Enrique also brought his sons in to introduce us to them. I don't remember their names but please pray for both of them. His youngest is eleven and is a happy young man. His oldest is 17 and has been diagnosed with Autism. This diagnosis came far later than it would have in a place like Canada. Some credit can be given to Greg and Shelly for helping to identify some of his symptoms and helping Enrique to find resources on the internet to investigate it further so that he could be properly diagnosed. His son right now has been struggling with coming to church and needs prayer to help him with some of his Autism symptoms as well. Enrique's wife left him years ago because of the difficulties with their oldest boy. Enrique works hard and cares for his boys full time and could certainly use our prayers too. He sent us off by saying something like, "I will pray for you all and may God be with you all!"
As we toured the Triki village, our tour guide for the day shared the story of one young girl who at the age of 13 was sold into marriage. When she did not become pregnant right away she was given back to her family only to be sold for a pile of firewood to another man. When she had a daughter of her own she gave her up in the hopes that she would not have to live the life that she had. This young girl who was given to the Casa Hogar de Gracia (the children's home we worked at) is a beautiful 12 year old young lady now who continually smiles. It was sweet to see her desire to sing for us, even though she was quite shy. She has a beautiful voice which she shared with us as she sang us a song in english that she had been learning. As she sang 'Jesus Loves Me' to our group she reflected the hope that is being given to each of the children who live in this home. Please pray for Griselda that she will continue to grow in her faith and love for Jesus!One final young man that I wanted to tell you all about is Miguel. Miguel has a long story and I could never relay all of it to you because I don't even know it all. I apologize if I get some of the details wrong but the main point I think will come through. He is presently living in Hermosillo with Greg and Shelly. He has made a commitment to the Lord at some point since coming back to Mexico. I believe he was born in Hermosillo and then moved away to the states with his family. While in California he became involved in gangs and was living quite the 'gangster' life according to Greg and Shelly. I don't know the details but his lifestyle caught up with him and two major things happened. First he was arrested and spent years in jail in the States. I'm not sure exactly how it happened but I believe he was deported back to Mexico with an agreement that he would not be allowed back into the States for ten years. So now he is free in Mexico but because of his time in prison he has many tattoos, which mark him clearly as criminal to the people in his own land. This has made it very difficult for him to get any jobs. The second thing that has happened is that he has developed kidney failure and now has to go for renal dialysis three times a week to stay alive. This is kinda like a jail sentence again! Greg and Shelly say he has been close to death several times because of his condition. They are hoping for a kidney transplant for him, but again the medical people of Mexico don't believe that he will change his ways because he is labelled as a criminal (tattoos) and this seems to be keeping him from having a chance at a transplant. Miguel has been discouraged a lot recently and disheartened with his faith. Greg had also mentioned how he fears for Miguel that if he gets a transplant that he may feel he has the freedom to go back to his previous lifestyle. He is an amazingly friendly man and has such an opportunity to reach a different group of people in Mexico. Pray that his heart will be softened to return to his relationship with the Lord. Pray that he will be able to get a kidney transplant and that he will find what God has for him in terms of education or career. Also pray for Greg and Shelly to know how to encourage him and continue to help him without enabling him.
I think that everyone on the team could go on and on with these kinds of stories. There are so many people that have become special to us. It makes it so much easier to pray for these people now that we have met them. I hope that sharing some of these stories will at least encourage all of you to pray for them as well. It isn't the same as meeting them but I hope it makes the stories of Mexico a little more personal to you all.
I would also like to thank all of the cooks that we had during our days in Mexico. What amazing food they provided each day for us! A huge thanks to Martina, Lettie, Anna Ruth, and Magdelina. I'm sure I spelled some names wrong, so I apologize for that. All these ladies helped out is some way in the kitchen and were a huge blessing to all of us. It was fun to get to know them and enjoy their food and warm greetings as we learned just a little bit of Spanish that we could practice with them.
To close, I would say that this has been a trip like no other for me! God has stretched me and challenged me. I think that the positive effect of this trip in reality will be more for us on the team than for those who we served while we were there. They will benefit some from the things we accomplished but we have learned so much and have been changed more by them in my opinion. I challenge you all to ask some of the team members what they have learned and how they will be changed.
Dwight
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