Birthday Celebrations!

Two Saturdays ago I was surprised at the soup kitchen with cards, a cake, and a song for my birthday from some of my favorite kids in the world :) I was simply expecting a normal Saturday in the Rio, but my co-worker, Cathy, had other ideas! She arrived early at the Rio that morning to purchase a cake and rally the kids. When I got there we went through the normal events of the day but then I was showered with cards and hugs by the kids after our Sunday school class.The picture above is me, the kids, and ALL the cards I got that day! I had so much fun celebrating with the kids at the Rio. It was a great day :)

The above birthday card says, "Congratulations! I like how you do the classes" My name is super confusing for Mexicans to spell considering they only use silent "h", don't have silent "e", and have "j" that makes our "h" sound!!! Talk about confusing! I recently found out that most of these people probably think my name is "Job" because that is how they would spell it! The girl who wrote the card above had her own spelling.... "Jot" At least she got one letter right :)

This card says, " Hi Hope, (someone told her how to spell my name :) I like you a lot and I hope you have many more years. May God bless you in all the days of your life." From my 12 year old friend.

In Mexico there is a tradition where the birthday girl has to take the first bite from the cake without using her hands or silverware. This is called "mordida". Usually someone nearby pushes her face in the cake... kinda a funny tradition, but lots of fun for the kids. Here I am right after Meme pushed the cake into my face! (Notice the kids laughing in the back :) hahaha!

A cakey face!!!!

Esteban, Lindsey, and me chowing down on some awesome Tres Leche birthday cake! One of my favorites!

This is a video of the kids and parents in the Rio singing me the Mexican birthday song, it is called "Las Mananitas." (Click on the "play" button)

Alza el Vuelo

Two weeks ago we had the awesome opportunity to take our teens in the Hope Program to a youth conference called Alza el Vuelo at a local church. It was AWESOME!!! There were nearly 400 teens from around Monterrey gathered to worship, pray, and listen to teaching. There were two dynamic guest youth speakers who spoke each night of the conference. They were hilarious yet spoke truth straight to our teens. The Holy Spirit definitely showed up! It was so encouraging to see some of our teens open their hearts to the Lord and receive a touch from Him. Many were worshiping, dancing, jumping, crying, praying, and encouraging each other. I was encouraged as I was praying for some kids and felt the Holy Spirit whisper to my heart that He was answering the prayers that I and so many others have been praying for these kids for years. He is capturing their hearts. He is waking them up, calling them out, leading them forward! How exciting! He is on the move, who can stop Him?

One of our teens worshiping the Lord... he gave his life to Christ that night :)

The packed out church!
Me and some fellow Back2Backers at the conference.

The Poor Will Be Glad

I am currently reading The Poor Will Be Glad: joining the revolution to lift the world out of poverty by Peter Greer and Phil Smith. Here are just a few sobering facts on poverty for you all. These hit me hard one night...

~ approximately 850 million people go to bed hungry every night.

~ 11 million children die every year before reaching their 5th birthday.

~ 20% of the world has no access to clean water. Millions walk long distances to carry every drop of water to their homes.

~ Diarrhea (a preventable disease) kills between 1.6 and 2.5 million children every year.

~ In the least developed countries, the literacy rate is 51 percent.

~ Of the world's approx 6.6 billion people, approx 4 billion live on less than $4 per day.

~ 30,000 children die each day from hunger and preventable disease- 1 child every 3 seconds.

Come Lord Jesus! Come and meet these! Lift their burdens! Redeem your people! Come Lord Jesus, Come!

One of the little Rio girls I work with on a weekly basis.

Houses in the Rio.

A common form of transportation for a Rio family.

Holy Spirit Interruption

It was a busy day at the Rio. We had a group from the states with us that afternoon. I was leading the day and totally focused on the work before me. I was organizing donations, setting up a buffet line, connecting with people, translating... I was busy.

I like how God loves to interrupt the busyness of our lives with His plan. I had been praying for several days that God would help me keep an ear open to His move, to His change in plans. It is easy for me to get into my groove and just go. I can easily tackle a list of "to do's", focusing on the tasks and not on the Lord who might want to change plans and do something new. Days earlier I had prayed that the Lord would help me to see what He was up to during the daily grind of the day, and that He would help me to lay aside my plan. The Lord didn't just help me to see His plan that day but literally interrupted me with it!!!

I walked onto the bus to grab some forgotten donations and on my way out was interrupted by the bus driver. "Excuse me," he said. "Why exactly are you here?"

... It took me a second to realize that he was talking to me. We hire a bus company called GEMA to take our groups to our outreach areas. This bus driver was new. I stumbled through an, "um... sorry, What?"

"Why are you and these Americans here? This is the coldest day of the year in Mexico and you are out here working with these poor people. Why?"

It couldn't be more obvious to me that this was an open door from the Lord, exactly what I had been praying for. So I began talking with the bus driver, Miguel... We talked about B2B, why we are here, why this group of Americans decided to come to Monterrey for a week, why they were serving on the coldest day of the year. We talked about his religion (Catholicism), about his family, about his situation in life, about his family's needs. Miguel lives near to another rio area that we work in with his family. He is the only bread winner and life has not been easy for them. I was able to share with Miguel testimonies of the Lord's faithfulness, ways that I have seen Him provide for me when I was desperate, and ways that God wants to provide for him as well. I asked him how I could be praying for him, invited him to join with us at the soup kitchen, and later the group blessed him with some donations they had brought... it turned out to be a great conversation and a great day, because it wasn't my plan, but Jesus'. Thank you God for interrupting my busy day! Tune my ear to hear your voice and tune my desires to be your desires. Help me to follow your game plan, not my own. Thank you.

