SNAPSHOT 1:
She whispered in my ear... “Could I take home some of the fat?”
This is Tania`s fourth year helping with Christmas on the Streets... She, her mom and kid sister helped this year cutting up the 550+ chickens... Heads off... 9 or 10 pieces out of each chicken... washed... spiced... bags of 50 pieces... into the freezer... (to be cooked in the early morning hours of the 24th) The helpers’ eyes always brighten as they divide up the gizzards, livers, hearts, heads, feet and fat to take home... I’m sure that this “bonus” motivates a few of the ladies to come and help on our three `chicken chopping days`. The fat is fried down to make oil. The feet are eaten like that, added to soup for flavour or to make gelatine! The other things make special treats... ymmm... Is it any wonder we prefer pancakes for Christmas?
SNAPSHOT 2:
Excitement filled the air... There were nervous little whispers... giggles and dances... no one blinked as the names were pulled out of the hat... Silence... The third name was the winner... The first: `Eulogio!` Laughter... Eulogio holding his bowed head... Too bad... `Maria Luisa!` Screams...laughter... Not the winner either... No one breathed as they waited... Abraham slowly pulled out the third name... `Josue!` Jumping up and down... Josue`s sisters hugging him... He won the big one! (He is one of Marco`s boys)
This process was repeated two more times to find the other winners: Silvia – who used to be a student of ours... who just showed up with her boyfriend to help us all night on the 23rd; and Saul – Maria Luisa`s husband...
No... it wasn`t the lottery... Usually we have 10 or 11 pig heads to give away to any all-night helper that might want one... but this year about 35 of us worked all night on the 23rd (cooking the meat, chicken, 5300 frying bananas... 900 pounds of rice... 5500 potatoes) and there were only three pig heads! Thus the very exciting... nerve wracking draw...
SNAPSHOT 3:
Nahomi (a 13 year old that comes to El Jordan) showed up one day to help with the Christmas on the Streets preparations... She had a big smile on her face... she said she was sorry she couldn’t come the other days – because she didn’t have money for her bus fare - 50 centavos - about 7 cents for a student. I asked her how she arrived that day - Rosita – her friend who also comes to El Jordan – paid her way... When I called Rosita into the office to say thanks so much for being so kind... she said – “It’s because the other day I didn’t have money to come help... and she paid MY way...” (Nahomi and her siblings Valentina and Josue were three of the kids who stayed all night to help us cook for Christmas on the Streets... It was Josue who won the biggest pig’s head!)
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Snapshots like these made me ponder... Here we are... making chicken, roast beef, a little bit of pork for street kids and `extreme poor`... In all of this, a large proportion of our helpers who faithfully come to help us are – even by Bolivian standards – poor... It is them who physically make it possible for us to prepare, cook and serve such a huge meal (for over 5,100 again this year)??? Our helpers - grateful for some chicken fat to make some oil... Our helpers - who consider a pig head a `jackpot`... Its kind of humbling...
We had a bunch of kids come to wrap gifts and bag the `poof` (Bolivian popped corn)... some of them are only about 12 years old now... and they have been coming faithfully for 4 or 5 years... The rice was made by kids (15 to 20 years old!) from 3 different homes... Our all-night help was in its majority, El Jordan people – volunteers, students and adolescents... ages ranging from 13 to my age... This year, more than any other year, our students and their kids have come to help...
The church where quite a few of our students and their families attend (made up mostly of people who have been on the streets or are in some way related to them...) took up an offering for Christmas on the Streets – 1744.50 bolivianos!!! (6.9 bs to a US dollar) It was our largest local donation... I just about cried... Two other larger local offerings were from small, struggling churches...
Wow... people giving all that they had... to people who have just a little bit less... So you see... when anyone mentions that it is a sacrifice for me to be here and serve... really... it is no sacrifice at all... How much do I really know about sacrifice?
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This year we asked all the churches who only take “Christmas” to “extreme poor” to also take to a group of street people/drug addicts – even if it was to a small group of three in their neighbourhood plaza... (or accompany an El Jordan volunteer to the streets) One man interrupted the meeting to (a bit heatedly) ask why we should do that... if we give something to them, they’ll just come back... and never leave us in peace...
It was a good opportunity to explain how Christians need to know how to help and give... especially to this group of people whose Life Skills are manipulation and deceit... I’ve always liked the verse that says MERCY and TRUTH should never leave us... By offering only mercy... without Truth – rather than doing good, we only foment their irresponsibility and manipulation....
On clean up day, one group excitedly told us about their first experience of reaching out to 4 street people/alcoholics in their neighbourhood with Christmas on the Streets... I don’t know if these men kept their promise to visit the church but I do know that now they have somewhere they can go if one day they really want help... The church wants to invite Marco to talk to them about how best to relate to this group of people.
That is our desire... churches more aware and open of the needs around them... people willing to be “bothered” by those with problems rather than seeing them as disturbances to avoid... If we can help educate them about street people/drug addicts... if more churches actually are LIGHT in their neighbourhoods rather than just under a basket, maybe more will find what they need – mercy and truth.
