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!

July 2013 - Is God Multiplying Money?

Going through our achieves the other day, I found this testimony from Manny Basurto, a long-time volunteer at our Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico, who passed away in 1994. 

He wrote: “In August of 1984, Carmen Molina gave me 50,000 pesos. After all the bills had been paid and everything was accounted for, I ended up with 200,000 pesos. This was within a 10 day period.

“The second instance was in the month of May 1985. I believe the Lord multiplied some more money. It was almost the same amount. I told Carmen Molina about it and gave her the money that the Lord had multiplied. I didn’t mention it to anybody else because I thought they wouldn’t believe it.

“The third case happened recently. On August 14, 1985, I was given 183,100 pesos. On August 22, 1985, I was given 100,000 pesos more. So that gave me a total of 283,100 pesos. The bills I had to pay totaled 360,136.50 pesos, and when I turned in my accounting of what I had received and paid, I had 77,036.50 remaining. I believe God multiplied the pesos!”

Apparently the Lord is still multiplying money here. I just got this report from Ramona, who heads up the Lord’s Food Bank with her husband. She wrote in an email, “First I'm still in shock. After reviewing the numbers, I found out that I use more money than what I receive, glory be to God. The expenses I put on the budget are the most basic, but there are many more requests every week from people who need help with their gas and other things. Really, Ellen, I think the money was multiplying, because every week I had the exact money for all the expenses and for the extra needs that people came to me with. There have been several times when I know the envelope where I keep the money was empty, yet someone in very desperate need would come to me and I would check anyway, and sure enough, there would be like $20 left. Most of the time I have extra money to use for those who come in serious need. I’m always concerned about using this money well, but I guess the Lord is pleased because He keeps providing more.”

June 2013 - Francisco's hearing aid

Francisco is a hardworking husband and father in Juarez, Mexico, who has the added challenge of being almost completely deaf. Resulting from an accident when he was 12 years old, he only has about 20% of his hearing. He had a job in a factory until 2 years ago, when during the outbreak of deadly violence in the city, they were carjacked and Francisco was beaten up badly and threatened with death. They fled to a relative in another part of the country, leaving behind their house and livelihood. After things calmed down somewhat in Juarez, they returned last year, but Francisco was without a job. Searching for employment and going to interviews, he was repeatedly turned down due to his deafness. Finally he found work as an auto mechanic, although his coworkers and boss get frustrated at their need to shout so he can hear what they are saying.

Francisco has an old hearing aid that he got many years ago, but it continually breaks down. He takes it to get repaired, it works for a day or to, then he needs to get it fixed again. He went to an ear doctor to get fitted for another hearing aid, but the device costs $750 — a huge expense to this poor family. Francisco makes $65 a week, and $20 of that pays their weekly rent. They wanted to schedule payments to get the hearing aid, but the office insists on everything up front. He’s only been able to save $85 towards it since October, and now the doctor is saying he is taking too long to pay and that they won’t save it for him any longer. Knowing how important this is for Francisco keeping his job, we told him we would help raise the balance.

Monica and the children (who are very involved in our ministry of teaching catechism and walk 40 minutes each way to our center every Saturday) are so glad that Francisco will be able to hear better soon.

May 2013 - Mariquita

We have been visiting Mariquita, who is blind, each week for many, many years. Although she does not have physical sight, she seems to have been blessed with spiritual insight, and has often shared with us how she can see heavenly angels. She has always been a woman of great faith, having suffered much in life, yet always remaining cheerful and full of hope. She used to live at the bottom of a hill, and one time during a week of heavy rain, we went to see her and found her starting to shovel out piles of mud that had washed down into her little house. While we looked around dismayed at the horrific mess she was faced with, she was upbeat and thanking God for her blessings. Soon afterwards we were able to build her a good house in a much better location. Even though we would bring her groceries and companionship, we were the ones who received more from her, encouraged and built up in our faith.

However age, sickness and the death of a son have taken their toll on Mariquita. She has gotten quite frail and withdrawn, often confined to bed and not talking much at all. It almost seems like she is just waiting to die.

But during one of our weekly visits, a young mother brought along her two daughters on the ministry — one of them a baby named Philomena. When we arrived at the house, Mariquita was very quiet and subdued, not interacting much. Then she heard Philomena babbling. The young mother asked Mariquita if she wanted to hold the baby, and when she said yes, put Philomena in her arms. Mariquita’s whole demeanor changed, her face lit up with a huge smile, and we got a glimpse of the way she used to be. It gave all of us great joy to see how much happiness this little baby brought to our dear friend.