Christmas Bag Distribution at So Others May Eat - SOME

168 hours a week. That's what we get. How we use them is up to us. Today we were privileged for 4 hours to enter a women's ministry that she has been doing for over 20 years. Each Wednesday, she feeds the poor, beggars, old widows, 

 and has been working to help them document their births, marriages, deaths of spouses, etc.,  to meet government requirements so they can receive a small pension. Eight of her regular attendees have died during this past year.

Everyday we see some of them on the streets, and Julie always carries pesos in her pockets.

Today we bagged up gifts of food to give after the meal. Enough for them to bring to their extended families or for themselves for Christmas. Some toilet paper, rice, noodles, tuna, and a few other items. We had raised funds for the past few weeks for this.

First there was a feeding. More people started showing up; far more than was anticipated. More tables, more toothless widows, more sticks for canes.
This meal will be the only one for the day, so it is as big as possible. A little soup, greens, a taco with a small piece of meat; orange quarters, noodles, and a bit of dessert.

We began to run out of food, and it was a bit chaotic as we divided up things in smaller portions so everyone would get something.

Antoinette, who is this incredible woman gave out 150 tickets to her " regulars" and they received the gift bags from the church.

I was invited to speak with the use of a translator about how Jesus comes to the poor, the broken, the helpless. How Jesus is with them, next to them; how Jesus comes in the form of those who served them today, and fed them.

At the end we brought up the people for the bags,,and Julie had the best spot. Her Spanish is really coming along, and she spoke to each person. She welcomed each one, and received hugs, kisses from each woman. And some of beggars knew her already from her conversations with them on the street.

One of the interesting things was that Julie was much taller than some of the women, and that's saying a lot if you know Julie.

But it was another day to remind the two of us how fortunate we are to have met such amazing, gracious, generous people in so many parts of the world. And how honored we are to be invited into their personal care for others.

Next week, winter sweaters will be given out, and they expect double the number of people to come.