Mission Trip to the Orphanage and Landfill in Mexico 6 Nov 04

Report by Elias Garcia

 

            The orphanage takes care of approximately 50 children (6-18 years old) with no support from the government.  They provide housing for them, feed them, and teach them Christian values.  We met Brother Ismael, the orphanage director, and Lorena, his wife, at the orphanage and their helpers.  We have provided them with some donations (clothes, toys, food, etc.) for the children and a little money to help them out.  They are our Christian brothers and sisters.  Most of these children come from mothers and fathers that are drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, deceased, etc.

            We also went to help S.O.S. Ministries (Servants of the Savior Ministries).  Our contact was Robbie Gardner.  Robbie and Paul Gonzales operate four soup kitchens at the city trash dump in Matamoros, Mexico.  There is a large manufacturing segment in the Mexico/United States border area (NAFTA Zone).  This provides many jobs and attracts thousands of hopeful applicants.  Unfortunately, there are many more applicants than job openings, resulting in a huge number of displaced, unemployed people.  These “good” jobs pay an average of $65-$75 per week.  If unable to find a job, after coming from the interior of Mexico, families have few options.  They soon find themselves with no money, no food, no home, and no hope.  Thousands of these families have found their way to the city trash dump.  Here, they spend hopeless days scavenging through the trash, looking for anything of value.  Living conditions are horrible.  No running water, no electricity, no window screens, and quite often no food.  These people live a hard life in harsh conditions with little if any hope of a better life.  There are no Mexican government programs to help the poor.  This is where S.O.S Ministries is working on making a difference in the lives of hundreds of children and their parents.  It operates four soup kitchens in the trash dump.  These kitchens provide a nourishing meal to more than 200 children daily, Monday thru Friday.  Through S.O.S these children benefit from a good meal, have access to a playground, and are cared for in a Christian environment.  They also learn Bible scriptures and songs.  The children are a joy to work with.  They are intelligent, energetic, and well mannered.  The soup kitchens also double as churches.  On Saturday, church services are held for the children and on Sundays for the adults.  Meeting the daily needs of supplying four soup kitchens and feeding 200-220 children five days per week can be a challenge.  Donations are always welcomed, in any amount.  With an inconsistent donation base, S.O.S. Ministries doesn’t know from week to week how much food will be available.

 

Tim and Darlene Warren made plans for a church mission trip to the orphanage and trash dump in Mexico.  A list was made of what was needed.  Tim announced the mission trip to John Carlton’s Sunday school class.  Donations were taken.  It was also put in the church bulletin and more donations came in.  Nineteen persons signed up to go on the mission trip.  The following supplies were bought at Sam’s Warehouse and other stores:

 

We started to worry about how to transport these items to Harlingen, much less getting them across to Mexico (you’re only authorized to take $50.00 worth of items to Mexico per person).  We had two Avalanches, one car, a Durango, plus all the extra space in a 16-passenger van full and we were still getting more items to take.  Tim’s Avalanche was overloaded.  We had to redistribute the weight between the other vehicles.  It was wonderful to have this kind of problems.  Normally we do not have enough items to take. 

We went to Harlingen without any problems – answered prayer.  Saturday morning (6 Nov 04), Robbie Gardner from S.O.S. Ministries met us at the Motel 6 in Harlingen.  He was our contact person to takes us to the orphanage and trash dump.  Nineteen of us on three vehicles left for Matamoros after praying that we would get the green light at the border so that we would not be turned back at the border.  Two of the vehicles got the green light, but the third one got a red light, it was inspected by the Mexican Border Guards.  It was an Avalanche full of food including the sugar and cooking oil that we had brought.  Debbie Whitlock was driving and Mary Jane Lawrence was a passenger with two others.  The guard motioned Debbie to open the tailgate since the top of the bed had a covering.  Surely they would be turned back.  Mary Jane started talking to the guard as they headed toward the tailgate telling him that they were on a mission trip to the orphanage.  After looking into the stuffed bed of the truck and moving some items around, the guard motioned for them to go on.  What a blessing! 

We delivered some of the items to the orphanage.  Brother Ismael (director of the orphanage) said that they had just run out of sugar and cooking oil and they were in need of it.  We toured the orphanage and interacted with the children.  We then headed to the garbage dump.  We dropped of some more of the food items at one of the soup kitchens.  Brother Paul Gonzales also from S.O.S. Ministries indicated that they really needed the sugar and cooking oil, too!  The Avalanche that carried the sugar and oil had been stopped at the border and we prayed that it would not be turned back!

