Jon in Mexico

Isaiah 28:16
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”

A firm foundation is absolutely critical to the longevity of a home and the safety of its habitants in the U.S., Mexico, everywhere. It’s an investment in the future and a fine metaphor for our faith in Jesus Christ. If a house is built on a weak foundation, it will fall apart, not immediately, but over time. Over the past two weeks I’ve been working on building a ‘physical’ foundation for a small house, by hand, with only very basic tools and shovels. During that time I’ve had the opportunity to observe and reflect on some aspects of a lower class culture including poverty, community and faith.
A few days ago as I was mixing concrete I was considering this: If a poor man does not have Jesus Christ, what does he have? Working for $5 to $10 a day, for a 10 hour work day doesn’t give you very much to live for on this earth. Stealing and public drunkenness are a daily reality in the small, but fast growing community where we’re building the house. Fortunately, we haven’t had anything stolen from the job site yet. But just about every day we encounter at least one overly intoxicated man, passing through, trying to find his way, somewhere. The other day, one came to the job site and tried to start an unintelligible conversation with us about how he used to be a cowboy on a ranch, and how he couldn’t work now because he couldn’t stop drinking. He asked us for money which we denied to him, then sat down in the middle of our job site and watched us work for the rest of the day until we left. This is a very common occurrence which didn’t come as a surprise to either of us. But it got me thinking as I worked with Jovencio mixing the concrete. Here are two men, one working with me and the other sitting on the ground, temporarily unable to walk… both in the same “pay bracket”, same relative age, both with no more than a 5th grade education, both with families to support. One is desperate with an unpromising future and an addiction to alcohol. The other has hope. Jovencio would have every reason to be dismayed. He was asked to leave the house he and his family had been staying in, has a sick father who had a stroke a few months ago, he has various physical problems including a hernia that needs surgery and possesses very little of “material” value in this world. But he has a foundation, apart from the material blessing of this construction project. He has a foundation in Jesus Christ and an eternal hope that is far greater than any material pleasure that this world has to offer. Some people say it’s a blessing to be rich and not in need. Others say, no, it’s more of a blessing to be poor and need God. I say, whether you are rich or poor doesn’t matter because the idols and vices of this world will tempt you no matter what your income is. You’re infinitely blessed if you know Jesus Christ!

Fortunately, there are families scattered about in the field where we’re working who found more purpose to life than alcoholism, coveting and stealing. There are neighbors who live across the street who have been guarding some of our tools over night and keeping an eye on the property. Each day we talk to them more and more and are slowly building a relationship with them. On of their children, a seven year old named Jose Antonio, has come over to our job site various times asking if he can help carry block and clean tools at the end of the day. Jovencio, in turn has been giving them sand for making mortar for a well project on their property. In turn, the neighbor has offered water from the future well for the construction project. It’s been a delight to be a part of building relationships with the people around who are open and there to help the “community” as a whole, not just themselves. I already see Jovencio’s family being a light in the darkness, and they don’t even live there yet.

The Building Project

The physical foundation to the house has been coming along quite well. It certainly takes a LOT of time to dig a foundation by hand, mix concrete and mortar by hand and only use relatively simple tools like a water level and string line. Even building forms for the concrete can be a rather puzzling experience because we can’t cut the wood since there’s very little of it in the first place. All things considered, the project has been going very well, and we’re thankful for what the Lord has provided and will continue to provide.

Los Heroes

Apart from the building project I have been continuing to tutor Manuel and Lalo on different days of the week with their English and math. I’ve also had opportunities to spend time this past week with my neighbors Dario, Alberto, Jaime and Alberto #2. I get some weird looks when I come home in the evenings covered in mud... but they understand and are actually interested in the project.

Prayer and Praise

1. The house project and opportunity to work, learn, and serve, has been a real blessing to me.
2. I’ve been able to spend more quality time with my neighbors lately.
3. For continued opportunities to share Christ and be a light here in Mexico.
4. For wisdom and direction concerning projects and opportunities to serve in the future.

I hope you’re all doing well! May the Lord bless you and keep you near to him.

