Nobody Gets a Smooth Ride

Nobody gets a smooth ride.
Every child will learn how the asphalt burns
when he takes sharp turn too wide.
Nobody gets a smooth ride.
I'm really sorry the way things are going these days,
try to be careful, that's all I can say

“Nobody Gets a Smooth Ride” The Choir

As it is evident from some of my past post, I find much of my inspiration for these posts from music. I have been listening to the song above for a while now and when I hear it I can’t help but think of the situation that has enslaved Mexico over the past year. What can really be said but that this is a dangerous world and please try to be careful? It has had a major impact on the city of Juarez and the surrounding areas of Chihuahua. This is the place God has put me; it is the people of this area that I have fallen in love with. It pains me to know that because of fear we are unable to pour out Gods blessing on these people.

For some reason in 2007 we were unable to build a home for the Davalos Olague family. In 2008 we saw a large drop in the number of groups due to several factors one of which was the fear that has affected every ministry along the border. So, once again this family of six waited. Our pastors and field reps had to talk to them several times and ask them to be patient and wait on God. Needless to say, that this family as well as a few others became a high priority for us to build for in 2009. Unfortunately, the beginning of 2009 saw the violence in Juarez rise to an all time high. On top of that the swine flu made itself know to the world and Mexico became feared all the more. It was looking as though this family would have to wait even longer. The family told Alfredo Chavez, one of our operations coordinators, that they gave up hope. No one was coming to help. A few years ago our logo consisted of the phrase “Come build hope” and now so few are coming that this family lost all hope. They had made their home in an old eighteen-wheel trailer that must have felt like an oven in the summer and an ice box in the winter.

When we found out that First Baptist Church, Wichita was not going to cancel their trip I wasted no time in assigning them to the Davalos Olague family. This group came to offer hope and they were not going to let anything stop them. Just before their trip their numbers started to decline and they did not know if they could complete the size project that the Davalos Olague family needed. I kept telling them that their numbers were fine for a double even as I watched the numbers slip into what I would normally assign to a single. I just could not tell this family to wait again.

They came and they built that double with a little help from myself and Alfredo. The community leaders were so grateful that they offered to help by escorting the group to and from the worksite every day and by checking in on them through out the day to see that everyone was OK. They understand the fear and want to do all they can to ease that fear. It was one of the most trouble free weeks I have experienced in all my time working for Amor. And best of all after waiting two and half years, A hope lost became a hope restored.

At one of the nightly devotionals this group held we spoke about the situation in Mexico and how it was affecting the blessings that God wants to bestow on people. They were shocked at just how profound it has been. One of the members shared a story of one of his teachers that I will leave you with. He lived in Houston, TX and I believe it was hurricane Rita that was headed straight for them the streets were flooded and all his teachers canceled classes. When he asked his EMT teacher if classes were canceled, the teacher replied “We are EMT’s this is when we go to work”.

The world is a dangerous place. Please try to be careful, but if we fallow Jesus;

This is when we go to work.

I know it has been a while since I wrote my last blog. And I remember telling you that I would continue with all that had been going on, but most of that has been so overwhelming for me that I am still struggling to find the right way to put it all down in words. So, I’m just going to skip ahead and tell you what is going on now. I’ll try to come back to the rest of the story later.

You may have heard that due to the uncertainty of the situation in Cd. Juarez and with all of the news that has surrounded Mexico we redirected our youth group trips out of Chihuahua. Many chose to go to Puerto Penasco. So, T.J. and I have been here in Puerto Penasco for two weeks now.

It has been wonderful to been able to work with so many groups that have a commitment to serve no matter the risk. Out of all the groups that I have spoken with here only one said that that would have had canceled if we had not move them here.

That being said I am looking forward to April 8th so that I can go home and see my lovely wife and children. It is good to know though that Jackie has become so much a part of me and I of her that it is very difficult to be away this long. I love my family very much.

I had hoped with being here in Penasco, I would at least get to avoid the normal windstorms that we deal with and work through in Chihuahua, unfortunately that has not been the case. The wind here is terrible as well. Although I have gotten to take advantage of it from time to time and fly a kite that was sent out in a care package from San Diego. (Thank you to everyone who had a hand in that).

