2024 Work Week Overview
The Net Menders Board of Directors put together this overview of the 2024 work week to thank all the people who have donated their time, financial support and prayer. This year we had 109 participants. Net Menders work weeks would not be possible without everyone. This goes far beyond just the work week though. We have farmers donating their crops, people gathering donations, churches supporting team members, the list goes on and on. THANK YOU to EVERYONE! Our group donated over $58,000 in goods and materials during the February work week. Below is a summary of our work week, just to give you an idea of how donations are being used.
We started the work week on Sunday by having a light breakfast followed by our own worship service. We had worship music, choir music, two families and children’s choirs and a father daughter duet. The treat for the worship service was Stan Birky giving the sermon.
One of our largest projects to date was putting on a roof at Pastor Moses' Church in Progresso, Mexico. The old roof was removed prior to the work week by a few of our group who arrived early, along with a group of local pastors. Net menders cut and welded all the steel to make the rafters, trusts and installed them into place followed by putting on a new steel roof. Once this was completed our electrical group came in and installed temporary lighting. Since one side of the roof was raised six feet, Net Menders supplied the funds for the church to purchase cement blocks to extend the old wall to meet the new roof and to match the walls and new roof on the other three sides. It never rained while all this went on. Praise God!
In 2016 Net Menders put up a 140’ X 90’ playground at the La Vina church in Reynosa. This year we installed a dozen new swings and patched one of the slides that was worn from so much use. In addition, we stabilized and rebuilt the chain link fence that surrounds the whole church facility.
Last year at Juan Hernandez's church in Reynosa we put on a new roof. This year we finished the electrical work by putting in all the outlets, ceiling fans, lights, wiring a bathroom and outside lights for their pavilion. We also added an additional bathroom in the foyer area.
The Bethany church in Progresso, which was our first Net Mender project some 30 years ago, built a 12’ X 60’ wall in a building that is now their outreach facility used for worship on Friday nights. This wall and all the surrounding walls were painted. In addition, our nurses did a medical clinic under two doctors, and they provided medical service for 52 patients.
At a pastor Raul's church in Reynosa Net Menders provided an extension to the back of the church to replace the children's classrooms. Last year these classrooms were just 4 X 8 sheets of plywood attached to the side of the wall of the church. These were torn down and replaced with cinder block walls and the roofers came in and built a new steel roof. We have recently provided funds to have windows and doors installed.
We did two festivals this year at the original Bethany church in Progresso and at pastor Juan Hernandez church where we did the electrical wiring this year. The festival consists of a lite meal, games for the kids, face and finger paintings, car and truck painting and passing out black bean, sweet potatoes and peanuts.
We packed 16,000 pounds of black beans, 8,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 6,000 pounds of peanuts that were given to the local pastors to hand out at the festivals, to their congregation and to their church community.
One of our biggest projects belongs to our kitchen crew as those four ladies made a full breakfast, full supper and lunches for 100 plus individuals each day. If you take into account the pre and post work week, it is estimated that approximately 1,800 meals were prepared. One individual who winters in the area made desert every night of the work week for the 100 plus participants.
Board of Directors and Officers:
Merlin Schantz (President), Jordan Danielson (Vice President), Tony Hooper (Secretary), Tom McConn (Treasurer) and Dennis Will.
