A Ministry Break and a Chance to Blog...

This is literally my first chance to stop, take a breath and write since the middle of July. Serving in Mexico, while certainly a blessing, can be a challenge for communications, especially on the limited funds many of us missionary folks usually have. So after looking over more than 300 e-mails and returning a bunch of telephone calls, and rerouting some cancelled plane reservations, let me share a little. My last two or three weeks have been spent in Oaxaca, Mexico. For those unacquainted with Mexico, Oaxaca, located in the southern end of the country, is the second poorest state. A majority of the 50 poorest cities in the country are located within Oaxaca. These are the areas where I work. Places with names like San Pablo Guila, San Baltazar Guelavia, Santa Cruz Papalutla, and San Pedro Amatlan. The farmers from these areas are struggling to stay alive. Kids come to camp with no change of clothes because the family cannot afford one. It is not unusual for a family to go days at a time without eating meat or eggs. It is difficult for me to hear people from the United States say they are poor when I have spent time with people from these villages. Maybe poverty is relative. Maybe it depends on where you are from, or your perspective. For instance, I am writing this from Queretaro, Mexico. Almost the antithesis of Oaxaca. Next to Mexico City, Queretaro is perhaps the most advanced city in this vast country. And one of the wealthiest. Middle class homes here sell for about $200,000 dollars, not pesos! A lot of the people in Queretaro may not even be aware of the poverty many of their paisanos in the south face on a daily basis. And that is where I find myself right now. In a beautiful city with good friends, surfing the net, enjoying some fantastic food, while some of my other friends struggle to have a meal of tlayudas and beans. Because they live in a place where people steal water tanks from ranches just so they can be sold to make ends meet. Some days the tension between these realities and my life in the states is really hard.