Others have also given good reports from Christmas on the Streets... time to sit on a curb and talk to different ones... opportunities to share... some interest in getting off the streets... good contacts and bridges built...
At one intersection normally there are about 40 street kids/addicts... (double that at Christmas) If you counted all the people begging there at this time of year it would quadruple. Any truck giving away something near the intersection creates a huge disorder of pushing, shoving and fighting... Last year we found a solution to this problem – Johnny, an invalid, lives half a block away... Unable to work, he ekes out a living (raising his 2 kids by himself) by storing street kids’ squeegees and pails, blankets etc... He offers the kids a place to rest, get out of the hot sun, have a drink of water or sleep when it gets cold... He lends us his patio and invites all of “his” street kids for Christmas... The more controlled environment allows Eli – our volunteer – and the church group to much more effectively share a drama and short message with them...
3 weeks before Christmas I received a phone call saying Johnny was in the hospital. I went to visit him... the news wasn’t good - he wouldn’t be out by Christmas. How could we work it without him? A few days before Christmas, he asked for an early discharge because he didn’t have money to pay his bill... but then we still didn’t have a vehicle to transport the food there... The day before Christmas, Eli’s brother-in-law (not a Christian yet) offered his truck...
A shook-up Eli phoned me to say that there had been a bad accident... The steering went on the truck, they veered across into oncoming traffic and rammed into a car full of passengers... No one was hurt... but there was a lot of material damage... (and common here - no one had insurance)... Poor Eli had to leave her brother-in-law, Anastacio, in the midst of yelling drivers, policeman, crushed metal and glass to catch a taxi to take the food and gifts to the waiting street kids... In spite of all the problems, the kids were very attentive... the church well-prepared... and it was a wonderful time for all... (Except for Anastacio who has to pay the repairs of the other car (hundreds of $)... plus get his own truck towed and fixed... He works using his truck... so this is a double blow to him...)
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There is never a Christmas on the Streets without some type of glitch... this year there was the accident with one of the trucks... and problems with pigs... and freezers... El Jordan has had extra expenses lately with redoing our electrical system, paying triple wages in December (this is law - the regular wage, the same amount for a Christmas bonus and repeated again for severance pay – now required annually)... plus we are looking ahead at our plans to build our boy’s workshops early in the year. The donations we received specifically earmarked for Christmas on the Streets perfectly covered our expenses for the gift bags, tracts, disposable dishes and chicken... Locally we were given the 900 pounds of rice... most of the frying bananas and potatoes... We had been promised a total of 3 pigs... but we didn’t have money to buy the 7 or 8 that we still needed. (Pork is the “special” meat for Christmas here.) Well... a donation came in last minute that allowed us to buy two more pigs and we decided to serve pork to all the areas that were specifically “street kids”...
As we waited for the butcher pigs to arrive, Marco gave me a call... we weren’t getting one of the pigs we had been promised... Down to 4 pigs... No problem... we’d just cut them into even smaller pieces... and serve whoever we could... I went to pick up the fourth pig... and thought it smelled a bit strong... Back at El Jordan, we opened up the big Styrofoam containers... and it was more than a bit strong... it was BAD... We thought we could salvage some of it... but there was no way... The freezer where it had been stored wasn’t working well... Down to three pigs... and we were very thankful for the donation to buy the last two pigs... or we would’ve been left with only one... (Just over 1,600 people got a taste of pork this year on the streets...)
Every year we have to borrow ovens, gas canisters, big pots and freezers from the local churches... This year no one could lend us their freezer... El Jordan has two – but they were full of roast beef... we needed two more for the 560 chickens! Finally, one church agreed to lend us their freezer although it was in bad condition... the bottom was all rusting out... but we were desperate... We picked it up on Sunday night at 10 p.m. – 200 chickens were arriving the following morning!
We transferred some of the already frozen roast beef into the rusted freezer... The rest ended up fitting in all the fridges, fridge freezers, coolers and Styrofoam containers that we had bought to transport the chickens! One of our biggest fridges went on the blink the day before this... and our two freezers had a hard time freezing so many chickens at a time... We had a few scares – and having to rearrange frozen and not frozen things so that hopefully nothing would get ruined... but in the end... it was all a part of the excitement of Christmas on the Streets... and everything worked out fine in the end...
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So Christmas on the Streets is done for another year...
We are thankful for everyone who gave... helped... encouraged and prayed... to make it possible... THANK YOU!!!
Please pray:
For the churches to continue to be aware and active throughout the year – living out God’s heart – caring for the needy...
For every street kid/drug addict that received a Christmas meal... gospel booklet... and an invitation to El Jordan – that God would be working in their hearts... making them dissatisfied where they are and drawing them to El Jordan and other places that can point them towards Christ... and walk along side of them in their journey...
For Anastacio who offered his truck for Christmas on the Streets because he wanted a family Christmas – and didn’t want to go with friends who were going to drink. Please pray that the accident won’t discourage him from wanting changes in his life... rather that it might be something that draws him to Christ...
May God bless each one of you... May we be open... willing... and prepared for whatever God has in store for us this year...
Lots of love (and a great big hug for the new year!)
Corina... for Marco and Keiden...