January 20, 2011

We finally as a team got some much needed rest. That’s mostly because we simply ran out of juice. The night was ended with a devotion from Tim- the missions base leader. It  was an invitation into a deeper walk with the Lord. It was a time of simply coming together in a group to have a single view of the simplicity of scripture and the truth we seek to define our lives. A refined Identity of what it means to be a follower of Jesus and someone that spreads his message to the broken and weak of this world.

 There is something very beautiful and captivating about people who are not very well off. People who have had a hard time in their journey of life have this amazing joy and faith that drives them. They have experienced his faithfulness in the storm and in their weakness God lifts them high. God honours them and today has been such a day of seeing the Joy of the Lord in what the world would label weak yet the Lord trust with so much and counts them righteous and strong. It was just a beautiful vision of reality.

 We were a part of a very interesting Spanish style Sunday service.  Very interesting style of fun worship and our group not quite perfect in our Spanish clapped along and had a great time.  We had the service at the Marcos community Center where the place had filled up . There was a message from a vision that Ezekiel had about the dead army and dry bones having life being restored. That is was a picture of what God was going to be doing with Israel and how there is a hope and faith for the restoration of Juarez and the surrounding area.  The service was ended with that hope for change that sparked the team into action. Knowing that God could use us to breathe life into dead places as we declared our Love for the people of the city.

 After the service the people who had come and people from the community were invited for a BBQ and a time of fellowship. We had a huge park with an amazing music setup blasting. In this place we saw the team spread out in our gifting's and just respond with love. There are many  stories and testimonies from these precious hours that we had. We are called to be a blessing wherever we go and this was a great start. From football to soccer and a crazy game of tag on the playground collectively as a group we got out there and loved the children of this city.  There is no language barrier in the moments of joy that come from passing the ball for a child to score a goal or the goofy things we did to get a laugh.  We later ventured to the shelter where all these families live in. One of the shelters had 82 people living in one building with families living out of small bedroom. Can you imagine having your entire family, your life confined to one small room.  We were taken around by couple who runs the shelter and he spoke to us from the perspective of the children we had played with. He showed us an alley way attached to the building that was the only place the kids played. A place filled with garbage and old run down toys. He spoke of the kids not even knowing the poverty that they found themselves in. They didn’t know what poverty was this was a very different idea to all of us. They shared their afternoon playing with us just being kids with hope for the more. We really fell in love with these  kids who did not have a spirit of poverty to them. They were children of God and his love filled their lives in all the places they found themselves. Again a clearly different definition to what the world labels these people as.

Written on the wall of the 2nd shelter we visited with 82 people

               - Dance as if no one was watching-

               - Sing as if no one was listening and-

               -Live every day as if it were your last

I don’t know about you but that statement spoke to me

-Reubin-

Testimonies from Today from our team

Today we went to a church service down the street, went to  the park, and then visited some shelters before heading up the scenic drive to see a beautiful view of El Paso and the borders to Juarez. I especially enjoyed talking and playing with locals and Juarans at the park. The community these people made was something very special. In Canada and in wealthier areas we can "get by" and be "happy" on our own, staying in doors and avoiding awkward talks with the neighbours. But here in El Paso, the locals love spending time with each other and invest in relationships - something most Canadians need to learn.

• Matt

We played with a lot of children at a community/church BBQ today, who I realized are not so different from me (2 enjoyed Xbox, Star Wars, and dancing!)...but then we saw the poor crisis centres they lived in.  This made me realize that they are just like us, more of God's children in another part of His world, but under very different circumstances.  Thinking of my own abundantly blessed life, it makes me upset inside...makes me angry at the injustice, but makes me all the more dependent on the God who loves us and them, who never changes. 

• Jeremy

Today the mission team went up Mount Franklin. It was interesting to drive through El Paso before going up the mountain to see the houses and people that live there and realize that the view we saw from the mountain, which was beautiful and peaceful (if you didn't factor in the skin flabbering wind), was full of danger and distress. This is also true with the people we met today. Like everyone they are beautiful and unique in God's image, but still on the inside there is worry and a story in their hearts

• Emile

Today began with an amazing church service! It was really neat to hear a service done in Spanish. The church was very welcoming - they even had an interpreter there to interpret the message for us. After the service, we had a huge community barbeque with a bunch of kids from nearby shelters. It was great hanging with the kids and having them teach us a bit more Spanish. After this we went to the shelters. Hearing that four to five people share a bed every night and about twelve families live in one small house, really put things into perspective for us here. Currently all twenty of us are having to share one shower - we are realizing how much we take things for granted. Something we talked about as a group was that it's crazy how unhappy we can be at certain times, yet we have so much. When we were hanging out with the kids today and meeting some of the local folks, they were always smiling and just seemed so happy, yet they have nothing! It's God's joy that counts most - we need to keep things in order here - God is our priority and our ultimate joy - things are really meaningless.

• Erin

Today I realized that we are all the same. We each have our differences, but overall we love, we struggle and we all have problems. I think once we remember that no matter what your skin colour is, our culture, our country we can all help each other out and love and serve passionately in the name of God. I also realized that no matter how small the space is people have a right to have a space to call their own and we need to not just look at areas that have problems, but we should try to be the solution to those problems. We have no rights, we deserve nothing, but God blesses us immensely anyways.  We should never forget this.

