Also with thanks to our new Redmond
amigos, the fountains have new flagstone around them and the huge
12 by 6 foot sign welcoming guests to the hacienda is now surrounded
by a rock and mortar planting bed and should have flowers at its
base blooming soon. And the electrical system works throughout
the ancient structure.
Since the sugar mill in Colima has been shut down due to powerful
"free" trade agreement interests ("Like having
a gun pointed to one's head," said a cane producer), I imagine
the fact the cane cooperative of Colima has chosen ecotourism
as a way of diversifying income is being seen today, more so than
ever, as a viable alternative for survival.
The coop has hosted, besides the foreign occasional tourist,
up to hundreds of nationals at a time for agency gatherings, trainings,
retreats at the Hacienda. The dream now is to get the restaurant
up and running. The kitchen is ready.
Maybe the folk in Colima won't have to abandon their farmland
and move to the cities to work in sweat shops as most economists
forecast the fate of most of Central America's poor. This is the
option offered by globalization: Sweat shops or hunger.
We seem farther from God's kin-dom than ever before.
We pray for a miracle to take us beyond the suffocating grip
of greed that unbridled capitalism has brought to millions who
have struggled for years to establish a more equitable society
throughout Latin America and now are faced with an even more voracious
monster crashing through its farmlands, streets, government halls,
schools, and living rooms. It takes the young first.
This is our prayer during a time of re-membering, through the
birth of Jesus, that death never is final.
May peace fill our hearts in these times of unrest,
Bob and Julie
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
132
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