Though it’s been three months since “Christmas on the Streets” I still want to document it - yet another testimony of God´s faithfulness, a tribute to His hand and provision… Where would we be without Him?
December came… with the expectancy of finishing up our classes…programs… the year…. My feelings were mixed: looking forward to seeing how God provided… but at the same time a little worried about how and if our expenses would be covered… With all of our adjustments in “Christmas on the Streets” and moving towards “Friendship on the Streets” in July, would people still support our event in December? We drastically cut back our numbers… but it didn´t cut back proportionately on our expenses because we made certain improvements…
Rabbit trail: When people ask how El Jordan is supported… I usually first talk about OUR VOLUNTEERS: our invaluable resource… More than 50 volunteers teach… serve… guide… help with kids… pull teeth… and much more… If we had to have a paycheck for each one of them, our budget would skyrocket… (or our outreach would have to shrink enormously)…
However, even depending heavily on volunteers, we still have to cover: wages for workers, lights, water, telephone, breakfast and lunch for almost 30 boys (5 times a week), milk and diapers for the babies, materials for our crafts… and more… These costs are barely covered by donations sent in to Avant Ministries plus local gifts and what we make from renting out our soccer field at the boys´ shops… (At the end of 2016, El Jordán´s account at the mission was over 15,000 CDN in the red from the monthly monies sent to us.) Any extra expenses like “Christmas on the Streets”, “Friendship on the Streets”, Open houses, our Education Fund, running our kids´ program, “Mercy Breakfast” (this used to be Pastor´s breakfast) and other activities all get covered with extra gifts of God´s grace…
Back to my update… The government only required ONE Christmas bonus for 2016…(instead of two extra wages in December) I sighed with relief, “Finances won´t be so stretched this Christmas.” Hmmm…. On December 15th we got a citation from the municipality regarding El Jordán´s tax situation… We had been reassessed (sounds like Monopoly)… and the adjustments were taken back 5 years… Stacked on top of that was a fine for not paying those bills (also taken back 5 years!)… It was crazy… we were owing over $11,000 US…
That was our backdrop to Christmas this year - the backdrop to another performance of God´s mercy and grace…
For our Christmas celebration at El Jordán, all of our moms (about 35) and their children (about 90 under 11 years old) and the teenagers from our programs (about 36) ALL get a gift (for the kids this is a toy plus some clothes or shoes)… Other than the teenage girls´ gifts which were financed apart from El Jordan, we only had to buy ONE gift… Our “special” storage room held gifts handpicked for EVERYONE… God´s wonderful provision!!!
At El Jordán we are divided into three teams, points being earned for attendance, verses and participation… At the end of the year each family on the winning team receives a gift grocery basket… Giving only to the winning team cuts back by 2/3rds how many baskets we prepare…but it is still a sizeable expense… In December we were blessed beyond measure – through a local children´s home (who works with young kids whose medical problems prohibit them being placed in regular children’s´ homes…) They have their own needs but they generously shared their surplus of food with us!!! We were called from a local food company that we had been chosen to receive a two ton donation of food… We had enough food to make up food baskets for not only the winning team – but the other teams too! On top of that we also were able to share from OUR surplus to other ministries who had needs as well… God´s marvelous provision!!!
Major changes were made to “Christmas on the Streets” in 2016… We asked churches to reach out… not to the multitudes – but to the 2 or 3 (or 6 or 12) – street people that they could actually name… sit down beside… SHARE with… rather than handing out hundreds of plates in areas where it has become popular (for example: intersections) to hand out food and gifts (feeding greed and covetousness rather than a hungry stomach and soul) Our target: those small pockets of people scattered ALL across the city… on the park benches… or street corners… or under the bridges or in the woods where others fear to tread…
I was disappointed in the churches this year… I think for many it was “easier” to take larger “orders” to the nameless many… rather than 3 plates – to “Josué”, “Mario” and “Pedro” - who you might see every day 2 blocks from your house… In spite of being disappointed , I´m completely convinced we made a wise decision in bringing NAMES not numbers to our activity…
For places like jail and special homes where we used to support them through our “Christmas on the Streets”, in some cases we saw that it was no longer necessary… and in other cases, we shared ingredients with them: rice, chickens and pork… that they could prepare and share with others… Another great change…
Our students used to pick up their Christmas food at El Jordán as well… However, we´ve noticed that for most, it is no longer the only food they eat that day… Many try to cook something special at night… like tradition dictates… SO… we implemented another change… We grew our chickens at our property really BIG… between 8 and 11 pounds… and they were put away in the freezer… We butchered pigs… and divided them into family sized chunks… Our girls were THRILLED to received one or two huge chickens… plus pork… and rice… They were able to cook and share their blessing with OTHERS… It was amazing…
