Friends. And humility.

One of the really neat things about being called to lead a mission is the friends you meet, make and cultivate. Someone once told me that you can earn as much money as you want during your life, but you only have the friends with whom God crosses your path. I don't think that's exactly scriptural, but it is a reminder to cherish your friends.

Juan Acevedo lives in Lake Elsinore, a city in Riverside County about 1-1/2 hours' drive north of Tijuana. Juan has a full-time job, but travels south to feed kids breakfast. He drives a big white pickup, wears a big white sombrero. When Juan looks at you, you sense a man with a deep, burning mission. He often has a shy grin on his face, even while there is a tear forming in the corner of his eye. You just KNOW that Juan is a man of considerable character.

As we grew to know Juan, we learned that his special mission is to single out those who live in the municipal dump of Tijuana. Children sort through refuse to find edible or usable garbage - from this they earn their livelyhood. Juan has a dream to build a Comidar, or feeding kitchen, to serve these from 'the least among us'. We at Hilarious Givers are truly blessed to be able to support Juan in his mission.

Juan has suffered setbacks and roadblocks during the months we have known him; there was a period during which he was unemployed - simply not enough work for him to do. There was a time when his volunteer cooks walked off the job in Tijuana. I'm sure he has suffered other obstacles he simply kept to himself. But through it all, Juan never fails to show up during a scheduled distribution, or to volunteer to help organize between times we pass out food. He is a regular source of financial support to Hilarious Givers, even though I know he needs every penny he earns. When I question him, he gives his characteristic shrug, a little smile, and says "It's God's. Take it!"

We learned last month that Juan was to be honored - his hard work, steadfast struggle, and years of study had earned him an ordination - Juan was to be given the formal position of being a Pastor! We were thrilled. Our Brother Juan certainly deserves the recognition. I sent him a short congratulary e-mail on the big day - the day of his ceremony. Here is his response:

"Guess what Judd. I did not go to the ceremony.  I had a call from Calvary chapel to meet with David Hacking personally to show them of my mission, and to me it is more important to let the world know. There are still out there millions of people lost and hungry for the Word of God. We need to reach out for and take the Gospel to them.... a few days ago after my prayers I opened my bible, and I read Isaiah's 61:1-3. That moment  I felt that God spoke to me true his Word and I realised I already have my title from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. No man will ever give me a better one. Humble faithful and obedient to God I will pick up my cross daily and follow my Lord. I belong to God. He wants me in the fields. not in a building and that's where I'm going, with my brothers. in the dump. God bless you. I thank you for being my friend. my brother, in Jesus Christ, Glory to our father in heaven......."



Nothing more to say.

testimony

Yesterday was a full day for Debra and me. Food went out to hundreds of kids, mattresses, chairs, adult diapers to missions, churches and hospices, new missions added (current count - 52 feeding programs, orphanages, daycares, churches supported!). We were bone tired when we got home - but the following e-mail was waiting for us. Makes it all worthwhile!

Hi Judd and Debra,

It was such a blessing receiving the food today. My husband Larry and I delivered almost all the food today to Rancho De Sus Ninos orphanage in Tecate, Mexico. A small portion was left behind but we'll deliver it to the orphanage when we go down again this month.

The kids loved the food! Actually they went crazy over it. I wish you could have seen their faces. We gave the snacks to each of the 4 orphanage houses (where the 55 orphans live) and the staples to the cafeteria kitchen.

When I went inside one of the boys home and asked if they had any food, they said no. So I asked if I could take a picture of their refridgerator, it was basically empty except for a tub of margarine (pictures attached). Their pantry was also empty. The kids were all extremely grateful to receive the snacks + food. I told them to thank God for Him making it possible for a Christian organization to donate the food. They said that they were going to thank Him.

Please email us about the Packing Party. My husband and I would also like to help. God bless you for all you do! Thanks

With the roses there come thorns

This has been a week of introspection for me - some sadness, some reflection. Gotta look at the other side once in a while.

We lost a dear friend a couple of weeks ago - Steven Hibler was a guy with boundless energy and a heart for the kids. And he had a way of getting under my skin. So when he unexpectedly went to be with the Lord, I had some issues I had not settled with Steven. As so often happens, I didn't stop to think how much I really loved the guy until it was too late to share it with him. My bad. See you soon, Steven! We love what you did while you were here, and will pick up where you left off.

