Sunday, December 19, 2010
Homes of Hope video
Now they have a new home, and Erik and Lupita are a fun addition to the Circulo! I love this family!
CLICK HERE to watch a video about Josefina and how her family's lives have changed by receiving a Homes of Hope house. It's very touching.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A Change of Heart: Last House build of 2010
Here is Martha's house: a one room shack with blankets and sheets for walls where she lives with her 2 grandchildren. I had the honor of talking to Martha about her family and she shared with me that her daughter - the boys' mother - is currently in a drug rehab center in Ensenada. She bravely took up the task of being the boys' legal guardian and raising these 2 while their mother is rehabilitating. She said they don't get to go visit her very much and sadness and angry the boys feel from missing their mother comes out in their behavior. She called the oldest boy Ricardo "tremendo" - or terribly naughty - and I saw that come out in his rudeness and disrespect towards her several times throughout the weekend. It didn't help my feelings toward him either that he kept asking me when we were going to take him to buy all the free food and how many toys was he going to get (as if the brand new house wasn't enough!) I'm sure this is because he had seen a lot of other kids in the colonia get new houses full of furniture and toys and heard stories about the overloaded carts full of grocieres that the teams often buy the families. Although I had never met a child that was so presumptuous to ask "when" and "how much"! So much for the surprise.... Anway, I had a great time working alongside Martha to get her house built.
A few weeks after the build, some of our YWAM staff took Martha and the boys to visit their mom at the rehab center in Ensenada. They said it was a glorious reunion full of love and happiness. Before they left, Martha showed me the letters that the boys wrote to their mom in regards to their new house: (see images and translation below). It broke my heart and brought me to tears (even still while I'm writing to you about it now!), just to see the tender heart of a child, no matter how tough their exterior may be...
Mommy, I love you alot and I miss you. I want you to get better soon so that you can come back to my beautiful house. Please, I want you to come and live in my house with us so that you can take care of us. We love you alot. Do your best - your son that loves you asks you for this -Ricardo.
I thank God that he forgives us for our sinful hearts, judgemental and deceiving as they are (or at least mine is!) I'm thankful that I got another chance to see this boy in a different light, how amazing the love is between a mother and her sons. And I am SO happy that I got to be a part of this build and of bringing hope to Martha and her boys - a hope of a new life, together as a family.
"People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
~1 Samuel 16:7
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Fall Newsletter
Friday, October 8, 2010
A Morning Miracle in Tijuana
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6:01 a.m. - Alarm goes off and I pull myself out of bed, tired and not that happy but trusting the day will get better. Can't quite get my eyes to open enough to get my contacts in, so I decide I'll wear my glasses today.
6:47 a.m. - Leave from my house with April and Abraham to go feed the poor and hungry in Tijuana.
7:18 a.m. - Arrive at the Casa de los Pobres, the House of the Poor in downtown TJ. Several hundred people are already lined up outside, the line wrapped around the corner of the block, all waiting anxiously to receive a free hot breakfast.
Hundreds of men, women, and children have gathered - elderly, handicapped, single moms, school children, homeless - many that haven't eaten since the previous morning when they stood in this same line. We parked the car, and walked past the hungry people straight into the kitchen to get our work assignments. I thought getting up at 6 a.m. was rough - the women that volunteer here arrived at 5:00 a.m. to begin cooking.
Abraham and I in the kitchen
7:45 a.m. - Lines begin to form inside the kitchen. Women are sent to an upstairs dining room, men eat downstairs and on the patio and children at separate small tables near the kitchen. I serve each person a generous helping of squash & tomato soap, another woman gives a spoonful of beans, while another pours each person a bowl of oatmeal. Each one is handed 3 corn tortillas on their way to their seat.
