Kata

Kata is an older lady who goes to Horizonte church. She walks from her home quite a long ways to be able to catch a bus that drops her off about half a mile from the church. She had been living in a Coke stand (it's like a metal booth like you'd see at a fair where they serve elephant ears or something; here they're used as taco stands) WAY outside the city for a long time. She recently came and said excitedly to another woman at church that a relative had given her a place to live a little (but not much!) closer to the city, if she would be in charge of his land for a while. She accepted. Now Kata lives on a large piece of land with corrugated metal strapped together to make a shelter to live in. It's really cold here this week (drops down to about 45 degrees) and for a place that has no indoor heat, it's really difficult at nights. I'M cold at night because there's no heat in my house, and I live in two story, middle class house with a bed and good blankets and everything! I can't imagine what it's like for Kata. I asked her today if she is cold at night recently and she said that she is. Rebecca and I are going to find a nice warm blanket to bring her.

But the really amazing thing about Kata what happened just a few weeks ago...
Kata never went to school. Ever. There's a lot of poorer people who went through 6th grade and no further, but she never went to ANY school. So, as you can imagine, Kata can't read. She has been part of a womens' small group here at Horizonte for about a year now. It must be frustrating to be handed a group lesson and only be able to hear what the other ladies are saying about it because she can't read for herself. But a while ago, with her Bible in front of her on her lap trying to follow along, she actually understood what she was reading! She looked at the words and was able to read them silently in her head and understand! She couldn't read for all her life and then just one day she could read the Bible! And, from what I understand from her saying is that the Bible is the only book she's been able to read! She wanted sooooo badly to be able to understand the Bible for herself, and God opened her eyes and mind to be able to do just that!

The Good Old Days

Those of you who have been here in Queretaro know that I don't see a lot of poverty on a daily basis. Yes, there are the homeless people asking for money in the streets, but hey, I worked at Great Harvest Bread in downtown Salem, I think I now see about the same amount of homeless people per day as when I worked there. My friends here, as well as the young people with whom I work, aren't starving to death by any means. They have a moderate array of clothes to choose from everyday, and can generally scrounge up some money to go to a movie or grab a coffee. The people that I am with on a daily basis are your basic middle-class Mexicans.

My friend Mariana is included in this "middle-class mexican" group of friends. Mariana is an 18-year old girl who just graduated from high school. I've been meeting with her on a regular basis since the beginning of the year. Her house is small, and nothing extravigant to be sure, but they have everything they need - food (really yummy food too! her mom's an awesome cook!!), enough clothes, money to get to and from school, money to enter college in august, a roof over their heads, hot water showers, etc. And I know that if Mariana or her brother wanted a candy bar or something, they wouldn't be denied that from lack of money.

The other day I was talking with Mariana, and she was telling me about when she used to live in Ensenada (about 2 hours south of San Diego CA). After Mariana and Alan's (her little brother) biological dad died, her mom got remarried, and later THAT dad died too, so they moved to QRO about 5 years ago to be close to the grandparents. I'd known all that since I've known Mariana. But it's always interesting to me to hear more in depth about what life was like in Ensenada...

Silvia (Mariana's mom) and her husband began to build a large house in a nicer neighborhood in Ensenada when the kids were young. I don't know what happened exactly, but the money dried up and the house was never completely finished. The family was stuck with a big house (owned by the bank because of loans they couldn't pay off) and no money to eat, buy clothes, etc. In fact, they didn't have cupboards or furniture in their kitchen, and got used ones from a rich friend who remodeled her kitchen. But the cupboards went in the bedrooms to make closets for the kids. And the countertops that they had in the unfinished kitchen were plywood; the kitchen floor bare concrete. Mariana told me that she remembered that right before her dad (second dad that is) died, a team of people from San Diego came and put a countertop in the kitchen, and tiles on the kitchen floor, and patched up holes in the non-waterproof roof. She told me about receiving a basketball from a team that came to help at their church, and she was SO happy to have the ball, she and her mom cried because Silvia couldn't have afforded to ever buy Mariana a basketball. Mariana and Alan remember receiving "Operation Christimas Child" boxes from Samaritan's Purse, and Mariana even told me with a smile on her face that she was so happy to open a box that had a doll, gloves, and toothbrush and paste in it! They even received their clothes from people from the States who gave away their used clothes. (Mariana and I wonder if they ever got MY clothes, we think it's funny that I went to Ensenada in 1999, and they were still living there, and were poor then!)

It's so hard for me to imagine all this for this family. God is so good; once they moved to QRO, Silvia's sister gave them a house, and Silvia got a good job, and they are now on their feet financially even to the point where Mariana will even enter college soon. Mariana said she was amazed, even as we sat in a coffee shop together drinking milkshakes, that it's hard to think that 6 years ago a milkshake was only a dream, a 50 cent chocolate bar was even out of reach for them! And today those things are a part of everyday life, just like they're a part of everyday life for you and me. It's amazing the miracles God works in peoples' lives...