A Morning Miracle in Tijuana

Some people say they don't believe in miracles. For example, how could Jesus have fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish? It's just not possible, you may think. Well let me share with you my experience yesterday at the Casa de los Pobres, the House of the Poor here in Tijuana, Mexico. It's something truly amazing, it really touched my heart, and it made me love more my life as a missionary in Mexico and my God who provides for the needs of his children.

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"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
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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.

7:31 a.m. Church service there ends and the head Mother comes in and puts us to work - Abraham will serve the oatmeal to the men and children, I will be in the upstairs dining room serving soup to the women, and April will happily wash dishes (where she doesn't have to speak much spanish).

Abraham and I in the kitchen

8 gallons of milk was used to make this huge pot of oatmeal, and they made 3 of these pots

7:40 am - A nun says a blessing over the food, recites the Lord's prayer and sings a hymn of thanksgiving over the loudspeaker in the patio.

"Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. " Psalm 107: 8-9

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!!!

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"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