December 2013 - Thank you!

This picture was taken at our ministry center called “Las Alitas” on the east side of Juarez. 

Fr. Jack Vessels, S.J., our chaplain, is shown with the children who dressed up as saints and angels.

Recently I read an answer that Fr. Rick Thomas gave to an interviewer when asked, “Where do you begin to help in such a sea of misery?” Father Thomas replied, “I used to really concern myself about that. My view now is that you do what you can with the resources you have. God indicates what He wants you to do by the resources He gives you.” 

As this year comes to a close, we look back with gratitude on all that we have been able to do with the resources you have given us. Thank you so much for making it possible for us to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need on both sides of the border.

We pray that you and your loved ones be blessed this New Year with the joy and peace Jesus came to bring.

November 2013 - healing of Monserat

When baby Monserat was born, the doctor told her parents, “The baby’s hips are dislocated. Her bones are not in the right place and if left untreated, she will be crippled for life.” Unable to afford more medical care, Crystal came to us for help. We gave her the funds so she could take Monserat to a specialist. The doctor gave them a brace to put on the baby, telling them, “She has to wear this day and night, day and night, for a whole year. You have to make sure you keep it on her all the time.”

Baby Monserat hated the device. She cried and cried with it on, and Crystal’s tender heart was broken at seeing her daughter in that state. “God, please help us!” Crystal pleaded. She couldn’t bear to put the brace back on, even though she knew she should, and she stopped using it.

Soon afterward Crystal had a dream. In the dream she saw Father Thomas, whom she had never met but recognized from his prayer card that her mother-in-law had. Father Thomas was pointing to the baby, saying, “Look at the little girl. She’s walking. She’s going to walk. Look at her, look at her!” Crystal awoke with hope renewed in her heart.

When she went back for the next appointment, the doctor said, “Wow! This brace really worked fast! It’s only been 2 months and it fixed the little girl’s hips already. She doesn’t need it anymore. She’s completely well.”

At 10 months old now, Monserat hasn’t started walking yet but she’s crawling around with great speed and skill. Crystal is so happy and can’t wait to see her baby take her first steps, knowing that what Father Thomas told her will come to pass: “Look at her — she’s walking!” 

Crystal and her baby, Monserat

October 2013 - flooding

As I write this, we are just drying out from a lot of rain and flooding that hit our area. Several inches of rain fell in the course of a three day storm that hovered over El Paso and Juarez. Normally we get around 4 to 7 inches of rain a year, but in this storm we got 3 to 5 inches in less than a week. For this semi-arid part of the country, that much rain means major flooding. 

View from the van — water completely floods the streets

near our Las Alitas ministry center.

One of the locations hardest hit was on the eastside of Juarez where our ministry center called Las Alitas is. Our team almost didn’t make it back on day 2 of the storm (see picture at right). When they returned a few days later, many of the homes, which are built of odd assortments of cinder block, wooden pallets and cardboard, were heavily damaged. Sinkholes had opened up in the saturated ground, sometimes running right through someone’s living quarters, since the houses are constructed on the dirt with no foundation poured underneath them.

Lupita, pictured here with her 3 girls, is a single mom whose home was one of the most damaged in the neighborhood. Right now we are working with a local hardware store nearby to supply the families with the materials they need to rebuild and repair their damaged houses and rooms. Everyone in the community is banding together and assisting those affected by the storm. With great enthusiasm and hope, and beautiful sunny weather that the Lord is providing, the reconstruction has already begun.

September 2013 - Wheelchair Accessible Van

Last year we wrote to you about our growing concern of helping people with disabilities in the neighborhoods around the Lord’s Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico. One of the immediate needs we had was to purchase a wheelchair-accessible van so we could pick people up and bring them to the Lord’s Clinic for medical care. We’re happy to announce that we were finally able to get that van, thanks to you. 

Our new (used) van equipped with an automated lift for wheelchairs.

It is a used van but in good condition and with an almost-new wheelchair lift that the previous owners had installed. We are now equipped to pick up as many as 3 patients in their wheelchairs and bring them to the clinic so that they can receive medical care.

Like Jose, who has an ulcerated wound on his hip. We can now bring him to the clinic every week for the medical staff to clean and attend his wound. There are others in wheelchairs who don’t need medical attention each week, but they still ask us to pick them up on Tuesdays (our clinic day) so that they can come to the Food Bank for the hot meal we serve. Eating their chicken soup or burrito, they enjoy the social time and the chance to get out of their houses for a few hours once a week. Priority goes to those needing medical help, but if we can we bring the others along too.

Jose arriving at the Food Bank so he can go to the Lord’s Clinic.

This van is such a blessing and has allowed us to help those with physical disabilities in a greater way.

August 2013 - Francisco gets his chicken

The expectant faith of children is so powerful and seems to really touch the heart of God. Let me share a story to illustrate that.

Eight year old Francisco was really looking forward to his First Communion when he would receive the Eucharist for the first time. We had been preparing the children all year, telling them what a special event this was, and they were all so excited. Francisco’s family would be there at the Mass, and in order to celebrate afterwards, he asked his dad,  “Can we have chicken for dinner?” Now that might not seem like a big request, but Francisco’s dad makes $65 a week, $20 of which goes toward rent. Chicken was not something they normally could afford, so he answered, “Well, son, whatever we have available that day is what we will have. If it is possible, I will buy you some chicken. If not, whatever we have...” Little Francisco just smiled and skipped off. That was 3 weeks before the scheduled day.

On the very morning of the celebration, we received a donation of 293 boxes of chicken. A company called us saying that they had an unexpected surplus and that if we would come and pick it up, the chicken was ours. So we did. The chicken pieces were breaded and seasoned – they only needed to be fried to serve.

Every family present that day, including Francisco’s of course, was given a 10 lb. bag of chicken to take home with them. Not only did he get chicken for his dinner that day, his entire class and all their families got chicken, too.

Oh, the faith of a child!