Busybussin'!

Hi there, can you believe it is really me???? This is just one of the things we have done whiles here in Pharr,TX. We had the joy of going on a mission trip with some folks from 'Noth Caro lie nah, what a great bunch of folks! They pulled into a station to get some breakfast, and beings we had already eaten, Bill decided to wash the windows, Lee, the driver and leader of the group, he use to live at Bethel Missions, but now resides in Louisiana, but takes groups down to Mexico when he can, accused Bill of ruining his van, said that it probably wouldn't run now that the windows were clean, but it did just fine! Lee is use to driving in Mexico, and other than scaring us, and hitting bumps, (LOTZ) so that we hit our heads on the top of the van, he did fine!

If you notice the pallets, the boards taken off of them is called 'skid', and this is what the majority of the houses were made of, this is the only picture I got because I was in the middle, and only had time for this one.

We found out that these folks live on a canal, some have flat bottom boats to get across, mostly government people live on that side, but it is also the side close to the border, so these boats are sometimes used to help folks get to the American side. That is Pastor Steve sitting, and one of the fellas, they didn't get far, but the Mexican fella was pretty nice.

We got to see all sorts of sights, like these cute little piggy's, yess, they will be used for food, they just need to grow!

It is a place where dogs go to church if they can get in, this gal tried several times.

Here is their new (sorta) bus, they just got it 2 weeks before, and the folks that got off were much cleaner than the ones that live on the canal in the skid houses, known as skid row.

Here is a picture of their church, Lee, our driver, helped build it last spring. And here is Bill saying "Hola", (hello),or trying to, he kept saying "O~lay" like he was fighting a bull, but they kind of understood him and laughed at his fractured Spanish!

And here is the best part, it was really clean, as clean as an outhouse can be, and it was the nicest one on the canal. The group took a lot of pictures, as you can see, I wasn't quite so bold. What do you think Carol, looks pretty cool, huh?

This is Pastor Steve preaching, and Brother Lee "trying" to translate, some words are hard to change to Spanish, and a lot of the words you just can't, but they did very well!

I took this picture to show you the inside of the church, concrete floor and walls,nuthin' like the churches we have, and the man in the white T~shirt was the pastor of the church. He really kept the kids in line!

Here is a picture of the packages that the group brought for the children, there were gifts for them up to the age of 14 yrs.

This little girl got one because she was only 13, and had a new born baby, that is her Mother with her.

I loved this picture, these 2 little boys were typical of boys this age, excited to get a present for Christmas, and they really loved the candy, don't we all??? The one little guy has a sucker in his mouth. Neither one is old enough to hate, or know that someday they may be a gang leader or dealing in drugs, thank God, for now they are just little boys!

This cutey pie cracked me up, she grinned the whole time, and kept saying "Hola" (hello) over and over!

As you can see, this mother had 2, she was all of 15, and this one looks to be around 2, meaning she had her when she was 13,she was by herself, and took great care of them, both children were girls, and adorable!

I took this because it shows how sad it is down here, they are buried in better surroundings than they live, each place , was neat and clean and had flowers, some artificial, but kept nice. Some are happy to be here, others want the "good life" in America. It was really different to come down to Mexico this way, all are not friendly, where as, in the 'border towns' they are really nice because they want your money. After seeing how they have to live, I don't blame them, it's not everyday you get to see pigs and chickens roaming your neighborhoods, houses made of skid and cardboard, huge black water barrels, dogs of all shapes and sizes, no plumbing and only one light in your house that you have 'pirated 'from a light pole. If Bill and I are here next year we plan on going with Lee again, we may even take some gifts for the 'older' kids!!

Well folks, just thought you might like to see the 'other side' of our world, far different from the comfort we are use to, and thought provoking to say the least! We both wish you the Merriest of Christmases! Love to you all and Prayers and hugs too, Arlette & Bill too, and the Sassy