A Call to End Poverty!
An outstanding documentary based on Isaiah 58. It will undoubtedly invite us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” and “defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
58: a film of Prospect Arts –It was recently overdubbed into Spanish in Ecuador.
Let us enjoy the film and live 58!
(Below the links for the English and Spanish versions of the complete film)
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
Tim Neeves, Director of Prospect Arts and Director of the Film 58 challenges us to become God´s instruments, live Isaiah 58 and be a hand of healing to a hurting world! Enjoy this interview and Live58!
Disintegrated families, extreme poverty and even high rates of violence are the most common causes for hundreds from Central America to flee from their countries looking for a long-awaited “American dream.” This phenomenon has been taking place since June 2014. It so happens that many of the
A view of Rio Grande between Mexico and the USA
inhabitants of several Central American countries declare they want to enter the United States primarily because they are fleeing from critical, degrading and even dangerous living conditions.
Such is the case of young 23-year-old Stephany. Her appearance is innocent as she tells us with gentle looking eyes that life in her native country, Honduras, was unbearable because of oppressive violence. It took Stephany about 5 months to reach the border between Mexico and the United States. Without money or contacts, she started out on an uncertain adventure, but with the strong hope of crossing the border and leaving behind a stormy past. It was truly a past full of poverty, insecurity and violence. But most of all, it was a past that would forever leave its mark on her life, because Stephany did not travel alone. She went with her little baby who was still in her womb. She left Honduras shortly after having been raped by a member of one of the active gangs there, and her pregnancy was the result of the rape.
Hundreds of cases similar to Stephany’s, some more critical than others but all certainly very painful for the persons living the experience, reach the different points of entry between Mexico and the United States.
Stephany was just one of the many who I was able to meet at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas, in September. This church is precisely an assistance center which the Catholic Charities of the Rio Gran Valley opened on June 10 this year.
This well-equipped assistance center has portable wash bowls, kitchen and dining room, toilets, portable showers, large tents with cots and mattresses for sleeping arrangements, and a large stock of clothing classified according to gender, age and size. They also provide telephone service for both national and international calls.
On an average, this center receives 40 persons every day. After immigrants are captured by patrols on the border and processed in the detention center, they reach this assistance center without really understanding where they are being taken. With faces that display tension, anxiety, embarrassment,
US Border Patrol in Anzalduas Park – Mission, TX
tiredness and most of all, hunger, these men, women and children arrive disoriented and frightened, having no idea of what they can expect next.
So here, at least for a few hours, the tension of having crossed the border is lessened to some degree and for the first time, they feel a friendly, disinterested hand ready to help them as much as possible.
Stephany, Elisandra, Pedro, María, Melany, Juan and so many others have the opportunity of being assisted with their most urgent needs -a refreshing bath with hot water, clean clothes, hot vegetable soup, telephone calls to their relatives and a bag full of drinks, sandwiches and snacks for the rest of their journey, wherever that may take them.
However, this would not be possible were it not for the many hands that have united to serve these men, women and children who have so desperately fled from their countries looking for peace and a better future.
The Sacred Heart Church has partnered with other organizations to make their assistance center effective. Consequently, the Salvation Army coordinates their kitchen and food preparation, a local Baptist church washes the towels used in the showers. And Save the Children provides a recreational space for the children who pass through this center.
But that is not all. Sacred Heart Church can serve dozens of immigrants every week because many bighearted volunteers who want to serve have promised to work every day in this center. They do the cleaning, the classifying of clothing, help with the cooking and offer personalized attention for each refugee coming from Central America and sometimes even from South America.
Mission Discovery volunteers at Sacred Heart Church
Mission Discovery is one of the Christian organizations that helped in this center in September. We were a group of about 30 volunteers who had the opportunity of serving, either directly or indirectly, the dozens of refugees who had arrived there.
