Port Arthur 2025
AUTHOR: TAYLOR DUITSMAN
During the UTA Spring Break in March of 2025, the Cornerstone ministry was able to rally together sixteen willing young adults to participate in a five day trip to Port Arthur, TX. Port Arthur is a city on the Gulf Coast known for its significant role in the petrochemical industry. Though, despite its economic impact, twenty-nine percent of its residents live below the poverty line. This made recovering from 2019’s Hurricane Harvey very difficult. One local church called Victory Christian Church was especially damaged by the storm and would not have had the funds to redo the entire church. Fortunately, through supernatural connections, the UTA Cornerstone ministry was able to come to their aid, first in 2019 and three more times since. The goal of the relationship between the Cornerstone and Victory Christian Church (VCC) has been not only to help with necessary construction but to encourage and learn from VCC.
The most recent trip in March was one to remember. The team was able to add walls, texture, paint, and trim to a room that will be used as their computer room that will be made available to the community. They also got walls and texture added to three outdoor bathrooms, making them private and usable. On top of the big projects, many small projects such as rebuilding and painting picnic tables, adding outdoor lights, and some other needed maintenance were accomplished in this time as well. This was possibly the most accomplished on any of the trips so far - and with less people!
Some of the group were able to join Pastor Kelvin, the lead pastor, in local outreach that Victory Christian Church called “Pop-Up Church”. This involved going to local apartment complexes in need, having worship and a short lesson in a public area, praying for those that passed by, and handing out bags of food to the community there. These two outings were a highlight for many of those who attended as they got to see lives be touched by prayer, worship, or humble acts of service.
Although the Cornerstone community left with the intent to serve, many of the attendees returned feeling more encouraged and blessed by the Victory Christin community and Pastor Kelvin himself. Seeing their faith and joy despite a seemingly hopeless situation inspired everyone to look beyond current circumstances and have a Kingdom mindset, knowing that our God will provide - just like He has for Victory Christian Church in Port Arthur, TX.
