CHRIST IS THE ANSWER

How many times have you heard it said, "find a need and meet it"?  In Juarez, Mexico the needs come at you faster than you can think. But along the way come some needs that require something more than a prayer.  

Recently I received a call about a some kids that needed a good meal at least once a week.  I had been in that neighborhood before and I visited with a family there.  As with most places in Juarez the houses in the neighborhood have been abandoned due to the mass exodus caused by the violence.  Hundreds of thousands of people have left Juarez since 2007. Most of the people who remain in Juarez are the very poor.  They can't afford to leave.  At one time there was a place in this particular neighborhood that was feeding the kids on Saturday morning.  However the people running the small feeding center decided to use the donated food for themselves and sell the rest to appease their drug habit.  When they fed the kids, for entertainment they would have the boys fight each other.  For three months the kids have not received anything.  Some were still coming on Saturdays in hopes of finding something to eat.  They returned home with empty stomachs.  The Christian people living close to this place spoke to me about all this.  When I was there a few months ago I gave them my number and now they were calling me for help.  I went back, visited, and investigated the problem.  I knew something had to be done but I did not want to deal with the people who were stealing the food that a group from El Paso was giving them to feed the kids.  I asked a family, Juan and Lupe and their kids, living a few houses from the "feeding center" if they would be willing to help set up a lunchroom using their home and the two abandoned houses next to them. They agreed and we got things rolling.  I knew a ministry that was selling chairs so I went and bought them. Nineteen chairs for $60US.  Juan found some plywood and made 2 tables.  I also purchased the food and delivered it a couple of days early so that a menu could be planned. 

We set last Saturday morning as the first day the new lunchroom.  I asked them to pass the word around.  They commented that some people were afraid to come only because they thought that it was the same lunchroom as before.  They reassured them that this time things were going to be different.  We had 20 kids show up on Saturday.  The Lord provided a lady who wanted to do a Bible study with the kids and I also gave them the plan of salvation using the wordless Bible.  Within minutes all the kids, except for a little boy (pictured above), knew the plan of salvation.  The kids had a great time.  Most had 2 big plate fulls of good food.  I have not become insensitive to the constant barrage of needs that I see daily.  I fought back my emotions as I watched the children eat and learn.  

I stay busy in Juarez.  A lunchroom was not something that I was looking for.  But when the need smacks you in the face you must take action.  I'm sure this will grow quickly.  Soon parents will start coming as well.  Before long there will  be a church there.  This lunchroom will be a huge blessing to these kids who need to be loved and need to hear that Jesus loves them. 

Four miles from the lunchroom is where Juan and Lupe and their kids go to church. They walk to church. Their Pastor wanted to meet me. The name of the church is CHRIST IS THE ANSWER. The Pastor, Enrique Ramirez, showed me a few burned timbers around the church. Their old church was burned down. Arson.  For five years they have struggled to rebuild a new church.  When I first saw the church I swallowed hard.  It looked like maybe a handful of people congregated there. I was wrong. Almost 200 come to the Sunday service. But there are no funds to continue to build the church.  These are very poor people. Most of the church is without a roof.  They placed tarps over the top to try to keep the sun out. The wind whips the tarps around and you can hear the snapping during the delightful and joyous services. The church is in the middle of the desert, about a 1/4 mile from a hardtop road.  The real cold weather will be here soon.  Pastor Ramirez dreams of enclosing the building which is actually 2 donated trailers with a large open space between them.

Last Sunday Pastor Ramirez baptized 21 members with a baptistry that I let him borrow.

It's hard to believe that so many walk so far to get to this church.  They are almost outdoors without heat or cold air, and no running water.  Water for the commode is hauled in.  Yet the people smile, sing, and rejoice before the Lord.  They seem to be the happiest people on earth.  

Life here is very simple.  No one worries about big houses, where the next vacation will be, the car payment, and so on.  They have something to eat today and something to wear.  Tomorrow is another day.   

Daniel Torres
11985 Pellicano
Ste. G, Box169
El Paso, TX 79936

For tax credit:
Covenant Fellowship
P.O. Box 8126
Searcy, AR 72145

COME OVER TO JUAREZ...AND HELP US.

