Juarez building / distribution trip

Oh, how I wish you could have been with our team in Juarez to watch God put your financial gifts to incredible use. On Thursday, June 3, we started building two homes. On Friday, June 4, we handed the keys to the two families receiving homes. (Every trip I’m blown away by how much can be accomplished in two short days. Phew!) Not only did one of the women receive keys to a new home – she also received Jesus as her personal Savior. It just doesn’t get better than that! We were privileged to raise enough funds to build two homes and hold two food outreaches (feeding about 350 people.) We also took a huge supply of diapers and formula with us that is now being used by wonderful, deserving families. The people in the colonias are incredibly hardworking, but the wages they earn are barely enough to keep a family alive. Typically a family gets one meal a day, so you can imagine how much they appreciate a free meal or formula for their babies.

One cool story about our job site: The mission had prepared us to each have $20 on us as we crossed the border. There was a possibility we would need to purchase a visa. The Mexican government was in the process of adding this requirement for people entering Mexico who weren’t coming as tourists. As we were crossing the border I prayed that God would find some other use for the Andersons’ $140. We’re pretty strapped these days, and I wasn’t overjoyed with the idea of giving that money to the government. Anyway, we did indeed cross the border and the money was not required of us. So now to the job site. The mom for whom our family built is young and had recently been left by her husband for another woman. She is raising two children on her own, one of which is a 5-month-old baby. We learned her baby has a hernia she’s had since birth. It was obviously painful for the baby and the mom had it taped down as best she could. The surgery to have it fixed by a reputable doctor was $300, and there was no way the mom could ever afford such a thing. (A good job in the colonias pays about $1.50/hour.) Well, our team thought it was the perfect way to spend our unused visa money. We pooled our money that evening, and the pastor let the mom know during the dedication that God had provided a way for her child to have the surgery. Honestly, so much can be done to help these precious people with so very little effort on our part. And don’t you love watching God redirect funds like that? Amazing!

I have story after story after story showing how God uses ordinary people to change lives in the colonias. How he uses generosity such as yours to literally change lives on earth and lives for eternity. Those who contributed toward this mission allowed us the privilege to go to Juarez and build homes for two women and their children. During the home dedications there’s always a time when the pastor tells the families about the support we received from the U.S. to make it possible for us to be there. Thank you to all who sent us and blessed those precious families.

Quinn