Debra and I went to eastern Tijuana last Sunday to help celebrate the founding of a new church. It was a real blessing - we met some new friends, and got to put the loving on some precious kids in a poor - poor - poor neighborhood. This church is a plant by another church nearby, in a somewhat more affluent, but still hurting, neighborhood. Heart warming to be able to help in our own small way - food we had earlier collected in the U.S. was being used for a pre-service dinner. Then back to work; one of my co-workers remarks something like 'why don't they just get off their lazy backsides and help themselves?' Of course, I want to shout at her and thereby persuade her that she would benefit so much by just putting aside her perceptions and reaching out to help - but I didn't. Probably the best thing is to smile and walk away. I'm happy that we had the experience of seeing 'them' getting off their backsides and planting a church.
 

We are often told by friends that they would like to help, but are afraid to cross the border because of the violence. There has been violence at the Texas/Mexico border, but no (that's right, NO) reports of violence or threats against missionairies in Baja. Meantime, 12/23/10 a man shot to death at the San Antonio de Padua church in L.A. while police watched, 12/20/10 a man found shot to death in a church parking lot in Visalia, 11/27/10 two shot leaving a church in Santa Ana, 11/16/10 a man shot to death on the steps of a church in Oakland. That's just SoCal, and just the past couple of months. I feel much safer among my hermanos y hermanas in Mexico than in many neighborhoods here. And there is plenty to be done on this side of the border - packing parties, raising awareness of the Hilarious Givers mission of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ by sharing our abundance. Donating. Making introductions. All necessary, and all without risk.

 

So, there is plenty of evil around us, and even within us. But there is hope. And love. All there for the asking - just have faith and reach out, and there it is.

 

God is good!

 

 

Starting off the new year right

Saturday was our first food distribution of 2011, and the first general distribution from our new facility. We had earlier facilitated 180 cases of high-nutritional-density "Manna Packs" to Club Dust, who serves working poor families living along the railroad tracks just east of Tijuana. That was a fairly simple exercise for Hilarious Givers; the food had been obtained by People Helping People, and Club Dust picked it all up at once. Piece of cake. But Saturday was different.

We missed a month in December; during Christmas season many churches get involved in outreaches of their own, and we were occupied with moving into our new digs. So we were apprehensive over what success we would have in our first distribution from our new facility. We shouldn't have been; things went smoothly, two new missions were added to our list of supported programs, and kids are being fed.

The numbers: 14 missions and feeding programs supplied, 1,428 kids being fed, roughly 2 1/2 tons of food distributed. But the numbers are only an imperfect measure.  Better to think of the lives touched, the children who are being fed; not just rice and vegetable soup, but fed spiritually. Kids learn of a loving God, who cares about their needs and meets those needs through the kindness of strangers.

What a blessing to be called to serve these little images of God!

Hilarious Givers: Packing Party Musings

Hilarious Givers: Packing Party Musings: "We had our first packing party at our new warehouse on Saturday. For the first time, we could open our doors to families who came ..."

Packing Party Musings

We had our first packing party at our new warehouse on Saturday. For the first time, we could open our doors to families who came to volunteer - not just the teen and near-teen sons who come with their dads to learn about serving and giving, but actual families. So besides the youngsters moving bags of vegetable soup mix from 300 pound drums to 50 pound sacks, there was a young mother herding her toddler around the office. Instead of just the guys who came to hurry through the task to get on with their Saturday routine, the ladies came and had a chance to fellowship with other hilarious givers.

What makes this important? I think it shows a certain maturing of our mission. No one would have even thought of bringing the little ones before. But now, nobody thinks a second thought about it. Kids are watching, and parents are building memories of Mom and Dad stepping up to help the less fortunate among us.

So, we prepared loads for something like 20 missions and feeding programs for this month, probably about 6,000 pounds of nutrition for needy kids. And we helped prepare our own kids for a future of service in His name. Not bad for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning!

The Family of God

What a joy to share this weekend with my family! Not the one I grew up in, not the one I married, but the one that God has led me into.

Not that I dislike my birth family or my wife or kids - quite the contrary. I cherish all that, and am thankful for each of them. But Debra and I spent this weekend with our church and mission families. We laid the foundation for this year's outreach to the orphans and other needy kids in Baja. We were joined by groups from Eastlake Church, Rancho Vista Church, Momentum Church, and an Assembly of God church whose Spanish name I don't recall. Friends from Lake Elsinore and Ramona in Riverside County made the trip to help out. We started early Saturday morning and worked through Sunday evening. And now, this morning, our first shipment of food will be arriving at our new warehouse.

This is what it must have been like when our ancestors held community barn-raising parties - everyone working toward a common goal, nobody seeking the easy way, but rather searching for the difficult task to complete. It was a lot of hard work, and could not have been accomplished without the dedication and motivation of a lot of generous folks.

We're changing lives in Baja, and feeding hungry kids. Thanks, God! Good job.