We Are His Hands Reaching Out To The Least Of These...

I've seen Jesus this Christmas.  Much like the dirty, dusty stable where He chose to take on human form over 2000 years ago, He came in human form to another dirty, dusty shelter where the poorest of the poor live, to show His love and to make a way for us to know eternal life through His greatest gift.  This time instead of coming in one human form as God Incarnate, His Spirit filled 18 wonderful people who were His hands and feet to the children of Kilometer 33.

I saw Jesus swing kids around, give them caballito (horsey) rides, polish fingernails, play basketball with boys, hold little girls, feed the hungry ones, hold the crying ones, sing with them, and sit and read the Bible with them.  I saw Him considering others as more important than Himself and serving them with every ounce of His energy.  I would encourage you to follow this link to our photo gallery from our Christmas event and see the love of Jesus in action.  You will be blessed.

We saw God's hand at every turn.  He provided many wonderful toys for the children through people who were prompted by His spirit and obeyed.  We were able to hand out Barbies to each girl that attended the event, in addition to many wonderful baby dolls, many cars and soccer balls to the boys, and each child was given a gift bag of goodies in addition to a large gift.  They heard the real meaning of Christmas, and they were challenged to have hearts of integrity toward God.  They were fed and clothed.  Above all, they were loved.

One of the biggest blessings we received was when some of the children from the shelter performed dances set to praise music for the team.  In a year when there were times we questioned whether the ministry could even survive, we saw the fruit of Una Esperanza, and that it is beginning to grow in depth as well as numbers.  To see our little ones praising God in dance was beautiful.  Several of our teenage girls also prepared some songs and I was brought to tears by God's goodness, knowing that three of these four teenagers had come to know Christ as their Savior in the last two months.   The ladies also showed off their culinary skills for the team with a salsa-making contest, which the team bravely took part in as the taste testers.  No reports of sickness to this point... :)

We just want to say thank you to the many people who held us up in prayer.  We felt the angels all around us.  We knew we were covered, and we are truly appreciative.  We are grateful for the people who enabled us to pull off this event financially.  It's always a very costly event, but God always provides.  We are so grateful for the college students from Iowa State, New Mexico State and Hardin-Simmons University that came and poured themselves out in service and in love, for the families that made this their Christmas and demonstrated the love of God to others in front of their own kids.  We prayed for Jesus to be seen by all, and we believe He was.  We know He showed up in each of the team members that came to Juarez this year, and we believe His presence will continue to change lives as a residual throughout the year.

Christmas Treasures

We're getting ready to head down to Una Esperanza for our annual Christmas outreach in a little over a week, and it's all a little different this year.  We're looking forward to seeing God's hand at work, like we do every year, but the circumstances all seem different.

We're collecting the gifts for the kids, which God is providing through wonderful, compassionate people that are responding to His leading.  That's the only way to explain it this year.  With the US economy in a not-so-great state, many people are not reaching out, including many churches that are having their own financial crises.  It's just what it is this year.  Due to the drug wars in Mexico, many people are concerned for their safety and not wanting to take that risk this year.  In past years, we've had as many as 50 people volunteering for this outreach - this year we only have about 8 confirmed.  We've had many thoughts of canceling the event this year, which is what most ministries that work in Mexico are doing this year, but God has laid on our hearts that it is still in His heart to reach these kids, regardless of what we see around us.

Mexico is indeed a very dangerous place right now, and Juarez in particular.  Depending on the source, there have been between 1300 and nearly 2000 murders in Juarez in 2008, nearly all related to a drug cartel war, and it's getting uglier, more brutal.  It's not in the US news much, but it's very real to our kids.  Mutilated, headless bodies are turning up on elementary school playgrounds.  Gangs are threatening to hurt children if teachers don't hand over their Christmas bonuses.  Kidnappings of store owners are becoming common place.

Fear is a very real, very raw emotion in Kilometer 33 as well as the rest of Juarez.  There is no sense of security from the law, as the government is under seige by these same cartels.  In the midst of this, we MUST bring the hope of Jesus.  We believe that's where He would be (and is going to be) in the midst of this Christmas season.  His perfect love has to be what casts out the fear.  Toys may be just toys in some instances, but this year, they are bringing hope and love, that these kids have not been forgotten, that God has not abandoned them in the middle of all this.  

We are so grateful for all of you that have responded in whatever way you can, and we ask you to continue to pray for God's guidance and provision as we press forward.  We ask you to pray for protection while we are down there, from about the 15th of December to the 22nd.  We ask you to pray that God's hand would be so evident to each child, each person involved in this outreach.  We pray that God would lift some of the heaviness in the hearts of the people during this time, that they can be reminded that God loves them and that He has not left them, that they are His Christmas treasures for which He gave His very own Son in exchange.