In a Pharr Away Place

In June, I was blessed to be a part of a mission trip to Pharr (near McAllen, Tx and within a stone's throw of the Mexican border) that included youth and adults from two United Methodist churches (my church and another church in our area). Most of those from our churches are well off in material things, and all of us were far from poor. The area we went to was Hidalgo County, the poorest county in the nation, and so very unlike the daily scenery that we were accustomed to. It is an agricultural society that relies on migrant workers who are paid very little and live in difficult circumstances. We went, we told the youth, not to go and "fix" problems, but to join into the society and help where we could, and learn from the people there who had so much to offer us, in a variety of ways.

The first day we gleaned (Read Ruth chapter 2) in a watermelon field for four hours. The watermelons were picked from the field and loaded into a truck which delivered them to a food bank. The next day we went to two different locations where we scraped, washed and painted two houses (a la UMARMY), while three of us went to a different neighborhood to distribute invitations to VBS. On Wednesday and Thursday, we spent the day in a colonia (a neighborhood) which was very poor by most standards, but rich love and care for others. We had prepared for a two-day bilingual VBS, complete with bilingual songs, games and crafts, and with a puppet show and movie in Spanish. The journey of preparing for this was a major event in itself and couldn't have happened without willing volunteers who practiced, gathered, and/or translated material. These two days were the best out of the week for me. Being with people who shared joy in circumstances that were so out-of-the-box for most of our group. No air conditioner, small houses with no TV and cramped living quarters, and houses with homemade plumbing and light fixtures... these circumstances seemed desperate.

However, the people shared their joy with us. The children laughed as we played "Duck Duck Goose" (or perhaps laughing with us as some of us spoke poor Spanish). Language was not a barrier, due to a few with us who served as translators, but mostly due to the shared language of caring for one another. Their faces lighted up when presented with their own coloring book and crayons. They shared their love for the Lord as they sang for us in loud gleeful voices and presented us with a "thank you" banner which they all signed. One would presume that the beneficiaries of our time and gifts were the children and their parents, but our group for Houston truly benefited in being accepted in into that community. During those days, I felt like there was no Greek, no Jew, no Anglo, no Hispanic (Gal 3:28), but that we were all enjoying being God's children together.

It was hot- VERY HOT (I don't do "heat" by choice), but as I look back, I didn't focus on that and instead enjoyed every aspect of this trip. I know the prayers of friends, family and our prayer team helped hold us all up during that time and I would whole-heartedly encourage others to consider a venture into such a Pharr away place as that. My continued prayer is that both the group that went and the people we met will remember how God moved and touched our lives, and that He will continue to move us all to serve and glorify Him with each new day.