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Doralicia Medrano and Israel Luzania

Last Saturday, May 9th, we celebrated a wedding. Weddings were once rarer around here than a day under 110 in July. I’m happy to say, we see more of them than we used to. They represent the healing work of God for me. Saturday, Dora married Gordo.

I have been wanting good for Dora since I first met her. She was about 10 or 11, wild and angry, closed down and afraid of getting close to someone who might be able to help her. She was old beyond her years, and the innocence of childhood hadn’t rested long enough. In a very short time, this woman child was a mother. Noe was born to her just barely thirteen and I have, even to this day, loved him for that one fact alone. (By way of update, he is on his way to graduating from high school).

Tragedy followed. Noe’s father, fully an adult, took his own life in the little apartment Dora shared with him and infant Noe. A few years later another child, Carlitos, would be born and die of SIDS. I remember both funerals, as if they were yesterday. I remember the lost thirteen year old, the hardened eighteen year old … the broken child mother. Dora would try to go back to school, but that was impossible. She floated from house to house. Despair finally settled in, and she was going to work on feeling no pain.

Beautiful Chella was born. I have a painting in my office, painted in Mexico City in 1966. It is of a most gorgeous child around the ages of 5 or 6; easily it could have been Chella. But these were bad years. Dora reached out for help when things got out of control. She wanted help from God. She did get help and things got a little better. Some days were very good, in fact.

Then, Esmeralda was born … a loving child; later came sweet and funny Martha, rapidly followed by Joaquin and Matthew. The years were blurring and Dora was overwhelmed. But what precious lives, all of these children; and important and incredibly designed by God.

And then came a surprise … in the intensity and challenge of Dora’s life, came a kind, loving man who looked at this dear woman and wanted good for her. He wanted her to know he wouldn’t leave every time she shouted or every time she pushed him away. He wanted her to know that every single one of her children would be claimed by him, not just new little Melanie; he wanted her to know that love sticks and stays. Like all of us who love her, he wanted good for her. Israel or “Gordo” has come into Dora’s life, to fulfill one of God’ promises to her … to work things together for good.

We celebrated that. I thought all through the ceremony that we can become a promise of good for each other, that marriage is a testimony to the ways in which God wants to take care of us … and for Dora, this marriage speaks of the love of God through the love of a good man.

God bless you dear friends,

kit
Kit's Corner

God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to his purposes.


Romans 8:28

It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good.


C.S. Lewis

Good Gifts

How we are weathering the financial storm? One way is to take note of God’s good provision, which we fondly call manna, inspired by the way the children of Israel were cared for by God; He gave them what they needed for each day. It will encourage your heart to get glimpses of some of this provision for our NM needs from the past two weeks:

There was a luncheon called “Come for Lunch and Take Home Dinner” where funds were raised for our future Thrift Store (El Mercado de la Communidad). Another group of friends had the brilliant idea (inspired by the movie Shopaholic) to sell gently used items they had in their closets, the proceeds going to two favorite charities (we were one of them). A car that had been donated to us was even sold twice with the total proceeds going to us! A local woman’s bible study chose to adopt all the cereal that our 80 young work crew leaders will eat over the two weeks of Kids Club. The city of Phoenix called and asked us if we could receive a donation of trees for The Neighborhood Center (as many as we can take). Our insurance paid a claim from the monsoons from last summer and we received the contract for our work crew’s housing at a local college dorm for a savings of $10,000. Summer intern support is coming in from all over the place, and in addition, a local bank gave us a big gift toward this. Beyond this, many other provisions came in this past month … but it seemed fitting as we meditate on the goodness of God to isolate these beautiful manna gifts. So how are we weathering the storm? One thankful, “Manna” day at a time.

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