We then went to one of the other soup kitchen locations and started to pass out to the needy families the food and hygiene bags we had individually packed.  We did not have enough items to provide for all the families.   When we had load the truck in Pflugerville, one of the bean bags had torn and dropped beans on the truck bed.  It was heart wrenching to see a lady that had not received a bag of food, picking up each bean from the truck bed in order to have something to eat.

When we were done, we interacted with the children and adults there.  Helen Guzman was able to witness and lead one of the ladies to the Lord.  Praise God!

IT WAS JUST A GREAT MISSION TRIP!

·        We just thank God that everything went well:

·        We got to the orphanage and the trash dump site ok

·        The Avalanche that was stopped at the border was allowed to pass

·        We were able to deliver all the items

·        A soul was saved from going to hell

·        We all got home safely

·        Everyone that went was blessed!  Just ask them.

 

You know, when you start doing things for the Lord, be prepared for the devil to attack.  No matter what the devil does, we all need to continue on and do what God has asked us to do.

 

 

 

Getting back from Sam’s

 

Unloading the Avalanche

 

 

 

There is so much

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packing the hygiene bags

 

 

 

Packing the rice into individual 5 lb bags

 

 

 

Packing the beans into individual 5 lb bags

 

 

 

Sorting through the hygiene items

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The men helping out

 

 

 

Still working on more hygiene bags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering on Friday afternoon

 

 

 

Making a list and checking it twice

 

 

 

Praying before leaving for Harlingen

 

 

 

Waiting for Maria and Darlene at the hotel

 

 

 

Maria and Darlene finally showed up

 

 

 

Having supper in Harlingen

 

 

 

Delivering items at the orphanage in Matamoros

 

 

 

Carrying more items to the orphanage

 

We took 80 lbs of sugar

 

 

 

Passing out candy to the children

 

Terri giving out Mickey Mouse hats

 

 

 

Pam carrying 6 of the 24 cans of lemonade we took with us

 

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed the Mickey Mouse hats!

 

 

 

Jenny making balloons for the kids.

 

 

 

The orphanage washroom still under construction

 

 

 

Tom making balloon animals for the children.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Jane playing Frisbee with the children.

 

 

 

Tom teaching Terri how to make balloon animals.

 

Everyone got balloons.

 

 

 

Pam throwing a Frisbee.

 

 

Debbie taking a walk with some children from the orphanage.

 

 

 

Displaying some balloons.

 

 

 

Praying before leaving the orphanage.

 

 

 

Saying our good-byes.

 

Loving on the children.

 

 

 

Dropping some food off at one of the soup kitchens at the trash dump.

 

Helping out.

 

 

 

Leaving some clothes.

 

Debbie carrying a 50 lb bag of rice to the soup kitchen.

 

Pam carrying a 50 lb bag of beans to the soup kitchen.

 

 

 

Kayla carrying more beans for the soup kitchen.

 

 

 

 

Paul Gonzales and the soup kitchen staff were very grateful for the items they received.

 

 

 

Getting ready to go distribute food at the trash dump.

 

Paul Gonzales telling us their ministry at the trash dump.

 

 

 

Paul told how these people’s only means of support is the trash thrown away in the city of Matamoros.

He told how when the dump trucks dump the trash, the people come and go through it to find any little thing of value in it.

 

 

 

He told us how they live in these little shacks with no running water or electricity.  This is where God has led us today to minister.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving at one of the other food kitchens.

 

 

 

Trying to get organize.

 

 

 

Passing out some tracks

 

 

 

Passing out some bubbles for the kids.

 

 

 

Getting ready to pass out the food.

 

 

 

Starting to pass out some items.

 

 

 

Passing out water.

 

 

 

Passing out some rice.

 

 

We continued to pass out items.

 

 

 

Passing out some candy.

 

 

 

Passing out some Mickey Mouse hats.

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting to get some food and hygiene bags.

 

 

 

Giving out Christian tracks.

 

 

 

Giving out water.

 

 

 

Giving out beans.

 

 

 

Continuing to pass out items.

 

 

 

Out of items to give out.

 

 

 

Young lady with a six week old baby.  In the background is a typical home at the dump were people live.  No running water and no electricity.

 

 

 

Getting acquainted.

 

 

 

Chatting with the children.

 

 

 

Making balloons for the kids.

 

 

 

Teaching the children how to count in English.

 

 

 

Continuing to build a relationship with the kids.

 

 

 

Admiring a balloon.

 

 

 

 

Playing with one of the Hot Wheel cars we passed out.

 

 

 

Happy with his new toy.

 

 

 

 

 

Another home at the trash dump.

 

 

Paul Gonzales and Robbie Gardner have volunteers from churches come to the trash dump and replace the homes that look like the one from the previous picture to one like this.   This is a great project for a mission trip!

 

 

 

This elderly couple live in this home.

 

 

 

Saying our good-byes!