But, have you ever asked yourself what moves people to serve others who are in need? There are countless humanitarian aid organizations in the world. And there are millions and millions of benefactors of an endless number of noble causes. What is it that motivates them to devote so much effort to the cause of the less fortunate?
No doubt each one can present his or her own reason, but personally, I dare answer this question with what the Bible says in James 1:17:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Max, a young volunteer with a big heart for the needy
Furthermore, God the Creator of the Universe, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, the Creator of the human being, God who is the essence of love, clearly invited us to “love Him and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.”
Therefore, especially for those of us who profess to be Christians, we feel it is a real privilege to serve those in need. Because this is an opportunity to share some of the many blessings our God has given us, and through them bring glory, honor and power to His Holy Name. And certainly, to make Him known –Jesus Christ, the only and wise God, to all nations and peoples.
Let me share the following short video, courtesy of Michel DeLisle which graphically summarizes part of the experience of our service in McAllen and Port Isabel, Texas, with those who have risked their lives while crossing borders looking for a new horizon.
“Perseverance is a key for Christian living, perseverance in spite of difficult struggles in life, perseverance in faith and perseverance in the promises of the Lord.”
Tania Mendes
Tania Mara Alves Pereira Mendes. She was born in São Paulo, Brazil. She has been married for 30 years but is thankful to God for what seems a short time because the marriage has been so good. Her husband, Wlademir, is an obstretician/gynecologist. Their son, Tiago Rafael, is another blessing from God. He’s a chemistry researcher and is married to an American girl, Danielle, who is an event manager and yet another blessing in their lives.
Tania has a graduate degrees in Theology and Journalism as well as a post-graduate degree in scientific journalism. She is planning to start work on a master’s degree program in communication soon. She has been working for Compassion Brazil for 10 years as a Program Communications Manager and says it has been a privilege to work for God using her professional skills. She has seen many children living below the poverty line who have a new perspective on life and can hope for a better future because they have been transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tania attends a Baptist church in Campinas, a large city an hour and a half from São Paulo, the state capital. Some of the subjects she has taught in Sunday School are New Testament, Proverbs and Biblical Geography. She has also given talks on communication between couples in other churches in other cities.
Tania, you recently returned to your country after a Haggai Seminar. Tell us how this Advanced Leadership Seminar impacted your personal and professional life. And what are your challenges now?
I came back from Chiang Mai, Thailand, in July 2014. I attended a 25-day intensive course on Advanced Leadership there. It was a blessing –a gift from God. Actually, I had waited for about 10 years to be able to attend this course. It was a long wait, but well worth it. I even had to postpone it 3 times because of conflicting schedules. However, I’m sure that God had His proper time and I had the opportunity to go two months ago. I was able to see God acting in my life and in the lives of the 55 women from 22 different countries who attended. This kind of gathering left me with a wonderful feeling, and I understood better how wonderful it will be in Heaven with God and His people from every nation and tribe. There are no words to describe this! It’s really amazing to see people who come from different countries and cultures but who have the same God, the same Savior and the same Holy Spirit! Only God can put all of us together and unite us in spite of our differences.
The Haggai Seminar made an impact on me personally, making me more sensitive and aware of the need to pray more. I need to pray more and Christians need to pray more. There’s a lot of work to be accomplished and we need God’s grace to fulfill the mission. We need His grace and favor to be able to go out and preach the Gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit –to preach a relevant, contextualized message without ever changing its essence.
With regard to my professional life, God reinforced my idea of doing everything with excellence because He is perfection. I know that I am not, but I can improve and can always count on Him to help me. He has given me gifts, so I need to use them and do my best to glorify Him and bring others to His feet. The key word is excellence. Than means doing everything with that in mind!
Tania Mendes, Journalist & Bible Teacher
Lord willing, I’ll give a course for leaders in my church next year. My pastor supports this idea. I want to share with these people the importnce of being a leader who is committed to God and His mission of preaching the Gospel wherever they are and making a difference in their community. We’re preparing material for at least 10 meetings which will be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays in March and May.
