The week of April 1-8 saw 1,523 people come through camp and 85 houses be built all over Tijuana and Tecate. It was so exciting to see camp buzzing and full of people, vans, energy, and love. Joanna and I visited camp exactly one year ago and it was almost empty, abandoned by people afraid of cartel violence or swine flu or whatever other ‘scary’ Mexican thing you can think of. And the amount of people in camp wasn’t exciting because it meant Amor as an organization is doing better or because it means we are closer to meeting the budget; more families now have homes.
- Four month old, Juan Pablo, has a cement floor to crawl on instead of a dirt one.
- Virginia, an elderly widow who was half blind, jobless, and 300 miles from her closest relative, can now sleep soundly behind the safety of a locked door instead of on a sheet of plywood under a tarp. (She also has some pretty jury-rigged electricity thanks to her convincing petition that I help her run electricity into her new home. Breaking my number one rule: “Do NOT touch Mexican electricity in any form. EVER.”, I ever so carefully spliced her frayed wires carrying God knows how much ‘luz’ (read: light (or in this case, death)) and installed a little outlet into which she was able to plug a single light bulb and her clock radio.)
- Alicia and her husband will get the privacy and comfort they deserve now that they don’t have to live with their two grown children in a single 15x15 ft room.
- All 11 members of the Perez family will finally be together in their single and double houses. They both sold their land to buy new land next door to each other so the cousins can all grow up together. One big happy family.
- Leslie, a single mother who is exactly my age, got to throw her little son, Fofo, a party for his 4th birthday in their new house; she bought him a cake with an airplane on it and cooked menudo pozolefor everyone, as Fofo played with the action figures and matchbox cars the group had given him - the first of many birthdays in his and his mom’s new home.
All of this was possible because people, mainly kids during their spring breaks, put their money where their mouth is. They lived in a tent, worked manual labor for 4 days straight, showered by dumping a 5 gallon bucket of cold water on their heads, and came to Mexico when their friends/local news channel/parents were all telling them how dangerous it was. They did what their faith and their God says they should do.
They are putting roofs over people’s heads - not because it is easy or popular or safe - but because that is what they are called to do. God’s call to love and serve the poor doesn’t end when doing so puts your life on the line; I would argue that it is there that his call starts.
God says “I will protect you” - not from falling stock prices, not from downsizing, not from acne, not from embarrassment, not from uncomfort. He will protect you from evil, he will protect you from the Valley of the Shadow of Death, he will protect you when you leave your job/income/security system/nice cars/401k/septic system/WiFi/full refridgerator/$20,000 limit credit card/diploma/family/cell phone if just for one week to follow him into the desert. God says he will protect you because he knows that he is sending you to places where you will need protection.
These kids who have been coming down on trips are coming by the thousands into a place where the rest of the world is afraid to go. Why would they be walking towards Tijuana when the rest of the world is running away? They actually believe that God does what he promises to do. They know that God has tangible, real power and have decided to live their lives accordingly. I have always liked the phrase “Actions define.” They don’t define your value as a person, rather they define what you value. You can sing all you want about God’s “might” and “power” and “strength” but if you fold because of what the TV says about Mexico, that paints a clear picture to the world of what you really think God can do.
Everyone talks a huge game about God being powerful enough to create the universe or conquer death but when it comes time for him to protect us in Tijuana….uhhh…can he do that??
How dare we believe in the cartel’s ability to kill more than we believe in God’s ability to protect?
I wrote this on our other blog a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share. Just some thoughts…
