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| Buenos Aires - part 2 |
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Thanks for all of those who read the first post and commented. This community continues to impress me.
As I mentioned before, I recently visited Buenos Aires (I’m in Brazil now) and spent time with one of our partners and saw the work his church is doing to serve the poor in the Buenos Aires. Please see the below pictures and descriptions.
This gives you an idea of some of the neighborhoods that La Mision is working in. Many of the houses are falling apart and every third one seems to be half finished with just an open second story. As expected, there’s quite a bit of crime in this area and most taxis won’t take you here if you ask them because they’re concerned for their own safety.
But amidst the poverty, there is hope. Through micro-loans from La Mision, several small businesses have started in this neighborhood providing much needed services and goods at affordable prices. This gentlemen’s market began in September of last year and he’s on track to pay back his loan by the end of 2007.
Here is another shot of some of the groceries that this store provides to the neighborhood. It serves around 700 people a month and employs 3 people who all live in the neighborhood. The store generates around 3,200 pesos a month, or about $1,000.
Here’s another micro-enterprise business that is also a store, but in a different neighborhood. The woman on the left is the owner. This business was begun almost 7 years ago and it took them 6 years to make a profit because they have been employing and paying the salaries of many of the students from the “Next Generation” program (see earlier post for more details). The owner is actually the mother of one of the students in the program. This store has experienced steady growth, provides needed goods to people, and the owners have built great relationships with the community and have been able to invite people to come to their church because of the presence of the business.
Same store, but I put in this picture to show you the woman on the left. She’s young, but man is she bright! She’s another Next Generation member and she was the top graduate from the University of Buenos Aires last year and majored in finance. She now coordinates the loans and helps out with all of the micro-lending businesses. In total, La Mision has started 6 micro-enterprise businesses in 7 years.
So after visiting the micro-enterprise projects, I moved on to see the first of two other outreach programs – a children’s bible class. It takes place in the above neighborhood which was littered with trash. Apparently there is some sort of recycle program here. What I was told happens though is that basically trash is just dumped here and then the people dig through it to find stuff that can be recycled. Unfortunately, they are not fairly treated and the recycler pays them very little and turns around and makes much higher margins. I hate injustice! I look forward to a day when a company like this begins serving poor communities abroad.
So here is the bible class that is offered in the evening for children in the community. About 40 children participate. The class runs for an hour long and is offered once a week. If you look closely, you can see what she’s teaching the kids about.
Nothing too informative about this picture…I just like kids, and they were really cute.
Here’s some kids playing outside the classroom. What’s amazing about this community is that it’s pretty run down and poor, but literally 300 yards down the road are these private tennis and soccer clubs where the rich come to play. It’s ridiculously insane how night and day these two worlds are and yet they are right next to one another. Unbelievable. Again…I hate injustice!
So about two months ago there was a large fire that burned down the dwelling places (can’t really call them houses) of a lot of poor people living under a bridge in Buenos Aires. Apparently the fire was intentionally set. Over 30 people died. The other 400 or so people were moved to temporary housing that the government set up for them. You can get a look at it above. There are seven people to a cabin and it feels kind of like a refuge camp because it is kind of like a refuge camp. As of now there is no plan what do to with all of these people after this stage…
 
La Mission so far has been the only church in the area to respond to the crisis. They have set up a nightly soup kitchen that feeds the children. Many of the mom’s of the kids also help out with the cooking. The Next Generation kids (ok fine, they’re young adults) are leading this initiative. It’s sad to see these kids displaced, but the honest truth is that they are better off now then where they were before. I’m just happy to see the church being the church and coming to meet the needs of the people and show Christ to them.
So, clearly this has gotten really long…sorry. Soon I’ll post my last set of pics from Buenos Aires and show you what the city looks like. Then I’ll move on to posting some photos from my time in Brazil.
Thanks for reading!!! |
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| To add a comment to "Buenos Aires - part 2" |
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| May 07, 2007 |
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Justin, This is an excellent post in more ways than one. Let me start with the format. It was easy to follow and I love the small paragraphs under each picture. I didn't feel long reading it that way. And it wasn't :) The pictures are very touching. So I prayed through the pictures as I went from photo to photo.. May the Lord bless the work you do in His Name. May all you do bring Him glory. Thank you for serving the Lord in this way. Powerful! I will be praying. May God Bless you! |
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| May 07, 2007 |
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| Thank you Sue for your kind words and for praying. I didn't mention this in the post and should have, but what Sue did, is what I would encourage everyone reading this post to do: pray. Please pray for the work of La Mision church, for all those they serve, and for all that are in poverty in Buenos Aires. Thanks. |
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| May 07, 2007 |
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Very eye-opening and extremely touching. Despite some of the terrible conditions, you can see the glimmer of hope and God's touch in this place. Especially in the pictures of the children. YAY for God's Church! May He hear our prayers for our brothers and sisters in Buenos Aires. |
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| May 08, 2007 |
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| AARRRGGGHHH!!!! Thanks for putting these pictures up but it makes me yearn to be there..... |
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| May 08, 2007 |
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| Great blog, Justin! |
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| May 08, 2007 |
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| so artistic with the sepia... |
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| May 14, 2007 |
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| Thanks for the report, Justin! Don't suppose La Mision has a web site or more in-depth info on its programs somewhere? The "Next Generation" idea sounds intriguing... |
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| May 16, 2007 |
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| Unfortunately, La Mision doesn't have a website yet, but they are working on it. |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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| This touched my heart. This is precisely why I support World Relief and Samaritan's Purse. God bless you for your ministry efforts. ~mike |
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