Mechanicsville to Pavas

How did we get from Mechanicsville to Pavas? It all started last summer when Drexel (our pastor) and Jayson traveled to Central America in search of partnership mission opportunities. Over the course of several days, they visited with many ministries in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Once they visited Pavas, our mission became clear.

Pavas is a very poor community on the outskirts of San Jose. The community has concerns with crime and many children in the community are orphans. The ministry at the Iglesia de Pesebre (Church of the Manger) focused on feeding the children in the community. For many of these sweet little ones, the only meal they received daily was lunch at church. It was a heartbreaking situation. The children of Walnut Grove adopted the children of Pavas as their mission focus for Summer Spectacular 2006 (vacation bible school) and raised enough funding to support and expand the children's feeding program.

In December 2006, a team of 7 traveled from Walnut Grove to Pavas to spend more time in hands on ministry and to develop the partnership with the church leadership in Pavas. The team worshipped at Pavas, helped with the children's lunch program, and brought Christmas gift bags for the children. We also met with the church leadership to establish a partnership moving forward. The primary focus after this trip was to work with the church leadership in Pavas to provide resources to secure the building so that their ministry could continue to grow and expand. Shortly before we arrived in December, the toilets from their new restroom facilities had been stolen. Toilets! They couldn't even leave the cooking utensils or serving pieces for the lunch program at church for fear that they'd be stolen again as they were so many times before. First order of business became securing the facility....more to come soon!!