Randy Felton
Potter’s Clay Ministries, Inc.
417 NW 42nd St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Shalom2@cox.net
www.haydid.org/potter.htm

Love Thy Neighbor

This is a statement that transcends the boundaries of our complacency. Jesus was asked, "who is my neighbor?" and then He told a story. I am going to tell a story about the same subject. Just who is my neighbor? From Jesus’ story, we learn that it takes two to make up neighbors. One who is in need and the other who recognizes that need and sets out to do something about it.

Just a literal "stones throw away", across a relatively small river, lies Mexico. I want to tell you about one of the border town neighbors. Juarez, Mexico lies just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. From a distance, it is hard to tell where one city stops and the other starts. Up close, it is quite a different story.

The initial drive across the bridge gives you a sense that something is different. You are greeted by the sights of the brightly colored blankets and the smells of diesel fuel mixed with grilled meat and the sounds of horns, hawkers and beggars. You tell yourself that you are on the border, and it can’t all be like this. And you are right. As you travel further into town and then turn off into the neighborhoods, you find quite a different stimulus to attack your senses. In town, among the houses you will find shacks and shanties. On the outskirts, you find more shacks than anything else mingled among the factories. You will feel somewhat sad and shocked that there seems to be so much poverty all around. Before going on to examine one of the neighborhoods, let me tell you how this has come about. No, I am not going to go into political corruption or graft. I simply want to explain how Juarez became the way it is from a practical point of view.

Juarez, Mexico, sits at an elevation of about 3800 feet above sea level and has an annual rainfall of about nine and one half inches. This makes the area a "high desert". For those of us from the flat land, the air is somewhat thinner. It takes water longer to boil and skin less time to burn in the summer sun. There is a lot of sand and a lot of wind. The population of Juarez, according to the 1990 census, is 1,286,734. The city has an infrastructure to accommodate about 700,000. This leaves a pretty large gap. There is not enough housing. There is a shortage of water and not enough sewage disposal to accommodate the people. Many roads and streets are not paved, and the ones that are do not have proper maintenance. Juarez is a city that is overwhelmed. Juarez is a city that has many needs. Juarez is a neighbor in need.

Why are there so many people here? The answer is hope. Yes, hope. With the difficulties and the lack of services, there is hope in Juarez. People have flocked here to find work in the factories and assembly plants. Many have left home in the interior, where there is no perceived hope for them, and have come searching for something better. On arrival, many of these people find there is little help for them here, but there is hope of work. Work means food and clothing and hopefully, shelter. Juarez is our neighbor. The question we need to ask is - are we a good neighbor to them? Jesus spoke of a Samaritan who found a man lying wounded and in need of care. This man stopped and provided him with the care while others passed him by. In my little story, Juarez is the man wounded and in need. We are next door and observing the plight of the needy there. Will we stop and render aid? Sure, we have those with need here in the good ole US of A. We also have many outreach societies ready to try to meet those needs, and we should not neglect them. The border towns of Mexico are so overwhelmed, they have no agencies in place to meet the needs of their people. The question to be asked is not about the lack of the government of Mexico, the question is: Are we going to be a good neighbor to Mexico?

On the west side of Juarez lies the old city landfill. Hills and mounds of rubbish that have been covered over by bulldozers and constantly uncovered by the wind. This has become a neighborhood known as
Anappra. When I first visited Anappra, it was January of 1995. I went with a group from my local church and joined with a ministry located in El Paso, "Casas por Cristo", to build a home for a poor family. The area had some crude roads and scattered houses. The family we were building for lived in a shack they had constructed out of wooden shipping pallets and "tar paper" along with some cardboard. The house had a dirt floor, no running water and no electricity. A mother and father along with two small children were living like this with little hope for change. Our small group was the hope they had been praying for. At least we were the representatives of that hope. When we finished building a house that measured 11’ X 22’, containing two 10’ X 10’ rooms with a concrete floor, a door and two windows, the wife began to cry and told us that it was too much. She would immediately move her sister’s family into the other room. They were so blessed, they could not keep it all to themselves. All in all, it was a very humbling experience.

Presently there are about seven groups in Juarez that build houses for the poor. I have only worked with one, "Casas por Cristo". I will tell you about them, simply because I know them. It is no reflection on anyone else. "Casas por Cristo" started in 1993 building 50 houses in Juarez the first year. This year, during the spring break of 2000, they will construct 54 houses, in the span of one month. Pretty remarkable growth. How does this happen? It takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation and a lot of cooperation. The staff of "Casas por Cristo" works with a group of about 65 local pastors in Juarez. The pastors recommend families in the neighborhood of their church that have a real need for housing. From these recommendations, a list is created and forwarded to "Casas por Cristo". As volunteers and funding for the building materials come, the houses are built according to the list of candidates. The only requirements placed on the families are that they have a piece of land, three barrels of water and a screen for the sand used in the stucco. They do not have to be church members or even Christians; simply have a legitimate need for housing. The volunteers are primarily church groups, although some of the local manufacturers have sent over groups of their people on a volunteer basis to help with this need. There is a Christian witness, but it is a practical one - usually without words.

Are you willing to be a good neighbor? If so, contact your local church or employer about a project to help one of these families. Then contact one of the groups providing the means to build in one of the border towns. You may get in touch with "Casas por Cristo" by calling 1-915/565-7800 or write: P.O.Box 3726, El Paso, TX 79923 or e-mail at: newsletter@CasasPorCristo.org. Confused? You may contact the paper, and they will put you in touch with me, and I will help direct you. "Casas por Cristo" means "Houses for Christ".


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