We have had a relatively easy trip so far, aside from a few snags. A minor car accident, one of our trucks broke down and was fixed in Phoenix, a participant broke his thumb. But the hardest to deal with by far was that we found out that the Juarez-Gonsalez family lost their thirteen-year-old son in an automobile accident the night before or group was scheduled to build their new home. T.J. had the difficult task of being the communicator to the family and he did a wonderful job. It was different from our normal work week to say the least. At a time when we normally would see a very happy and excited family, we instead watched as mother and father, sister and brother, aunt and uncle, and many other family members mourned the passing of a very young loved one. It was bittersweet. While we may have felt out of place and in the way the family was still glad we were there to provide their remaining five children a solid home. No matter how unimportant that felt to us at the time it was still appreciated by the family. By the end of the week I actually started to see some smiles on the faces of the children that lived there. This may be one of the most important homes we have ever built. I know that God is especially fond of this family, But then again I would have to say that about all the families we have built for. So, maybe they are all the most important homes we build.

The New Camp

Things have been really kind of hectic for our slow season, and while there has been so much going on I really have not had much time to sit down and write. So, as I said there is much to share and I will try my best not to overwhelm you with a really long blog. It may end up being a series.

As you may have heard by now we were asked to leave the camp that we were renting in Juarez so that the land could be sold. That put us in a long a drawn out process looking for a piece of land that we could purchase. Well, we found that land located some 15 miles southeast of the city of Juarez. We borrowed money from our general operations fund to purchase the property and have begun the task of fund raising to pay that money back.

In September we made the move from the old camp to the new. And have begun construction on the fence (which should be finished any day now). We still need to build a warehouse for our tools but the camp is ready for groups. In fact we have had three groups there already. They all were very impressed at how quiet it is a luxury we did not get at the old camp. It is truly amazing how God provides. So we have been busy setting up showers and Baños. We have been doing our best to get pricing on water and electricity. We had the land cleared and as I already said have been we have been having a fence built. it has kept things interesting this year. I hope you enjoy the photos and I will try to update you on the rest soon

Eternity ?

Do you think what we do today matters for eternity?

Are the choices you’re making now shaping you into the kind of person you’ll be forever?


Pretty heavy questions, Huh? I thought so too. They came from a video study we are doing as our fall bible study at Amor. Honestly I never really considered eternity, I really only thought about how I was living this life with the realization that I will not live forever. As I thought about it I realized that no matter how we choose to live this life there is an existence after we pass away. Really I have been trying hard to align my self with Gods will so that my existence will be with him. But today I realized that there is an eternity of death if we choose not to live as God created us to live. It made those two questions so important. We can’t just sit around here expecting to be with God in heaven if we are not trying to live with him here and now. I started to see how the choices we make either align with God or they don’t. The more we align with God in our lifetime the easier it will be to be that kind of person in eternity, the same being true if we choose to live our way instead of God’s.

I suppose I really want to choose God’s way over my own, although, not out of a desire to go to heaven and not that I always succeed. Rather, because I am stunned by his love for me even though I have chosen to live in opposition to his plan so many times. I really only considered an eternity with God as a place I did not deserve to be, but I sure did not want the alternative. These questions made me realize that God is giving me this life so I can become someone who will learn to partner with God for all of eternity and I get to practice it right here right now.

This is why I love the work I do with Amor. I know there are many who think that we don’t evangelize so it is not a valid ministry. They are wrong, we do. We just do it through the local church; many people that work with us never see it. But back to the point, loving people is aligning with God’s will. That is what we do when we build homes, when we serve groups, when we provide food or school supplies and when we share our faith in God’s love. It is what you do when you support us financially or through prayer. The love and emotion I see when a family receives the key to their new home never fails to leave me standing in awe. I hope I never stop wanting to draw closer to God and choosing His way over mine.

“May you believe that death has been taken care of and you can be a partner with God in redeeming and restoring this fallen broken, hurting world. That you can literally be a partner with god in making this the kind of place that God originally intended it to be.”
Nooma video “Trees”