I felt like I was having an out of body experience yesterday. There I sat in church, sandwiched in between Lucia and Blanca. I hadn’t brought them to my church, but they had brought me to theirs. Blanca was playing the tambourine and Lucia had her hands raised in worship. It was hot and muggy as we sat underneath the plastic tarp supported by a few wooden beams, not too far from the garbage dump. I looked toward the front row to find Rudy sitting with his sister and his niece, clutching his bible and listening intently to Hector’s sermon about God’s plan for our lives, that His plan and purpose is Christ, plain and simple. During the greeting time, Blanca gave me a very sweaty hug and kiss on the cheek. Though it was very warm outside, her sweat was mostly due to her withdrawals from drugs. It has been 17 days now since she last had drugs, and I feel like she’s changing every minute that I’m with her. Even her eyes look different; clearly, the Holy Spirit is at work in her life. Hector asked me to come to the front and greet everyone, and I felt slightly intimidated. I said what I always default to in Spanish: “God knows your name, He knows the story of your life, and He loves you. From the same mouth that spoke the universe into existence, comes the whisper of your name if you’ll listen.” Blanca and Lucia beamed huge smiles at me, as they had heard that line a time or two in Boys Town.
[Blanca, Lucia, and Rudy each took themselves to a homeless shelter run by a precious couple named Hector & Antonia – they offer shelter, food, clothing to anyone who needs it for as long as they need it, provided they attend a Bible study each day. It is a beautiful place, and I feel honored to be connected to people who so clearly live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.]
Last week was an incredible one with the college team (BOB) from Kirk of the Hills in Tulsa, OK. Initially, I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of 28 people arriving – what in the world would I do with them? Somehow, Jesus had mercy on us and we took all 28 in to BT one day to clean up trash and plant a flower garden. The flowers were the talk of BT, and I returned the next day to find Cubana watering them and taking care of them. Julio said he thought he had a hammock somewhere, and wanted to hang it between the palm trees that are on either side of the garden. I hope it really will be a place of peace and rest.
While the team worked incredibly hard clearing unspeakable trash, I had a great conversation with Crystal. She wanted to know why we chose that place to do a garden, and why did I come in to Boys Town. Basically she was asking, “why me?” I shared a nutshell version of how I came to BT, which she found surprisingly interesting. I told her that I hadn’t chosen her, but clearly Jesus had. He’s the reason we were all there. She told me that sometimes at night, she comes out to where the garden is now and she sees spirits. And sometimes she feels one near her, but she doesn’t see it. I asked her how that made her feel, to which she replied, “scared.” I told her I believed her because the bible talks about a world we see, and a world we can’t see. What she sees is real, but is not more powerful than the love and the name of Jesus Christ. I told her that if she gave her life over to Him, He promises to guide and guard her. Not that nothing bad would ever happen in life, but that He promises He’ll NEVER leave her. Not only that, but He promises a peace that our minds can’t understand. I’m praying that she finds peace, and comes to know Jesus the way He wants to know her. Later in the week, I took Crystal for an ultrasound. I spent an hour and a half in the waiting room getting very concerned about what we might find in this ultrasound. Since Crystal came in with a lighter stuffed in her cleavage, I wasn’t totally confident that she had been administering proper pre-natal care. Miraculously, we found a healthy baby girl growing inside her belly. I cried as I saw her precious little face. (Though I’m fairly certain I was the only one in the room overcome with the miracle of life; Crystal had fallen asleep, and the doctor had done more than a few ultrasounds that day.) Crystal has decided to name her little girl Kelly, though I’ve tried to convince her otherwise. (Kelly isn’t a very good Mexican name, but she doesn’t seem to care.)
The BOB team was also able to construct bunk beds for Hector & Antonia’s shelter, which doubled the sleeping capacity for the women and children. Antonia told me they had been praying for 3 years for bunk beds, and they were so grateful that God had heard them. You can only imagine how this challenged me and what it looks like to truly “live by faith.”
On Friday, a group of us took food (7 kilos of meat, tortillas, and beans) into BT to have a meal with my friends. We also came with a couple of guitars, a djimbe, and a harmonica. We had a beautiful worship service right there in the courtyard of a bar in a red-light district. Little Vicki (the one who saw Jesus not long ago, and had a dream from God) joined us. She cried as she danced in her own special way to the music. She told me, "My punishment is to search for a hope that I cannot find." Something about Jesus draws her in, though she's found it difficult to truly surrender her addictions to Him. Please continue to pray that Vicki would find the hope she's searching for - that she'd know the One who took her punishment for her.
Sorry for the long post, but it's been a full couple of weeks - I've left quite a bit out of this, believe it or not! Thanks again to all of you who continually encourage me with your friendship and prayers. So grateful to know I'm not alone in this!
Last Friday was our favorite Karina's birthday, and we decided to throw her a little birthday party at the house. When I went to pick her up on Friday night, she had invited two of her friends, Lorena and Alondra, to come along as well. It was such a fantastic night! I made a meal that didn't turn out so great, but the cakes that Jo and Erin created definitely made up for my bland, gringa meal. It was pretty funny as Karina tried to blow out the "magic candles" that Erin put on her cake - they just kept coming back to life! Erin also invited some of her friends from Rio Bravo to celebrate - a couple of the girls even brought their guitars and beautiful voices. Karina couldn't have been any happier; she told me, "Oh, I'm just so excited - feel my heart, it's racing!" As we all sat outside and sang together, I had glimpses in my heart of many days and birthday parties to come - out in the courtyard of the soon-to-be-built monastery. I think my heart was racing, too.
Jo, Erin and I stopped by the property the other day, just to make sure it's still there. :) (It still feels a bit like a dream to me.) While there, we had a chance to chat with my neighbor-to-be, Mr. Roberto Corona. We have affectionately dubbed him "the beer man" because of his name. (Though he insists he doesn't drink corona - only carta blanca!) Mr. Corona is probably in his 70's, he's slightly shorter than I am, and has just a few teeth in his mouth. He is pretty excited about all the good things that are going to happen on this plot of land across the street from him. "I know this is from God," he told us. "Ever since you've been here, I feel so much peace and freedom. And I had been sick for quite a while, and now I'm just fine!" So, there you have it - without me doing any Jericho marches around this property or even wearing a Christian t-shirt, Mr. Corona has experienced the presence of Jesus Christ in the form of peace, liberty and healing. I'm taking it as a sign of things to come, of the many dreams that God has for this little corner in Reynosa. And while I haven't done any Jericho marches, there have been lots of prayers - not just my prayers, but the prayers of many of you who are reading this right now. Thank you and Muchas Gracias from me, as well as from my neighbor, the beer man.
