The Gospel of the Hammer and Nail
Putting their faith in action, newsboys take the good news—and a few good works—to Mexico while building homes for the poor. A special report from the brother of frontman Peter Furler.
by Mark Furler | posted 9/12/2005
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Journalist Mark Furler has closely watched the success of his brother Peter's band, newsboys. Here is Mark's special report about the band's missions work in Mexico, illustrating how newsboys' passion has gone far beyond just music.
On a hot, dusty hillside in Mexico, an army of almost 1,000 people demonstrate their faith and compassion in a very practical way—by building homes for the poor.
Some of the almost 1,000 workers who turned out
But after a week of toil, they discover they're building more than just homes. They're building a community, and helping to raise up local leaders who could in turn help turn the tide for an entire generation of Mexicans.
For newsboys, who have fallen in love with Mexico since riding through its desert on dirt bikes eight years ago, the annual Baja pilgrimage is the gospel of hammer and nails.
"That's what keeps coming back to me,'' frontman Peter Furler says. "Jesus started out with a hammer and nails, and he ended up with hammer and nails, didn't he? The gospel is in the hammer and nail.''
As teams of youth and adults work together to build 26 homes in a week, Furler notices the gospel in action: "Here they are giving up their time, their finances, their sweat,'' he says. "It's a time when they could just be down the beach or partying over the summer break, yet they are pouring out their hearts, and God honors that.''
Peter Furler with some of the teens who helped build the houses
Watching the flurry of orange "Homes for Life" shirts in action, Furler expresses hope that the hillside could become a beacon to those looking to escape the poverty that has suffocated their very existence.
"It's more than building houses," he says. "It's laying foundations in people's lives."
The band is also helping to lay a foundation distribution of the Purple Book, which teaches the foundations of the Christian faith through a series of questions that can only be answered from the Bible.
One 71-year-old grandma proudly tells of how she is doing the book for the second time, while at our hotel the waiter raves about how much it has helped him.
A Lasting Impact
The signs are already there that the work of Baja Christian Ministries (BCM), run by Bob Sanders and his wife Janet for the past 13 years, is starting to have a real impact in this dumping ground for the desperate just outside of Tijuana.
Alvin Morales is certainly testimony to that. He met "Baja Bob'' in late 1993 when he was living in a tent with his family after losing their home to a flood. BCM built a new home for Morales, who today pastors a church of 200 people in the area.
"It is amazing what God has done from living in a tent, then a 16-by-20 Baja Christian Ministries house to what we are doing today," Morales says. "I never thought God would do what he has done in our lives.''
Furler wants to see Morales' story replicated year after year as more Christians around the world come to help those in need. Just over a year ago, Furler and some of the newsboys management team came to build a house on their own.
"It was an incredible experience," Furler says, "and we wanted to share it with as many people as we could, so we used our platform [as newsboys] to get as many people as we could down here.''
Initially, the target was 500 people, almost twice that number came. Numerous groups helped to organize the trip, including Teen Mania, Global Expeditions, and Global Tribe. For those who come, the joy and satisfaction of a job well done is evident as they sing, laugh, and share special time with the family they're building a home for.
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