As a Christian journalist, perhaps one of those challenges is also “spreading the Gospel through media successfully.” Along that line of thought, what would you recommend to your collegues around the world so the message of the Gospel may be more effectively divulged through the media and the social networks?
First of all, it’s good to remember that the core values of the Gospel are not negotiable and that we’re committed to a Holy God who never changes. This idea needs to be very clear to every Christian, no matter what his or her profession is. I think people know that the media and social networks are powerful tools. So people who want to use these tools need to be good examples of Christianity by “living the extraordinary in an ordinary way.” This means being very connected to God and understanding and doing his will in a practical way daily. I truly believe that only God has the power of changing a person by giving him not only eternal life, but also a purposeful life on Earth. Heaven starts here when a person receives Jesus as Savior and Lord and begins to care about others and share the “good news” of salvation. People are definitely watching us as we make both big and small decisions, and many times our actions have the power to speak louder than our words.
The media and the social networks are good tools for spreading the Gospel, but we really need to use them wisely. We need to be faithful to the Word of God and be careful in the way we speak and live.
Tania, you have embraced the Christian faith for 36 years. You have probably experienced many “ups and downs” during all these years -many joyful moments, but also many distasteful and even heartbreaking ones. What has kept you faithful to Christianity? Is there true hope in this faith?
Thanks to God, I haven’t experienced “ups and downs” during these years. I certainly have experienced heartbreak. However, I’ve held one Bible verse very close to my heart. It’s Hebrews 12:2 and it says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.” If you do that in spite of people or circumstances in life that can harm you, you can be sure there is hope, because Jesus will never disappoint you and He always fulfills His promises.
Romans 5:8 says that “God has shown us how much He loves us: it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!” The Bible tells us that God is perfect and holy, and it also tells us that humans are sinners and selfish. We have hope because God is good and loves and forgives us, and He draws us close to Him through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
And now, your final message to anyone who might be reading this interview, especially to women who may be facing serious struggles and have lost all hope in life.
Dear readers -and especially dear women: Keep looking to Jesus. He loves you so much and has promised to be with you until the end. Also remember that our help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121, and as the Apostle Paul says, take the armor of God and remain steadfast! (Ephesians 6:13) Remember that Romans 8:28-39 says that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are children of God and each one of us is very special to Him!
So to conclude, let me close with a personal testimony. I was almost 18 when I received Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I grew up in a Catholic church and I used to be very sincere in my faith, but I really didn’t understand that I needed to recognize Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord. It was not easy for me to deal with this reality, I fought it, but God had His plans.
I also had to deal with conflicts at home. My father even made me leave home four times after he found out I had made this decision of faith, because he couldn’t understand that I had received Jesus because I was a sinner and I needed to do that. For him, a sinner was only a person who stole or killed, a criminal. He refused to speak to me for 4 years. Those were very difficult times, but I prayed and asked God to help me.
God made it possible for me to stay at home until I got married, and now my father has started reading the Bible and attending church. Only God knows his heart. I praise the Lord because He has shown me His mercy as He says in His Word (Lamentations 3.23) and He has also strengthened me (Isaiah 40.31).
So perseverance is a key for Christian living, perseverance in spite of difficult struggles in life, perseverance in faith and perseverance in the promises of the Lord. And all you need is to learn His Holy Word and meditate on it daily!
“Your good is not good enough until it is your BEST!”
These words spoken by one of my professors have reaffirmed my passion for excellence at times when I’ve found myself under pressure, tired or even overwhelmed by the mediocrity of my surroundings and have asked myself if perhaps I had been trying too hard to pursue excellence in my life.
TOWARDS EXCELLENCE is an attempt to kindle, or rekindle your passion for a life towards excellence!
Cecilia (Cecy) Yépez was born in Ecuador, South America.
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