You Don't Remember Me, Do You?

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Published: Saturday, 31 January 2009 16:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

Arriving at the jail door on Wednesday my eyes met with those of a man, obviously a drug addict, pacing back and forth.  I had already passed him when he said, “Hermana Corina.” 

I turned around and looked a bit more closely… 25 years old?  Eyes incredibly bloodshot…  Arms covered with scars… some self inflicted… others from fights from the streets… one wound was still fresh - a slash across his arm, still a little open and crusted with blood… his teeth were all discolored and rotting… My mind raced to try and remember…

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

I looked into his eyes again… beyond the glassiness and swollen veins… and I saw a little boy…

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Alone???

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Published: Thursday, 08 January 2009 16:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

…just a note… this is probably a PG rated note…

Hi there... well… here I am writing again… don’t worry… this one won’t be that long!!!!

Last night, Marco and I had a hard time getting to sleep… we received a phone call after midnight from Rosario… another of our students (Mery) had just arrived to her “house”… her husband/boyfriend (whatever you want to call him) had stabbed her in the leg… She is tired of the abuse… she is tired of fighting by herself to provide for her family… she is tired of being threatened… pushed around…abused…

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Christmas On The Streets 2008

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Published: Monday, 05 January 2009 16:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

In one of my Bible studies at El Jordan, we were studying 1 Peter... where we’re reminded that the “end” is getting close... and in order to “pray well”, we need to be sober and clear headed...  We realized that on the tip of our tongues, our priorities seemed very clear...  They sounded really good... but when we actually started thinking about our everyday living, decisions and habits... our priorities weren’t nearly so clear cut... 

When we started our planning for “Christmas on the Streets” we came back to the same lesson...  We rhymed off our priorities as to WHO we were reaching out to...

1.      Groups of drug addicts and people on the streets

2.      Students from El Jordan and their families

3.      People in extreme  poverty... 

HOW?  Local churches and organizations reaching out at Christmas (a sad and lonely time for many) with a great meal and a message of love and hope... with the hopes of sowing deeper reaching connections between Christians and the lost and needy around them...

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Can You Guess What $230 Can Buy?

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Published: Sunday, 14 December 2008 16:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

Well… here we are… only 10 days from Christmas… Wow… Some of you have been asking about “Christmas on the Streets”… so I wanted to let you know how things are going… before its here and gone!!!!

It was back in October that I started getting reminders that Christmas was near…  I answered my phone one day… it took me a bit to recognize the little voice on the other end of the phone… “Hola Tia”  (Hi Auntie)…  Hmm… all of my nephews are a long way away… it couldn’t be any of them…  Then the voice went on to say… “Are you going to come to our house on Christmas night again this year?”  These are five little siblings… the oldest must be about 13 now… and the youngest maybe two years old… Their mom no longer lives on the streets… but her life hasn’t changed…  She still goes to the streets to make money… leaving her kids locked in her one room mud “house” when she is gone…  You might remember years ago when the mom was admitted into the hospital unexpectedly… the kids were left locked in the room, and she had the key…  We “rescued” them that Christmas…

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