December 2012 - Jail Ministry

It was always Father Thomas’s hope that we would be involved in all of the ministries Jesus mentions in Matthew 25:35-36, “...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” And for many years we have been able to help our brothers and sisters in all of those ways, thanks be to God and to all of you.

However, when the violence due to the drug wars erupted in the border towns of Mexico a few years ago, and Juarez become known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, the administrators of the jails that we visited each week asked us to stop coming, both for our safety and for theirs. Sadly, we had to discontinue what we had done for over 30 years —  bringing the Gospel message to the prisoners of 3 jails in Juarez and also bringing them something to eat and drink since many times they go hungry. It was a sad day when we could no longer do that.

But we are happy to report that as of last month we are able once again to go into the jails. Since things in the city have calmed down quite a bit, we phoned the people in charge and asked them if we could return. They were very glad we called and warmly invited us back. “When can you start?” they inquired.

So every Wednesday, as we had done for many years, our volunteers make dozens of sandwiches, prepare a drink, and our evangelists and prayer warriors load into the vans to go visit the Lord in prison. We are very glad to be able to bring some love and cheer to our brothers and sisters behind bars.

Thank you so much for making it possible for us to do this and all the other outreaches we are involved in. We pray that you and your loved ones be blessed this Christmas time with the joy and peace that Jesus came to bring.

November 2012 - soccer team

One of the places where we minister is in a very poor section of Juarez called Loma Blanca. Besides giving groceries to families in need, we also teach catechism to the children of the area every Saturday. After the kids have received their First Communion, however, it is very hard to keep them interested in coming to the center. We wanted to be able to continue teaching them about their faith and also provide a wholesome environment where they could hang out. So one of our volunteer teachers, Mando, came up with the idea to start a soccer team. It met with instant success and has changed the situation completely.

Starting with the older boys, Mando began coaching them, teaching them how to play together as a team. He even got some uniforms donated so they could feel like they truly were a team. One of the boys is named Alonso. He is 14 years old and has been coming to the center for 4 years, brought there by his mother each week. Sad and withdrawn, Alonso wouldn’t talk to anybody. If asked a question directly, he would only nod or shake his head. He used to stay in the back, hovering in the doorway. “I was having so much trouble with him,” his mother confided. “He was starting to get involved with the gangs.” But ever since he was invited to join the new soccer team, he is a different person. He talks all the time now and wants to help out. “He used to be in his own world, but now he feels he belongs. I’m so happy with the changes in him.”

Now the youth are excited about coming each week. Some even come without their mothers bringing them.  They attend Mass and their classes in the morning, and then after lunch head outside to play soccer. They are very well-behaved and attentive because they know that if they act up in class, they won’t be able to play. That’s the rule, and they are eager to comply. The younger kids are now asking for their own team. “Hey, what about us?” they clamor. Our goal is to eventually form enough teams so that we can have our own league.

We quickly saw that we needed to provide more food and Gatorade for the children since they stay all day long now. They don’t leave until it’s time for us to close up for the day. But we’re so happy to have them around, knowing they are in a safe place and that they have a healthy outlet for their pent-up energy.

October 2012 - Helping the blind

Some months ago a van pulled up to the Lord’s Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico, and out piled a group of people. We had never seen these people before, not have we ever had a group like this one — all of them were blind except the driver.  They had come looking for help and told us their story.

When the violence associated with the drug wars in Mexico erupted in Juarez, many companies and businesses either moved out of town or had to close down due to the severe economic crises that this chaos brought. One of the small factories that was forced out of business was the one that employed these blind people. “All of us lost our jobs when the factory shut down,” one woman said. “It’s hard enough for an able-bodied person to try and find work in this economy, but for us who can’t see?! It is impossible.” One of the men shared, “I want to work and provide for my family, but no one wants to hire a blind man.”

As we spoke with them some more, it turned out that they all lived in very different parts of town. Juarez is a huge, sprawling city, and some of these people lived very far from the Food Bank. We try to focus on the needs of the people who live in the general area of the Food Bank location, but we could see that this was a very pressing case. These poor folks had gone all over looking for help, but had been repeatedly turned away.

As we discussed the problem, Juan, the friend who had driven the group in his van, offered, “Why don’t you deliver the groceries each week to my house, and then they can come and pick them up. That way, you don’t have to drive all over town.” Everyone agreed to this solution.

So that is what we do. Every Friday we take bags of food to Juan’s house and one way or another, the blind people get there to pick them up.

