mexico

Letters to the kids...

Your letters matter SO much to these kids!!!!  

Painting the art room floor at CHE

the storm

There were some really nice thunderstorms rolling into Nuevo Laredo.  Yep, you guessed it, I had to break out the camera.  I got some great lightening shots.  God put on an amazing show! 

 

I had a few people ask, “How do you do that?”  It’s simple, really.  Place your camera on a tripod, place the shutter in ‘bulb’ mode and be prepared to take a lot of photos.  You have to take into consideration the light pollution that is in your area.  A one to two minute exposure is all I could do.  Then, just wait for God to shoot a lightening bolt for you.  J

 

So to get the three photos below, I had to take about 20-25 photos.  The storms were pretty active so I didn’t have to wait long. 

 

light painting with the kids

I love it when I can share art with kids!  I am in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico at Casa Hogar Elim orphanage.  Last time I was here, we did photography light painting with the kids.  This time, I brought lots of flashlights for the kids to use, and with a supply of color gels to color the flashlights. 

 

Not familiar with light painting?  Simple, and yet most cool process.  If you have an SLR, place it on a tripod and set the shutter on ‘bulb’.  Hold the shutter button down and have people ‘paint’ with the flashlights.  Anything that has light on it will show up in your photo. 

 

The kids down here love to light paint.  When we break out the camera and flashlights, they know exactly what we’re doing.  They get so excited and like to see the photos right after we take them.  With that being said, I have to hold on tight to the camera because the stampede of children will come after every photo.  The excitement on their faces is awesome and it’s wonderful to watch them come up with creative ideas for the next shot. 

 

Enough words.  Photos below.  J

may trip

I’m listening to the song Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath on the radio driving through Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.  That song is so touching and really about what I want to accomplish in blogging about this trip. 

 

This is my second trip down here, but before my first time, I had heard so many stories about Casa Hogar Elim.  Anyone that had a story would say. “…you can’t put it into words, you have to go down there to experience it.”

 

The best way I know how to communicate what an amazing experience it is and how blessed I feel by being around these children is to show photos and write a little bit about each one of them.

 

We are on our way to Laredo, TX to pick up a few pallets of food donated to CHE.  They have a storage facility there to accept and store donations.  It is quite a process to get the food across the border and to hopefully not get taxed on it.

 

I’m writing this as we are in a caravan of four vehicles going to Laredo.  JD just got pulled over by the local police for speeding.  Anytime we see flashing lights down here, it’s a little scary.  (that didn’t stop me from taking a photo… will post as soon as I can download it from my camera)  Looks like it’s just a standard speeding ticket thing.  The police were not fans of all of us pulling over, so two vehicles left to cross the border.  Still waiting to hear from JD.  

Limited wifi

I have lots to blog and the trip is going well. We have not had wifi. This entry is from my phone. More to follow soon!

Jody

compartir el arte

As group of us went to pick up some of the CHE kids from school, we arrived early and decided to walk around and snap a few photos.  Thad was ahead of the group and taking photos near the middle school.  I'm sure it was a sight for anyone watching, a group of Americans with cameras snapping photos of everything in sight.  Well, as you might have already guessed, snapping photos outside a school gets a little attention, and not usually good attention.

The principal came out of the school and was talking to Thad.  The rest of us were looking, not knowing what he was saying.  Next thing we know, Thad is motioning for all of us to come over there.  A member of our group (which shall remain nameless) decides this is a bad thing and we'll be bailing Thad out of the local prison.  I decided to take a chance and go over there.  Turns out the principal speaks fluent English and taught Spanish in the states for a long time.  He offered a tour of the middle school!  So the others soon followed...

The dismissal bell was about to ring, and these kids look like any others, anxious for the school day to be over.  The facility was nice, yet very simple.  Things we consider old technology or very used furniture is good for them.  The Mexican government has spent some money to better the school facilities.  Again simple structures, but nice, and much needed.

As school was letting out, a young man came up to us.  He was giving us a beautiful piece of art he had made in school.  My first reaction was how beautiful it was.  The detail achieved by simply cutting construction paper was amazing.  Then I thought, he's sharing it with us.  How absolutely cool is that?  I'm not so sure we would see that if it was the other way around and they were in the US.  He obviously spent some time working on this piece.  Ok, so I've typed enough... here's the photo.

Jody

Pizza's Ready!

 We decided to treat the kids at Casa Hogar to pizza on Monday night.  The idea came when Stephanie Heppes and I were at the Soriana (Mexico version of Wal*Mart) with some of the older girls and we walked by the Pizza by the slice.  "Pizza!" they said. We got some and they savored every bite. 

 

So we got 25 pizzas the next day and rang the bell for dinner.  What happened next was an eating display unlike anything I'd ever seen.  But it was the smiles that went along with the pepperoni that warmed our hearts.  While we all love a nice slice of the pizza pie, the kids of Casa Hogar Elim remind you that we all too often take such treats for granted.

 

While we worry about our 401Ks and figuring out how to buy that new...whatever it is that we want next, the kids get such joy from the simple things in life.  Pictures, hand-written notes, a picture they painted for you, a bracelet made with care, and a nice slice of pizza.  It makes you realize that all the stuff you think is so important is just stuff. 

 

The kids teach me something new each time I'm at Casa Hogar, and I can't wait until the next lesson. 

Jeff Harrell

JESUS is everywhere

Wow.  I have thousands of stories from just 5 days.  Where to start...

Not only did we spend a lot of time at Casa Hogar Elim, many of us wandered out into the surrounding areas.  We went into "las colonias", the local neighborhoods surrounding CHE, the middle school, a few stores and into the city.  I noticed a lot of graffiti on walls, but was surprised about the theme of it.  At first I thought it might be a random thing, but as I continued to look around, I saw the name Jesus a lot.  Now my first thought is that some guy named Jesus (he-sus) has way too much spray paint and he gets around.  Also, my lack of Spanish means I'm probably posting photos with no telling what on them, however these people worship Jesus all the time and He is in the forefront of their lives.

And as Sloan said in an earlier post, they love to know our names.  Not only do they want to know our names, but they write them down, like in this photo.  "Jesus te ama" is Jesus loves you.  This is one of many pieces of paper like this.   

This other photo is of a chalkboard in one of the classrooms.  The kids love chalk!  Shortly after we arrived, the concrete was covered with chalk art, much of which had crosses, hearts and Jesus.  I haven't even gotten to those photos yet.  They are absolutely beautiful.

All of this reminds me of a saying that is on my bathroom floor.  (Yes, I'm aware that is not normal and my bathroom floor is a whole other experience, but later...)  It says, "In America you're seldom in a position where you NEED God.  It's something that we need to experience - where we're in a position where we have to actually TRUST God."

I've been back a few days now and it's difficult not to think about the experience of this trip every single minute.  I went down there to serve them, but that worked the other way around.  I think it was Elizabeth who had a Facebook update of being forever changed.  I don't see how anyone could go there and not be forever changed.

Jody Wissing