Today was perfect weather-wise. Mid 30’s this morning as we departed for Reynosa with clear skies. Although it’s still quite cool, it’s not the bone-chilling damp coldness we had in Del Rio. We had two groups heading for construction projects. Our group went to visit a prison containing 70 women & 1,600+ men as inmates. We were permitted to visit the women along with 2 social workers. 3 of the guys from our group shared testimonies while 3-4 women shared their stories. A sad aspect was the children living with their mothers inside the jail system. Children from birth to age 3 are required to live in the jail with their mothers. After age 3, they are either moved to family members or to orphanages. Many tears were shed. At the end, they asked Jonathon Bilima to sing a song. We closed-out with amazing grace & Jesus loves me.
After lunch, we were entertained with a puppet ( or Muppet ) show at Alianza Church. This was the kickoff to a large festival sponsored by the Church featuring simple carnival games and rides. The kids and their families were numerous! All of the younger kids were excited to participate in the smallest of games. They were excited to earn simple prizes. The kids were quite patient & respectful. Some of them were tickled to see a “Gringo” talk with them in their own language.
In summary, it was an awesome, tiring & rewarding day for everyone.
Braden Burns