In Christ,
Jon

Posted by Jon at 04:04 PM | Permalink

The Project

Cristo Victorioso, the church where I attend, is a largely Totonac Indian church. The majority of those who attend immigrated from their southeastern mountain villages of Mexico, to the city of Puebla. Many had to leave their farms and ranches because they could not make enough money through selling their crops to pay the workers to harvest them. Therefore, they moved to the city to work jobs of manual labor for around $5 to $10 a day. Some of them own small plots of land and are in the process of building a small house over a process of years and years. Others are renting.
Two weeks ago, I was working at the church with one of the brothers named Jovencio. He and his wife have 7 children and have been living with his two sisters ever since moving to Puebla six years ago. He has been building their home in the meantime as a form of paying rent. He commented to me that he was going to have to move soon and start building his own house on a small plot of land of his outside the city. I said to him, “Great! I’ll help you build.” As I asked him questions, I found out that he was planning on building an appx. 200 sq. foot house with no foundation, out of wood and corregated tar paper. Then I asked him when he needed to move. He said in 2 weeks!
Now, here in Mexico I have become accustomed to looking people in the eye and telling them no. At every intersection of the street, someone wants your money, neighbors, even brothers in the church will ask to “borrow.” At times it’s an easy decision to say no, other times it’s hard to tell if there’s really a need. But sometimes a need arises that you can sense is genuine. 7 people living in a two room tarpaper shack was something that stuck in my mind for days. And the fact that he didn’t ask me for anything, trusting that the Lord would provide was an obvious display of faith. I knew I wanted to help him build something sturdy that would fit 9+ people, but how? I prayed about it. I talked to Neil, our group leader, and then a few days later I called Len Noble and asked him for permission to spend time working on the house. They both said yes. Len even went the extra mile and contacted previous Mexico Team members who know Jovencio and his family well, to let them know of the need, and to give them the opportunity to give towards building materials if so led. Since then, the Lord has been providing and I’ve been at the property just about every day with Jovencio and other brothers from the church.
The land is an 8m x 22m plot that is in the middle of a field. It looks like he’ll be living on a farm when it’s all finished, but the fact is that every square meter of that field has been surveyed off into plots of land of equal size, including roads and utilities. It’s just that the roads, electricity and water service will arrive in years to come.

I have loved working at the property over this past week. During that time we dug 12 foundation holes about 80 cubic cm down to a firm, solid base soil. Then we tied together rebar columns and footers, set them in the ground and poured concrete around them. Mixing concrete by hand and digging holes all week is good exercise!

Jovencio has continued to be incredibly grateful to the Lord for the blessing of help and materials that the Lord has provided. His wife cooks a meal and brings it to us on foot every day! It’s been a real blessing to work with this family and see to it that they have a roof over their heads with a firm foundation. He lives a life of faith and service to the Lord that has taught me much, over this year. It’s truly a blessing for me to be a part of this project.

Los Heroes

In the meantime, in the evenings in Los Heroes I have been tutoring one of my neighbor’s kids with his English. Every evening he has come over for help, and I gladly spend about a half hour each day with him. I’m also tutoring a kid from our church with his English and math. That’s only Monday evenings. And today I am preparing a Bible study for the youth group at Cristo Victorioso from the book “Una Vida con Proposito” (“A Purpose Driven Life”) They’ve been working through that book over the past months and they asked me to teach this week’s lesson. Another first.

God has truly blessed me this week with providing things to do. I am so thankful. My desire is to help Jovencio get his little home built so he can move in with his family and continue ministering for the Lord without the constant pressure of moving, paying rent and trying to build a home in the meantime that is not sufficient for his family’s needs.

Prayer:

1. That God would use this project to make his servant Jovencio, his wife and their sons and daughters more capable of serving him, and ministering to others… which they are very good at.
2. Praise God for what he has given me to do! Pray that I won’t get so wrapped up in the project that I miss opportunities to minister and grow spiritually.
3. Continued opportunities to share Christ. Just yesterday I had an opportunity to share with the lady at the phone company. It was the first time in a while that I’ve shared my faith with someone.

Thanks for reading all this! I hope you all are doing well, and walking with the Lord. I'm looking forward to hearing from some of you soon :)

In Christ,
Jon

Posted by Jon at 11:13 PM | Permalink