December 2001

Dear Friends,

This is the Christmas season all right! The thermometer in our carport registered 38 this morning, and even though the sun is shining brightly now, the promise is for an equally low temperature tonight. The northern border of Mexico is heavily populated, but many of the people have come from other areas of Mexico where the winter is not severe, and where they have solid houses of adobe or of wooden planks where the family can be sheltered from the weather. When you add a cold rain to the biting wind, it’s no wonder that the children prefer to stay snuggled close to an open wood fire in the kitchen area rather than venturing forth to school or to play.

The families with whom we work are of many different backgrounds and of many kinds of abilities. Those who have the most money and material goods are those who have steady jobs with the assembly plants that fill the industrial parks of the city of Reynosa. Their children have good clothing, plenty of food on the table, and a tight, warm house to shelter them from the cold. Secondary and university education are a possibility for these children as they finish their primary school work. It is not uncommon to see their homes being enlarged to provide additional space for the children as they grow. These are the families who have only one or two children, and who work hard to provide for their every need.

But there are also the displaced or refugee families—those that consist of a young mother with three, four, or five tiny children, many times alone and abandoned in this commercial, bustling center. Perhaps the father was able to cross over to the United States and find work in agriculture, construction, or road work. The young mother was left at home in the interior of Mexico without support (either financial or emotional) and she braves the unknown as she somehow boards a bus to the border, sure that by some good fortune she will be able to cross the border, armed with a letter containing her husband’s last address, and find him in the land of golden opportunity. She has no family, no friends, no money, no medicines, no food, and no source of support.

Fortunately for a few of these ever-increasing numbers of at-risk families there is help in the form of food, clothing, and medical consultation at the three centers of Puentes de Cristo in three different areas of the city of Reynosa. Emphasizing, as it has for many years, an interest in those who are in need, Puentes provides a staffed clinic (medical doctors and nurses) as well as nutritional meals for school children and infants and a tutoring program for school girls enrolled in public school. These girls are taught in a program called "Club de Muchachas," in which their self-worth is stressed, and their future is discussed. Early pregnancy has been reduced dramatically among these girls who formerly so easily fell into the pattern of childbearing, leaving school, illness, infant mortality—all of which result in a whole segment of the population without hope and in desperate poverty.

Puentes de Cristo staff are now busy preparing for a Christmas celebration that will be remembered by the girls and their families. Many churches throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have sent box after box of toys that are being sorted into a bag for each family involved with the program. There will be a special program with Christmas carols and tamales at each center, and the mothers and fathers will be invited to share in this glorious time of the year. The churches associated with the centers are also preparing to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way, inviting neighbors and friends to the festive occasion. What an opportunity to share the love of God in sending His only Son to be our Savior!

Thank you for your real interest in the program of Puentes de Cristo. We depend on your timely support in financial gifts as well as in gifts of supplies for the program. We also are encouraged in so many ways by the scores of groups who visit us each year bringing talented young people and adults to build houses, paint tables, refurbish the dormitory building, and provide needed specialized medical and dental help. Our work is made much more effective and much better by your helpful visits.

And from both Jack and me have a happy and meaningful holiday season. Rejoice in the gift of God and in His provision for all of our needs.

Yours in Christ,

Juliette C. McClendon

The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 250