Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
If I don't post something by January 5th, well... I hope everyone has a nice life! You guys should know enough about me by now to recognize my mugshot on the 6:00 news...
Love you all, see ya later
Mexico or Bust
Well... I suppose this is my last post before getting on an old school bus for a 35hr ride.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
If I don't post something by January 5th, well... I hope everyone has a nice life! You guys should know enough about me by now to recognize my mugshot on the 6:00 news...
Love you all, see ya later
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
If I don't post something by January 5th, well... I hope everyone has a nice life! You guys should know enough about me by now to recognize my mugshot on the 6:00 news...
Love you all, see ya later
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warsloth
- Surface Marshal
Take care bro.
Jabe
Jabe
-
Jabe Adaks
- Grand Admiral
- Discord
@jabeadaks - Server
Legends - Character Names
Jaibe Adaks
Wraife Scyndareaux
Graanta
I'm still alive, and I made it home... It will be nice to sleep in my own bed after 12 nights on the go. 4 of those nights were on a cold ricketty schoolbus, but I will tell all about that later.
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warsloth
- Surface Marshal
Welcome back.
Jabe
Jabe
-
Jabe Adaks
- Grand Admiral
- Discord
@jabeadaks - Server
Legends - Character Names
Jaibe Adaks
Wraife Scyndareaux
Graanta
Okay... I have some pictures uploaded from my trip, it's not much but it's a start. I will talk about it some more later, but I have some basic descriptions here.
http://myspace-612.vo.llnwd.net/00408/2 ... 7612_l.jpg
My friend David, David's mom, and me. He was in a car accident after I visited him last Christmas, but says God protected him and kept him alive. He has always let us use his ranch to serve the colonia.
http://myspace-213.vo.llnwd.net/00408/3 ... 2213_l.jpg
My wife, Pastor Julio from Acuna who pastors a couple churches, and me. In the background you can see our three buses and a partial building that hasn't changed progress from last year. beyond that structure is the site for the new church. At this point (and last year) the church is just a hand dug hole in the ground. But we are going to help Julio build it.
http://myspace-807.vo.llnwd.net/00408/7 ... 6807_l.jpg
this one is the house of our friend Marta in Nava. She lives there with her grandmother or great grandmother. It is on the edge of a dump where most of their building materials came from. I will have to go into detail later...
http://myspace-006.vo.llnwd.net/00408/6 ... 5006_l.jpg
Julio's church near his house. This is the first of the colonia's we visited in Acuna. Before prayer and leaving for the next colonia, Pastor Todd said this "Don't ever complain about your Church building ever ever again!" The church is made of cardboard and pallets.
We visited a "tent" church that was made from some water-repellant burlap pinned over a wooden structure made from scraps.
We visited several colonias and churches in Piedras Negras, colonias and churches in Nava, and Colonias and churches in Acuna. We handed out more than 2500 shoebox gifts, and several pallets of food.
http://myspace-612.vo.llnwd.net/00408/2 ... 7612_l.jpg
My friend David, David's mom, and me. He was in a car accident after I visited him last Christmas, but says God protected him and kept him alive. He has always let us use his ranch to serve the colonia.
http://myspace-213.vo.llnwd.net/00408/3 ... 2213_l.jpg
My wife, Pastor Julio from Acuna who pastors a couple churches, and me. In the background you can see our three buses and a partial building that hasn't changed progress from last year. beyond that structure is the site for the new church. At this point (and last year) the church is just a hand dug hole in the ground. But we are going to help Julio build it.
http://myspace-807.vo.llnwd.net/00408/7 ... 6807_l.jpg
this one is the house of our friend Marta in Nava. She lives there with her grandmother or great grandmother. It is on the edge of a dump where most of their building materials came from. I will have to go into detail later...
http://myspace-006.vo.llnwd.net/00408/6 ... 5006_l.jpg
Julio's church near his house. This is the first of the colonia's we visited in Acuna. Before prayer and leaving for the next colonia, Pastor Todd said this "Don't ever complain about your Church building ever ever again!" The church is made of cardboard and pallets.
We visited a "tent" church that was made from some water-repellant burlap pinned over a wooden structure made from scraps.
We visited several colonias and churches in Piedras Negras, colonias and churches in Nava, and Colonias and churches in Acuna. We handed out more than 2500 shoebox gifts, and several pallets of food.
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warsloth
- Surface Marshal
I would say that whar is a jinx or an omen, and that accidents/problems always happen after he is around or is seen...much like in the movies when a shooting star is seen...warsloth wrote: My friend David, David's mom, and me. He was in a car accident after I visited him last Christmas, but says God protected him and kept him alive.
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Skorixor
- Grand Moff
so Skor you are saying I'm a shooting star, right? I will just go with that since you are mr. negativity.
