy based in Dallas.
