The Mexico Mission Team at Hawkins United Methodist Church is gearing up for its annual trip this summer by raising money with a dinner theater and a silent auction April 3-5.

If you go

Hawkins United Methodist Church will present “The Trouble With Larry” at 6:30 p.m. April 3 and 4 and at noon April 5. Tickets are $10 and include dinner and the

show. A silent auction will go on during the show. Proceeds will go to sponsor the Mexico Mission Team. Hawkins Church is located at 3736 Halls Ferry Road. For more information, call 601-636-2242.

“The Trouble With Larry,” a comedy about who killed a house plant and written by church member Richard van Den Akker, will be performed three times in the three-day period.

For the past six years, church members have traveled to Amecameca, Mexico. When they go this year, they will take with them medicines, vitamins, eyeglasses and building supplies.

“There’s nothing like it,” said Peter Phifer, missionary and lead character in the play. “It’s a wonderful experience to meet people and help them.”

Phifer has taken the trip each year since it began in concert with Crawford Street United Methodist Church.

“So many people wanted to go, we just had to break into teams and go with our own church,” said Phifer. “We would get twice as much done with the teams.”

At the end of June, a team of 19 church members will visit Amecameca for one week. They will set up a medical station, a vacation Bible school and build or remodel churches.

“One year, we built a new church next to an old church,” said Phifer, who has done much of the construction work from building a foundation to putting on a new roof.

“The people are very receptive and we have formed some strong bonds with the people of Mexico,” he said.

In addition to the Mexico mission, the group helps local residents throughout the year through a group known as Helping Hands.

The silent auction will have items donated from the community. For more information, call 601-636-2242.

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchanprasith@vicksburgpost.com.