On this visit to Juarez, we went to a Colonia, which is basically what we would call a subdivision. When we first turned off the main road, we were surprised by how nice the houses looked. While driving through the initial rows of housing, however, our hosts informed us that these were homes built by companies for some of their workers. After passing these initial houses, we came to an open area, and then to the rest of the colonia where the poverty was apparent. Houses are built out of pallets, and use whatever items they can find to break the wind and keep any body heat inside. In some cases people had found some wood or tar paper, in others there were sections of wall made out of newspaper draped over the wood of the pallets. A few fortunate people had found cinder block and were able to build with that.
We were greeted by Pastor Abel, his wife Erica, and other staff of the church, Luz de Vida. What wonderful, God-fearing people they are! Despite many difficult issues (including their health), they continue to stay committed to doing God’s work in the colonia, and are even in the process of starting a “daughter church” in another area.
We split into three groups, and began walking through the houses, delivering invitations to whoever we could find and telling them to bring their friends and families. We weren’t sure how it would turn out – while the people are hungry, it was also cold and windy (it had even snowed on the nearby mountains). At the designated time, only about 30 or 40 people had arrived. Operating under the assumption that God is in control, we kept moving forward, and as time progressed more people began to trickle in. Then more people showed up. Then more. By the time everything was in full swing, we had about 150 people from the colonia eating hot dogs, watching a puppet show, listening to music, playing games, talking with us, and hearing God’s word. All this on a cold day – amazing!
We are going back to the colonia on Friday and going door-to-door to meet and pray with the people in their homes. Please pray that God will help us reach the hearts and of the people we meet, and that many souls will be added to His kingdom.
Children of the Colonia