Xyryn, most of the places we visited were in the flats or rolling hills near the border. Piedras is across the border at Eagle's pass, and the other two towns are about an hour from Piedras in either direction. The road to Acuna is very dangerous, I have a few stories about that.
Xyryn, most of the places we visited were in the flats or rolling hills near the border. Piedras is across the border at Eagle's pass, and the other two towns are about an hour from Piedras in either direction. The road to Acuna is very dangerous, I have a few stories about that.
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warsloth
- Surface Marshal
Ok, I think that I know approximately where you were. Less than a thousand feet above sea level. I was looking at those houses, remembering what I've seen in other border towns...at three thousand feet above sea level. Same kind of thing, but with severe winters. (No, not as severe as the Dakotas where they have altitude and latitude... but a blizzard is a blizzard is a blizzard.)
As for crossing the border, you were entering into a much more traditionally violent culture. Banditry is as common now as it was 100 years ago. The smaller collections of houses are in areas without "modern conveniences" or safety considerations. (Yes, I have travelled some of those so called roads.) The Law is spread thin, and seems to be about evenly split between those officers who care about their charges, and those who consider others to just be a ready source of income and conveniences...as per tradition.
Almost all Americans, including our poor, live better than most of the kings of yesteryear, but once you cross that border, you see the poor living as they always have...thru the centuries. The only area of change is in clothing...which is much cheaper than it used to be.
The above crowded into my mind as I looked at the houses in your pictures, and is why I asked about the altitude.
As for crossing the border, you were entering into a much more traditionally violent culture. Banditry is as common now as it was 100 years ago. The smaller collections of houses are in areas without "modern conveniences" or safety considerations. (Yes, I have travelled some of those so called roads.) The Law is spread thin, and seems to be about evenly split between those officers who care about their charges, and those who consider others to just be a ready source of income and conveniences...as per tradition.
Almost all Americans, including our poor, live better than most of the kings of yesteryear, but once you cross that border, you see the poor living as they always have...thru the centuries. The only area of change is in clothing...which is much cheaper than it used to be.
The above crowded into my mind as I looked at the houses in your pictures, and is why I asked about the altitude.
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xyryn
- Lieutenant Colonel
Gangs are really our biggest threat. There was a school nearing completion at one of our sites. Gang members made their way through the gate at some point and just lingered near the buses. They weren't really causing any trouble at that point. I tossed them a few of those small plastic footballs (we had a few cases of them) and said hi. So long as we don't push them around they don't cause too much trouble. 4 gang boys can quickly turn into 50. I remember talking to a couple of drunken 20 year olds in the same place last year.
The problem now is that once we leave, they may take their anger out on the school.
Some kind of gang ministry is needed there, but VERY dangerous. Some locals have taken it upon themselves to work with teens. It really is needed there. "Gang" are just a new way of saying "tribe" or "faction."
We have abandoned several sites because of gang activity. It really is a shame, because those areas are hard hit and well deserving of help.
The problem now is that once we leave, they may take their anger out on the school.
Some kind of gang ministry is needed there, but VERY dangerous. Some locals have taken it upon themselves to work with teens. It really is needed there. "Gang" are just a new way of saying "tribe" or "faction."
We have abandoned several sites because of gang activity. It really is a shame, because those areas are hard hit and well deserving of help.
-
warsloth
- Surface Marshal
Here's some pictures from last year...
LINK REMOVED (bandwidth)
The top two pictures are of a colonia that was made up of squatters on some gevernment property. It was hit by a flood, and these were some of the survivors that were above the brunt of the water. The government cleared them out and there are only a few abandoned partial structures left. These people spent a lot of time and effort to build what they had, and they are forced out and have to start again from scratch. The grey bus in the second picture is a dental clinic. It was made by BUSES, and stays in Piedras (it actually can't cross the border again) that broke down in this colonia, and was unavailable for use until our mechanic (Tom) fixed it a couple days before we left.
The little girl was at the railroad colonia where David is also from. David and one of his friends are at the bottom of the page.
Also shown: A couple houses in Acuna, and My Wife and I with our translator Renee. He and his father were unable to help us this year.
LINK REMOVED (bandwidth)
The top two pictures are of a colonia that was made up of squatters on some gevernment property. It was hit by a flood, and these were some of the survivors that were above the brunt of the water. The government cleared them out and there are only a few abandoned partial structures left. These people spent a lot of time and effort to build what they had, and they are forced out and have to start again from scratch. The grey bus in the second picture is a dental clinic. It was made by BUSES, and stays in Piedras (it actually can't cross the border again) that broke down in this colonia, and was unavailable for use until our mechanic (Tom) fixed it a couple days before we left.
The little girl was at the railroad colonia where David is also from. David and one of his friends are at the bottom of the page.
Also shown: A couple houses in Acuna, and My Wife and I with our translator Renee. He and his father were unable to help us this year.
-
warsloth
- Surface Marshal
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