Let's think this through here... How often does the media actually portray positive news? It seems likeall the stories we hear on the news these days are about wars, violence, death, natural disasters, celebrity divorces, illness, disputes, (insert your own negative story from the media here), and the like. Yes Japan did exist before the earthquake and there were people living their normal lives but you didn't hear any stories about that did you? The second that something bad happens it's all over the news. The same is with Juarez. It is just a normal city where it just so happens that the media is covering every negative event that happens there.
If you look past the news stories you will find many attractive things about Juarez. It is a border city with a population of over a million and is very rich in Mexican culture. Juarez is home to the Mexican Vaquero culture (which is the Mexican cowboy culture) meaning many people resemble cowboys… you can’t help but smile at that. Juarez has an arena named Plaza de Toros where they have bull fights, How awesome is that?!? There are markets and vendors where you can go and haggle prices to get goods and souvenirs such and blankets, jewelry, pottery, vanilla and more. And one of my personal favorite things about Mexico… the food! There is this apple pop called Manzana which is amazing (there are similar products in America but they just aren’t as good… trust me I’ve tried many of them). Last time I was down there a vendor came up to the house we were working on and sold us popsicles. The most fun part was that we didn’t have a clue as to which color was which flavor so you really never knew what you were going to get but it didn’t matter cause they were all so good! Even American cola products taste differently in Mexico because they are often made from cane sugar instead of corn syrup. And one mega plus about working in Juarez is that it gets me out of crazy Indiana weather. It rarely rains and has an average summer temp in the 90’s but can get up to above 110 on really hot days. Oh and did I mention that it is WAY less humid than Indiana? Kids in Juarez LOVE soccer (or as they call it… football). Crazy hard days of work are made so much better when you get to run around playing soccer with a bunch of kids. And they are really good at it too, I don’t ever expect to win when I’m playing against them. Those are just a few of my favorite things about Juarez from previous trips and I’ve sure that I’m gonna come up with a lot more after spending a summer there.
Casas has been working in Juarez for years without issues. Actually going down with Casas makes me feel way safer than if I was just going down alone. The people of Juarez know to not mess with groups with Casas because they are down there helping. If something happens to a Casas group then fewer homes will be built and there are so many people in need of homes that they want Casas to keep building in Juarez. If only I could tell you of all the things I've seen in Juarez that counteracts every single negative news story you may hear. Well none of us have time for that but here's just a few.
First and foremost this stack of papers is a stack of the applications to receive a Casas house... some of these families have been waiting for over three years and now due to lack of teams wanting to build it looks like they may have to keep waiting.
These beautiful children have parents who were put in prison but thankfully were taken into an orphanage so that they didn't have to go to prison with their parents.
I will forever remember what this little girl told me. She looked at me with a big smile and tears in her eyes saying that we were the answers to her prayers because she now has a home.
Reasons like these are why my team has decided to spend our summer in Juarez, because Juarez is so much more than a war zone. It is a city with many lost people whom God loves and wants to see come to know Him. That is reason enough for me to trust that God will keep us safe in the most dangerous city in the world.
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