Belated Merry Christmas to all of you… and an early Happy New Year!!!
Here we are... getting over that slightly dizzy feeling that you have when you just get off a merry go round... Christmas on the Streets is over for another year... and we’re catching up on our rest and everything else that was put on hold for the last couple weeks... It sometimes seems like it never happened... but my infected thumb (from a pork bone splinter) reminds me every time I bang it, someone squeezes it, or I need it to hold on to something, that YES, Christmas on the Streets came and went...
Christmas on the Streets always amazes me... how so many people and churches join together to:
1/ gather all the donations
2/ prepare and cook food for 5,000 people in a place not meant to be a kitchen
3/ take the food and message to street people and extremely needy people ALL over the city
4/ clean up and get El Jordán looking and smelling like it is supposed to...
Wow... its amazing to think about... and even more amazing to see happen...
This year, in order to keep the food/gifts at our 5,000 limit, we cut back on certain orders, asked some places to start doing it on their own... gave one place gifts but no food... other places food and less gifts... to encourage churches to become more independent in this outreach and give an opportunity to other churches who are just becoming interested in reaching out for Christmas...
Our list of ingredients was basically the same as the other years... we bought a few extra chickens (a total of 505)... and we were supposed to have 200 kilos more pork... and we still ran out of meat early... I’m not sure what happened... Really, the only ones that were affected were Marco and I that had later deliveries... I had less to take to the families I usually do after everything is over... and Marco had to stretch what he had... but everything worked out well...
While we were gathering people together on the streets, a big street guy defiantly marched over... directly to where Keiden and I were sitting... I had seen him on the streets the night before when I was inviting them to “Christmas dinner”... He had a terrible cut on his arm that was getting infected, and wanted me to buy him some medicine... I didn’t have a cent on me... and told him to come back for Christmas dinner the next day and I’d bring him something...
He stomped over with a frown and his hand stuck out... saying with his expression before he even asked, “You forgot about me... didn’t you!!!” Fortunately, I had asked Heidi to put the medicine in her pocket so I wouldn’t forget... and as soon as I gave it to him, his face softened, a smile replaced the frown... and his “demanding hand” cupped to give me a big hand shake... Merry Christmas... I pray that not only his infected cut might get better... but his hardened and scarred heart might be softened towards God’s love, grace and mercy...
After the streets, I only had extra food for one family (instead of 4 or 5 families)... I decided to find a family with 6 children (under 8 or 9) who walk the streets selling toys etc to the drinking joints and restaurants... They have nowhere to live... but nor do they want their kids sleeping on the streets like they used to do...so they pay a cheap room in a not very nice motel every night... So even on Christmas eve, they still had to work... because they only survive (eat and sleep) from day to day...
I found them where I thought I would... sitting on the curb beside a restaurant, selling plastic toys... Even before I would give them their gifts and food, they had already given Keiden a little rattle... The mom, Laura, has been reading the Bible... and would like to come to El Jordan this next year... Please pray that she would...
After that, Daniela (a volunteer from Canada) and I only had ONE plate of food left... but I’m going to tell you about that in the next section...
This Christmas I shed a few tears... not because I was sad... rather because I was overwhelmed by the amazingness of some of our volunteers... They were my heroes from Christmas on the Streets...
1. There are always volunteers for Christmas that come and go... Sometimes, us as El Jordan volunteers, feel like we spend all of our time directing others how they can serve... This year we had an amazing group of volunteers... some of them who came almost every single day to help... What happens is that this group gets to know what needs to be done and how... and they can come and just work... rather than needing us to tell them what to do... From this group, there are four girls who stick out in my mind... JULIETA (15 years old), TANIA (23 years old), SANDY (20 years old) and SHIRLEY (15 years old)... They worked with smiles... willing to do the dirty jobs... never complaining... never tiring... They even got permission to stay all night on the 23rd to help... For the last years, it has been basically Heidi and I cooking potatoes all night (from 2 a.m. on)... This year we didn’t even have to touch them... the girls did them all... They were back, with their smiles and energy, on clean up day (the 26th... no boxing day here!)... again gave their all... finishing, gold medal style, their time... AMAZING... My heroes... Serving, basically 10 days straight, without anything promised in return...
2. Can you imagine cooking 900 pounds of rice? ...and having that 900 pounds of rice actually run out well? I can’t... That is why the 7 boys from the Nacer boys’ home that spend 12 hours making rice are my heroes... When they arrived, I saw two little boys... and inwardly wondered how long they would last... They kept up all night with the rest of them... not resting until it was all done... In the morning, we found out that it was Juan Manuel’s 14th birthday... We got him a little cake and sang to him... and I wonder if he ever had a cake “just for him” before...
There was also a mentally challenged boy that came from the home... and he worked just as hard as any of them... washing all their dirty pots (huge pots)... all night long...
3. Cleaning is sometimes what is left to us... the ones who are always here at El Jordan... The fun and excitement over... the dust settles... and there are the greasy, dirty floors to be cleaned... the ovens, pots and plastic containers to be scrubbed... Well... one of the churches told us Yola would be coming... that she was worth at least 2 people... I would say that she was worth about 5 people... She came on the 24th and the 26th to clean... ...she was there earlier than what she was asked... and stayed until the end... She, and her little son, worked SO hard... quietly scrubbing and cleaning... I never saw them resting... just working... cleaning.... and cleaning some more... That is why YOLA and her son are included in my list of heroes...
