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Recently, we picked up some grilled chicken to celebrate a birthday with the Renteria family! It was really good chicken and smelled great!! The animals were camped outside the door waiting for any little morsel that might get tossed outside. This little kitten is named, “Kitty” she was pretty persistent in her quest for food!
We just got three huge boxes of materials and pillows. Thanks!! We really did mean, “Hit me with a pillow.”
People can really decide how they want to help. They can send money or materials. We would like to be able to give pillows to people in the community for Christmas gifts!
Pillows & Fabrics ranges the same from $5-50.
I got this email from Sarah Fowler with the sewing stuff. It’s a pattern that she put together for us. You may be able to get that put up as a project that people can donate to, or even a womens ministry could sew them and send them.
We can have a handful of women sew them and we can give them out around the community. It could be a big help to them come the holidays.
We are regularly hosting a sewing “class”. I have class in quotes, becuase it’s more of a group learning session with no REAL teacher! Esmeralda and I are not seamstresses. I am definitely not one. None the less we meet. We sew. We talk. We cut out bad stitching. We laugh. We learn. It’s a good time.
We have a variety of ladies that come. Each week the “class” is hosted at Reuben Renteria’s home. We have enough electricity to run two machines. No lights, only machines. Once dusk begins to arrive, sewing finishes. Patty is the hostess, she invites different ladies for each class. They range from the older lady with a blind eye that barely sees enough to sew on her own, to young girls still in middle school. What a great bunch! Even when it’s hard to sew, the joyful smiles that float around the room are addictive!!
The most recent project has been pillow cases. They are so simple, I could probably make one! I was a bit surprised that this is what we were making. I figured curtains for windows made sense; curtains are expensive, but pillow cases? Even though I am here and I see the conditions and I know some of the stories of need and poverty, I am still a foreigner. I do not understand.
Imagine having to make a choice between eating this week and buying a pillow case…I would probably go with the food myself. What a joy to have the blessing of free fabric and use of machines!! The pillow cases are far from store quality, but they are good and free!
The last “class” we had; ended in a conversation about giving. Giving the gift of pillows and cases! We thought that if we could make a handful of cases and then find a store that would be willing to donate pillows, we could bless a few families! What a wonderful idea. So simple.
So this is where we find ourselves…looking for pillows and planning on making cases!
We are in the process of reworking our ministry blog. We’ll be making a few changes in the next few weeks. hopefully it will be a more user friendly setup and a more informative structure.
thanks for checking the site in the meantime!!
Isaac had his very first birthday party! His mom (Paty) and dad (Chuy) wanted to do it up big because he is five and they haven’t even had a cake for him in the past.
The Onnemi Team was invited along with family memebers and friends from around the neighborhood! we had a great time celebrating, playing and eating!!! Oh what fun to turn five!!!
Our first day at the site was perhaps the longest and perhaps the most difficult day.
Day 1 consisted of getting to the site, accessing your building needs and then going to get them; starting the kids club, finding you are totally unprepared for what is, and then adjusting for the remainder of the week. Let’s break the week down to two categories: 1. Bathroom 2. Kids
1. 1. Bathroom:
Meet Patty and Chuy: Patty is Mr. Renteria’s daughter, Chuy is her husband. Patty and Chuy have been the primary caretakers for Mr. Renteria now that he is paralyzed. They have lost more nights of sleep, more opportunities to work, and more money than they can keep track, on account of their sacrifice for Mr. Renteria. It’s been hard for them, but it has also been good for them.
Patty and Chuy have a daughter, Janet. She just started 8th grade this week. A few years ago, Patty and Chuy had to make a difficult decision: “Do we send our daughter to school, or do we build a bathroom?” However difficult the choice; they made the right one. Janet is in school. They use an outhouse and bathe in a tin tub which also serves as their laundry.
Meet the LOGOS team: Heard of the need, knew how to help, and built a bathroom. The plan for the bathroom consisted of digging and building a septic tank, pouring the foundation and floor, installing the plumbing, building and sheeting walls, shingle the roof, install fixtures and lights, build and tile a standing shower big enough for a wheelchair! Sounds like a lot of work right?!?! I’d say enough for one week.
2. 2. Kids:
Meet the Community: Minimum wage is roughly $5 dollars a day. It is said that 8 out of 10 families are run by at least one alcoholic parent. More than 50% of the population is under 18 years old. Corruption rules and deception is considered normal behavior. There is little hope and even less trust for others. Kids are everywhere, they long for a place to be loved. Christ is the answer, Christ is the way, Christ is hope, and Christ is love.
Meet the LOGOS team: Brought music, games, crafts, lessons, but most of all LOVE. Time spent with kids is invaluable in the Kingdom. Christ loved children in a way that baffled his disciples. This team loved kids in a way that made Christ very real to them!
Sunday we had a closing service for the kids and their families. We invited everyone we came across. We told them to invite their families, friends, cousins, neighbors, cats, dogs, etc. Anyone and everyone were welcome to join the festivities!! In hopes for a huge crowd we bought a BIG pig and Chuy butchered it and cooked “Carnitas”.
Carnitas is a type of braised or roasted (often after first being simmered) pork in Mexican cuisine. The traditional way to cook carnitas is in a copper pot which disperses the heat evenly. You begin by using enough lard to cover all the meat you will cook. Once the lard has melted, add pork and flavorings (usually salt, oregano, marjoram, thyme, bay leaf, crushed garlic cloves), then add orange juice. The trick to traditional carnitas is to simmer the meat until tender over a very low heat. Once the meat is tender, the heat is turned up, and the outside of the pork will begin to get crisp. Once this is done, the carnitas can be cooled and shredded.
Including our team, we had about 100 people at the party! What a great time we had! Our team shared some testimonies and the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the food was ready, we had a great time eating and spending time with families and kids.
Our team sang and worshiped well beyond the end of the service. Everyone was moved by a great joy and a deep love as Christ ministered through His Spirit! They offered a great picture of Christ’s love for the kids to see and experience. No one wanted to leave; the kids, the mothers that were around, even our own team. We knew that God was with us and that He was very pleased. Jesus told his disciples, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples–when they see the love you have for each other.”
The following are pictures that may better recount the evening:
We thank God for bringing LOGOS into our path. What a wonderful week of ministry and service to the King!!
It was difficult saying goodbye, we have grown to love this team and feel as though they are family!
We look forward to seeing them again in the future whether here, there, or in the sky.
God bless the LOGOS team and their efforts. May they continue to grow in the depth of their love and their understanding of Christ the creator and sustainer of all!
We wish you all PEACE.
We’ve been on break for a few days here in El Paso/Juarez area.
The mission team from Chicago left Tuesday and the Onnemi team crashed out.
What a great and exhausting week!! In the next couple of days, we will be posting pictures, and reflections of the time we had with the Logos Baptist Church youth!
