THREE AND AN SUV

Changing to small. Von's Ministries may be small, but in our case small is more effective and efficient. Today in my small organization of "three and an SUV" (Note the poetry!), as opposed to my former organization of seventeen paid workers, makes a big dollar difference in both staff, vehicles and other overhead expenses. In our case the difference in being small means those extra dollars go to expanding our reach directly into the homes of the poor and needy. That figures.

Each request our Barrio people make for help, no matter how small an amount, has to be checked out. As the border economy worsens; lying, cheating and scams grow more common. We have to choose what needs are to be met, and that means wisdom.

Each week the three of us work in one of four barrios. Yesterday was barrio Pedrigal: Seventy children and forty adults showed up. The three of us work hard. Rosa and Lino and their two handicapped babys, they are so thankful for their nebulizer. A new lady has a medical need; her little daughter has hepatitis and needs lab work done. By the way, have you ever seen an American kid jump up and down with joy, because he won a dollar? Kids play games, win a dollar, and head to the local store to buy some junk food ... they're hungry! At this time Abraham is undergoing surgery in Mexico city. A lot going on.

Looks like it's going to be raining this weekend in Barrio Ijido and because of the thick mud, Ijido shuts down, but over a dozen families are in need of basic food and drinking water, so I'm sending Lucas with basic food to help them through the five or six days of rain and mud.

With ministry there is always something going on. Thanks for your prayers and part with us.

SO CLOSE YET SO FAR AWAY

Moving up from South Mexico doesn't mean conditions will be better. Rosa, her husband Lino and two small daughters moved up from the south and are living with some distant relatives in one of our barrios. Lino's in bed after heart surgery and their two baby girls were born severely handicapped, one is still in the hospital with water in her lungs.

The neighbors mentioned seeing a lone woman wandering the neighborhood late in the night asking for some money for milk. Rosa?

Rosa, heard about us from a neighbor; she approached Hortensia and said; "I heard you help people in need." Rosa, wasn't asking for much, just transportation money to go to the hospital and see her daughter, she also needed money for some tortillas.

Where this will lead? We don't know, how deep in our pockets it will go? We don't know. We just know this is a legitimate need and that's what we are there for. In this case, just a few dollars.

In a few days we will be sending 14 year old Abram and his mother down to Mexico City for the third and hopefully last time. They are going to fit him with a catheter and even though he will

be fitted with a small plastic sack on his leg, he won't be using pampers any more. A trip like this will be well over a thousand dollars ... way more than this poor family can possibly pay.

We want to thank you for your prayers for our safety and wisdom. And a big thanks for those of you who pitch in and provide the dollars to meet these needs. People so close, yet so far away.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MY SUV

Well, a few days ago, I took my faithful little eleven year old, SUV in to get it's 120,000 plus check up. Normally just a day's worth of work, a lot of cash, and on the road again.

My first surprise was that it was in a major accident before I bought it! From then on the news got worse.  Front and rear suspension was really messed up by now ... rear suspension is broken. My mechanics comforting words; "Von it's unsafe to drive ... and has been." I looked at the underside and it all made sense. I knew the transmission was not right when I bought it, but they wouldn't make it right. Looks like several thousand dollars ahead ... plus a rental car for about a week. As frustrating as it is, I'm glad it was discovered, and not on the road in Mexico. The agency is going to try and give me a break (Thankful to God.) Times like this we think of upgrading, but that's more $$$s I should be back in Mexico in a week. I'm glad they caught this ... be thankful in all things.

I'm frustrated! I've talked to, and listened to, several of my close friends and they think I should upgrade; as reliability is important at my age. Can't argue with that. Even if we had the money, getting a brand new SUV would fight the very culture I work in, as well as turn off many of my supporters. New is out. Maybe finding an older SUV with low and gentle mileage is the way to go.

"Lord wisdom wanted here."

I'm getting older with few years ahead, maybe I should just settle back into my old 2004 SUV ... and see who ultimately wins the race?