NEWSLETTER: MARCH, 2005

In the afternoon after our big workday and gift distribution in Pipila area I was busy getting photos of an assortment of little kids with their new toys. Hortensia came over and asked if I had taken a picture of little Mugre. "Mugre?" I asked. Mugre is a Spanish word meaning " dirty scum." "Who would be called 'Mugre?'" I wondered. "It must be the nickname for some dirty little boy." "Oh," Hortensia laughed, "that's that cute little girl over there." I looked across the way and there was little Mugre in all her glory happily held in the arms of a young American lady visiting for the workday.

"Hortensia," I asked, "who would name her child 'Mugre'? She looked at me and said " I don't know who would ever name a girl that." Indeed little "Dirty-Scum" was a cute (and now clean!) little girl. I hate to think about her future in that area with a name like that. I took this picture as she enjoyed her short moment of happiness with one who truly loved her.

Little Mugre is now simply a memory, another kid that helps form the human statistics of poverty in Tijuana.

In some cases I have actually talked with those who think that "mugre" is an appropriate description for those with whom we work in Tijuana. We take a different view because God takes a different view. As we see it, every life is loved and valued by God.

The many thousands that comprise the very poor in Tijuana are not dirty scum. These are simply poor human beings trying to make it any way they can. They are called survivors, tough and cold survivors. Indeed many are caught and enslaved to drugs and crime but each has his own heartbreaking story. Dig deep enough into each life and it can bring you to tears.

Unfortunately these little stories are an integral part of our ministry. They are not meant to be negative or shocking, they are simply the norm in our world.

We are here to encourage and give help and hope where we can. In many situations we simply have to rely on prayer. In the case of an article like this we ask for your prayers. That's why we share our world with you. Remember little Mugre and the millions of kids like her throughout the world.

Thanks once again for partnering with us as we serve the poor across the border.

In His love, Pastor von