Between our students, jail and other ministries, we gave out ingredients for over 900 people… and we actually only cooked for about 700… We cut the chicken and potatoes from our menu… and made extra-special rice, roasted plantain… a BIG chunk of pork and a nice serving of roast beef my Uncle Norman prepared ahead of time… Again… amazing…
It wouldn´t be “Christmas on the Streets” without some stress… there were some ordeals with the chickens… a broken windshield… a stuck truck… and a drunk butcher…
The main place I went to share “Christmas” was a wooded area near the river… We were a mix matched group… an orphan, an ex-street girl, a high class lady… and me… There happened to be a soccer game right near the pathway into the woods where the drug addicts live… and only a few braved coming out…
An obviously poor family walked by… mom, dad… a little 2 year old girl and baby… They were very grateful for food and gifts… We found out they were Christians… that lived in “Puerto Busch”… a no-man´s land, a clandestine neighborhood – between the drug addicts´ wooded area and the river… invisible on Google Map… and invisible to the thousands of people who drive by there every day… never imagining that 58 families live behind those trees…
I had heard of this place… and wanted to “go in”… but there are reasons why it is clandestine… and you don´t just “go in”… It’s by invitation only and under the protection of someone who lives there…
We asked if we could send some food in with them for the most needy… and they offered to take us in! The husband stayed “outside” to guard my vehicle… and we went in with our new friend “Mariela”… We carefully crossed a little stream… climbed some stairs… and over a little ridge was “Puerto Busch”… I could imagine Robin Hood living there… It’s indescribable. It was like we had walked into a different world… no streets… little pathways wandering through trees leading to different shacks and rooms…
Mariela took her job of leading us to the “most needy” very seriously… Our first stop was “Pancho´s” shack… He was a grandpa… lived alone… and said he hadn´t eaten since the day before… We were led to other grandpas and grandmas… to the family who all suffer from epilepsy… to the girl with Down´s Syndrome… to the young single mom with lots of children and to the lady who was just operated on… and that´s where our food ended… It was an incredible experience…
Mariela asked us if we could go with her to one more place… a little place of prayer in the woods… carefully decorated with stones… plants and grass carefully planted and cared for… Hmmm… I felt more at home and peace under those trees than many a church I´ve stepped into… I felt like I was on holy ground…
We were led back through the winding pathways… one last wave to “Pancho”… down the stairs… across the log and stones to make it across the stream… up the other stairs… and we were back out into the bright sunlight and hot wind from “our” world… cars whizzing by… oblivious to the invisible neighborhood right beside them…
But not invisible to our God… our God who had amazingly provided a special “touch” on Christmas day… to some of the most forgotten… and the most needy… What a God we serve! Thank you precious Father!
No food or gifts left… “Christmas on the Streets” was over for another year… (actually… only a few months until “Friendship on the Streets”…) Hopefully one day we can make it back into no man´s land…
Thanks to everyone who participated with us for “Christmas” – whether through your prayers… or gifts… Thank you for allowing us to do this!
After “Christmas”… cleaning… we thoroughly enjoyed several weeks with my parents... They were able to visit during our “quiet” time of the year when El Jordán is closed… Thanks Mom and Dad… it was wonderful!
Then it was back to reality… planning… trying to figure out 2017, our priorities, calendar and adjustments… and then we had got very bad news… we had gathered up almost $5000 US and made a payment towards our taxes… when we were informed we were still owing over $10,000 US! I could not believe it…I NEVER, EVER imagined that it would go up so fast… I seems like the size of our building has been reassessed AGAIN… and although we ´ve talked to the office… to our lawyer… there isn´t a way to contest it… Well… we were offered another under-the-table way to make it all disappear… but that´s not an option for us… As fast as we could, we got another $2500… and we were still owing $9300!!!! It´s been a discouraging, desperate and heavy time for me personally…while life continues spinning on the home front and with the program in full course at El Jordán… In the midst of it all I´ve tried to keep in front of my eyes God´s FAITHFULNESS… and His provision for us ALWAYS… We´ve now paid a total of about $10000 US… and have arranged a loan through the mission to pay it off in full hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday… Please pray with us specifically:
- as we make adjustments to be able to pay off our loan on a monthly basis.
- That God would build up a family of supporters specifically for El Jordán as a ministry… to be able to keep our general fund in the black… and with a buffer which would serve to keep up on our maintenance needs before they become bigger problems.
- That God would protect us… our family…our team… and the ministry… as many times we feel in the middle of a battle…
- For Tim and Chantelle Plant who will be joining our team on April 13th… as they adjust, settle and continue studying Spanish.
Thank God with us for:
- A very special “Christmas on the Streets”…
- For HIS leading, guiding and providing…
- For Carlos – our administrator since August… and pray for him as he continues to learn the “ropes”
- The good team of people we have working with the boys at the workshops…and with the moms and kids…
THANK YOU for sharing in this ministry with us… We appreciate you…and thank God for you!
Lots of love,
From Corina for Marco, Keiden and Marlee…
…for everyone at El Jordán… Santa Cruz, Bolivia