We’re getting close!

We’re getting close!

Why You Never See Photos Of Us With Poor Mexican Kids

I was looking through our website the other day and I noticed that something was missing; there are no photos of my family and me with our arms hanging uncomfortably around a group of poor Mexican kids.

Why?

There are two reasons:

1) Our job is not to directly serve hot meals to children in the community.  We leave that up to community leaders who are already doing that.  In the area of Tijuana where Outside the Bowl is working there are numerous kitchens with community leaders that are already doing a great job ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of children in their community.  Outside the Bowl does not exist to receive the glory for making thousands of inexpensive, yet nutritious meals; Outside the Bowl exists to support local ministries with inexpensive, yet nutritious meals, and to give glory to God.

2) We’re still building our kitchen.  It has been a slow process, but we are finally nearing completion thanks to a series of recent financial contributions.  Until we start serving meals, we are hesitant to take photos of “potential” recipients.  God knows there has been enough exploitation of poverty along the U.S.-Mexico border.

If you’re looking for photos of Latino children being ministered to in a godly way, might I please recommend our friends’ blog:

http://www.livingsportsministry.blogspot.com/

Our friends Mynor and Walda are an extremely gifted Guatemalan couple who we count as some of our best friends.  They decided to give up the “Guatemalan/American Dream” and serve the underserved in their community.  For what it’s worth, this is a couple Dejah and I joyfully support on a regular basis.

If it’s photos you’re looking for, below is a photo of me with my arm around a poor Mexican dog.  I only offer this photo because this is a dog I actually “help” on a regular basis with the scraps and spills from my meals.

This is for Jayson and Daniel, who helped me dig some trenches for the kitchen’s drainage.

It turns out there was a large granite rock that stuck out a little too much.  Therefore, I had to break it apart using the following steps.

I made a fire on the spot I needed to break apart.

Then I poured some cold water on it.

Finally, I hit it with a sledge hammer.

After that, I was able to fit the pipe in the trenches they helped me dig over the weekend.

Thanks guys!

Above is a good example of why things always seem to take a little longer when working in Mexico.  After getting ready to start pouring concrete all day, I got a call from our friend Isaías asking for help towing a bus back to the ranch.  Admittedly, I was not very excited to use our 4 cyl. toyota pickup to tow a bus down a bumpy dirt road.  Nevertheless, we got the bus back, thanks to low 4WD and some skilled backwards steering by Isaías.  

Above is a good example of why things always seem to take a little longer when working in Mexico.  After getting ready to start pouring concrete all day, I got a call from our friend Isaías asking for help towing a bus back to the ranch.  Admittedly, I was not very excited to use our 4 cyl. toyota pickup to tow a bus down a bumpy dirt road.  Nevertheless, we got the bus back, thanks to low 4WD and some skilled backwards steering by Isaías.