Sharing the Love of God in your own backyard.

We are blessed to have Ms. Ruby and Ms. Jessica as our teachers for our kids. Each year our teachers help our kids think beyond their lists for what they want for Christmas and think of others. This year the kids walked around our neighborhood sharing the story of Jesus through candy canes. With a spanish poem of the meaning of the candy cane and a few special gifts for some families that a few of us know, we went door to door to share with those in our own community. Our friend Norma helped us get our foot in the door as some people are actually afraid of Americans and trust can be difficult to develop. One women and her son with whom we spoke said that her son thought that all Americans try to kidnap Mexican children. Our visiting that day helped to break this belief.
Our teachers collected gifts for three young girls who lost their dad this year to muscular dystrophy. It was great to see the surprised look on the girls' and the mom's faces. Yajira and her family went to church with us a little in the Spring before her husband, Julio went down hill. He accepted Christ in the spring when his sister shared Christ with him. She has been a great encouragement to Yajira. The three girls are Fabiola 2 yo, Marisol ~ 6 y. o. and Judith ~8.y.o. The girls loved opening up their gifts and enjoyed seeing our kids. I'm praying for opportunities to come along this family more. We met a older boy in a wheelchair, Jorge. Jorge will be another opportunity to visit and show the love of Jesus with a neighbor. One of the pictures is of Obed. Obed is 11 and has downs syndrome. He lives in a house next to the house we are renting for the Clouses, a new family with Back2Back. We also had gifts for a mother and her adult daughter. Angela, another B2B staff, had been giving these two women rides as they have difficult traveling up and down the mountain of which we live. Sometimes in my life, I look beyond the obvious to try and find great things that God might have me involved in. When all the while God is putting things on my own front porch. God is opening my eyes to opportunities in my regular routine and in my own backyard. What might you be looking beyond?