8:30 a.m. I go downstairs to see how April is doing with the dishwashing. She asks me to translate something and the women tell her they are worried about her getting her shirt wet. She doesn't mind. From a distance I see Abraham scooping bowls of oatmeal to all the people in line. I smile and wave and he throws me a kiss, without missing a beat :)
8:37 a.m. I walk around the downstairs dining rooms, where the men and children are filling up their bellies with this hot meal. As I see the long line of people and watch them eat, I'm reminded of the story in the Bible of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The Casa de los pobres serves breakfast to over 1,000 hungry men, women, and children 5 days a week, Monday -Friday. That's over 5,000 a week - 25,000+ people a month! They receive no support from the government or money from the Catholic church - all of the food is donated and they trust God each day for provisions of food to feed all the hungry mouths that day. Now that IS a Miracle, right here in Tijuana!
8:40 a.m. A man named Alejandro asks me in perfect English to take his picture, then I head back upstairs to continue serving.
9:02 a.m. I look over the balcony and see a little girl, maybe 3, sitting on the ground, turning her styrofoam cup upside down over her spoon letting the very last drops of oatmeal that remain in her cup drip down onto the spoon. She licks the spoon and its gone. I think to myself, "what if that's all she eats for the rest of the day? How will her mother provide her with her next meal? Where will it come from? What if this is it until tomorrow morning?" I become very emotional and need a moment before returning inside to keep serving the food.
9:21 a.m. A woman with long braids passes through the line with a toddler strapped to her back in a wrap that makes me think that they are from southern Mexico or Central America. Many of the people that have come, the nuns tell me, come far from outside of the city. They walk for hours or save up all week to take a bus to come and eat and receive donations from this place. There are also a lot of immigrants that have come up from Central America, or people that have been deported from the States and have no where to go. I stop and think about how each person that goes through the line has a story, an individual story of grief and despair of how they got to this place. Some have literally traveled thousands of miles over time and crossed international borders to get there, others have wandered in after a long night of working the streets of the Zona Norte, and still there are those who have just reached the end of their rope and just needed to get up the courage and put aside their pride and accept that they need help. These are the people we serve and love here.
9:35 a.m. The upstairs line dies down a little and I decide to go downstairs to help, where they have run out of soup and have begun serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead with the beans and tortillas.
9:40 a.m. I am asked to move our car and when I do, I also take out the bags of donated clothes we brought to drop off here. A man helps my unload them and take them to a room where the sort the clothes, men/women/children. They tell me today is the women's turn and that after they eat, they line up again to be able to pick something out of the donations. I watch as women leave with big smiles on their faces carrying a pair of shoes or a sweater or a blanket for their baby. I remembered last Friday when we visited to drop off donations in the afternoon they were sorting mens clothes to give away. On the way out Abraham told me he saw a guy carrying away a pair of his pants he'd thrown in the donation back, saying they'd been just sitting in his drawer for about 2 years. He was so touched and happy when he heard the man say as he left, "Look at these jeans - they're almost new! And they're just my size!!"
9:49 a.m. A blind man moves to the front of the line and I help carry his food and oatmeal for him and help him find a seat in the still-crowded dining room.
9:55 a.m. I go over to the children's tables and sit down next to a little girl who's eating oatmeal. I ask her if she likes it and she smiles at me, shyly. I start talking to her and she shows me her coloring book, which I start reading to her.
10:04 a.m. A woman sits down next to me and tells me she's heard that we build houses for families in need. I tell her yes and ask her to tell me her story. She begins to explain about how she is living in a 'borrowed' house but that she has land, she just hasn't been able to build on it in 10 years because she doesn't have any money. She says she's desperate because the owner of the house where she's living with her husband, her daughter and her 3 grandchildren wants to kick them out and they have no where to go. I share with her a little about our Homes of Hope program and she gives me her number to get in contact with her and start the application process for a Homes of Hope house. She left a lot more calm than when she first sat down with me, with the hope that something better may be coming her way.
10:19 a.m. I go back to the kitchen to help serve food to the men who still are in line for breakfast. The women tell me these people are now in line for seconds. I put spoons in the oatmeal that Abraham scoops and PB&J sandwiches on a plate and then pass it to another woman who serves the beans.