CITY OF JUAREZ: THE BIBLE IS THE TRUTH. READ IT. 

TWO OF THE LATEST ADDITIONS

FRONTERIZA BAJA

HUECO TANKS PARK 

HUECO TANKS PARK IN EL PASO

 

I put in 222 miles on my SUV in three days while visiting different Pastors and Ministries in Juarez this past weekend. 

HUECO TANKS PARK IN EL PASO

I had the joy of visiting a ministry that I had never visited before.  It's called Emmanuel Ministries (visit www.emmanuelgo.org).  This ministry has celebrated 50 years in Juarez.  They are located very close to a landmark mountain in Juarez (see picture).   They work with orphans and children who have been abused and mistreated.  Currently they have 40 kids who have parents but the State only allows the kids to be with their parents from Friday evening through Sunday morning.  If the child is not returned by Sunday morning the authorities are contacted.  As soon as the children are brought back Sunday morning a nurse examines the kids for abuse.  Then they are signed back into this ministry.  After 50 years of ministry Emmanuel has grown into a facility with excellent services.  I was given a tour by the daughter of the man who founded Emmanuel.  He still lives across the street from Emmanuel.  He is 77 years old. She told me that before the crime wave hit Juarez that they had about 20 teams a year visit Emmanuel Ministries.  Today they are down to one team of Americans from Minnesota.  This team from Minnesota uses a basketball camp to minister to the children.  The kids love it.  When I entered the building many kids ran up to me and started hugging me and asking me all sorts of personal questions.  They wanted to know why the Americans have quit coming (gulp!!!).  As with all ministries in Juarez, Emmanuel Ministries struggles financially.  But the Lord always puts something in their plates.  The government does not help these ministries.  If anything, they just keep making the rules more and more difficult.  Some ministries have been forced to shut down due to the new government regulations.  A can of corn on the shelf that expired a day ago is enough to shut down a ministry.  

Emmanuel Ministries has living quarters for teams that come to minister to the children.  I would like to see such a place filled with visitors.  

Two hours before arriving at Emmanuel Ministries I found a place where I can buy bulk food at good prices.  I bought 250 pounds of potatoes (5 bags at 50 lbs. each) for $59.  I left 100 pounds of potatoes at Emmanuel. 

Spanish American Evangelistic Ministries (which I have mentioned in the past) also welcomes small teams (less than 20) who want to minister in Juarez.  S.A.E.M. is on the El Paso side of the Border.  The facilities there are very good.  Teams that want to visit Juarez but prefer to sleep on the U.S. side may get permission to stay at S.A.E.M. 

What am I saying?  I'm saying that the American teams need to return to Juarez,  and Mexico.  The blessings are on a two-way street.  You can't bless someone without being blessed also.  Mexico is ready for the teams to come back.  The Macedonian call has been sent out again.  We need help. 

One of the frustrating things that I face once in a while is when corrupt individuals take advantage and abuse the help to the needy.  Case in point:  I found out about a small group of people who are taking food given for hungry children and families and selling it to appease their addictions.  Someone called me to tell me of this.  So for three months kids and families who normally get a free meal on Saturdays have been left waiting.  But some still show up in hopes that things will change.  This place is about 15 minutes from my house.  I found a church that will help me.  I asked them to run a feeding center close to this area and I'll take care of providing the food.  We will have nothing to do with the people stealing the food.  We will let the Lord handle that.  I already took them potatoes, rice, and beans (25 lbs. of each).  We start next Saturday inside an abandoned house.  This week I will try to find some used chairs and tables.  I will also purchase disposable plates and spoons.  The church will provide the cooks and the Bible lessons.  I'm sure before long we will have 100 or more people show up.  (James 1:27:  Religion that our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress....).  Juarez is loaded with orphans and widows.  Here is where the heart of God beats. 

I took the rest of the potatoes to a girls refuge (to Marycruz, for those who have been here and know her), and to another orphanage (Cesia's). 

