So, I spent this last weekend in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. For those of you reading this that aren't familiar with the location, Nogales, Sonora borders Arizona - about 60 miles from the heart of Tucson. I've been down there several times now serving in a mission capacity, but this time was different. I was only there for 2 days and 1 night but it felt like a lifetime in a way.

Once again we were hosted by Pastor Hector Lopez of Rios de Agua Viva church. A group of us drove down to help package the food boxes that they hand out to the residence of the area on Christmas day. 3,000 of them!!! It is by no means a small effort. We spend several hours bagging sugar, rice and flour, which is just half of what is provided that day. As you can imagine it was quite the messy effort.

It's only flour but we were lovingly refering to it as the Holy Spirit

Many of us were tired and finally looking forward to a good nights rest. Little did we know what was in store for us that evening. It was perhaps the coldest evening any of us had spent ever. We came "prepared" knowing full well that the cold was going to be an issue; turns out we were clueless. Many of us got little to no sleep in our layer-upon-layer of clothing curled up in balls inside our sleeping bags. It's incredibly difficult to sleep with frozen toes and noses. It didn't hit me until the next day how blessed we were during the night. To know that we had shelter over our head, the option of hot water and a "heater" to use if we got desperate.

After another morning of work we headed out to the Nogales dump, which houses thousands of families that rummage through the dump for scrap they can sell to feed their children for the day. They live in cardboard or metal shacks that you and I wouldn't find fit for our children's outdoor playhouse.

When we arrived there were hundreds of people lined up surrounding a recently built church in the dump. They were listening to the Gospel message of Pastor Hector and anxiously awaiting the arrival of food and clothing that was being provided that day from a church in the Phoenix area.

The people of Nogales waiting patiently for food and warm clothing

These little girls leaving the distribution site, grateful for what they've received

The most touching part of the trip however, was little baby Maria. A 6 month old baby girl who 2 days earlier was on the verge of death. Her 2 siblings had already died from exposure to the elements and the grandparents that she was living with were desperate knowing that little baby Maria was next. Thanks to the generocity of Oscar and Loraine Mariscal, baby Maria was looking happy and healthy when we met her. Oscar and Loraine were able to get Maria to a doctor and get her on several medications for her badly exposed skin, her distended stomach, and other problems. They had diapers, wipes, blankets and clothing donated to help take care of the baby. Maria had changed and improved so much over the 2 days that Oscar and Loraine had her that her grandparents didn't even recognize her. She continues to improve daily as Oscar and Loraine give her the food, shelter and love that she so badly needs during this very cold season in the dump.

Baby Maria

Maria smiled and laughed the whole time bringing tremendous joy to me

Thank you Oscar, Loraine and Baby Maria for showing me the true meaning of Christmas. I will never forget this trip to Nogales. I travel back and forth quite often but for some reason this trip was different. I was so humbled by the people and their circumstances and for what the Lord is doing in Nogales, Sonora.