Subject: a winter storm on the border
Friends and Family,
An update from the border:
The El Paso/Juarez area has been greatly affected by the recent winter freeze. Our area, daily broke record temperatures established in 1962.
We have been without computer and internet service all week so some of you may have received updates from Kathy Hart as a result of our daily debriefs.
Since Audra (our oldest daughter) came for a stay last week end, we were able to help the kids understand how to deal with rolling blackouts, no water and managing the heat. Once our home front was secure, Mark and I assessed the situation in Fabens. Fortunately, the Red Cross opened the Fabens Senior Center as a rescue shelter.
We were then able to turn our attention to Juarez.
In Juarez, experiencing even greater hardship, there were no shelters, or assistance for frozen water lines and barrels, no electricity, and no heat.
Since Wednesday we have been providing drinking water, propane heaters, propane, coats, blankets, antifreeze and prayer for those in Juarez.
Wednesday the city was pretty quiet and very vacant, but by yesterday many people had come out of their homes.
We observed long lines everywhere. There were as many as 50 people in lines at some bus stops, as most vehicles were frozen up from the icy temperatures. The bus would pull up nearly full and load a few more people on to move the slow moving line forward.
We also found long lines in the grocery stores, at fuel pumps, propane supply centers, and water stations. Many of the homes have fully iced over windows and ice crystals lining the inside of their walls. With all the difficulties and no help to overcome them, we observed an inspiring spirit in the people.
The people in Juarez are doing what they do all so well. They are surviving. They are being resourceful, optimistic and not looking for anyone to blame. They are only looking forward to the wind dyeing down and the temperatures warming up, then this obstacle in their lives will be over and they will wait for the next.
Some of the details:
Wednesday, while I was stabilizing our home front and assessing the situation in our area, Mark spent the day in Juarez helping Jose Luis find antifreeze and thaws his disabled vehicles. Their Pastor’s meeting had been canceled due to weather conditions. Mark observed hundreds of frozen vehicles stranded in streets and on the side of the road. He discovered antifreeze is not usually used in the vehicles.
Audra helped at Despensa (food pantry). All who were willing to brave the bone chilling cold (-17 degrees) to receive prayer and a food box, were met by Georgia’s homemade Menudo (a very popular soup in these parts made from pig intestines) and hot chocolate.
On Thursday we started at Cesia’s children’s home and found all the children bundled in several layers of sweaters and clothing, each wearing a warm winter jacket and hats, but joyful to see us. Their little hands were freezing in contrast to their warm smiles and enthusiastic greetings.
Mama Lupe was in bed with a case of infectious bronchitis that was being aggravated by the cold air. With no heat we were able to leave them a much needed heater and funds for propane for the heater. It had taken us several hours to find a heater that would meet their needs. The demand in Juarez had been great and had depleted the supplies at most stores.
Next we stopped in on the elderly men’s home. We knew they were well taken care of with new heaters and buildings provided by a local maquila
(factory) this past fall. All seemed well, until we asked about drinking water. All lines and sources were completely frozen. We left them with
24 gallons of clean, fresh drinking water.
We planned to return to Juarez Friday morning with another van filled with fresh drinking water and supplies, when we discovered the campus water was not working. Upon a quick investigation, we found all 2700 gallons that had drained from the water system tank covering the floor of the school building. So, before we could leave, we had a major clean up job shoveling, sweeping and mopping out the water. By early afternoon we again crossed over into Juarez and began searching for more propane heaters.
Once we had a couple more heaters (calentadors – we learned) in hand we visited Val’s mom and sister, who run a daycare from their home, to deliver some needed drinking water. We offered some instruction on preparing for broken pipes. They had a small portable heater, that warmed the area directly in front of it, but the rest of the house was extremely cold.
We then visited to see Pastor Conrado and Petra. They had a heater, but no water. We sat in the cold living room on lawn chairs talking about their trip to Chiapas for Christmas. There was a lot of laughter and joyful discussion. They seemed to be taking everything in stride as were most of the people in their church body and mission colonia church. He did say the mission colonia Plaza de la Cuna was struggling without heat and water.
After a much shorter visit than we would have liked, we left for the “red district” aka red light district, to visit Pastor James and his small men’s drug rehab home. We were able to provide a heater and drinking water for the 20 men living at this facility. During our time there I was able to have a remarkable conversation with Jose, one of the men living at the home.
Jose came a month ago to try and beat his drug addiction and change his former life, which involve “many very bad things”. He told me he had gotten so very sick of the person he was and the things he was doing that he decided it was time he get close to God and change his life. Jose is his early 30’s, but had obviously lived “a lot” of life. He had been a number of places and “was involved in a lot of bad stuff”.
He had recently reached the “one month mark” he thought it would take to change who he was and decided it was going to take longer. He went to his former employer and explained he would need to take more time to change his life and would need another 6 months of getting closer to God. He said, “I am aware, God is not done with me yet.” Jose’s employer agreed and promised him his job back in 6 months or however long it took to make the changes God was requiring of him.
I will add more about Jose and the “red district” home in our newsletter coming out in the next few days.
Brother Lorenzo (Pantera) in the red district was our next stop. His family had been robbed and he had been beaten just a month ago, but he and Felicia, his wife, were sitting at their small kitchen table counseling a young couple who had come for counseling about the divorce they were both seeking. We filled all their water tanks, made sure they had a working heater and surrounded this hurting couple to pray for and over them before we left.
By the time we arrived on the opposite side of town, for our final stop of the day, it was dark. We are usually not in Juarez after dark, especially on a Friday, but after our visit to Pastor Abel and Erika in Loma Blanca, there was no doubt we needed to be there. As we began to visit with their family inside the tiny home, we found they had NO water and NO heat.
They
had been experiencing a number of electricity outages that were lasting for extended periods.
We were able to fill all of their water containers, give them a new heater and show them how to hook it up and use it. They were humbly delighted and very thankful. We were about to finish up our visit when suddenly the electricity went out. We sat quietly in the absolute darkness for a moment waiting for Abel and Erika to respond. No one moved or made a sound, not even the children. After what seemed like a long time, I asked if they used a flashlight or candles when the lights go out. They answered they didn’t have either item. They would simply exist in the total blackness, usually for many hours.
Before we left, we circled around these dear servants of the Lord, in their small totally dark house, and prayed a prayer of praise and thanks
to the Lord for His abundant blessings! When we returned to the car, I
remembered the small flashlight in my bag in case of an emergency. This seemed like a pretty good emergency! We left it with them.
Ending our visit in the dark brought a couple things to “light”…the extreme poverty of not having water, heat, a flashlight or even a candle!
Unbelievable. I have to consider “what was the greatest gift we delivered on that day?” Was it the drinking water? Or the heater? Maybe the flashlight? No, I think it was shared love, care and fellowship.
Tired, yet satisfied and blessed by the day, we finished our long day enjoying some fresh made tacos at a small taco stand, then a 25 mile drive in the total darkness to the Caseta border crossing. ALL of the electricity in the several small towns along that drive was shut off. As we traveled the long road in complete darkness, it was obvious Pastor Abel and Erika did not have the only home without even a candle.
Juarez, a city of darkness in need of light, the light of Christ!
Faithfully,
Candi for the Pryors
Please continue to pray for Juarez and those who minister there. God bless...