A Rio Christmas.... (just a little late!)

…50 rubber balls, 18 yo-yos, 26 dolls, 10 baby blankets, 400 tamales, and a partridge in a pear tree!!! Several weeks ago we hosted a Christmas party for the people in the Rio and I felt a little like the “true love” in the 12 Days of Christmas! We were blessed with a generous donation to be able to bring Christmas to the children who live in the Rio community. Days before several of us staff when shopping to purchase gifts for the kids. Because new things are a rare treat for these kids, we really wanted to bless each and every person who came with something new for Christmas. I have never before bought three cart loads of rubber balls plus various other toys and games! Several of us staff spend days buying gifts, wrapping, organizing donations, prepping crafts, and cooking champorado (Mexican hot chocolate) for about 100 people in the Rio. On Saturday we left bright and early loaded down with gifts, food, and extra hands to help out. We had our normal church service in the soup kitchen with worship and teaching. After the service we served the people hot tamales and champorado. Then the festivities began! On a normal Saturday we will have anywhere from 18-25 kids. This day we had well over 70! We pulled the tables close together, called for attention, and shared the Christmas story. If any of you have ever worked with children, you know that lots of young kids together, excited for gifts and candy are not always the best listeners. As we began teaching, I prayed for focus. While gifts and piñatas are fun, the best part of Christmas is our Savior’s birth. We wanted this to be the focus of the celebration. I marveled at how quiet the soup kitchen became. All the 70 pairs of eyes were focused on the speaker and the pictures she showed of the stable and the manger… these images not too far from the kids’ own dwellings. They were captivated by the story…. a little baby born into poverty, but with an eternal destiny. At the close of the lesson we shared with the kids the purpose of that baby born so long ago, and his love and purposes for each and every one of them… it was beautiful. Then we decorated ornaments, ate candy canes, smashed 2 piñatas, and handed out gifts to each person. It was a great day, a great adventure, and a great time to show these people how much they are loved. While the 50 rubber balls, the 18 yo-yos, and the 400 tamales brought many smiles, our prayer is that the real Gift of Jesus brought eternal joy to some hearts that day….that is what our True Love has truly given us.

Jonathan with his presents.

Magdelina with her baby by the Christmas tree!

Making candy cane reindeer!

Telling the Christmas story to the children.

Worship before the festivities began.

Christmas Pinata!

He Loves Them More...

This past week I had a conversation that entirely blessed me. Lalo is a pastor and the director of a children's home we work with called Imperio de Amor (IDA). I was at IDA with a group of Americans playing with the near 50 kids who were at the home that day. In the midst of the play I got a moment to talk to Lalo and to hear some of his story. IDA got a call and is expecting to receive 5 more kids within the next 2 weeks. Already IDA has an average of 80 kids. I couldn't even imagine the weight of responsibility Lalo must feel for these kids. I asked him how he was doing and if he ever felt the pressure or burden of caring for so many hurting children. He said that the only time it really becomes hard is when there is not enough food nor money to pay bills... then, he said, he feels the pressure. Lalo continued to tell me about a time he felt that pressure in the first few months that he started IDA and the amazing way the Lord came through for them. This is his story:

" Two years ago, when IDA was just a few months old, we ran into a bit of a crisis. There was one day when the money just ran out. The kids were hungry and asking me for food but there was none to give them. We had already borrowed $2000.00 pesos to pay bills and more bills were due. I was scared and not sure where the money or food was going to come from. I prayed and prayed. 'This isn't the character of God to abandon His children', I thought to myself. That night I went to sleep praying and troubled. During the night I had a dream. In my dream I saw a B2B staff member come to the kitchen in the casa hogar with a carpenter. He said that the carpenter was there to fix something in the kitchen. I watched as the men went into the kitchen to work. Slowly the carpenter turned and I saw His face... it was Jesus! I woke up and went to the kitchen in the morning to see if there was food. There was none there. Just then one of the boys ran in saying "Hermano! hermano! There is a man out on the road with a truck full of bread and milk." I went outside to find this to be true. This man had no idea we were in need of food and he was there to provide breakfast for the children. Later that day an American man came to visit the children's home. He brought with him a gift of $700.00 dollars! Enough to pay our debts, the bills, and to buy more food! God was so faithful to provide for his children."

I was in amazement of our wonderful Savior as I heard this story! I asked Lalo if the kids at the home knew this story. He said that they all knew it! He wants the Children to know how their Father in Heaven takes care of them on a personal level! He shares with them every time God provides.

I love that our God loves these children so much more than we ever could. He provides for them even when we can't. Jesus is the one who is watching out for them, loving them, feeding them... thank you Jesus for your mercy! Thank you, Lord, for surrounding these kids with caretakers who love you and reflect your presence. Thank you for being our good Abba Father...

This is a video of the children at IDA singing, "I am a promise, a possibility..." oh how true that is!

The "Flyers" in Mexico City

We saw these guys "fly" in two different places in Mexico City! This is an old Indian custom called "Los Voladores". Just a quick video I thought you would find interesting!