• Kory

Today was a wonderful day. I think that the biggest way to summarize the day was that we got to see the people and culture in the area where we are staying.  This morning we went to church at a Spanish church, despite the obvious language barrier it was a good experience.  After church we hung out in a park down the street  and had a bbq for lunch. We had an amazing time getting to know some of the kids and playing with them.  Later in the day we had an opportunity to visit some of the shelters that the kids were from. It was really  surprising to see how these people were living.  At both shelters there were lots of people living in very small rooms with multiple people per bed.  The way that they live really reminded me of how much we take from granted.

• Moria

Today was such an amazing day, it was such an  eye opener. We started off the day by attending a Spanish church service, thankfully there was someone there to translate for us so that we could understand what was going on. After the service we put on a barbeque for the people in the area. There were a lot of people that showed up, we had an amazing time playing football, and soccer with them. And then later on playing tag and various other games with the kids. For me the real eye opener came when after all of this, it came when we were visiting the shelters, at both of the shelters there were a lot of people living in a small space. The crazy fact was that at one of the shelters there were 80 people living there and all of them shared one very tiny shower. It really made many of us think about how blessed we are. And made many of us feel bad since we were complaining that there was only one working shower at the compound the day before.  We were then shown some of the rooms that people were staying in, it was PVC piping put together with tarps hanging off of them. All of this served as a reminder for me about how incredibly blessed we are,  and that we could get by on a lot less than we use. It also made me thankful to God for all that he has giving me, thankful for how blessed I really am. Another thing that stood out to me was that even though they didn’t have much, all of them were always happy, they go through all these hardships and were happy and thanking God for all that they had. It was incredible.

• Chris

While we were on the plane on Saturday, in between naps, I was reading Psalm 19.  It talks about how the heavens, sky and creation declare God's glory, and actually teach us about Him.  Then I looked out my window and saw the tops of the clouds, as far as I could see.  Pretty Sweet, made me think about that verse a little differently.  

Today we went to some houses that sheltered homeless people.  There was one house with 80 people staying in it!  In a room almost half the size of my bedroom a family of 8 stayed.  Not right.  I am not sure what kind of life-change knowing and seeing this stuff requires of me, but I don't want to forget the way it made me feel.

-Perry

My reflection of this trip might be a little bit different. I have had the incredible opportunity to work with Life Challenge International in the past. I have also, for some reason, been called to organize this. It's been an exciting ride, collecting forms, making phone calls, learning to go with the flow and trust that God has got this all figured out (which He does, always, thankfully). Being here in El Paso is both the beginning and the end of a year's worth of planning. I feel like God is calling me to do more, whatever that involves…

Tim spoke about the difference between being called and being chosen. Many are called, few are chosen. I'm finding that I just need to trust.

I feel the need to do more for the people here. I have been to the Juarez side of the border before. I am familiar with the need and the different places that LCI works in Juarez. However, I have never experienced life on this side of the border, or understood exactly how the problems in Juarez have filtered across the border and begun to spawn in the communities in El Paso (and not just begun, of course, for many of them have been around for a long time, we just haven't been as aware of them). So, perhaps for me, instead of being in a position where I have done everything before, God is showing me more than I could have known, and having me experience things new, just like the rest of the team members. I'm so grateful for this. I am so amazed by the group of us that God has called to come and serve, and learn. It's going to be a crazy, awesome, exciting, challenging, amazing, Christ-centered week!

-Brittany

We began our day early, going to the church service that was held right down the road from us. It was very interesting attending one of these church services and it was eye opening to see how welcoming they were to accept us and to include us in their service. Today was a very casual "meet and greet" the community. It was amazing to spend some time with the kids from this community and to enjoy some of their games. It was very interesting to go to their homes after playing with them and see the conditions they came out of. The reason why I found this so interesting was because playing with those kids brought them so much joy and when we were spending time with them on the park it felt like a time where they could just break away from their normal situations and spend some times being kids, without worrying about their home issues. This was especially evident in the older kids and those who realize what their situations are actually like. Many of the younger kids didn’t necessarily know yet that their families were suffering in poverty. It was amazing to see how the families in this community has to depend daily on God for their daily bread and they trust in his providence, which seems to be a aspect that gets neglected a lot in the West. I believe that this trip definitely goes both ways in learning and that there is a lot that we can learn from the people in this community.

• Charl

Today we went to a church that is run inside of a community center. I was shocked to find out that they have to pay roughly $90 an hour to be able to use the building for services. It got me thinking about how blessed and spoiled we are in Canada. We skip a Sunday morning if we feel too tired while these people have to pay to be able to come together as a community to worship. What shocked me more, however, was how alive they were! They worshiped with passion, and the pastor spoke straight from the heart of God. Wow. I was talking to a friend about it afterward, and he reminded me that we don't have to have a lot to do something for God. My church back home is a lot nicer aesthetically (and richer in finances) than this church in El Paso, but the people who worship at this community center use what little they have to move mountains. God is good.

-Amanda L.