4. At Christmas time, my job is more coordinating... making sure that everything is in place so things can hopefully run smoother... We aren’t going to have enough sponges... We need this... we need that... Where is this? and Where is that... As much as I enjoy the action and putting the pieces together.... it still gives me a headache... That’s why I couldn’t help but cry just a little bit when Daniel Maldonado came in... (no picture of him) He had been asking friends, acquaintances and people from church to help out at Christmas... They all said yes, yes... but when he asked me if they had showed up... I had to say no... then he asked me... Okay... what do you need... anything... tell me... let me know... write it down... make me a list so I don’t forget... I don’t have money to buy it... but I’ll go and see what I can do...
Daniel was just a little kid when I first came back to Bolivia... Our families have a long heritage of serving the Lord (his grandparents with my grandparents, his parents with my parents...)... but Daniel kind of was the wild one of his family... the one that everyone thought would amount to nothing more than a headache for the family... Well... God has a way of taking the ones who those who “have it all together” might deem as “hopeless”... and using them amazingly... Daniel might never serve God wearing a tie or standing up in front of people preaching to them... but God is using him in different ways... For two years in a row, he is the one who has accompanied Marco to the most down and out... taking them Christmas on the Streets...
This year I gave him my list... 120 pieces of bread and ham (to feed our volunteers a snack)... squeegees and rags to clean the floor... and I forget what else... Daniel came back with everyone on the list PLUS someone had donated an oven to El Jordan!!! Wow... That was all enough to get him on my list of heroes... but something else happened that day...
Gloria Parada is our oldest volunteer... She always takes the Christmas meal to a group of prisoners in maximum security... and when she gets back from there... she takes it to all the street people in the market close by El Jordan... It seems like every year people promise to help her with her last outreach... but in the end they fall through... This year was no exception... At the end of the afternoon, I was all loaded up with people, meals and gifts to go to the streets... and there was Gloria... standing on the edge of the sidewalk... all alone... with her meals... juice and gifts... Later she told me she was just about to cry... Her team had backed out on her... I got a lump in my throat... I couldn’t help her... the kids on the streets where I go were already going to be waiting for me... Marco was already on his way to help take the left over potatoes, bananas and rice to a very, very poor neighbourhood...
...so... I called Daniel... he was on his way home... I explained the problem to him... and he said he’d call me right back... He got a hold of some friends who have a car... and told me they’d be at El Jordan in 15 minutes to pick her up... and help her deliver her meals... The relief on Gloria’s face was enough to confirm what I already thought... Daniel is one of our heroes...
5. I told you earlier that I’d tell you about the last, lone meal I had to give away... Daniela and I drove towards home... looking for that person who we could give the meal to... We saw a group of four kids at a stoplight... No... we didn’t have enough for them... I went to where there is sometimes a little man who sleeps on the sidewalk near El Jordan... and he wasn’t around... I thought about just giving the meal to the security guard on our street... but... I didn’t feel right about that...
I drove by a dark park near the house... and saw a man sleeping under some cardboard on the park bench... Daniela and I looked at each other... he was the one... I held Keiden while Daniela got down with the gift and the meal... ...but he didn’t want to wake up very easily... so I got down to shake his shoulder a bit... and let him know that we had ONE special meal left... sent by God... and it was just for him...
He was an older man... raggedy, graying hair... Beside him was his bag of plastic bottles to recycle for a couple cents... When I told him it was Christmas eve he kind of looked surprised... Christmas eve? Really...??? this is kind of a lonely and nostalgic time for some of us... especially us who aren’t from here... I asked him where he was from... Peru... Where in Peru? Callau... The same place Marco was from... His name... Humberto... He thanked us so heartfeltly for coming by...
Why is he on my list of “heroes”... Well... what would you do if you got the first good meal you have had in a very long time... a special meal... on a special night... I probably wouldn’t even wait until the people were gone before taking off the corner of the plastic to snitch a morsel... Humberto, starting looking around in the darkness... There are two more (street people) around here somewhere... I need to find them so we can eat it all together...
For that attitude of sharing... even when no one expects it... and when he could have easily eaten the whole thing by himself, he is on my list of special people this Christmas...
6. I also almost forgot the littlest of my heroes… Yojaira, the daughter of one of our students is about 4 or 5 years old... She came when we were washing our 7000 potatoes... and on her own initiative started scrubbing (and doing a very good job) potatoes... all by herself in her own little corner... with her water and bucket... she scrubbed for three hours straight.... Her mom wanted to go home but she said she couldn’t leave yet... there were still more potatoes to wash!!!! What a good little girl!!!
Anyhow... That was our Christmas... Christmas on the Streets for another year... I wanted to share it a bit of it with you... THANKS so much for being a part of our ministry here in Bolivia...
We love you... and thank you... and pray God’s richest blessings on you... and your family in this new year...
Lots of love, Corina for Marco and Keiden...