Greetings and Happy Tax Day!  How great is it that at least this dreaded event followed a life proclaiming, resurrection powered occasion.  We had a wonderful time on Sunday with some house church friends here in San Diego . And we hope you enjoyed your celebration with friends and family.  It is especially fond for me (Wayne),  as this season marks what is now 20 years since dedicating my life to the Lord and His service.  It is hard to believe that much time has gone by, although two decades of experience makes it more familiar and believable.

I started the holiday weekend with an early morning Good Friday breakfast in Mexico .  I was grateful that both my client families canceled scheduled appointments, due to the holiday, allowing me to take the day off as well.  Mind you, it was not a day to sleep in as my friend Vicente answered, when I asked what time I should meet him across the border, “siete”(7).   Ah, ok that means a start for the border at 6:15 a.m. for me!  But I was so glad I did, as once again it was a joy and a blessing to see the wonderful feeding ministry Vicente provides 4 mornings a week with the food we deliver to him.  This morning routine feeds some of the very poor in a very poor colonia where Vicente lives.  The colonia is situated up on a hill  near the border fence across from East San Diego .  (Funny thing is,  the border fence runs all along from the ocean to far East county yet ends right in the side of a high peaked mountain.  I could see a border patrol vehicle parked on a bluff where they monitor 24/7, here just above Vicente’s colonia). The colonia has no paved roads and the potholes were impossible to avoid. There is no garbage pick up in this area so everyone burns their trash.  Electricity comes to a few utility poles where “every man for himself” connects wiring to them if they want electricity at their homes.  Of course there are no sewage lines, so no modern bathrooms. This is just over the fence from the U.S. line, mind you.

The breakfast was wonderful in that about 40+ men, women and lots of children had a warm plate of corn, mac&cheese, shredded chicken and a roll for breakfast.  Also each family was given a small bag of bread to take home.  There was also a small clothes rummage as a group of ladies went through some bags of clothes, we brought down, sizing them up for their family.  We have had consistent donations from friends and coworkers of clothing after presenting the need over the past few months.  And what a blessing it has been to so many. This leads me to something I want to bring special mention to, for each of you.

We have frequently made you aware of the great need for ongoing food donations to meet the needs in Mexico .  Particularly due to a growing ‘lack’ of food being delivered to the places we go.  Often, we hear account after account of orphanages, elderly homes, infirmaries, and rehabs  skipping meals due to not having enough food.  We have shared with you my vision and desire to discover more potential food donations and ways to connect with local merchants who would be willing to hold their discards for us to pick up.  Although I hope one day to be able to do this full time so that time would permit me to do more, I can’t wait while others suffer without.

You who live here locally in San Diego can help!  Check with the markets you frequent, and find out the answers to these questions:

What happens to split bags/boxes of product that aren’t sold but are perfectly ok?  

What happens to day old bread?  

What happens to bruised or ripened produce?  

How about canned foods with missing labels?

Can you provide this to a nonprofit for feeding the poor?

Those of you who visit your own markets each week, may discover some potential donations that you could collect and pass on to us for delivering.  You could be a part of feeding the poor in ways you never thought possible.

For those of you who receive this newsletter who are not in San Diego .  Find out how you can do the same thing and assist a ministry in your neighborhood that is feeding the poor.  In addition, please pray for us and those you know who have similar mandates from the Lord.  Pray for favor for more opportunities to turn that which is thrown away into needed provision for others.

Just the other night (before Good Friday), I called one of our weekly providers of bread, on a whim (a God thing – only I was slow to respond), to see if perhaps the bread for that evening was not picked up by the scheduled organization for that night.  I had been asking this donor to please keep me informed if another night opens up for a pick up need.  Not only had the pick up not happened, but the bread and pastries had been thrown away.  I was devastated with feelings of, “if only I had called sooner”, and “I knew I should ask more often”.

That feeling of devastation revisited me the next day, when after the breakfast, we went on to deliver bread to the various residential’s, and there was not enough to finish the deliveries!                Thank you for your partnership!