Skip to main content

Day 4 - Jocotillo

​We weren't sure if we'd have the opportunity to serve in a local village called Jocotillo this year, but one of our leaders made it happen!  It was a privilege to serve the hungry. 


Thanks to the generous financial support of so many people, the team was able to provide $4000 in corn, beans, rice, sugar, and salt.  Thank you, God, for providing food for the hungry.




We estimate that we passed out about 300-400 bags of food.  Each bag included 5 pounds of corn, 5 pounds of beans, 3 pounds of rice, a small bag of sugar, and a small bag of salt (if my memory serves me correctly). This should feed a family of four for about 3-5 days.

Keep in mind that this may be the ONLY food this community has access to for a while.  Also, most do not have an easy way to boil water (or access to water) so cooking the food is a huge task in and of itself.


The majority of the community in Jocotillo works picking pineapple.  We were told that working sun up to sun down would earn approximately $2 (NOT per hour... per DAY!!!).


This is a typical home in the village, if one is lucky enough to have a home.  It is so hard to look at these pictures, much less see it in person.  Our hearts ache to see our brothers and sisters living in these conditions, but you would not believe the joy in their hearts despite living such hard lives.


Your generous donations also bought two houses for $850 each.  The one pictured below will provide much needed shelter for a mom and her children who were living on the streets of Jocotillo.




Meet Juanita!

Juanita is 100 years old!!!!  She has NEVER been to a doctor and NEVER worn a pair of shoes.  She came to the church for the first time ever to receive prayer this day.  She has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 - ¡Llegamos!

​We are safe and sound and tucked into our beds at Casa Bernabe. It was a long day of travel but it was all worth it for the warm welcome of the children. There is so much love here. So many kids remembered my name and gave me hugs and it was the best gift I could ever ask for. Unfortunately, American Airlines did not process our group in a timely manner and 4 team members didn’t make it on our flight. It was a very frustrating experience, when we did everything by the book. We arrived at 2:30 for a 5:07am flight. Turns out they don’t open the checked bags counter til 3:30am. They had our group wait in a line (over 30 of us) and processed us one at a time…and they were in no hurry. By the time the last 4 got through security the door to the airplane was shut and there was no way they would open it. Please pray for our team members to be able to get some rest. They were able to get on different flights but won’t be arriving til 2am and then a 45 min drive here. I can’t imagine how exhau...

Day 3 - Projects

​On day three the team started several projects.  A lot of the men have been mixing concrete and preparing an area for laundry for a new pastor that will be living on campus. This is the first time Casa Bernabe has had this resource on campus and they are all so thankful! Caleb was helping run the electrical and plumbing for the washer and dryer. Another portion of the team got to paint the exterior of the school building. This is where Timmy chose to serve and I heard he rocked it! One of the house parents is on break and they were short a helper. I was so humbled and honored to be asked to help for the morning. I helped with dishes, held the cutest 12 month old, and entertained foul energetic girls outside so that there could be some peace in the house for a bit. We also bathed the baby and I was shocked when the “encargada” heated up the water on the stove, brought it to the bathroom, and mixed it with cold water to get it just right. So much work!!!  I have an incredible a...

Day 2 - Church, Shopping, and Donations

​We started the day by attending church here at Casa Bernabe. It’s always beautiful to hear the children praising God! We also heard a message about Barnabas (how Casa Bernabe got its name…Bernabe = Barnabas). After lunch, some of the team went shopping for our big New Years Eve bash (including me). Others organized the team donations and divided them into the 8 households. It is amazing to see the abundance God provided for the children and houseparents- everything from jeans and towels to bandaids and coloring books. After donations were sorted, it was time to hang out with the kids. Tim played a LOT of soccer (he’s sore today! lol). Hannah played with the girls and helped Caleb teach a group of younger boys how to play Dumpster Dice. He said the boys couldn’t get enough of it and they were all giving him hugs. He always worries about the language barrier and connecting with the kids so this was a real blessing for him. It also kept the kids busy to give the house parents time to get...