Insights From A Friend

Insights From A Friend

Dear Friends,

My name is Alicia and I asked Jeanie if I could have the privilege of writing her newsletter this month and she graciously agreed. I thought it would be helpful to some of you who haven't had the opportunity to visit Casa Del Pastor if I shared some impressions from my recent trips down. My first time to see this wonderful place was in October and I was able to visit again earlier this month. I had many questions and was very interested in the daily workings of Casa Del Pastor and it was an incredible experience to be able to go down and see God's work in action and to see what he has accomplished and to see what you are a part of as He touches and changes lives of some of his sheep in Mexico.

We know that God has a tender heart for these women and their children. God tells us that a child's angel is "Always before His face" and makes numerous provisions for windows in the Bible. God commands husbands to "love their wives", but in our sinful world this isn't always so, and many women suffer terribly. But not at Casa Del Pastor. "House of the Shepherd" their weeping has truly been turned to joy. What you notice first are the children. Their smiling, joyful faces are everywhere. They have a good place to live and every single one of them goes to school. Our own children do too, but for many of these children, their lives have not always been this peaceful and happy.

Each family has their own room with beds and dressers etc. Right now there are 10 rooms, 10 mothers and about 45 children. Each mother works and saves their money for their future. Many will buy lots and have houses built and will never have to worry about where they will live in peace again. Most work outside of Casa Del Pastor while some are paid to watch the children of those working. Every mother has duties at their house. They take turns preparing meals and the kitchen is constantly busy with people cooking and children eating and doing homework. The children are given jobs to do as well. There is not enough water pressure to support a dishwasher, so the children wash the dishes. There are always children at the sink working with smiles on their faces. They will also pick up branches, clean the hallways and do whatever else needs to be done to take care of their home. It is amazing to me that one large room (actually only about the size of my own kitchen/living room) can support so many people and serve as their kitchen/living room, but it does! The schools in San Vicente run on a double shift. Some children attend from 8:00 until 12:00 and some attend from 1:00 until 5:00. The secondary schools also run on a double schedule but start earlier. Everybody eats lunch at home, some before school and after. The children wear uniforms to school, the white and blue ones that have also been used in the States. They all have a backpack. The ones that attend school in the afternoon come and eat with a play shirt covering their uniform and then they run to their rooms and take it off before they are driven to school. Night times are some of my favorite times at Casa Del Pastor. Every child gathers into the main room and they sing Bible songs with the guitar that Lisa usually plays. The joy that radiates from their face as they sing is terrific! They receive much more than a safe place to live, they are taught about their heavenly Father who loves them and that He has a plan for their lives and who sent Jesus to die for their sins. They hear Bible stories at night and on Wednesday's they attend a Bible Club in a room attached to Jeanie's house that local children can also attend. Every Sunday the whole group, up to 60 of them, climb into busses and vans and travel over an hour to Ensenada to attend the Calvary Chapel there. They take a picnic lunch and they have a great time. They will also travel to the park or to the beach to enjoy family times together. But every night, as they gather together, they bow their heads in prayer and they take turns praying 'Father, thank you for Casa Del Pastor' and they thank Him for their families and for Jeanie (whom they call Juanita) and for the other missionaries there. They thank Him for their food and their clothes. They echo each other as they pray, it is very touching and powerful "for when two or more are gathered in my name then I will be there also".

God has raised up this place in really just a few short years and it is growing. There is a huge building already being built. The foundation is in, the septic is built (the monster hole) and the outer walls are up and are already painted with pictures of sheep and their shepherds. As I was marveling at it, I thought "how appropriate that they have the shepherd already painted on the building for our foundation is Jesus and on Him our lives need to be built".

And Christ is the center of Casa del Pastor. Each morning at 6:30 the mothers meet for Bible Study and prayer. They are not forced to attend, but it seems that almost all do. These women are not just being given a temporary place to stay but they are being given a chance to have the Lord change their lives. Even if they leave after a short time, and a few do, they will have seen Christ's love in action and their children will have been taught about God who loves them.

It is incredible, too, for me to see God in action. The missionaries will meet and pray in the evening and at other times. They rely on the Lord to provide their needs and He is first. They seem to have faith for breakfast, joy for lunch and peace for dinner. It was exciting to meet faces and put them to names that I had read about in Jeanie's letters. Jeanie and Lisa were the first missionaries. They stood together on a dusty plot of bare land and God gave them a vision and they prayed and watched Him create something incredible out of barrenness. I met Chelah, a teacher who has set up a classroom to help teach and tutor the children there. Shelly who, among other things, chaperones the children to school. (Imagine your own family and how much you drive around!) Sean and Jennifer serve at casa Del pastor and out to the work camps with the poorest of the poor. Ricardo and Norma serve with Ricardo always available for the ongoing repair needed.

How can you be involved? What do they need? Many of you have been Jeanie's faithful supporters for years and many of you have had the privilege of traveling down there, and God will richly bless you for your faithfulness, but some might be new or have never been down there (as I hadn't before October, to my shame). So here are some things I observed. First of all, we need to be very faithful to support the ministry every month. Even if you don't get a newsletter. The support you send marked for Mexico is used by Jeanie to pay bills. She gets about $600-$800 a month and uses that to buy groceries and pay bells for two weeks. Think about that. They feed about 60 people three meals a day. I know I spend a whole lot more for my family's food and bills! I was surprised that food in Mexico isn't really cheaper than food in the States and some things like rice and beans are higher! And it's against the law to take rice and beans across the border. But that's a big way to help is by being faithful. They can use donations of items too, clothes, especially boys clothes. Furniture, ant furniture you don't need or can pick up cheaply for them such as dressers, etc. If your child has uniforms they've outgrown or backpacks they no longer use then please save them for Mexico. You can either box things up and send them to her Chula Vista address or call the church and find out when the next group is going down. They can always use toiletries, each new mother is given toothbrushes, combs, etc. Laundry soap is a big expense (as one can imagine) and donations are appreciated. They do have babies and diapers and formula are helpful. Most of all, please be faithful in prayer. God is blessing Casa Del Pastor but you can be sure Satan doesn't want these women and children cared for, taught and nurtured. If you haven't had a chance, come for a visit. It's a blessing to see God's love in action at Casa Del Pastor.