“We can’t thank you or God enough for helping us in this way,” Maria expressed recently. “May God bless you for coming to our aid!”

September 2012 - school supplies

Last month we told you about Aracely and the children we help with tuition so they can attend school. There are no free schools in Juarez — even the government-run schools charge fees, and the family has to buy uniforms and school supplies. This can be a huge burden on these very poor families that struggle to put food on the table, let alone purchase paper and pencils.

Even in the lower grades the schools are asking each child to bring 5 notebooks. While many people think that everything is cheaper in Mexico, a thin notebook costs $2.50 in Juarez while that same notebook can be purchased at Walmart in the U.S. for .17 cents. So every August we start asking people for school supplies. We tell them, “When you go with your children to purchase the supplies their schools are requiring, buy a few extra items to donate for the poor.” We then take what we have collected, and with the help of our willing volunteers, assemble bags with pens, pencils, notebooks, colored markers, glue, folders, and whatever else has been donated.

All the children that we are helping with tuition receive one of these bags. The kids are thrilled as they open them up and see the brand new items. Right away they start writing or drawing with their new pens and pencils.

We want to extend a huge thank you to all of you who sent in money to help us in this very important ministry of making sure children receive an education. Thanks to some generous donors, we were able to send even more children to school this year than usual — and all of them went equipped with their required notebooks!

August 2012 - Aracely

We have recently attended several graduations of young people in Juarez, Mexico, whom we have helped with tuition and school-related expenses. These are children coming from very poor families who would have had no opportunity to receive an education if they had not received outside help. It is very gratifying to see how seriously and diligently they applied themselves to their schooling, and how they did not take the gift of receiving an education for granted.

One of those who graduated was a girl named Aracely. Aracely was raised by her grandparents, who took her in when her mother left to go live with a boyfriend in the States. Being poor themselves, it was a struggle for Aracely’s grandparents to raise her. At times they had no diapers for her, and sometimes no milk. When Aracely’s grandfather died, her mother came back to Juarez to attend the funeral, and that is the only time Aracely can remember meeting her mother. Once in a while, perhaps every year or two, her mother will send her $40, but that’s all the help she gets from her.

When we first met Aracely, she was about 9 years old and not attending school. She just hung around her house doing nothing. She was very withdrawn and wouldn’t talk much. But when we told her we would help her with tuition if she wanted to go to school, she got very excited. That was five years ago. Now she has blossomed into a friendly, outgoing and talkative young lady. It has been a real struggle for her to get her education — at times she and her grandmother did not have enough money for the bus Aracely needed to take to get to school, and Juarez streets can be very dangerous — but she persevered. She was so happy at her graduation, beaming with a huge smile from ear to ear. We are very proud of her.

As these young people receive an education, hopefully it will help break the cycle of poverty for them & their families. This is the time of year when tuitions are due, and we had over 100 families sign up for assistance. We are not able to help all of them, but we try to help the ones we know will be committed and take their schooling seriously. 

July 2012 - Alfredo's healing

Tragedy struck the Rodriquez family when their happy, lively 8 year old son, Alfredo, became gravely ill. He was admitted to the children’s hospital in Juarez and diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a serious disorder where the immune system starts attacking part of the nervous system. Alfredo’s condition quickly deteriorated as he started becoming paralyzed. He could no longer eat or swallow so was being fed through a nasal tube. He was unable to breathe on his own so the doctors did a tracheotomy, and he was put on a breathing machine. The only thing Alfredo could do was to smile and move his eyes – and his grandmother told us, “He never lost that beautiful smile.”

After three months of treatment, including being moved to intensive care, the doctor in charge told the family to expect the worse. “Nothing is working,” he said. “One possibility, however, is if you were able to come up with $150,000 pesos (about $11,000 U.S.) the boy could be taken to Mexico City or Monterrey where they have more specialized machines which are not available here in Juarez.”   So this very poor family, with barely enough to live on, frantically tried to raise the money.

Hearing of their plight, Carmen, one of their neighbors who comes regularly to the Lord’s Food Bank, brought them the prayer card of Father Thomas. She told them, “Look, let’s start asking Father Thomas for help.” The family knew Father Thomas – in fact, Alfredo’s mother had made her First Communion at the Food Bank when she was a young girl. Carmen went on, “I’m going to pray this prayer for Alfredo every day with my children.” And the Rodriguez family all agreed that they would pray the prayer also.

