Today in Maneadero, along with distributing food, we handed out clothing and the McDonald's toys we've been collecting. All of the sudden, children and mothers wanting to make sure their children didn't go without, all descended on our now wide-eyed and anxious teens. You can't help but wonder how news travels so fast without telephones. But then, good news...has a way of getting around. Wave upon wave of people began arriving.
There's so much need here. But then, there's so much need everywhere, isn't there? Some need is just more obvious then others. Being here, with people whose needs are very simple -- food, clothing, and, if you're a child, just the chance for someone to let you sit in their lap -- it makes what we think is a need a little bit frivolous. And, you can't help but wondering if some of the things that we think are such a blessing -- television and cable, cell phones and text messaging, computers, the web and Wii, etc. -- maybe are more of a distraction from things that really are important in life. It's a blessing being here without so many of the things that claim and demand our attention. Teens are working together without a text-message conversation going on in the background. Adults are working together without the television playing in the background. We spend the day unplugged from music and plugged in to each other. There's
something to be said about mono-tasking. Mono-tasking allows you to give people and the things happening around you your full attention. And there really are things that deserve more of our attention. Here...and at home.
House construction continues to go well. By days end, all four walls were up and the rafters were in place for the roof. We're not the only group down here building homes. As you travel around the dust-choked roads, you'll see several other mission groups from the U.S. working on houses. A couple of people in our group observed that here in Mexico you see Americans building houses everywhere. While in America, you see Mexicans doing the building.
Of course, food distribution and house building aren't the only things going on. There's the daily puppet show. Today David Young was a puppeteer with his daughter Rachel. After the show, David reported three baptisms and two restorations. We're glad that Nancy Webb and Ann Batey have the puppet's dialog pre-recorded. Otherwise, we're sure David's puppet would have waxed philosophic on the post-modern influence on Miss Piggy and the feminine persona.
Along with puppet shows, there are crafts to do, coloring pages and Bible study for the teens. There's also daily skit practice and play time in the court yard, where you just might see two Lord's a leaping...I mean preachers jumping rope. And then there's all the cooking that the kitchen ladies do.
Speaking of the kitchen ladies, they got a warm round of applause tonight when we answered Skid's question, "How have people served you today?" The food whipped up by the North Boulevard cooks is really legendary here. They get up early and go the extra mile to prepare real hot meals instead of pre-package and pre-prepared food so that we still enjoy a taste of home while we're away. The kids we sponsor here at the City of Children eat with us each day and really seem to enjoy it, too. It's a bit embarrassing to be on a mission team where you might just come back from Mexico with a few extra pounds as a souvenir. Brings a whole new meaning to "serving" on a mission trip. But, thank you, Food Ladies -- Deborah Garman,
Nancy Bagwell, Nancy Webb, Ann Batey, Linda Beasley and Randy Hobbs. Sorry , Randy, maybe we should start referring to the group as Randy's Angels.)
So the days are flying by here with the constant whirr of activity. Please keep us in your prayers...even teenage energy tends to wane with each passing day and we want to give God and the kids and the work here our very best.
FYI, to date our winners of the Festival of Sharing trucker's cap have been: Brennan Alexander, Saturday; Lindsey Lee, Sunday; Shelley Holman, Monday; and Jake Ison, Tuesday. Tuesday runners up were Patrick Cole and Martha Stone. God knows there are plenty of unsung teens whose service goes unnoticed by those of us around them. Yes, God knows. It's hard to pick a standout among so many serving teenagers. Yeah, yeah, we know we've not traveled to a third world or war-torn country...but we're thankful our teens have volunteered their time to be here when they could have been hanging with friends at home or working a job to save up some money. Thanks, teens.
Pictures to come. Until then, 10:10.
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