Home Safely

When God taps you on the shoulder and asks you to step outside your comfort zone, you answer the call. This wasn't a particularly convenient time in my life to take an 8 day trip to Mexico. I missed Halloween (this is a big day for parents of little ones). I missed my family. The drug cartel situation in Juarez had been escalating for quite some time. I knew all of these things when I said 'sign me up.' I'm not even sure how those words came out of my mouth. All I know is that there was an overwhelming urge inside of me to participate in this mission. Turns out that the 'liaison church' in El Paso was 15 teams short this year due to economic and safety reasons. So I have no regrets about my choice. I'm glad I was there to help and strongly feel that I was called to do so.

On Tuesday, October 27th 2009, 19 people were killed in Juarez Mexico. But on Tuesday, October 27th...120 people were also given the gift of vision and heard the message of Christ. Tuesday holds no special significance. 19 murders is an ordinary every day occurrence in Juarez. I would like to say we made a small attempt at outweighing the negativity of the crime and drug situation in this area. Overall, our clinic served 500 patients in 4 days (2 different sites): Cristo Rey and San Pablo . I'm told a clinic can easily serve twice as many, though I don't remember any down time. There was a steady stream of patients from the beginning to end of each day. Wednesday was a little slower. The weather was 40 degrees and rainy which is unfortunately a huge deterrent as most visitors only method of transportation is to walk. My first instinct is to focus on the numbers, but I have to remind myself that's not what's important here.

If I tried to put into words everything that's on my mind right now, this post would be way too long. I'll try to encapsulate just a few highlights of my experience....

1. Every visitor to the clinic had the option of leaving after they received their new glasses, but 95% stayed and patiently waited to visit the witness station. They listened to the Pastors with great intensity and asked questions. You can't force this kind of thing on anyone but they were happy and grateful to hear the message that was being offered. You could almost sense what was being said even if you weren't fluent in Spanish. It was an awesome thing to see. Also, one of our Pastors was 85-years-old! He totally amazed me...

2. I offered to work at the 'testing' station and was terrified on our first day when I felt that I might not have been trained enough and wasn't ready. After 15-20 minutes it was old routine and I was totally comfortable and very happy with the position I chose. I could even speak Spanish when my translator was busy!

3. The most common prescription handed out was usually +1 or -1. Actually, anything in the range of -5 to +5 was still pretty normal but I had a few exceptional cases. A legally blind man came into the clinic on Tuesday and I was able to get him to read the second line of the chart from three feet away with an -11.25! He was so happy to be able to see anything at all. I imagine this would be a huge help for even simple tasks like walking or simply leaving the house without being fearful.

4. On Tuesday I found out that Justin was sick with a 102 fever. I was feeling totally guilty and worried about him. My entire team stopped everything they were doing and prayed for him to get better. The next day he was feeling fine and even took 2nd place in a school pumpkin decorating contest.

5. A young boy, probably about 10-years-old hugged me and kissed me on the cheek after his dad was tested for glasses. He had the sweetest little angel face on the planet!

6. On the last day of clinic we had closed the doors and were packing up. One of our team members happened to see an elderly woman standing by the entrance. She was being told by a Spanish speaking man that we were closed and not taking any more patients. Our team member ran outside and pulled her out of the cold. We unpacked our things, got her registered and sent her home with two pairs of glasses. Turns out she had missed us on the last day at our previous site and finally caught a bus from the other side of town to make it to us on Thursday.

7. The funds needed for me to take this trip came in so fast and so generously, I collected well over the necessary amount and was able to present Ysleta Lutheran Mission with a check for the remainder, which most likely will help with food baskets that they pass out each and every week to needy residents.

8. On our last day in Mexico we witnessed an exceptionally dramatic drug bust at the U.S. border.

Because of the local news and some of our team members with laptops, I was aware of the violence happening in Juarez while we were there. But if not for that information, I would have been none the wiser. The people of Juarez are very laid back, soft spoken and have a cheerful and happy disposition. Fortunately the violence stays almost exclusively within the drug communities, but it still affects everyone. They are praying for answers and want desperately for this to come to an end. I'm not sure why the Mexican border is so lax in their methods. It's hard for me to understand, but I do know there is a horrible lack of funding and resources. Please continue to pray for Juarez and support missions to this area. They live in extreme poverty and even have to watch their backs over something as simple as eyeglasses for fear they will be stolen. They live in conditions that most of us would not let our pets live in. Houses are made of any material available and even simple maintenance cannot be afforded. Most of the people I saw obviously did not have enough money to see a dentist, an optometrist or even a doctor. Additionally, the kidnapping, rape and murder of young women is now on the rise. As you can see, at the border there is a cross and each nail represents and female life lost due to violence. The sign reads 'Ni Una Mas' (not one more). It is my hope that peace can be restored to Juarez. They've been suffering long enough. I have never been more grateful to live in the United States than I was after this trip.

I uploaded probably one fourth of the pictures I took, otherwise it would have been way too many to browse through. You can see them by clicking here. I've added a few captions too...