A few days later the doctor told them, “I don’t know what happened, I don’t understand, but the boy is fine now. We don’t have to take him to Mexico City. Why should we take him to Mexico City, when there is nothing wrong with him? I can’t explain what happened – but the child is fine. We’re going to keep him here two more weeks to make sure, but then I am going to send him home.” When they removed the tracheotomy tube, the hole in Alfredo’s throat had healed by the next morning. The doctor was very surprised at that because he had told the family it would take 3-4 days for the opening to heal.

Alfredo’s family brought him to the Food Bank soon after he had been released from the hospital, so they could give thanks to God. Everyone was thrilled to see Alfredo so happy and healthy. He is eating fine, talking normally, and after receiving some physical therapy for his weakened muscles, he is back to walking again. Thank you Jesus!

June 2012 - Jaime's conversion

Veronica had been praying for many years for the conversion of her husband. Ever since coming to volunteer with us years ago, she had asked for prayers so that he would come to know God and serve the Lord with her. She was very involved in her parish, and also taught at our Montessori school at the Lord’s Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico. She and her children prayed together every day, but her husband never took part.

Two weeks ago, at the request of the pastor, we helped give a retreat in the parish nearest the Food Bank. Surprisingly, Veronica’s husband, Jaime, decided to come to it. After the various talks, there was a time of individual prayer for each person who attended the retreat. The speaker giving the last talk encouraged those in the audience, “Ask the Holy Spirit to come to you. Open your heart to receive Him.” The participants were then welcome to come forward to be prayed over by the prayer teams.

Jaime sat in his seat, hanging his head. He prayed silently in his heart, “Lord, I don’t know how You can come to me. How can You come to me if I have all this garbage in my heart — I have hatred, anger, unforgiveness, a bad mouth. The only way You could come to me is if You gave me a new heart. That would be the only way — for You to give me a new heart.”

Having said all that silently to the Lord, Jaime decided to go up to receive prayer. The husband and wife team praying over him laid hands on Jaime’s shoulders. Then the man gently put his hand on Jaime’s chest over his heart. Jaime jerked backwards as if someone had struck him. The man prayed, “Lord Jesus, give him a new heart.” At that point, Jaime started to cry. “Take away all the hatred, Lord,” the man continued, “cleanse him. You know him. You know the anger and bitterness that weighs him down. Remove it all, Lord, and give him a new heart.” Jaime wept and wept.

Later Jaime shared with everyone there, “Now I believe that God listens to me. Everything that I was thinking and saying to God in my mind, the person praying for me said out loud — everything. And there’s no way he could have known what I had been praying silently. Now I believe that God listens to me, because He answered my prayer like that. From now on, I’m going to serve God.”

Veronica shared with us this week, “I have a new husband! He’s not the same Jaime. In his job at the factory where he works, he asked to be moved from the line he’s on because his co-workers swear so much. He told me, ‘I can’t stand hearing them swear. It hurts me to be listening to it. Before I used to join in, but now it hurts my heart that they are insulting God.’” Veronica went on, “He now prays with us as a family. My kids are so happy. I never dreamed of this. I have a totally new husband!”

May 2012 - Serving the disabled

One of the heartbreaking aspects of our ministry at the Lord’s Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico, is our limited ability to help the poor who live with some kind of disability. While we can bring them weekly groceries and pay some of their utility bills, beyond food and friendship we don’t have a lot to offer them. Nor are there any places nearby for them to go for physical therapy, occupational rehab or other similar services. Life for a handicapped person can be hard enough, but struggling with poverty on top of that can make it crushingly difficult.

Like for Cecilio, who is a 42 year old diabetic and lost a leg from complications of the disease. He lives alone with only neighbors to help him. There are few paved streets where he lives and the ones that are can be extremely steep. It takes athletic prowess to maneuver a wheelchair over the rocky and sandy roads.

Or Lluvia, who was born at 5 months. Her mom did not know she was pregnant because she had 18 ovarian tumors at the time. It was during surgery to remove the tumors that the doctors discovered the baby. Lluvia stopped breathing many times the night she was born, but she survived and is now 9 years old. Lluvia is blind and unable to speak, but she can hear. Her mom can't work outside the home because there is no one else to care for Lluvia, so we help with what they need to survive.

One desire we have is to get a wheelchair accessible van so we can pick people up and bring them to the Food Bank for the day. That way they could receive a hot meal, attend one of our Bible studies or Masses, and have a chance to interact socially with others in the community.

We are asking the Lord to show us how we can do more to help our beautiful brothers and sisters who face such challenges living with disabilities.