What happens when things change? When God has other things in mind? We normally build houses, but there are no teams to facilitate that normality, what do we do? Well when there are crates, full of thick tarp material lying around the answer is simple…you keep building houses, parts of them at least. This last weekend, with no houses on the schedule, we decided to help families in need anyways. Because God has called us to serve his children here in Mexico, we feel compelled to serve no matter what the conditions are (or aren’t for that matter).
We recently received two semi-permanent tent structures for our base. Apparently we didn’t need all the material, because we have four large cargo containers full of it. Because it’s just sitting there, taking up space we decided to put it to good use. We loaded (and I mean loaded, like dragging on the ground loaded) up one of the fifteen passengers vans and a Pathfinder, and headed for one of the many migrant worker camps. These camps are full of people from all over the northern part of the country that are here in search of a better life, but often find more of the same. Because the farms that these people work at are more or less remote, and the people that work there literally have only what they came with (which usually isn’t money), all of the houses are constructed out of either the cardboard that the produce is shipped in, or scrap pieces of wood. The “houses” are barely even shelter. Since these structures are thrown together with scrap materials, they are often lacking necessary elements of a shelter… like a roof. The conditions are tragic, but a very real reality.
The camp we visited is located just south of Ensenada. It was one of the smaller camps around, and were filled with the usual ramshackle houses. A couple, and their two young children occupied the first house we stopped at. Their house was in very poor condition. The roof was sagging severely, and was most certainly not “weather-proof.” We then went behind the house to the neighbor, whose house was at least as bad if not worse, and provided him with a roof as well. After we were finished with the two houses we had the chance to minister to both houses, and something amazing happened, all of them accepted Christ. The women’s eyes filled with tears, and the presence of God could be felt.
This was the real reason we were there; to share God’s love with people that haven’t received it, and to bring a message of hope through mercy ministry. It is an incredible feeling to be able to provide for someone both spiritually and physically. It is truly a blessing that God has called us here, and has provided tools for us to bring more people into his kingdom. In all, every person that we helped that day came to accept the Lord, about 12 in all.
I love how God works. It’s so funny sometimes. We tend to get stuck in routines, even when it comes to ministry. Just because we can’t build like we normally do, God is bigger than that and wants to bless people anyway. It’s incredible the kinds of things that happen when people are open to hear the voice of God and willing to obey. We serve an amazing God!