10:25 a.m. I look over to the dish washers and see April still there smiling, washing dishes just as she was when she started 3 hours earlier. I go over to grab some more plates and bowls, and see that we're using the dishes just as fast as they can wash them. What an important job for this ministry!
10:31 a.m. Abraham scoops out the last bowl of oatmeal from the enormous pot. I see people still waiting in line to eat and get upset and tell him it's time to leave. I break down as we walk to the car through the patio, overrun with people in need - in need of food, water, clothes, shelter, medicine, and even more so, in need of the love of God and the hope of Jesus in their lives.
I was so touched by this precious ministry of mercy and compassion towards the poor and homeless of my city. I believe miracles happen every day there, as people get fed, clothed and filled with the love and compassion that comes from Jesus. May God receive all of the glory for the lives that are touched there.
Wow, what a great day to be a missionary!!! What a great day to serve God!!! And what a Great God we serve!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind." Isaiah 58: 7:8
Monday, October 4, 2010
On Sale at the Border
Recently though, a new product has become tragically common to sell at the border - young girls.
I invite you to read this article written by one of our YWAM staff and watch the video of what he saw during a recent border crossing. I will warn you though - it is disturbing, but it really did happen here in a very public place that I frequent each week (the border line). I don't put this up to shock anyone - everyone reading this I'm sure has heard all kinds of bad stuff that supposedly happens here in Tijuana. I only share this with you as a way of including you in what is happening around me. Like I said, I cross the border about once a week. To my recollection I've never seen anything like this, but perhaps its because I was too distracted by the ponchos and giant turtles...
"Selling Sex at the Border" Article
www.stepsofjustice.org
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Summer 2010 Newsletter
Just click on the picture to make it bigger, and enjoy reading some of the highlights of my summer!
If you'd like to receive my newsletters via email or snail mail, write to me at susie.walter@hotmail.com
If you'd like to make a donation to my ministry, make your check out to "YWAM San Diego/Baja." All donations are tax-deductible. Make sure you include a note saying the donation is for me, and you can send your check to:
YWAM San Diego/Baja
100 W. 35th St. Suite C
National City, CA 91950
Thanks!
Mexico's Bicentennial
marching band
me and my boyfriend Abraham at the parade
The night before Independence day, they have the "grito de independencia" - the shout of independence. The whole city joins together at the government building to commemorate the holiday, and of course, they shout "VIVA MEXICO!!!"
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
My birthday party... with 400 guests!
It just so happens that this year I got to share my birthday with over 400 guests that arrived at the YWAM base in Tijuana to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our organization. We were privileged to have the founders of Youth With A Mission, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, join us to celebrate 50 years of God's faithfulness in this mission. You can click on the link below to read the official report of our event:
YWAM's 50th Anniversary Celebration in Tijuana, Mexico
One thing that really touched me during one of the worship times was that they ran through a slideshow featuring the flags of every country on earth. It just so happens that someone from YWAM has also set foot in each and every one of those countries! We had the chance to pray over all the nations of the world, and it was a very moving experience. I specifically focused on praying for my nation (that's Mexico now!) and just got this feeling the God has not forgot about us. Amongst all the violence and poverty, God has not given up on this nation. Now I've heard some pretty mean stuff spoken about Mexico- that it's full of drug dealers, murderers, prostitutes, robbers, etc.... But to be honest, I gave up my life in the States because I believe that this is a country that can be redeemed. There is a lot of GOOD here, although that's not always what makes the headlines. As more and more people turn towards God in their desperate situations, lives are redeemed and changed. In the Bible, there is a man named Job and he lost everything in life that was important to him. He had nothing left in his life, and yet he still said "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25) We have to believe that something better is still to come, in our lives and in our nation. The Lord has not given up on Mexico - and neither have I!
What a wonderful birthday I had as I was reignited with passion for this nation and these people. I'm 26 now, and I've been loving living in Mexico and serving God here for 15 months now. And I believe greater things are yet to come!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
July Trip to the States
Faith with her mommy and her godmother :) after her dedication at my church
Then back in Chicago...