We have been going to church here, it is a "gringo" church at 9am with Spanish church at 11; it's focus is reaching the poor of Mazatlan. This allows the people who come here, Canadian and US alike to reach out to the needy. There are scores of people who vacation here regularly and thousands that have retired here, heading North for a couple of months each summer to escape the heat.
There are "tours" of the dump ministry and the childrens feeding centers that we have been able to go on. It is wonderful to see the work they do and the strides they are making in helping the poor here.
There are a segment of people here who live near the dump who live in primitive homes and are called "dump scroungers" They go through the trash salvaging bottles, plastic, cardboard, and anything they think may be of value. It is hard work in a hostile environment. Smelly, dusty and dirty with very little to show for it, but they eke out an existence.
Every Tues. and Thurs. visitors and members of the church make 300 sandwiches, and 220 bottles of clean, cold water. We passed out all the sandwiches and water in just a few minutes. I cannot speak for the people that work there, but it felt good to help in some small way.
Another day, we went to a small village very near where our boat in anchored and visited Isla Piedra where a building has been built for the feeding center for some of the children of the village, I believe they feed 90 children there every Sat morning. We were there on a Thurs afternoon, and they were having a childrens church with a few of the children. It was hard to follow what was going on as it was naturally in Spanish, but kids are kids all over the world, the squirmy boys, and the eager to please girls.
As we were watching the women teach the kids, we became aware of a group of women outside the front doors and realized they were having a Bible study.
They have 12 centers currently and the goal is 30. What a great work.
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