I want to share a story about a trip I made to Cecia's orphanage 2 Saturdays ago.  This orphanage is struggling to feed their kids. On Sundays they also try to feed people from the surrounding poor neighborhood.  I keep them on top of my list for food.  Two Saturdays ago I had two events planned but both fell through.  I had some rice and beans that I was taking to Cecia's on Sunday but since I was not too busy on Saturday I decided to go to Cecia's that day.  I brought them rice and beans (25 lbs each).  When I got there  one of the ladies asked me about a man who had been there the previous day (Friday).  Surprised, I told her that I had no idea who that man was.  She said that she was washing dishes and when she looked up there was a man on the other side of the window.  Then he walked inside the orphanage, which he is not supposed to do.  She asked him why he had walked inside and all he could say was that he came to tell them that Brother Daniel would be in the next day with food for them.  She kept telling him that he was not supposed to just walk in.  He repeated himself about Brother Daniel, which is what they call me at Cecia's.  Then he calmly walked out.  She followed him out the door and when she looked up he had disappeared into thin air.  Then she remembered that I never have sent anyone to announce my coming before.  Besides, they are practically in the middle of the desert.  She asked me again who that man was...she even described him to me, including the colors he was wearing.  I had no explanation...I told her that I had just made the decision to go there 2 hours before arriving.  We just stared at each other with big eyes and a silly grin. 

We have had more rain than normal lately, a welcomed blessing.  However, this is a desert and the system in Juarez is not prepared for even small amounts rain.  Some parts of the city had floods.  The pastor in whose church we are raising chickens was proud to tell me that only one chicken drowned.  A church member found them in water that was knee-deep.  A couple of people around that vicinity also came close to drowning.  

About three years ago I was in Juarez on a missions trip with the Arkansas team.  On our last day of ministry it started to rain.  We witnessed how God miraculously cleared up the heavens around us while we ministered outdoors.  It rained all around us for hours but not in our circle of ministry.  We got up early the next morning to depart and it was still raining.  We had to push the van out of a mud hole to get on the road.  On my return to Arkansas I was informed that the rains had continued and that Juarez was flooded.  I asked if I needed to fly back to help with a few outreaches to the needy and I was asked to come.  Within days I was back in Juarez.  It was a very different Juarez than the one I had just left.  The bare and rocky mountains that I had seen before were now covered with a tint of green as seeds which had been blown up there months and years before began to take on new life.  The streets were littered with debris as they had been turned into rivers washing away pallet houses, frame houses, and even vehicles.  Many people drowned, including children.  Dead animals were all over.  We visited two Colonias, Fronteriza Baja and Fronteriza Alta, that were hit especially hard since they were completely surrounded by mountains. We brought a lot of food and clothing to these poor people. The government brought in no help. It was here that, after a long day of giving out all we had, that a group of about 30 people stood around waiting. The sun had long gone down, we were using car headlights to see. These people were loaded down with bags of food and clothing. I walked over to them to tell them that we had nothing else to give. They said that they were waiting around because they wanted us to introduce them to our God. I couldn't believe my ears. Did I really hear that? I spoke to them for a while and led them all to the Lord. All those unforgettable memories of that trip filled my heart when I visited those two Colonias again last Sunday. I even wept again. I drove around and came to the same spot where all that occurred. I went to a church just a few blocks from that site. I was thrilled to walk in and see the church fill up with 250+ people. I wondered how many of these sitting in church I had led to the Lord during those days, and if they would remember me. But what mattered was that this Colonia and these precious folk had survived. 

People all over the world face traumatic experiences in their lives. But when they reach out and grab Jesus by the hand, as Peter did one day when he stepped out of a boat and he began to sink, they learn that they can survive anything. Christians here in Juarez know just how to do that. They have faced obstacles that their fellow brothers in other nations cannot even begin to imagine. And they know how to survive, because if there is one thing that they have learned, it's to reach out and grab the extended hand of Jesus.  

Thanks to all those who are keeping me here with their support.



Daniel Torres 
11985 Pellicano
Suite G, Box 169
El Paso, TX 79936
1-501-827-7679

For tax receipts:
Covenant Fellowship
P.O. Box 8126
Searcy, AR 72145